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Trust the Connection: 20-Day Yoga Retreat Artwork
Season 1 - Episode 6

Day 5: Easeful Lift

60 min - Practice
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Description

Sometimes compassion is facing the challenge, sometimes compassion is backing off. In Day 5, Miles leads a grounding practice to find the stability of the feet and legs. We begin with a chanted mantra, then move through Chandra Namaskars (Moon Salutes), pausing in expansive shapes to ease more deeply into the legs and IT bands, challenge the balance, and open the front body. We close with a sweet mantra. You will feel spacious and uplifted.
What You'll Need: Mat, Blanket

Transcript

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Hi, everyone. How are you guys doing? It's been a crazy time, right? For today's practice, we've done all of this amazing work this week in getting into our shoulders and our rib cages and our backs and starting to create or allow for sensation. So I thought something that might be really beautiful today and that might tie our practice of the weekend for the weekend is finding our legs so that we remember that we have stability underneath us so that we remember that we can be grounded and that our feet can still touch the floor regardless of what's going on in our lives or in the world. And also as a way to complement all of the space that we found in the upper body and so that we can come to the weekend in a harmonious, sweet, whole way. So that's my plan for today. We're going to work with the legs. We're going to work with opening what Tom Myers calls the superficial backline of the body so that the superficial backline can drape down. And when that happens, then the front of the body naturally gets a nice lift and a nice rise that you don't have to work for or push to make happen. So that's the plan. You'll need a towel or a blanket. You'll definitely need that, so grab it. And if you have two blocks, grab your two blocks as well. Start in a nice tall seat. I would recommend sitting on a block so that your sit bones are nice and propped up and so that your knees have an opportunity to drop below your hips and feel your sit bones on the block or on the mat. And it's as if the sit bones were really the feet of the pelvis. Notice if you're leaning a little bit more toward one foot or leaning a little bit more toward the other. You can close your eyes. Take a deep inhale through the nose. Exhale fully through the mouth. Inhale through the nose. Sigh out the mouth. One more inhale through the nose. Exhale, sigh out the mouth. Inhale through the nose. Four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one. Twice more on your own. As you inhale, feel how the inhale lightly lifts the front of the body and gives it a little bit of buoyancy. And then as you exhale, let the exhale drape down your back or as Sunithi would say melt down the back. The next time you exhale, stay with your eyes closed for a moment and just see how you are today and allow whatever is happening to be there. Try not to push it aside or distrust it. We are here trusting our connection after all, trusting our connection to ourselves and trusting our connection to each other, trusting our connection to the ground. So you can start to tap into whatever is happening is exactly what needs to be happening. It'll feel different at the end of practice. We'll start by chanting together. The mantra that I picked for today is a mantra that calls in our sense of compassion. So repeat after me, Radhe Govinda Radhe, Radhe Govinda Radhe, Radhe Gopala Radhe, Radhe Gopala Radhe. Radhe and Govinda are the feminine and masculine, the yin yang of our sense of compassion. So when we chant this mantra, we're actually ringing that part of ourselves. We're ringing our sense of compassion. And just to be clear, compassion is not idiot compassion. Idiot compassion is when we don't deal with the stuff that we need to deal with, when others are behaving badly or not showing up well. Compassion is the opposite of that. Compassion is actually also a way of standing in our backbone, of standing in our legs and of articulating with our voices what is based in truth and fact. So I'll sing once and then you can join in. Listen. Radhe Govinda Radhe Gopala Radhe, Radhe Gopala Radhe, Radhe Gopala Radhe Gopala Radhe, Radhe Gopala Radhe Gopala Radhe, Radhe Gopala Radhe Gopala, Radhe One more time, Vadhe Gautam Vadhe, Gautam Vadhe, Gautam Vadhe, one more time, Vadhe Gautam Vadhe, Gautam Vadhe, Vadhe Gautam Vadhe, Gautam Vadhe, Gautam Vadhe lokalarÄ쳌dhe vÄ쳌dhe lakalarÄ쳌dhe lokalarÄ쳌dhe lakalarÄ쳌dhe lakalarÄ쳌dhe lokalarÄ쳌dhe lokalarÄ쳌dhe Palms together at the heart. You can also have them on your heart. You might also like to have one palm at the front of the heart and one palm at the back of the heart and feel that space. What makes you very three-dimensional. Take a deep inhale into your chest.

You might feel what's left over that little echo or the residue. It's called the Ajapa of the Mala of the mantra. Whenever you're ready gently open your eyes. Welcome everyone. Grab your blankets. We're gonna come to the back of your mat. Have your blocks if you have them out in front of you shoulder distance wide and the highest height and then you'll grab your blanket or your towel and we're gonna roll it up into a tight little noodle. Set the noodle out in front of you. Separate your feet hips distance apart and let your head go. Two more breaths just landing in your feet. Notice if one foot is carries more weight than the other. Can you feel how you can plug both feet down evenly? From there walk yourself forward just a tiny bit. You're gonna keep the heels on the ground and bring the balls of the feet onto your blanket. Now lean the weight forward so that it's in the balls of the feet even so. Bend your knees and then lengthen your spine and as you exhale fold forward over your legs. Let your head really dangle if you need to let out any grunting or moaning. I think Arturo got us started on that train. Ain't nothing wrong with a little bit of grunting and moaning. You're keeping the weight over the toes. This is working out your calves. Oftentimes we don't bring a lot of awareness to our calves and they can carry some stuff in them. Sometimes anger, sometimes rage, sometimes other goodies. Just let whatever is be and then start to extend your legs. Keep the weight forward over the toes. Now we're moving into the hamstrings a little bit. If your feet are getting that prickling sensation it's okay. We're not going to be here for too long and then fold over again. Try to lengthen your legs as much as possible. It doesn't mean that you have to straighten them all the way but you are lengthening them. Moving the release into the hamstrings, the center line of the hamstrings. Inhale, lengthen your spine, walk your blocks back a little bit and then this time you're going to pigeon toe your toes and reach your heels out to the sides. So your knees are kind of knocking in a little bit. Bend your knees and then again release forward. You want to keep the weight into the balls of the feet. You'll feel that the stretch has moved more toward the outside of your calves and then start to extend the legs. Keep the weight over your toes. Lengthen your spine and as you exhale again fold. Inhale, lengthen your spine. One last one just because we can. You're going to turn the toes out this time and bring the heels in like Charlie Chaplin. Bend your knees a little bit. Again keep the weight over your tippy toes and then fold forward over your legs. There is no right way to feel this. This is your experience so let it be what it is. And then start to extend your legs, lengthen your spine, bring the weight over the toes again and once again fold forward. For some reason for me on my legs this is the feels like the hardest one but maybe it's just because I'm in it right now. Keep breathing and if you're not breathing start breathing. Your breath will never resent you. It will always come back lovingly and excited that you're calling it back. Nice from there lengthen your spine. Step your feet off of the blanket and take the blanket out to the side. You can grab your blocks, one block in each hand and then roll yourself really gently and slowly all the way up to stand.

Have an experience of your legs, what it feels to be standing on the ground, your feet they might have changed. Take your blocks and stack them. Sometimes it's nice to have a little bit of weight and grounding. You can hold them in your hands right in front of your navel and then gaze about a foot and a half in front of your mat. Find a fixed point to look at Adrishti and we're going to take a walking meditation. The only instruction is to pay attention. At the front of the mat over the next few breaths if you're already there you might close your eyes and feel the stability. Feel your base, the feet on the ground. You might feel as they connect deeper into your roots, the roots of your gravity and then does that gravity also ricochet up and give you something to work against to find your full stature. When you're ready open your eyes. Take your blocks, slide them at the highest height, shoulder level just in case you might want them there. We're going to take some Chandra Namaskar, some moon salutes now. Now we have our legs underneath us nice and easy. Hook the right thumb over the left, bend your knees and then as you inhale kick down into the feet. Lift your chest up, breathe into the whole body and as you exhale fold forward over your legs. On the inhale step your left foot way back. You can slide your blocks back if you need to. Lift your chest and as you exhale extend both legs, push down through the ball of the big toe mound as you reach the right sit bone up. Inhale bend both knees, pull your chest forward and up. Exhale extend both legs. Inhale bend both knees, pull your chest forward and up. Exhale extend both legs. Inhale bend both knees, lower your back knee down, reach the thumbs forward and up, hook the right thumb over the left. Now untuck your back toes and then lift your chest. On the inhale pull your hips back a little bit. Square the left hip forward and as you exhale slide the hips down, lift the chest a little higher. Inhale pull back and on the exhale slide the hips down.

Inhale pull back, scissor squeeze your legs a little. Exhale drop the hips forward and down and one more inhale pull back and on the exhale drop the hips forward and down. Super nice. Take an inhale here. On the exhale hands down to the floor, tuck the back toes under, step back downward facing dog. We did this with weight on Monday. Come high up onto your tip toes, bend your knees like you're really creasing at the hips and then the tail chases the head as you round vertebra by vertebra forward into your plank pose. The crown of the head ends by extending and then pull your sit bones back, bend your knees to scrub back. It's like you're coming back through a cow pose. Inhale round forward and on the exhale bend the knees and smear back. Inhale round forward. One more. Bend the knees pull that pubic bone back. Inhale round forward. Don't lose the enthusiasm for your spine. Come high up onto your tip toes and then as we exhale slowly down for five, four, three, two, one. Point your toes, cup your fingertips out to the sides, elbows point up and then on the inhale start to lift the chest, roll open any amount and then as you exhale lower your chest, bend the knees, let the weight draw forward. Inhale reach through the tops of the feet, roll open. On the exhale lower down, bend the knees. We did some of this with Alana pushing the feet down. Inhale roll, roll open and on the exhale ripple down, bend your knees. Now reach the feet back, hands by your ribs, tuck your toes under, take an inhale. On the exhale you're gonna lift the kneecaps and the thighs up onto the bones. Take one more inhale, think of lengthening your tailbone and on the exhale you're pushing up into plank. Good, lower your knees down onto the floor and then from there extend your left leg, spin your back heel down. On the inhale roll the left arm forward so you're creating a nice long line and then as you exhale you're gonna bend your left knee and bend your left elbow, kind of eek the left elbow back. Inhale extend, find your back foot and on the exhale bend, sink low, low, low. Inhale extend and on the exhale bend. Inhale extend, reach through the fingertips, turn the fingertips down to the floor, spin the back heel up. You're coming up into a down dog split. Right leg high, come high up onto your left hip toes and then listen, bend both knees as you roll the inner thighs apart from one another. Take two more breaths here, can you be really long through your left side as opposed to collapsing there. And then from there the right foot steps behind your left wrist. As you inhale the right knee is going to lower toward the right. It doesn't have to come super low. Just think of lifting your chest. As you exhale extend both legs. You might find that as you go that right knee drops a little deeper or maybe it does not. And extend and fold. One more inhale bend, roll your chest open, exhale extend and fold. Walk your back foot in just a smidgen and then from there if you have your blocks out in front of you, I moved mine, you can walk your fingertips on your blocks or on the ground out to the right. Now pull your right hip back, take an inhale, lengthen your spine and on the exhale fold. We're getting now into the IT bend, the outer portion of your right leg and breathe.

Walk your hands back to the front, bend your front knee, step your left foot behind your right foot, the ankles are crossed. Now keep bending your right knee, pull your left sit bone back and again walk your fingertips up toward the upper right corner of your mat. Inhale, lengthen your spine and on the exhale fold. Pull your weight back toward the left heel, keep turning the left sit bone back behind you and you might have a newfound appreciation for your left IT bend and your left outer glute. Super nice. Walk your hands back to center, inhale, lengthen your spine, step the right foot next to the left, hips distance apart and as you exhale fold forward over your legs. Round yourself all the way up to stand, inhale, reach the arms up, on the exhale palms to your heart center, feeling the stability of your legs but also feeling how your legs can move underneath you and they can help you reroute or catch yourself. Left thumb over the right, bend the knees, inhale, reach up, stand tall, lift your chest, exhale, fold forward over your legs, inhale, lengthen your right foot back, on the exhale extend the left leg and fold, bend both knees, tap the back knee down, roll your chest open, exhale, extend and fold, bend both knees, roll open, exhale, extend and fold, bend both knees, roll open, point your toes, left thumb over the right, inhale, reach the arms up, pull the hips back a little and on the exhale slide the hips forward and down, keep hugging the inner thighs in toward one another, inhale pull back, on the exhale hug those inner thighs, keep kicking through the top of the right big toe, inhale pull back and on the exhale slide forward, inhale into your chest and as you exhale hands down to the floor, tuck your toes under, step back, downward facing dog, inhale high up onto your tiptoes, bend your knees round, chase the head with the tail, pull forward and then the sit bones are the first to scrub back, reach back as if you were trying to press them up into the crease of the wall and the ceiling, round forward again as you inhale and bend the knees, smear back and one more, inhale round round round and bend the knees, smear back, inhale round forward, apparently Wade's not the only one who's a slow counter, on the exhale slowly come down for five, four, three, two, oh don't do it yet and one, good, cup your fingertips out wide, point your elbows, point your toes, big toes, reach back, inhale roll up your spine, exhale ripple down, bend your knees, inhale roll up your spine, exhale ripple down, bend those knees, you got it, inhale roll up your spine and exhale ripple down, bend the knees, click the heels to the bone, extend the legs, palms right underneath you, tuck your toes under, firm the muscles onto the bones, lengthen the neck of the tailbone back, take an inhale and it's almost like the hips are the first thing to lift, plaque pose, lower your knees down, you can walk the left knee forward a little bit and then extend your right leg back behind you, spin the back heel down, reach your right arm forward to fan open, find the weight of you into your back foot as you bend the knee, bend the elbow, press back and bend, press back and bend, press back one more time, keep bending that right elbow back and then extend, turn the hand down, turn the heel up, it's a down dog split, left leg high, inhale that leg, come high up onto your right tiptoes and then bend both knees to roll open, keep that right side long, eek the right sit bone back and step the right foot, sorry, left foot behind your right hand, good, now it's the left knee out to the left, not too much of your knee is kind of punky, lift your chest, on the exhale extend them fold, nothing happens fast, we're moving with the breath, bend the left knee, lift your chest, exhale extend, we find any groans or moans, take them, bend the knee, that's one of the great things about practicing at home and extend, good, bend your left knee forward, stack your right ankle behind your left ankle, keep bending the left knee, pull your right sit bone back, lengthen your spine and then from there fold to the left side of your mat, one more, walk your hands back to center inhale, lengthen your spine, step the left foot next to the right foot, on the exhale fold, round yourself all the way, all the way, all the way up to stand, we're gonna take one breath per movement, it doesn't actually mean that we move faster, sometimes it means that we move slower and we'll change and alter a couple of things, right thumb over the left, bend the knees, inhale kick down to reach up, breathe into the chest, exhale fold forward over your legs, inhale your left foot back, lower the back knee down, lift your chest, exhale extend to both legs, bend both knees, drop the back knee down, reach the right thumb over the left, come all the way up, we did this with Wade, take an inhale, you're gonna kick the top of the foot down into the floor and lift it an inch off the floor for three rounds of breath, keep rolling the outer left thigh forward and the inner left thigh back and then from there lower your knee down, hands down to the floor, step back downward facing dog, inhale high up onto your tiptoes, undulate forward, round forward into your plank, exhale lower all the way down onto your belly, from there inhale lift the chest, lift the legs for shalabhasana and then listen, as you exhale start to firm the arms as you press into the tops of the feet to lift the chest up dog, press back onto your hands and your knees, extend your left leg back, spin your back heel down, roll the left arm forward, take an inhale and on the exhale bend the back knee, bend the elbow, from there you're gonna look down, press forward, reach the left arm forward, so it's like a knee down, artichandra, half moon pose, take one more breath and then rotate your chest down, ball of the foot receives you, right leg up and back, down dog split, bend both knees, open the hip and then as you exhale step the right foot behind your left wrist, inhale bend your right knee out to the right, lift your chest, exhale extend that front leg, walk your fingertips up and over to the right lengthen, exhale fold, walk your hands back up front toward the center, step the left foot behind the right foot, keep bending that front knee, pull your left seat back and lengthen your spine and then fold, from there walk your hands back to center, keep the feet pressing down into the floor, a little different this time around yourself up, step into your left foot, pick up your right knee, inhale the right arm up and then as you exhale fan open to the right, imagine that your right hand pushed into a wall to turn your left chest back a little bit more, inhale both arms up, lift the knee a little higher, on the exhale step the foot down, hands down, second side, left thumb over the right, bend the knees inhale, reach up, breathe, exhale fold forward over your legs, inhale your right foot back, lower the back knee down, lift your chest, exhale extend both legs and fold, bend both knees, left thumb over the right point to the right toes, reach the arms up, take an inhale on the exhale push through the top of the foot, think of lengthening that leg back, two more breaths, exhale lower the knee down, tuck the back toes under, step back, downward facing dog, rounding forward into your plank, exhale lower down slowly, inhale lift the chest, point your toes, numb the exhale, extend the arms, rock back, inhale lift again, upward, exhale lift up onto your hands and your knees, extend your right leg back, spin the heel down, right arm forward, bend your elbow, bend your right knee, sink low, extend, look down, come high up onto the tiptoes to lift the inner right thigh parallel to the floor, one more, hand down, heel up, left leg up and back, down dog split, come high up onto the right tiptoes, bend both knees, open the hips, and then step the left foot behind the right hand, on the inhale lower that left knee out to the left, lift your chest, and yeah I know I forgot this on the other side so here we go, walk your fingers up and over to the left, lengthen pull your left hip back on the exhale fold, two more breaths here just so that we're matching our efforts on each side, walk your hands forward, stack the right foot behind the left foot, keep that left knee bent, walk your fingers up and over to the left, pull your right seat back on the exhale fold, walk your hands back, find your legs, round yourself up, it's super weird to do this with cross legs, step into your right foot, pick up your left knee, find your midline from using your legs, and then right hand to your left knee, inhale the left arm up, lift the navel on the exhale, peel open, soften those shoulder blades, imagine that you're pushing that left hand into a wall to turn your right chest to the left, inhale both arms up, and on the exhale step the foot down, super nice, rest your hands on your heart, close your eyes for a moment, feel the weight of you, you can shift around or sift around the way Sunniti had us do, you might even wave or shake to the sides and then let that get slower and slower until you find all of that alive movement in your stillness, so you're not squelching your source of life, you're letting it exist, feet together, we'll take two rounds of surya namaskar 8, inhale reach the arms up, exhale fold forward over your legs, inhale lengthen your spine and you can float back or step back, it's up to you, chaturanga, inhale up dock, exhale up and back downward facing, five breaths, how do your feet feel, how do your legs feel, can they balance out the weight in the top of the torso so that you're not just relying on your hands, you actually have these awesome strong legs that can help you ground, move, shift, they can run, jump, carry, catch you, they can stand still, inhale high up onto your tiptoes, bend your knees, look forward on the exhale hopper step, inhale lengthen, exhale fold, inhale all the way up, reach up, exhale arms down by your sides, unamask just because we can, inhale reach up, exhale fold forward, inhale lengthen, exhale float hop or step back, inhale up dog, exhale up and back, downward facing, five breaths, can you perhaps lift the quadriceps, the tops top muscles of the legs onto the bone, can that help you release your calves a little bit so that the heel releases down, it doesn't mean you have to push it towards the floor, actually doesn't matter where the heel is, it's that feeling of having a long back of the leg, on the next inhale reach your right leg high, as you exhale bend both knees roll the inner thighs away from one another and then step the right foot to the back of the left heel bend your right knee out to the right and then if this is too much for you for your knee if your knee is not feeling it you can always come onto your back and take a figure four, for today we are working a little bit more of the hip opening which means that the shin is trying to be a little bit more parallel to the front of the mat, a little bit might just be a tiny bit so it's totally fine wherever you are, point your back toes, inhale lift your chest, think of widening your right bum out to the right and on the exhale fold forward, you can cup your fingertips out in front of you, we're not going to be here for too too long but we are going to be here for about four more breaths, notice where your breath is moving, notice where the breath is not moving and can you nudge it into the areas that are a little darker, a little bit harder to know, walk your hands back, tuck your back toes under then extend both legs, walk the back foot in a little bit, from there walk your fingertips up and over to the right, maybe you flex the ball of your right toes and turn the pinky edge down toward the floor and that might be enough, you might stay here, some of you might like to take a block underneath your left hand, it's an unusual shape and then the right hand could come to the sacrum, lengthen your spine, oh I feel my life flash before my eyes and then turn a little bit more to the right, good times. No one said it would be easy, sometimes facing the challenge full-on even if you know it's going to be uncomfortable is having compassion with yourself and sometimes compassion is backing off, you're the only one who can know, then hands down to the floor, bend your front knee, step your left foot behind your right foot, listen closely, this time you're gonna slide your block at the lowest level if you have it, right next to your left foot, that's your back foot and then from there you're gonna round yourself up to stand, stack the right knee over the left knee, you can double wrap or you can rest the ball of the foot on your block, pull your right hip back and then the left arm is gonna come over the right arm for eagle arms, push the hands into one another, reach the elbows forward, sink a little lower and see if you can press the hands and create a nice aqua line form even though it can look messy from if you're not out if you're outside your body, breathe, good, from there stand tall into your left foot, untangle the arms, pick up your left what right knee and then the left hand might come to the outer edge of your right foot, it might also come to the knee, extend the leg, right arm lifts and twist open, whoop, lift your chest, if you have a white wall which I do it's hard to find a place to look at, makes balancing more interesting, then inhale, reach both arms up, point your toes and on the exhale step that foot down, palms to the heart center, inhale reach up, exhale fold forward over your legs, inhale your right foot back and on the exhale step your left foot back, plank pose, inhale high up onto your tiptoes, exhale halfway down, inhale upward-facing dog and exhale up and back, downward-facing dog second side, inhale left leg high, on the exhale bend both knees, come super high up onto your right tiptoes, from there left foot steps behind your right wrist again we are going for a little bit of a wider pigeon, lower that left knee, if you'd like to come onto your back now's the time, widen your left seat out to the left, roll your inner right thigh up, lift your chest, on the exhale fold, I like to walk my fingertips forward, it's just four more breaths here, if your breath were like a hand that fits into a glove, kind of nudging the edges of the glove, can you do that with wherever the breath is not reaching, can you let it kind of press into that area, just ever so slightly, gently, sweetly, walk your hands back, from there tuck the back toes under, extend both legs, walk your back foot in a little bit, lengthen your spine, walk your hands up and over to the left, you might catch your block or not, flex the ball of your left toes and turn the pinky edge down, you might already be feeling this everywhere and then from there reach your left hand onto your sacrum and yes if you'd like to continue you can reach your left arm up, one more, turn your chest down, step the right foot behind your left foot, lengthen your spine, bring your block next to the outer edge of your right foot and then round yourself all the way up, we're coming into Garudasana Eagle, left knee over the right, you can use the ball of the foot on your block or you can single wrap or double wrap, I really love the block variation because I can square my hips, right arm over the left, press forearms into one another, reach the elbow up, soften your shoulder blades down, breathe, you can't see what's right in front of you which means that you have to use different ways of perceiving yourself in space, that's really interesting work and then step down, lift your left knee, hold onto the outer edge of the foot or maybe the left knee, reach your left arm up, pin the navel to the spine and on the exhale turn and twist, soften your shoulder blades, can you lift the quads up onto the bones, inhale both arms up, point your toes and on the exhale step your foot down, palms down, inhale reach both arms up, on the exhale fold forward over your legs, inhale your left foot back, listen a little different this time, you're going to bend your right knee for a pigeon but it's not going to be the wide pigeon we did a minute ago, it's going to be a very narrow pigeon and then slide your left knee right behind your right knee, point both sets of toes and point your foot back and here you might need a block, now cup your fingertips and this is really a calf opener, this is an Iyengar version of Gomukhasana, curl your tailbone under and start to lean back and breathe, breathe and you're gonna feel that you have to move over the mountains and valleys whoa of your calf, my calves are on fire, I don't know about you, keep breathing, whoo, maybe, maybe, maybe you stay more leaning forward, some of you might like to balance, your sit bones will not come to the ground but your heel, your I think it's your left heel might come right into Mula Bandha into your Parineum, that's actually good news, that reminds you of the bottom of your torso of your trunk and then from there left arm over your right, if you're taking this wherever you are for the love of Krishna, breathe, pull your right hip back, we just did this with the blocks and sink a little lower, can you stay with whatever it is, can you be in your backbone and face it, no matter how scary it is, and then hands down to the floor, stop doing that for the love of Krishna, extend the left leg back, and extend the right leg back, push back, down dog, maybe you take your legs for a little walk there in your down dog, I have to say after I saw Alana practice on the shag rug, every time I look at my mat it feels less than, slide your left knee forward, it wishes it were a shag rug, and then from there the right knee comes to slip right behind the left knee, this side is a little trickier for me, might be the the case with you, oh good times, and then if you need your block or your fingertips cupped on the ground, start to lean back, be patient, if you're not feeling much the sensation will come, I promise, you have to be an android in order not to feel this in some way, and there might be a release back or you might be a lot further forward than I am, that's totally fine, this is more of a balancing pose, the tops of the feet are on the ground, the feet are narrowing in toward one another, and then the right arm comes over the left arm, press the forearms forward, soften, deepen the left hip back, can you still breathe? Two more, inhale, lean forward, and once again step that right foot back, step the left foot back, and then you're gonna take a little walk forward, walking yourself through your arms and come to a seat, extend your legs out in front of you, toes turn up, you can give yourself a little more space if you're craving a little bit more space, I love this, this is sort of a prenatal poshii and it's delightful, lengthen your spine, on the exhale fold forward over your legs and just experience all of the space and the length that you've built, the potential for stability, for steeda, steadiness, three more breaths, inhale up, you've made it, set yourself up for shavasana, make sure you won't get cold, if you'd rather if you'd rather sit upright and take a meditation instead please do, climb back, settle, asatoma Sometimes the road gets windy Sometimes the wind gets rough Sometimes you lose your meaning That's when I say hallelujah Sometimes the road gets windy Sometimes the wind gets rough Sometimes you lose your meaning That's when I say hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah Deep in your breath, wiggle your fingers and your toes, soles of the feet onto the ground Roll over onto one side, if you want to stay down, stay down, come on up to sit Close your eyes, see how you feel Know that we can't choose the times we're living in but we can sure choose how we live those times and part of being movable on our legs, being dynamic, having our base underneath us is a big part of this, palms to the heart Deep inhale Namaste yogis, the end of week one of Trust the connection, I'm so honored to be with you and all the wonderful teachers I hope you start to feel it sort of simmer and bubble and percolate and we'll see you very soon, all right?

Comments

2 people like this.
Hi Miles, I loved the weird scissor legs pose and the freedom of experimenting with shapes. Thank you for your wisdom.
Miles
1 person likes this.
Ali, thanks so much for practicing with me and joining the retreat. Glad you enjoyed.🤗
Glenford N
1 person likes this.
Hi Miles. That was intense.  All the blockages blown away! Namaste.
Miles
1 person likes this.
Glenford N Awesome! hope you enjoy the flow. And thanks for practicing with me!
Deborah D
1 person likes this.
This practice is my perfect yoga/ski practice. I love how you bringing all the previous lessons to connect. Brilliant.
Miles
Deborah D Awesome! So glad you enjoyed. Have fun Skiing!
Sue
Sue
1 person likes this.
Thank you for a wonderful class Miles, I missed this live and am so glad this was recorded! Your mantra at the beginning made me cry, the raw emotion, positivity and energy you share with your students is much appreciated. Thank you.
Miles
Sue D Thank you! I'm glad you got to take it after the fact. One of the many benefits of our new, wild, technological world. Glad the energy still translated. 
James N
1 person likes this.
Intense, devotional, and incredible. Thank you for this unique and beautiful practice.
Miles
James N thanks for joining me!
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