Flowing with Inspiration

Good morning, welcome back. Thank you for being here. So this practice is designed to kind of jump start our day. We'll be playing with elements of finding some stability and grounding through the legs, support and strength for the core and the upper body. And then playing with this quality of lightness and air, as well as fluidity through the body.

So please join me at the top of your mat. And we'll just begin by rubbing the fingers together, rubbing the hands together, just to bring some heat into the palms. Bringing your attention towards your breath. And then begin to pat the belly, the core, just to kind of wake up and activate the belly. Good, and then softening the front body, gently softening the heart, and then relaxing down a bit and then releasing the arms out.

Good, and then from here, beginning to bring the hands around the rib cage and invite the breath to deepen, so stoking the fire of the breath with a bit of ujjayi breathing. So with the hands around the rib cage, as you inhale, breathe wide into the ribs. (breathing in) And as you exhale, the hands might draw towards each other. (breathing out) Softening through the shoulders and the jaw. Let's do that a few times, ujjayi breath.

(breathing in) And then exhale, hands draw towards the rib cage a few more times like this, so you're breathing down and wide. (breathing in and out) Now, keep an essence of this as you release your arms. This ocean sound, this ocean breath. (breathing in and out) And then bring the feet towards each other in tadasana, mountain pose, spreading the toes. Dropping your awareness down into your feet and grounding through the feet.

Receptive up as you lengthen. From here bring the hands together at the heart. We'll begin with surya namaskar A, moving cobra to locust. So two rounds, as you're ready, on your inhale, circle your arms up. On your exhale, forward fold, uttanasana.

You might soften the knees, release the head, inhale half arch to lengthen. And then exhale, bend the knees, drop your right foot back, step back into plank. From plank, you might lower on to the knees or through chaturanga, all the way to the ground. Soften the shoulders down the back, tops of the feet on the earth. Inhale, press up, cobra.

Heart draws forward. Exhale, release the forehead to the earth, reach fingers towards the toes, inhale, spiral the thighs up, locust, salabhasana. Exhale, release, slide the palms under the shoulders, tuck the toes under, strong through the belly, press up to plank, press back, downward facing dog. And let's take three breaths in downward dog. You might come high up onto the balls of the feet and then reach the calves towards the heels, breathing.

(breathing in and out) Stepping the right foot forward between the hands, inhale, half arch, exhale, forward fold. Inhale, circle the arms all the way up, reaching, exhale, release the hands. One more round like that, inhale, circle the arms up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, half arch lengthen.

Exhale, step the left foot back, step the right foot back, coming into plank. Keep the elbows in, nice and slow lowering onto the belly. Inhale to cobra, press up, lift through the heart, the sternum. Exhale, beautiful release, forehead to the earth, fingers towards the toes, inhale, lift up, locust. Exhale, release, palms under the shoulders, tuck the toes, press up, press back, downward facing dog.

Breathing. Really, here in downward dog, allow the head to fully release, let the neck soften. (breathing in and out) And then step the left foot forward to meet the right, inhale, half arch, exhale, forward fold. Strong legs, inhale, reach all the way up. Exhale, release the arms.

Taking a moment to pause with the hands at the heart. Awareness down towards the feet. From here, bending the knees, utkatasana. Surya namaskar B, inhale circle the arms up. Exhale, press down through the feet, forward fold, uttanasana.

Inhale, half arch, exhale, bend the knees. You might step or play with jumping back towards chaturanga, inhale to up dog. Exhale, down dog. From here, inhale, to right leg high. Take a moment to lengthen, you might open and close the right hip.

And then exhale, bring the right foot between the hands, root through the outer edge, pivot onto the outer edge of the left foot. Inhale, rise up, warrior I. Exhale, release, step back, and then lower down, chaturanga. Inhale, upward dog or cobra. Exhale, downward dog.

From here, inhale, lift that left leg high and you might open and close the hip as you lengthen, breathing. As you exhale, step the left foot forward between your hands, pivot onto the outer right edge. On your inhale, rise up, warrior I. Exhale, release, step back and lower through chaturanga dandasana, or on the knees. Inhale to cobra or up dog.

Exhale, down dog. Beautiful breathing. And five breaths here, rooting through the fingers. Rooting through the outer edges of the feet a bit. Soft and long through the back of the neck.

(breathing in and out) Nice, on your exhale, you might walk forward or play with bending the knees and hopping forward between the hands, inhale, half arch, exhale, forward fold. Bend the knees, utkatasana, strong legs. Inhale, chair. Exhale, press down through the feet. Release the arms (breathing out).

Take a moment here, feel your heart, feel the sensation through the body. Wide through the base of the skull, letting the tailbone descend a bit. Beautiful, second round and adding on. Bend the knees, utkatasana, inhale. Exhale, press down, dive forward and in, uttanasana.

Inhale, half arch. As you exhale, you might step back and lower, or play with bending the knees. Jump back, inhale to cobra or up dog. Exhale to down dog. Nice, we'll add on from here.

Inhale, lift the right leg high. Take a moment to extend and lengthen. This time, as you exhale, right knee to right elbow, towards plank. Inhale to right leg high, exhale, right knee towards the left elbow, finding plank. One more time, inhale, lift the right leg high.

As you exhale, right knee towards the forehead, pause. Take a look forward and step the foot between the hands. Take a moment to pause. Lengthen through the back of the neck, back leg is strong and active. Lift through the lower belly.

Reach the hands down the back, so shoulder blades draw down the back, hands reaching, lengthening. As you inhale, begin to rise up towards high lunge. As you exhale, release the chest towards the thigh, hands stretch and lengthen. Two more times, inhale, reach up, whoo! Exhale, release. It's like a slow burn, one more time.

Inhale, come up, lengthen, give it all you got. Exhale, release. Now from here, partial tadasana, step the back foot forward. We're gonna square the hips for pyramid. Inhale, lengthen and exhale, you might bring the forehead towards the shin.

And squaring your hips here. (breathing out) Breathing. And the back of the neck is long, so we're stretching out the standing leg. Beautiful, from here, let the hands come onto your hips, strong, active legs. Come all the way up to standing.

Nice work. Okay, from here we're gonna play towards a warrior III, towards, okay? So from here, arms long, bend the standing leg. You might play with lifting the back leg. As you find a spot to focus on, begin to lengthen as you hinge forward, whoo.

Squaring the hips. Then bend the standing leg, high lunge. Inhale, exhale, release the hands around the standing foot. Step back into your plank. Take a moment to pause here and plank and then lower down.

All the way, inhale, cobra, peel the heart up. Exhale and release, forehead to the earth, fingers towards the toes, inhale, locust. Exhale, release. Hands under the shoulders, tuck the toes, press up into plank, press back, downward facing dog. Breathing. (breathing in and out)

Taking two more breaths here. From here you might step the feet or bend the knees and play with hopping forward. Inhale, half arch, exhale, forward fold. Bend the knees, utkatasana, chair. Exhale, press down, reach up.

And then release the arms. Take a moment, check in. Observe the sensation through the body, the heat, the flow, the movement, the sensation. (breathing in and out) Winding our way through the second side, as you're ready, bend the knees, utkatasana, inhale. Exhale, forward fold.

Inhale, half arch, exhale, you might step back and lower or play with bending the knees and coming down through chaturanga. Inhale to up dog. Exhale to down dog. Okay, inhale, lift the left leg high, and if it feels nice, you might let it open and close. Good, allow for an inhale and as you exhale, the left knee towards the left elbow, finding plank.

Inhale the left leg high. Exhale, left knee towards the right elbow. Inhale the leg high. Exhale, bring the knee towards your forehead, get round. And then step forward.

And wiggle back through the ball of that foot. Find a strong, supportive stance. Feel a little bit lighter through the lower belly. Good, reach the hands back. Long through the back body.

As you inhale, high lunge. As you exhale, chest towards the thigh. Inhale, high lunge. Exhale, lower down. One more time, inhale, rise up.

Sink down as you reach up. Exhale, release the hands around the front foot, step the back foot in for partial tadasana pyramid. In squaring the hips, inhale, lengthen the spine, exhale, fold forward. Breathing. Nice hands on the hips, strong legs, inhale, come all the way up.

Again, nice work there. (chuckles) Okay, from here, warrior III play. Bend the standing leg, let the back foot get light and then you might play with lifting off. Reaching the hands towards the toes, the back toe. Nice, bend the standing leg, gracefully, step back into your high lunge. Exhale, release the hands.

From here, step back into plank and from plank, lower down onto our belly. Draw the shoulders down the back, inhale, cobra, lift the heart. Exhale, release, hands towards the toes, inhale, lift up, locust. Exhale, release, palms under the shoulders, tuck the toes under, press up. Press back downward facing dog.

Let's take five breaths here. (breathing in and out) Nice, from here walk or jump your feet to your hands. Inhale, half arch, exhale, forward fold. Bend the knees, utakasana, chair. Reaching the arms up.

Exhale, press down through the feet. All the way back up. Hands at the heart. (sighs) Nice, from here, jump the feet wide for padangusthasana, forward fold. And then from here, as you release the head, lift the left foot, bring the palm underneath and then the right foot, that right palm underneath. So stretching the wrist, a bit of wrist therapy action here.

And then as you inhale, lengthen and exhale, folding forward. Soften through the back of the neck. You might play with shifting some weight forward, towards the wrists into the toes. (breathing in and out) And you can totally bend your knees here and release your head. Okay, as you're ready, slow release, release each palm, bring your hands onto your hips, strong legs, inhale, come all the way back up.

Take a moment here, pause, let the palms open. (breathing out) Nice, bring the hands together at the heart. Making our way down through a sun salutation. As you're ready, inhale, circle the arms up. As you exhale, forward fold, releasing.

Inhale, half arch, lengthen. Exhale this time, we'll walk back into plank, step back. From plank, lower down, keeping the elbows in, all the way onto the belly. Inhale to cobra, rise up and lengthen, lifting the heart. Exhale and release, forehead to the earth.

Inhale, salabhasana, lift up. Reaching the fingers towards the toes, back of the neck long. Exhale, release. From here tuck the toes under, elbows in, press up to plank. And then press back, downward facing dog.

Breathing. (breathing in) Okay, from downward dog we're gonna play with hopping forward and taking a seat. So you might find your way onto your seat, you might play with looking forward and hopping into a seat. Here, I'll show that again. From downward dog I like to inhale, and then exhale, take a look forward, bend the knees, and then just simply hop into a cross leg.

Okay, now we're set up for boat pose, navasana. Just to again, kind of ignite the fire in the core, activate it. So softening the shoulders, down the back. And right here, this is like, I can feel it. So lifting up through the spine, find that uplifting quality, lengthen through the back of the neck, and then softening the shoulders down the back.

Softening through the jaw and I can feel a little gripping here through the hip flexors, so I'm gonna just be aware of that and engage my belly a bit more. Right, so you might stay here, you might play with leaning back keeping the knees bent and lifting the legs. Right, so boat pose, navasana, breathing. Taking a few breaths here, about three breaths. Good, and then release.

Let's cross the legs and what can feel nice is to bring the hands onto the shins and just inhale, roll the pelvis forward, lengthen up through the front of the body. Softening the shoulders down the back. Good, and then lean back, come onto those hip bones, we'll take two more rounds like that. Okay, so you might lean back, you might play with extending the legs and reaching, so the core is really engaged and find your breath. (breathing out) What would it feel like to be a bit more fluid through the arms?

Receptive through the palms. Good, one more breath here. Good, and then release. Opposite shin, again, hands on the shins and then roll the pelvis forward. It's a bit off a counter pose, heart lengthens, softening the shoulders down the back.

Nice, we'll do that one more time. Lean back, again, hands might be on the back of the thighs or you might extend as you reach and lengthen. Feel that uplifting quality as you breathe. It totally helps to smile here. (chuckles) Good, one more breath. Good, exhale, release and then again, find that nice extension through the spine.

(sighs) Beautiful. Okay, then we're gonna come onto all fours. There's a couple ways to make to do that. You might roll onto all fours, you might play with rolling and then jumping back. I'll show that again.

Or you might just simply roll onto your hands and knees. Okay, so rolling forward and then jumping back. And then I like to come into an up dog here and then a down dog. Nice, from here let's find child's pose, hips towards the heels, and then walk the hands out in front of you, soften the forehead. And slowly roll up.

Come into vajrasana, if it feels okay for your knees. And we'll just take a wrist stretch here, so I'm extending my left arm and just gently lengthening and then stretching through the top of the wrist and keeping the jaw soft. (breathing out) Nice, and then the other side with that left hand. And sometimes I can feel this all the way up through my neck and my face. And I like to think about it, not forcing it or making something happen, but this, more of an invitation.

To find a bit more length, more space. Okay, and then release. Good, and shake it out. And some circles with the wrists in both directions. Okay, so from here we're gonna play with what I call donkey kicks.

So I'll demonstrate first. And this is just a play towards handstand. So we're not going into handstand today but it's just a play to feel that lift through the body, so from navasana, that activation, that awareness in the core, we're gonna find this in the donkey kick. So this quality of lifting up through the belly and then really trusting the support through the arms and the wrists. Okay, so we'll do this a few times.

So you'll start from downward facing dog. And I like to look towards my belly button, just to let the back of the neck lengthen a lot. I like to bring my feet next to each other and just enjoy the stretch here in a variation of downward dog. Okay, and then from here, take a look forward between the hands and super grip through the fingers. So the fingers are activated.

I'm gonna soften the elbows a little bit, bend the knees and then play with hopping up. Okay, so it's a play and then to release, I like to bring my gaze towards the belly button, lengthening the back of the neck. We'll play with this a few times, bending the knees, inhale, on the exhale, we'll spring up. Good, and then again, lengthen the back of the neck. Inhale, exhale, kick up.

And lengthen. Inhale, exhale, bend the knees and kick up. Okay, let's do that one more time. Inhale, exhale, bend the knees and kick up, whoo! And then release the gaze, good, child's pose. Come on the hands, the knees, the forehead to the earth and you might reach the hands along the body, arms along side.

Nice, bring the palms underneath the shoulders, chin into the chest and then gently take a moment to roll up to vajrasana and pause. Just notice your effort, notice how you feel, the sensation through the body. (breathing out) Nice, from here we'll transition onto our backs, find you way onto your back. Hug your knees into your chest. (breathing out) And then take a moment to rock a bit from side to side.

Good, lower the feet. Let's come into a round of bridge, bridge pose. So spreading the toes, arms along your sides, draw your awareness down towards your tail bone, feel an inhale for inspiration. As you exhale, curl the tail bone under, press down through the feet, lift the hips. You might reach the hands towards the ankles or actively tuck the shoulders underneath you into the back.

You might interlace the fingers and then lengthen the front body. Find that spaciousness through the throat. Breathing. (breathing in and out) Nice, to release come high up onto the balls of the feet, arms up towards the sky. Get round and then slowly release down.

(breathing out) Release the arms. Take a moment to pause, the knees might rest together, feet wide. Absorbing the effects. For this next round, you might continue with a bridge if that feels comfortable for you. If you prefer wheel or urdvha dhanurasana.

I'll guide us through wheel. So either bridge pose or wheel. And finding your feet, spreading your toes, coming into wheel, bring your hands behind you, palms towards the floor. You can draw the elbows towards the body, so instead of out, you're drawing them towards each other. Good, curl the tail bone under, press down through the feet, come onto the head and pause.

And we're drawing the shoulders down the back into what is often referred to as a shoulder girdle. And the elbows are drawing towards each other. Yes, inhale, on your exhale, press up. Good, and take a moment here, find your breath, find your feet, release the neck fully. And then for me, I like to walk the hands in a little bit closer.

And release the head. Breathe. Soften the grip through the buttocks. Beautiful, when you feel ready to release, come high up onto the balls of the feet, draw the chin towards the heart, keep the chin towards the heart as you bend the elbows and then release all the way down, feeling the back body release and then releasing the legs. From here you might extend the legs or draw the knees in towards the chest.

Letting yourself rock a bit from side to side. Nice, and then from here, let's rock up towards paschimottanasana, so coming into a seated forward fold, rocking up. And then extending the legs (sighs), and then from here, taking a moment to lengthen and then bringing the hands towards the ankles, softening the shoulders down the back. Finding that length and then perhaps walking the hands a bit forward, maintaining that length. And then eventually, you might round, the head might release.

And breathing. (breathing in and out) Good, slow as you're ready, chin to your chest, rolling back up, softening the shoulders down the back and then from here we'll roll onto our backs. And draw the knees in. From here, finding the eye of the needle. So we'll bring the right ankle across the left thigh and then you might stay here, this might be a nice stretch in your right hip.

As you wanna feel a bit more, you might draw that left knee in and then curl up. Bring the hands through that triangle of the legs. Finding the back of the thigh, or maybe the top of your left shin. Again, softening the shoulders down the back and then flexing that right ankle tends to draw it into that right hip a bit more. You might rock a bit from side to side, softening a bit through the face and the eyes.

And then notice the quality of your breath here. Breathing into where you feel the sensation, the stretch. As you breath into where you feel the stretch, continue to notice where you can soften any effort through the fingers, the shoulders, the jaw. Beautiful, if you're here, keep the left knee in. Reach the arms out to the side, we're gonna find a spinal twist.

So you're gonna bring it all the way over to your left and that right foot might touch the floor. So spinal twist over to the left, right foot might be touching and what can feel really nice is to extend and reach that right arm, like a diagonal. So you feel this nice long length through the right side body and then send that knee away as the right hip opens. Oftentimes, I like to bring my left hand around my right rib cage just to touch it and feel the breath or encourage, invite the breath into the side body. And the back of the neck is relaxed.

A few more moments here. As you're ready, inhale, come back up. Good, and then release the right leg. And then second side, left ankle across your right thigh. Let the hip open, send the knee away.

You might hang out here and breathe. Flexing the right ankle you might draw the right knee in towards your heart. And then bring your hands through the legs, find the back of that right thigh, or maybe the top of your shin. Softening the shoulders down the back. And again, breathing into where you feel the sensation.

Stretch. (breathing out) Notice where you can soften any gripping or tension through the body. (breathing out) And as that right knee is in towards the chest, keep it where it is, release the arms out to the side. And then we're gonna bring the shape all the way over to the right, so take it over. And that left foot might find the earth and then let the hip open.

So you're sending that knee away as the hip opens into a spinal twist, and it might feel nice to extend and lengthen that left arm at more of a diagonal. Finding a long length through the side body on the left side, breathing. And you might bring your hands around your rib cage. Your right hand. Wide through the base of the skull and then right between the eyes.

(breathing in and out) Okay, as you're ready, slow on the inhale then back up and release the left leg. And you might bring the soles of the feet together, knees wide, just for a moment in padangusthasana, reaching the arms overhead, bring the hands around the elbows. And then lengthening from the tail bone through the crown of the head. Evening out the breath through both sides. And then as you're ready, bring the knees towards each other, we're gonna make our way up towards the seat, if you prefer a shavasana, you might do that.

And as you're ready, rocking up toward the seat. And then come into a seated position here. Just taking a moment to get comfortable. (breathing out) And you feel a bit more, sense of grounding and settling through the body, through those hip bones. Gentle length and rise up through the spine.

Feeling gravity soften the shoulders and the jaw. And allowing your awareness and presence to gently brighten and expand. And gradually bring your hands together at your heart. Namaste. And thank you for joining me in this practice.

Have a beautiful day, thank you.