Energizing Stability

Welcome to Energizing stability. Thank you so much for practicing with me today. We'll begin standing at the top of our mat. Fee can be about hip bone distance apart or slightly wider. Find a soft little bend to your knees.

Let your arms rest by your sides. Take a moment to roll the shoulders back, to lift through the sternum. If it feels comfortable, you're welcome to close your eyes. But take a moment before we begin to move, to begin to drop into the body, to begin to drop into the breath, and to begin to drop into the heart space. Start to notice your breath.

Just witnessing and watching the natural flow of your inhale and your exhale. And as we witness that natural flow of inhale and exhale, notice the body naturally moving either forward or back or side to side. And just allow yourself for a moment to begin to give over to that movement. And as we become aware of and give over to that movement, move your awareness down into your feet. Feel your big toes to your outer heels.

Find the pinky toes to the inner heels. And imagine lifting everything else up. So we create these really buoyant arches in our feet. And then allow the belly to relax. Allow the shoulders to relax.

Allow the jawbone to relax. And as you're ready, begin to draw in fuller deeper in house. And take nice long exhales. And as we inhale, we imagine drawing that breath up from the earth through the bottoms of the feet, up the legs, energizing this lift up through the torso. So we feel this connection, this contact to the earth, through the stability of our legs, and we allow that stability to energize the rest of the body.

So let's take a few more big full breaths in through the nose Exhale through the mouth. Again, inhale. Exhale. One more time. Big full breath in, fill the belly, fill the ribs, fill the chest, and then exhale sigh, empty, and release. Find a soft gentle bend to your knees.

We're gonna reach the arms out in front of us. Let the palms be nice and relaxed. And as you inhale, just start to raise the arms up softly overhead. Middle fingers connect. And then as you exhale, we're just gonna push the energy down past the navel and make sure we're keeping that soft bend to the knees.

So we inhale, we let the energy rise up through the stability of the legs, reaching and exhale. Push it back down. We'll take a few more of these. And if you're still moving side to side or forward and back, just keep that movement, whatever feels natural in the body. But drawing up that breath from the feet, up the legs. Up to the torso, allowing that to energize us and to elevate our practice today.

Inhaling rising up and exhaling. We push down. Bend your knees and find a forward fold. And once we're in our forward bends, keep the knees softly bent. So we keep some currency moving through the body. Go ahead and grab opposite elbows. And let yourself sway and let yourself dangle side to side.

Just noticing here and really feeling consciously What's happening through the low back? Can we bend the knees a little bit more so that we're using the stability of the legs to support a release through the low back? Notice the crown of the head. Notice the head in the neck. If the neck is clenching, if it's tight, see if we can keep softening through the crown of the head. And can you invite a nice spread through the toes?

So again, remember, we have these buoyant arches that we're using to really draw that inspiration up through the earth. And then start to bend your knees and find a little bit of a bounce and shake. Bounce and shake. Just release all of that tension off the lower back. Feel that contacting connection with the legs, with the feet, with the stability.

And then go ahead and release opposite elbows. Take a moment and just find stillness. And see if you can notice and observe where the weight is and the feet is the weight forward in the balls of the feet. Is the weight really far back in your heels? And perhaps we can start to rock a gently forward him back So we start to find balance between the balls of the feet and the heels and just take a couple more rocks forward and back.

Forward and back. And then very slowly begin to roll up the spine one piece at a time. Just let the head come up last. Let your shoulders roll at the top. Couple of times.

And again, let's roll back down into our forward bend. From here, bringing your hands onto your thighs keep your knees bent almost as if we're coming up into a half lift. Inhale, arch your back. Send the heart forward the shoulders back push the butt bones back and then exhale curl and round really tucking the tails so we feel tons of space through the low back. Few more just like that standing cat and cow inhaling arching, opening up, moving shoulders back. Exhale rounding and tucking, creating that space.

Last one. Inhale. Open up. Shoulders back. Heart forward buttock bones back.

And exhale round, round, round, and then release fully down into the forward fold. Plant your hands or your fingertips. Let's step our left leg back into a low lunge. Lower the left knee down. Untuck the toes.

And then reach the arms up to the sky. Anjanayasana crescent lunge. So making sure here we have a nice ninety degree bend in this front knee. We're gonna feel our stability from the legs coming from really connecting into the top of the back foot. And as we connect into the top of the back foot, feel that energy spiral up the back thigh, connect to the right foot, feel the energy spiral up the right thigh to really elevate and energize that lift through the torso.

Reach your right arm back, your left arm forward, keep energizing that lift through the thighs. Right hand is gonna slide down the back of the left thigh. The left arm will reach up and reach back as we softly lean back into our exalted variation. From here, let your left hand or your left fingertips come down onto the mat. Reach your right arm up and then tuck the back toes, lift the back and knee. So energize that lift by pressing back through that left heel.

Right arm reaches up and over the right ear. Right hand comes down. Back foot steps forward. Forward fold. Half lift length and inhale, exhale fold, slow rise up, So really connecting to the legs as we roll up one piece at a time.

Shoulders roll at the top. In how the arms high. And then exhale come back down into your forward bend. Step your right leg all the way back. Lower the right knee and untuck the toes.

Again, we're energizing here as we reach the arms up through the top of the back foot, spiraling up the right thigh. Energizing a lift from the left foot up the left thigh so that the torso can lift the lower ribs can lift up and off of the pelvis. And then left arm will reach back. Right arm will reach for it. Right side of the belly over to the left side.

Exalted left hand down the back of the right thigh, right arm reaches up, and it reaches back. Keep moving your left shin bone forward. Right hand comes down. Tuck your right toes. Lift the right knee, left arm scoops up.

Finding your twisted lunge. Press back through that right heel to energize the crown of the head reaching for and spiral those right ribs up to the sky. Left arm up and over the left ear, left hand down, back foot forward, fold. Half lift lengthen, exhale fold, inhale rise, reach up arms high. Acts help homes to the heart.

In how we rise, exh, how we fold, Left leg steps back, lower the left knee, untuck the toes stay connected to the feet to that stability in Hala. Acts how we twist to the right. Right hand back of left thigh, exalted. Left hand inside of that right foot, right arm reaches up for the twist, right arm over the right ear this time right hand comes down. We're gonna spin to the back of the mat for Skandasana.

So our left knee bends are right foot flexes. Heart reaches forward and the butt reaches back. Pivot back towards the top of the mat, step the left foot forward and fold. Half lift lengthen, exhale fold, rise up, reach up arms high. Exhale palms to the heart.

Inhale rise. Axhale fold. Step your right leg back. Lower the right knee. Inhale.

Reach out twist to the left. Exalted left hand down, back of right thigh, right arm up and back. Low lunge twist, right hand down, left arm up, pick up the back knee thigh, left arm up and over the left ear. Left hand down, we traveled to the back again Gondasana, right knee bends, left foot flexes, heart reaches forward, and the butt reaches back. And let's come back towards the top of the mat.

We'll step back into our first downward facing dog. Left leg comes back. Take a moment here. Just pedal through your feet. Feel the legs.

Feel that stability. Shake your head. Yes. Shake your head. No. Keep a nice bend to the knees so we can really lift up through the backs of the thighs. And chest moving back towards the knees and back towards the thighs, inhale roll forward into a high plank, Excel. It's come all the way down to the belly.

Come into the tops of your feet. Let your arms open up nice and wide. So nice big t. Tensor left fingertips. Keep this right arm opened up nice and wide.

Start to roll over onto your right hip, stacking your legs. Just keep it nice and simple. Turning your right ribs up to the sky. Two more breaths. Come back to center.

10 to your right fingertips. Left arm stays open. We'll go over to the left. Stack the hips. Just keep it nice and simple.

Spiral the left ribs up to the sky. Come back to center. Hands by your chest. Press into the tops of the feet. So through the tops of the feet, we energize the leg so much that the kneecaps lift and the chest lifts, baby cobra, inhale.

Exhale forehead comes down. One more time, energized through the feet, through the legs, lift the chest. Forehead comes down. Send your hips back to your heels. Take a moment in child's pose.

Nies nice and wide. Hips back towards the heels. And extend the arms forward. Downward facing dog. Send your hips up.

And send your hips back. Take little tiny steps towards the top of the mat. Perhaps even tensing your fingertips especially if you have long legs like me so that you can get forward. Half lift lengthen, exhale fold. Inhale rise. Reach up.

Xhale. Pull it into the heart. Inhale rise. Exel fold down. We're gonna step the left leg back. This time, we're keeping the knee lifted.

So before we reach the arms up into our high crescent lunge, make sure that your feet have their own space. So that that right foot is almost all the way over to the right edge of the mat. The left foot is almost all the way over to the left edge of the mat. Reach the arms up. Astrachundrasana, high crescent lunge. Draw the lower ribs in.

Feel that spiraling of energy from the right foot and from the left foot lifting the torso up. So we find all of that space, right arm reaches back, left arm reaches forward. Exalted, right hand down back of left thigh, left arm reaches up, and it reaches back. Low lunge twist, left hand down, right arm reaches up, reach the right arm up and over the right ear, skandasana to the back of the mat, left knee bends, right foot flexes. Now from here, we're gonna come back towards the top of the mat and open up into warrior 2.

So arms open up nice and wide. Make sure you have a nice wide stance. We connect to the bottoms of the feet to draw that energizing stability up the legs. Peaceful. Right. Palm flips up.

Reach up. Reach back. Side angle. Take your right forearm to your right thigh. Reach your left arm up to the sky. So feel right hip moving back. Left hips softly drawing forward.

Notice what's happening in the feet. Are the toes scrunched? Are they squeezing? Can we invite a spread to the toes so that, again, we can energize a lift of the torso by just drawing up that energy through the earth. Let the left arm reach over the left ear. 3 more breaths. Turn your right ribs up.

Last one. Big inhale. Big exhale. Come on up. Peaceful wear. Right palm flips up, reach up and back. Float your hands down downward facing dog.

Come forward into your plank and lower all the way down. Arms open up wide, tent left fingertips, roll over onto your right side, Come back to center, tent right fingertips, roll over to your left side. Come back to center. Hands by the chest, press the feet. Lift the chest.

Boujangasana baby cobra. Inhale. Excel forehead down. Again, press the feet. Lift the chest.

Forehead comes down. This time, tuck your toes, energize the legs to lift the knees to press up into plank. Downward facing dog. Take a nice big inhale, exhale. One more time.

Inhale and exhale. Slow little steps forward to the top. I love tenting my fingertips just to find that extra little space. Once you're there, half lift lengthen, exhale fold, inhale rise, reach up acts how palms to the heart. Inhale rise.

Acts how full down, down. Step your right leg back. Keep the knee lifted. So be on your fingertips or your hands. Make sure left foot almost all the way over to the left side of the mat.

Right foot almost all the way over to the right side of the mat. Drop that energy to reach the arms up. High crescent. So left knee is moving forward. Twist to the left.

Left arm back. Right arm forward. Exault it. Left palm down back of right thigh. Right arm reaches up and back, low lunge twist, right hand down, left arm reaches up, left arm over left ear, Left hand down Skandasana to the back, right knee bent. Now, we're gonna open up into warrior 2 to the top of the mat.

So find that nice wide stance, draw the energy up the right leg, up the left leg, let it lift the torso. Peaceful left palm flips up, reach up and back. Side angle, left forearm, left thigh. Right arm reaches up. So find that left shin bone reaching for.

Use the forearm and the side spin and spiral the left ribs up. Right arm reaches over the right ear. 2 more breaths. Just feel that stability through the legs. One more inhale and exhale.

Come on up. Peaceful warrior. Left palm flips up, reach up and back, cartwheel it down, downward facing dog. Come forward into your plank all the way down. Open up the arms. 10th, the left fingertips roll to the right.

Back to center. Roll to the left. Back to center, hands by the chest, press into the feet. Lift up. Baby cobra. Forehead comes down one more time.

Press the feet. Lift the chest. Forehead down, tuck the toes, energize through the legs, pressing the plank downward facing dog. So from down dog, raise your right leg high to the sky. Draw on the knee towards the nose. Look forward. Step the right foot for it.

This time, bring your back heel down at about 45 degrees. Reach the arms up warrior 1. So from here, the right hip just lovingly hugging back that left frontal hip point hugging for it. Now we're really connected to that energizing stability through the legs. So close the lower ribs in just slightly so that we can lift a little bit more through the sides of the chest.

Bring the arms behind the back, interlace your fingers, press your palms together, reach the chest up high, inhale, exhale dive down devotional warrior. So you can allow that right shoulder to start to move towards the right thigh or some of you inside of the right thigh. Take a couple of breaths here. Feel that stability through the legs. One more.

And then release the hands down. Step your back foot forward about 1 or 2 footprints. So that you can start to extend the right leg, not walk out the knee, but extend. So think that you could press into the ball of the right foot most like you're pressing into your gas pedal to find extension, lengthen the heart forward, and then come forward and fold any amount into the pyramid pose. And just move the breath through the body Right? Feel the breath as it moves into the belly, swirl around to the sacrum, to the low back, into the backs of the legs, Two more.

Inhale. XL. Last one. Big inhale. Exhale. Rebend your right knee. Step the back foot forward and fold.

Just slowly luxuriate in the roll up through the spine. One piece at a time. Head last, shoulders roll at the top. Rickshassana tree pose. So we're gonna start to lift the right knee up into the chest. Some of us might stay here.

Some of you're gonna take your right foot onto your left ankle. Maybe your calf or perhaps use your right hand and guide the right foot inside of the left thigh. Hands can be at the hips, palms can maybe come to the heart to begin, find a nice gaze directly across from you, something that's not moving. Find your drishti. And then notice what's happening in that left foot.

In the left leg. Chances are we might feel the foot moving side to side, see if we can find the left big toe. And you might fall out. Come right back in. Find the left big toe, left outer heel, left pinky toe, inner left heel, lift everything else up.

And wobbling just means that you're human. Baby, the arms reach up high. We find a big tree. Two more breaths. Energize that lift from the left leg.

And then bring your palms together at your heart. Release that right foot down. Take a moment, petal out your feet. Inhale reach up, exhale, come down, step it back, downward facing dog. Left leg high in your next inhale, then the next, he'll take the knee to the nose, look forward.

Step the left foot forward. Bring that right foot forward and down at about 45 degrees, keeping that left knee bent, draw the energy up through the legs to reach up and a one, warrior 1. Left hips steering back, right frontal hip point, steering forward. Try to relax through the shoulders. Contain the lower ribs so that we can lift a little bit more through the sides of the chest.

And then bringing the arms behind the back, interlace the fingers, lift the chest, inhale, exhale devotional warrior, Left shoulder dipping down, right hip hugging forward, navel drawing in towards the spine. 2 more breaths. And then hands, release down. Step your back foot forward about 2 footprints. Straighten your left leg pressing into the ball of the left foot, move the left hip point back, and just make sure we're not locking out that left knee.

And then lengthen the heart forward. Come forward and fold any amount. And just feel the breath move it to the back of the left leg into the low back. 2 more. And then rebend your left knee, step the right foot forward, and fold.

Rise up slowly. One piece at a time. Roll your shoulders once you get to the top, and we'll move into our tree pose on the left side. So shift the weight into the right leg. So to lift the left knee, you might stay here standing on one leg is a lot of work.

We might take the left foot onto the right ankle, the right calf, or use the left hand to guide the left foot inside of the right thigh. Palms, maybe to the heart or hands to hips, find the right big toe to the outer right heel, right pinky toe to inner right heel. Everything else lifts and energize that lift up lower ribs in perhaps arms reach up high. We find that drishti, that gaze right out in front of us. Few more breaths.

Good. And then left knee to center palms to heart, left foot down, shake it out. From here, If your feet about, hip bone distance apart may be slightly wider. We'll put a little bend to our knees, almost as if we're gonna go into utkatasana chair pose. We're gonna cross our right ankle over the left thigh flex through the right foot and then start to bend through the left knee, bring your palms to your heart. So think knees forward.

Think butt and thighs back. So just a nice figure 4 stretch for the hips. After really energizing our stabilizers and our legs just breathing in to that space. Three more breaths. Let the shoulders draw back.

Think chin softly into the chest of the sides of the neck are long. Stay with it for 3. For 2 and for 1, come up. Release the right foot down. Shake it out.

And let's do the other side. So slight little chair pose. Left ankle crosses over the right thigh. Flex the left foot, palms to the heart, meets your drishti, knees moving forward, thighs, and butt moving back, heart reaching forward, shoulders back, and just breathe into that left hip, Feel that right, like, really supporting you. Few more breaths.

Keep breathing for 3. For 2. And for one release, come back up. In healthy arms high. Exhale come back down one more time into a board bent.

Anything you need here, really, it feels nice to grab opposite elbows, keep the knees bent, sway it outside to side, maybe one more time just balancing through the legs. And then release those opposite elbows, roll it up one vertebrae at a time. Head last, shoulders roll at the very top. Take a moment with the feet, hip bone distance, or wider. One hand to the belly and one hand to the heart, soft bend to the knees.

Close your eyes. Draw your awareness back down into the body. Noticing what has shifted. Noticing anything that has changed. Being aware of your roots of your foundation.

And feeling how that foundation has inspired and informed an opening and a space through the rest of the body. Take a nice big inhale. Exhale. Again, inhale fully. Exhale completely.

Bough your head towards your heart. Lift your heart into your hands. And just take a moment to acknowledge your effort, to acknowledge your practice today with gratitude. Thank you so much for practicing with me. Namaste.