Sun Filled Light

Hi, friends. Welcome to your practice. We are gonna need one block for this practice, and you can also maybe take this opportunity to pause, set up your favorite dance party song, on a speaker, and just have that ready as an idea, as an option. Alright? Let's begin at the front of the mat. You'll grab your block, and you'll squeeze it right between your inner thighs, between your knees and your pelvis. You'll stand with your feet about hip distance apart. Your arms alongside your body, your palms flaring wide, and let your shoulders really drop back and down. You can think about maybe rooting through your middle fingers here.

And as we start in this mountain pose, tada, sana, as I like to call it, just feel yourself showing up in your unique self, your unique body, your unique energy. And here we are channeling the energy of the sun. The sun in astrology is known as our basic identity. It's who we are from the inside out. It's our external expression.

It's the yang energy. It's how we show up in this world in our unique, beautiful radiant, light filled, sun, shiny energy. And here in mountain, I want you to maybe feel the sun energy shining down on you, and then also radiating all within you. So from your feet to that space where the block is, I want you to light up in your center, your core, your hearts, your lungs, your breath. In yoga, we call the breath prana, the life force. Energy. So as we practice today, maybe using the breath as a tool of awareness of the sun, the life force, shining through you.

Take about three more breaths. Just owning the shape. Radiating in all directions. Maybe reaching up through the crown of the head towards that sun filled light. I'm bringing a prayer to your heart, Anjali Mudra, bow your chin towards it, and use the words in your mind's eye, I am.

And see what comes after your basic identity, your connection to self. I, Let's take one more deeper breath into that. Big inhale. Open mouth, exhale. Rooting through the feet reach your arms out and up. Squeeze the block.

And then bow all the way down, squeezing the block, maybe bend your knees a little here, halfway lift, squeeze the block. Heart reaches forward, and then fold and round. On an inhale rise back up, reaching through your arms all the way up, exhale drop a prayer to the heart, just a half sun salute. Do it again. Inhale, reach up. Exhale bow and gently fold down, bending at the knees. Inhale halfway up.

And exhale fold and round. Inhale reaching. Maybe gathering up that sun energy and then bringing it down into you. One more inhale reach. And exhale fold down.

Inhale halfway squeezing that block and exhale fold. For a moment, take your block and place it off to the side. And then step your way back to plank one foot at a time. Now let's take that block and put it back between the inner thighs and squeeze it, hug it, let it influence how your core turns on and supports you here. So you might think about lifting your inner thighs towards the ceiling, like squeezing that block and pushing it up towards the ceiling.

You can certainly lower your knees here if you need a little support and still feel that energy of squeezing the block and zippering the belly. So I like to think of a zipper, like a channel all the way from that block energy into the core. Let's take one more breath here. Squeeze the block. And then press back downward facing dog. Keep the block there for just a few more moments.

So we're not gonna do this the whole time. Don't worry. But it's really beneficial for feeling the core energy for feeling our center, our light. And we really want that to shine nice and bright today as we tune into our unique sense of self. Let's take one more breath here long inhale, even longer exhale. Good. And then just go ahead and grab that block and put it off to the side. And then just step or float your feet all the way up to your hands.

Take a halfway lift, flatten out your back, inhale as you exh he'll fold and round. Inhale rise and reach arms to the sky as you exhale drop a prayer down to the heart. Let's pause for a full deep breath. I am. Moving through a few Suryanamaskara, a, sun salutations, reach the arms all the way up as you inhale, and as you exhale bow and fold down.

Inhale halfway up, flat back, exhale fold and round. Step your way back to plank. Let's pause there again few moments. Feel free to put the knees down. Imagine that block is there.

Creating a buoyancy in your hips and pelvis, push the floor away. Reach the chest forward just a little bit. Inhale as you exhale, lower yourself down. Let's go all the way to the belly. Tops of the feet down, inhale for a baby cobra, lift your heart shoulders roll back, exhale lower down.

Press your way back to downward facing dog. Maybe come through the knees here and hold for three cycles of beautiful breaths, feeling your prana, your life force, the energy of the sun that keeps you here on this beautiful planet Earth. Soften your face, soften your neck. Look forward, bend your knees, either hop or walk feet to hands, inhale halfway up. Exhale, fold, and round.

Inhale rise and reach, exhale prayer to the heart. One breath per movement. Inhale, reach up. As you exhale bow and fold, Inhale halfway up, exhale plank pose, hold for the inhale, exhale lower maybe Chaturanga this time, cobra or updog, inhale. Exhale downward facing dog, hold here again about three breaths. Maybe you can hear the breath.

That soft whispery sound skimming the back of your throat. Feel your core, feel those inner thighs, lighting up one more breath. And then we'll walk or hop feet to the hands, inhale halfway up, Exhale fold and round. Good. Inhale rise and reach. Arms up. Exit prayer to the heart.

One more like that. Inhale reach. Maybe close your eyes. Exhale bow and fold. Feel it from the inside. Inhale halfway up, maybe jump back this time or step back.

Find your chaturanga or all the way down cobra updog for the inhale. Downward dog for the exhale. Let's pause. So we pause in downward dog to feel, to notice. To catch the breath.

I am let's hop or walk feet to the hands. Inhale halfway up. Exhale fold and round. Inhale all the way up reach your arms. Exhale bring a prayer to the heart.

Chair pose. Sit your hips back. Let's feel a little bit more heat building here. Maybe feel out your hips. Your feet could be together or hip distance apart. And you can go up down a few times just to feel the legs really turn on, feel the grounding in your feet, and feel that energy in the inner thighs in the belly here.

So suck the belly in. Take one more big breath. Good. And then gently fold forward. Inhale halfway up exhale your vinyasa so you could just step back, you could float back, moving with the breath, cobra, or updog, downward facing dog, right leg lifts up, reach it into the air, maybe bend your knee and open the hip for a moment. Like, keep that belly turned on as you bring your right knee all the way to your chest.

Step it through right foot meets the right thumb. Warrior one, ground the back heel, reach straight up. Let's hold here for a few moments. Just getting to know these shapes. And here with the arms reaching up above the head, feel that light.

Feel the sun energy. Like, you could hold it. Like, you could harness it. Like, you could drop it into your core center, your sense of self and identity who you are Sometimes we think of the sun like the battery of our life, that charge that's always there in every part of our being. Take one more breath and release hands down all the way down. You're welcome to take a vinyasa or hold plank here. We'll meet back in downward facing dog. Left leg rises up as you're ready.

Bend your knee, open up the hip, feel that stretch in the left side body. Turn the core on as you bring the knee to the chest round and step through left foot meets the left thumb, warrior one, ground that back heel reach up on an inhale, take your time, lift your heart, Again, feeling that radiant energy, like every cell of your being is just saying, I am here. I am here. The sun wants us to show up. One more breath.

Hands come down. Back to plank, optional vinyasa, Feel each breath. Find your way to downward facing dog. Let's hold again three breaths. You might take a deeper inhale and sigh it out your mouth.

Good. And then when you're ready, walk or hop, feet to your hands, halfway lift on an inhale, exhale fold deeper. Inhale chair, pose, sit your hips back. Hold again. Feel that fire of the belly. Sometimes we call this shape fierce pose, and I want you to feel that today. Fierce, like a lion. The sun rules Leo. The energy of Leo is represented by a lion.

So it's a little bit fierce. Yeah. It's a little bit bold. It's a little bit king of the jungle. Right? Come back all the way up to standing, reach the arms, inhale, exhale prayer to the heart. Let's repeat the statement in the mind's eye.

I am. One breath per movement, sir Yanamaskarbee, sun salute, inhale chair pose, exhale forward fold, inhale halfway lift, exhale your vinyasa, Moving with each breaths. We'll meet our way to downward facing dog, right leg sweeps up for an inhale, exhale knee to chest, step it through, warrior one, try one inhale all the way up, exhale hands come down. Find your plank, vinyasa, if you'd like here. Feeling the fire through the movement, left leg up, down dog split, step it through, warrior one, one inhale.

Exhale hands come down. Holding plank or vinyasa. Pause in downward dog. Catch your breath. Smooth it out.

Child's pose is an option as well. So if you're feeling like you need to rest a little deeper, take a child's pose. We'll hold for about three more breaths here. So we can feel again. So we can pause and reveal what's coming up here in this energy of the sun.

Take your time finding your way all the way back to a forward fold front of the mat. Halfway lift once you arrive, reach through your heart, and then bow and round. Inhale all the way up. Reach your arms. Exit prayer to the hearts.

From here, let's take a big step back with the left foot into a warrior two stance. Bend your right knee, arms swing out to the side, spreading your wings, taking up space, warrior two is the shape about taking up space, and the sun energy is about taking up space on this earth, the sun wants you to shine so bright. And most of us don't harness that energy enough. Right? Some of us are conditioned usually to play small, to stay stifled. So I want you to really show up here, radiate in all directions. Take one more full deep breaths. Take it up into a reverse warrior.

Right hand reaches. Left hand is light down the left leg and just feel that reach up to harness that energy of the sun and pull it down into you. Right. Maybe think about something that you've lost recently in yourself. A part of you that you know just needs to shine a little brighter. Maybe you could reach up and grab it and just pull it down.

And then take it to extended side angle, right forearm to your right thigh, left arm reaches up, or over your ear, and feel this length in the left side body, maybe spin your heart a little more up. Towards that sun energy one more breath. Good. And then come back up to warrior two and straighten your right leg, shorten your stance a little bit here facing the side edge of your mat toes out heels in, arms go up like a big wide v. Star pose. We have to do star pose when we're thinking about the biggest brightest star close to us.

The sun. So again, just showing up, radiating in all directions, feel your core here and feel everything stem from that place. Let's bring in the words. I am hold it one more breath. Release your arms down. Let's take the warrior two to the back of the mat now.

Engle the right toes slightly back, left toes back, radiating here in warrior two, other side. You might close your eyes for a moment here on this side. If that feels safe for you, just close your eyes and feel it from the inside. Feel every muscle, hug every bone. Right? The sun is not a lazy planet.

It is very bright and strong, and it shows up again and again. We can channel this energy and help it help it move us through our lives, right, in this bright, unique light that we get to share. When you're ready, reverse, left arm reaches up, right hand lightly down the right leg, lift, the left side of the heart. And again, maybe you could just pull something down again, something that makes you you. Right? One more breath.

We'll bring your left forearm to your left thigh and right arm reaches up or over the ear for extended side angle, spin through the ribs, opening up your heart, squeeze your feet down to roots and rise a little bit more. One more breath. Good. And then just gently coming all the way back up. Let's find our star pose again. Wiggle your feet in, heels, in, toes out. Big bright star just for a full deep breaths. Good. And then drop a prayer to your heart.

And let's step back to the front of the mat, feet together. Notice how you feel here. Notice the quality of your being the way you're standing in your body. We'll move into balance tree pose with the right foot down and the left foot up. So you can bring the left foot anywhere on the leg.

If you feel like you're a little wobbly, you can even do a little kickstand version left toes just next to the right foot. And as you're ready, I want you to explore reaching your arms out and up sort of channeling that star pose energy and grow grow towards the sun. Right? That is what the sun does for us. It helps the plants and ourselves grow. So feel your heart reaching, steady your gaze.

If you want an extra challenge, you could try closing your eyes here and just let yourself be wobbly, maybe even let yourself fall That is how we grow. Right? Life is messy. Life is up and down. Life is lifey, and we get this opportunity again and again to show up exactly as we are and move through it all and keep going and keep showing up. Let's take two more breaths right here. Bring a prayer back to your heart.

Slow lower the left leg down. Give that right leg a little shaky shake, and we'll go to the other side, left foot down, right foot up. Anywhere on the leg. Wobble, wobble, find your center. This is another great opportunity to feel that inner thigh energy sort of zippering up into the belly.

That is something that really changed my balancing when I started hogging to the center line when I started really feeling that lift in and up when you're ready, take your arms. If you haven't already reach, reach, reach, grow, grow, grow, and hold. Maybe think about what kind of tree you are today. What kind of tree makes you you? Maybe a little smile.

One more breath. Good. And then just bring a prayer back to your heart and release your right foot down, shake out your left leg. Alright. Come to center. Come to the mountain pose with a prayer at your hearts. And just feel this strong energy, this light filled energy, this prana, this breath.

Alright. From this place of balance and growth and connection to your core sense of self and identity, I would like to invite you to if you queued up music, go ahead and pause the video, press play. Come back. And here we are, we're gonna move a little bit. So you're gonna just Widen your feet, bend your knees, start to sway your hips, start to move your shoulders, maybe just feel like you're a loose, cooked, long piece of spaghetti. Right? Just kinda moving around in all directions. And let it be a little weird. Let it be really weird, actually.

Let it just be your unique weirdness. So how do you dance? Right? Maybe at some point along the way in your journey of life, you felt too silly to dance, too silly to move. Like, you don't have the right rhythm, but I want you to dance. Like, no one's watching right now, close your eyes if you need to, and just move your body in all the ways. Right? Dancing is just moving your body. Move, move, and groove.

Yeah. Just keep flowing. And let this be your unique expression of yourself, right, coming from your core, coming from your light, Right? Maybe think a little bigger, a little brighter, even weirder. Right? Because that's it. That's your uniqueness. Your uniqueness is what makes you you and that's why you were born. That's why you're here. Astrology says you are here for a reason.

You are here with this unique makeup of stars and planets and alignments and it's just all perfectly perfect for you. So keep going. Feel the beats. Feel the beat and just keep moving. Keep listening. Keep channeling. Keep feeling into what is yours. Right? It's not what's mine.

It's what's yours. Right? Are you fast? Are you slow? Are you graceful? Are you wacky? Right? Just keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Maybe you can let out some sounds, some unique, like, woohoo.

Like, maybe think primal here. Right? Think, like, go back before anyone told you who you were supposed to be and what you were supposed to do. Go back. Go back to that inner child. Right? That part of you that maybe has been suppressed a little bit. Right? That's your son energy. Right? When you were five years old, and you're like, this is me. And someone was like, no, do that. Go back to that person. Keep going. Keep going.

Keep going. Free it up. Free it up. I hope you're smiling too because that's part of it. It's happy. It's joyful. It's playful. It's fun.

Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. A little bit more. A little bit more. Alright.

Let's start the journey. Back to the front of the mat. Let's come back to the mountain pose with the arms flared out, land on your feet, feel the stillness in your body here. But also that unique vibration pulsating through you, your heart beating. You're alive. You're here.

You're unique. You're special. I am. I am. I am. Reach your arms up towards that sun energy. Take a big inhale as you exhale, just bow and fold all the way down, release. Take a halfway lift, flatten out your back.

Step your way back to plank pose. Let's find that core center again, hold it, breathe into it. Let's try outside plank. Go to the outer edge of the right foot. Left foot can stack on top.

Left arm into the air. Feel free to put your right knee down for a little support. Spread and root through that right palm to radiate up through your left hand and breathe. If you're in a traditional side plank lifted here, with the outer edge of the right foot, you can maybe lift your left leg for a little bit more. And maybe you could play with a tree pose here. It's always a little fun and a full expression, bringing it all together for two more breaths.

Good. And then slowly come back to plank pose, release left foot and go to the other side. Nothing fancy. Just go to the other side. Right? It doesn't have to be complicated. Find your unique expression here in your side plank.

Keep harnessing your core energy the solar energy from your center, maybe you took that tree pose. Let's stay here a few more breaths. Smooth out the breath, harness the breath. Let it support you. Come back slowly, find your plank pose.

Good. And then optional vinyasa, one more. Flow with your breath. And we'll meet our way into downward dog or child's pose. Let's take a big inhale through the nose, hold it in. Open mouth exhale.

Coming back to the lion energy, big breath in. Lions's breath tongue out. Do it again. One more inhale. And let yourself roar lion's breath. Good.

Let's all put the knees down. And we're gonna come to Ustrasse and a camel. So I like to roll the mat over a little here or if you have a blanket, just a little extra padding. And you're gonna put your knees on top. You can use your block.

Highly recommend for camel, putting it back between the inner thighs. And we'll put the hands just on the booty fingers pointing down. Squeeze your block there. Toast tucked or untucked and lift your hearts. Press your glutes down. So when we push down the booty, the belly automatically sort of zippers up as a contrast, right, as a alternative action, and we kind of feel that pull from the block up into the core to support the lift of the hearts.

Feel free to stay right here. Or if you like reaching all the way back, you can try that out one hand at a time. Try to keep your hips over your knees, squeezing that block, lift the heart, lift the heart. Maybe the head wants to hang back. Doesn't have to.

Take about three more breaths. Hands back to the booty if they're not already and slowly sit down between your heels. You can sit on a block or you can sit on your heels if you prefer. Virasana. Take a pause here.

Let your palms face up. Feel that space in your heart opening up to this expression of you, the sense of pure conscious identity, the you that makes you you. As doctor Seuss said, no one is youer than you. From here, we'll move into a seated spinal twist. You can go ahead and unfold your mat if it's folded.

Come off your block. And let's just scoot the left tip off to the left, and you'll take your right ankle just across your left leg. Maybe pull the booty flesh. I think I've said booty like three times today. Get to know your booty.

Pull your booty flesh, feel a tall spine grabbing your right knee. And then we'll twist over to the right. You can put your right hand behind you and maybe take your left elbow over your right thigh. Take an inhale to lengthen. Take an exhale to twist deeper. Maybe close your eyes.

You could take a mudra here with your left hand, thumb, and index finger together, a gesture of wisdom. And listening to yourself. Letting all of your energy just circulate within you. And just feel this unraveling of your spine, this releasing shape, letting go of anything that is not you. Right? Some of the made up stories, some of the things someone told you one time that you believed that blocked and diminished some of your light.

Let those go. Two more breaths. And softly release back to center unwind. Let's switch the legs here. Right knee down, right side down, cross the left, ankle over, maybe adjust your hips again, your booty.

And then we'll take the left hand back, and the right elbow can wrap over. And you can take that mudra again, thumb and index finger together, lift through your heart, lift through the crown of the head. And twist using your hands here, your arms to twist. And close your eyes if that feels good and just again feel this sense of releasing stripping away declutter removing softening. Stay with your breath.

Maybe inhale just a little taller. And exhale twist a little deeper. Softly unwind back to center. Let's take the feet to the earth's knees bent. You can put your hands behind you. Just do a little windshield wiper with your knees, and then take your legs out long out in front of you.

One more time. Pull the booty back. Lift and lengthen out of this. So if you need to bend your knees a little or sit up on something so that you can feel a more length and lift in your torso, then do that. Reach your arms up as you're ready. Take a big breath in. And as you exhale, just pour the chest forward and feel free to just grab whatever you can for a few moments, your feet, your ankles, your calves, even the edges of your mat, and maybe take another inhale to really lengthen the ribs forward and away from your pelvis and then drop in.

Let your head go. Come back to your breath. This shape, the seated forward fold calming and slowing down. Going inward, and breathing into all your unique tensions in your back and your hamstrings. So a big part of getting to know our sun energy is accepting ourselves just the way we are.

And while the external expression of who we are changes year to year as we move through life, the battery, the source, the light has been with you from the beginning since the moment you were born. And it'll stay with you even after you pass. With all that you all of those that you have touched and met with your light. Let's stay here for about ten more breaths. Last two breaths, really feel your exhale.

I'm gonna go ahead and gently roll yourself up, vertebrae, Deborah all the way up. Take a pause once you get all the way up. And we'll go ahead and find our way into Shivasana, roll down, lie on your back Get yourself comfortable. If there's any other shape your body needs before Shivasana, go ahead and honor that. And just feel a sense of that star pose here as you sort of splay your legs out and your arms out and your palms radiating open shoulders wiggling down away from your ears here.

The head is heavy. The face is soft. Let your breath just feel natural and effortless. It's there. Always moving through you.

And you might bring your awareness down into your core center. And you might consider feeling those words again here now. I am. As you're ready, just start to slowly wiggle your fingers and toes, waking up your body. Take a deeper breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

You can reach your arms all the way over your head and just stretch your body long, and we'll bend the knees. And you can either roll to the side or just rock yourself all the way up. Finding a comfortable seated position. And once you arrive to your seat, close your eyes again, bring a prayer to your heart. And I wanna offer you a chance that honors this light within you, your sun energy, your unique energy, your identity, your battery, and the wisdom that lies there, the world wants you to shine bright.

So I need you to channel this place and listen to it and be with it. Santaya. Feel free to join me in one ohm deep breath in. Open your eyes. Maybe a little smile.

Keep shining bright, namaste.