Wring It Out

Welcome back. So we're going to move into a twisting flow to detoxify the body and declutter the mind. So we'll start seated. So you can join me in a comfortable cross-leg seated position. And then just letting your hands rest on your knees for a moment, close the eyes.

And just start to shift your gaze to the internal space. Just beginning to notice the breathing, the rise and the fall of the inhale and the exhale. And then maybe setting an intention for your practice, either something you'd like to call in or maybe let go of. Twist can be very detoxifying for the body. So maybe there's something that you'd like to ring out as we move through this practice today.

Good. And then take your left fingertips over to the left side of your body and you can soften that left elbow, reach your right arm up and over your ear. Maybe looking up toward the ceiling. Take a big breath in here. And then as you exhale, bring your right fingertips to the back of you and then let the left hand come to the outside of your right leg.

So you can bring the back of the hand to the outside of that right knee. And then use that as leverage to inhale as you lift up and then exhale, twist to your right. Just taking a few breaths here. With every inhale, find length through the spine. With every exhale, twist a little bit more.

Nice. And then come back through center. Just take a moment. You can rest the backs of the hands on the knees again and just notice the effects of that in the body. Good.

And then we'll come to the other side. So right fingertips to the right. Take the left arm over your ear. Take a big breath in as you tilt toward the right. Good.

And then slowly twist left fingertips come behind you. Right hand to the outside of the left knee this time. Take a big breath in, lift up, lengthen, and then exhale, twist. Taking one more breath here. Beautiful and then unravel.

Take a moment and then come on to all fours. So we'll come to a tabletop position. Bringing your shoulders right over the wrists and the hips over the knees. And then from here, inhale your right arm up to the right so that you're opening the chest toward the right. And then thread the arm underneath without lowering the shoulder down.

We're just taking a thread with that right arm. And then inhale, reach the arm all the way up again. And we'll do that two more times. So as you exhale, thread the arm underneath and then inhale, open up the chest to the right. Good.

And then this time you can lower the right shoulder down, let the right side of the face come down, and then maybe walk your left fingertips forward. Taking a couple full deep breaths here, keeping the knees nice and rooted and the hips nice and even. One more breath. Good. And then you can walk the left hand in, use that to press you back up to all fours.

And then just take a moment to round the spine, press the floor away, draw the navel in toward you. Good. And then come back to a neutral spine. From here, inhale the left arm up to the left and then exhale, thread it underneath. Good.

And then again, inhale, lift up, lengthen, exhale, thread it underneath. Good. Last one, inhale, look up, lengthen. And then thread it underneath, come on to your left shoulder this time, left cheek and temple, come down toward the earth. And then you might walk that right hand forward, tenting the fingertips, keep the hips nice and even, and just breathe.

Last breath here. Nice. And then walk your hand back in, come back to all fours, and then we'll walk the hands in front of the shoulders slightly, and then lift your hips up and back to downward facing dog. And in your first down dog, feel free to move around a little bit, maybe pedal it out through the feet, maybe sway the hips from side to side a few times, feeling into the backs of your legs. And then when you're ready, inhale the right leg, sweep it all the way up and back, step your foot through between your hands, and then keep your left hand down, find length in the spine, twisting open to the right, finding a lunge twist.

Take a big breath in here. And then as you exhale, take the right arm up and over your ear, draw the shoulder back as you breathe in and out through the nose. Good. And then look down, lower your right hand on the inside of your front foot, and then keep walking your hands to the left, straightening out both legs, paralleling the feet. Let your right hand come right under your nose, centering in, and then reach your left arm up to the sky, opening the chest to the left.

And you might stay right here, or maybe that left hand comes in threads underneath the right, coming to your ankle or your shin of that right leg, and then you can kind of walk the fingertips forward as you peek under that right arm, finding this nice twist, hips are nice and even. Taking two more breaths here, receiving the breath. Allow an easy breath in, and then let it go. You can let the hands go, and we'll crawl all the way back to the front of the mat, find runner's lunge, step back to plank pose, top of a pushup, and then for this first one, I would recommend lowering the knees down, but you can keep them lifted if you'd like, and then bend the elbows lower all the way down to the earth. Inhale to cobra pose, draw the elbows into the side body, lift up through the chest, and then exhale, lower down.

Good. Either coming back to your knees or back up through plank pose, we'll find our way back to downward facing dog, and then inhale the left leg, sweep it up and back, exhale, step your foot through between your hands, keep the right hand down this time, sweep the left arm up and twist. Allow an easy breath in here, and then as you exhale, take that top arm over your ear, hug the left hip in, and then breathe. Just taking a couple breaths here, beautiful, and then let the left hand lower down. Keep walking to your right this time, straightening up both legs, paralleling the feet, let the left hand come right under your nose, inhale the right arm up to the right.

So you can stay right here, this is a beautiful twist, right here. If you want a little bit more, thread the right arm underneath, you can hold onto the ankle or the shin of that left leg, and then walk the left fingertips forward, and then maybe start to peek under that left arm, bending through the right elbow, keeping the hips even, and breathing. Good, and then let that side go. Come back to runner's lunge, step back to plank pose, lower the knees if you'd like, otherwise lowering halfway or maybe all the way down, cobra or upward facing dog on your inhale, downward facing dog, exhale. Super nice.

Inhale, rise up onto your toes, bend your knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, come to the front of the mat, inhale, lift halfway up, exhale, fold, uttanasana, and then root to rise, come all the way up to stand, and then draw your hands to your heart. Good, and then from here, come to chair pose, uttanasana, sink the weight back into your heels, sweep the arms up, and then take your hands to your heart, take your left elbow on the outside of the right leg, just for a breath here, revolve chair pose, and then inhale, come back up through center, exhale, twist to the other side, good, and then we'll take that a few more times, so as you inhale, come through center, exhale, twist to the right, inhale, come through center, exhale, twist left, last one, inhale, center, exhale, twist, inhale, sweep it up, exhale, twist, good, this time inhale, come all the way up straight and through the legs, and then fold over your legs. Inhale, lift halfway, and then your choice, step back, lightly float back, take a vinyasa here, and we'll meet back in down dog, however you choose to get there, taking a big breath as you land, inhaling through the nose, inside out the mouth, inhale your right leg, sweep it up to the sky, and then step your foot through between your hands, stay on the ball of your back foot, and sweep the arms forward and up coming into crescent pose, bring your front knee over your ankle, soften through your back knee, and then as you're here, let the left arm come forward, reach your right arm back and take a twist to your right, sinking down a little deeper into the legs, finding this twisting crescent, good, and then let your right hand come to the back of your left thigh, reach your left arm over your ear, finding revolve, excuse me, reverse, and then let your left hand come to the inside of your front foot, reach your right arm up and twist, find that lunge twist again, good, allow a big breath in, and then exhale, lower the hand down, step back through your flow, taking a vinyasa here or skipping it, and you can make your way back into downward facing dog, meeting there, and coming to the left side, so inhale the left leg up, exhale step through, ball of the back foot, inhale crescent pose, soften through the back knee, sinking down, good, and then this time right arm forward, left arm back, twisting to the left, good, and then holding here for a breath, good, and then take the left hand to the back of your right leg, sweep your right arm up and over your ear, revolve, and then let that right hand circle down to the inside of the left foot, reach your right arm up and twist, good, and then lower the hand down, taking a vinyasa if you'd like, or coming right back to downward facing dog, and then holding downward facing dog for three full deep breaths, two, last breath here, good, so staying with that pattern, adding on just a bit, we'll take it one breath per movement, so inhale the right leg up, exhale step through between your hands, ball of the back foot, inhale crescent pose, and then exhale left hand forward, right arm back, and twist, take the right hand to the back of your left leg, tilt it back, good, and then bring the left hand down, sweep the right arm up, good, lower the hand down to the inside of your front foot, walk your fingertips to the left, put a bend in your left knee and straighten out the right leg for skandhasana, good, and then we'll crawl to the right, bending through the right knee, straightening the left, and then one more time, crawling to the left, good, and then walk it all the way back to the front, find your lunge, step back to plank pose, vinyasa or downward facing dog, cobra or up dog on the inhale, down dog on your exhale, left side, inhale sweep the left leg up, exhale step it through, inhale brings you to crescent pose, exhale twist, right arm forward, left arm back, good, and then inhale to reverse, reach it back, and then bringing the right hand down, let the left arm lift up, twist, lower the left hand down, walking to the right, skandhasana, bending through the right knee, straightening out the left, and then coming to the other side, left knee bends, right leg straightens, and then last one here, re-bend through the right, straighten through the left, beautiful, and then walking all the way back and through, vinyasa if you'd like, or feel free to step right back to downward facing dog, and then we'll hold here for three full deep breaths. Every exhale, letting go a little bit more, and then start to step your feet in about a foot, so you might take your feet as wide as your mat, just shortening your stance in downward facing dog, and then we're going to pick up the right hand and take it to the outside of the left leg, you can kind of bend that right elbow if that feels okay, maybe spin your gaze up toward the ceiling right underneath that left arm, take a breath, and then replace the right hand down, pick up your left hand, take it to the outside of the right leg, and then again you can gaze up under that right arm, feeling the ringing out of the spine, allow an easy inhale, and a nice relaxing exhale, and then replace both hands down, step the feet back, come back to downward facing dog, and we'll add on just a bit here, inhale the right leg up, exhale, step through between your hands, stay on the ball of the back foot, come into crescent pose, so reach the left arm forward, take the right arm back and twist, and then this time take your left elbow to the outside of your right leg, let the right hand come on top of the left and find this prayer twist, so keep reaching back through that left heel, and then using that left elbow start to leverage and rotate from the belly button up, good, stacking the elbows and bringing that prayer towards your heart center, you can always lower your back knee down here if you'd like for a little support, good, nice, and then take your gaze down, let your hands come down to the earth, and then we're going to step the left foot forward but the knee is going to come behind your right ankle, so sitting back into a seated spinal twist here, so the right ankle is crossed over that left knee, and then we'll take the right fingertips behind us as you inhale, lift your left arm up, and then exhale, twist to your right, so you can hook the elbow on the outside of the right leg if you'd like, or maybe just hug the knee in, whatever feels better for you, there's an option here for a wrap if you'd like that, and then just breathe, good, and then unraveling here, take your gaze forward first, and then let go of the shape, take your fingertips behind you, lift your legs up, parallel the shins to the earth, and then steeple mudra with the hands, taking everything interlaced but the index fingers, and then take your fingers over to the right side, so you're finding a little bit of a twist here, take a big breath in, as you exhale, lower halfway down, good, inhale, come back up, and then take the fingers over to the other side, twisting, and then lower down, good, and then just come back up, super nice, crossing at the ankles, come forward, option for crow pose here if you want it, otherwise you can step right back into your flow, if you're coming into crow you'll plant the palms, bring your knees as high up on the triceps as you can, and then start to build a shelf with your arms, rounding through the upper back slightly, draw the navel in towards your spine, and then maybe lift up a toe, a foot, maybe both feet lift, drawing the heels in toward you, breathing, and then you can step it back, hop it back, and we'll meet back in downward facing dog, let that side go, and we'll come to the left, so inhaling the left leg, sweep it up and back, exhale, step through, stay on the ball of the back foot, coming into crescent pose, and then twisting, right arm forward, left arm back, good, and then taking the right elbow this time on the outside of the left, prayer in front of your heart, finding prayer twist here, holding for a few breaths, nice, and again if you'd like, lower that back knee down, it will feel a little more supportive, good, and then you can gaze down, hands come down, and then take your right knee behind your left ankle, sit down in between your legs, and there's always the option to straighten the bottom leg here too, if that feels like too crunchy for you, so find what feels best, and then we'll take the left fingertips behind the back, inhale your right arm up, and then twist, so you can hook the elbow, maybe hug the knee in, and just find this nice seated spinal twist, maybe taking the gaze beyond that left shoulder, and then start to gaze forward, let go of the shape, and then coming into Navasana, lifting the legs up, interlacing everything but the index fingers this time, taking the arms over to the left side first, take a big breath in, and then lower down, good, inhale come back up, take it to the other side, inhale, exhale, inhale lift up, and then bringing the hands back through center, reach the arms forward, reach the heart up, find length in your spine, and then let the feet come down toward the earth, bend your knees, take your hands behind you, take the hips up off the earth, take a big breath in, stick out the tongue, lion's breath, but let's do that one more time, big breath in, good, lower the hips down, and we'll come on to our back, so I'm just going to spin around here, and roll down, then just taking the knees into your chest for a moment, and rocking a little bit from side to side, starting to massage through the low back, okay, and then from there, let the soles of the feet come back down to the earth, walk the heels in toward you, and let the feet be hips width apart, press the palms of the hands into the earth, and then on an inhale, reach your arms up over your head, press through the soles of the feet, start to lift your hips up as you come into a nice bridge pose here, and then let the exhale, lower the hips, lower the arms, and press the palms of the hands back into the earth, and then we'll flow with that a little bit, just find these rolling bridges, so inhale, lift up, arms lift, hips lift, exhale, lowering down, good, again, inhale, press through the soles of the feet, lift the hips up, bring the arms up, yeah, and then lowering down, we'll take one more just like that, pressing through the soles of the feet, reach your arms up over your head, and then stay here, let the arms lower down, keep the hips lifted, and holding your bridge pose for a couple full deep breaths here, and then lowering down, letting that go, good, hug your right knee into your chest, let the left leg go long, and then draw the right knee across the body with your left hand, take your right arm out to the right, and take a gaze over that right hand, finding universal spinal twist, good, and then as you're ready, slowly come back through center, and just take a moment to straighten out both of your legs, and notice how that feels, notice if one side feels a little different from the other, and just checking in, be the observer of all that's happening in the body, and then hugging your left knee in when you're ready, we'll come to the other side, so left knee hugs in, right leg stays nice and straight on the earth, and then draw the left leg across the body with the right hand, and then take your left arm out to the left, and see if you can let the shoulder blades rest down, don't worry so much about getting that knee down to the earth, just let it feel good. Last breath here, allow an easy inhale, and then exhale, come back, hug the knees into your chest, and then just balancing out the right and the left, the solar and the lunar, taking the hands to the outsides of the feet, bend your knees, happy baby, let the low back melt down toward the earth, let the shoulders relax, and then if it feels good for you to rock a little bit, go for it, and then bringing the knees back in, hugging everything in, maybe lifting your nose up toward your knees to hug in a little bit more, and then as you're ready you'll make your way to a comfortable shavasana, just letting everything go, so all the effort and the breath, the body, the mind, let the body get really heavy on the earth, and allow the earth to come up and meet you, noticing for a moment the effects of the practice in the body, the mind, the breath.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Begin to deepen your breath. Bring the awareness back into the body and letting your next inhale be a little bit deeper than the last. Inviting any movement back into the fingertips, the toes, maybe the ankles and the wrists. And then reaching the arms up over your head, take a big breath in and then let it go.

Bring the soles of the feet to the earth, making your way over to one side and then pressing your way up to a comfortable seat. And we'll meet there, finding a comfortable cross-leg seated position. And we'll finish our practice with a little bit of breath work here. So using your right hand, your thumb and your ring finger, and I like to take my two fingers to my third eye, so the index finger and the middle finger. And we'll use our thumb to block the right nostril and the ring finger to block the left.

Just to balance out the right and the left, the lunar and the solar. So start by taking a big breath in through the nose, exhale everything, and then block up your right nostril. Take a breath in through the left, block the left, exhale out the right, block the right, inhale left, blocking the left, exhale right. Inhale left, exhale right, last round, inhale left, exhale right. Let both hands rest on your knees. Notice how that feels.

Feel free to stay here for as long as you like. Otherwise, thank you so much for being here. Namaste.