Expansion

My friends, we're back at it again. This is day three, expansion. So, you know, day one, we sort of lay the foundation. We understood that we have everything we need to take this journey that we are on. Day two, we reconnected to that inner fire. We stoked that flame. And hopefully it's still burning bright. Today, friends, we're going to expand and open hearts and hips and ideally become really receptive to all that life has to offer. Alright, so join me in Virasana. You're going to sit on your heels. I happen to be seated on a block. There's a block between my ankles. I am hugging my outer ankles in towards this block. I am actively pressing all ten toenails down into the mat. And I invite you to join me in doing the same. So really actively pressing the tops of the feet down and really feeling into that connection and enjoying it. And then once you have that established, you'll draw your knees together. You'll lift the knees up so that flesh of the knees can move out of the way and we have nice clear conditions down below. Rest your hands on your knees or your thighs for a moment so you can see that your pelvis is upright. Root the sitting bones down into the block if you're sitting on a block or lengthen your tailbone down to that space between your heels. Why? So you can lift the spine up, lengthen up through the crown of your head. And then my friend, expand. Get really broad across your chest. Take a big breath in and just feel that quality of expansion here just like this. As you breathe in, you feel that rise of the chest. As you breathe out, sweep your hands back behind you, interlace your fingers, draw the heels of your hands together and feel what that does to your experience of the shape. If it's not possible to touch the heels of the hands, no worries. But see if you can try to do that. Experiment with that. Then draw your bent elbows towards each other. After you've done that, you'll rest your thumbs on your lower back, knit your front ribs in, lengthen your tailbone more. Lift the crown of your head up and feel as your collarbones broaden. Let the breath help you find some more broadness. And then extend through your elbows. And that extension of your elbows may help you access a little more broadness in the chest, a little more lift of the chest. Can you keep that lift of the chest? And with incredible tenderness and care, release your hands without snapping them apart. Rest your hands on your thighs. Close your eyes for just a moment and just be here. Noticing and feeling whatever there is to notice and to feel. Bring your palms together at the center of your chest into Anjali Mudra. Lower your chin to your chest, maybe setting an intention for this practice. Dedication for your practice. And as you're ready, you'll float your hands down to your thighs, float your eyes open, lift your head up. Try to lead with the back of your skull. Reach your fingertips and arms out to the sides. Sweep your arms around and up as you breathe in and then interlace your hands behind your head. Widen your elbows. As you inhale, widen them more. Lift the center of your chest up. Keep your neck long. And then as you exhale, reverse that. Draw your elbows together. Draw your chin into your chest. Flex your spine. So curving your spine. Inhaling to the seated cow pose. Get really broad across your chest. Exhale, reverse. And you'll keep going like that. So awakening the shoulders, awakening the spine a little bit, but also reuniting that beautiful, perfect body of yours with that beautiful, perfect breath of yours. So letting the movement serve the breath. Letting the breath rise first and then letting the movement be like a little offering to your breath. Take one more pass at that. Inhaling to open the elbows. Lift the chest up. Keep your neck long. So don't lift the chin. And then exhale, reverse, and pause there. Curve the spine. Feel the shoulder blades come forward.

And then as you next breathe in, you'll just come to neutral. You'll release your hands out to the sides. As you inhale, you'll sweep your arms around and up. As you exhale, you'll side bend to your right, floating the hand or the fingertips down. You'll inhale to center. And then exhale, side bending in the opposite direction. We'll move like that a couple more times. Inhaling to center. Exhaling, side bending. Inhale, center. Exhale, side bend. This time pause on that side. Root that opposite sitting bone down. Take a breath in to get a little longer there. As you exhale, I want you to do a little rotation of your chest down towards the floor. Flex your spine, pass through center, and then make your way to the opposite side. Root the opposite sitting bone down. Reach to the fingertips. The pinky side of your hand turning towards the floor. Breathing in into that side of your body. As you exhale, lowering down just one more time, each side. And just pausing. Making your way to the opposite side. Great. Coming to center. Rolling yourself up once more, standing really broad across the chest. Turn your palms to face up. Look up without lifting the chin. Lift your heart up. Breathe in. And as you exhale, draw the hands back to center. Pause for a moment in Anjali Mudra. And then please come to tabletop position facing the front of your mat. So coming to all fours. Wrists underneath your shoulders. Knees underneath your hips. And then we'll find Anahatasana. So you'll walk your hands forward. My hands are a little wider than shoulder width. I invite you to do the same, but also dial the hands out so middle fingers are pointing towards the front corners of your mat. And the hands will slide slightly forward as you float your head towards the floor. Resting the head so that the neck is soft. And then allow your heart in this expression of the shape to melt towards the floor. Now take a few breaths here. Getting really long in the sides of your body. So gathering length in the sides of your body. Allowing the breath to help you access that, that quality of spaciousness and length on the sides of the body. Then allowing the heart to melt towards the floor. But also as you inhale, feel the chest expand.

As you exhale, you soften a little more. Hug your outer ankles in. Don't forget about, you know, the other end of the shape there. And then take another breath cycle there. And then begin to walk your hands back towards you, very slowly lifting yourself up. Wrists under shoulders. Knees underneath your hips. Hug the outer ankles in just as in Virasana. Begin to inhale. Respond to the inhale by tucking the toes. Releasing the belly. Reaching the heart forward. Hover the knees away from the floor. And then exhale. Lower the knees. Untuck the toes. Curve the spine and tuck the chin. And you keep going like that. Begin to inhale. Respond with that expression of super cow. Lift your knees away from the floor. Really broaden the collar bones. Reach the heart forward. Exhale. Lower the knees. Untuck the toes. Curve the spine. Tuck the chin. One more time. Inhale. Tuck the toes. Release the belly. Exhale. Untuck. Flex the spine. Tuck the chin. Feel the shoulder blades come forward and then come to neutral and walk your hands forward. Just a hand print. Turn the hands out ever so slightly. Tuck your toes under. Lift your hips up and back to downward facing dog. Descend the inner heel. Send the inner thighs back behind you. Once you're there, you can walk the dog a little bit. Pressing one heel down and then the other. Relax your head and your neck. And letting this expression of down dog be a little more maybe fluid. So maybe softening the elbows. And then as you're ready, once you get that little human movement out of your system, let's come back. Press the hands down and forward. Descend the heels. Start to inhale. Lower the knees. So passing through that hovering position. This time lowering all the way to open the chest. Exhaling. Pressing back to a child's pose. Inhale. Come forward. Really reach the heart forward. The palms press down.

The biceps roll forward. The next day is long. You exhale. Press back to down dog. Again like that. Inhale. Knees to the floor. Spread the collar bones. Open the chest. Exhale. Child's pose. Inhale. Come forward as if you're doing that so you can take that breath in. Use the power of your exhale to press back to down dog. One more time. Inhaling. Slowly lowering the knees. Little micro pause in the hover. Open the chest. Exhale. Child's pose. Inhale. Come forward again. And then exhale. Downward facing dog. So there's a little hover there on your way back to down dog. From down dog, walk your feet up to your hands and pause at the top of your mat in Uttanasana. Soften your knees. Grab opposite elbows. Release the crown of your head to the floor. Take a few breaths in just like that. As you inhale, expansion. As you exhale, give the weight of your upper body, your head to gravity. Release your hands to the floor. And then soften your knees a lot. A tremendous amount as you incredibly slowly roll yourself up to standing one vertebrae at a time. And then once you are upright, roll your shoulders back and down, little human movement never, never hurts. And then find Tadaasana. Pause. Grounded. Steady. Clear. Start to inhale. Sweep your arms around and up. Look up. Touch your palms. Exhale. Soften your knees and hinge forward. Back to Uttanasana. Inhale to Ardha Uttanasana. Prepare pose. Exhale. Plant your palms. Bend your knees and step back to plank pose. Step one foot back and then the other. And pause and plank. Peel the toes back. So hopefully some of that residual fire is making it very easy for you to sustain this plank pose. Take another couple of breaths here. Reach the inner heels back. Reach the crown of your head forward. We'll take one more breath in here. Use the full length of your exhale to lower yourself all the way down to the floor. Once you're there, inhale to baby cobra. Lift the center of your chest.

Exhale. Lower down. Press up through tabletop to downward facing dog. Pause for a beat. Look up between your hands. Either walk, step, or hop yourself forward. Once you're there, inhale. Prepare pose. Long spine through the crown of the head. Exhale. Forward fold. Inhale. Sweep the arms around and up. Receive that breath and its fullness. Feel it. Expand your chest. Exhale. Hands draw down the center line of your body. Again like that. Inhale. Sweep your arms around and up. Perhaps a little upper back bend. Exhale. Hinge forward with that fully extended spine. Inhale to prepare pose. Lift the chest. Exhale. Plant your palms. Bend your knees. Step the leg that you never stepped back first to plank pose. And pause.

Breathe in. Use the full length of your exhale. Lower either all the way or halfway down. Your choice. Inhale to baby cobra. Or upward facing dog. And then exhale to downward facing dog. And pause for a moment. A little moment of integration. Taking a beat. Feeling that pulsation of life within and around your body. Prana. As you inhale lift your right leg up to hip height. Breathe and reach to the heel. As you exhale draw your knee to your nose and pause there for one moment before stepping your foot all the way through. And then lower your back knee to the floor. Keep your back toes tucked under. As you inhale sweep your arms around and up. Lift the center of your chest. Take a breath in. As you exhale sweep the hands back behind you. Clasp them. And once again heels of the hands together. Extend through your elbows. Lift your chest up. Keep drawing the right hip back with every breath in. Expansion, expansion, expansion of the chest. Without lifting the chin. So see that it's your heart that is lifting and expanding. And let the breath help you find that. With control and care release your hands without snapping them apart. So back body has to work in order for that to happen. You'll sweep your arms around and up. Draw your front ribs in. Breathe in. Lift your back body up. And as you exhale little side bend to the right. Side fingertips can float. They can rest on the floor. They can rest on the block. Turn the pinky side of your left hand towards the floor. And you take a couple of breaths here. Keep drawing the right hip backs. Balance in the pelvis so we get nice clean lateral flexion of the spine if you care about terminology. Come back to center as you inhale. Lifting up. This time as you exhale float your hands to the floor and then grab your two blocks, my friends. Blocks underneath your hands. Where else would they go? And then hands underneath your shoulders. So they're actually a little farther back than they would be ordinarily in a lunge. And then my friend, untuck your back toes. Press all ten toenails down into the floor. So just as you did in Virasana. And then press down so much that you lift your knee off of the floor. Press down through the heels of your hands. Lift your chest up. Roll your biceps forward. We'll be here for a couple of breaths so we can allow the breath to sort of align the shape, if you will, from the inside out. So every breath in. Expansion of the chest. Keeping the neck long. Every breath out. Can you press down through that back foot a little bit more? But take one more breath in here. As you exhale lower that back knee to the floor. The blocks can come off to the side. Tuck the back toes under.

Step back to plank pose. And pause. Use an exhale to lower yourself all the way down to the floor. As you inhale, bhujangasana. Untuck the toes. Press the tops of the feet down. Exhale, lower down and press back to a child's pose. Inhale, come back forward to bhujangasana again. Exhale, lower down. Press back to child's pose. Once more. Inhale, coming forward to baby cobra. Lift the back of your skull. We'll pause here for three breaths. Tops of the feet pressing down as in virasana. Inner thighs lifting up, tailbone lengthening. Take one more breath in here. As you exhale, lower down. Press back to child's pose and pause. Relax the elbows. Relax head and neck. Crawl your hands forward. Flatten your palms. Inhale to drag yourself forward to tabletop and exhale. Press back to downward facing dog and pause. Maybe taking an audible exhale. Sound is nice. Sound is good. It helps some of that energy move through and out of the body. As you next inhale, lift your left leg up. Hip height. Reach to the heel. Breathe in. Exhale, draw the knee to your nose and then step that foot forward. Lower your back knee to the floor. Keep the back toes tucked under. As you inhale, sweep your arms around and up. Lift the center of the chest up. Exhale, sweep the hands back behind you. Interlace the hands the opposite way, the awkward way. Heels of the hands together. Elbows together. Breathe in. Lift your chest. Extend through your elbows and you'll take a few breaths here. Pressing down through the front heel, drawing that front hip back with control, with care. Release the hands. Inhale, sweep the arms around and up. Knit the front ribs together so you broaden your back body. You can press through the front heel to shift the pelvis slightly back. Breathe in and exhale. A little side bend to your left. Left hand can float. Fingertips can graze or touch the floor. A hand can come to a block. But keep balance in the pelvis from left to right. And are you in an expression of this that allows breath to move through you so that expansion can be sort of internally driven by breath, not just because we're making certain shapes. You take one more breath cycle there. As you inhale, come back to center. Exhale, float your hands to the floor. Grab your two blocks again. Blocks underneath the hands, which are underneath the shoulders. Untuck your back toes. Let's orient ourselves. So really pressing that back foot down a lot, a lot. Spreading the toes if you can. Pressing down through that back foot so much that you're able to hover the knee off of the floor. Press down through the hands. Biceps roll forward. Chest lifts up. Back of the neck is long, long, long. I'm going to take a few breaths there, just like that. Take one more breath and lift the chest. Exhale, lower your back knee to the floor. Retuck your toes. Blocks will come off to the side. Hands to the floor. Step back to plank pose. And as you like, we'll meet in a downward facing dog. So you'll inhale here. You'll exhale to lower either all the way or halfway down. Inhale to baby cobra or upward facing dog. And then exhale to downward facing dog. Inhale, lift your right leg up. Exhale, step your right foot forward. This time, lower your back heel. Inhale to come to warrior one. Sweep your arms forward and up. Reach your left fingertips forward so those left ribs can wrap forward.

Extend the arm. Bring your palms to prayer and then walk your right foot a little over to the left and find warrior two. And you'll pause there, broad across the collarbones. Inhale to reverse warrior. Exhale to a little modified side angle pose. Inhale, reverse again. This time as you exhale cartwheel your hands down to the floor. Step back to downward facing dog. Lift your hips up and back. Pause. Little micro or macro human movement while you're in your down dog. Listening, witnessing that conversation that your breath and body you're having. And then when another inhale arises, you'll lift your left leg up. And then exhale, step your left foot forward. Lower your back heel as you breathe in. Sweep your arms around and up. Here too, let's reach the right fingertips forward. Let the rib cage follow. Inhale, lift up. Exhale, palms to prayer at the center of the chest. Walk the left foot a little over to the right until the pelvis is open to the long side of your mat. As you inhale, reverse warrior. Exhale, little modified side angle pose with forearm on the thigh. Inhale, reverse again. And then exhale, cartwheel your hands to the floor. Step back to plank pose. Downward facing dog. Soften the knees, press palms down and forward. As you inhale, come forward to plank pose. And as you exhale, lower yourself all the way down to the floor. Once you are belly down, please sweep your hands behind your back. Interlacing, heels of the hands together. Bent elbows towards each other. Press tops of the feet down. So much that your knees lift away from the floor. Lengthen your tailbone. Breathe in. Lift your chest. Extend your elbows. Keep your neck long. Take one breath cycle here. And then lift your legs up, friends. Lift up by the inner thighs. Stay long in the neck. Reach the crown of the head forward. Inner thighs lift up more, more, more pinky toenails down towards the floor. I'm going to take one more breath in here with control.

Without snapping the hands apart, release them. Sweep your arms forward and pause. Take one more breath in. Exhale to lower down. Stack your hands. Rest your head on your hands. Take a resting breath or two. Yes. Yes. I'm also experiencing that. Bring your hands next to your lower ribs, my friends. Draw your elbows towards the midline of your body. I want you here to dial those hands out ever so slightly, just as we did in Anahatasana. Press all 10 toenails down into the floor. So much so that your knees lift away from the floor. Have you heard that before? Lengthen through the crown of your head. Hands are next to your low ribs. And you take a couple of breaths here. Feeling the way the breath moves to the body in this little preparation phase. And then as an inhale arises, you'll press into the hands. Begin to press into the hands. Press into the tops of the feet to lift the center of your chest up. Press the tops of the feet down as in Virasana. Lift the center of your chest. Press the hands down. Take one more breath in there. Use the power of your exhale to lift your hips up and back to downward facing dog and pause. Take another full breath in. And a nice long audible breath out. And then look forward, my friend, and step your right foot to the outside of your right hand. Lower your back knee to the floor. Coming to lizard pose. You untuck your back toes. Palms can stay flat to the floor. You might like to walk them forward. Next progression is to come down onto your forearms. Let your right toes turn out. And let the knee travel with it.

So you're in sort of a more open, open hip expression of the shape. And we'll take a couple of breaths here. Just like this. And lizard pose. Palms press down. Chest lifts up. And not, you know, so the shape can look a certain way, but so breath can move freely. Relax your head and your neck. Maybe there's some micromovement happening in this lizard pose. Or not. There's a supple stillness. And then as you're ready, if you're on your forearms, you'll come up onto your palms. And then, my friend, begin to walk your right foot over to the left. To the left side of your mat. To your left wrist. We're entering pigeon pose. So if you need support underneath that hip, go ahead and grab a blanket or a block. Try to support the entire thigh bone, if you can. And then with great care, lay your calf down onto the floor. Tuck your back toes under as we enter. So you can lift your back knee up and press into the ball of the foot to draw that hip forward. Flexing that front foot to protect your knee. And you take a breath in here. Lift the chest. And then exhale. You can begin to walk your hands forward. Coming down onto your forearms if that's comfortable. Coming all the way down, resting your head on your hands or on the floor or on a block. A couple of breaths here. So as you sort of, you know, enter, let there be an entry is what I'm trying to say. It's a little micro movement as you descend. You're in no rush. You're in no rush. Every breath in, breath moving freely, expanding and lifting the chest as you exhale, pelvis, hips get a little heavier. And then as you're ready, whenever you're ready, you'll begin to walk your hands back towards you. Press your palms down into the floor. Tuck your back toes under and then press back to downward facing dog. So you lift your hips up and back, being a little kind to your hips. Once you arrive, taking a moment of integration before stepping your left foot forward to the outside of your left hand, lowering your back knee to the floor. Lizard pose. Hands walk forward if you like.

You come to forearms if you like. Turn your left toes out. Let the knee be tracking in line with your toes. Keep your chest broad and lifted. Not for appearances, but for breath. So breathing in fully and completely. Relaxing your head and your neck and noticing if there's any bracing, what can you do to access a supple, easy expression of this? It may mean that you have to backtrack a little bit, whatever that means for you. If you're on forearms, you walk your hands back towards you. You'll come up to an upright position and we'll make our careful transition to pigeon pose. You walk your left foot over to the right, coming to the outer edge of that foot, drawing that heel towards your hip any amount. Back toes are tucked under. You lift the back knee up, walk it back. Draw that hip forward. Lift your chest up. Breathe in and then exhaling. You'll begin your descent. You're in no rush. Let breath speak to the body. Let the body respond. And then you find an expression of this that works for you. It's not at all about how it looks. What are we trying to do? We're opening that front hip and we're finding some extension for the back hip. Pigeon is like a yoga mullet. What do I mean by that? Well, sort of torturous in the front and less torturous in the back. Relax your head and your neck and breathe. Full breath in and long breath out. Softening, softening, softening. Then as you're ready, whenever you're ready, you'll walk your hands back towards you. And let's exit. We're going to roll a little onto that left hip, swing the right leg forward. You'll come down onto your back. Draw your knees into your chest. And then find a happy baby pose holding outer edges of your feet, maybe extending through one leg and then the other rocking along your sacrum. Great. Knees towards you. Step your feet to the floor. Let the knees rest into each other and you'll pause in a constructive rest, just letting the hips soften. And then if you'd like to come into a shavasana from here, please do that. If you'd like to come up into a seat with me, you can join me now by carefully coming to an upright position, taking any seat you like that works for you, for your body. And then once you are seated, rest your hands on your knees or your thighs. Sit well, breathe well. Hands rest on the body, one on the heart, one on the belly, and take a couple of breaths there and feel that expansion, expansion, expansion. As you exhale, palms together at the center of your chest, bowing head to hands, thanking yourself, thanking your body and your breath, honoring the communion and the conversation between the two. Namaste.