Rise from the Root

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Rise from the roots. You'll need a block for this practice, and we're gonna begin in tadasana. So to tuck your feet, their hip width, or together, it's your preference. But when you're ready, I'm gonna invite you to close your eyes.

Draw your mind's eye all the way down to the soles of your feet. And for a moment, lift your toes. Spread them and place them back down onto the mat, really activating the soles of your feet, rooting down through all four corners. And notice as we press down into the earth, the thighs become more active. Draw the front of your thighs back, lengthen your tailbone to your heels.

Feel the slight lift of your lower belly moving up towards the naval towards the heart, drop the shoulders, stack your head above your shoulders. Place one hand to your belly, one hand, to your heart, tuning in to your breath, noticing how your body is receiving a breath. You're breathing in ujjayi breath from the nostrils. Notice how your breath, your body is giving a breath. So notice how your body is receiving a breath.

Notice how it gives a breath. And you'll breathe and deeply imagine breathing from the soles of the feet all the way into your upper chest. You'll pause the breath at full and exhale the breath out, breathing all the way back out through the soles of the feet. When you're ready, blink your eyes open, lower your arms. Tadasana inhale reach up, breathing in.

Forward fold, breathe out, slight bend in the knees. To support your hamstrings as you forward fold and support your spine. Half way up inhale. Fold back in, exhale. Press into the earth with your feet, inhale rise.

XL, join your palms to your heart. Soria Namaskara a inhale reach up. Exhale, fold back in. Half for you, breathe in. Step back to plank.

Decreases of your wrists are right underneath your shoulders. Just like you did the soles of your feet, press the hands into the earth spread your fingers, firm your thighs, lift the ballet, inhale, shift forward to lower all the weight of the mat exhale. Hams stay where they are. Point your toes back, inhale for cobra pose. Stay light in your hands. Use the muscles along your spine to lift your chest.

Exhale downward facing dog, our first down dog pause there for a beat. Firming the front of your thighs to the back of the legs, keeping the strong legs as you shift forward into plank position pausing. From here, move your right hand right underneath the shoulder a little bit more and spin to the outer edge of your right foot and the arch of your left. We're coming at the side plank. You can stay in this variation where you have one foot in front of the other.

If you wanna challenge yourself today, challenge your balance, pick up the left foot and place it on top of the right. Your thighs are strong tailbone lengthens towards the heels, sternum reaches forward. Take one more breath. And exhale to lower your hand to the mat pausing back and plank to the other side. So it would make that slight adjustment with the left hand, make sure it's under the shoulder, spin to the outer edge of that left foot arch of the right foot. This is a modified variation.

Or stack your feet and feel the root of your left hand pressing down the left side of the body rebounding up, inhale, exhale as your right hand lowers. Plank pose, breathe in. Down dog. Breathe out. And big inhale through the nose. Open the mouth, unhinge the jaw, exhale.

Walk your hands halfway down the mat and your feet to your hands, uttanasana, forward fold. Grab your elbows. Consider bending your knees just a little here, giving you a little more supports, even encouraging the weight of your body to shift slightly more towards the toes. Relax the neck and the head. Release your arms.

Bring your hands onto your hips and inhale rise up. Step wide with your feet. And this is where you might want to use your block. So placing your block behind your right heel for trikona. We'll start with the right foot.

So bend your right knee, turn your right leg open. So your toes are now facing forward. Slide that left heel back a little bit. So your back toes that are are at an angle and your feet are heel to arch. Open the arms, press into your mat with your feet, firm your thighs, take a breath, exhale as you hinge from that right hip.

You're drawing that right hip back. Towards the left, either you're lightly placing your hand onto the shin or using that block. Left arm reaches up for the sky. So in a sense here, what you wanna feel happening in that front leg, especially is your muscles are active. So press down with the mound of your right big toe.

Draw a little bit of your calf towards your shin, elongate the right side of your waist, Take one more breath here. Stay for the exhale. Look down at your right foot. Bring the block with you. If you're using it, inhale rise.

Bend your front knee and turn your right foot in. So the second side, set up your block, please. Bending your left knee, turn your left leg open so your toes on the left turn to the back of the mat. Slide your right heel back. Press into the mat, inhale as you exhale.

Draw the outer left hip back. Reach long with the left side of your waist and place your left hand down. And same thing you did on the right side, even though it is a different side of the body. You want to feel those roots. You can also put a slight bend in the left knee if you're someone who hyper extends in your joints.

Try relaxing your left shoulder back. You're here another full cycle of breath. Looking down at your left foot, take the block with you, press into the mat to rise up. Then that left knee, turn the left foot in, and then step your feet together. Put your block over to the right side of your mat, and let's meet at the top of the mat arms alongside the body for tadasana.

So keeping the blueprint of tadasana throughout the rest of the practice, inhale reach up breathe in. Exhale fold. Reach forward with your chest, inhale. Step back. Go into downward facing dog. Full breath in down dog, deep exhale.

Shift forward to plank pose. And place your right knee on the mat. And what you're looking here what you're looking for here is that your right knee is right underneath the right hip. Move your right hand a little more centered on the mat. So it's underneath the shoulders.

Spin the arch of your left foot down. And take that left arm up. So we're again exploring a different variation here of side plank. Draw your tailbone down and in slightly towards the midline of your mat. You're welcome to stay here or explore balance.

I'm gonna explore balance. So shift your weight just slightly more forward into your right hand to lift your back leg. How is your breath here? To exit lower your back foot, set your left hand down, both knees on the mat tabletop return to downward facing dog. Lift your right leg up inhale.

Step your right foot forward between the hands. Spin your back heel flat so you're heel to arch with your feet. Inhale warrior two. Stay and exhale here. Flip your right palm.

Reverse it back inhale. And as you exhale, you're reaching forward with that right arm. Look down, locate your block to the right, reach for it, move it up about a foot or two in front of your mat. Step into your right foot, half moon pose. So thinking back of what you just did a moment ago in that side plank, same things we're working with here.

That tailbone's lengthening towards the back of the mat from your right hip in. That back leg is engaged and lifted. Inhale, on your exhale, bend the front knee. Take the block with you. Step back to warrior two.

Find your footing. Pause here and settle. Deep breathe in through the nose. Exhale circle your hands to your mat, either move through a vinyasa or skip it. Choosing maybe up dog now as you come into your backbend of choice exhale downward facing dog.

Breathe in through the nose out through the nose. Plank pose setting up the left side, put your left knee on the mat. Your back toes can be curled or top of the foot on the mat, move your left hand a little more center, spin onto the arch of your right foot, and come into a side plank variation. So knowing where we're going next, can see how this is a blueprint for that half moon pose. If you wanna play with balance here, shift a little more weight forward into that left hand and lift that right leg up.

Flexing your right foot, feeling the firming of that thigh. One more breath. And then set the right foot down. Lower your top hand to the mat. So bring your right knee down for tabletop.

Grab your block and just set it up over to the left side of your mat. Down dog. Lift your left leg up, breathing in. Step your left foot forward between the hands, back heels, thins, inhale to your second warrior. Stay for the exhale.

Flip your left palm, reverse it back, breathe in. And as you exhale, you're gonna start to reach forward. Like, you wanna go past your mat with your left hand, grab your block, move the weight into that left foot for half moon, You can use your block here for a support, feel the left leg, but also the support of your lifted leg. So as you flex your right foot, you get to engage all of the muscles and that right leg, open your chest, take another breath, start to bend your left knee, step way back into warrior two, inhale warrior two. Exhale both hands come down, choose a vinyasa, or skip it.

We'll meet in downward facing dog. Just take another breath in your down dog. And let's meet in child's pose. Drop your knees to the mat. Separate them so they're about hip width or wider.

Take your hips back. Rest your forehead on the mat, or you can use a block here as well. Let your forearms, relax the elbows resting on the mat, And coming on to all fours, we're gonna transition onto our backs. So when you're lying down, your feet are on the mat, bend your knees. Across your right ankle over your left thigh.

Gently place your right hand into your thigh. Just nudging that right knee forward slightly. Take longer breaths in through your nose, longer breaths out. Just shifting the rhythm of your breath. And you can stay here.

Take thread the needle, bring in your right arm through the gap between your legs, interlace your fingers behind the left thigh or in front of the left shin. Just appreciating this moment. Lower your left foot, cross your right leg over your left for a twist. Shift your hips over to the right side of your mat and drop your knees to your left. You can reach your right arm over to the left, either looking up at the ceiling or over the right shoulder. Just letting your body receive this twist.

Back to center, uncross the legs, place both feet on the mat just like the beginning of class, feel the soles of the feet. The rooting of the feet and cross your left ankle over your right thigh. Place your left palm into your thigh, gently nudging the knee forward for a few breaths. And perhaps this is as far as you go today. If you want thread the needle, take your left arm through the gap between the legs.

Choose where you wanna interlace your fingers. No more forcing, no more performing. Just allowing your whole body to receive the benefits of the practice. Lower your right foot, cross your left thigh all the way over. Shift your hips over to your left.

Drop your knees over to the right. You can look up or over to the left shoulder. It's a real special alchemy to create heat, build strength, move the body in the way that we did in this practice, one breath, one movement. And now allowing yourself to completely unravel here. Bring your knees back to center your feet on the mat and set up for Shavasana, straightening the legs out in front of you.

Allowing your whole body to receive this moment. The whole backside of your body, supported and held by the earth. Release the breath control. Shavasana. Bringing one hand to your belly one hand to your heart.

It's a sign of appreciation of your healthy body. Healthy mind. Thank you for practicing with me today. Namaste.