Open to Possibility

Namma stay, everyone. Welcome. For your practice today, grab a block. We're gonna set up on the block right away. Come into a kneeling position. So the shins and the tops of the feet are on the mat, including your knees, and you're taking your block the wide way in between the ankles.

Now if you're somebody who has tighter quadriceps, any kind of discomfort in the knees, you can always add an extra block on top of that one, or just come into sukhasana, if that's better. Once you're in verasana, close your eyes. Let your hands rest comfortably on your thighs and draw the attention to the breath. Settle the sit bones onto your block. And from here, take your arms out into a t shape with the palms facing up.

Will start by bringing the right elbow on top of the left, either hold your shoulders, like you're giving yourself a hug, or take your full wrap in Garudasana, eagle arms. There's also another modification where you can just bring the back of the hands together. But palms together if that's available to you. We'll be here three breaths. Drop the shoulders. Lengthen the inhale.

You're drawing the breath from the bottom of the pelvic floor up the body. So feel the back body. Fill the side ribs. Fill the front body. And exhale here. One more inhale.

D back cell. Open the arms into that t shape, palms up. Switch. So your left elbow is on top of the right. Find the wrap. Three deep breaths. Watch up for the shoulders creeping up towards your ears, soften the shoulders, put the energy in the inhale and exhale.

Beautiful. Arms out to the sides, lower your hands, your arms, come off the block, and just set the block, the top of the mat, we'll move into a few rounds of cat cow. Inhale as you draw your chest forward arching into your upper thoracic, exhale, lift the navel around the spine. Two more times. Using this as an opportunity to link your movement with your breath.

Inhale to neutral spine, slide your hands a few inches in front of your shoulders, curl your toes under, come into downward facing dog. So make all the adjustments you need to make here in your first down dog, if you're pedaling out the heels. I like to feel the palm of the hands rooting down. Energy and the inner arms as they lift up and even draw the front ribs towards the back of the body. Inhale, shift forward a plank, and lower yourself all the way down to the mat.

Once you're on the mat, the bellies on the mat just relax it, Take your hands off your mat. So to the sides, fingers are gonna tent the floor. So it's like you have little gecko fingers here. And on your inhale, lift your chest into a variation of cobra. You wanna feel the tops of your feet pressing down firming of your pelvis towards the mat. As you're lifting your chest, can you get lighter in your fingers? Take another breath.

And exhale to lower. We'll do that twice more. Keep your fingers in the in that gecko variation, inhale lift your sternum. Exhale to lower. One more.

And lower exhale. Slide your hands back to the mat. You can stay with cobra. So your fingers are just aligned beneath the shoulders otherwise slide the hands further down, so the wrists align with the ribcage. Route the tops of the feet in how to upward facing dog, Urva Muka Shvanasana.

Curl the toes to Adomuka Shmanasana downward facing dog. Deep in hell through the nose. Full exhale. Stretch back on the inhale. And at the end of the exhale, step up to the top of the mat, come up halfway, breathing in, ardha Uttanasana, Find a little essence of cobra in your upper thoracic.

Exhale, uttanasana stretching the backs of the legs. Inhale root to rise. Draw your hands to your heart. Sun salute a. Inhale arms go up.

XL fold back in. Half way up, Artatanasana, step back, vinyasa, which means placing the body in a special way. So take your time continuing to link one movement, one breath. Join your feet together here. And inhale reach your right leg up and back.

As you exhale, step the right foot forward. Align your ankle below the knee. Maybe even take the right foot a little bit more to the right. Lower the back knee down. Keep your back toes tucked under.

Grab a hold of your block and just set it to the left side of the mat. From here, you're going to take your right hand over to your right hip and just start to open your chest to the right. So we're in a gentle twist. Watch the left shoulder, pull it back away from the ear. Start to reach your right arm towards the back of the mat, opening that palm to the right, you're welcome to stay here or grab ahold of that back foot, if that's if your body is ready for that, coming into a nice quad stretch.

So the block is helpful if you're trying really hard to grab that back foot. You might just need to lift up higher to get to the back foot. So you can use the block here. Otherwise, if your hand is fine on the mat, keep it there. We're here for a couple more breaths just stretching through that left quad.

Inhale. Stay for the exhale. And then release your left foot. Grab the block if you don't have it. So your left hand goes on the block.

Lift your back knee, reach the right arm up towards the sky for a gentle twist. Firm that back leg and hug your right hip towards the midline of your mat. So we're not twisting from our low back. Find the twist from the naval up. One more inhale.

And as you exhale lower your hand to the mat, step back downward facing dog. Beet together, inhale left leg lifts, exhale left foot forward. Place the back knee down. Again, use that block. It goes over to the right side. Take your left hand to your hip and open your chest to the left. Reach your left arm towards the back of the mat.

And you can grab ahold of your right foot. Again, the block is there if you need extra support to get to that back foot. Let your hips come forward, but maintain a little lift of your low belly so you don't compress your lower back. Inhale here. And exhale release the back foot.

Lower the left hand. Grab your block with your right hand. Right hand down. Left arm up. Back knee is lifted for the twist.

Hug the outer hips towards the pubic bone and lengthen through your spine inhale. As you exhale, lower your left hand, step back to downward dog. Inhale right leg lifts. Exhale step your right foot forward. Set up for crescent pose, inhale rise up.

Right. So you are establishing really strong roots here, pressing down with the heel of your right. The ball of your back foot. We're gonna move dynamically. So start to straighten out your front leg, pressing the mound of that front foot into the earth, straighten the right leg, inhale reach up. As you exhale, rebend your front knee, take your arms in cactus.

So two more times, inhale straighten the front leg, reach up, gather length, exhale, rebend the front knee, bend your elbows, inhale reach up, and exhale bend, pause, breathe, We want that stretch in the soas, bend the front knee, and inhale reach up. Look up, exhale lower your hands to your mat. From here, take your right leg back to three legged down dog, inhale. And as you exhale, bend that right knee, open your hip. You can stay right here or take it into something really fun, flipping your dog Shifting forward into that left hand and reaching your right arm up and over.

If you chose to flip your dog, look down. Bring your right hand back down to the mat. Sweep your right leg up and back. Three legged down dog. And lower your right foot.

Okay. Let's pause and breathe here inhale. Be exhale. Left leg lifts. Inhale. Left foot forward as you exhale. Crescent pose. Reach up, breathe in.

Pause for an exhale. Find your roots. Feet to the earth, and then inhale straighten that front leg, arms are reaching up, exhale, bend the front knee, cactus your elbows. Two more times, inhale reach up, straighten the left knee, excel bend. One more.

And exhale. Pause with your arms and cactus. Get that stretch in the psoas and the back leg, and then inhale, lift the gaze, reach both arms up, palms touch, exhale hands to the mat. Step it back to three legged down dog, inhale. Open the hip, bend the knees, stay here, or flip the dog, coming into well thing, you're shifting weight into that right hand, right shoulder, over right wrist, left arm up and over.

I look down to exit. Place the left hand down. Left leg up and back. And exhale set the foot down. Pause and down dog.

Vinyasa is optional here in Helplank. Exhale, chaturanga, cobra, or upward dog, inhale, shoulders back, exhale to downward facing dog. Stretch back on the inhale. End of the exhale. Step or hop. Top of the mat.

Half way up. Breathen. Forward fold. Breathe out. In how rise. Hands to the heart.

Alright. So opening ourselves up here to the possibility of Nadarajasana. Which is dancer's pose. We'll start with the left foot on the mat. So turn your palms open. Right? We wanna feel the space in the front of the chest.

Rooting down on that left foot start to draw your right heel up towards the right sit bone, and maybe this is as far as you go, and this is perfect place to be. Otherwise, grab the outer right ankle or the inner part of the right foot. Soften the left knee hinge, pitch your chest forward. You could reach that left arm forward. You are gently kicking your right shin back. There's so much going on in this pose.

Where you wanna be mindful as the backbend is in the upper thoracic where your cobra your cobra poses are. So scoop your low belly up, give your low back support, coil your upper thoracic towards your chest, take another inhale, And exhale, ground your left foot up right the torso and come out. Alright. Second side, right foot roots. Palms are turned open, bend your left knee.

So you're drawing the heel up. Grab the outer or inner part of the foot. Spin your inner thighs back. Draw your tailbone down. When you're ready with a soft bend in your right knee, begin your descent forward with your chest and a light kick of that left shin back.

Imagine your body is this bow and arrow. And your right arm is the arrow. What are you aiming for? Be careful what you wish for too. It really will come true.

So you're opening yourself up to possibility one more breath. Ground down and that right foot come back and release mountain pose, two feet on the mat. Inhale chair posts. It's a transitional chair. So you're gonna just take all your body, whole body all the way down to the mat.

From here, seated, straighten your legs out in front of you. We're gonna go into Maurisiana C. So grab a hold of that right knee, bend the right knee, draw that right foot towards the right sit bone. Anch her through your left thigh so you're rooted down. Your right hand goes behind your back, send the left arm up to the sky in Hellier. As you exhale, you can either wrap your left arm around your right knee or create a hook.

So your elbow to the knee. Inhale, root from the sit bones get longer from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. As you exhale, find a little twist, drawing the right side of the rib cage back and the left side of the rib cage forward. And look forward, unwind, straighten your right leg, bend the left knee, Bring the left foot in towards that left sit bone, flex your right foot, anchor that right thigh. Left hand goes behind you now in how your right arm reaches up, get taller longer, exhale as you find the twist, hooking or wrapping.

And looking forward, come out of the twist, straighten both of the legs. We're going into Pashimottanasana. Ground at the sit bones, reach up with your arms, exhale fold over the legs. I love to use a block here. So I'm gonna grab the block and place it behind the soles of my feet.

In how reach up. Breathe in. Xhale and fold. Drop your chin in just slightly. Like, you're putting a lid on a jar, and you just wanna bottle up all of that good energy that you cultivated from your practice today.

And inhale come up. Please meet me in Suukasana. Close your eyes with the palms up. As you open yourself up to possibility. Whatever that means for you.

Just feel your whole shell, your body outer layer, soft, any armor around your heart dissolved. Bring your hands in front of your heart, bow your chin, honor yourself, honor the practice. Namaste.