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Season 1 - Episode 2

Start Where You Are

45 min - Practice
15 likes

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Join Ashley Rideaux in a flow that encourages you to start where you are. The session will prompt you to show gratitude for yourself for making the space and time to be here now. With the aid of a blanket, strap, two yoga blocks, and the wall, the class focuses on creating length through the backs of the legs and increasing mobility through the hips.
What You'll Need: Wall, Blanket, Strap, Block (2)

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Hi, and welcome to start where you are. I love these words. This saying so very much because I find that the hardest part sometimes of beginning anything in life is just starting. It's just showing up. So before we even dive into any other aspect of the practice today, can you show a little gratitude towards self, for making the space, for making the time, to be here now.

Grab a blanket, grab a strap, and a couple of blocks. And, of course, our star of the show today, the wall. We'll begin with the wall. So setting up for legs up the wall, Come lie on your side body, and try to shimmy your cheeks right up against the wall. And then slowly roll onto your back and take your legs straight up. Now if having your sit bones on the wall is pulling through your low back, through your hamstrings, Or you feel your low back really pressing into the mat?

You have a couple options here. You can either bend your knees a bit relieving some of the tension through the back of the legs, and thus your lower back, or you can shimmy yourself a little further away from the wall to increase the angle at the hip. K. Once you find the shape that works best for your body, Lower your arms by your sides, walk your shoulders under your chest, creating a subtle lift through your heart, and rotate your upper arms so that your palms face the sky. For a moment to either close your eyes or find a point to softly focus on. And imagine someone came by and placed a weight on your feet.

Let them be heavy as they drop a little more into your hip sockets. Breathe into the pit of your abdomen, and allow your ex house to spill out across your chest. Your rib cage, and over the top of your shoulders. And follow this pattern of the breath a few times through as you layer in an intention for our time together. This might be a little reminder of what brought you to your mat today or something you're hoping to gain or perhaps let go of through the course of our time together. And I often like to offer an home at the beginning of classes.

This is a very short little word, a short little mantra with a large meaning, but to simplify it, It's sort of the whole human experience. It's the sound of machinery outside, maybe the in your home. It's a way of bringing us collectively together as 1. If you'd like to join me in an opening home today, you're welcome to, or if you prefer, just take it in. Nice full breath in. If you your eyes blink them back open, and take a look up at your feet.

Reach up through your heels, really cleaning up the flex of the feet like I could come by and place a tray on your feet and have it stay in place. Press up through your inner heel a little more through the ball of your big toe a little more and draw the pinky edge of your feet down towards your outer hips. I always think about what I thought were very cool stirrup pants in the nineties. My taste was questionable. Although I was on brand, on trend at the time, but think of a stirrup around your feet here. Reach your inner and outer thighs evenly toward the wall so that your feet parallel to one another.

Draw your front ribs down and into your body, and then your hands straight up to the sky. Rotate your upper arms until your palms face each other. And then inhale, reach your arms overhead long as far as you can go, keeping your front ribs drawn in, and your low back long. And now imagine someone was pressing your thighs toward the wall, and another person was drawing your arms toward the opposite wall. Get long through the sides of your waist.

And with your ex, how bring your hands back up to the sky, lower them down by your sides. Bend your knees. Place your feet on the wall, and then take the soles of your feet together and open your knees to the sides. Place your hands on your inner thighs, and the hands aren't here to press the legs away. They're just a simple port.

Scoop the pit of your abdomen in to protect your lower back as you open your chest. Take a full breath down your body to the root of your pelvis, and imagine you could exhale out through your inner thighs. And then draw your knees in toward each other once again, and roll carefully to whatever side feels snotchle in your body. Mhmm. Briefly press yourself up to seed it. So from here, Find your strap.

We'll turn to face the wall once again, and setting up our legs length from the wall. Alright. I keep a little bit of a bin because this will shift as we lie down. If you get here, And the wall is no longer or your feet are no longer connected to the wall, shimmy yourself down a bit. In fact, everyone shimmy down just enough so that that subtle bend comes back into your knees.

And there's an action you'll hear me use often in classes of smooth your bum away from your waist or try to smooth the flush of your bum to the back of your knees. So here, press your feet into the wall and allow the traction of your mat to actually draw your bum away from your back. It may feel a little bit like the matte is trying to pull your pants down. And if it actually happens, show me the back up. But this is what I mean by that.

Press the Four corners of your feet into the wall and smooth your bum away from your waist. Sweep your arms up to the sky, rotate outer arms so palms face each other, and inhale reach your arms overhead. If your ribs start to poke up to the sky, Raise your hands a little bit more for now prioritizing the draw of your front ribs in. Soupine, extended hands pose, or upward hands pose. Acts, how bring your hands to the sky.

Lower your arms by your sides. And now, rebind your knees, placing the base of your feet on the ground. Bring your left knee in toward your chest and take your strap around the ball of your left foot. Alright. Press the ball of the foot up against the strap and then hide the pinky edge down toward your outer hip. If it feels alright through your lower back and through your hamstrings, restraint, and through your right leg, Once again, connect your foot to the wall.

If this is pulling on your back or through your hamstrings, you're welcome to keep the right knee bent, slit on the ground the whole time. Breathe out, lift your head, lift your shoulders, gaze down your body. Roll your inner right thigh down until right knee and toes point straight up. And then put your head and your shoulders back on the mat. Place both sides of the strap into your right hand.

Place your left hand at the top of your left thigh. So the heel of your hand is right at your front hip crease. Lovedly press the root of your thigh away from your body as you scoop your lower belly in. Like, you're trying to create a little space between the front of your thigh and the front of your pelvis. Breathe in to the back of your thighs.

Opening your hamstrings. Here in a variation of suptaparam Gustasana, one extended hand to big toe pose. Ax how, rebend your right knee. Remove the loop from around your left foot. And place both feet down.

Reach your hands to the sky, stretch them overhead, clearing the slate, And then exhale, bring your right knee into your chest, and they'll take your strap around your right foot. Bring it around the ball of the foot just like we did with the legs up the wall. Press through the ball of your big toe guide the pinky edge of your foot down. You now have an actual little stir up to work with. And if you're at a comfortable edge of resistance through your back body, you can stay here with your left knee bent, foot on the ground. Otherwise, explore straightening through your left leg.

If the wall is no longer there, shimmy down a little more so that you can connect to it. Breathe out, lift your head, lift your shoulders, gaze down your body. If your toes or knees are rolling open to the side, spin your inner thigh down until knee and toes point up, and then place your head and your shoulders back on the mat. Place both sides of the strap into your left hand. Take your right hand to the top of your right thigh.

And lovingly, press the root of your eye away from you as you align right ankle over your right hip. As you keep resisting the leg away from you, scoop your abdomen in, again, like you're trying to create space between the front of the pelvis and the top of your thigh. Take one more breath into the back of your legs. And then exhale. Rebing your left knee.

Remove the loop from around your right foot. Set your strap to the side. And then from here, roll on to whichever side you prefer. Look to the Earth and press it away. Okay.

Make your way to your hands and your knees. If your knees feel tender on the ground, Please feel free to open a blanket underneath them. Give yourself a little bit of added padding to work with. Set your hands right underneath your shoulders and your knees right underneath your hips. Spend your inner thighs back until your toes are hidden directly behind your knees.

Push the earth away. Scoop your abdomen in and round through your back. Inhale. Up the front of your body. Open your chest. Do that again. Push the floor away.

The surrounding we call cat pose, Marjorie Asana, and then the lift the bit of a backbend in the spine, Bidalasana, cow pose. Return yourself to a neutral spine. Stretch your right leg back, and walk your whole setup back until your heel connects to the wall. As you press your heel into the wall, you may notice the low back wants to dip. So firm the top of the thigh, and now try to smooth your bum toward the wall, and feel how it helps bring your abdomen and your front ribs in.

Set your right knee down, and we explore the same movement on the second side. Stretch your left leg back. Feel if your hip piped up. Press the top of your thigh back like we did lying down. Smooth your bum toward the and scoop your abdomen in as you reach your chest straightforward. And set your knee down.

Push the earth away one more time round it out. Letting that go. Inhale. Bring your chest forward and up. And now return to a neutral spine. Walk your hands about 3 inches forward of your shoulders.

And then separate your hands as wide as your mat. We're taking a little extra space here. Tuck your toes under, lift your knees, And now step your feet out as wide as your mat. Push the earth away with your fingertips. Bend your knees enough to get full length through your spine.

And now slowly reach back and down through your heels any amount you can manage without strain through your back body. So taking a wide foundation in our downward facing dog to create more space for the shoulders, for your back, Keep the feet wide. Walk your hands all the way back to meet your feet. Once you're there, clasp hold of opposite elbow and give a little nod of your head yes and no. And now switch the class of your forums, different one on top.

Bend the left knee a bit and sway or torso to the left and go to the other side. Just shifting back and forth a few times here. Moving through some of the sticky spots in the back, in the hamstrings, settle back center, release your hands, He'll toe your feet in till they're closer to the distance of your front hip points. Slide your hands lightly up your shins. Reach your chest forward.

And then ex, how bend your knees generously, tuck your chin, and roll yourself all the way up to standing When your head reaches the top, invite your hands to follow, reach up, and exhale. Take your hands to your heart. If you place a blanket on your mat, set your blanket off to the side, and then grab your two blocks. Take one of your blocks. Narrow between your upper inner thighs like so.

Hold on to the second one for now. And then spin your inner thighs back. Like, you're trying to shoot the block to the wall behind you. And you may notice as you roll your inner thighs back, that you get a little saucy, the butt has a tendency to poke out, which also crunches us in the lower back. So as you continue to roll your block back, try to smooth your bum toward the back of your knees. Do that so much that your abdomen comes into your body a bit, and the knees soften slightly. Now take your second block and bring it wide between your hands.

Stretch your hands straightforward and hug a touch more through the pinky side of your hand, so that your outer arm rolls down and in. We're creating neutral rotation in the legs and a bit of external rotation through the upper arms. Press into the Four corners of your feet and reach up to the sky. If you notice your front ribs wandered out, it could be a sign. You've gone a little too high with your hands.

Try bringing your hands forward enough. So that you can bring your front ribs back in. And then exhale lower your arms down by your side. We're gonna try that again. Alright.

Roll your block back as you smooth your bum down. Lyft through your heart center, briefly lower your arms by your sides, and rotate them so your palms face forward. This is Ta Dasana mountain pose. And within this posture, we consider this a blueprint for so many of the poses that follow in yoga. There's a little bit of the actions of this shape elsewhere throughout most of our practice. Right?

Take your block wide between your hands, Stretch your hand straightforward and hug again a bit more through the pinky edge of the hand. Keep that effort as you inhale lift your heart, lift your hands, only as high as you can go keeping your front ribs drawn in. This is ordva, Astasana, upward hands, pose. X. How low your arms back down? And then remove the block from between your inner thighs.

Set your blocks down about a foot to a foot and a half from the wall on either side of your mat. So as we build on with our practice, the next thing that we're gonna look at here is commonly called standing forward fold, in more literal translation, intense stretch pose. And there's this phenomenon I've noticed with many people, instead of folding forward, we have a tendency to get what I call anchor butt. The butt, like, a magnet forces drawn to the wall behind you. And when we do that, you can see I got really light through my toes. I'm really pulling on hamstring attachment.

It's not a great plan for our body. So we're gonna use the wall to help us understand a bit of where we are in space with this work. If you stand right against the wall and try to fold forward, you will eat the ground, and I don't want that for either of us. So Come forward so your heels are maybe 3 inches off the wall. Right? Place your hands on your hips, look down at your feet.

Separate your feet so that they are the distance of your front hip points, those little bones that poke out at the front of your pelvis. Imagine the block still between your inner thighs, spin your inner thighs back as you smooth your bum down. Lift through your heart center, open your chest. And now imagine you were standing on a balcony, and there was something very enticing to you going on out there. So shift forward.

Look out over the So your weight is a little bit more toward the front of your feet as you fold in. And if you feel your butt wandering back to the wall, it's a reminder, shift forward. Wait forward. And then take your hands to your blocks. Move them right underneath your shoulders.

Depending on how much mobility you have through the back of your legs, you may want to bend the knees. If you feel yourself being pulled into a rounded spine, Give yourself that relief. My friends that are on the opposite end of the spectrum, once your hands are firmly on the blocks, maybe you explore walking your heels back to the wall, your sit bones to the wall, so we're in a similar shape to legs up the wall that we started in. Feel what it is to have your hips directly over your ankles. Whether the knees are bent or the legs are straight, can you press your hip creases at place where you had your hand on your thigh earlier straight back as you reach your heart straightforward.

This is hard, half intense stretch pose, or half forward fold. Fold it back in. Let your head and your neck go, uttanasana. And then inhale, once again, reach your chest forward. Art Utenasana. Walk your feet a little bit off of the wall.

And one more time, stretch your heart forward. Firm your abdomen, take your hands to your hips, broaden your chest, root down with a length and spine, rise up. Take your blocks. You can set them off to the side, and then come a bit more toward the middle of your And we're gonna put some of those pieces together into art of Surinamescar, half sun salutation. Find in your Tedasana, You can continue to work with feet the distance of your front hit points.

For many of us, this is really stabilizing. It's helpful if you carry a bit more tension through your back. Otherwise, classically, we bring feet to touch. Spend your inner thighs back until your feet parallel. And then scoop the pit of your abdomen in as you smooth your bum down.

Lift through your heart center. Rotate upper arms so that your palms face forward. Press in to the Four corners of your feet and how reach up to the sky. Imagine you were going to hold your block at the top, wrap outer arms in. X, I'll wait a bit forward into your feet, look out over the balcony, fold in half. If you feel any strain for your hamstrings or back, bend your knees to help you maintain pain the length in your spine.

And then inhale, bring fingertips in line with your toes, or slide your hands lightly to your shins as you stretch your heart forward. Come halfway up. Art Utonasana. Acts how fold it right back in. Let your head and your neck go.

Root down, reach your heart forward as you circle your arms up and overhead. Imagine you're catching the block at the top. And exhale hands to your heart center. We'll do that one more time on the breath in house sweep up, reach up. If you can do so without wrinkling the back of your neck, look up.

X. How's shift weight a little forward in your feet? Feel free to bend the knees if you're feeling stressed through your hamstrings or lower back as you fold forward. Inhale fingertips in line with your toes or hands to your shins as you reach your heart forward, ardutanasana. Acts. How fold it right back in. Let your head and your neck go.

And then press down in. How reach your heart forward. Circle your arms up. Imagine you were holding the block. And then exhale.

Take your hands to your heart and relax your arms down by your sides. Okay. Grab your strap, and turn to face the wall. Take your strap around your left foot. And parallel your feet to each other. So adjust so that all ten of your toes are pointing toward the wall, We may need to play a little bit with our distance from the wall.

And for a moment here, shift weight onto your right foot, hug left knee toward your chest, and try to take your left foot to the wall. And ideally, we're looking for the place where the standing leg hip is right over the ankle. I was a little far away, so I'm gonna sneak a touch in. Whoop. Alright.

Look down at your right foot. Spin your inner right side back so that your toes point forward. And sometimes we get here in the foot just keeps sliding no matter what we do. Ultimately, this isn't about how high you can lift your leg. It's more about what's going on in the hips, thus, to protect your lower back. So you can even set yourself up with a couple of blocks, or if you have a chair at home handy.

Give your heel something to rest on here. Again, spin the standing leg inner thigh back so that your toes point straightforward. Steer your left hip down and away from the waist. Notice if that caused the belly to spill forward. Can you keep the left hip in place? And now scoop your abdomen in, smooth your bum down.

You can stay here holding the strap with both hands to help open your chest. You might place both of the straps in to your left hand and explore sweeping your right arm up in line with your ear. Note how the ribs wanna thrust forward in some of our bodies. Bring your ribs in, even if that means that the right arm stays a little more forward. So this is a variation of one, extended hand to big toe pose.

Lowerier right arm down, Take your left foot off the wall, and we'll switch sides. Take your strap around your right foot this time. Make adjustments now. Spend your inner left fly back so that your left toes point straightforward. Tdasana, that mountain pose, still in your standing leg.

Scoop your abdomen in, draw knee toward your chest and set your foot on the wall. And, ideally, we're looking for the place where we feel left hip directly over the left ankle. If taking the right heel to the height of your hip is not kindness on your back, on your hamstrings, or your sliding, use your blocks or a chair. Put both sides of the strap into your left hand, steer right hip down and away from the waist straighten through your standing leg as you scoop your abdomen in. Now you can stay here holding on to the strap with both hands. You might keep strap in your left hand.

Sweep your right arm up as you draw your front ribs down and in. Although you know what? Someone will color me. I think lifted that right arm on the first side. Let's lift the left arm so it gets some love as well. And exhale.

Lower your left arm down. Bend your right knee, taking foot off the wall. Set your foot down and remove your strap. Set your strap off to the side. Okay. And you can take your block and set them off to the side as well.

And then come meet me facing your wall once again. We'll walk in nice and close. Take your hands down the wall until the heels of your hands are at about the height of your natural waist. Now for many of us, the whole palm won't get to the wall or it can be challenging to get to the wall this close in. So no need to force that right now, and we'll create a little bit more space in a moment, but do try to align your hand so that the crease of your wrist is parallel to the crease where the floor and wall meet.

Spread your fingers evenly wide and then walk back until your arms, and your torso are parallel to the floor. And your hips align right over your ankles or as close to that as you can find without strain. Separate your feet, the distance of your front hit points, just like we explored in our Tedasana. If you're feeling pulling or rounding through your back, bend your knees as generously as you need in order to reclaim the length in your spine. Imagine the block between your inner thigh roll your inner thighs straight back as you scoop your abdomen in.

Draw your front ribs in and push the wall away with your hands, lengthen through your arms. If your ears feel higher than your arms, play with walking your hands a little bit higher and maybe taking your hands a touch wider to create more space for the neck, the shoulders, your chest. This is a standing version of our downward facing dog. Step your feet a little closer to each other, and we'll bring back in the element of balance here. Root down through your right foot and slowly lift your left leg.

Lift from the inner thigh so your toes point down. Press the top of your right thigh back as you draw your front ribs and abdomen in. Push the wall away with your hands, doing your best to straighten through both arms. This is Vera Bedrostena 3 Warrior 3. Reach out for the ball of your left foot like there was still a strap around it.

And then exhale. Place your left foot down. Little bend to both knees as you lengthen your spine. And then walk yourself back into the wall, reset between sides. It's hard work. So if that felt challenging in your body, know that you are not alone.

If you were like, it was a breeze. Good for you. Wherever you're at, good for you. Right? So check-in with your hands. Notice if they moved at all. Make the adjustments that you need so heels of your hands are about the height of your waist.

Parallel the creases of your wrists to the crease where the wall and the floor meet. And then walk back, trying to draw a right angle with your body. Bring your arms, bring your torso parallel to the floor, stack your hips over your ankles, bend the knees any amount you need to relieve drain through the hamstrings and lower back, reach the top of your thighs straight back. Push the wall away with your arms. And then try to spin your outer arms down and in, copying the rotation we created in the arms when we were holding on to the block between the hands.

Step your feet a little bit closer to each other. Alright. Give a bit of a bin to both of your knees if you haven't already. This time, weight on your left foot, slide your right leg back lift your right leg so that your toes point down. Steer your left hip back.

Push the wall evenly away straight in both arms. Draw your front ribs and your abdomen in as you press out through the ball of your right foot, verabhadrasana 3, warrior 3. Ex. I'll place your right foot next to your left, soft bending the knees for all of us so that we can prioritize the length in the spine. And then walk yourself back into the wall and lower your arms down. Give a roll of your shoulders up and back.

That dessert I mentioned is coming your way right now. Come on down to your mat. Take the soles of your feet together and open your knees to the sides. And notice in your body, if you're rounding through your back, or you're collapsing through your chest. If the answer is yes, take your blanket, fold it in half like so.

And come sit on the folded edge of your blanket. Give yourself enough distance behind you that you can place your hands down. So sit on the folded edge of the blanket so that the front of your pelvis can tip a little forward, returning the natural curve to your lower back. If your knees are hovering a good distance above the ground, we'll invite blocks back into the party, to avoid stressing, inner thighs, or the knees. Adjust the height of your blocks, whatever feels most supportive in your body.

And sometimes in the shape we fold forward, we're gonna skip that. We've done enough forward folding today. Instead, Put your hands down behind you and lean a bit away from your legs. As you lean back, if your wrist will fall Put your palms down. If your wrist say no, thank you. Tench your hands beyond your fingertips.

Alright? Even here, can you smooth your bum a bit away from your waist? Find a little scoop of your abdomen in. Lift your heart toward the sky. And if you can do so without wrinkling the back of your neck, Invite your gaze to follow skyward. This is a version of badakanasana bound angle pose.

Take one more breath here. Stay for the exhale. And then inhale. Walk yourself back up. Take your hands to your outer thighs, support your legs, draw your knees toward each other, and then scoot.

Off of your blanket, set your blanket to the side. Keep it in reaching distance, though. You might decide you want it in Shavasana. And set your blocks out of the way. As you lie back, bend your knees, place your feet on the ground, Shift your hips over to the right a few inches.

So you're a little crooked on your mat. Bring knees close toward your chest. And as you exhale, lower your knees to the left. Open your right arm to the right. And if it feels alright in your neck, turning gaze to the right.

If you're having a little teeter totter between your right shoulder being down or your knees being down, Take your blanket, slide it under your outer thigh, under your outer ankle, raising the ground a little closer to you, can maybe help center the balance in this twist. So a complimentary text to our practice of yoga is the yoga sutures of Potanjali. And one of the big highlights of this text is the 8 limbs of yoga. These sort of steps towards the studying of our mind. Inhale, come back center, scoot your hips into the midline, and then over to the left several inches. So you're crooked on the map the opposite way.

Bring your knees nice and close into your chest. And as you exhale, send your knees to the right. And, again, if your left shoulder is pulling away from the ground, consider rinsing the ground a little closer to you. You can set a folded blanket underneath your outer thigh, your outer ankle. Alright.

Let's see if that add a bit of height. Gives you a little bit more freedom of space to explore. So the first of the 8 limbs of yoga, the Yamas speaks to how we live in the world. And one of my teachers, Gina Hyalaman, would always say these are codes for how we live in the world. The first of them is Ahimsa.

Non violence. So how can we be kind to others? Maybe more importantly or at least just as importantly, how can we be kind to ourselves? How do we offer consideration for all living beings? In how come back center Put your feet down.

Scoop your hips back into the midline. And then draw your knees into your chest giving yourself one last loving hug. You can hold the stillness or if it feels better in your body. Maybe you offer a little rock side to side. Up in Asana downward wind pose. Settle back center.

Return your feet to the ground. Stretch your legs out long, and allow your feet to flop open. And if you're low back, is asking for a little more support here. Find your blanket. Make a roll with it.

And place that roll blanket underneath your knees to help maintain a little bit more length through your back. Walk your shoulders under your chest, adding to the subtle lift of your heart, and invite your arms to fall wherever you feel the greatest ease. The Buddhist path of philosophy, they would ask the question, is it kind? Number 1, uhimsa, non violence. The second code for how we live in the world Is Satya Truthfulness?

Are we walking in our own path of truth? Sometimes as we begin a new practice, of any sort. We're looking around to see what others are doing or trying to keep up with a perceived idea of where we think we should be. As opposed to honoring where we're actually at. Can you speak the truth?

Can you walk in your truth? Astellia is the 3rd. Non stealing. When we feel the need to take things, it's sometimes because we don't feel like we have enough, like we are complete. In some way.

And stealing isn't always a physical act. Sometimes we're stealing ideas, we're stealing time from others. We're robbing ourselves or others of our piece, of their piece, stealing energy, And so if we asked ourselves the question with the first one, is it kind? But the second, we can say, is it my truth? And with the third, is it mine?

The 4th of the Yamas is Bramacharya. And we can think of Bramacharya as a moderation of energy. How am I spending my energy? Where am I choosing to put my energy? Who am I sharing my energy with?

And are the things that I'm giving my time and energy to creating balance are giving back in some equal measure, or are they depleting me? And if I discover that depletion is what's happening, can I make the shift? The question here, is it a wise use of my energy? And the last, Apari Graja, non greed. Similar to the stealing, we tend to hold on to things tightly, when there is fear of losing them, when there is concern of lack of not being taken care of in some way, But if we're constantly a cumulating, things are cluttered physically, mentally, emotionally.

We're unable to see clearly, which obscures our ability to settle in a place of peace. And the question here is Do I need it? These five things, so they relate to the way that we engage with the world around us, there are all things that we can turn back and reflect upon within ourself. And I invite you to carry these practices with you on your mat as you continue on your journey of practice? Is it kind?

Is it my truth? Is it mine? Is it a wise use of my energy? Do I need it? If what you need in this moment is more time here lying down, Give yourself that.

Stay in Shavasana as long as you would like. If it's not, the wise is use of your energy in this moment, bend your needs. Place your feet on the ground. Roll on to your right side. And make a little pillow with your arm.

Pause here for a breath or 2. Catching up with where you've been. And then press your left hand into the earth. Look to the ground as you bring yourself upright. Allowing your head to be the last thing to follow you into your seat.

Join your hands together at heart center. I often close my practice with Namaste. Many translations for this word, just like the ohm we began with, but one of my favorites is the divine light within me honors and vows. So that same divine light within each of you. Lift your heart. We bow our chins and gratitude.

Namaste. Thank you for sharing your practice.

Comments

Jenny S
3 people like this.
Glad you’re back Ashley - I love your teaching style 🫶.  I’m not a beginner, having practiced now somewhere around 27+ years, but I’m always up for a fresh new beginner class because I become aware of some misalignment in my poses and it gives me things to work toward.  This class was a great example of that, as I found some of the wall balances to be challenging until your cuing helped me to tweak and correct my posture and foot separation, etc.  👍  I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season 😍🙏🏻❤️
Diana G
2 people like this.
Thank You Ashley for a wonderful class with modifications to help me get back on track with my yoga practice.  I look forward to what's next!
Ashley R
1 person likes this.
Jenny S !!! It’s so nice to hear from you🤗 I’m really glad to hear that you enjoyed the first episode of this new beginner’s series. And I agree, no matter how long I’ve been practicing, I always find it helpful to revisit the basics. So happy you’re tuning in❤️
Ashley R
Diana G thank you so much for tuning in and reaching out. I appreciate you practicing with me and I’m glad you enjoyed the class🤗
Lea M
I loved this beginner class!  I like to always have a beginner's mind.  I'm looking forward to doing the rest of the series.  Thank you!
Ashley R
Lea M thank you for your kind words and thank you for joining me for this series. I agree, it is such a gift to always have a beginner's mind. Returning again and again to the foundation of the practice I find to be so helpful.

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