Slow Low Lunges

Welcome back. We're going to start in child's pose. We're going to do some low hips, low hips, and getting our body ready for meditation. So a lot of release in there, some slower, longer holds. So come on to shins, feet together, knees apart, arms extended. I favor an extended balasana, an extended child's pose. If you favor hands to feet, go ahead and allow that. And then stoke the fire of the breath, the ujjayi pranayama, the breath in through the nose and out through the nose. One more round. And then slowly rock forward. Set yourself up, all fours, spreading the hands and having the shoulders stack above your elbows and your wrists. So your arms are really vertical, same for your thigh bones, really vertical shin bones pressing into the mat. And you may need to slide the hands back. For alignment, I prefer to have the front crease of my wrist parallel to the top of the mat. And sometimes that means my hands are turned out. And then we'll engage the body in cat and dog tilt or flexion and extension. So on your exhalation, you will round your back, threading the navel into the front of the spine, lean a little forward, shrink shoulders away from ears, and then ripple the spine the other way as you inhale. And see if you can feel it sequentially, right? Like there are numbers from the base of the spine to the top. I sometimes get caught in my chin being like a Pez. So I have to keep that there. And then again, from the base of the pelvis, exhaling rounded when there's the peak of the pose and then the upper spine and the neck are there. And then articulating from the base. So I'm really quiet right now on the shoulder, girdle the neck. And then when I feel like there's no more there, then I get to slowly embrace the opposite way. So one more just with breath. And then on my next exhale and on your next exhale, find that middle place. And that middle place to me is where the belly and the back are co-contracting. They're meeting each other in the center, ground down evenly through your hands, right? Let your neck just relax. And slowly, I would like you to lift your left leg. So your left leg will lift. Both hands are points of contact and the right shin bones. You can level the hips by leaning a little left. It feels awkward. Keep that left foot flexed and bring the knee down. So it's on the inside of the right knee and then out to the side and up. You will repeat that circle two more times. Inhaling, exhaling. And then you'll reverse for three. So steady as you can in the pelvis. Inhale, out, down, in, up and around. Two more. Out, down, in. Last one. Full breath. Then lift that left leg up. Look forward. And I like these. These are like pulses. So you just lean a little bit more forward and you keep the foot flexed for donkey kicks. So it's just a little lift and then a little lower. About an inch, a little lift. I'm feeling it, not seeing it, and a little lower. And then one more time, a little lift and a little lower. And now take left knee to left elbow and back up into that donkey. Exhale, left knee. Inhale. Final one.

Slowly lower, left knee down. Take an inhale and extend. This is just to wash it through and an exhale and round. Now come right back into that neutral place. And that neutral place means you still have the curves through the spine. Slowly lift the right leg. The knee stays bent. Lean a little right because the left hand is barely working. So you've got to lean a little right and then push into that left hand and go drop the right knee down inside the left. Inhaling, take it up, out and around. Stirring that hip. Exhaling, bringing it down, out and around. Final one. No words, just breath. Soon as it is about to crest the mat, you pull it up, out and around, circling, tuning the belly. The breath consistent, grounded through the top of the left foot. One more time. Then it's a slow lift. Balance the hands. I notice that I tend to work that right more than the left. So I have to pay a lot of attention to the opposite diagonal hand. And then it's a pulse up and down. Up and down. Barely noticeable to the eye. Inhale, exhale. Three taps. Right elbow, exhale. Right knee to elbow and then inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Lower it down. Come into child's pose with the arms extended. Feel that. Regal side to side. We will add on now opposite arm to leg. This is for your brain, for your breath and for balancing. So very slowly slide the left foot back. My foot is flexed on the left, pointed on the right. Inhale, lift the left leg and the right arm. Now just hold here. Breathe in and out. In, out. Last time, in. Out. Now only the leg lowers. This makes it a lot more challenging. And then the hand. Round on an exhale. Articulate the other way as you inhale. Come back through the center. Slide the right toes and then lift the right leg. Inhale. Left arm. Exhale. Rise that right leg. Inhale. Stay right here. Exhale. One more time. Inhale. I can feel the shake. Exhale. Slowly, shins down on the right. Then the hand. Exhaling round. Inhaling arch. Feel that. Shoulders away from ears, which really means recruit side body. And then step the right leg back. Left leg back plank.

Downward facing dog. Walk your feet to your hands. Right. As many steps as you can take. Hands on the shins. Elongate. Exhale. Fold and stay. Inhale. Come all the way up and see about a little back bend. Exhale. Hands to the heart center. So just remind the body, the breath, longer, slower, low lunges. Inhaling arms up. Exhaling. Slowly fold. Inhaling. Lengthen. Right leg back. Exhale. Slowly lower the knee to the floor. Top of the foot to the mat. Inhale. Hands on hips. This is just to let the body know I'm going to be here a while. And then the arms come up. Arms can frame ears. Gaze can be up. Forward. One more. Inhale. Exhale. Float the hands down. Plank pose is an inhalation. Ashtanga Namaskar. Knees. Exhale. Chest. Chin. Slide and slither. Release on an exhale. Push back to child. That's part of our theme in this practice. Forward bending, grounding, downward facing dog. Spending some time here in dog. Pedaling the feet, if that excites you. Feeling the palms of the hands equally pressing into the floor. Simply step the right foot forward and the left foot forward. Inhale. Lift the chest. Exhale. Fold. Inhale. Come all the way up. Exhale. Hands to the heart. Inhale. Arms up. Exhale. Fold. Hands on feet. Floor. Shins. Inhale. Lengthen. Left leg back. Lowering knee. Top of foot. Each leg in its own lane. Hands here.

Just coaxing hips. Stay low. Inhaling arms wide together. Gaze can be up or forward and then three juicy breaths. Exhalation. Hands on mat. Right leg back. Inhale. Plank. Knees. Exhale. Chest. Chin. Slide and enjoy. Center of chest pulling through gated thumbs. And then exhale to the ground. Push back. Down dog. So it's really sweet for the joints to appreciate all their capabilities, right? All the bending, the moving, the ripple. So the rivers and the tides and the body can appreciate the breath. Step the left foot forward and then the right. Inhale. Exhale. Bow. Right. May my heart guide me sometime. Inhale. Come all the way up. Accentuate the back bend and we'll continue to flow freely with an exhalation. Inhale. Elongate. And then exhale. Right leg back. Knee down. Top of the foot down. Inhale. Arms up. So two options here. One is to bend elbows and lean over to the left. The second option is to grab the wrist on the right hand. Squeeze the inner thighs and lean over to the left. Now I invite the left shoulder to recline and the left side of the rib cage to roll forward. And then you linger. Inhale. Come up. Arms down.

Exhale. Left foot back. Plank. So you have the choice here. Knees, chest, chin or float slightly forward. Tips of the toes. Chaturanga. Over the toes. Standing up dog. Inner lining of legs lifted. And then exhale down dog. Just two rounds of breath here. In breath. Out breath. In breath. On the out breath release. Right foot steps. Left foot joins. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, fold. Inhale up. Breathing, moving meditation. Exhale, fold. Lengthen. Left foot back. Knee lowers. Top of foot. Each leg their own lean. Arms rise. Inhale. Opposite elbow or right hand grabs left wrist. Arms, frame ears. Lean over to the right. Soft face. Right shoulder slides down. Right side body forward. Inhale up. Arms down. Right leg back. Plank. You decide. Knees, chest, chin or chaturanga. Chest leading you. Lengthening. Wonderful freedom. I like to hang sometimes here. Down dog. In. Out. In. Out. Left foot steps. Light landing. Right foot returns top of mat. Inhale. Exhale. Root the feet to reach up. Emphasize the back bend. And then folding down. Inhale, leaning in. Right leg back. Lower the knee down. Top of the foot. Take the right elbow outside the left thigh. Hands in prayer. If you feel pretty steady. If when you look back, your right foot is straight back. The ankle is not sickling. You look down. You feel the depth of the breath. You might elevate the right leg. Right? Living a little dangerously. You breathe here with a soft, serene face. And then slowly land the leg. Take the hands down. Left foot back. Either child's pose, down dog or flow through. Right? Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Exhale. Right foot steps. Left foot joints. Inhale. Arda. Half. Forward fold. Exhale. Utanasana.

Full forward fold. Inhale. All the way to standing. Urdva with a little back bend. Forward fold. May I bow to my heart? Inhale. Left leg. This is the last round here. So you lower left knee. Top of left foot. Hook left elbow outside. Right thigh hands in prayer. You take that outer landscape. Oh, the ocean. And you bring it into your heart. Vastness. Vastness of me. And then you think, I'm going to dare and I'm going to lift that left knee. Top of the foot's going to get a stretch. Breathe. Right? My breath isn't the water in my body. May I be saturated in that? And then land. Hands. Leg back. Vinyasa dog. Child. Exhale. Inhale. Right? It's just a breathing moving meditation. Second time I'm reminding you of that. Inhale. Inhale.

Left foot steps. Right foot steps. Lengthen. Fold. All the way up. Bow. Inhale. So you can step into the plank or if you feel freedom of hopping into low pushup. Up dog. Downward facing dog. Step the right foot forward. Left heel in warrior two. Right? So right here. Sit into your right thigh. Take the skin with your left hand. I do this in my own practice. That's why I'm inviting you to do it. And just kind of coax it underneath. Right? And this helps you land in the standing right foot. And then slowly keep that opening. Sit deep and reach. Less grippy in the toes. Right? I just found out I was gripping in my toes. And as soon as I feel that, I go, oh, curious. Hmm. Right? It's a fine line of holding on and letting go. Always. And then this variation, right hand out, side, right foot. The left arm could be straight up. If you need the block, here it is. Right? Water bottle, whatever you got. Arm straight up. Arm over. If that right arm is holding the phone, that's what I call it. Drop it. And then can you close your eyes for a moment? Where do I feel more deeply? Oh, I could sit deeper.

And then arms down. Vinyasa. Childs. Down dog. I'm just going to take a dog here and pedal. All right. You have three breaths to be a high plank. Chaturanga. Low cobra or up. Right? Bhujangasana or up dog. Downward facing dog. And then now it's the time. Step the left foot forward. Turn the right heel in. Pause there and take your right hand. So now you get it from the other side. Grab that outer buttock. Pull it underneath. The result is that the thigh externally rotates just a little bit.

Track the knee and then sit. Right? And when I sit here, I feel okay. And then I reach. Streamline the gaze over. Right? For me, it's easy to look straight out into that openness. I have to tell myself I'm going to bring that openness into my meditation. I'm going to be open. Right? One breath away from peace. Grab your block if you used it on the other side. Left hand outside. Left ankle. Right arm could be straight up. Really. Again, side body. Serratus lats if you want to know muscles. If you don't, side body. And then reach over. Now, my right side body has to roll away. So toward the back body. And now I just breathe.

Block to the side. Hands down. Knees down. Feet together. Hopefully you weren't expecting that. Child's pose. Wonderful. Go ahead and sit up. Up. Hmm. Right? New perspective. Middle of the mat. And coming into barakanasana. This barakanasana is more of a diamond shape. So what I mean by that is, I usually use my two hands to gauge from the base of the pubic bone to the heel. And I know for me, when I do this forward fold, the whole low back says thank you. So you just fold. My hands are on the outsides of my feet. If I wanted. Right? My block is here.

I could rest. My forehead. On my block. And in the waiting, there's this acknowledgement, right? You cannot rush. What is to come? Just let it unfold. And that's the practice. You let it unfold. So right hand, cross the body, left shin, if that's too far for you, left, higher toward the knee, left thigh, right hand behind you and you'll twist. You're looking over your right shoulder. And again, I'm not forcing. I'm just letting it be. I'm not yanking my head. I don't need to see any further. Back through center. I got a nice adjustment in my spine, right? And that happened without force. It happened with just patience. So now right hand across to the left, chin, ankle, I mean, chin bone, higher knee, and then hand behind you. And again, when I breathe, and hopefully when you breathe, there's this real support. Right? And what I love to tell my breath is I'm inhaling and I got you. I'm exhaling and you're held.

One more round. I'm inhaling and I got you. Exhaling, you're held. Back through center. And then this is just a moment to drip the body, to drape the body, to let it feel like it waterfalls forward. All those images of water pouring through. And then slowly come up. For this meditation, I'm going to use the block and I'm going to sit in a sweet, cross-legged position. I'm actually just going to have heels in front of pubic bone. And as I always remind you, I elevate the pelvis because I know structurally that my thigh bones feel so much more comfortable with that lift. So in this meditation, if you want a mudra, fingertips together. I like this one, the brain mudra. Some people call it hakimi and you just rest it. Eyes close. So you feel for points of contact. Those points remind you, I am here here. Breathing, being present. Fingertips meeting each other, joining all the parts of you that are actually always connected.

Front back, side to side, inside out. Let each breath bring you here. So that means that when a thought appears, Oh, that's a thought. Okay. Back to my breath. And sometimes there's even a moment where you think, wow, I'm being breathed all day long. Lucky me. And I'm being breathed. These moments are about crafting a breath that supports sharpening the aperture of the mind. Breathing. Keep on breathing. So as this seated and moving practice comes to completed, if you feel really welcomed, right? The hips feel just soft enough.

My hope is that you will stay just a little longer. You will see that you do crave this quiet, that you are always invited to sit. And if you feel Shavasana, oh, I want to lay down and do that now. Right? Really a moment of gratitude to yourself. Thank you. You made this happen. Something is right in your life that you would take this time for yourself. Keep tending to your heart. And then hands, heart center. I had this really warm feeling, this bright, illuminated being that is you. I bow to you. Thank you so much for sharing the practice. Namaste.