Dancer's Flow

Hi, welcome back. In this sequence, we're going to move towards a dancer's pose. It's a flow leading up to a nice big dancer's pose. So we'll go ahead and get started. Stand at the top of your mat, a little separation between your feet. Take a moment to establish a foundation so that you really know what it's like to stand on your two feet. And then when you're ready, arms come up, interlace your hands, turn the heels of your hands open, kind of exaggerate what you're doing, big stretch. And then exhaling hands to the right, hips bump to the left, try and keep the elbows straight. Big breath here. Inhale, shifting back to the middle. And exhale, other side. Hips bumping to the right, really reaching more through your right arm than through your left. Coming back up to the middle. And on exhale, take a nice big swan dive forward over your legs to hook your piece fingers around your big toes. Bend your knees if you need to. Totally fine. Take an inhale to lengthen, get lots of space in your waist. And exhale, fold. Let your head totally drop, maybe even shake it out a little bit here. Big exhale. Waking up a little bit in the back of the legs. Take an inhale to look forward, rolling your shoulders back. Plant your hands on the mat, step your right foot back, step your left foot back, high plank. Establishing here, maybe a little swivel in your hips so that you feel a sense of lifting up into the low belly, pulling the shoulders back. And then we'll take a little push up, pushing forward. Exhale, chaturanga. Inhale, up dog. And exhale, down dog. Your right leg is gonna float back. As you exhale, touch your knee to your nose, take your right foot forward. Tent your fingers on either side of your right foot, lengthen, and then drop your back knee down, release your left ankle. Walk your hands up. You can either take your hands to your hips, this feels nice, lifting up into the chest, or inhale, reach your arms up, really lifting up through the back of the heart, moving the front body forward. A nice big stretch, inhaling, and exhaling. I'm squeezing a little bit between my thighs, kind of dragging my right heel back for stability. Take an inhale, and exhale, hands come to the floor. Pick your back leg up. The quieter you can lift your foot off the mat, the more core you use to come back to plank. Take an inhale, and exhale, come all the way down to the floor, however you get there is fine. Fingers in the same line as your chest, thighs spiral in, take a big exhale. Inhale, peeling up to a cobra. Exhale, back down. Let's do one more. Take an inhale, peel up, imagining your breastbone is moving forward, so it's more about length and height. On an exhale, back down. Interlace your hands above your tailbone, and once more, a big through your mouth. Keep your feet rooted and inhale, peel up. This is locust pose, kind of energetically reaching your knuckles back, letting the shoulders roll open, big breath. It's okay if your feet kind of pop up a little bit, but really try and keep them snuggled down. Take an inhale, and exhale, back down. Push back, quick child's pose, and downward facing dog. Left leg floats back, exhale, knee to nose, left foot forward, tenting the fingers, broadening across the collarbones, and then tapping that right knee down, release the foot. And again, dragging that heel back towards your body gives you a little bit of stability. Hand can come to the thigh, hands can come to the hips. You're welcome to stay here, or reach your arms up for a baby crescent lunge. Just taking a moment here, kind of expanding, drawing the shoulders back. Doesn't matter how far you go back, more about really grounding, trying to stay stable. Exhale, hands to the floor, right leg picks up. And again, there's this, like, noise of feet on the mat. The less you hear, the more core you use. Take an inhale, exhale, all the way down.

Bring your forearms to the floor, and kind of pull the floor back. So Sphinx pose, exactly how it sounds. You're moving your chest forward, letting the belly relax for a moment. Very gentle back bend. Where your left elbow is, your right hand will go. Kick your left foot into your left hand. I like the grip on the inside of my foot. You can go to the top or to the side. Pull. See if you can from here, turn your chest forward. Big breath. And then release. We'll change sides. Left hand goes where the right elbow was. Right heel moves towards your butt, and the right arm reaches back. Find the grip that works for you. It doesn't have to be the same. And pull. See if you can square the shoulders as you pull that foot down, so that you're still evening and broadening the collarbones. Gently release. We'll come back to that Sphinx. Pulling the chest forward. And then hands alongside your chest. Tuck your toes. Roll back. Quick child's pose. Downward facing dog. Look forward. Step or jump your feet up. Lift and exhale. Fold. Press into your feet. Engage a little bit in the belly. We'll reverse swan dive all the way up. And exhale. Hands at your sides. Bring your hands to your hips. And step your left foot back. And adjust so that you have a nice big stance. Pull your left heel up towards your bum. And we're back in our Crescent Lunge. The right knee is over the right ankle. Engaging a little bit in the belly. Sweep your arms up. This time take a hold of your left forearm with your right hand. Pull up. And then lean a little to the right. Maintain the integrity in your legs. Relax as much as you can. Stay soft in your jaw. Easy in the breath. Inhale back to the middle. Pivot your back foot. Exhale. Warrior Two. From here your left foot is going to pivot once more. Hips square. Back in Crescent. And then pressing into your right heel. Bring your hands to your hips. Step up. Tip your weight forward. A little Warrior Three. Standing up. And release. We'll try the same thing on the other side. Take an inhale. Exhaling your right foot.

Takes a big step back. Adjusting again so that you feel stable and grounded. Finding your Crescent. Sweeping the arms up. Left hand takes a hold of your right forearm. Give it a little tug up. And then lean to the left. Breathe into the right side body. Yeah. Nice stretch in the hip flexors and in the belly. Coming back to the Crescent. Right foot pivots. Warrior Two. Not here for long. Right toes turn forward again. Hip tries to square. Back in the Crescent lunge. And then hands to your hips. Remember it doesn't have to be perfect. We don't have much time. We're really looking more for stability. Stepping up for an easy baby Warrior Three. And stand up. Separate your feet. You can keep your hands on your hips. Take an inhale and then exhale folding from the hip. Bring your hands to the floor and step on them so that your toes are at the crease of your wrists. If you need to, bend your knees like a downhill skier so you have lots of space. And relax as much as you can. Shake your head yes. Shake your head no. Breathe into the back of your body. Really ground yourself here. And inhale looking up and exhale hands back to your hips. Inhaling all the way up. If you have blocks this is a good time to grab them so that they are at the top of your mat on their tall setting. So this is New York, Chicago, LA. Maybe I'm just partial to New York because I live there but it's nice to have the floor be a little taller for you. And then come back to standing. Hands can be at your hips. Hover your left heel off the floor. And then reach back. Left hand grabs the top of your left foot. Touch your knees together so that they're in the same line. Pause. Inhale, right arm reaches up. Go nice and slow. Exhale, kick. Inhale, reach. Exhale, kick. Inhale, reach.

Exhale, kick. Bend your right knee. Keep kicking, kicking, kicking. Reach for your block. Adjust it if you need to. Whoops. So that it's just in front of your right foot. And it's okay if you tumble a little bit like me. We're going to let go of that left foot and come to a half moon, Arachandrasana. Again, doesn't have to be perfect. Your hand can come to your hip. Big breath that helps if you keep that left foot flexed. And then slowly, your left hand is going to come to the block. Square your hips. And you're back in this sort of warrior three. Push the left foot away from you. Take an inhale. Hands come to the floor. Left foot comes down. And your right foot walks across into pigeon. Check in with your back leg. Make sure that your foot is nice and straight. Puff up a little bit. Get your back bend. And as you exhale, fold forward. You can use the blocks under your elbows or move them to the side. And spend a moment here releasing that standing leg, bringing some space into the back of the body. Hands come back in. Option one, stay here. Option two, your left hand reaches back and connects to your left foot. Whatever grip works best for you is fine. Push into your hand. See if you can square your shoulders. Pause. If you like this, right arm can come up and maybe just hangs out in the back of your head. Slowly releasing. Hands come back to the mat. Pull up. Down dog. Looking forward, jump or step your feet up once more. Inhale to lift. Exhale, fold. Let your head drop. Push into the legs. Inhale, coming all the way back up. And exhale to release. Same thing on the other side. So once more, setting up the blocks so that they are there for us. And moving into dancer's pose. Your right heel lifts up. Take a hold of your foot from the inside. Touch your knees together. Inhale, left arm comes up. Exhale, kick. Inhale, reach. Exhale, kick. That's all you have to think about. Inhale, reach. Exhale, kick. The force of the kick opens the shoulder. Inhale, reach. Exhale, kick. And then from here, your left knee will bend a little bit. Kick, kick, kick. Nice and slow. Left hand comes to the block. You can walk it out a little bit. Stabilize. Let go. Flex your right foot in the air. Opening the hips. Half moon. Taking a moment here. It's okay if you fall. It's okay if you feel very different on this side. Take an inhale. And exhale, your right hip squares. Your right hand comes to the block. And we find that little Warrior III lengthening. And then dropping your right knee. The block's going to go to the side. And the left foot walks across into pigeon. Once more, check in with that back leg. Puff up a little bit. And as you exhale coming on to the forearms, maybe let your head drop. Maybe release your belly a little bit. Relax as much as you can. You're welcome to stay here. You can walk your hands up. Opening the chest. Left hand props up. Right hand reaches back. Connects to that right foot. Kicking in and pulling back. Try to square the shoulders. Stay here or maybe your left arm reaches up. Taking it nice and easy. Feeling your chest open. And then gently releasing. Right hand comes to the floor. Right leg lifts up. Pull back.

Downward facing dog. Walk your dog a little bit. And then as you're ready, jump up. Sit down. Legs out in front of you. Roll down onto your back. Pull your knees in. Give yourself a little wobble. Maybe make figure eights with your knees ironing out any kinks in the low back. And then drop your bent knees to the left. Little twist. Pull your knees across. Drop them to the right. And then coming back to the middle. Rolling yourself up briefly. Taking the blanket. Rolling it in half. So that your knees have a little support. The legs feel nice and relaxed after all that balancing. And ease onto the floor for your last pose. Really let it go. There's nothing to hang onto. Nothing to balance. Close your eyes. Give yourself a chance to really sink in. I'll stay here with you and I'll let you know when it's time. You're welcome to stay where you are and enjoy your shavasana a little bit longer. If you're ready to move, pulling the knees in, roll to one side. Then come up. Taking an easy seat. Acknowledging the work that you've done. The time that you took to do that work. Thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing your practice. Namaste.