Power Down

Thank you for joining me for power down. For this practice, we will need two blocks, a blanket, and a bolster. We're gonna get started in a supported fish pose. So we'll take our bolster vertical near the top of our mat, and we'll have our two blocks handy. From here, you're gonna nestle your low back right up against the bolster.

So make sure that there's not a gap between the low back and the bolster you're gonna lie back so that the chest is open and supported. The full back is supported by the bolster. Open your arms up nice and wide. You know, the option to stay here with the legs long, or go ahead and bring the bottoms of your feet together. Grab either of your blocks and place them under the thighs, giving yourself some support.

Place your palms on your belly or on your hip crease, and let's take a nice big breath in through the nose. Take a big sigh out through the mouth. Again, inhale, and exhale. And then just let the arms open up by the size of the palms flipped up towards the sky. Close your eyes if it's comfortable.

And right away, just move your awareness into the breath. So we begin to follow the inhales and the exhales as they're naturally happening. Just noticing the quality of the breath. And then noticing the body. And with your awareness, giving the body permission to begin to relax.

And to soften. Every muscle of the face completely soft. Unclench the jaw. Relax through the low belly. And then direct your awareness back to the breath.

Noticing the busyness or the clutter of the mind, allow yourself to come back to the breath as the mind begins to take over. Inviting yourself to gently direct the mind to the breath. And as the mind wanders, just gently caress it back to the breath. And staying with the breath. Just noticing the breath as it reaches the chest.

Perhaps feeling the chest softly rise with the inhale. And then it sends the breath moving down into the belly. Just right above the belly button. Feeling that area rising and falling as we breathe. And now sensing the breath moving to the area below the belly button.

Feeling that space rising and falling with the breath. And then finally here, move your awareness into the tailbone and imagine the breath rising and falling within the tailbone. Right at the base of the spine. And take a big full breath in through the nose, sigh it out through the mouth. Again, inhale, and exhale.

So gently using your hands, guide the knees and the thighs back in towards one another. If your legs are long, bring your feet on the mat. Let's bring our feet as wide as the mat. Let the knees come together to touch so we find constructive breaths. Taking a few breaths. And then go ahead and windshield wiper your knees softly from side to side.

And as you're ready, we'll gently roll over onto our right side coming off of the bolster. Just rounding and curling into yourself. Take your time, press yourself up, move your props off to the side. And then we'll find a tabletop, finding your hands and your knees. Hands under shoulders, knees under hips, taking a couple of rounds of cat and cow arching the back, pulling the heart forward, And then exhale tuck the tail, curl and round, bring the navel in towards the spine.

Couple more rounds, just arching and opening, exhaling rounding. Last one. Open the heart. Pull the shoulders back. And exhale round. From here, bring your knees wide.

Big toes come together to touch, send the hips back towards the heels, extend the arms forward, finding Balasana child's pose, guiding your forehead down towards the earth. And then taking your right arm threading it under the left arm for child's pose with a twist. Resting the right side of the head on the mat, you could turn your gaze to the left. Left palm can be flat or perhaps tense your fingertips. Maybe walk the fingertips forward a bit more.

And then see if you can start to roll the arm pivot towards the ear we put a little bit more space through the shoulder joint through the armpit. And then let your awareness be into the breath. Breathing at that lowest point that we found earlier, imagining breathing right into the tailbone. Few more breaths. And if those left fingertips are tend to bring the palm flat, reach the right arm forward.

Take a breath. And then switch sides. Take our left arm under the right. Left side of the head breasts. Turn your gaze to the right.

Once again, maybe tensing the right fingertips, crawling them forward, rolling the right arm pin in towards the ear. Inhaling and exhaling to that low low point, the tailbone. Few more breaths. And then bring your left arm forward. Take your breath in child's pose.

And then we'll come back up onto our hands and our knees one more time. Go ahead and circle out through the hips. Take your circles in the other direction. And then from here, we're gonna come all the way down to the belly. For downward facing Shavasana, I'm gonna reach the arms forward.

If it feels okay in the shoulders, have your palms flipped up towards the sky. Lower your forehead towards the earth. Let the forehead meet the earth. So your chin will draw in towards your chest. And then let the breath move quite deeply into the belly.

So that as the breath moves into the belly, we can start to feel the whole backside of the body breathing. And as we connect to the backside of the body breathing, we'll start at the lowest point. So right at that tailbone point, just imagine as you breathe. The breath moves in and out right around the sacrum. Then move your awareness up to the middle part of your back.

And as you breathe here, just imagine the middle part of your back breathing in and breathing out, rising and falling. And then move the awareness up to the space between the shoulder blades right at the very center of your upper back. Let the awareness of the breath sit right there. Just letting that area breathe in and out rise and fall. Few more breaths.

I'm gonna go ahead and bring your palms back. Rest your forehead on your palms. Swish your hips from side to side. Swe your head from side to side. I mean, from here, just reach back for your blanket.

We're gonna take our blanket fold it up nice and thick right outside of our right hip. You're gonna take your right knee and your right thigh, open it up to the side and allow the blanket to port the right thigh and the right shin here for half frog. Stillowing your forehead to rest on the palms. Return your awareness to your breath. Relax the right toes, the right glute.

Let's take a nice big full breath in. Hold the breath at the top. XL release. Hold the breath on empty at the bottom, inhale fill up. Hold the breath at the top before feel that expansion.

X, I'll push out your air empty empty empty empty empty empty. Hold the breath at the bottom. One more time, inhale fill all the way up, feel that expansion. Hold the breath at the top. A little bit longer this time.

Exale a long slow release, push out your air. And then inhale and exhale normally let the breath return to a natural steady and even rhythm. Go ahead and slowly start to bring your right leg back in. Swish your hips from side to side. Lift your forehead up off of your hands.

This may be coming up into your forearms for a moment. Taking a few breaths. And then when you're ready, let's switch sides. So we're gonna grab your blanket and we'll swing it around to the other side. So you're gonna take your blanket outside of your left hip.

Bring your left knee, left thigh, left shin to rest on the blanket. Go ahead and come on down. So stacking your palms forehead on the palms. Settle back into your breath. Relax the shoulders.

Thinking a nice big full breath in. Holding the breath at the top. XL release, push your air out. Empty. Hold the breath out and empty. Inhale fill up.

Hold. Hold to hold the breath at the top. Feel that expansion. Push out all of your air empty empty empty, hold it empty. And then last time, biggest fullest breath push the belly into the earth, it expand, expand. Hold the breath.

Acts, release, push it out. And just let the breath return to a steady natural rhythm. Gently as you're ready bringing your left leg back in, swish your hips from side to side. Go ahead and lift your head. Take your time pressing yourself up into all fours.

Take a couple of circles of the hips one way, then the other way. And then we'll move into the best pose for powering down, which is legs up the wall. So the best way to come into this is to come onto your side, putting your butt bones as close to the wall as possible. So we're almost in a little fetal position. From here, you're gonna lower down into your left arm.

Swing your legs around and up the wall so that as much of our sits bones are connected to the wall as possible. Let your palms rest on your belly. Keep as much of a bend to your knees as you need. Close your eyes. Tune into the breath.

Feel the belly just rising and falling into the hands that are on it. Just trust in the simplicity of the shape to do the work. Like, of any squeezing of the eyes, any squeezing of the toes. Just take another moment here. And last thirty seconds here, take your left hand to your heart, and take your right hand onto your forehead.

It's creating a really soothing closed circuit for the nervous system. The breath slow. Wait. Big breath in. Sci it out. One more time. Inhale.

And exhale. And gently release the hands in the arms. Go ahead and wiggle out your toes. I'll begin to bring the feet on the wall. Find the fetal position.

And then take your time pressing yourself up. Finding a nice comfortable seat. Placing both of your hands right on the center of your chest. Bow the head in towards the heart. Take a moment to feel the space, to feel the ease, to feel the calm and the body and the mind and in the heart and acknowledge your effort with gratitude.

Thank you for practicing with me today. Namaste.