Core for Meditation

Welcome. Grab a block, right? If you don't have a block, roll up a towel so it's pretty substantial. You will wedge the block right up there. Yep, there it is. And I like to give it a little tug in the back, a little tug so it reminds my thigh bones to roll back and so that my bottom does not snuggle under, right? It just has a natural lift. So we're gonna do some work with the block. We're gonna really co-create with it. Feet are grounded, breath is audible in and out through the nose, right? Just enough that it pulls you into your body, not so much that it aggravates your nervous system. So to begin, just simply inhale and see if your heels can rise and then exhale and lower. It doesn't matter if you pitch forward or back or you do a little two-step, no big deal. Inhale, exhale, lighting up the inner lining of the leg. Inhale, exhale, adding the arms. So inhale, tippy toes, arms. Exhale, heels and arms come down. So two more. Three is our magic number. In and out. One more. In, up onto the tippy toes. Whoa, I got a little excited there. I came forward and then exhale coming down. All right, so this next one, adding on, adding the bend of the knees. Inhale, arms just to shoulders, tippy toes, and then exhale, right? Level arms squeezing block. Inhale, up, exhale, everything down. Heels land, toes relaxed, fingers relaxed. Inhale, arms and heels. Exhale, bend. That's a lot. Inhale, and then down. One more time, find it. In this final one, you're just doing one of these. You're gonna see how low you can go without pitching your body forward or back, and you just do the best you can. Okay, inhale, arms up, heels up. Exhale, go low. All right, how low can you go? All right, and as you go there, can you breathe? I can feel my feet negotiating a lot. So I tether in my navel, right, in my navel, and then I inhale and come slowly up. Exhale, heels down. So you remove the block. So I'm being sneaky here, because we're first working the inner lining of the leg. We're really working the core, right? That's what this sequence is about. It's like a core yummy sequence, so you can sit up tall in your meditation, okay? Block, I'm gonna remove for now. Do a little bit of a one step forward. Left foot steps forward in its own lane. Inhale, on to the tippy toes, right? Arms are parallel to the floor, and then exhale, lower down. Inhale, coming up. Exhale, heels lower. Two more, so the work is belly, back, side body. Inhale. Exhale, soft eyes. Magnetize inner lining of legs. Inhale, heels high. Exhale, final one. Inhale, lips soft. Exhale, lowering down.

Inhale, rising up. Exhale, heels down, hands down. Stand, right? So ideally both feet were rising and falling together, but sometimes that just doesn't happen. So right foot will step, own lane. Inhaling, arms levitate to horizontal. Exhaling, pelvis descends, my roof of the mouth rising. Inhaling, coming up. Exhaling, heels and hands down. So with breath. Final, final. Feet together. I shake, and right away I'm just gonna like hand on navel, hand on low back, bring it together. Bring it together to bring it up so that the core is engaged, so that there's an upright quality when in seated meditation. Come to the top of the mat. Mindfully, arms forward. This time palms up. Slowly sit down. So now I've incorporated all that I did with the block, without it, and I could land without my hands, which is pretty impressive for me. So in the Navasana prep, right? The boat pose. If at any time the feet need to be down, just do that for yourself. And remember if you have tailbone issue, you can opt out by coming on your back and replicating a lot of this on your back. So tilt back, lift the feet, and then lower them. So let's get into the breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Now you'll do a little tap and twist. So right foot will tap, left a lift, and you'll twist. And then inhale. Left foot will tap, and you'll twist. Inhale. There's a moment. Nothing's touching. Exhale. To the left. Center. To the right. Center. Slowly, lower the feet down. Curl back a bit, and then roll up a bit. Okay? Curl back and lift your left, and then roll up. Curl back and lift your right, and then roll up. Continue. Inhaling. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Final one each side. And then coming forward now. I like to do this in the middle of my mat just so I have my wingspan as wide. The arms will come forward, and you'll go back right to that place where the belly is really kicking in. It's firing up in the front body and the back body, and the arms will go wide. Mmm. And then together. And then inhale up, and then down. Inhale wide. Together. Inhale up. Down. Final one. Wide. Together. Up. Down. Sitting up, because that was a lot. That sort of boiled my low belly. Coming onto your back, you will grab your block, right? Block will go in between the legs. You will have shin bones, horizontal thigh bones, vertical, right?

Hands under the head. If this is too much, feet down. Big deal, right? If your feet have to be down to be successful, work them down. If not, here you are. Inhale for the prep. I can see my elbows in the peripheral. Exhale, curl. Inhale down. I'm really squeezing the block. Exhale, curl. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Now, come up and twist to your left. Exhale. Come to the center. Inhale. Exhale to the right. Inhale. Left. Center. Right. Inhale. Left. Center. Right. Center. Down. Feet down. A little rock and roll of the pelvis. A little tip and back. Tip and back. One more time. Up and back. Now, I like to use the block as a support for my head. If that's not working for you or you don't have a block, weave your fingers, okay? Weave them so you can hold the base of your skull. Hold the block underneath so it's either the block is like a hammock for your head or your fingers are. And then slowly lift your feet up. You can keep them low. I find that lower is more difficult for me. Curl head and shoulders up and then open your legs, right? So, I open my legs like I'm doing a frog on the ceiling. This is my favorite frog and the reason is I don't have the floor pushing into my inner thighs. I don't know why I think that's funny what I do. Take an inhale. Exhale.

Curl up, then bury your sacrum into the mat, then unravel the pelvis and come down. Oh, hello, low abdominal region. Exhale. Curl pelvis. It winds up. Unwind it and down. Just one more. Curl. Wind. Unravel. Down. Knees together, right? I don't know about you, but that was a lot for me. So, we just have one more set. Okay. One more set. Curl. You can hold the head. I like the block. Feet open. Feet flex. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale down. Case you forgot. Exhale. First, curling head and shoulders. Second, pelvis. Unravel pelvis. Everything down. Final. Up. Pelvis. Wheels forward. On wheels. Down. Legs together. Feet down. Lock down. Land for a moment. There's a lot going on down there. Left ankle in front of right thigh. Slide it in. If it's a lot for you to thread the left hand through the triangle and grab the shin bones, then grab the thigh. If it's not a lot, curl up. Assist this figure four by pushing the left thigh away and curling.

And again, we've been working the core here, right? So, slurp the navel away from the waistband as you curl up. And then curl a little higher. Relax the toes. And then pull it in and release. Switch sides. Cross, thread, hamstrings or shin bones. Find it. Breathe. Curl. Elbow can push it away or in front. Right? If the chin is working too hard, just make sure the neck relaxes. Feet relax. Curl. Down. Release. Now, I like to put my hands on my knees and do what I call a little circle, right? For the sacrum. Three. Since that's been the number we've been working with in one direction and then three in the other. Then the hand-heart, hand-belly, and just like letting yourself know you're strong in your center. And that strength in your center is gonna center you in your meditation. So, rock up. You can sit cross-legged. You could sit in Virasana. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna use the block since I have it. Put it in between the inner thighs. Sit. Right? Maybe take the flesh off the sit bones. A nice earthing quality. Toes pointed back. Always comfort first. Right? If you need to lie down and you're still awake with it, that's fine. Close your eyes.

Right? So, that work in the core. Hmm. Oh yeah. Giving you the lightness in the heart. The ability to lift. To breathe. Breathing in. I'm here. Breathing out. Here I am. Right? If that mantra supports you, breathing in. I'm here. Breathing out. Here I am. So, you sit inside with a reminder. I am here. Here I am. And then this mind training. In this ability to see the sweetness of a sustainable seated practice. Keep coming back to the breath. And really it's reclaiming so that you can keep the breath and the mindfulness forward. Right?

This spaciousness. This moment. So, the impermanent shows up in meditation constantly. Right? A thought will appear and if you let it, it will disappear. If you grip, if you attach, you can hold it long. It still wants to keep moving. So, the receptivity comes from knowing certainty is change. Use the tools. Inhaling, I am here. Exhaling, here I am. Inhaling, here I am. These final rounds of breath. Right? Concentration is key. You're sitting in the swell of you. In yoga we call it your rasa, your essence. And hopefully exactly where you are is where you meet yourself. This moment. Not your past self. Right?

That would be looping some story. Not your future self that hasn't happened yet. You, right here, right now. You stayed present for a practice, physically moving practice. And for the stillness of meditation. So, you can stay longer or you can take shavasana. Right? Give yourself permission to follow your inner guide. Bringing hands to heart center and prayer for me. Right? The sweetness, the kindness, the compassion. And my heart bows to the sweetness, the kindness, and the compassion in yours. Namaste.