Soulful Flow Artwork
Season 2 - Episode 2

Strong Warrior Flow

60 min - Practice
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Find strength and stability in this grounding flow practice. Allow the earth to support you through moving meditation in Sun Salutes, strong Warrior flows, and standing postures with longer holds, inviting spaciousness and stillness into the moments between. You will feel balanced, rooted, and at ease.
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Welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for joining for this flow practice. Today, wherever you are, I welcome you. I'm here in my garage that was recently transformed into a small studio here in Manhattan Beach. I'm so happy to be together with you practicing today. We'll get started in just a moment. Find yourself a comfortable spot to roll out your mat. Today's practice is going to tap into the energy centers in this season two, as we did in season one, in a different way. In this first class together, find a really grounding and rooted practice. We're moving through a strong warrior flow today. So we'll explore warriors one through three in a way that we can kind of find stillness within the movement in our flow practice today. So whenever you're ready, please join me. We'll get started on our backs. Just take your time to roll back. And as you come on to your back, you can step your feet as wide as your yoga mat. Let your knees just knock into touch for constructive rest, and then maybe let your hands fall on your belly. Or you can bring the palms to face up on either side of the body, whatever feels just more inviting for you today as we begin. And just allow this to be a way to tap into the internal space. So maybe the eyes closed, letting the gaze shift to the internal space. Start to notice just the natural rhythm of your breath. Maybe for the first time today, recognizing that you're breathing. And let's allow a few cleansing breaths together. So as you're ready, inhaling through the nose, filling up. And then open the mouth, sigh it out, let it go. Cleansing breaths. Again, inhaling through the nose, filling up, calling in whatever it is for your intention today. And then let the exhale be a letting go, sigh it out, releasing. Good. One more like that, allowing a big full breath in through the nose, filling up, sigh it out, let it go. Beautiful. And then start to move into either the natural rhythm of your breath or ujjayi pranayama, letting the breath begin to move in and out through your nose. Find that ocean-like sound in the back of your throat. And then again, if there is an intention that you'd like to set for your practice today, just something you'd like to call in or perhaps let go of, just take a moment to do that here before we begin our movement and our flow practice today. Beautiful.

And then as you're ready, just reaching your arms up over your head, let both knees drop to the right side. So take a nice, easy spinal twist, breathing all the way through the left side body. And you might take your gaze over your left shoulder if that feels okay. Beautiful. And then as you inhale, draw the knees back through center, let the knees drop to the left side. Take a couple of full deep breaths into the right side body. Maybe take a gaze over the right shoulder as you do that. Nice. And then just with your rhythm, start to windshield wiper the knees from side to side. So moving with the breath, starting to link the movement to the breath, just as a nice way to start to warm the hips, open up the spine, whether it's morning or afternoon or evening, just letting the body move in a way that it feels good to move for you today. Good. And then just finishing up on the left side. And as you come back through center, the soles of the feet, find the earth and let's take thread the eye of the needle. So cross your right ankle on top of your left knee. Find that figure four shape with your legs. Let the right knee draw away from you and then start to draw the legs in towards you any amount. Now you might interlace behind the left eye or on top of the left calf if that feels okay for you. But be at a place where the shoulders can soften and relax a little bit. And then just start to send the breath to the right hip. So breathe into the right side body. Keep flexing through the right foot to protect your knee. A couple full deep breaths here. Beautiful. And then go ahead and release that as you're ready. Take a moment, step the soles of the feet to the earth. Feel the right side versus the left side for a moment. Notice any difference there. And then we'll just take it to the other side. So crossing the left ankle on top of the right knee, let the left knee draw away from you. And then keeping that figure four shape, start to draw the legs in towards you any amount. You can interlace either on top of that right shin or behind the right thigh. Letting the left knee draw away, let the shoulders soften and release. And then allow the breath to move into that left hip. It's balancing it out, noticing if this hip feels any different from the first side. It's becoming aware, becoming the witness of all that's occurring here. Beautiful. And then go ahead and release that side. Hug both knees into your chest and just start to rock a little bit from side to side. Massage the low back. You might take your knees in circles in one direction and then the other. Just noticing how the lower back is feeling this morning and just in general, how the physical body is feeling today. Good. And then hands to the backs of the knees, start to rock up and down along the length of your spine. And you might take that a few times. We'll build momentum coming all the way to a forward fold at the front of your mat. And you can soften your knees any amount as you come into your fold here. Maybe hold opposite elbows, letting everything just melt down over the legs. Maybe sway a little bit from side to side or shake your head yes and no, just with the intention of starting to release any tension from the head, the neck, shoulders. And again, feel free to keep the knees nice and bent here if that feels good for you. And if you're crossing the elbows and you take the opposite arm on top for a few breaths, letting go a little more with every exhale. Good. And then hands down toward the earth, soften your knees. Start to roll up slowly, one vertebra at a time. Good. And as you get to the top, let's bring the shoulders up toward the ears. Take a big full breath in here. And then as you exhale, just release the shoulders down the back, finding tadasana, mountain pose. And just take a moment, draw your hands to your heart center and really feel your feet here. So we're getting into this earth energy, this grounded first chakra energy. And if you could pick up the toes for a moment, spread the toes and then place them back down on the earth, soften your knees, let the tailbone just start to melt down and then feel the lift through the heart, through the crown of your head. And then we'll move into some half sun salutations, starting to link the breath with the movement as you inhale, sweep the arms out and up, maybe take a gaze up, but at the same time, really ground through the soles of the feet. And then as you exhale, soften the knees and dive into your forward fold, uttanasana. Good. And then as you inhale, come halfway up, maybe walk the hands up onto the shins for this first one, feel the length in your spine. And then as you exhale, just release it back down, forward fold. Good. And then rooting down through the feet as you inhale, sweep the arms out and up. And then exhale, hands to heart center. Good. And let's just do that a couple times again with the breath, picking up the pace a bit. Inhale, arms sweep up, lengthen through the spine. As you exhale, dive forward, uttanasana, forward fold. Good. Inhale, lifting halfway up, lengthen through the spine. Maybe hands on shins or the earth. Exhale, forward fold. Root down through the feet, rise up, inhale, arms sweep out and up. Hands to heart, exhale.

One more like that. And then we'll build into our sun salutations. Inhale, arms sweep up, lengthen through the spine. Root down. Exhale, dive forward, long spine, forward fold. Inhale, halfway up, lengthening. Exhale, release and fold, uttanasana. Beautiful. Inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale, draw hands to heart center. Good. Let's move on. Surya Namaskara A will build into this slowly with the breath. Inhale, arms sweep up, lengthen through the spine. Inhale diving forward, uttanasana. Good. Inhale, lengthen, come halfway up. Good. And for this first one, plant your palms for a moment. Step your left foot to the back of the mat and then step the right foot to meet the left. So let's come to the top of a push up here and find our alignment. So strong in the core, moving forward and back through your center. Let your shoulders land right over the wrists, hips in line with shoulder blades. Stay active in your legs here. Take a big full breath in. And then just let the exhale lift your hips up and back into downward facing dog. And in this first down dog, start to pedal it out, move around a little bit. Maybe shake your head yes and no. Just kind of feeling into the backs of your legs and the back body. So letting the spine be nice and long. And then see if you can press through the inner hand as well as your outer hand. So evenly distributing the weight across your hands. A couple more full deep breaths, finding one point to focus your gaze, your drishti. Beautiful. And then on your next breath in, rise up onto the toes. Big bend in the knees. Look forward and then step or you can lightly float your feet to your hands. Come to the front of your yoga mat. And again, inhale, just lifting halfway up. Arda uttanasana. Exhale, forward fold. Good. Root down to rise. Inhale, arms sweep up. And as you exhale, hands to heart center. Good. Let's keep moving on here. We'll move to the other side. Inhale, arms sweep up, lengthening. Exhale, forward fold. Good. Inhale, halfway up. This time, step the right foot back first just to balance it out. Plant the palms. Step the left foot back. Plank pose. Top of a push up. And just start to shift the weight forward and back a few times. So really feeling into the core here. Feel the earth beneath your hands and your feet. Good. And then welcome to lower the knees as you shift forward. Hug the elbows in. Let's take a slow lower to the belly for five, four, three, two, one. Good. And then release. Untuck your toes. Press through the tops of the feet. Coming up into a low cobra, peel the chest up, bhujangasana. Keep the length in your spine here as you lift up. Good. And then as you exhale, release it back down. And either pressing up through plank pose or hands and knees will come right back into downward facing dog. Good. Allowing a big full breath in here. Let something go on your exhale. Release.

One more big full breath in. Maybe start to find some stillness in your down dog. Let the heels get heavy. Exhale, release. Good. Rising up onto toes. Big bend in the knees. Look forward step or you can lightly float your feet to your hands. Come to the front of your mat. On an inhale, lifting halfway up. Exhale, release. Good. Root down to rise. Arms sweep out and up. And then hands together in front of your heart. Good. Let's take a couple more rounds with this. Building in. Inhale, arms sweep up, lengthening. Exhale, forward fold. Inhale, halfway. Letting the breath guide the movement. Plant your palms. Step back to plank pose. This time as you shift the weight forward, maybe you're coming halfway down Chaturanga. Hug the elbows in. Good. Cobra, maybe upward facing dog. Straightening out the arms. Firming the thighs up off the earth if you're in up dog. Good. And then rolling over the toes, lift the hips up and back. Downward facing dog. Take two full deep breaths here. Inhaling. Exhale, release. Inhale. And exhale, let it go. Beautiful. Rise up onto toes. Big bend in the knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. Inhale, offer the heart halfway. Exhale, fold. Good. Root down to rise. Arms sweep up. And then hands to heart. So one more round with this. Inhale, arms lift, lengthening. Exhale, release and fold. Good. Moving meditation with the breath. Inhale, halfway. Planting your palms. Step or lightly float back. Chaturanga. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. Landing in down dog. And breathing. At any point you want to lower the knees, you're welcome to. Child's pose is always there as an option. Just letting this be a grounding practice for you and whatever that means today. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, let's float the right leg up. Take a moment, bend the knee, open up through the hip. You might roll out your foot a few times or take some big circles with that right leg, but really ground through both hands. So you're pressing through the right hand and the left hand evenly. Shoulders level. Good. And then straighten your right leg any amount. Square off your hips. Take a big full breath in. Gaze between your hands. Step your right foot forward and we'll set up for our first warrior pose. So warrior one, spin the back heel down.

Big bend in that right knee. Sweep the arms up. Virabhadrasana one. Just take a moment to land. So however you need to adjust, find your intuitive alignment. Coming down toward 90 degrees in that front knee. Let the shoulders soften and release. Energize up through the fingertips. And then where can you soften a little bit within the effort? Ease within the effort, the sthira, the sukha. Good. Big full breath in here. As you exhale, releasing the hands down to the earth. Step back. Find your plank pose. Shifting forward. Chaturanga. Good. Cobra or upward facing dog. Inhale. Roll over the toes. Down dog. Exhale. Nice work. Big full breath in. And letting something go. Release. Exhale. Ha. Good. And then left side as you're ready. Float your left leg up. Again, just take a moment. Bend the knee. Open the hip. Feel into the left side. Maybe roll out your foot a few times. Can take some circles with that left knee if you'd like. Good. And then straighten the left leg any amount. Gaze between your hands. Step the left foot through. Spin the back heel down. Heels aligned or you can step the feet a little wider if you'd like for warrior one. And then reaching the arms up. Just taking a moment to land. So let the shoulders relax. Feel the energy through the fingertips. But really strong in the base, in the core. So the soles of the feet are really rooting down. And soften your gaze. More than anything, find the breath. Notice if you held your breath. I did there for a moment. Let that go. Come back into that ujjayi. I think it'd be all about the breath. And then hands to the earth. Plank pose. Step the left foot back to meet the right. Shift the weight forward. Chaturanga.

Cobra or up dog. Inhale. Down dog. Exhale. Breathe here. Big, full breath in. Long breath out. Let it go. Good. And then slowly start to walk your feet to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. And as you get to the front of the mat, we'll come halfway up. Inhale, landing through the spine. And exhale, uttanasana. Release. This time come into chair pose, utkatasana. So sink the weight into the heels. Bend the knees. Sweep the arms up. Feel the length in your spine as you come up into uttanasana. Good. And then straighten the legs. Feel the lift in the upper back. Big breath in. Long breath out. Hands to heart. Just taking a moment here at the front of your mat to pause to notice how you feel. Feel your heartbeat for a moment. And then just breathe. Noticing if anything has shifted from when we first began. And we'll move into surya namaskara B. So as you're ready, let's move with the breath. Inhale, uttasana. Arms sweep up. Find your chair pose. Exhale, forward fold. Good. Inhale halfway up. Lengthen through the spine. And then move it through. Your vinyasa. Step real lightly. Float back. Chaturanga. Cobra or upward facing dog. Inhale. Downward facing dog. Exhale. Nice work. Float your right leg up. Take a big full breath in. As you exhale, step it through. Setting up for Virabhadrasana one. Just let the inhale bring you up. Maybe press palms together. Maybe gaze up. And then the exhale brings you all the way back down for Chaturanga. Good. Inhale, cobra or upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Beautiful. Left side. Inhale, left leg floats up. Exhale, step through. The inhale brings you up. Virabhadrasana one. Maybe press palms together. Maybe lift the gaze. And then the exhale brings you down. Chaturanga, left foot steps back. Moving through. Good. Letting the breath. Just wash it through.

Guiding the movement. Downward facing dog. Beautiful. Now walk your hands back to your feet. Find a forward fold at the back of the mat. So stepping the feet about hips distance. And then if it's accessible, peace fingers. So the first two fingers and the thumbs, wrap them around the big toes. On an inhale, lengthen through the spine. You can bend your knees any amount here. Any forward fold is great. Letting the elbows splay out to the side. Fold in. Maybe shake your head yes and no a few times. So the intention of letting anything roll off the spine, the crown of your head, your shoulders, releasing. Finding a brief pause between the movement to check in, to notice, to arrive. Really feeling the feet down on the earth. Beautiful. And then meet me back slowly. As you walk your hands forward, really feel the earth beneath your hands as you come into downward facing dog. And we'll rise up onto the toes. Big bend in the knees, looking forward. Step or lightly float to your hands, front of the mat. Inhale, lifting halfway. Exhale, release. Nice work. Right back to chair pose. Utkatasana, arms sweep up. And then straighten the legs. Feel the lift in the heart. And then hands to heart center. Let's take one more round. Surya namaskarabi with the breath. Inhale, back to chair. Utkatasana. Exhale, forward fold. Good. Inhale, halfway. Exhale your vinyasa or you can always skip it and come right back to downward facing dog. We'll meet there. As you arrive in down dog, right leg sweeps up. Big breath in. Good. Step it through. Warrior one, spin the back heel down. One breath in. Maybe follow the gaze with the hands. Good. Step it back. Clank pose. Vinyasa. Cobra or up dog. Lifting the heart on the inhale. Downward facing dog. Exhale, left side. Inhale, left leg lifts. Exhale, step it through. Spin the back heel down. One breath in. Virra one. Inhale. Good. Exhale, step it back. Chaturanga. Cobra or up dog. Inhale. Down dog. Exhale. Good. Let's lower the knees down. Take a child's pose. Letting the hips sink back towards your heels. Letting the forehead find the earth. You might even stack your hands and let your forehead rest on your hands. Just be in a place where you can really feel the ground and the earth energy beneath you. Maybe noticing the parts of the body that are making contact with the earth. And then again, more than anything, just this breath. Inhaling. Exhale. Allowing a few more full deep breaths here before we move on. Again, checking in with your intention. Why are you here? Why are you practicing? What would you like to call in? Perhaps let go of. Good. And then taking your time. Whenever you're ready, downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Beautiful. Coming back to the right side. Inhale, right leg lifts up. Exhale, step through. This time we're setting up for warrior two. So spin the back heel down. Let the left arm guide you up and open to face the side of your mat. And then just take a moment to land. So feel the legs strong and the legs coming toward 90 degrees in that front leg. And then can you be at a place where the shoulders just kind of soften and relax and energize through the fingertips, sealing the outer edge of the back foot to the earth. Beautiful. And then coming through center. So straighten your front leg, parallel the feet. Flying warrior. Take a big full breath in here. And then warrior two to the back of your mat. So turning your left toes out, bend your left knee. Same thing here.

Let the shoulders relax. Energize through the fingertips. Breathe. Beautiful. And then coming back through center as you inhale, sweep the arms up. Flying warrior. Good. And then warrior two to the front of the mat again. So right toes turn out. Flip your front palm. Keep the legs how they are and just tilt it back. Reverse warrior. Feel that length through the right side body. Maybe sink a little deeper into that right knee. Maybe. And then circle lands down to the earth. Plank pose. Vinyasa or skip it. And come right to downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Taking a big full breath in. And a long breath out. Release. Good. So in these warrior poses and this warrior flow, really allowing the earth to support you. So finding the stillness within the held postures. We'll come to the left side as you're ready. Inhale, left leg lifts. Exhale, step it through. Spin the back heel down. Let the right arm just guide you up and open. Take a moment to land. Center your weight. Feel your feet. Take a gaze over your middle finger. Find your drishti. Maybe close your eyes and just really feel the earth here. Holding warrior two. Find the breath. Let the breath tether you to this moment. Good. And then moving through center. Straighten the front leg. Parallel the feet. Flying warrior. Inhale. Right toes turn out. Warrior two to the back of your mat. Exhale. Holding for a moment. Take a couple full deep breaths here. Strong in the legs. Light in the upper body. Nice work. Good. And then inhale as you come back through center. Parallel the feet. Flying warrior. Exhale. Left toes turn out. Warrior two. Sing it down. Good. Keep the legs how they are. Flip the front palm. Tilt back. Curse warrior. Maybe sink down a little deeper into that left knee. Beautiful. And then circle it down. Step back. Plank. Vinyasa. How you doing? Let the breath guide the movement.

Downward facing dog. Exhale. Nice work. Take a big full breath in. Long breath out. Good. This time walk your hands back to your feet. Heel toe your feet as wide as your yoga mat and then let the toes come out and the heels come in a little bit as you sink the weight down for a malasana yogi squat. Maybe hands to heart. And you can take something under your heels if you want to curl up your mat for support. And just taking a moment as you lengthen through the spine. So there's this downward earth energy. But at the same time lifting up through the crown of your head. That lightness and ease. Soften your eyes, your jaw, your face. Good. Beautiful. And then forward fold as you're ready. Parallel your feet. Fold over your legs. This time you might slide your hands underneath your feet stepping the feet into the palm of your hands. If that's not accessible again any forward fold. Just that calming of the nervous system. Letting everything just melt down off the spine. Crown of your head. Taking again this just brief pause between our warrior flow. Beautiful. And then as you're ready again just really feel the earth beneath your hands as you walk back into your downward facing dog. We'll meet there. Nice work. So as you're ready coming back to the right side. Sweep the right leg up. Inhaling. Exhale. Step it through. Come up to warrior two. So same beginning as you land in your warrior two. Let's flow with this. So inhale. Come back through center. Flying warrior. Exhale. Left toes turn out. Warrior two to the back of your mat. Sink it down. Good. And then again inhale back through center. Flying warrior. Maybe take the gaze up. And then exhale. Warrior two. Now keep the legs here. Flip the front palm tilt back. Reverse warrior. And then let's come into extended side angle. Either elbow to top of the thigh. Or you can take fingertips to the inside of your front foot. Maybe take that left arm over your ear. Feel that long line of energy from your fingertips all the way to that left heel. Breathing here. Good. Feel the earth. So nice. And then rooting down to rise. Back up. Reverse warrior. You can straighten the front leg for a moment. Get out of that right hip. Beautiful. And then re-bend. Circle the hands down to the earth. Clank pose. Shift the weight forward.

Chaturanga. Moving through. Inhale. Cobra or upward facing dog. Exhale. Downward facing dog. Big breath in. Long breath out. Release. Let it go. Beautiful. Second side as you're ready. Inhale. Left leg lifts. Exhale. Step it through. Setting up warrior two. Spin the back heel down. So same beginning as you circle it open. Take a moment to land. Find your alignment. And then we're moving. Inhale. Arms sweep up. Flying warrior. Exhale. Right toes turn out. Warrior two. Back of the mat. Good. Inhale. Back through center. Exhale. Warrior two. Front of the mat. Now keep the legs how they are. Find your base. Flip the front palm. Reverse warrior. Inhale. And then extended side angle. Fingertips to the earth. Or you might take the elbow to the top of the thigh. Maybe you have a block that you're working with. Reaching that right arm up and over the ear. Now if that doesn't feel good in your shoulder you can always keep that right arm straight up or even wrap it behind your back. Just be at a place where the neck can be relaxed. So you're reaching through the crown of the head. Back through that right heel. Beautiful. And then with the breath root down to rise. Reverse warrior. Straighten through your front leg for reverse triangle. Then re-bend. Circle down and through. Left foot steps back. Moving. Chaturanga. Or you're skipping that all together. Coming right to downward. Facing dog. Nice work. Take a big full breath in. Long breath out. Release. Maybe side out. Beautiful. And then rising up onto your toes. Bend the knees. Look forward. Step or lightly float to your hands. Come to the front of the mat. Inhale. Lift halfway. Exhale. Release. Right back to chair. Utkatasana. Weight into the heels. Sweeping the arms up. And then straighten the legs. Take a moment here. Draw your hands to your heart. And just pause and breathe. Maybe close your eyes.

Go inward. Maybe you have one hand on the heart. One hand on the belly. Dropping the chin down toward your chest. Taking these moments of pause between the movement. To check in. Just to notice what's coming up for me in this moment. Good. And then as you're ready, sweeping your arms up. Take a hold of your right wrist and just reach up and over to the left. So get really grounded and heavy in that right foot as you take this side body stretch. Beautiful. And then coming back through center, you'll take it to the other side. So holding onto the left wrist. Reach up and over to the right. Side body. Get really grounded and heavy in the left foot this time. Beautiful. And then centering your weight. Come back through center. Draw your hands to your heart. So let's play with balancing a little bit as we move into warrior three. When you're ready, come to chair. Utkatasana. So sinking the weight back down. We've been here before. This time, let your right foot get really heavy. And across the left ankle on top of your right knee, find that figure four shape that we did when we began on our backs. So temple dancer, you can draw the hands to the heart. Feel the opening through that left leg. Now find one point to focus your gaze as you shift the weight back a little bit. Beautiful. And then as you come out of there, you're straightening the right leg. Draw the left knee in towards your chest. Draw the low belly in and up. And then hands to heart. Slow transition as you come back to warrior three. So that left leg swings back torso lowers. Again, find your Drishti. If you want a little more, you're reaching the arms straight forward. Beautiful. And then crescent pose. Let your left toes find the back of the mat. Arms lift. The shoulders relax, energize up through your fingertips. Beautiful. And then let's lower the left knee down to the earth for support. Draw your hands back to your heart center. And then keeping the length in your spine will take a twist from here. Let your left elbow just come to the outside of your right leg. Draw the prayer in front of your heart, stacking the elbows.

And if you want a little bit more, you're tucking the back toes, lifting that back knee up, finding that crescent prayer twist, or you're keeping it low and grounded today. Whatever feels best for you. Checking in with whatever that is. And then again, more than anything your breath. Just this inhale. Just this exhale. Beautiful. And then take your gaze down. Let your hands frame your front foot. We'll step it into pyramid pose. So letting the left foot step in into the left a little bit. Let your right hip draw back. Let everything melt down over your legs. So crown of the head melts down. If you have a couple blocks, this is a nice place for blocks under your hands, but you don't need it. Wherever feels good for you to place your hands is where you place your hands. And then feel that opening through the backs of the legs. Press into the ball of your right big toe. Breathe. Nice. And as we climb out of here, gaze in front of you, we're going to come into a seated twist. So let the left knee come behind your right ankle and then find a seat. So you might walk your hands back. However you want to get there is great. So sitting bones down on the earth. If this just feels like too crunchy in the body, you can always straighten out your left leg. Otherwise, that left knee is bent. We'll take the right fingertips behind us, sit up nice and tall, sweep the left arm up, take a big breath in and then twist to the right. So either hooking elbow on the outside of the right thigh, you can hug the right knee in, lengthening through the spine on your inhale, twisting on the exhale. And again, inhale as you lengthen, exhale as you ease into the twist without a force a little bit more. Good. And then to counterbalance, take your gaze forward, and then unravel, bring your hands on the outside of your left hip, bend the elbows and just let your head release down. Let that side go. Beautiful. And then as you come up through center, we'll bring the soles of the feet to the earth, sit up nice and tall and your sitting bones coming to boat pose, Navasana, we're sneaking it in there. Settle in as you lift the legs up off the earth. Compare a little the shins to the earth. If it feels okay in the hip flexors, you can straighten the legs, but go easy with that. Reaching your arms forward, draw the shoulders back, find some length in your spine as you lift up and then really feel your sitting bones like rooting down to the core of the earth as you lift. Maybe close your eyes. Let's hold for five, four, three, sit up nice and tall for two and one. Hands to the backs of the knees. Let the soles of the feet find the earth. Bring your hands behind you. Let the fingers face towards you. We'll take reverse tabletop. So pressing through the soles of the feet, lift the hips, big full breath in, heavy tongue out, lion's breath, release. Beautiful. And then lowering the hips down to the earth, cross at your ankles, reach the hands forward and then your choice. You might be floating it back through Chaturanga. You can step it back through Vinyasa or you're just stepping it right back to your downward facing dog. And we're meeting there for a couple of full deep breaths. Inhaling. Exhale. One more. Inhale. And release. Exhale. Nice work. And rising up onto toes. Big bend in the knees, look forward, step or lightly float to your hands, come to the front of the mat. Inhale halfway. Exhale, release. Chair pose. Utkatasana, just moving through. Straighten the legs, feel the lift in the upper back.

And then hands to heart. Take a moment again just to pause, let go of that side, check in. Notice how you feel, the energy that's circulating. Good. And then we'll balance it out, moving to the second side. As you're ready, feet together at the front of the mat. We'll come back to chair, Utkatasana. This time start to let the left foot get heavy. And then we're picking up the right foot, cross the right ankle on top of the left knee and then shift the weight back for temple dancer. Hands to heart. Or you might take a mudra on either side. Whatever helps with your balance. For me, it's hands to heart today. Find that point to focus your gaze, your drishti. Good. And then stand up nice and tall on that left leg. Draw the right knee into your chest. Draw the low belly in and up as you reach the arms up. Good. And then that slow transition, right leg goes back, hands to heart. Warrior three, our last warrior pose. Take a moment to land. Good. If you want to reach the arms forward, reach the arms forward. You can also float the back or out to the side. And then soften your left knee. Let the right toes find the back of the mat. Pressing pose. Take a moment to land. Good. And then we'll lower that back knee down for support to start. Draw your hands to your heart center. And then keeping that length in the spine, the lower body stays as it is. Find your twist. Right elbow on the outside of your left. Prayer in front of the heart. Elbows can stack. If you want a little more, you're tucking the back toes, lifting the back knee up and twisting from the navel up. Find your breath. Inhaling. Release and exhale. One more. Inhale through the nose. Exhale, release. Take your gaze down. Let your hands frame your front foot. And pyramid pose. Step the right foot in into the right a little bit. So let your feet be about hips distance, not on a tight rope. And then draw that left hip back. Let the right hip roll forward. Hold over both legs. Let the head release down. Breathe. Feel that opening in the back body and that calming energy of folding inward towards yourself.

Nice work. And then we'll move into our spinal twist. So gazing forward and drag that right knee behind the left ankle and then however you need to sit down on your sitting bones on the earth, if you want to straighten the right leg out, go for it. Otherwise left fingertips behind you, lengthen through the spine. Reach the right arm up and then twist to your left, either elbow on the outside of the left or you can hug it in. So be in a place where you're ringing it all out but without force. So inhaling as you lengthen. Exhaling. Ease into the twist. At the same time really feeling everything rooting down as you lift up. Good. And then to counterbalance gaze forward first and then release. Bring the hands on the outside of your right hip this time. Let the elbows soften. Then let the head release down. Couple full deep breaths. Good. And then as you come back up through center, let the soles of the feet find the earth. Sit up nice and tall. And then we'll find boat pose. One more time Navasana. Lift the legs up off the earth. Now maybe you're staying right here, closing the eyes and breathing. If you want a little more work on the core, we'll take a big full breath in. Root down through the sitting bones as you exhale lower halfway down. Good. Inhale brings you back up. Navasana. Exhale. Arda Navasana. Inhale it up. How many more? Three maybe exhale lower. Inhale up. Two more. Exhale lower. Inhale up. Last one. Exhale lower. Beautiful. And as you come up, you can bring the hands to the knees, step the feet on the earth, hands behind you. Lift the hips up. Feel the opening. Take a big full breath in. Tongue out, lion's breath. Release. Beautiful. Lower your hips down. Cross at your ankles. Hands come forward. Stepping or lightly floating it back. Maybe taking a Vinyasa or stepping it right back to your downward facing dog. Take a moment to land there. Beautiful. And lower your knees down. If it feels okay, sit back on your heels for a moment or you're taking child's pose. Again, just taking a moment to observe. If you're sitting on your heels, let your hands rest on your thighs, either palms facing up for receiving energy, or maybe you're flipping them down today to ground. Finding that earth energy, that support that always exists. Sometimes we just need to get quiet enough to feel it. A couple more breaths here. Beautiful. And then as you're ready, meet me in a tabletop position. So we'll come to hands and knees. Let the shoulders land over the wrists, hips over knees, and then lower the forearms down to the earth. Now you can interlace fingers or just press through the hands, inner hand and outer hand. And let's invert here. So we'll tuck the toes coming up into dolphin pose, lift the hips up. Maybe start to walk the feet in towards you at the shoulders, land over the elbows. So we're strengthening the shoulders, opening up through the hamstrings, the backs of the legs. If there's another inversion that you prefer, feel free to honor that here. Otherwise, just holding for a couple full deep breaths. Oh, beautiful. Good. And that reverse flow of energy, and then walking your feet back.

Forearm plank, reach the heart forward, take the gaze between your hands, stay nice and low in the hips for five, four, three, two, sphinx pose, lower your hips down to the earth, untuck your toes, walk the hands forward a little bit, and then draw the mat back towards you as you reach the heart forward. Engage through the legs, maybe tuck your chin for a moment, bring it down toward the chest. It's really grounding here, and then bringing your right ear towards your right shoulder. Breathe into the left side of your neck. Beautiful. And then chin down toward chest, left ear, left shoulder. Breathe into the right side of your neck. Good. And then taking a moment to stack your hands, let the elbows go out to the side, let your forehead just rest on top of your hands for a moment, and just let the body feel supported. Let it get heavy here. Notice what you notice. Beautiful. And then bringing hands next to side ribs, hug the elbows in, tuck the toes from the thighs up off the earth will come up into plank pose, downward facing dog lifting the hips all the way up and back. And then either walking your hands to your feet, you might pop your feet forward to come to seated at the front of your mat, bringing the legs out in front of you and we'll set up for Janu Sharsasana. So bring your left foot to the inside of your right thigh. And then you can straighten that right leg, start to spin your torso. So it's angling over your right leg, flex your right foot, sweep the arms up, take a big full breath in here, and then leading with the heart fold in for Paschimottanasana, letting your hands just fall wherever they fall. So you're drawing that right hip back, feel the opening through the left side. Let's just hold for about five full deep breaths. Sending the breath to the sensations that arise in your body. And as we kind of move toward these held, stiller postures, take a moment to notice what happens. Where does the mind go? How does the body feel? How's the breath? Deepest breaths of the day. Two more breaths. Inhaling. Exhale. Beautiful. And your next breath in, leading with the heart, come all the way back up through center and then we'll just switch it to the other side. So right foot finds the inner upper left thigh, you can straighten that left leg out, sit up nice and tall, flex your left foot, angle the torso toward the left leg, sweep your arms up, take a big breath in and then leading with the heart, fold in. Janusasana. And again, the hands fall wherever they fall. So you're finding your edge without stepping over, honoring where you're at in this moment. About five full deep breaths here. Breathing in. I'm inhaling. Exhaling. Exhaling. Exhaling. Breathing in. I'm inhaling. Breathing out. I'm exhaling. And let the next inhale bring you out of that shape and we'll bring the soles of the feet together, let the knees go wide and just take a moment to wiggle in for Baddha Konasana, holding the ankles or the feet, take a big full breath in. And then as you exhale and keep the length in the spine, maybe tuck your chin and just round forward, breathing into the right side, the left side, balancing out two energies of the body, feeling the earth beneath you, grounded, supported quality that again always exists. Just have to tap into it. Good. And then as you inhale, come on back up. We'll stretch the legs out in front of us. Sit up nice and tall on your sitting bones. Flex the feet. Press your hands next to your hips for Dandasana for a moment.

Sit up nice and tall. Reach your arms up. Big breath in. Paschimottanasana. Lead with the heart as you fold in, letting your hands again just fall where they land. As you inhale, maybe come up halfway, lengthen through the spine. And then as you exhale, release. A few full deep breaths here. Good. And then let the inhale bring you up. Let the heels stay connected to the earth and just start to roll down onto your back slowly. And as you get onto your back, hug your knees back into your chest and just take a moment. Rock it around a little bit. Feel the earth saging through the lower back. And then we'll let the soles of the feet find the earth. Walk your heels in towards you or setting up for bridge pose. Maybe brush the backs of the heels with your fingertips. And then pressing through the soles of the feet, lift your hips up. Maybe rolling shoulders underneath you, interlacing fingers, lifting from the hamstrings. Try to release any clenching in the back body. Feel the opening through the front body, letting the inner thighs roll down as you breathe. Release long hold as you feel the soles of the feet really grounding. Notice the other parts of the body that are making contact with the earth. Beautiful. And then releasing the arms first. If you're interlaced, slowly roll down. And then to counterbalance, just like how we began, step the feet to as wide as your mat. Let the knees knock into touch. Take a moment, maybe bring hands to belly or one hand to heart, one hand to belly. And just check in. Notice where that lands, the residue of that heart opener, the echo of the postures, noticing what happens after the pose. Let's take one more round. So stepping feet, hips, distance, pressing up into bridge pose, lift the hips, maybe pressing palms of the hands into the earth, if that feels better, or you can interlace behind the back, let the shoulders draw down, lift from your hamstrings. So there's that rooting down and that opening at the same time, the heart space, the entire front line of the body. Beautiful. And then releasing arms, slowly roll down. This time reach your arms up over your head, step your feet as wide as your mat. Let both knees drop to the right side. Take a nice easy twist here. If you want a little more, pick up your right foot, place it on top of your left thigh, maybe take a gaze over your left shoulder and just wring it out. All that heat that you've built up, letting that go here. Couple more breaths into the left side slowly. Feel that opening, that space you're creating. Good. And then feet to the earth.

As wide as your mat, let both knees drop to the left side this time. You can stay right here. This might feel like more than enough for you. Otherwise you're picking up the left foot, placing it on top of the right thigh. Maybe take the gaze over your left shoulder or your right shoulder this time. Breathe into the side body or wherever else you feel this letting go. Good. And then come on out of there as you're ready. Unravel, come back through center, step the feet to the earth, neutralize the spine. Hug your knees into your chest, squeeze in. Maybe happy baby here holding on to the outsides of the feet or your shins, let the knees go wide. And if there's any last movement here that the body is requesting or maybe you're finding stillness here, breathing into the right side and the left side. Let the low back soften, let the shoulders release, tucking the chin. So nice. And then we'll draw knees back into the chest. Draw your nose up to your knees, allowing a big full breath in here. Hold the breath at the top and then sip in a little bit more air and sigh everything out the mouth. Release, let the legs go long on your mat. Let the feet just roll open like books, bringing the palms to face up on either side of the body and you allow the arms to fall away from the body a little bit. Give yourself some space, wake up space here. Let the shoulders release down the back as you lift the heart space. Maybe close your eyes, go inward, letting go, letting be. Just rest. Shavasana. Shavasana. Shavasana.

Shavasana. Start to let the breath deepen. Taking your next inhale, be a little deeper than the last. Start to rock your head from side to side. Feel the parts of the body that are connected here, inviting any organic movement back in, ankles, wrists. And then as you're ready, maybe reaching arms all the way up over your head. Take a full body stretch, big, full breath in here. Open the mouth, side out, release. Let the soles of the feet find the earth. Again, just feeling the soles of the feet on the earth, bending the knees. And then roll to either side. Just take a moment to pause on your side. Notice what you notice. Check in. Beautiful. And then keeping that ease of shavasana. You can press your way back up into a comfortable crossleg seated position. Maybe the eyes stay closed, letting the gaze just rest on the internal space. Hands in Anjali mudra. In front of your heart, taking a moment to just bow in towards yourself, thanking yourself for showing up for you today. And bringing hands to third eye, the light and love in me, greets and honors, the light and love in each of you. Thank you so much for sharing your practice today. Namaste.

Comments

Emily S
3 people like this.
What a yummy and perfect after-work practice! I have grown to love your practices and I'm always excited when you have a new one! Your wonderful calming energy is a welcome contribution to my practice and life :)
Jennifer E
1 person likes this.
Perfect way to start the day! Always love your classes, Sarah! Thank you!!
Sarah Beston
Thank you so much for sharing, Emily! That means so much to hear and I am really happy that we get to share in the practices of yoga here on Yoga Anytime—what a gift! Please keep me posted on your yoga journey. Sending love from California, Sarah
Sarah Beston
1 person likes this.
Hi Jennifer! I'm so happy to be practicing together and thanks so much for reaching out. I love your dog—what's his/her name? Sending love from me and my dog Sadie! xo 
Jennifer E
1 person likes this.
Sarah Beston Thank you so much! Her name is Hennessy.  My sister got me a shirt for holidays that says "Dogs and Yoga Make Me Happy". Sums it up! :) Hugs to you and Sadie!  xo
Mary Jane G
Hi Sarah,  I am so excited about your new season. This was a perfect practice to get focused on putting together a talk on Gratitude and Generosity. Thank you, Thank You, Thank you🙏🥰
Namaste🕉
Sarah Beston
1 person likes this.
So happy to be practicing with you, Mary Jane! Stay close and let me know how this season is for you. Much gratitude and warmth, Sarah
Ali
Ali
1 person likes this.
This is such a treat to have a new series of your flow practices. Thank you Sarah, this is such a key part of my wellbeing.
Sarah Beston
I am so touched to hear that, Ali! I feel so lucky to be a part of this special community and am so happy that we can share in Yoga together. Warmly, Sarah
Kate M
2 people like this.
I was on my feet in the kitchen for most of the afternoon (Canadian Thanksgiving meal prep!) and this felt sooooo good after. Thank you, Sarah Beston !!
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