Dynamic Flow Artwork
Season 2 - Episode 5

Inner Motivation Flow

60 min - Practice
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Yoga practice, not yoga perfect. Join Robert for a spicy, all-around dynamic practice to bring in a sense of satisfaction with self. Begin setting an intention to keep you motivated and focused, then move into warming Sun Salutes, back and core activating sequences, standing flows to challenge stability, balance and hip mobility drills, and close in lengthening recovery poses. You will feel strong and accomplished.
What You'll Need: Mat

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Welcome to Dynamic Flow, episode 4, season 2. Wow. So if you've been joining me up till now, so cool. Nice to see you again. If you're just joining, nice to meet you, nice to see you. So let's get two things established before we get moving.

All right. The first one would be, and I think it's helpful for two reasons, many more, but what is the intention or motivating factor for you? All right. You've taken the time. It's 10.30, 1.30, 4.30, whatever time it is for you in the world to roll your mat out and make this happen for yourself. So what is the intention or motivator? Okay. Maybe you can think on that for a minute.

Not a minute. We don't always waste too much time. But think on that. Feel into that. Maybe take a deep breath and I'm here because I want to work on my strength. I need to focus on myself more. I want to breathe better.

I want to learn to be present, whatever it is. Okay. Now with that motivator, one word or a phrase, like let's say you just want to work on being more present. So I am here now. When you breathe in, I am here. I am. When you breathe out, here now.

Okay. So this establishes, it kind of like just sets in stone. It can shift, but sets in stone your motivation, right? It keeps your focus also. It really keeps you focused and honed in on why and what you're doing here on the mat. And it can kind of tend to relax the mind a little bit, all right?

Because you've just got this like, I am here now. I am strong. I am capable. I am confident. I am. So it might begin with I am on the inhale and one word on the exhale.

So just something for you to consider, kind of dabble in. It may not come to you right now and about halfway through you're like, whoa, okay. That's why I'm here. So I think it adds a lot of value and can take your practice to another level, you know? So let's seal that right now, whether you got it or not.

Let's take the arms up, breathe in, and exhale, hands to the heart, right to the center of you, of us. Now, before we get moving, when I say big toe mound, pinky toe mound or heel, right? You have three points in each foot, most likely. And that is, so right below your big toe, you have this big mound here, okay? And between, below your pinky, you have the, it's a smaller mound.

But those are two key points. And then you have your heel. That's the third. Think of it as a tripod. So almost always, unless you say heels up or heels down, you want to have that good, rooted down.

And you can think about that as like just entry points for roots that set down into your mat, into the floor. But then those roots also come up into your foot, your ankle, your shin, your calf, your quad, and everything begins to kind of really like unite, okay? And it all begins, even if the foot is in the air and I say, push through the big toe mound, that's going to help in integrating foot, leg, et cetera, okay? So big toe mound, pinky toe mound, heel, all right? So that is an important aspect of your yoga practice as you begin to build stability, strength, and just connectivity.

That sounded pretty awesome. Connectivity. So let's get connected. Let's get strong. Let's move through a flow and we'll work on a couple of different balancing poses and have fun, take good care of yourself, modify as needed if I don't give you that cue, all right?

So we're going to start first in a tabletop and build from there, all right? So some usual suspects, maybe some new characters to explore today. I'm going to keep this block nearby. Tabletop, tabletop, tabletop. So if I didn't say already, it's a pleasure to be here with you.

So thanks for joining me. On tabletop, we'll start to move through the spine in those Cat-Cow series. Inhale, look forward, send the tailbone up, chest, heart forward, gaze forward, exhale, draw the navel up, round out the back, get broad and stretched out across the back. Good. Inhale, cow pose, exhale, cat. Let's do a few more.

I'm going to give you another cue that might be helpful. It's in the hands. It's almost like a tripod as well. Think about where your index finger pad is, your pinky pad and your heel, the heel of your palm. So you can almost just kind of like in a general way, think about, okay, I need to plug those three points in to have good connectivity.

All right, let's go one more here. Breathe in and breathe out. Neutral spine, inhale, curl the toes, downward dog, get right to it. Okay, so if I throw out tripod, right, you know where it is. So tripod the hands.

You have other points in the hands that you want to, you know, press into. But if you have those kind of like three points, you know at least you're mostly grounded in the hands evenly. Now you're pedaling the legs out. You're pushing one heel down at a time, bending the opposite leg, getting into your hips. Straighten your left leg, bend your right, throw your hips to the right.

Good, over to the left with that right leg straight. Okay, walk yourself up to the front of the mat. You can keep your palms down as long as you can. Come to the fingertips when it's needed. That means the ground just rose up on your demand.

Okay, feet hip width, soft bend in the knees, hands on the shins just below the knees, lift. Like push the arms straight, chest long, or chest up, spine long, rather. Exhale, fold forward, forward fold. Let's warm those legs up and that back up three times. Breathe in, half lift.

Breathe out, fold. Nose breathing on the inhale. Nose breathing or mouth breathing on the exhale. One more time, breathe in and lovely breath out. Grab hold of opposite elbows, gentle forward fold.

This is more of an opportunity to look down at your toes, lift your toes, spread them wide and then come into that tripod effect in the feet, right? Push deliberately into the big toe mound, the pinky, the heel, and just notice what happens with the deliberate pushing down. What happens through the ankles, the shins, the calves is that they start to become integrated into the ground, right? Now bend your knees a lot and roll up to stand. As you're rolling up, you're sweeping the arms out wide and all the way up.

Breathe in as you do so. Exhale the hands to the heart. Let the arms come down by your side, palms forward, inhale, reach up. Take a big stretch, exhale, soft knees, hips back, forward fold. Inhale long beautiful spine, exhale, plant the palms, walk back into plank pose and lower down for your first lowering.

Point the toes back, lift the chest, cobra pose. Let's get a little cobra action here, lengthen the spine, lift the chest, pull the shoulders back, come back through tabletop on the exhale, inhale, curl your toes, push the hips back and lift up into downward dog, nice. Clearing breath in, clearing breath out. Tip toe your feet forward, let's finish off this little sun citation A. Inhale, half lift and exhale, fold. Arms out wide, reach up, breathe in, exhale, hands to heart.

So you exhale hands to heart and finishing the exhale, the arms come all the way down. So you pass through, say hello to the heart and inhale, arms overhead, exhale, forward fold. Keep that connection in the feet, flat back, exhale, plant the palms, choose how you'd like to lower for these sun salutations today. Inhale cobra or upward dog, kind of get right to that, pull the shoulders back, lift the chest, that's it, strong legs, strong core, take you up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up, in a way into your downward facing dog. Breath in, nice, full breath in through the nose, open the mouth and exhale, I promise you with every bit of my promise that the exhale is magic.

Up up, front of the mat, half lift, inhale, and exhale. Rise up, breathe in, and exhale, hands to heart, pass by, say hello and arms come down alongside your body, palms facing forward. Exhale the arms up high, exhale I am here, inhale half lift, exhale plank pose, strong plank, lower yourself down halfway, all the way, your choice, upward facing dog, pull the shoulders back, chest forward, strong, strong sturdy arms, stay here for a moment, get that tripod effect in the hands now, don't lean out to the outer edges of those hands. Now from your belly, from deep down in your core and your thigh muscles, lift up into plank and downward dog, nice, that way you don't use your back, lift your right leg up, breathe in, bend it, open up the hip a little bit, let's get a little space, let's get a little stretch, open the hip, come up on those right fingertips, lift your left heel, explore that new space, steady flow in the breath, I am here now, or whatever that mantra is for you, now step the right foot all the way up, bring the back knee down, hands up on your right thigh and then your body lifts, then eventually the arms lift for low lunge, take the arms out wide, push very deliberately and kind of in a strong way in that back foot, top of the back foot presses down, okay, that's going to add some stability to this stretch, open the chest, open the arms, open the breath, open the mind, open the body, all of it, so yes, and also beginner, beginner's mind, you've been here before, I know you have, this isn't just another low lunge, this is a gift, an opportunity, bring the hands back down, curl the back toes, lift the left knee and open up into a big wide twist, open up, twist, rotate, bring the right hand back down, shoot back into downward dog, clearing breath, breathe in, breathe out everything, lift the left leg up, bend it, open the hip, explore that new space, come up high in the left fingertips as an option, beautiful, still kind of just roaming through the body, opening up all the varying spaces, lift your right heel a little higher, open those hips, square off the hips, step the left foot through, right knee down, raise up on the thigh first, and then the body lifts, press into the top of the back foot downward, all right, that's going to add stability, like I said before, arms then reach up, space, open up the chest, stretch out all the areas that feel a little confined, a little like tucked away, okay, hands come down to the mat, curl the back toes, lift the right knee, twist open to the left this time, turn the chest open, then that left arm rises high, opportunity for me to say hey, how are you? Open up, left hand to the mat, step the right foot forward, forward fold, plug those feet in, half lift, breath in, breath out, fold, rise and shine all the way up, exhale hands to heart, say hello, arms all the way down, palms open, chest open, inhale, arms up and open, exhale forward and down, breath in to the half lift, breath out, plank pose, good, on your exhale lower yourself down, come into the back bend, breathe in, breathe out, downward dog, lift the right leg up, breathe in, keep the hips square, breathe out, right knee to the right elbow or higher, maybe elevator it up a floor or two, up to that tricep armpit area, four more, breathe in, breathe out, I am strong, breathe in, up high, breathe out, I am strong, breathe in, up high, breathe out, I am strong, breathe in, up high, breathe out, I am stronger, now, now one last time, bring it in and step it up, nicely done, organize your feet, plug the tripod of the right foot in, you're missing one piece of the left foot because that heel is lifted, hands up on your right thigh and then build high lunge, nice, you can kind of do that right, you can kind of like inhale, lift, create a little tension and then exhale like soften into the pose, now hands to the heart, we're gonna get into rocket lunge here, I'm gonna hinge at the hips, so the body is gonna lean forward, you're gonna pull the hips back and keep a good long strong spine here and push through that left heel, okay, like you're trying to touch the left heel down on the mat, push the thumbs into the chest to lift the chest so you have that lengthened spine, stay here or take the arms, move them away from the body, up overhead, push into the right foot a lot, breathe, you gotta stay with me, you have to stay with that work you're developing and working on that right side, hands to heart, now on your exhale twist and rotate to the right, maybe hover the left elbow on top above your right thigh, good, thumbs are pressing or right near the center of your chest and you're holding this twisted lunge through the core effort, keep rotating open, it's gonna definitely feel like a lot of work in that right leg, keep tripodting that right foot into the mat, come back out all the way back up for the high lunge, breathe in, hands to the hips as you breathe out, straighten the front leg and shorten your stance just a tiny bit, right leg, relief, now keep a slight little bend in your right leg, push your hips back and lead with your heart, push the hips back lead with the heart, start to feel the hamstring stretch, maybe gently put your hands on your thigh, your shin or the floor depending but maybe keep a flat back for this one here, you don't need to fully flex over, those hamstrings getting a little work, okay, now you're going to bring your hands down to the mat, lift your left leg up, standing split, don't worry about the word split, if your left leg lifts up an inch, a foot, two, three feet, if you come into a split, great, good, just lift up and we're gonna isolate some effort on that right side, now tent up on the right fingertips on the floor or your block, left hand up on your hip, your right leg is definitely feeling it by now, mine is, and open that left hip up and drive that left heel back, a lot of work, you're feeling it I'm sure in that right glute, half moon kind of option here, keep your breathing, keep your focus, I'm here, I'm strong, whatever it is for you but stay locked into that, now bring your left foot down to join the right, square off the hips, you can move the block out of the way, wiggle around with deep knees, deep knees bent, okay, we're gonna rotate a few times here, so straighten the right leg, bend the left, lift the chest, now rotate, twist, right leg is straight, left leg is bent, twisting and rotating to the right, straight left leg bent right, lengthen spine, left side, rotate, good, what it comes down to, moving our body in a conscious sort of very deliberate intentional way, we're breathing intentionally, moving intentionally, so do what feels absolutely right for you, good job, move back into downward dog, let's reset, that right side got a nice little bit of attention there, so before we do the left side we're gonna come into plank pose on the breath in, now come down to your forearms on the breath out and hold here this forearm plank, okay push the heels back, squeeze through the thighs and wrap all those abdominal muscles up and in, if you get a little fatigued we're gonna go for about another 30 seconds, so if you get a little fatigued lift your butt up a little bit that's gonna help or you can bring one knee down for a little support or even two knees and keep the breath going and when we're in the strength your mantra might change like I am strong, I am super capable of this, I want good posture, I want to feel good, I want to feel healthy, I am, I am, I am, good work, lower the knees, lower the belly, the hips, okay nice, now lower all the way down, I want you to focus on the position of your pelvis, draw your tailbone back toward your heels and your pubic bone kind of presses down into the mat and slides up and you squeeze the glutes, okay so you've just adjusted the pelvis into what might be more neutral, safer for your low back, we're gonna lift up and down about ten times so take your hands behind your head, think back body core, okay elbows reach up to the ceiling, now I think it's probably best to inhale on the way up, okay so you're gonna press your belly and your diaphragm into the mat as you inhale and exhale down, inhale up, exhale down, inhale up, exhale keep pulling those elbows up to retract those shoulder blades, that's almost enough even if you just stay low, inhale up and exhale down, inhale up, exhale down, keep the head neutral with the spine, inhale up and exhale down, three more, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, stay up, hands reach back by your rib cage, pull the elbows back, pull the shoulders back, now you're in this nice little cobra pose, push the arms a little more straight, lift the chest, lift the belly, lift the hips a little bit, back body work, really important, back into tabletop, inhale forward for cow pose, exhale cat, neutral spine on the breath in, breath out, land here in tabletop, shoot the left leg back, toes down, heel pushes back, now reach the right arm up and long alongside your ear, now lift the left foot, okay, push through the tripod of that left foot, pose if you'd like, okay, lift the chest a little bit, now exhale, elbow toward the knee and round the back like cat pose, five, exhale four, inhale, exhale three, inhale, exhale two, inhale, exhale one, now extend all the way out again, left foot comes down, right hand comes down, now stay right here, take your right arm now and reach it up, try to keep your hips nice and level, reach the right arm high and twist the chest open to the right, nice, bring the right hand back down, left knee down, extend the right leg back, toes down, even just push that heel back and get a little stretch there in the achilles and calf, extend the left arm, okay, lift the right toes, find some balance, lift the chest, lift the right leg, fully extended out here, exhale, elbow to knee, knee to elbow, extend out, breathe in, contract in, breathe out, breathe in, exhale three, breathe in, exhale four, breathe in, exhale five, breathe in, extend, left hand down, right toes down, good, now you're going to take the left arm, open the chest, open the left arm, say what's up, how's it going, open the chest, open the chest, open the chest, and then that left arm high, try to keep your hips nice and level, left arm down to the mat, right knee down to the mat, curl the toes, inhale, exhale downward dog, nice, that little intermission of core work, of back body work, etc, left leg lifts, exhale, knee toward the left elbow or maybe elevator it up to the next floor, two floors, three floors, inhale it up, exhale, inhale, exhale, last one, exhale, exhale, exhale and step, good, shake out the arms a little bit, nice, definitely got a little energy built up now, a little bit of sweat, hands up on the left thigh, then eventually you're rising up high for this high crescent lunge, okay, remember that left side got some work or the right side had some work last time, so mentally prepare, I am strong, I can work through some of this muscle discomfort, keep your breathing going as you're doing this, okay, hands to heart first, always from the heart, right, now lean forward but not with a round back with a nice long beautiful long spine, push through the right heel, stay here if you know the arms overhead doesn't work for you, push into the left heel so you fire up these muscles through the left side here, your glutes, some of your quad muscles there and then reach those arms up overhead if you're choosing to, full breath in through the nose, full breath out, hands to heart, lengthen the spine when you take that full breath in, right elbow crosses and hovers over the left thigh, that way you're in a spinal twist but you're not dumping into it, right, you've got your core that is assisting in the stabilization of this effort, okay, I'm definitely feeling that left leg so maybe you are also, that's a good thing, it's a good thing, okay, come back out, patiently reach up, stay in that discomfort if you've got it, hands to the hips, straighten the front leg a little bit and step the right foot forward a little bit, that way you can bring both feet down evenly okay, tripod left, tripod right, you know what tripod is, we workshopped it for like 30 seconds, hips back, soft bend in the knee, lead with your heart, always heart right, feel the hamstrings, oh there they are, there they are, nice, keep the effort of especially the left foot here, tripod, big toe mound, pinky heel, stability matching that stretch you're feeling, hands on the shin gently, so if you dump into it, you're not using your legs and your feet and your core, right, so use all these muscles here to grab that stretch, okay, now you've got to prepare yourself, it's standing split into potentially that half moon, I'm going to just lean back just a little bit here, okay, lift the right leg up, okay, hello left side, right leg up, release the tension in the head, don't worry about how high that right leg goes, now maybe you start to post up on the left fingertips or the block you choose, that right hip begins to open, right hand on the right hip and drive through that right heel, work, work, work, work, work, breathe, right foot down, forward fold, that's what's incredible about this practice man, is it just gets the different and varying muscles that you are, that are just hard to get to with other exercise, half lift, straight right leg, bent left leg, rotate to the right again, full breath in through the nose, breath out, switch sides, bend the right leg straight in that left, lift the chest lengthen that beautiful spine of yours, twist and rotate open to the left side now, full breath in through that nose, nose breathing important, exhale through the nose or the mouth, take the tops of your feet, the big toe mountain, pinky toe mountain, forearms on your thighs, drop down to just like a little entry level squat, okay, now lift your chest up to the front of your situation here, arms forward, drive through your heels to come up to stand, squeeze the buttocks, stretch your hips, okay, what we're going to do here because this is what we're going to do, we're going to do three sets and we're going to do it about a rough time, okay, for 30 seconds, this is going to bring the heart rate up a bit which is nice, it's going to give you a little glisten, a little sweat which is nice, build some energy and it's also going to hopefully support your motivation, your intention, all right, exercise, we all need it, the body's designed to move and sweat and breathe, let's do it, so we'll do 30 seconds of squats, come down into plank, mountain climbers, bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb, 30 seconds and we'll come back up, 30 seconds of squats down to mountain climbers, three sets of both, all right, so I'll get this loose timer thing on my little wrist here, 30 seconds of squats begins now, lower down, breathe in, breathe out, lower and up, lower and up, 10 seconds to go, do one more, not so bad, transition down through squat into plank, 30 seconds of mountain climbers, here we go, let's start in three, two, one, plank, right knee, left knee, right knee, left knee, right, left, right, left, you can go slower, you can go faster, up to you, breathe as best you can, push the ground away, stretch out that upper back, you've got 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, downward dog, nice, walk up to the front of the mat, that's your rest, feet out toward the edge, toes off, lower down, about a quarter of the way to rise, okay, how's it going?

Good, all right, nice to move, let's go starting now, squats, lower and rise, try to keep your spine as neutral like your torso, as upright as possible, don't worry about like super low here right now, it's more of just about this consistent kind of steady flow of movement and in the 30 seconds if you've found that you're only able to do one, awesome, you're here, you're doing it or if you did a hundred, good for you, that's awesome, it's all awesome, good, there's your 30 seconds, take the arms overhead, down to mountain climbers, boom, hands down, plank pose, go for it right away, just right knee, left knee, I am strong, I am amazing, I am working hard, this is hard let's say right, so a little honesty with yourself, I'm struggling but I'm here, I'm doing it, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, nice downward dog, walk up to the front of the mat, set the squat up, heels on, toes off, lower down just a little bit to rise for the first one, okay, here we go and begin, 30 seconds, try through those heels to come up, fully extend all the way up top, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, nice, fully extend all the way up top, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, nice, come down, let's go right into the mountain climbers, here we go, last bit here, right left, right left, you can do this from your knees, right, perfect, boom, boom, boom, keep going, keep going, whatever choice you're making, make it fully, right, but remind yourself, why are you here, right, that motivation, stay with it, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, nice downward dog, take a couple of big clearing breaths, walk up to the front of the mat, no squat this time, you did enough of those, half lift, breath in, and breath out fold, rise up, breathe in, and breathe out, hands to heart, let the arms come all the way down, palms facing forward, stand for a few moments, eyes open or closed, roll the shoulders back, nice strong posture, standing mountain pose, tailbone draws down, glutes engaged, tripod those feet, heart beating, little balancing series here, okay, so I'll face you for maybe all of them, might be able to do that, so tree pose just to get and refine the balance, okay, so left foot goes on to the right calf or ankle or upper thigh, I choose the calf always, sort of middle of the road, pull the right hip in toward midline, push the left foot into that right calf, right calf into the foot, squeeze the glutes, get some security, all right, trees have roots, dig down, let those roots crawl all the way up the right leg, into the hips, into the core, maybe, roots got to go up and feed all the leaves and branches, right, wring those roots, breathe, this tree, right, trees provide a little oxygen, such a beautiful thing, I got my eyes right on the, well, maybe on you, on the camera, right, that's my Drishti and let's exit, oh man, shake out that right leg a little bit, okay, on the left leg, start with the right heel on the ankle, so you have your toes or right foot completely on the calf or higher up to you, right, so remember, root down through the left foot, tripod, you're going to squeeze your toes quite a bit also, that's normal, pull the left hip in, push the right foot into the left calf and get that good, like, counter strength, squeeze the core, take your arms up, sway a little, it's normal, it's natural, there's a flow in the stability and balance and then if you fall out of it, who honestly really cares, don't allow yourself to care too much about it, have a little fun, just reassemble the pose, so harden ourselves, you don't have to be too precious, it's too precious of a moment, too precious, don't be hard on yourself, unless you need to, to, like, kick your butt in gear, right, there's probably some appropriate times, but still do it with kindness, bring the right foot down, shake out the left leg, oh man, love this practice, so stoked to be able to share it with you, okay, the next one is, it can be challenging, so let's try to have some fun with it, I'm going to face this way, it's basically, you know, you can find your way, you know, you can find your modification or option along the way, so let's first start with balancing on the left leg, let's start with the right because then I think I can face you, so first start with lifting your left knee as high as you can, keep your right hand on your hip for now, okay, now imagine if you've got the balance, imagine trying to step that left foot as high up over like a fence and then rotate your left leg out and wide, like you're trying to step over this big fence or big object and then you're going to eventually push that left leg back behind you, push the right heel back behind you, left hand to the hip now, right hand down toward the block or the floor and you're in half moon, that was through like a nice little mobility kind of hip mobility drill, okay, now you're in super balance here, it's hard enough pose as it is, but now let's see if we can exit the same way we came in, so a little soft bend in the right leg, lift up so you're not holding on to anything, right hand on the hip now, oh man, okay, be kind, be kind Rob, it's all good, okay, now come up, lift that left leg up like you're trying to step back over that like fence or railing or something, and down, such an awesome little series, so play with it a little bit, let's go to the left side, lift the right knee, first find that balance, if you really are challenged by balance, use a wall, okay, take your left hand on a wall right now, now imagine having to lift that right leg up, up, up, up, open the hip, open the hip, left hand on the hip, reach that right knee up higher, that right foot higher, extend your right foot back, drive through the heel, right hand now on that right hip, left hand down toward the ground, push through the heel, squeeze that right glute, breathe my friend, friend's friend, lift, lift, lift, lift, lift, lift, now you got to really focus, the exits, it's more difficult, I think, lift back up, find the balance, lift the right knee up as high as you can, step over, engage your core, lift up and over and oh man, so if you struggle with that, definitely use a wall next time or use the wall again if you use the wall, but it is such an amazing way to isolate one side and we're definitely more mobile and strong from side to side, so give it a shot, keep working on it, now we're going to work this left side again, this or the right side, sorry, take your right hand on your hip, this is a little strength and balance series, left knee high again, okay, now you can stay here if none of the none of whatever else we're going to do works for you, bend your right leg a little bit, just a tiny little bit, now you're going to work through like what would be a warrior three, but you're going to bring your right or left fingertips down to the mat, touch your toes or touch the mat, extend your left leg out, you're going to feel some hamstring work done there in that right leg, then you're going to come back up, lift their left knee high, now we have 10 of these, that's one, shoot the left leg back, good strong long spine, tap the fingers down, extend the back leg back and up, two, shoot back, that's it, nice, that's three, valuable work, use a wall if it's helpful and you can get better movement out of it, nice, that's four, holy moly, four, did I say 10 or did I say five, okay, good, halfway there, we can do this, we can do this, we can do this, extend back, oh my goodness, feeling in that right leg with us, good, that's a reminder, I'm continuing to do the work necessary to stay strong, mobile, flexible, holy moly, three more, oh two more, if I wasn't here right now doing this live, I would have no doubt stopped, oh if I'm just being honest, up, up, up, up, let's finish strong, finish strong, finish strong and down, just kidding, I totally had that, that was a breeze, shake that right leg out of it, oh man, like I said before, to work those sides independently really reveals a lot, but keep it positive, right, keep it positive, it's practice, you've heard it all the time, yoga practice not yoga perfect, right, it seems like a little cliche but remind yourself of that, it's important, now the left side may be easier for you or more difficult, right knee high, okay, now the left hand is on the left hip, just adds a little stability, shoot the right leg back, reach the right fingertips down, oh man this feels much better, I think I was just really fatigued on that right side, shoot back, good and up, up, perfect, lean forward, feel the stretch in that left leg, oh I think that's three, you can inhale push the leg back, exhale lift up, inhale, exhale halfway there, inhale extend, exhale lift that right leg, squeeze the core, four more, you know the block is helpful, I know we're almost done and you're telling me now you can use a block, okay, how about three more here or you can just kind of lower about halfway down and up, oh yes okay two more, I'm right here with you struggling trying doing my best, extend and up and down, oh shake out the legs, shake out the legs, shake out the body, okay take the hands on the thighs, feet nice and wide but not too wide, sort of like you're huddling up right, huddle up coach, now what you're going to do is keep a little subtle bend in the legs and you're going to keep the right leg pretty strong and long, you'll bend the left leg or left arm probably, now push the right shoulder forward and look down into the left, a little bit of a twist, kind of a little recovery moment, left shoulder forward, left arm straight, look over the right shoulder, look down, you just kind of go back and forth a few times, one more over to that right side, stretch that side body out, back to center, come up to stand, okay come up to the front of the mat, reach the arms high overhead, breathe in, breathe out, forward fold, stretch up into half lift, walk back into plank pose, okay now bring the knees down, last little effort here in strength, knees down or knees up, you're going to do 10 push-ups, okay so if you have to take a wider stance with your arms and the arms kind of flare out a little bit like that, that's okay, that's totally fine, we're not doing the absolute chaturanga push-up unless that's what you're choosing, okay so hands wide or shoulder width, your choice 10 times, lower breathe in, breathe out, push-up one, push-up two, push-up three, push-up four, push-up five, halfway there, push-up six, push-up seven, push-up eight, push-up nine, push-up ten, knees down, knees narrow or wide, push back into a child's pose, a hardy breath in through the nose, breath out through the mouth, loosen up the neck muscles, loosen up the shoulders a little bit, let's come on out of that, let's come on to the seat, onto your seat, there you go, okay so from here we've done these before, I find them very valuable, take the block in between the thighs if you've got the block, you can take a pillow, a couple books or a book, pull the shoulders back, reach forward, reach the right hand back, use that right hand as a little leverage to rotate to the right a little deeper and now switch, 10, 10, exhale nine, exhale nine, exhale eight, exhale eight, good job, seven, seven, lean back a little bit if you want to use more core, six, good job, five, keep squeezing the block, five, four, four, three, three, two, two, one, one, nice, release the block, keep your body just like this but turn your hands back here, okay so point your fingers maybe out or back behind you somewhere in between, then pull the shoulders back and that might be like that's good, that's all I'd be needing right now or take your feet kind of wide, lift your hips, pull the head to the shoulders back, open up the hips, so a little front body stretch, lower back down, now maybe we do a single arm, if you know single arm doesn't work stay with the double arm, so I'm going to bring that right arm back behind maybe a little bit more towards center of the mat, not really center but right center, now take the left arm through the legs and lift the left arm up as you lift your hips, this one you can get just a little more hip extension, reach the left arm up and back, loosen up the neck, lower and then reach up again, one more time, lower down, switch it up, left hand back behind you, make sure the left shoulder is stable and strong, right arm in between those legs, lift up, reach the like really get extended through the hips and reach that right arm up and back, okay good, two more lower core engaged, bam up, big stretch and up, this is a perfect example of stretch and stability, oh lower on down, lower on down the road, okay nice, let's come back to sit here for a moment, okay hands up on the shins or thighs, think of actually around the knees, lift the chest, breathe in, breathe out, pull the belly in, round out the back like a seated, not like it is, inhale, cow pose, exhale cat, breathe in, breathe out, one more and out, inhale to center, right hand to the mat, left arm reaches up, exhale, left hand down, right arm reaches up, inhale, side bend and exhale, inhale and exhale, inhale right arm, exhale the right arm down, inhale the left arm, side body is opening, rib cage, intercostals, everything stretching and covering here, one more over to the right arm reaching up and over, stretch and hands down alongside your hips, legs are crossed, don't worry about lifting up completely but lift your butt up off of the mat, push the arms as straight and strong into the mat as you can, lift your butt and lower on down, reach the arms overhead, breathe in, twist and rotate to the right, left hand on the right thigh, right hand back behind you, rotate, look over the right shoulder if your neck allows, rotate that shoulder back, pull the belly in, back to center, reach the arms up so you can get the length in the spine and rotate to the left, right hand on the left thigh, left hand back behind you, twist, back to center, again grab the arms up overhead, exhale, lean forward, so it's like leaning forward over your lap kind of stretch, you can walk your hands out pretty far if you'd like, you can walk them over to the left, you can walk them over to the right, back up to center, close the eyes for a few moments, deep breath in through the nose, exhale through the mouth, just let the breath fall out on the exhale, full breath in through the nose, open the mouth and exhale everything out, full breath in through the nose, exhale through the mouth, two more inhale and exhale, exhale, one more breathe in, exhale, good, natural breath into the nose, and exhale through the nose or the mouth, lie down on your back, this will be a very abbreviated one with me here, like just lie down for a few moments, I'm going to stay seated, if you'd rather stay seated for the next minute, stay seated, either way you can lie down and continue to close your eyes and rest, if you're seated close your eyes and rest and breathe and either way whether lying down or seated you revisit your motivation, your intention, and breathe toward that mantra, that motivation, so you just reconnect to that, what's really important to you right now, what drives you, what draws you to the practice, it doesn't, it's yours, nobody needs to know it, it's yours, but whatever it was, it got you here today, it got you to show up, you don't show up, you don't show up, when you show up all this happens, if you're seated stay here with me, if you're lying down just let yourself lie down and take your time to close out your own time and space, I'm going to bring my hands together at my heart, chest, center of my body, forehead to fingertips, always in gratitude and appreciation for the ability to offer this practice and to be able to practice with you, eyes open if you'd like, namaste, peace, have a beautiful awesome day, here's to episode four, good job, see you next time.

Comments

Leesa H
4 people like this.
We’ve been doing your practices for a long time and we would say this has been the hardest. 
Your Canadian friends, Don and LEESA 👍😁
Eric M
3 people like this.
Holy Macaroni! Those knee raises back into half moon - hard work but so worth it. Thanks Rob!
Ana Luiza
Oh my God, amazing class, even if I wasn’t able to finish it! Maybe nexo time ;) Thats the beauty of online classes, there is always a Second chance hahaha
Heike S
1 person likes this.
Thank you for this ...and for your open words. This is a good Question for my class

Robert Sidoti
Hello my beautiful Canadian friends Don and Leesa !! I apologize for it being difficult (not really actually, haha) Hope you were able to find some join within the challenge and effort and maybe feel some rewards afterward :)) Thanks for being here and sharing your experience!! 
Robert Sidoti
Oh man Eric  - I hear you on the knee raises into half moon. I felt super sore in the best way the following day, love it! 
Robert Sidoti
Hey there Ana Luiza  !! Thanks for sharing here! Yes, the beauty of online is you can keep coming back over and over and work on the bits that were challenging, improving over time! Was it because it was too difficult, or a time constraint? Lmk how or if I can ever assist! 
Robert Sidoti
Hi Heike !! So grateful and happy to see your comment here!! How are you? What specific words do are you referring to? Either way, I'm happy they landed within you and you want to share :) 
Corinne M
2 people like this.
Want to revisit this one!  A good challenging practice, I love the balance work!  
Lina S
1 person likes this.
I've enjoyed this class interspersed with core work. I found the warrior 3 with fingers touching the ground really challenging. I like the idea of linking an intention with the breath (I am ___). Great!
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