Move to Meditate Artwork
Season 3 - Episode 10

Twisting Towards Stillness

60 min - Practice
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Description

Bex guides us in a fluid practice designed to prepare us for a 10-minute meditation. We begin with a slow neck release, before moving into a dynamic series of standing, twisting, and balancing postures to warm and awaken the spine. You will feel rinsed out and rejuvenated.
What You'll Need: Mat, Block

Transcript

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Welcome. This practice is going to focus on legs, standing and rotation. We're going to move some energy and sit for 10 minutes at the end. So all through the practice just getting excited about the movement leading to the stillness. So find a comfortable seat and just let yourself arrive in your body and you will place your right hand on your left ear. That's how I always like to begin this one. Right hand, left ear, and then sit up a little bit. Chin, and I usually use my opposite hand, chin comes down ever so slightly. And then the right shoulder drops and you gently assist that whole right ear closer to the right shoulder. And as I do it, I know I'm breathing and I'm telling myself, breathe and to draw the chin down. If it's a lot for you, like right here, this is a lot, then you just keep the left hand resting on the left thigh, maybe if not left hand to left shoulder. And in that moment, you're kind of just allowing it to feel like there's length and buoyancy in the center of the chest, right? So upright quality, not hard in the chest. And then I'll be silent for three rounds of breath so you can just feel your breath move through your body. And the exit of this neck release is really the entrance into coming back to upright. So I'm really supported and careful. I put my left hand on my left ear and my right hand on my right ear and pick my head up. I think in my mind, oh, I'm putting my head on my shoulders correctly and it might've been awful at all. And then I just let my hands rest. And for a moment, as I'm breathing, as you're breathing, just notice, right, is one nostril working as hard as the other? Is there a sense of flushing through the left side of the neck?

And there's no right way here, right? So as that happens for me, it's inviting enough to do the other side. So now the left hand to the right ear, and again, lifting in the chest as I lower the left ear toward the left shoulder, I relax that left shoulder and right hand rest. And already I just felt a little gentle adjustment. Maybe use the hands to kind of remind the chin to go back a little and soften. And then if you want more right hand, right shoulder, and you kind of just give it a little bit of a support in the length, right? And you'll find a sweet spot, right? Sometimes just dropping the chin a bit or rising it gets into a magical place. For me, I can feel it right from the ear all the way down the neck. And so again, just three rounds to sort of marinate here. And then same cue, right? As you depart, you really arrive someplace else, right hand, right ear, left hand, left ear, and you pick it up. And in that moment, maybe the chin drops as the chest rises, arms come down, and you note the breath, right? The breath that's in through the nose and out through the nose in and out. And now that we've sort of juiced up the senses in the neck, we will very slowly just round the back. And I really feel like my spine is just dripping down and like a big gust of wind and wind in a sail bellowing my back. So I'm inflection and I let my head even look down. And then as I inhale, I accentuate extension and slide the hands in. And hopefully you're doing that too. And then the chest rises, throat is open. I just do two more rounds. So as you are exhaling, you're rounding the back much like you might do on all fours. And then as you're inhaling, you're sliding the hands in. So it's a real ripple and you look up, you soften your eyes. I realized I was working my eyes a little more than I need to. And then I'm out of my inhale. So exhale, rounding pubic bone coming forward. And this might feel really slow for you. And that's great. In yoga, we unhurry ourself and then go ahead and inhale, right? And in the unhurrying, we can see about a natural release for freeing up space. And then back to the center. And so keeping hands on thighs, a little bit of twisting, sliding the left hand in as you twist to the left. That's an inhale. And then exhale and slide that left hand out. Inhale, slide. And I'm really efforting in leading with my ribs because in life we often lead with our head. And then I let the ribs guide me back and slide. So in the next two, as you inhale and you twist to the left, feel the right side body coming across. And then exhale back to center upright in your spine. Inhale as you twist and rotate to the right, the left side of the body coming around that central axis, feeling the spiral. And then one more round. Inhaling all the way over. Exhale to center. And then final one. Inhale over to the left and then back. So as you sit up tall, you've balanced both sides, right, left, left, right. Just feel what the spine gets within you upright. And now come onto all fours in preparation for a downward facing dog. So if you were sitting on a bolster, a blanket, or towels, you just move it to the side. All fours. I personally like to set myself up slowly in the plank. And then downward facing dog. So down dog, breathing in and out, pedaling feet, lengthening arms and legs. And then slowly, gently walk your feet. Walk your feet and take as many steps, especially if you feel like, oh, but I can jump really well. Good. You can save that for later. For now, just come forward.

Easeful forward men, right? Hands on mat or opposite elbows. Eyes can close as you tick tock the body side to side. And then switch whatever form was on top to the bottom. Maybe make the movements bigger, maybe straighten one leg and then straighten the other. And then slowly place your hands on your shins and inhale, lengthen. And exhale, fold. Inhale, come all the way up, bend the knees, roll up, right? So roll the up in such a way that it feels like the navel kind of nestles into the front of the spine, this part of the spine you cannot see. And then bring the hands to the heart center and prayer, right? Enjoying this practice of movement into stillness. Inhale, arms up, look up. Exhale, slowly fold forward and down like a nice bend here in the beginning. And then inhale, elongate the spine. Take the right leg back as you exhale. Inhale, gaze forward, stretch the right heel back when that's happening. And then exhale, left leg back. Inhale, hold in the planks. We'll use these holds in the plank, elongating the body. Yeah. And then slowly lower all the way to the floor. Thigh bones roll in, it'll be a dynamic cobra wave like fashion adding twists. So first one through the center. Inhale, lifting up. Exhale, slowly coming down. Second one, looking over the left shoulder. Inhaling. Exhaling, come through the center. And then inhale, looking over the right shoulder, maybe pinning those elbows in. Exhale, release. And then balancing it. So we're adding one more inhale through the center. And then exhale. Push back through child's. I always like to remind you at any time in this practice, full permission to take pose of the child, everything is an invitation. So downward facing dog.

Right. Some days we wake up or we're practicing in the evening and we have more or less energy. So just honoring that I'm shifting my heels right now, left and right. Maybe you can do that too. And you can feel like you're wagging the tail of the dog, right? I always think of a dog that wags its tail a little feisty. Step the right foot forward. Exhale. Inhale, look forward, push that left heel back, awakening the front of the left upper thigh. And then launch the foot forward. Inhale, hands on shins, lengthen. Exhale to bow. Inhale, hands that heart come all the way up, reach, stretch, tall, look to thumbs, and then prayer to the heart center. Second round. Inhale, lift and look. Exhale, heart leads, head follows. Difficult to do in life. Inhale, lengthen. Left leg back. Look forward. Inhaling. You'll think, oh, I just did this side. You did. And then right leg goes back. Now you're in the plank and you just hold here. Inhaling. Exhaling. Inhale. Enjoy the ease. Exhale all the way down. Thigh bones in. One more. Full round of those cobras. So when you inhale, lift through the central line, press the palms in gently, and then exhale, come to rest from navel all the way down. Turning to the right this time first, just going from the last side, looking up and over, and then coming down through the center. Inhale over to the left side. I almost feel my left lung lifting higher, higher, and then exhale through center, balancing it off. Inhale. And then exhale. One more time. Pressing back into child's pose. Just feeling the benefits. The length through the spine. Downward facing dog. So in down dog, you just feel hands resting on mat. Maybe you get a sense that the inner eyes of your elbows gaze to the opposite thumb. Maybe you don't get that sense at all. Play with, if it's fine, tuning for you, it'll allow your mind to be more focused. Step the left foot forward, gaze forward, press that right heel back, and then slowly right foot forward. Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, chest to thighs, and bend your knees. Yeah. Going into utkatasana from the floor. So using the points of contact to bring you up. In the up, how can you feel the down? How can you feel the down and the up? So I personally am squeezing my inner thighs, and then there's a co-contraction. My belly and my back are working equally. So there's no swooping in my booty, and there's no tucking. Yep, right there, right in the middle. That's the gold deluxe principle. And then you inhale, come all the way up, and exhale, fold, right? Moderation. Inhale, lift the chest. You might step or you might gracefully. I'm going to hop. Chaturanga, that's my exhale. And then inhale, rolling and lifting. Exhale, back. Down dog, right foot steps. The left heel will stay off of the floor, and you will take the arms back. So the arms will go back by your sides, palms facing the floor, chest lengthening. All right, so the spine feels the length. The arms are very active. There's a lot of muscular energy here at work. And now I'm going to shimmy my right outer hip back because I have a feeling that's going to show up in the practice today. Hands to the floor, right leg back. Child's pose is fine. Down dog is fine. Or you can slowly exhale. Chaturanga. Inhale, Urdvamukha, upward facing. You could be in low cobra. Forward facing dog. Left foot steps. That knee is tracked above the ankle and then the arms come back again. And this is actually one of my most favorite variations. It gives the center of the chest an offering forward and also the arms, that tonal quality in the arms. Feeling the muscles around the bones and then the fascia and then your skin. Arms down.

You could cycle through. I'm going to go right into down dog here and just feel how my legs work evenly. All right, I'm wagging the tail again, feeling the breath. So when I look down, my heels are kind of clocking side to side, like three on the clock to nine and nine on the clock to three. And then bend the knees. Look to the hands. Hop, step, jump. Inhale. Exhale. Chest to thighs. Knees bend. Utkatasan. All right, so from the floor into this fierce, this chair and then into standing. So now from the top to the bottom. So bend the knees. Arms up. Reach. Sit a little deeper. And then fold. Exhale. Inhale, lengthen. You can step. This time I'll step. You could be hopping high plank to low plank. You could just hold plank or you can lower plank. You can roll over the toes and then down dog. There's something nice in that rinse there. The brain even starts to soften in my body. Right foot steps. Left hand will stay on the mat. You could use a block and then the right hand reaches up. And right here, once again, sitting into the right thigh, activate the left leg. It can't be lazy. And then I'm going to use my right hand and kind of just coax my right outer hip back. Oh, my rotators say, hmm, that's interesting. And now the right hand comes down. Downward facing dog, child, vinyasa. I'm going to go right into dog this time and just let my body digest what happened on that right side. If you're moving through, you probably have one more breath to get to down dog. And now the left foot steps. Knee tracks. Block under right hand if you need it. First, the left arm comes up. And that's how you can go into that place. It's usually habit. And so then you take the left hand.

Oh, I'll be my best assistant. Guide it back. My spine feels a nice twist. And then the arm comes up and there's breath. I just noticed my right shoulder was doing that habit of holding the phone. So you've got to put the phone down. That's what I think of. That's how it feels. And then the left hand comes down. Down dog, child, I'm going to do high to low. So high plank to low plank. Roll over toes, up dog. I feel that little lift wagging the tail. And then down dog. I like a little bit of sound. When I come into down dog, I feel the release in the throat. I actually think of it as clearing the pathway for my heart to talk to my head. So you can join me if you like. Inhaling, opening the mouth. And then inhaling, puttering the lips. Yes, I'm channeling my inner horse. And then inhale. And then one more. Knees bend. Top of mat. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, fold. Bend your knees. Utkatasana. Right. And this time I'm going to bring my palms together just because I can. And if my shoulders were up high, I'd take them apart. I'm going to know inside that if I'm not listening deeply to what's right for me in the practice, I'm edging the grace out of the practice, right? I'm edging it out. So I'm just going to go, oh yeah, I like them together right now. Then stand tall, add a back bend, fold forward and down. That's an exhale. Inhale, lengthen. You can hop. I'm going to step again with my opposite foot plank. You can hang and plank for three breaths, or you can lower with an exhale and you could take low cobra or up dog. Downward facing dog. Hmm. The moment my body was wondering if it was going to happen, it's happening, right? Footsteps, warrior one, right? Here I am. And because I've been assisting myself, I'm taking my right thumb into the crease of my hip and just giving myself that sit. And then the arms are going to come up. Now the arms are going to come up in warrior one and I'm going to look up and then I'm just going to bend my elbows. I'm going to bring my elbows slightly forward and I'm going to look up. And now for me, I can feel like, hmm, is that swaying in my low back? Cause that's a habit I have. So I tether the navel. Oh, okay. Yep. Right there. Going to wait. Maybe I can sit deeper. All right. I, I feel what's happening. I'm freeing up space for that feeling, that one right there. And then I'm waiting. Uh-huh. I'm waiting a little longer than I like. Ah. And then the hands come down. Plank pose. You use the plank to reset yourself. Chaturanga to rinse. If you want to skip it, feel free. A little cobra up. Down dog. My left side is very excited. Stepping it forward, outer edge of the back foot grounded. So both feet landing with the best energy that they can. Thumb on the right hip. I mean the left hip, excuse me, left thumb sitting into it. Right ribs. Uh-huh.

Arms up. And then again, elbows will bend, right? And as they bend and they come forward slightly, I have to do that same correction. I have to feel like there's a vacuum behind my navel. And that's a personal thing for me because I know I could just dump there. I could channel a very successful low back bend. So sit deeper. How can I imagine behind my heart center like a divine hand? Arms down. Plank if you like. Just hang in there. Or maybe you're feeling like I want the Chaturanga, but I don't want the up dog. So you go all the way down. Roll the thigh bones in. Shoulders shrug. They go up and then they hug down. Inhale, lift. Thank you for this body. Exhale, release. You could take child's pose. You could flex your feet and lift up and then down dog. Slowly. Right foot forward, left heel in warrior two. So now as you guide into warrior two, we go from this still warrior to a reverse and you could look down and then we mostly straighten the front leg and exhale, bend. Inhale, straighten. Exhale, bend. One more time. Inhale, straight. Exhale, bend. And then arms come forward. Now you will pivot with the legs straight into prasad. I'm going to move a little myself because I didn't have enough space there. Hands come onto your hips. So your heels are landed and then you will inhale, stretch the front body and exhale, come forward and down. Hands land just under your shoulders and then lean in. Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, slowly fold. So right here, can you hike the upper traps up toward the ceiling and channel the neck so it's long. And then lean in. Maybe your head touches, maybe it doesn't. If your head does touch, I can tell you this. It feels like, oh, there it is. Head on the floor. Doesn't feel like enlightenment. Nothing like that. Hmm. Okay. I'm all right. So inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, hands to hips. Inhale, come all the way up. This time we're being really adventurous and going around the world on the mat. Pivot on the left heel, bend the left knee, and then come into warrior two. Now cartwheel the arms forward and down. There they are. And take chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. Exhale, down dog. Totally different perspective, right? Sometimes you have to get upside down to get right side up. Sometimes you've got to move to the back of the mat to find your way in the front. Step the left foot forward. Turn the right heel in. Warrior two. Oh, here I am. Yeah, right here. Sit, reverse. So right hand down, left arm up. And then there's that flossing. Inhale, straighten the left leg. Exhale, bend. Inhale, straight. And you might not fully straighten. There might be a microbend. Exhale, bend. You got one more. Inhale. Exhale.

Beautiful. Inhale, straighten. Hands wide. Hands on hips. Now I've got to futz with my feet again because somehow there's always that moment where my pelvis mutates. I don't know. I drive a car. Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. So I'm dominant with my right leg even if I don't want to be. Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, fold forward and down. Peace fingers index middle. Grab big toes. Slice them apart. Inhale, lift. Exhale, fold. Right. As someone who knows, and I see a lot of toes, and I know what happens as we age, the toes feel like they're nestled, right? Five of them in a twin bed. So you pull the big toes towards each other as you bend the elbows, right? Really in an effort to say, hey, let me free up some space for you, buddy. Yeah, just like that. Wonderful. Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, hands to hips, long spine, inhaling, coming all the way up. Right heel pivots. Bend the knee, warrior two, arms swimming down, down dog, child's vinyasa. Slowly lower your elbows to the floor. Forearm plank. Yeah, right here. Let's do a little rainbow-ing of the hips. So let the left side of the pelvis go down and the right side lifts. This is like a parenthesis. And then when you inhale, lift it up and drip the right side. Now I'm going to accentuate it by letting my feet, my toes point left as my right hip lowers. And then inhale to center and then going over to the left, heels are left, toes are right. Inhale to center. One more each side. Exhale. Inhale. Last time. Exhale. Inhale, come up. Now, pivot that right forearm toward the left side of the mat. Come into forearm vashisthasana, forearm side plank. Left hand on hip. Your right knee could be down. If this is challenging enough, you stay here. If you think, oh, but I want more. You reach the left arm up and you look up. You think, oh, this is easy. You lift the left leg. Wait. Could you bend the left knee to the left elbow and then reach? Do you even want to? Bend left knee, left elbow. Reach. One more time. Left knee, left elbow. Reach. And then slowly come out of it. Here's your cookie. Lower your knees, your thighs, your pubic bone, your navel. And then take a low sphinx. Right? And in the sphinx, there's a temptation for that low back to just go on vacation. So tone low belly and then release. Come back into the forearm plank. And I like to do it this way. Flex feet, navel lifts, pubic bone lifts, thighs lift, knees lift, hands come into the plank and then down dog. I didn't say it was any easier that way. I just said I like to do it that way. So now very slowly, step the right foot forward.

Turn the toes left. So you're back in that press. All right. This time you're doing it from the ground. Okay. Hands in that very first one. So elbows are bent above wrists. Now lift the chest. Exhale fold. Now since twisting is our theme, put your right hand under your face and your left hand on your left hip, heels wider than toes and then look over the left shoulder. Hmm. This feels good. You may want to thread that left hand over to the right thigh. Now I can't see if my pelvis is balanced, but I know that I have one hamstring that's a little more challenged than the other and it happens to be my right one. So right now it's talking to me. Could be a little nicer to me than it is, but I'm listening, breathing. Oh yeah. Ungrip the toes and then gently, slowly unravel that. The exit here is to pivot on your left foot. Yes, you're being brave again. It was so fun going around the world. We're doing it again. Put your hands down, take the left leg back, hold the plank and then come onto your forearms. Hmm. It's like deja vu, right? Yes, it is. So let's rainbow the hips. Lower the left hip, roll to the left and then inhale. Come to the center. Lower the right hip, toes pointing left. Inhale to the center and then go ahead and continue for two more rounds. If there was such thing as waist whittlers, that's what this would be. Inhale, right? Exhale. One more in and out. One more is really half on each side and then up and over and then up. And now the moment you were hoping for coming onto the left forearm pivoting, forearm plank on the side. So hand on hip. That's a lot. Just stay here. Nope. Look up. Right palm up, hips up. Oh, but I want more backs. So do I. Okay. Lift the right leg, elbow to knee and reach. You don't want more. I don't know why you do it. Bend. Extend. Oh, I sagged on that left side. Bend. Extend. Come over.

Yeah. Thank you, body. Knees, thighs, pubic bone, navel. Ha. And then lift the chest. I may have made a different sound last time, but I still enjoyed it. And then slowly elbows come down. Feet flex. I call this the bridging plank in reverse. Navel, pubic bone, thighs, knees, left hand, right hand, down dog. Left foot steps. Both feet turn to the right, parallel. Right. I aligned my toes. Slice big toe from second. Inhale, lift. Exhale, fold. Just one round of breath before we add the twist. In. Out. Left hand under face, right hand on hip. Look over to the right. Lean a little more left. Lean into the toes. Right. Pelvis is like, hmm, this feels so good. Can I balance it out? And then the hand comes down. Maybe you threaded it around. If you did unravel it, climb toward the top. Down dog. Slowly walk your feet. I'm sure you can jump, but walk your feet because it's giving your hips a little bit of flow and movement. Grab your block. You might need it for this. So you might not, but just in case you're going to put your block outside your left foot and then slowly roll up. And I just like every once in a while, just shake it out after that kind of stuff. Cause the body wants freedom, right? That's what the body wants. That's what the mind wants. That's what the spirit wants. So you just shake it out in preparation for revolve triangle. Yeah. I didn't tell you that was happening because I know people really love that pose. You'll step the right foot back. So right foot back for me, I think legs distance, not my leg for you, your leg for you. Okay. Heel to heel. And then I put my hands on my hips and I personally like a little bend in my left knee during the transition because I know that that affords me decongesting on the right side of the pelvis. So if you've never tried it, just see how it feels for you. If you don't like it, you don't ever have to do it again, right? But you won't know if you don't try. Inhale, lift your chest and then exhale, start to slowly come forward halfway, a little bend in the right, the left knee, left outer hip back. And then right here, some of you might choose hands down. Okay. Immediately. Others of you might keep the left hand on the left hip and take the right hand on a block. It could be on the outside of the foot. If you want to be a little more conservative, it could be on the inside of the foot. What we're really going for is, oh, can I feel that exterior line outer lining of my left leg? And can I get into that space?

And then the block, if it's on the outside of the left foot, there it is. Okay. So right there I go. Okay. Hmm. Calf feels this. Can I lengthen? And then as I'm lengthening, can I squeeze the inner thighs enough to reach up? And there's a bit of wobble here and I'm very accepting of it. Okay. I can feel it. My low spine just adjusted. Oh, that reminded me. Belly, low belly. Okay. Now, very slowly, you will move the block underneath the right shoulder because there's one more pose on this side. Left hand back to the left hip. Here's where it is. Revolved artichandra, parvrita artichandra, which is one of my favorite poses. So first balance the hips. And I like to have the hand here because then I can feel. And then this whole sensation moves through the body. And then I say, Oh, I want the hand a little more forward. I might not actually want the block, but I'm going to use it today. And then lift with energy, the right leg, and then lift the left arm. And in this moment, while the body is multifaceted and doing lots of stuff, can you be focused? And then slowly guess what? It just keeps happening. It's like the party that never ends. Lift the right leg for your best splits in air and then take the right knee behind the left knee and slide it all the way down the calf. It's like a little massage and then land the right knee outside the left ankle and sit. Oh, I recognize this pose. Yeah. That's what you say to yourself. If you're a little bit challenged here, the right leg could be straight, right straight out in front. I'm going to keep my right heel outside my left hip, holding onto my left shin bones from there. It's a little bit like twister in this pose. Every place has some place to land. You could stay right here. Now, many breaths ago, we did a very first twist and I said, can you lead with your ribs? Can you integrate that now? I'm going to do my best. Left ribs rolling, rolling, rolling. Oh yeah. Left foot grounding. Left hand behind.

Right arm up and hooks. And then I breathe. Breathing. Now, when I want to advance this pose, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. All I do is move my eyes, not my chin, not my chest, not my nose. I move my eyes to the right. That's eye yoga right there. If you're really listening, careful, you can even hear the tone of my voice shifts just from my eyes. Now I'm looking back the other way. And then slowly, gently release. All right. Release. Shake it out. Grab hold of the thighs. And come into Ardhanavasana. Ardhanavasana, shin bones parallel. Belly working. Back working. And then you think, what if I wanted to straighten the legs? What if I wanted to extend the arms? You could do that, right? There is a variation by a padangustasana where you grab the toes. You could do that too, if that helps you. All right. If you've got a tailbone issue, you could skip it. Okay. Very specific. Right calf in front of left shin. Rocking forward. Coming into Chaturanga.

Inhale up. Doesn't have to look like that. Just make it feel good. Downward facing dog. Now your right side is a little jealous. I can feel it because mine is. So bend the knees. Hop forward. Your hands are close to the mat. So position the block outside the right foot and then roll up. A little shake. A little shimmy. I feel a little shout. Let it go. Left leg back. Here you are. Here I am. I'm getting hot here. Roll those right ribs back. Left ribs forward. Inhale. Lift the chest. Okay. So this is where I gave you that tip.

Little bend in the right knee. Gently come forward. Slowly. Slowly. Slowly. If you need both hands, down frame them. If you want to keep the left hand on the inside of the right foot, fine. I just noticed I want to move my left foot. If you want to return the right hand, go ahead. And then the left hand goes outside. And then maybe the right arm comes up. And then maybe you futz with your feet. I know I just did. I got to steer that right outer hip back. I got to see about squeezing those legs. And while everything is going on, I'm just breathing. Okay. Return right hand to right hip. You can take the block with you underneath the left shoulder. And this is that moment of lift off. You lift left leg. All right. Maybe left hand comes a little more forward. Then you lift and you flex the left foot. Steer right outer hip back and left here. So I can feel, even though I can't see it, my left leg needs to lift a little higher. A little bit higher. Come on. You can do it. Tone the belly. Twist. Look up. Your best. Your best twisting half moon, right? Doesn't need to look anything like me doing it. Just be your best one. Right hand down. Now splits in air. This is my presently difficult side. So I just tell my hamstrings, I love you, right hamstrings. You can release when you're ready. Okay. Left knee bends and goes behind the right calf. And I push into it to give just a little bit of an assist. And then sitting down. So again, if your left leg needs to be straight, the bottom leg, go ahead and take that. If not, situate yourself so you feel comfortable. You can use the right hand to hook right outer hip down and then come behind you. Lift left arm and then hook it outside. And then remember, not yanking the neck or the head, rolling the right ribs. And if you want, you can move the eyes in the direction of the left hand. Slowly unravel. Yep. Great job here. Come back, shake it out. We have one more rock and roll Vinyasa and then we're right there. So hands under thighs, you can stay right here. You can lift, lift, lift. If you want to do the one where you grab the toes, you can grab the toes, sit up tall. And then left calf in front of right chin, rock forward. If you can pick yourself up, you can do that. You can take a slow chaturanga or you can go right into down dog and now come into child's pose. Okay. So we're coming into child's pose for our finishing moment of another twist. Slowly work your way at all fours. And for this threading the needle, I like my shin bones to be horizontal, my thigh bones to be vertical. So sometimes I'll take my legs back a little further in anticipation because I know that that hip is going to hike. One of the hips is going to hike. So I like to take it back. And so right arm is, we'll go out to the side and when you thread the right arm through, okay, this is usually when the hips come forward and I'm going to give you permission to just take that left arm a little left and say, okay, I'm going to come down. Now my hips might not be straight up and down, right? But if they aren't, I'm going to wag my left outer hip back a bit and then take my right ear a little more right and then thread it. Now in my mind's eye, it feels like, oh, I'm almost there. I'm almost straight with my thigh bones, but they might not be. And then in that space pushing into the shin bones, you can take the left arm and keep it there, take it forward. Some people like to thread it behind, right? If you feel like you were in that place where you want to thread it behind, just feel for your right thigh, close your eyes, breathe in and out, in and out and out. Now this is one of those poses that it's reposing the whole time. So remove the left hand, return it and to come out really just like slowly. I think of this pose when I'm exiting it, like how I want to exit any party graceful enough that it was just like my entrance. Oh, I was there, but I wasn't sloppy, right? Rounding forearms are down, arching, digesting that twist, right?

Digesting it. And then coming back onto all fours and taking the right hand just outside. And again, where you want to lean forward, just pull it back a little, slide the left arm through. And if you feel your tipping, steer that right hip back. It's so interesting because this is how you steered it back when you were doing your revolve triangle, right? This is how you steered it back a little when you were in separate leg stretching. So you can keep the right hand outside the mat. You could take it forward. If you like to weave it around, you can weave it and hook it. And then in that moment, push the shin bones in, your right outer hip back, and then three rounds. Slowly come out of it. Gently onto the forearms with the palms facing round. Articulate the other way. Sit back. Just maybe a moment right here before we sit to just formally thank yourself for twisting and releasing and preparing yourself, right? Really great work preparing yourself. So go ahead and sit up. I'm going to grab my pranayama cushion because I know we're sitting for 10 minutes. Yeah. And I know I'm in a want support and meditation takes a team effort. So I elevate my pelvis, find that sweet spot for my feet. Rest the hands. If you need a little more support, you can take a mudra, right? So I'm an index finger, all the fingers together, and then just sit up really tall and close your eyes. So as your eyes close, breathe deep. Soften the eyeballs away from the lids. Inward gaze. Depth of breath.

Sometimes you need a little more assistance. Pick one word right now. Repeat it when you inhale and when you exhale. And when a thought appears, come back to whatever your word is. Love, now. Peace, now. Once again, thank you for having us. In the stillness, reveal your breath. In the stillness, reveal your breath.

This is the most important place for you to be right now in the stillness. Seek the breath. Be silent so you can listen. In the stillness, reveal your breath. So we're just over halfway.

So stay committed. This is your dedicated time to fill up with breath and to release in such a way that you feel spacious. So every time the mind tricks you and says, oh, there's something more important, get up. And really all those people around you, the benefit, the ripple of the meditation is the radiance that shows up. So just keep coming back to your breath.

Hebitually right now, the upper chest starts to slump, so the back body is a little hunching. So if you are seated, be really upright. The more vertical you can be, the more you can tap into your intelligence, your divine line, that's what I call it. So without hardening, be tall, upright, tune in, your frequency, no static of other. Feel the breath swirling.

Breath swirling in the abdominal region, the gift of the prana, the life force, the blood, the chi, whatever you want to call it. And these final rounds of breath here, invite more focus. I am breathing. I'm breathing. I'm breathing. So take some time right now to truly feel the gratitude of what you have just created, and how you have stayed with it, and how you have completed ten minutes of sitting. That is huge. So if you feel like you've carved out enough time to lay down and take a luxurious shavasana, do that now.

A luxurious shavasana can be one minute, two minutes, five breaths. Otherwise, bring your hands to your heart center in prayer. So happy for you. You did this for you. Thank you so much for joining me. Namaste.

Comments

Jenny S
1 person likes this.
Interesting mix of super relaxing and super challenging. I used mala beads for the meditation and it was blissful. Thank you for this season, it was wonderful! 🙏🏻📿
Robin J
1 person likes this.
Such a healing practice
Robin J
1 person likes this.
This is so helpful to my meditation practice thanks bex
Robin J
1 person likes this.
Fabulous practice thanks
Rebecca Urban
Robin Thanks...missing seeing you Live...glad we are together virtually...
Robin J
So grateful for this practice!
Suzanne L
1 person likes this.
hi Rebecca, Loved this class but have some work to do in those forearm planks! Love being able to sit comfortably for 10 or more minutes finally! Hope you are well and see you in June!
Jimena B
1 person likes this.
Woow that four arms plank was challenging loved this class Rebecca thank you so much! Powerful practice
Laura M
Perfect!
Rebecca Urban
Laura M thank you! keep on twisting.
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