Hanuman & The Great Leap

Hi. My name is Ashley. Welcome to your practice. For today's class, you'll wanna grab a blanket, a strap, and two blocks. Once you've gathered your goodies, come meet me lying down on your mat. With a block and a strap in reaching distance.

We'll begin today in constructive rest. Bend your knees. Place your feet on the ground as wide as your mat. Turn your toes slightly in and allow your knees to fall toward each other. And if you're feeling any muscular effort through the inner thighs or there's a big expanse between your knees, you can always place a block between the inner knees to give the leg something to rest against. Invite your hands and your arms to rest wherever feels most natural.

And for a moment here, either close your eyes or find a point to softly focus on. Tune into the quality of your breath, slow down, even out. And as you settle into your rhythm, your pace, take a moment to layer in an intention for our time together. Why this now? Once you have that gathered, If you'd like, you can join me in an opening home.

Nice full breath in. Blink your eyes back open if you've closed them. Take the block if you've placed it between the knees and set it to the side still in reaching distance. Open your arms out to the sides so hands are about the height of your shoulders. And then keeping your feet wide lazily send your knees to the left like windshield wipers.

Welcome the length through the front of your hip. The top of your thigh. And inhale come back center, exhale knees to the right, length, and through the front of the left hip, and center. And continue this side to side at your own pace, maybe turning your head in the opposite direction of your knees, if that feels like a kindness in your body today. So as we journey through our practice, we're gonna learn a little bit about Hanuman today.

Our monkey headed god. And Hanuman's story begins with his mother, Anjana. After the next time you come up from the right side, pause center. He'll turn your feet toward each other till they're about the distance of your front hip points, and then walk your heels toward your bum until it feels like your knees are a little closer to being aligned over your ankles. Once again, grab your block.

Press down through your feet, lift your hips just enough to slide the block at its lowest point right underneath your sacrum, that last triangular shaped bone, just above your tailbone. Walk your shoulders subtly underneath your chest adding to the lift of your heart. And then grab hold of your strap and bring right knee in toward your chest. Sometimes this is the trickiest part of this adventure for me is getting my foot lassoed with my hips raised. So take your time with that. Once the foot is in the strap, aim for the ball of the foot, reach the ball of your big toe up against the strap and use the strap to guide the pinky edge of your foot down towards your outer hip.

Walk shoulders underneath your chest again welcoming the lift of your heart. Now for many of us, this is more than enough resistance. You may stay right here. If you can do so without pain or strain, walk your left leg forward. Flex through your foot to draw a bit more length through the back of the thigh and spin your inner left thigh down until your toes point up.

Give an active coil of your abdomen in. Do that so much that the heel hovers just off the mat. And now press through the ball of the foot, a little flint here, and then try to point your toes. Really lengthen all the way from the top of your hip, to your tippy toes, keep the point, lengthen from the center of your thigh to the center of your foot, and maybe you lower the left leg a touch. The heel doesn't have to meet the earth again, just think that direction. And then flex your foot, bend the knee, any amount you need to return heel to the mat, and then re bend left knee.

Bring left knee in toward your chest. Take the strap around your left foot and now sneak your right foot out. Put the base of the foot down. Press the ball of your big toe up against the strap and steer the pinky edge of your foot down. And if you collapse with your chest, press to the back of the arms, lift your heart.

Again, if you've met an edge here, honor this edge, otherwise, stretch your right leg out long, flex your foot. Spend your inner right thigh down until your knee and your toes point straight up. And for a lot of us, when we straighten the leg, the arch in the lower back has a tendency to increase. So actively scoop your abdomen in. Do that so much that maybe the heel hovers just off the mat.

Press forward through the ball of the foot, somewhere between a point and a flex. And then reach your toes straight forward. And try to lengthen all the way from the top of your thigh. To the center of your toesies. And keeping the draw of your abdomen and see if you can lower right heel a little closer to the mat.

Again, it's okay if it doesn't actually make contact, just send it that direction. And then once again, flex your foot, bend the knee any amount you need to get the heel down, and then bend the knee the rest of the way. Remove strap from around your foot. And place your left foot down. Pause a moment here, catch up with where we've been.

So Anjana wanted nothing more than a child. And she caught the attention of Ayu the god of the wind, for her devotion to her practice, to her prayers, her meditations. Press into your heels, lift your hips, slide the block out from under you, and roll right back to the mat one little bone at a time. You can set block to the side, reach your right arm in line with your ear and roll to your right side. Press the earth away and make your way to your hands and your knees. And if your knees feel a little tender on the earth a moment to open a blanket below them, give yourself a little more padding.

Spend it inner thighs back till your toes point straight back, and then draw your heart through the gates of your arms. X, how push the earth away round through your back. And take a few rounds of cat cow flowing at your own breath pace. No rush. So one morning, like every morning, Anjana's out at the bank of the water, doing her morning prayers, her morning meditations.

And as she reaches her hands to the sky, a couple of pieces of rice fall into her hands. After your next round, return yourself to a neutral spine. Walk your hands a few inches forward of your shoulders and parallel creases of the wrist to the top of your mat. Glide forward to bring shoulders over your wrists again. Lift the top of your chest.

And as you exhale tuck your toes, lift your knees, take your hips up and back, downward facing dog. Now for some of us, we come to the stillness with ease. Well, for others, a little pedal of the heels or a shift of the hips may be welcome. So Vayu, having noticed Anjana's dedication had actually blessed a few pieces of rice and sent them out with a few bird carriers. Walk your hands back to meet your feet.

Inhouse, slide your hands up your shins, high enough to get your chest a little bit more in line with your hips, and then bend your knees generously and drape your ribs over your thighs. Keep your knees bent, tap your chin and roll yourself to standing. One little bone at a time. When your head reaches the top, invite your hands to follow, sweep up, reach up, and exhale return to heart center. Take a walk to the top of your mat, tadasana.

Send your inner thighs back. Take a moment to scoop your abdomen in and smooth your bum down. Lift through your heart center and lower your arms by your sides. And just like Anjana, press into the earth, reach to the sky, see if you can grab the rice. Acts, I'll wait a little forward in your feet, fold into self, uttanasana. Inhaled to fingertips or hands on shins, heart forward.

Bend your knees enough to get hands down, step back with your right foot. Put your back knee down, pat it if it's tender. Uncurl your toes, press down in hell, rise up, reach up. Ex how hips forward, hands down. Take your hands to blocks if you're rounding through your back to touch the earth, bring the earth to you.

Shift your hips back. Stack right hip on top of right knee and then straighten through your left leg. Press the ball of the big toe forward, draw the pinky edge back just like you did when you had the strap around your foot. Lift through the pit of the abdomen and stretch your heart skyward. Acile keeping this at a distance, shift your hips forward, smooth your bum down, lift your heart, maybe you gaze skyward.

Acts, hips back, come to the heel of the foot, soften in any amount you can manage without pain or strain. Rebend your knee, smooth bum down, lift through your heart. One more time, shift it back to your heart, your half split Look at that, Artahan Nomenas and a foreshadowing foreshadowing. Press the ball of your Victor forward, drag your left heel energetically back, and then actually bring it back towards you a few inches, tuck your back toes under, lift your knee. Alright.

So holding your high lunge shimmy your right foot back so much so that your left knee comes a little bit behind your left ankle. Try to keep pressing back with your right heel. And now can you sit back into the left thigh, bringing me over ankle? So you may experience some exciting sensations of length through the front of your right hip, the top of your right thigh. Breathe into it. So Anjana didn't question it.

She's like in prayer, in meditation. So anything that's coming her way right now, obviously, she don't pop that rice right in her mouth. Boom, pregnant. I don't know if you know that's how it happens, but sometimes it goes down that way. Right? Set your blocks to the side if you've been using them and step yourself back to a plank pose top of a pushup. Rock forward to your tippy toes, use knees if you'd like the added support lower all the way to meet the mat. Brush your toes back, smooth bum away from the waist as you lift your heart, low cobra, exhale give it back to the earth, tuck your toes under, walk them in, inhale to plank, or hands and knees, and then exhale hips up and back. Downward facing dog.

Inhale, lift your right leg, lead from inner thigh so toes point down. Xhale me to nose, float shoulders over wrists, step right foot forward between your hands. Set your back knee down, uncurl your toes, press down, inhale, rise up, reach up. Xhale, hips forward, hands to the earth. Again, if that causes rounding through your spine, put your hands on props. Shift your hips back, stacking left hip on top of left knee straighten your right leg.

Press the ball of your big toe forward, draw the pinky edge back. Lift your chest. Rebend your front knee. And again, think down with the tailbone, back with your navel and up with your heart. And shift it back, fold it in.

Again, glide forward. And take it back. Pause here this time. Lift your chest draw right heel toward you as you lift through your heart center, and then actually bring the heel toward you, bend the knee. Tuck your back toes under, lift your knee.

Again, squiggle left foot back this time until your right knee ends up a bit behind the ankle. Sit into your front thigh as you keep reaching back through the left leg. So again, looking for the length through the front of the hip, the top of the thigh. So this child that is born, Anginaasana, half god, half human, mighty powerful for a little baby and has a big love of mangoes Right? Bring your back foot forward a few inches and then hop the foot forward the rest of the way.

Inhale draw your chest forward, exhale fold. Route down, inhale rise up reach up, maybe look up and exhale to your heart. Right? Adding on, inhale again, Orvahastasana. Exhale fold, Inhale lengthen aird, uttanasana, bend your knees, plant your hands, step back with your left foot.

Set back knee down, uncurl your toes. Press down, inhale, rise up, reach up. Drag your left shin forward, your right heel back and again, smooth your bum down. Exhale hips forward, hands down. Grab a block.

Shift it back. Either holding at your Arta Hanasana, or if the body says okay, we're going to set block to the inside of the heel, sit back. Shift the height to whatever you need so that you're sitting level on your hips. Smooth your bum down, lift your chest and roll inner right thigh down till toes point up. You may stay right here.

You might reach up and exhale offer heart to the toes. Maybe. Lift through your chest, broaden your collarbones, and then replant your hands on either side of your leg. Shift forward, rebend the knee, Tuck your back toes under, lift your knee. Hook right thumb to right, hip crease, guide it back, grow your heart forward, and as you exhale twist to the right, bring shoulders out of your ears and onto your back.

Exhale hands to the mat. Step it to your plank. Don't mind the block. Take the vinyasa. Your body needs. And that might look like moving straight to down dog or taking a beat to connect with self in child's pose.

In your own time, inhale lift left leg, exhale knee to nose, foot shoulders over wrists, step, foot forward between your hands. Put your back knee down, pat it if it's tender. Unurl your toes, press down, inhale, rise up, pause, drag back, shin forward, front heel back, smooth the bum down as you lift your heart. Exhale, hips forward, hands down. Sch it back to your Artahanu Manasana, you may stay here. Again, if the body says, okay, sit to the inside of the heel.

Earth or prop any height that allows you to feel level. Lift your heart, open your chest, you may stay here. You might sweep up, reach up, exhale, offer heart to your toes. So one day Anjana's out in the field, NEC's or Anjanae asana, He sees what he thinks is the world's largest mango. Plant your hands, rebind your front knee, tuck your back toes under, lift the knee.

Hook left thumb to left hip crease, guide left hip back, grow your heart forward, exhale twist, bring shoulders out of your ears and onto your back, and exhale both hands to the mat. Hop back foot up to meet your front foot. Inhale, press your thighs back, lengthen your spine. Xhale fold. Press down inhale, rise up, reach up, maybe look up, and exhale to your heart.

That cute little block you left at the back of your mat, grab it. It's gonna get to know that place again. But for now, set your blocks in reaching the sense of the top of your mat. Hands to heart, sit heavy to your heels, bend your knees, circle arms overhead, and look for the giant mango in the sky. X how ribs to your thighs fold in half.

In holly longate your spine, Bend your knees, plant your hands, step or float through any vinyasa your body needs. Lift right leg, That's how need to nose, put hands on your blocks, give yourself added space to explore. Straight in front leg to the best of your ability, fold in. Rebend your knee and now shorten your stance. Bring left foot forward a touch, pivot back heel down, heel to heel, or wider for more stability.

Press through the mound of your right big toe. Guide your right hip back and in and grow your heart forward. Walk your hands and or blocks forward any amount you can manage without pain or strain. And for every bit, the heart is reaching forward, guide the right hip back. This giant mango that Hanuman thinks he sees in the sky is actually the sun.

And when Syria, the sun god sees Hanuman taking a giant leap towards it with mouth open ready to take a bite, Saria grabs a lightning bolt and strikes the baby down. Bend your front knee on top of your ankle, bring hands back alongside your foot, hop left foot back a few inches. Put your back knee down, uncurl your toes. Take right hand to the top of the right thigh, left hand can come to the earth or stay on your prop. Shift the hips forward, lift your heart.

Circles your right arm up and back, bend your back knee, and if it's there without pain or strain, grab the foot. Even here, can you smooth them away from the waist as you lift your heart? And exhale, let the foot go. Shift your hips back, either sticking with the Artahanu Manasana, if this is a purposeful edge, or once again, place a block to the inside of the foot sit back. Inhale rise up reach up.

Try to grab the sun, the mango, and then exhale struck down by Syria, fold in. Inhale reach your heart forward. Step your right hand off to the right, take left hand to outer knee and bend your knee root into the earth, lift through your heart, exhale twist. Now this may be a perfect edge for the body today. You can stay here knee bent.

If it's there without pain or strain try to grab the pinky edge of the foot, send the leg straight forward, right arm straight back. And exhale look forward, rebind your knee, replace both hands. Straighten your left, and by left, I mean, right, leg back out, and then place your hands back behind you. Take a beat, scoop the pit of your abdomen in, smooth bum away from the waist. If you have met your edge, honor it. Be here. Otherwise, walk your hands forward a little bit more and see if you can take elbows to the earth.

Smooth bum away from the waist, lift your heart length and crown of head back, full breath into the expanse of your chest. And as you are ready to leave from abdomen, press into hands, lift from heart center, let the head be the last thing to follow you up. Re binge your front knee, shift forward, and take your block with you. Bring your right leg back, left foot back, press back downward facing dog. Push the earth away with your fingertips, get longer through your spine.

Inhale take your left leg up and exhale me toward your nose, step, foot forward between your hands. Grab your blocks, giving yourself that added space. Straight in front leg to the best of your ability and fold in. Reabin your front knee, hop back foot forward a few inches, pivot your back, heel down, heel to heel, or wider for more stability. Press to the mound of your left big toe, guide your left hip back as you grow your heart forward.

And then any amount you can manage without sacrificing length of the legs or your spine, walk your hands forward. Imagine you could extend your chest to the space between the hands. So, Vaiju having seen his son struck down gasped, and he drew in so much air that he actually depleted all the air in the atmosphere. Alright? Bring your hands back underneath your shoulders, bend your front knee and hop your right foot back to its proper lunge distance. Set your back knee down, uncurl your toes.

You can leave right hand on your block or place it to the earth, left hand to the top of your thigh. Press down to the top of your right foot, shift your hips forward. Smooth bum away from the waist as you lift your heart and then circle your left arm back. Bend your knee. And if it's there without pain or strain, grab the foot. If it's not, keep pressing it down as you take your hips forward, lift your chest. So this is a problem.

If there's no air in the atmosphere, people are gonna cease to be. So the gods go to meet an council to figure out what do we do? Let your back foot go. Right? Shift your hips back, find Arta Hanu Manasana, your half split. You may opt to stay right here.

You might take your block to inside of heel, come take a seat, Inhale, sweep your arms up, exhale, offer your heart to your toes, fold. Elungate through your spine. Take your left hand off to the left and your right hand to the outer knee. Again, lift your chest, bend your knee. From here, elongate exhale revolve. You may opt to stay here with me bent, you might grab the pinky edge of your foot, send the heel forward, lift your chest, And if you feel steady doing so, stretch your left arm back.

And then look forward, place hand down, bend your knee. Very straighten through your left leg. Put your hands down. Try to plant the palms. There's a tendency to dive into the back, so scoop the abdomen and imagine you could bring the tip of your tailbone up between your legs.

Lift through heart center. If you're at your edge, honor it, be here. Otherwise, hands forward a bit, and maybe the elbows come down. Lift your heart, lengthen crown of your head back. Vayu is like, no, I'm not breathing out, not until you bring my child back to life.

And Syria is like, know that child is a danger. Inhale, press down through your hands, lift from your heart, let your head be the last thing to follow you up. Rebend your left knee. Come forward. You can move your blocks forward, and then tuck your back toes under, lift the knee. Step it to your plank and press it to your down dog, even everything out.

The compromise they end up finding is that, okay, we'll bring the baby back to life, but it's not gonna remember that it's a demigod anymore. It won't know it's immortal. It won't know it has powers. And it has to leave home which is so sad because that mom wanted that kid so much. Right? Come on down to your hands and your knees.

Grab your blanket and set your blanket beyond the front end of your mat. If you are practicing in a carpeted space, you can skip the blanket piece of this. Your heel will glide on the carpet most likely. If you've got a sticky floor or a jute rug, as I do here, I'm going to actually open my blanket out a little bit more so I have more freedom of space to glide. I then grab my two blocks and I'm going to set them on either side of me.

And I step my right foot onto my blanket. Straighten through your right leg and press the ball of your big toe forward. Drop pinky edge back again to our half split, ardahanu Manasana. Lift your chest. You make it here and say, enough. You might walk your blocks forward a bit, slide your heel forward a bit.

Notice how the right hip wants to get ahead of the left, guide right hip back, left hip forward, lift your heart. And we go little by little gliding forward until you meet an edge that works for your body. And if that edge is in a place that's hovering, you might put a block underneath your sit bone, the thigh, making up the gap in space. Right? Once you meet your edge, guide your right hip back, your left hip forward, lift your heart. So Hanaman is banished to the forest. He takes up with a family of monkey warriors and takes on their visage, hence looking like a monkey.

And quickly becomes one of the most respected warriors in the group. As you're ready to leave this shape, come forward. Drag your right heel back until you reach a place where you can bend the knee. And then we'll briefly fold in. That might look like child's pose.

I like to live a little bit in between forearms on blocks. So he gains the recognition of King Ram, and they become besties. And then Ram takes a wife, Sita, and they're all, like, a trio of besties. And then there's always a demon in one of these stories that has some jealousy issues. Alright? This is no exception.

Come back up to straight arms, step your left foot onto the blanket, keep your right knee on the mat. And if this right knee is tender, fold the side of your mat over, give yourself more cushion. Straighten through your left leg, and maybe you'll get here and say, working this half split is mutamous for me today. You may stay here. Otherwise, walk your hands and blocks forward a bit and slide your left heel forward a bit.

Notice if the left hip cheats ahead, drag the left hip back, right hip forward, lift your chest. You can stay here. Slide the heel forward a little bit more. Again, drag left heel back, right hip forward, bum down. And you keep going again until you meet your edge.

And if that edge is asking for support, use your prop. Alright? Once you meet your edge, instead of sinking into it, keep the drag of the front heel back, the back hip forward, draw a bum down, lift your heart. And you may notice I'm leaning a little more forward on this side because when I go all the way upright, I'm having a hard time getting out of my lower back. You can follow my lead, maybe exploring the hamstring and hip opening more and giving some relief to the back. Take one more breath in here. And then if you haven't already, come forward a bit, draw heel toward you.

Plant your hands on earth or props. Bend your knee. And this time, take your knees a little wider, bring your big toes to touch, fold in child's pose. So this demon decides I'm gonna mess up this little trio here. And Wages war, steel sita, carries her away to his home in Lanca.

Roll yourself all the way up. Shift your feet out in front of you. And stretch your legs out long. Now, if you get here and you feel your rounding through your back or collapsing through your chest, take your blanket and fold it. Come sit on the edge of your prop giving yourself enough of a lift so that the natural curve of your lower back can return. Bend your right knee.

Take your hands to the front of your shin Press hands against your chin from shoulders against your back, elongate. Pick up your right foot, cross it past your thigh, and now roll a bit toward your outer left hip. Bend your left knee like you're going to kick yourself in the bum. And then sit upright. Now, if you get here and you're not sitting level anymore, restrate in the bottom leg.

Return hands to front of me, front of shin, from shoulders against the back and elongate through your spine. Inhale, sweep your right arm up, and as you exhale, place your right hand down. Grow a little taller through your front body. You may stay here or explore a lift through the left arm. With an exhale, maybe you hook left elbow to the outside of your right thigh. If doing so is creating rounding through your back, return hand to the front of the knee. Give yourself the space you deserve.

So Ram is really in a state because he wants to go save the love of his life, but also there's a war being waged on his kingdom so he can't abandon the kingdom. X, I'll look forward. Bring right hand forward. Put left hand down and lean to your left. Restrate in your bottom leg. Uncross your top leg.

Straighten through both legs, and now bring your left knee in. Take hands to the front of the shin firm hands against your shoulders, hands against your shoulders, or try firming your shoulders against your back and your hands against your knee. It's easier. Pick up your left foot, take left foot cross it past your right thigh, lean to the right this time, bend the knee, like you're gonna kick yourself in the bum, sit upright. Both hands to the front of the shin elongate through your spine, reach up, exhale twist.

Root down, grow taller still. And again, you can stay here. If you can keep the even length through front and back body and do so, reach your arm up And maybe with the exhale, you hook right elbow to the outside of your left thigh. So Ram asks Hanuman, Could you go get a message to my wife? I'm coming.

I have to take care of things here in the kingdom. Make sure she's okay. I'll get there. Hanuman is terrified, but loves ram. So he says, okay, exhale unwind. Place your right hand down lean a bit to the right, restrate and through your bottom leg and uncross your top leg. Bend both knees if you're sitting on a prop like myself, scoot off of it. And now set your prop off to the side.

Come lie on your back. And bring right knee in toward your chest, left knee in toward your chest, separate your knees, and grab the front of your ankles. And as you draw your feet toward, you use your arms to lengthen your inner thighs away from you. So it's quite a distance between Ram's Kingdom and Lanca, the lair of the demon. So he sits on the precipice in hero's pose, that position where we were sitting on the heels or towards the inside of the foot today.

And he steals his courage. He asks for support. He says a little prayer. And when he feels ready, he stretches a leg forward, just like when we had the knee bent, back and one leg out. If they're there without pain or strain, grab hold of your big toes with your first two fingers and thumb.

And then as though you're going into happy baby pose separate your feet, and it is actually very much like the shape of happy baby just with the inner thighs a little more open and the feet turned out. And if holding your big toes is stressing the inner thighs, put your hands at the back of the thighs instead. And breathe down your body to the root of your pelvis. Eventually, Khanuman pushes off the back foot, extending one leg straight out, and the other leg straight back into the shape of a split, and in one giant leap lands in Lanca. Release your big toes, bring your knees in.

Set your feet down. And if the low back is asking for a little support as you come to your final resting shape, you can roll your blanket and place it underneath you. Otherwise, stretch your legs out long. Take your feet a bit wider than your side hips and allow your feet to flop open. Invite your arms and hands to rest wherever you feel the greatest ease.

Hanuman finds Sita and gives her the message. Ram is coming. And Sita in return gives Haneman a pin from her hair so that he has something to bring back to Ram to let him know that he saw Sita and she's okay. Eventually, Ram defeats the army that sieged his kingdom. He and Haniman to gather rescue Sita.

And once they make it back to the kingdom, there's a large banquet in honor of He's gifted a beautiful jewel encrusted bangle by the couple. And when he receives it, he starts picking out the jewels and turning it over and looking at it. And concerned that he's displeased with this gift, Ram says, are you okay? Do you not like it? And Hanuman responds? I'm looking for your name. You live and dwell in my heart and with every beat of my heart, Ramram, Ramram, Ramram.

And he goes a step further to dig his nails into his chest and open it so that they can see his heart, and they're sitting or sita in Ram, and written on every vessel, Ramram Ramram. So the story of Hanuman reminds us of a couple things. One, at times, fear or the other obstacles arise in our being, because like Hamuman, we've forgotten our own divinity. Had he remembered himself a demi god, he wouldn't have been afraid to leap across that giant chasm. And sometimes we lose our way, we get stuck in ego or fear or attachment because we forget that we are not any temporary of aspect of ourselves, we are divine.

And with devotion, with faith, just like Hanuman had in Ram, when we have those gaps, and our awareness and our understanding of the truth of our nature. We can lean into the faith. We can lean into the devotion. In order to help buoy us to take our great leaps. If you're at ease as you are and would like to stay longer in Shivasana, please do so.

Otherwise, give a little wiggle to your fingers, to your toes. With an inhale, take your arms overhead stretch through your body. And as you exhale bend your knees. Roll to your side and give any residual effort from the practice to the earth below you. Try to leave it there as you press the floor away and find your way up to seated.

Join hands at heart center. Lift your chest. We bow our chins in gratitude. Thank you all for sharing your practice and have an absolutely beautiful rest of your day.