60-Minute Yoga Flows Artwork
Season 2 - Episode 6

Spacious Flow

60 min - Practice
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Description

We focus on the space between the breath, the thoughts, and the postures in this fluid and spacious practice. We explore longer holds and go deep into the hips, shoulders, and heart to find expansion and release.
What You'll Need: Mat, Block

Transcript

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Welcome. So in this practice, we're going to move through a very spacious flow, really concentrating on the spaces between. So the spaces between the postures, the spaces between your thoughts, the spaces between the breath. So we'll begin on our back. So as you're ready, just lay back. And we'll make our way into Supta Baddha Konasana. So bringing the soles of the feet together, let the knees open up wide. And then just let your hands fall on either side of your body with the palms facing up. Or if it would feel better, you might bring one hand to the heart and one hand to your belly. Just be at a place where you can take a few moments to just arrive at your practice. Starting to bring your attention and awareness first to the physical body. Taking a moment to notice how you feel in this moment. Maybe taking a scan all the way from the tips of the toes up through the crown of your head. Perhaps noticing any areas where you might be holding onto any tension or discomfort. And inviting those spaces to relax. Maybe even just a little bit more. And then we'll begin by taking a few breaths together. So allowing a big full breath in through your nose and then opening the mouth and sigh it out. And now take a big full breath in through your nose and then take a brief pause at the top of the inhale. And now exhale out the nose and allow a brief pause at the bottom of the exhale. Let's move with that for a few rounds. So inhaling through the nose, brief pause at the top of the inhale, exhaling out the nose and just retaining the breath out at the bottom of the exhale. And then do that a few more times at your own pace. Just taking those brief pauses at the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale to notice the space between your breath. And in this space, can you invite in presence? Taking one more full round, inhaling through the nose, brief pause at the top of the inhale, exhaling through the nose, brief pause at the bottom of the exhale. And then just come back to the natural rhythm of your breath. And then gather your knees into your chest. Notice your hips for a moment and just start to rock a little bit side to side. So massaging through the lower back. And then maybe taking the knees in circles in one direction. Do that three times, maybe moving clockwise. One more. And then as you finish the third circle, then take the circles in the other direction counterclockwise. Start to link your breath with the movement. Inhaling as you draw the knees away from you, exhaling as you draw the knees in. Good. And then as you finish the third round, just let the soles of the feet find the earth. Step your feet hips width. And we'll set up for some rolling bridge poses. So walk the heels in towards you a bit. And then on an inhale, reach your arms up over your head. And at the same time, press through the soles of the feet and lift your hips up. Good. And then as you exhale, lower the hips down and lower the arms down next to your sides. Good. And then we'll do that a few times. So pressing through the soles of the feet, inhale, arms lift, hips lift, chest to chin, and then exhale, lower the hips, lower the arms. Good. Inhale, arms lift, hips lift, feeling that fluid spine, exhale, hips lower, arms lower. One more like that. Inhale, arms lift, press through the soles of the feet, lift your hips up, pause here, and then come up onto the balls of your feet, lifting the heels up off the earth. Keep the arms up over your head. And then slowly, one vertebra at a time, start to lower all the way down, upper back, mid back, low back, and then heels lower. And then step your feet as wide as your mat. Keep your arms lifted up over your head. Allow a big full breath in here. And as you exhale, drop the knees to the right side. Just an easy spinal twist. Inhale, draw the knees back through center. Exhale, let the knees drop to the left. And then do that a few times with the breath. Inhale, center. Exhale, right. Inhale, center. Exhale, left. One more. Inhale, center with the knees. Exhale, spinal twist to the right. Inhale, center. Exhale, drop the knees to the left. Nice. And then come back through center. We'll hug the knees into the chest. This time, take your hands behind your knees and just start to rock up along the length of your spine. You might take that a couple times, massaging through the spine. And then we'll build momentum to come all the way to all fours. So crossing at the ankles and just come to your tabletop position. So let the shoulders land over your wrists. Spread the fingers nice and wide. Let your hips be right over your knees. And then we're going to take a wrist stretch with this. So turn the right hand towards you, the fingers facing towards you. And then you can let the palm of your right hand melt down toward the earth. And then keeping your hands like this, let's move into some cat-cows. So inhale, belly drops, heart lifts, arching through the spine into cow pose. And then as you exhale, navel to spine, press the floor away and round into cat pose. Two more like that. Inhale, belly drops, heart lifts, lift the gaze. And then exhale, navel to spine and round, press the floor away. One more. Inhale, arching through the back cow. Exhale, rounding into cat. Good. And then neutralize through the spine. Flip your right fingers toward the front of your mat and we'll just take it to the other side.

So turn the left fingers towards you, let the palm of your hand melt down. And then on an inhale, let the belly drop, let the heart lift, coming into cow pose. As you exhale, navel to spine, press the floor away, rounding. Two more. Inhale, heart lifts, arching through the spine. Exhale, navel to spine and round. Inhale, cow pose, look up and lengthen. Exhale, navel to spine and round. Good. And then neutralize through the spine. Reach both hands forward, again bringing shoulders right over the wrists, hips right over the knees. And from here, reach your left leg back. So tuck your left toes and then just press back a little bit so you're stretching into the back of that left leg and then maybe shift the weight forward and back a few times. Start to feel the opening through the back of the left leg. Nice. And then come back with shoulders over wrists and we're going to come into Ardavashisthasana. So roll to the outer edge of your back foot, to the heel of your back foot and then kickstand your right shin back. Bring the weight into your right hand and sweep your left arm up. Good. And then maybe take the left arm over your ears. So feel that nice long stretch through the entire left side body. Maybe float your left leg up. Engage through your core if you're doing that. And then you might bend through the left knee, reach back with your left hand and hold on to your left foot or ankle. And if you're doing that, kick the foot into the hand, feel the opening across the chest and then your choice with the gaze. You might look up, maybe straight ahead or maybe even down if that feels better in your neck and helps with balance. And then soften your right elbow a little bit so you're not locking anything out. Take another big expansive breath in. And then as you exhale, release the leg. Bring your toes back to the earth. Bring your left hand back down. So you're in your tabletop position, but this time we're going to draw the right knee in toward the nose and hover top of a pushup. Good. And then sweep that right leg all the way up and back. Bend your knee and open up through that hip. And then take a couple circles with that right foot just to feel into the right ankle. A few times in one direction and then the other. Good. Keep pressing through both hands. Let the shoulders be level. And then start to straighten that right leg any amount. Square off your hips. Allow a big full breath in here. Good. And then exhale, step all the way through between your hands. Come on to your fingertips. Lower your back knee down. And then we'll come into Anjaliyasana with the thumbs hooked to begin. So hook your thumbs. Reach the arms up. And then as you're doing that, drop the shoulders. So feel the lift in the heart. Lift the gaze. And then take the hands behind the low back. Interlace. If that's too much, you're always welcome to hold opposite elbows here. Otherwise interlacing through the fingers, start to draw the shoulders back. Take a moment to lift up through the heart, through the chest and the gaze. Keep engaging through the core and allow a few full deep breaths here. Sometimes it's nice to even drop the chin down toward your chest and just feel that nice stretch in the back of the neck. Allow one more big breath in. And then as you exhale, release hands to either side of your front foot. And then half split, Ardha Hanuman. Shift your weight back. Flex your right foot. And then maybe glide that foot forward a little bit. And then as you inhale, lengthen through the spine. Keep that length. Bend the elbows and fold back in over your front legs or hamstring stretch. And always welcome to have a couple blocks under your hands. Allow a few full deep breaths here. One more breath. Inhaling and exhaling. Good. And as you're ready, rebend for your front knee. Tuck your back toes. Lift the back knee up. And we'll take a twist. So left hand down, shoulder over wrist. Sweep your right arm up. And maybe roll out your wrists a few times in one direction and then the other direction. Stay active in your left leg. Hug your right hip in. And just let the twist happen from the navel up. Take your top arm over your ear. Lower it down to frame your front foot. Step back to plank pose. Top of a push up. And then from your plank, lower your knees down to the earth. Bend your elbows. Lower your chin and your chest down to the earth. And then we'll come into cobra pose. So untuck the toes. Draw the shoulders back. Lift up. Peel the chest up. Engage through the legs as you do that. And then exhale.

Lower down. Let's do that two more times. Rolling cobras. Inhale. Lift up. Brief pause at the top of the inhale. Exhale. Lower down. One more. Inhale. Lower up. Exhale. Lower down. Press back to hands and knees. And we're back in our tabletop. So we'll take all of that to the second side. So reaching your right leg back, tuck your toes. And again, just press back to feel into the back of the right leg. And then you can shift the weight back and forth a few times. It's really opening through the back of the right leg. Good. And then when you're ready, shoulders over wrists. Center your weight. And then spin onto your right heel. Kickstand the left shin back. Take the weight into your left hand this time. Keep the right arm up. And then maybe take it over your ear. Feel that length all the way through the right side body. And if you did on the first side, we'll float the right leg up. Engage the core if you're doing that. Put a bend in your right knee. Reach back with your right hand to hold onto the foot or the ankle. And then just start to kick the foot into your hands as you feel the expansion opening across the chest. And a couple breaths here. Again, softening the left elbow so you're not locking anything out. Good. And then as you release that, release the leg first. Bring your right hand down. Tuck your right toes. And then draw your left knee in towards your nose and hover top of a push up. Inhale the left leg all the way up and back. Bend your knee. Open up the hip. And then again, you might roll out the foot a few times. Feel the opening through the left hip. Pressing evenly through both hands. Inhale to straighten the left leg. Take a big full breath in here. And then step your foot all the way through between your hands. Good. Come onto your fingertips. Lower the back knee down. And then hook with the opposite thumb on top. Sweep the arms all the way up. Soften the shoulders down your back. And then just keep the core engaged to protect your lower back. And you might lift your gaze up toward the ceiling. And then we'll release the hands behind the back again. Maybe interlace with the opposite thumb or elbow on top. And then draw the shoulders back as you lift up and lengthen. Feel the expansion across the chest and the heart. And just take a couple breaths here. Good.

One more big breath in. And then exhale. Release the hands down on either side of your front foot. Start to shift the weight back for Ardha Hanamanasana. Maybe glide that left heel forward as you draw the left hip back. Good. And then inhale to lengthen. And then reaching the heart forward, maybe bend the elbows and fold in a little deeper. And feel free to keep a soft bend in that left knee. Again, if you want blocks under your hands, go for it. Bring the breath all the way through the back of your left leg. Nice. And then as you're ready, we'll re-bend through the left knee. Tuck your back toes. Lift the back knee up. And then plant your right hand down. Let the shoulder be over the wrists. Sweep the left arm up. And again, if you want to roll out that wrist a few times in one direction and then the other, go for it. Good. And then take the left arm over your ear. Lower the hand down to the earth. Step back, plank pose, top of the push-up. And then from here, lower the knees, the chin, and the chest. Inhale, cobra pose. This time, take your fingertips on the outside of your mat. Let the elbows bend and lift up. Peel the chest up. And then exhale, lower down. Inhale, legs engaged. Peel the chest up. Exhale, lower. One more. Inhale. Peel it up. Legs engaged. Exhale, lower down. Bring the hands next to the side ribs. Hug the elbows in. Tuck your toes. Firm the thighs up off the earth. And come up to plank pose. Exhale. Lift your hips up and back. Down dog. Exhale. And then just take a few breaths here. Maybe pedal it out through the feet. Maybe sway your hips. Or maybe it feels good to come toward stillness right away. Noticing that space. Creating that space. Inhale to rise up onto your toes. Put a big bend in the knees. Gaze forward and take a nice slow walk to the front of the mat. As you arrive there, let everything melt down. Take a forward fold. Whatever feels good with the arms, you might hold opposite elbows or interlays. Or just let the arms just hang down. See if you can invite anything to just roll off the spine and the crown of the head. And then walk your hands up onto your shins. Lengthen and come halfway up. Big breath in. Exhale. Fold back in. Forward fold. Two more like that. Inhale, halfway up. Lengthen. Exhale. Fold back over your legs. And one more. Inhale, halfway.

And then exhale. Fold back in. Root down through your feet. Rise all the way up to stand. Circle the arms out and up. And then gather hands to heart. Take a moment to pause here at the front of your mat. And just check in with an intention for your practice. Taking these pauses, these spaces between the movement to call in whatever you'd like to call in. And just to come back to the rhythm of your breath. Your heartbeat. Beautiful. And then we'll build into some sun salutation. Starting to build a little bit of heat. So as you're ready, inhale, arms sweep up. Lengthen through the spine. Exhale, soften the knees and fold over your legs. Inhale, halfway up. Good. And then plant your palms. Step your right foot to the back of the mat. And then step the left foot to the back of the mat. Pausing in your plank pose. So just taking a moment to pause to find the strength in your core to reach through the crown of the head and back to your heels. And for this first one, lower your knees down. Hug your elbows in. Lower the chin and the chest down. Stay low to the ground. Keep hugging the elbows in and come back to cobra pose. Engaging through the legs. Peel the chest up off the earth. Maybe coming up a little bit higher this time. And then exhale back to your downward facing dog. And we're going to take five full deep breaths here. So I'll cue the breath. If you need movement, feel free to move. Inhaling. Inhaling one. Inhaling. Exhale two. Inhale. Exhale three. Inhale. Exhale four. Last breath in. Maybe open the mouth. Sigh it out. Inhale to rise up onto the toes. Bend your knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. Inhale.

Lift halfway up and lengthen. Exhale. Fold over your legs. Uttanasana. Root down through the feet. Inhale. Arms sweep out and up. And then gather your hands to your heart. Let's take that again. Surinamaskara A. Inhale. Arms sweep up. Maybe lift the gaze. Exhale. Dive forward. Soften the knees. Uttanasana. Inhale. Halfway up and lengthen. Plant your palms this time. Step the left foot to the back of the mat. Step the right foot back and pause. Plank. Welcome to lower the knees. Otherwise, in one piece, hug the elbows in. Lower all the way down to the earth. Inhale. Untuck the toes. Cobra pose. Peel the chest up. And then exhale. Downward facing dog. Lift your hips up and back. Allowing for five full deep breaths here. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Maybe sigh it out. Exhale. Rise up onto the toes. Bend knees. Look forward. Step or lightly hop to your hands for the mat. Inhale. Halfway up. Exhale. Fold in. Good. Root down to rise. Inhale. Arms sweep out and up. And then gather hands to heart. One more round. Inhale. Arms lift. Exhale. Lengthen through the spine as you dive forward over the legs. Inhale. Halfway up. Plant your palms. Step back to plank pose and pause. This time shift your weight forward. Again, welcome to lower the knees. Maybe come halfway down chaturanga. Cobra or up dog. Straightening the arms. Firming the thighs up off the earth.

Drawing the shoulders back. And then exhale to your down dog. And just take a few full deep breaths here. If you want to lower the knees and take a child's pose at any time, please feel free to do that. Good. And then when you're ready, we'll rise up onto the toes. Bend the knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Again, coming to the front of the mat. Take a big, full breath in. And then exhale. Fold over your legs. Root down. Rise up to stand. As you do that, catch hold of your left wrist and just reach up and over. Take a nice side body stretch. Just letting that left foot get heavy. And then inhale back through center. Take hold of the right wrist. Reach up first. And then tilt over to the left side. Just taking a nice stretch of the side body. Let the right foot get nice and heavy. Good. Come back through center. Draw your hands to your heart. Move into our standing sequence. So as you're ready, come to chair. Utkatasana. Sink the weight into the heels. Bend the knees deeply. Let the arms sweep up. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, halfway up. Offer the heart forward. Exhale, your vinyasa. If you want to float it back through chaturanga this time, go for it. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Nice. And then from down dog, sweep the right leg up and back. And then step your right foot all the way through between your hands. Come onto your fingertips for a moment. Spin the back heel down. We'll sit up for warrior one. Reach your arms forward and up. Good. And then just take a moment to land here. Bending into that front knee. And then squaring hips and shoulders toward the front of your mat. Beautiful. And then from here, hands behind the back. Interlace. Always welcome to hold opposite elbows if the interlace feels like too much. Draw the shoulders back. Take a big breath in. Lift up through the heart. And then bow forward, humble warrior. Fold over that front leg. Let the crown of the head melt down. Seal the outer edge of your back foot to the earth. Beautiful. And then on your next breath in, look forward. Release your arms back up toward the sky, warrior one. And then exhale, your vinyasa. Any variations that we've done, feel free to do that. You might modify with knees down. Cobra or up dog. Inhale. Downward facing dog. Exhale. Good. And then right away, left leg lifts. Take a big breath in. Step it all the way through between your hands. Spin the back heel down. Warrior one. Arms reach forward and up. Take a moment to arrive. Let that front knee land over the heel or the ankle. Soften the shoulders. Relax the gaze and energize up through your fingertips. Good.

And then release hands behind the back. Opposite thumb on top. Start to draw the shoulders away. Take a big breath in. And then exhale, bow forward. Humble, devotional warrior. Let the crown of the head melt down. And just welcome to rest the torso on that left thigh. If you want to go a little deeper, come to the inside of that left leg. Good. And then root down through the feet. Look forward. Come back to your warrior one. Arms sweep up. Beautiful. And then hands find the earth. Move through your vinyasa. And as you move through, find your breath. And we'll meet back in your downward facing dog. Take a couple cleansing breaths here. Inhale through the nose. Exhale out the mouth. Inhale through the nose. Exhale out the mouth. Right side. Inhale. Right leg lifts. Picking up the pace just a bit. Exhale. Step through between your hands. Spin the back heel down. Arms reach forward. Warrior one. Exhale. Hands behind the low back. Inhale. Draw the shoulders back. Lift up through the heart. Exhale. Humble warrior. Bow forward. This time as you come up, come up to warrior two. Circle the arms open and arrive in Virabhadrasana two. And then just take a moment to land, to arrive, to be with this pose. Maybe even close your eyes. Notice what comes up for you. Nice. And then flip your front palm. Keep the legs how they are. And just tilt up and back. Reverse warrior. And then extended side angle. Either elbow to thigh. If you want to go a little deeper, the fingertips might come to the inside of your front foot or a block. Top arm over the ear. And then breathe. Three breaths. And down to rise. Come all the way back up. Reverse your warrior. Circle hands down to the earth. Your vinyasa or right to downward facing dog. Feel free to skip any of these vinyasas. Take whatever modifications you'd like. And then we'll meet in down dog. Beautiful left side. Inhale. Left leg lifts. Exhale. Step it through. Warrior one. Spin the back heel down. Arms sweep up. Good. And then hands behind the low back. Interlace. Inhale. Lift up through the heart. Exhale. Bow forward. Humble warrior. Inhale up to warrior two. Let the right arm guide you up. And then just take a moment to land, to arrive, to root down. Feel a lightness in the upper body. Good. And then flipping the front palm. Tilt back. Reverse warrior. Extended side angle. Either elbow to the top of the thigh. Fingertips to the inside of the front foot. Top arm over the ear. And find your breath. Three full deep breaths here. As you're ready, root down. Rise up. Reverse warrior. Circle hands down to the earth. Plank pose. Your vinyasa. And we'll meet in down dog. Take a big breath in. Exhale. Down dog. Lower your knees down for a moment. Maybe take your knees as wide as your mat. The big toes together. And we'll come into child's pose. I like to take a prayer behind the back of my neck. It might feel good to feel a stretch in the upper arms. And just take a moment to observe and notice. Again, taking these pauses between the movement, noticing the space in between. Couple breaths. And as you're ready, we'll meet back in downward facing dog. Tucking the toes. Lift your hips up and back. And breathe. So adding on just a bit. Inhale the right leg lifts. Same beginning. Exhale, step through. Warrior one. Spin the back heel down. Arms sweep up. Exhale, hands behind the back. Interlace. Inhale, lift up through the chest. Exhale, humble warrior. Fold. Inhale, warrior two. Circle it open.

Flip your front palm. Tilt back. Reverse warrior. Exhale, extended side angle. And then reverse warrior. Start to straighten your front leg as you come up and back. Reverse triangle. Change forward into triangle pose. Soften a bit through the right knee as you come forward. And then take a gaze up towards your fingertips if that feels okay. And you might let that right ear come toward the right shoulders to feel a nice stretch in the neck. Good. And then half moon. Left hand to your hip. Put a bend in your right knee. Gaze forward and you might have a block under your right hand. Float the left leg up. And then maybe bend through that left knee. Reach back with your left hand, kicking the foot into the hand for chapasana. And take a couple breaths here, balancing, pressing through the ball of the right big toe. Good. And then as you come out of here, we're going to step the left foot to meet the right and find chair pose. Utkatasana. Weight into the heels. Arms sweep up. And then gather hands to heart and we'll take a twist. Left elbow on the outside of the right leg. Couple breaths. Let the hips lower. Draw the shin bones back. That prayer in front of your heart. Big breath in. Exhale. Let everything go. Fold over your legs. Forward fold. And then step your feet hips with. Hook your peace fingers, your first two fingers and your thumbs onto your big toes. Inhale, lift halfway up. Exhale, toes out to the side. Fold in and release. Take five full deep breaths. Good. And release your toes as you're ready. Come halfway up. Heel to the feet back together. And then from here, optional vinyasa, or you can step it right back to down dog. Moving through, maybe chaturanga. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. And exhale, downward facing dog. Beautiful. Left side. Inhale, the left leg lifts. Exhale, step it through. Spin the back heel down, warrior one. Arms sweep up. Inhale. Hands behind the low back. Interlace. Good. Inhale to lift the heart. Exhale, bow forward. Humble warrior. Inhale to warrior two. Circle the arms open. Take a moment to arrive. Flip your front palm. Tilt back. Reverse warrior. Extended side angle. Just one breath. Reach that top arm over the ear. And then reverse triangle.

Spin through your front leg. Reach up and back. And then coming into triangle pose. Left hand below the knee. Right arm lifts up. Maybe gazing up toward the fingertips. Maybe let that left ear melt toward the left shoulder. Soften the left knee a little bit. Breathe. Good. And then bring the right hand to your hip. Gaze down. Put a bend in the left knee. And then we'll take that transition to half moon. So reaching forward. Lift the right leg up. And then maybe you bend through that right knee. Reach back with your right hand to hold the foot or the ankle. Kicking the foot into the hand. Balancing. Feel that expansion across the heart. Chest. And then releasing that right leg. Step the right foot to meet the left. Sink the weight into the heels. Utkatasana. Chair pose. Arms sweep up. Gather hands to heart. Sink it down. And this time we'll take the right elbow on the outside of the left and find your twist. Couple breaths here. Good. Draw the shin bones back. And just make sure your knees are even to one another. Protecting the knees. Big breath in. Long breath out. Let that go. Step your feet hips width. Heel toeing the feet apart.

And then maybe slide the palms of your hands underneath the soles of your feet. Letting your toes come up towards your wrists. Padahastasana. And then again inhale to lengthen. Exhale. Let that go. Bow in. Crown of the head melting down. Take five breaths here. Beautiful thing about forward fold is that calming effect. Nervous system. Notice if that's true for you. Let the heart beat slow a little bit. Good. And then release your hands. Come halfway up. Lengthen. Heel toe feet back together. And then if you want it, last vinyasa. Otherwise just step it back to down dog. Moving through. Inhale cobra or up dog. Exhale down dog. And then lower your knees for child's pose. Hips to heels. Maybe the knees are together this time or wide. It feels best. Couple breaths. On your next breath in, come up to tabletop. We'll come into shoulder stretch from here. Inhale, reach your right arm out to the right. Bend the chest to the right. And then thread your right arm under your left arm coming onto the right shoulder and the right side of your face. Walk your left hand forward. You might step your left foot to the left. If you're doing that, maybe left arm comes behind the low back and you find a little twist in the upper body. Just breathe into lots of sensations here. Couple more breaths. Good. And then come out the way you came in.

So if you step the foot out to the side, bring the knee back in first and then press through the left hand. Come up to your tabletop position. Maybe sweep that right arm out to the right. Chest opening up. And then right hand down to the earth. And we'll take it right to the left side as you're ready. Inhale, left arm out to the left. Maybe gaze up and then thread left arm under the right. Left shoulder, left side of the face. And then maybe walking that right hand forward. And you can stay right here if that feels good. Or maybe you step that right foot out to the right. Bring the foot to the earth. And then for me, I feel a lot of this in the outer right leg line. Notice if that's true for you. And then maybe take the right hand behind the low back. Take that half wrap. You might spin the chest open a little bit more. And find your breath. Beautiful. And then go ahead and come out the same way you came in. Bring the right knee back to the earth. And press up. Maybe sweep the left arm out to the left one last time. And then lower the left hand down. Keep the hips right over the knees. And then tent your fingertips. And just start to walk your hands forward. As you do that, the chest will melt down toward the earth. And maybe the forehead comes down for anahatasana, heart opening pose. A couple full deep breaths here. Nice. And then walking your hands back in. Lifting back to your tabletop position. And then tuck your toes. Lift the hips up and back. Down dog. Step the feet together at the back of your mat. Roll forward to plank and then lower all the way to the belly. Untuck your toes from here. And then just draw the arms back actively. We'll set up for a couple of heart openers. So thumbs down, pinkies up. And then on an inhale, start to peel the chest up off the earth. Add the legs as you lengthen up into shalabhasana. Good. Keep the chin slightly tucked. Feel the length through the back of the neck. Take a big breath in. And then exhale. Release one cheek down to the earth and let that go. Maybe sway your hips side to side. Feel the release in the low back. Let's take one more like that. So coming back through center, chin or forehead down. Reach your arms back actively. Thumbs down, pinkies up. And then start to peel the chest up. Reach back with the fingertips. Really spread the toes wide. Lengthen up. Take a few full deep breaths here. Good. Inhale, maybe lift up a little bit higher. And then exhale. Opposite cheek down to the earth. Maybe sway hip side to side. Couple breaths. Good. And then coming up for a sphinx pose. Bring the forearms to the earth. Walk the elbows in front of the shoulders a little bit. And then engage through the legs. Draw your mat back. Reach the heart between the arms. Lift the gaze and just breathe. And if you want to press into the hands, you're welcome to lift elbows up and come up a little bit higher. For seal. Otherwise, find your breath. Good. And then letting your hands come next to your side ribs. Press back to hands and knees. Let your hips sink back to your heels and just sit back on your heels for a moment. Then we're going to come into a headstand prep. So I will show you if you want to take a look up here first. Great.

Or I'll cue us into it. So we'll bring the forearms down to the earth from here. And then hold on to opposite elbows. And then interlace your fingers and make sure you tuck one pinky underneath so you're not smooshing your hand. And then this will be a little bit of a shelf for the back of the head. So you're going to tuck the chin, bring the very crown of the head to the earth, and then bring your hands to the back of your head. And then most of the weight is going to come into your forearms. So it's almost like you could lift your head up off the earth. Say about 80% of the weight into the arms. And you're welcome to just stay here and play with just putting a little pressure on the crown of the head. Otherwise, tuck the toes. Press into the forearms actively. Let the shoulders come away from your ears. And then maybe lift up so that the pressure is on the crown of the head, but mostly in the forearms. Sitting bones reaching up toward the ceiling. And then just getting upside down. So playing with a few full deep breaths here. Nice. And then lower your knees. Child's hand pose. Maybe the hands reach back this time. Just take a moment. Notice where that lands. Beautiful. And then roll up as you're ready. We'll take the weight off to one side. And then we'll set up for Gomukhasana. So we're going to take the right knee on top of the left. Draw the heels in towards you. And this isn't the hip opener for everyone. So if this feels too crunchy in your body, feel free to just come into a comfortable cross-leg seated position. If that feels better, you can also take a block under that right foot. And then start to wiggle in so that the sitting bones land on the earth. And then any amount, just start to root back as you walk your hands forward. Maybe the head, the neck. Good. And then walk your hands back in. And we'll just take it to the other side. So stretching the legs out in front of you. Take the opposite knee on top. Wiggle in.

Draw the heels in towards you. And again, maybe it's just Sukhasana with the left shin on top. And you can fold here. That's a beautiful hip opener as well. Otherwise, heels in. Sit up nice and tall to begin. Maybe give your feet a little bit of a massage. Yeah. And then rooting down through the sitting bones, tenting through the fingertips, and any amount walking hands forward. You can kind of use that to press back a little bit so that the sitting bones are rooting down. And that gives me a little bit more sensation in the outer left hip. It might feel good to just stay upright. Change your breath. And then walk your hands back in. Release the legs out in front of you, flexing through the feet, sitting up nice and tall on your sitting bones. And then inhale to sweep the arms up. And exhale, fold. Paschimottanasana, letting your hands fall wherever they fall. And just taking a couple breaths here. Feel free to soften the knees. Inhale, come all the way up and come on to your back. Grab a block if you have one. If not, that's okay. Step the soles of the feet to the earth, walk the feet in towards you. And we'll set up for a supported bridge pose here. So pressing through the soles of the feet, lift your hips and slide the block under the very low back or the sacrum. And you can take it the lowest height, the medium height, or even the highest height if that feels best for you. And then let everything melt down. And just feel the support of the block beneath you, the earth beneath you. And then maybe bring the palms to face up, roll the shoulders down the back. And then just take a moment here to feel the support. Let the body get heavy. And then you're welcome to stay right here. Or if you'd like to take another supported inversion, you can start to draw the knees in towards your chest and then straighten the legs up any amount, soles of the feet toward the ceiling. Maybe close your eyes and then just tune into the subtle movement. Be here for about 10 full deep breaths, building the reverse flow of energy, of blood. Notice what you notice.

Little more breaths. And then slowly re-bend through the knees, bring the feet down to the earth, pause here for a moment, and then straighten out the right leg. So keep pressing through the sole of your left foot. And if the block's a little higher, it might feel better to lower the block a little bit here. But feel the opening through the front of the right hip. So as a really nice posture, if you sit a lot or you drive a lot. Good. And then re-bend through the right knee, step the right foot to the earth, straighten out through the left leg. And again, just notice the opening through the front of the left hip, psoas, or anywhere else you feel this. I feel it in my low back. And then re-bend through the left, soles of both feet to the earth, press through the soles of the feet, lift the hips just enough to slide the block out from underneath you. And you can just take that over to the side of your mat. And just take a moment to pause here. Maybe hug your knees into your chest if that feels good for you. You're rocking a little bit side to side. And maybe happy baby holding on to the outsides of the feet or the shins, knees wide. Maybe rocking side to side. Any last movement here that the body is asking for? Tune in. What do you need? What's going to make you feel really good right now? Good. And then we'll gather knees to chest, dry your nose up to your knees, hug everything in. Take a big breath in, hold the breath at the top again. Pause. Sip in a little bit more air. And then let all of that go. We'll just take a brief moment here, stretch the legs long on your mat. Bring your palms to face up on either side of your body. And then again, just coming back to that breathing pattern that we started with. Inhale through your nose. Brief pause at the top of the inhale. Exhale out the nose. Pause at the bottom of the exhale. Inhale. Pause. Exhale. Hold the breath out. Just take that a couple more times on your own, noticing the space between your breath. And then as the mind starts to enter, can you notice the space between your thoughts?

Seeing the breath just anchor you to this moment, right here, right now. And then go ahead and release the effort of the breath and just rest for Shavasana. Exhale. Exhale. Exhale. Exhale.

Exhale. Exhale. Exhale. Exhale. Begin to deepen your breath, letting your next inhale be a little bit longer than the last. And then invite any movement back in. And as you're ready, we'll take a nice full body stretch. Reach arms up over your ears. Take a big full breath in. Point your toes.

Take a full stretch. Inhale. Exhale. Let it go. Bring the soles of the feet to the earth. Lending the knees, roll over to either side and just take a moment on your side to pause, to notice, to check in. And then whenever you're ready, just making your way up to a comfortable cross-leg seated position. Maybe the eyes stay closed, letting the gaze rest on the internal space and just observing. Bring hands to heart, Anjali Mudra. Take a moment to bow your head towards your hands in gratitude for this practice and for showing up for you today. Big breath in. Long breath out. Thank you so much for sharing your practice today. Namaste.

Comments

Kate M
5 people like this.
Beautiful. "Space is the architecture of compassion>" - Richard Freeman
Sarah Beston
Dear Kate, thank you for sharing that beautiful quote. It lands so beautifully, especially in these times. Lots of love, Sarah 
Shawn
1 person likes this.
thank you. very, very smooth flow. :)
Sarah Beston
1 person likes this.
So happy to be practicing together Shawn! Stay close. 🙏
Jenny S
5 people like this.
This was just plain beautiful 🌷with everything going on in the world, is was so nice to just sink into this flow and have this hour to put all pressing thoughts aside and just BE.
Kate M
3 people like this.
Jenny So true. These practices are a real lifeline. So blessed to have these amazing teachers' offerings, especially now. Take good care!!🙏🏻💛🌎
Sarah Beston
Jenny, so happy to be practicing together especially during these times. It means so much to be connected in community here. Stay close. 🙏
Ali
Ali
5 people like this.
Sarah, I was so stressed coming into this practice, and this is first thing in the morning. Your sequencing is so interesting and inviting that the worries left me and I felt released from them. I found the space between. I will try to keep finding the space between thoughts as the day unfolds.
Sarah Beston
1 person likes this.
Ali, so beautiful and thank you so much for sharing. I've been trying to do the same and it brightens my day to hear that this practice helped in a small way. Stay close. Warmly, Sarah
Gabriel W
2 people like this.
Great practice thank you. Worked really well for me at 0.75x speed... 
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