The Vinyasa Show Artwork
Season 10 - Episode 5

Grounding Mandala Flow

60 min - Practice
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Description

Tap into rooting Lunar energy in this mandala flow class. We invoke the element of water within the earth as we move through Moon salutations, circle the mat in lunges and standing postures, play into Dancing Camel, and slow down in hip openers. You will feel receptive, grounded, and aware.
What You'll Need: Mat

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Welcome, and thank you for joining me for this mandala flow practice where we will tap into lunar energy, so that slower moon-like energy, that grounded energy, and start to create some circles around the mat as we move into this practice. So please join me seated. We'll start in any comfortable seated position just to take a moment to land. Maybe close the eyes, allowing your gaze to just begin to shift inward, noticing how you feel today, what you're showing up to your practice with, meeting yourself where you are, and just noticing the natural rhythm of your breath. So without trying to modify, just feeling the inhale, that letting go quality of the exhale.

Just by bringing the attention, your awareness to the breath, notice if it naturally begins to transform, perhaps deepen. I'm just checking in with the heart space and that question of, why am I here? Why am I practicing? What would I like to call in today, your intention? We'll move together with that intention.

So taking your time, maybe blink the eyes open, we'll start to take some circles with the spine. So Sufi rolls in any direction. You can make these circles as big or as small as it feels good, starting to let the head, neck, and shoulders release into this, maybe taking it in the opposite direction, lingering anywhere where it feels good to linger. So just right away, noticing the lower back, the spine, your hips, and possibly any areas where you might be holding some tension or discomfort, breathing into those spaces. And then start to let the circles become a little bit smaller as you circulate the energy toward your center.

Beautiful. And then as you come to center, take a moment to land. Notice where that lands in the body. Good. And then taking your time, we'll meet in tabletop.

So coming to all fours, shoulders over wrists, hips over knees, and then just keeping with this circular energy. So starting to take some barrel rolls. As you inhale, you can shift the weight forward. As you exhale, letting the weight shift off toward the right foot, left foot. Good.

And then finding circles, again, as big or as small as it feels good for you, lingering anywhere where it might feel good to linger. And right away, you can hear all those crackles in the body, the joints, and take it in the other direction. Just finding this circle, no beginning, no end, as you move the energy. Good and then meeting back in child's pose. So starting to center the weight, let the hips sink back toward your heels and just taking a moment to ground.

Feel the earth beneath you as you let the hips sink to the heels, reach the arms forward, breathing into the back body. Couple full deep breaths here, knowing that as we start to move through this practice, you could come here at any time. Beautiful. And then taking your time coming up to all fours, we'll tuck the toes, lift the hips up and back into our first downward facing dog. Good.

And then this down dog, just move around a little bit, that same quality of just feeling into the sensations, maybe pedal it out, bending one knee, straightening the opposite leg, switching sides, maybe swaying your hips from side to side, shake your head yes and no. Drawing the spine to be long as your sitting bones reach up toward the ceiling, toward the sky. Beautiful. And then taking your time, let's slowly walk the feet to the front of the mat, coming into forward fold. So softening the knees as you get there, letting everything melt down, let the crown of the head melt toward the toes, maybe sway a little side to side.

And I'm just bringing the back of my hands to the earth. Notice what feels good with your arms. Maybe shift the weight forward and back a few times, letting everything just melt down. Good, and then taking your time, let's slowly roll to stand. And as you come to stand, just take a moment up at the top.

Maybe draw your hands to your heart. Feel the soles of your feet on the ground. In this mandala flow, we're tapping into that lunar quality, which is really that kind of yin, slower, low to the ground movement. So notice the parts of the body that are connected to the earth. So soles of the feet, the toes, breathing into that space for a moment.

Beautiful and then we'll move into some moon salutations. So as you're ready, inhale, sweep the arms up. Start by interlacing everything but the index fingers, so finding steeple mudra. And then tilt up and over to your left. So really grounding through that right foot as you feel into the right side body.

Good, and then inhale as you come through center. Exhale, tilt up and over to the right. You could gaze under that left arm. Notice what you see. Finally, the sun is out here.

It's been raining for days, months really, and then come back through center. Take a forward fold. Draw prayer in front of the heart as you come into Uttanasana. Beautiful. And then stepping the left foot all the way to the back of the mat, find low lunge.

So left knee comes down to the earth. Come up onto your fingertips for a moment and you might have a couple blocks under your hands if that feels best for you. Otherwise, just sink into the legs here. So feel the left psoas, the right hip. Feel the earth.

Beautiful. And then planting your palms, we'll step back to down dog. Right foot meets the left. Good. From here, lower the knees down to the earth and then hug the elbows in.

Lower the chin and the chest down. Good. And then glide your way through into cobra pose, lowering the hips, heart lifts, pressing into the top of the feet. Big full breath in. As you exhale back to hands and knees, tuck your toes, downward facing dog.

Beautiful. And then sweeping left leg up, inhale. As you exhale, step the left foot all the way through between your hands and then same thing here. Right knee lower this time. Come on to the fingertips and just take a moment to sink in.

Feel the left hip, right psoas, breathe. Beautiful. And then this time, we'll step to a forward fold at the front of the mat. Step your right foot to meet the left, forward fold, uttanasana. Root down to rise, arms sweep out and up.

Exhale. Hands gather in front of your heart. So that's half a round. Let's move to the right side. As you're ready, inhale, arms sweep up.

Exhale prayer in front of the heart, forward fold. Good. Step the right foot to the back of the mat. Let the right knee lower down, low lunge, fingertips and stay on the earth in this round. Good.

And then down dog, plant the palms, step your left foot back to meet the right. Lower the knees, chin and chest, hug the elbows in as you lower. Inhale, glide forward into cobra, bhujangasana. And exhale through hands and knees, tuck the toes, downward facing dog. Sweep the right leg all the way up and back.

Exhale, step through between your hands. Good. Come up onto the fingertips, let the left knee lower to the earth. Heart lifts, gaze lifts. And then step to forward fold, left foot meets the right, front of the mat.

Good. Root down to rise, arms sweep out and up. Exhale, draw hands to heart. Good. Taking a moment.

So that's one full round. We'll move into a couple different variations as we move through a couple more rounds. So when you're ready, inhale, arms sweep up. Exhale prayer in front of the heart, forward fold. Good.

Step the left foot to the back of the mat. Let the back knee lower. This time, sweep the arms forward and up, anjaniasana. Inhale. Good.

Exhale, hands to the earth. Plant the palms, downward facing dog. Good. Lower knees, chin, chest. Glide through cobra, inhale.

Exhale, pressing back, downward facing dog. Staying with that left side, inhale, left leg lifts. Exhale, step through. Let the right knee lower, arms sweep forward and up, anjaniasana. Maybe gaze up, feel that lift up and out of the side waist.

Good. And then exhale, forward fold, front of the mat, right foot meets the left. Root down to rise, arms sweep up. Exhale gathering your intention in front of the heart, taking it to the second side. Inhale, arms sweep up.

Exhale prayer in front of the heart, forward fold. Good. Right foot steps back, right knee lowers, inhale, arms sweep up, anjaniasana. Exhale, downward facing dog. Good.

Lower knees, chin, and chest. Inhale, draw shoulders away from the ears, cobra. Exhale, press back, down dog. Beautiful. Right leg lifts, inhale.

Exhale, step through. Left knee lowers, arms sweep forward and up, big, full breath in, expansion, exhale. Step to the front of the mat, left foot meets the right, inhale, arms sweep out and up. Exhale gathering hands together in front of the heart, and just taking a brief pause here. Feel your heartbeat.

Notice the movement and where it lands. Good, and we'll take one more round with moon salutations, a little bit different this round and welcome to stay with any of the variations that we've already explored, otherwise, join me as you're ready, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, prayer in front of the heart, forward fold. Good. Stepping the left foot back, perhaps you keep that left knee lifted this time, coming up into crescent pose or the back knee is lowered, just notice what you need, big, full, expansive breath in, exhale, hands to the earth, down dog, good, lowering knees, chin, chest, hugging elbows in, inhale, peel the chest up, bhujangasana, exhale, downward facing dog, good, staying with that lunar side, left side, inhale, left leg lifts, exhale, step through, again, maybe you're staying on the ball of the back foot coming up into crescent pose, feel free to lower that back knee down, as you lift up, lengthen through the spine, lengthen through the fingertips, good, and then as the hands find the earth, step right foot to left, forward fold. Good, root down to rise, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, hands to heart, beautiful, last side, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, fold, soften knees, long spine, step the right foot to the back of the mat, maybe crescent, maybe low lunge, arms sweep up, inhale, exhale, down dog, left foot steps back to meet the right, lower knees, chin and chest, inhale, gliding into cobra, exhale, press back, down dog, right leg lifts, big full breath in, exhale, step through, maybe staying on the ball of the back foot coming up into crescent pose, inhale, arms sweep up, maybe gaze up, good, exhale, hands to the earth, step your left foot to meet the right, hang out and forward fold, couple breaths, maybe heel toe the feet a little wider, I'm gonna slide my hands under the soles of the feet, giving the wrists a little bit of love, maybe sway a little side to side, shake it out and let it go, beautiful and then again just noticing the parts of the body that are connected to the earth, feel that grounded energy, we'll release the hands, take your time to slowly roll up, beautiful and just again taking that brief sacred pause to notice where the movement lands, so much movement in between the poses and the stillness, listening inward, what has your attention in this moment, beautiful and then blinking the eyes open, we'll inhale to sweep the arms out and up, lengthen through the spine, maybe gaze up, maybe lean back a little bit, exhale, forward fold, inhale, lift halfway this time, maybe fingertips stay on the earth or you could draw the hands up towards your shins and lengthen through the spine, good, plant your palms, step or lightly float back through Chaturanga, inhale, cobra, maybe upward facing dog, firming the thighs up off the earth, straightening the arms, inhale, roll over the toes, downward facing dog, taking a moment to land in down dog, maybe finding some stillness here, you're always welcome to lower the knees, you could take cat cow or child's pose, let it be a moment to reconnect with your breath, your attention, good, and then from downward facing dog, we're gonna start with the left side, that lunar side, float your left leg up and back, as you exhale, draw your left knee towards your left elbow or tricep and hover for a moment, top of a push up, good, and then big step to the outside of that left wrist, good, lizard lunge, planting the right hand down right under the right shoulder, start to sweep the left arm up, so taking this wide leg twist, open the chest toward the left side, maybe lean back a little bit, beautiful, and then lowering the left hand to the inside of your front foot, walk to face the long edge of your mat, and then we'll come into skandhasana, so bending the right knee, straightening the left leg, sinking in for a moment, and we're gonna start to move in this circular way, so taking it to the other side, left knee bends, right leg straight, good, and then all the way to the back of your mat, so find runner's lunge, hands on either side of the front foot, let the left knee lower down to the earth, anjaneyasana, sweep the arms forward and up, lengthen through the spine, heart lifts, gaze lifts, good, exhale, hands to the ground, step back, downward facing dog, so we're facing the back of our mat this time, from down dog, glide forward into plank, I'm gonna lower knees, chin, chest, you could take your variation of a vinyasa, inhale, peel chest up, cobra pose, draw the shoulders away from the ears, exhale, hands and knees are plank, downward facing dog, beautiful, staying with that left side, sweep the left leg all the way up and back, again left knee left tricep, take a big step to the outside of the left hand, and then we'll plant the right hand down, sweep the left arm up, open up to face the side of the mat, find that sweet twist, good, and then skandhasana, left hand lowers, moving toward the other long side of your mat, right knee bends, left leg straight, good, and then toward the back of the mat, left knee bends, right leg straight, and then all the way back to the front of your mat, runner's lunge, let the left knee lower down, hands on either side of the front foot on jñasana, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, downward facing dog, step your right foot back to meet the left, maybe vinyasa knees, chin, chest, inhale, peel the chest, cobra or up dog, exhale through hands and knees are plank pose, downward facing dog, good, taking a moment to land, breathing in, breathing out to let something go, again, big full breath in, long breath out, and then just taking that same pattern in the opposite direction, so reaching right leg all the way up and back, three leg dog, right knee, right elbow or tricep hover for a moment, and then big step to the outside of the right hand, plant the left hand down right under the left shoulder, sweep the right arm up and twist, good, opening the chest to the right, lean back a little bit, good, and then lowering the right hand down, walk to face the long edge of the mat, skandhasana, left knee bends, right leg straight, and I'm coming up onto my heel, you might have the sole of the foot down, totally up to you, and if you want this to be a little bit more strengthening, maybe you're floating the arms as you come to the right side, right knee bends, left leg straight, and then all the way to the back of the mat, good, right knee lowers, anjaniasana, inhale, low lunge, arms sweep up, heart lifts, gaze lifts, exhale, downward facing dog, left foot meets the right, I'm gonna lower knees, chin, chest, inhale, peel the chest up, cobra, exhale, downward facing dog, tucking the toes, lift the hips all the way up and back, good, staying with that right side, inhale, right leg sweeps up, three leg dog, exhale, right knee, right elbow, big step to the outside of the right wrist, planting left hand down and twisting, right arm sweeps up, good, and then lowering to face the side of the mat, skandhasana, left knee bends, right leg straight, toward the back of the mat, right knee bends, left leg straight, and then all the way to the front of the mat, coming into low lunge, right knee lowers, inhale, arms sweep up, anjaniasana, exhale, downward facing dog, good, maybe lower knees, chin and chest, as you inhale, heart lifts, and exhale, press back, downward facing dog, beautiful, so two complete circles in either direction, take a moment to lower your knees to the ground, we'll take puppy pose, tenting your fingertips, keep the hips right over the knees, and then start to walk your hands forward, any amount, let the chest melt down, maybe the forehead finds the earth or the chin, just feel that nice opening, anahatasana, heart opening pose, the chest, heart space, feel that rooted connection with the earth, couple more breaths here, good, and then slowly start to walk your hands back in towards you, child's pose, let your hips sink back towards your heels, sink in a little bit, maybe sway side to side, and from child's pose, maybe you're threading your right arm under the left and gazing toward the left, take a little shoulder stretch, can let the right side of the face land on the ground, breathing into the shape this container, and then sliding the right hand forward, slide the left arm underneath the right, reaching toward the side of the mat, feel that shoulders, shoulder stretch and the left side of your face, find the earth melt down, good, and then slowly releasing, come on out of there, or stay there as long as you like, otherwise let's meet in downward facing dog, tuck the toes, lifting the hips all the way up and back, we're gonna take another pattern of circular movement, that mandala flow pattern, a little different this time, so we'll start again with the left leg, sweep the left leg all the way up and back, left knee, left tricep, step to the outside of your left wrist, planting the right hand down, sweep the left arm up, so find that nice wide leg twist, beautiful, and this time as you walk to face the side of the mat, we'll come all the way to the back of the mat, so bending the right knee, coming onto the ball of your left foot, and then from here, spin the back heel down, come up to warrior two, left arm guides you up and open to face the side of your mat, sink in for a moment, find virabhadrasana two, gazing over the right fingertips, engaging through the left leg as well, good, and then from here, inhale to sweep the arms up, straighten the front leg, maybe press palms together above your ears and gaze up, as you exhale deepen into warrior two, we'll do that a couple times, so just moving the energy, inhale arms sweep up, palms press, gaze lifts, exhale deepening warrior two, good, one more, inhale, straightening the front leg, arms reach up, gaze lifts, exhale warrior two, beautiful, flipping your front palm, keep the shape with the legs, tilt back, reverse warrior, and then circle down, step back, plank pose, maybe lower knees, chin and chest, whatever vinyasa feels good for you as you inhale cobra or up dog, exhale downward facing dog, nice work, big full breaths in, long full breath out, maybe sigh something out, good, and then left leg lifts, inhale, left knee, left tricep, exhale, big step to the outside of the left wrist, planting the right hand down, sweep left arm up, big full breath in, lean back, good, and then take it all the way to the front of the mat, so moving through the side, we'll come to runner's lunge, come on to the ball of the back foot, facing front of the mat, beautiful, and then just take a moment, let the left knee lower down, shift back, half split, ardha hanumanasana, feel into the back of your right leg, breathing there for a couple breaths, hamstring stretch, beautiful, and re-bend through the right knee, plant the palms, step back, downward facing dog, you could stay here in down dog or maybe lower knees, chin chest, hug elbows in, gliding forward, cobra inhale, exhale, downward facing dog, tucking the toes, lifting hips up and back, breathing in, stay for your exhale, breathe out, good, second side, inhale, right leg lifts up and back, exhale, right knee, right tricep, step to the outside of the right wrist, find that wide lunge twist, planting left hand down, right arm lifts, beautiful, and then as you move to the side of the mat, parallel the feet, bend your left knee, come all the way to the back of the mat, runner's lunge, come onto the ball of your right foot, and then setting up for warrior two, spin the back heel down, right arm guides you up and open, face the side of your mat, and just sink in, find your warrior two, front heel to back arch alignment, letting the weight be centered as you reach forward and back, and start to move the energy with the breath, inhale, arms sweep up, straighten the front leg, gaze up, maybe press palms together, exhale, re-bend through the left knee, warrior two, good, two more, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale warrior two, maybe you're closing the eyes, just feeling the movement with your breath, inhale, arms sweep up, exhale, warrior two, good, flipping the front palm to tilt back, reverse warrior, feel the length in the left side body, maybe re-bend a little bit deeper into that left knee, good, and then circling, hands to the earth, step back, downward facing dog, good, vinyasa, maybe lowering knees, chin, chest, inhale, cobra or up dog, exhale, downward facing dog, beautiful, big full breath in, long, release, good, right leg lifts, inhale, right knee, right tricep, exhale, big step to the outside of the right wrist, planting left hand down, right arm lifts, find your twist, beautiful, and then all the way to the front of the mat, moving through the side, the long side of your mat, left toes face the front of the mat, let the right knee lower down, and then that hamstring stretch, shift the weight back, fold over your front leg, breathe into the back of your left leg, and feel free to keep as much of a bend in that left knee as needed, breathing, maybe spread the toes, noticing if this side feels different from the first side, most likely, good, and then re-bend through the left knee, step back, downward facing dog, maybe a vinyasa, lowering knees, chin, chest, inhale, peel the chest up, draw shoulders away from the ears, pressing into the top of your feet, exhale, press back, downward facing dog, nice work, so this time, we'll lower the knees, finding puppy pose one more time, tent your fingertips, keeping hips over knees, walk the hands forward, maybe there's the invitation to go a little deeper with the chin on the earth, or that third eye, forehead, just finding your edge without force, notice what you need, good, and then from here, gaze forward, keeping the forearms down on the earth, lower the hips down for sphinx pose, walk your elbows slightly in front of the shoulders, pressing through the palms of your hands, maybe close your eyes and just take a moment to feel the heart draw between the arms, pressing into the top of the feet so the legs are active, good, and then if you want this next stretch, draw the chin down toward your chest, draw the right ear toward the right shoulder, feel that length through the left side of your neck, breathe, and opposite side, chin to chest, left ear, left shoulder, good, coming back through center, gazing straight forward and then slide your hands back toward the side ribs, press back to tabletop, all fours, and then tuck your toes and lift the hips up and back, good.

From here, reach your right leg all the way up and back, step your right foot to the outside of that right wrist and then step your left foot to the outside of your left wrist for malasana, toes out, heels in, sinking down, taking a moment to land, getting into the hips a little deeper, letting the tailbone melt down, find length in the spine, breathe. If you have a block, you might be sitting on your block and feel that downward flow of energy, earth energy, as you also lift up, find lightness and ease and the effort, the sthira, the sukha, couple more breaths, beautiful, and then from here, let's bring the hands back down to the earth, step your left foot to the back of the mat, so you're in lizard lunge, that right foot's to the outside of your right wrist, and then lower the left knee down for lizard pose. You could stay right here or maybe the forearms lower to a block or the earth, just take your time as you release into a held lizard, take five breaths together, breathing in, breathing out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out, last one, breathe in, releasing, exhale, walking back up onto the hands if the forearms are down, and slowly coming out of here, tuck your back toes, lift the back knee, step your left foot again to the outside of the left wrist, sink into malasana, yogi squat, again, maybe there's a block here, hands to heart, find your heartbeat. That downward flow of energy, and then we'll move into the second side, so again, hands to the earth, this time step your left foot all the way to the back of the mat, hands on the inside of your front foot, lower that right knee down, and then just notice where your edge is without force, without going over, just playing with that edge, maybe forearms come down, noticing the difference between the left side and the right, let's take five breaths together, breathing in, breathe out, breathe in, out, breathing in, out, breathing in, breathing out, inhale, exhale, last breath in, gathering, exhale to release, start to walk the hands back up to the inside of the front foot, good, and then tucking the back toes, lift the back knee, step your right foot to the outside of the right hand, and then parallel your feet, we'll come into a forward fold, straightening the legs any amount, let everything melt down, raw, and then sway a little side to side, soften your knees, taking head yes, no a few times, and then we'll slowly roll up to stand, just taking a moment up at the top, can heel toe the feet back together, really grounding through the soles of the feet, take a little bit of a balance here for tree pose, so bringing the weight into the left foot, find the right ankle, bringing the foot to the inner upper thigh or the calf, I'm gonna keep hands at the heart today, you might reach your arms straight up, just finding and playing with that practice of presence and your balance, beautiful, and then taking it to the second side, right foot grounds down, find the left ankle bringing the foot to the inner upper thigh, the calf or kickstanding it down to the earth, hips face forward, drawing hands to heart, maybe play with closing the eyes in tree pose, that's a pretty much a guarantee to fall out of it, okay, beautiful, and then stepping left foot to meet the right, sweeping the arms all the way out and up, good, heart lifts, gaze lifts, exhale prayer in front of the heart, forward fold, inhale to lift halfway, I'm gonna step back to downward facing dog, lowering knees, chin, chest, come all the way to the belly for a moment, reach your arms back actively or find an interlace for Shalabhasana, lift heart, find length in the back of the neck, engaging through the core, reach back through the toes, breathe in, good, exhale to release one cheek to the earth, just rest, let the body weight yield to the support of the earth, maybe rock hips side to side, good, and then one more round coming up through Shalabhasana, either reaching hands back actively or find that interlace, draw shoulders away from the ears, maybe add the legs, see if you can let the back of the neck be long, so tucking the chin slightly, breathing, breathe in, exhale opposite cheek to the earth and sway your hips side to side and just stay here for 20 minutes, good, and then take your time, if you're moving with me, hands next to the side ribs, press back, tabletop, tuck your toes and then take a moment to sit back on your heels, you can rest your hands on top of the thighs, stretching through the soles of the feet and then we'll move into some dancing camel poses, so bringing left hand toward the left ankle, as you inhale, sweep the right arm up in front of the face, bringing fingertips up, gazing toward the right fingertips, good, and then slowly moving to the second side, right hand to right ankle, sweep the left arm up, gaze at fingertips, good, and then at your own pace, just start to move side to side, right arm lifts, exhale as you lower, inhale, left arm lifts, exhale as you lower, just let it be fluid, so we find that big heart opener, dancing camel is one of my favorite things, good, you might take a couple more rounds, right side, inhale, and left side, one more, inhaling to lift, exhale to transition, inhale, lifting, exhale, lower and then take a moment, maybe untuck the toes, sit back on your heels, welcome to take a block between the ankles and just notice, notice where that movement lands in the body, come to vajrasana, maybe one hand finds the heart, one hand finds the belly, feel the breath beneath your hands, just let this be a prayer to yourself, a blessing, an honoring of being here, practicing, what a gift, beautiful, and then taking your time, let's come forward into down dog, plant the palms, tuck the toes, lift the sitting bones all the way up and back, setting up for our hip opener, reaching the right leg all the way up and back, take a moment to bend through the right knee, open up through that hip and you might flip your dog, if you're doing that, shoulders come over wrists, step the right toes behind you, reach the right arm up and over that right ear, find that lift in the heart space and then as you unravel, right hand down, right leg lifts, knee toward the nose and then start to parallel the shin toward the front of your mat, finding single pigeon or any hip opener that would feel good for you today, taking a moment to notice up at the top and then waiting for that invitation, maybe crawling the hands forward as you settle into this right side, notice the shift from movement towards stillness and what comes up for you, tracking your breath, allowing a few more full deep breaths here and slowly, gently walking hands back in towards you, bring the palms of the hands to the ground and just take your time, let's come back into downward facing dog, stepping right foot back, maybe pedal it out a few times, you might shake that right leg up to the sky, if you want a clearing vinyasa, maybe staying with the knees, lowering chin and chest, lower hug elbows in, inhale, heart lifts, cobra, exhale, pressing back, hands and knees, downward facing dog, tuck the toes, lifting hips up and back, breathe in, let something go, exhale, good, left leg, inhale, sweep the left leg up and back, crack, bend the left knee, open up through the hip, natural adjustment there, if you're flipping your dog, bring the shoulders over the wrist, step the left toes behind you, reach the left arm up and over your left ear, just feel that opening through the heart space, good and then as you unravel, left hand comes down, left leg sweeps up and back, three leg dog, start to draw the left knee in towards you and then parallel shin toward the front of the mat, left side feels a little different from the first side, just take a moment up at the top, settle in, you might have a prop under that left hip, a block, a bolster, blanket and then just waiting for that invitation to go deeper into the posture, listening inward to your body and just noticing what you notice. Allowing a few more breaths here, good and then taking your time and walk your hands back in toward you, plant the palms, step back, down dog, maybe pedal it out or shake that left leg up to the sky, one last clearing vinyasa and lowering knees, chin and chest to the earth, inhale, peel the chest up cobra, exhale, downward facing dog, let's come to seated at the front of the mat, so you might hop your feet forward or just lower the knees and find any comfortable cross-leg seated position, feel free to sit up on a blanket or a bolster, I'm gonna draw one hand to the heart, one hand to the belly, just a breathing practice, short meditation as you breathe in, feel the rise of the hand on your belly and then bring it all the way up to the heart space and then reverse that on the exhale, noticing the letting go heart and belly, breathe in all the way up through the heart space, letting go, exhale, breathing in, breathing out, exhale, exhale, exhale, breathing out, one more big full breath in, feel the expansion of the inhale, that letting go quality of your exhale, take a moment to just notice maybe resting hands on the knees beautiful and then stretching both legs out in front of you, flexing through the feet sit up tall on your sitting bones and we'll move into a nice forward fold here so reaching arms up, find length in the spine leading with the heart as you come into Paschimottanasana, fold in, as you inhale lengthen through the spine, as you exhale fold back in maybe holding here for a few breaths beautiful and then taking your time as you slowly come up keeping the heels on the earth bend the knees slightly and then reach the arms forward we'll lower on the count for five, four, three, two and release on one hug your knees into the chest rock a little side to side and then maybe taking reclined Gomukhasana if that would feel good cross your right knee on top of the left find the outside edges of your feet and then start to draw the legs open a bit shins open wide soften the shoulders maybe rock a little side to side here beautiful and then unravel hug knees in take a moment to let that go and if you're taking reclined Gomukhasana across your left knee on top of the right find the outsides of the feet and then start to draw the shins away rock a little side to side soften shoulders soften gaze maybe the eyes are closed beautiful and then take your time to unravel hug knees in rock a little side to side side to side massage through the low back notice if there's anything else that you need here in your practice honoring that otherwise as you're ready hugging knees in draw the forearms around the shins nose to knees rock a little bit here and then big full breath in let's hold the breath up at the top sip in just a little bit more air exhale sigh everything out for shavasana letting the legs go long on your mat let the feet just roll open and relax feel the thighs release so as in belly tuck the shoulders underneath you bring the palms to face up on either side of the body if it feels safe where you are maybe close your eyes go inward allow this integration of your practice the body the mind and the spirit let go let be just rest shavasana you And just taking this sense of gratitude with you as you move out into your day.

Namaste.

The Vinyasa Show: Sarah Beston

Comments

Jenny S
6 people like this.
Here I go, gushing again…but I can’t help it!  This was deep and powerful lunar flow.  I loved it! 🌚🌝❤️
Sarah Beston
I am a big fan of lunar flows as well, Jenny S! Gush away ... I am right there with you!
Kate M
1 person likes this.
How helpful and healing your voice is! This really is a gift. Thank you, Sarah Beston !
Sarah Beston
1 person likes this.
Thank you so much for sharing, Kate M. It is also a true gift to be here sharing these practices together. Much love.
Lori
2 people like this.
Ah, the great unraveling! Love this one, Sarah. Thank you.
Sarah Beston
1 person likes this.
Love and blessings, Lori! As always, happy to be here practicing together. xo
Lori
2 people like this.
Putting this one on rotation once a week for the rest of my life. Seriously.
Sarah Beston
1 person likes this.
That makes me so happy to hear, Lori! I do love teaching these mandala flows and they always feel good to me when I practice in this way as well. All the best, Sarah

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