Align with Breath

Welcome. So glad you're here. Glad to be here together. This practice will be drawing our awareness towards the breath and moving with the breath. Creating a bit more spaciousness and opening through the side body and through the whole body, finding relief.

For this practice, it might be nice to have two blankets and two blocks nearby. I'm gonna start seated in a comfortable sukhasana, shindashin, you might sit up on a blanket or two. Just settling into your seat. Let's take a few moments to center. You might bring one hand to your belly, one hand to your heart. And as you arrive in your practice and your body, just begin to notice the quality of the breath.

As you exhale softening through the jaw and the shoulders, and allowing yourself to feel grounded and held by the support beneath you. Notice the sensation of the breath in the body, the gentle rise and fall. Allow for a gentle inhale. Maybe a sigh as you exhale. Bringing both hands to the chest, the heart will inhale open the arms and just roll the pelvis forward. And then with an exhale round the back curl the tail bone under, draw the hands in.

Healing the essence of cat cow, inhale roll the pelvis forward lengthen, and then exhale back in. Three more together, inhale, open, exhale with your breath, inhale, exhale, draw in, round, her last one inhale will open, exhale, draw it in, then bring your spine into a neutral position, reach your right arm out, inhale, the left arm up. Take a few moments to ground through your sitting bones and just find a bit more length and space through the left side body. Feel how you can ground and reach. You might stay here.

You might walk your right fingertips out as you bend the elbow and just stretch your top arm up out and over. You might pause here. You might support the head and neck with your hand. You might explore some movement rounding, revolving the rib cage towards the earth and revolving the heart, the lungs towards the sky. Few more moments here softening the right shoulder blade down the back.

As you're ready in house, sweep the top arm up, exhale release. You might find a few shoulder rolls, up back and down, up back and down. Alright. So then we'll lean back and just switch the cross of the legs. Bring the opposite shin in front. Settle into your sitting bones, reach the left fingers out as you inhale the right arm up. Again, ground as you lean a little bit forward and back, just creating a bit more space and awareness through the right side of your body.

Feel how you can breathe wide into the right side. Might stay with this or walk the fingertips out, bend the elbow, stretch the arm up out and over. Reach through the fingers, ground through the right backbone. Again, you might support the back of your head, your neck with your hand. You might move around revolving down.

Revolving spiraling up. Few more moments, breathing, softening the left shoulder blade down the back. So you're ready with your in house. Sweep your top arm up. Exhale release. A few shoulder rolls might feel nice. Find a simple spinal twist here.

Inhale to lengthen and exhale twist to your right. Left hand finds the right knee. Right. Fingertips behind you, inhale, lengthen, exhale gentle twist to the right. Feeling the fullness in your back ribs. Inhale exhale slowly unwind.

Inhale to lengthen exhale twist to the left, right hand on the left knee, left fingertips behind you. Ground as you inhale lengthen, exhale gentle twist to your left. Notice where you can soften a bit through the hips, hip flexors. If there's any hardening through the low back, can you find some fullness in your back ribs? Inhale, and exhale slowly unwind. Few more shoulder rolls before we transition. Then meet me in tabletop.

And as we move through cat cow, it might be nice to have a blanket. Under your knees for support. Spread your fingers wide. You might tuck your toes under. And as you exhale, feel your spine round.

Able to line, release the head as you inhale lead with your heart feeling the length and space through your collar bones and sitting bones. Long through the neck, exhale let your back round and stretch. Inhale lead with your heart and lengthen. Continue a few more rounds at your own pace with the breath, allowing for any movement that would feel good. So you might circle through your hips.

You might move up into your rib cage, up into your shoulder blades and neck. Just creating space from the inside out as you move with the breath. Next time you round your spine soft in the hips back, might take a child's pose for a moment here. Let's support your forehead with your hands. Maybe a little sway from side to side.

Feel how you can breathe into your back body. Nice and wide across the low back. I mean, nourishing the kidney energy. You might stay here a bit longer when you feel ready to slowly rise up. We're gonna turn on our mat and explore gate pose.

Kinda might be nice have some padding underneath your knees. You're gonna rise up onto your knees, your shins. So let's bring our hands onto our hips. From here, it's a bit of a balanced place. So we'll extend out through our right leg. It'll look so your right, foot is in alignment with your right hip. And then see if you can kinda draw that right hip down.

So more or less even out through your hips. Nice. And then as you're ready, we'll reach our right arm up. And feel how you can lengthen through the right body. We'll reach the right hand down and inhale sweep your left arm up. Feel that sense of rooting and length at the same time.

You might stay right here. You might begin to slide the right hand down as you stretch your left arm up out and over. And find some ease in your neck feel the support of the belly drawing in strong through the legs. It's a very dynamic shape. Slow in your own timing, inhale.

Back up. Beautiful. Hans on the hip, straw your right leg in. How did that go? We'll switch sides extend through your left leg and your foot out in line from the hip foot parallel. And then again, hands on the hips, more or less even.

Inhale, reach your left arm up. Feel that length as you root, and then begin to release the hand as you stretch the right arm up. Feel that length, and then take that up out and over to your left. Again, feel how you can draw your ribs in, feel the support through your core muscles, and find a place where your neck feels good. Breathing, lengthening, finding that appropriate edge of sensation.

With your inhale, reach the top arm up, hands on the hips, and then bringing it back in. We'll meet in downward dog. So you turn on your mat, spread your fingers wide. And as I come into downward dog, I like to fan the fingers out a little wider just to allow for more external rotation through the shoulders. Talk the toes under, lift up, downward dog.

You might pedal out through the back of the legs here. Getting allowing the back of the neck to release. Notice the quality of your breath as you change shapes. As you feel sensation arise through the body, you might step your feet as wide as your mat. Bend your knees, wiggle, lift your sitting bones up.

Again, feel the thigh bones draw back and up neck long. Breathing here into this shape. Beautiful. Walk the feet a little closer about hips width apart and walking the hands towards the feet or the feet towards the hands. Whatever feels right for you will meet in a standing forward hold, release the weight of the upper body, the weight of the head. Arms by dangle or hands might find the elbows as you sway gently side to side.

In your own timing, soft bend through the knees, curl the tailbone under, round your spine up slowly stacking the bones, feeling the support within head loss, feeling your heart, feeling your shoulders, feeling your head. Nice full exhale down into your feet. Nice. We'll take a moment to clear the mat. So if you have a blanket there, you can just fold it, put it to the side, and we'll use our two blocks. So you can bring your blocks to the top of your mat.

You might bring the blocks to the highest setting. I'm gonna arrive in mountain pose, spreading the toes. As you spread the toes, feel that sense of lift from the inner arches up through the inner lines of your legs. The awakening up through the pelvic floor and the spine, as you soften your shoulders back and down, let your palms open. And can you feel the shoulder blades gently hugging into the upper spine, opening the chest, feeling the strength and support of the back body.

And maybe there's a soft bend in the knees as you drop the tailbone. You know how the base of your skull can gently float back and upwards. And notice the quality of the breath. Begin to draw your awareness into the nostrils. And for a few moments here, notice the quality of the breath through the nostrils, beginning to tune towards the central channel.

Be feeling sensing this calming energy, quieting energy. And then we'll draw the hands together at the heart and move with the breath. Just simple quarter sun salutations to begin with. Hans at the heart will inhale together, exhale press the hands to the earth grounding. Maybe there's a bend through your knees as you inhale reach the arms up, lift and lengthen. And then exhale draw the hands together at the heart.

Two more like this. Breathing in. Breathing out, press the hands to the earth. Inhale arms lift, gather and reach, exhale hands together at the heart. One more like this. Breathing in.

Exhale, empty the lungs, hands to earth. Inhale arms lift lengthen. Exhale hands together at your heart. Adding on half sun salutation, breathing in. XL, press your hands to the earth.

Inhale arms lift. This time, exhale, fold forward, bend the knees, release the hands to the blocks or floor, release the head. As you inhale half arch length in your spine, as you exhale, bend your knees, release the hands, strong through the legs, bend the knees in house, sweep your arms up, lengthen, exhale hands together at your heart. Adding on inhale, exhale, press the hands to the earth at your own pace, inhale arms lift. Exhale forward fold, bending the knees, releasing the hands to floor blocks.

Inhale, half arched to lengthen. This time as you exhale, bend the knees and step your right foot back let your left knee bend. You might organize through your your blocks around the front foot, coming into a runner's lunge here. Yeah. You can reach back through the ball, the right foot, lengthen forward through the heart. And then we'll move in and out of a long pyramid variation. So as you press into the ball of your left foot, straighten the left leg a little bit, and then bend the knee, sink into your lunge, maybe lift through the heart.

I'm impressed with the ball of your left foot, straightening the left leg a little bit, and bend the knee, find your lunge. Let's do one more. Exhale lunge pause here. Moving into a twist. Keep your right hand on the block.

You might lower the block down one side. Bring your left thumb into your hip crease. Feel how you can reach back for your right heel forward, for your heart, you might stay right here, and might feel good to stretch your left arm up. Breathing here, find some ease in your neck. Finding that balance of effort and ease and the shape.

Slowly release your left hand. Find the shape of the lunge. Woo. Reorganize your blocks shape of the lunge. And then we're just gonna rock and roll, step the back foot forward to meet the front, inhale half arch lengthen, exhale, bend your knees forward full. Bend your knees ground for your feet, inhale, sweep your arms up.

Exale hands to the heart. Take a moment to pause. Notice, feel. Second side, breathing in. Exale, press the hands to the earth.

Inhale sweep the arms up, lengthen, exhale soft, bend through your knees, forward, full, release the head. Inhale half arch lengthen your spine, exhale bend your knees, step your left foot back, let your right knee bend, and organize your blocks, pause right here in the runner's lunge, feel the strength of your legs. Reach back through your left teal forward through your heart, feel how you can draw your right hip crease back. And then press through the ball of your right foot straighten the right leg a little bit, pyramid variation, exhale, bend the right knee finder runners' lunch. Press into the ball of your right foot, right leg straightens a little bit.

Ban the knee, lunge. One more with the breath. Easing into your hamstrings, wad muscle as you pause, moving into a twisting lunge, you might keep your left hand right where it is. You might choose to lower the block down one side. And then bring your right thumb into your right hip crease as you reach back for the ball of your left foot forward through your heart, revolving the ribcage to the right.

Maybe reach that right arm up. Feel how you can lengthen through your spine as you explore rotation here. Inhale reaching, exhale release, organize the block. So they're nice and even, and then we'll rock and roll and step the back foot forward, inhale half arch lengthen your spine. Exale, bend your knees forward fold. Bend your knees ground for your feet and how sweep your arms up, lengthen.

And exhale hands together at the heart. Take a moment to pause and notice. It's resting in the space you've created through the body. And then we'll step our feet wide on the mat. You can bring your blocks with you right out in front.

We're gonna set up for a goddess pose. So turn the toes out the heels in. We're gonna bend the harness here, feeling the hips, feeling the legs, marine hands together at the heart, softening the jaw. Here, feel how you can root through the outer edges of the feet a bit here, opening through the hips. Finding your appropriate edge.

We're gonna straighten the legs and inhale reach the arms up and then tai chi arms. So bend the knees and bring the arms down. Inhale, reach the arms up, lengthen, and then exhale drawing down. Three more inhale. Lift, exhale bend, softening the face and the jaw, inhale, exhale bend.

Last one, inhale, exhale bend. We'll bring the hands together at the heart. Inhale, exhale press for the feet. Now we're gonna turn the toes forward or slightly in, bring the hands to the hips. This is gonna feel good, you know, after that lift the chest, exhale fold, hinge at your hips.

Bring your hands to your blocks. Inhale lengthen your spine long through your neck. You might stay right here. Just enjoying this extension. You might choose to lower the blocks.

As you walk the blocks, the hands forward, and then shift the hips away from the hands, finding a hammock variation. So similar to downward dog. Nice, beautiful opening through the shoulders, the spine, the hamstrings. Grounding through the outer edges of your feet, breathing hair as you open for the back of the legs, feeling the leg through the spine. Feeling your beautiful breath.

Take your time with this. Gradually, bring the blocks back underneath your shoulders. Again, you might inhale lengthen your spine. And then exhale hands to the hips ground through your feet, strong legs will come up with a flat back. And then just heel to all your feet or walk your feet back underneath your hips.

Take a moment to pause and integrate, find a centering breath. Accale, maybe with a sigh. Beautiful. We'll transition down to the floor with a sun salutation. You can bring your blocks off to the side. Spreading your toes together will inhale reach the arms up.

And exhale forward fold. Inhale half arch length in your spine. Exhale bend your knees, hands, find the mat, and we'll just simply, or maybe not so simply. You walk the feet back. Finding your downward dog, so maybe a familiar shape as you pedal out through the feet, through the legs.

And then lower the knees, a child's pose might feel nice for your body. Or you might just simply roll on to your back and hug your knees into your chest. Taking a few moments here, just allowing the ground, the floor of the earth to have a bit more of you. Might take a nourishing breath into the back body. Next sail.

Your own timing slowly come up, and we'll meet on our back. Once you arrive on your back, draw your knees into your chest. You might find a gentle rock from side to side. Moving to rolling bridge. With the breath grounding for your feet.

Feed about hips width apart, heels in line with your sitting bones, arms down alongside the body. When you feel ready, breathing in, ac exhale curl the tailbone under, press through your feet and begin to stretch your arms overhead. Feel how you can lengthen through the front body. Pressing down through the inner feet. And then with your exhale roll your spine down, upper back, mid back, low back and arms.

Inhale press through the feet, lifting up, and with the exhale, we'll roll down. Upper back, low back, and arms. Maybe two or three more rising up with the inhale, finding the full expression as you lengthen through the arms, lengthen through the legs. And with your exhale, roll your spine down. One vertebrae at a time.

Last one, inhale press, lift, lengthening your bridge. Arms might be overhead. Beautiful work. Keep the arms overhead, exhale everything, and roll down on empty upper back, navel to spine, mid back, low back sacrum pausing here. From here, you might toe heel the feet wide, and he's into windshield wipers side to side cruising onto the inner outer edges of the feet. As you let your knees fall to the right, maybe the head shifts to the left.

Inhale up, exhale knees to the left. Maybe the head shifts towards the right. New more rounds at your own pace with the breath. Nice. And eventually we'll draw the knees into the chest.

We'll set up for a spinal twist here. You might bring a blanket underneath your head, a folded blanket. And I'll suggest that we bring our second blanket where you can bring a bolster as well. And we're gonna bring it between our knee knees and ankles. Kinda like that.

And then as you're ready, we're gonna roll everything over to the right and pause. So pause stacking your shoulders, your hands, your hips, your knees. We'll explore a slightly different variation of a twist today. So begin to let your left fingertips slide beyond the right and feel like you can kinda roll towards the face. The face draws down. And then keep the hands connected as you trace the inner arm with your hand, opening revolving, keep your left hand on your chest, maybe sliding across the collar bones, and then retrace.

In her arm, stretch beyond the fingertips, maybe roll towards the right side of your face. And then keep the contact as you draw the hand cross the body, cross the chest, the collar bones, maybe two more times tracing the inner arm, just finding a sweet fluid rhythm that feels good. This nice is somatic experience of twisting. Tracing the inner arm, feeling that nice stretch through the shoulder blade. Back of the heart.

And then eventually, you might stay with this. You might let your left arm open for a few breaths. In how to lengthen. And exhale to twist. You might even bring your right hand onto the outer left thigh or knee.

Breathing into where you feel it and with each exhale at the belly soften. Again, so we're relaxing massaging the organs, letting it feel spacious in between the eyebrows and the base of the skull. You are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. When you feel ready to transition, you can reach for your blanket. And then in how, let the top leg lift and let the bottom leg follow.

We'll explore that on the other side as you're ready roll on to your left side. Stacking your shoulders, stacking your hands and your hips. And then as you're ready, we're gonna roll beyond the left fingertips. So stretch your right fingertips beyond the left. Keep the head heavy as you retrace.

So sliding the top hand across the underarm, the left, revolving the ribcage, hand moves across the chest, Keep contact as you slide, tracing the inner left arm. Go beyond the fingertips. You can let the head roll down. And then again, tracing the inner arm. Open, keeping the head heavy, and then retrace.

You might explore this a few more times. Finding this nice gliding action for the shoulder blades. Eventually, you might let your top right arm open. Inhale lengthen, exhale gentle twist to the right. Again, left hand might find the outer right leg.

Find some ease in your neck as you breathe into the shape. Soft in the belly. Gradually allow the the right shoulder blade in the back of the lung to get heavy towards the earth. And stay here as long as you'd like. When you feel ready to unwind, reach for your blanket, inhale lead with your top leg, and then let the bottom leg follow. You can just bring the bolster off to the side.

Where you can roll the blanket and bring it under the back of the knees for support as you release into Shavasana. Of course, if there's any movement your body is calling for, please listen. Inhale, exhale. I'm allowing the weight of the body, the weight of the bones to drop and release towards the earth. As you listen inwardly for guidance, you might stay and rest for longer.

Be savoring this this moment. You feel ready to transition, you might draw your knees and roll to your side. Keep your gaze soft and inward as you gently press yourself up. Arriving in your seat. We're staying in the shape you're in.

Is savoring the sweetness of this? Moment. And again, resting in the space you've cultivated in your practice. Might bring the hands together as you inhale. Generous exhale.

Namaste. Thank you