Expand our Edges

Hi, and welcome in. We'll need two blocks for practice. You're welcome to take one and sit one on one as we come into a seat together. And if you'd like, close the eyes, I'll invite you to take a hand onto your heart and a hand onto your belly. We'll find a nice full breath in, filling up the lower belly, filling up into the upper lungs, and hold the breath full for just a moment.

Through your mouth or nose, let the breath go. Let the shoulders go. Let the belly go. Again, breathing into your hand with your belly to your upper lungs. Mouth or nose as you let the breath go.

One more time, breathing into the lower belly. The upper lungs. And a big sigh as you let that breath go. I'll invite you, remain the hands connected onto the belly and the heart. Just be with the rise and fall of the belly in the chest.

And through this space where we can connect the palms onto our skin. Create this felt experience of trust of being held and being in this stillness knowing that we are okay k, that we can be with this experience, whatever has arrived, and one more deep breath into the belly. Into the chest and a big exhale to let it go. If your eyes are closed, gently blink them open and let your hands come back onto your lap. Just resend to yourself into your room around you.

We'll meet in tabletop. So start to unfold yourself from your seat, swing the legs around Bring the hands underneath the shoulders, the hips over the knees, drop the belly and lift the heart into a cow pose, exhale as you round and curl into a cat tucking the chin and the tailbone under. Cat as you breathe or cow rather as you breathe in, cat as you breathe out and around through the spine. One more time, just threading the body and the mind together with the breath. Kat as you exhale, round and curl.neutralize your spine, tuck your toes, walk your hands afar in front of you so you can ground to the palms and fold the hips into downward facing dog.

Here, just a nice petal walking out your dog side to side. Nice spread of the fingers wide so you can press with a finger tap, pads, and grip into the earth. Then a melt of the heart towards your thighs. And now we just unfold a layer and see where the breath can show us how the body is speaking, and that conversation between the breath and the body. We'll come high at the toes and take the gaze forward.

And just tippy toe the feet towards the hands. You'll land a big ragdoll stance. Keep the knees rather bent. Let the head drop down. And then perhaps you bend the knees even more.

This will give us space to interlace the hands behind the back. You can squeeze the palms together and draw the knuckles up towards the sky. And maybe if it feels alright in your body, the knuckles just start to draw up and over a little bit further, head drops down towards the earth. Relaxing to the back of the neck. Big open mouth exhale to yourself.

To see if you have the bind halfway lift to the heart, slide your hands down the back of your legs. And then enough space to step this right foot forward and left foot slightly back. We'll drop the back knee down. And reach the arms up to the sky for Crescent moon. There's a lot of space here for that right knee to track forward. It can come over that right ankle if you'd like.

And so the left hip sink down towards the earth, but almost like there's this reach through both middle fingers up towards the sky. So you get super long through your side bodies. With an exhale, start to plant the hands down towards the earth, straighten out the right leg into a half splits, feel the right hips gently shift back in line with the left. And take these toes and point and flex them a couple times just to feel into your calf. And hang out with the toes, flex towards your face, gaze forward as you breathe in, re bend into the right knee, plant your palms, and then this time, we'll lift the back knee on up off the earth.

You can walk your hands slightly out in front of you, and the left leg starts to lift into standing splits. So allow the heart to bow down as much as you'd like. Allow the right knee to bend as much as you'd like. Left heel squeezes up towards the sky, then there's this, like, counter motion effect, let the heart drop down as the left heel reaches up even more. If I had a full breath in, a shiva squat as you exhale.

So bend both knees, bring this left knee behind the right calf. And then as you breathe in, reach the left heel back up to the sky heart down. One more time, shiva as you exhale, standing splits as you inhale. In the soft bend of the right knee, the left foot's gonna meet the right in a forward folds. And then you'll bend the knees and lift the heels enough so you can round and squat and curl. Tealbone tucks down, chin tucks inwards.

Spread the shoulder blades apart and see here how you can squeeze the arms in. As you exhale, find your forward fold hips go high to the sky. Halfway lift as you breathe in. The right foot will step on back setting up for our low lunge on this side. So ground the back knee, untuck the back toes, if you'd like, and swim the hands up to the sky.

We can feel the left, shouldn't track forward the right hip down, but there's a little hug of the belly button in the inner thighs towards one another just to lift you up and out of your hip points. Big breath in. Hands to the Earth. If you got blocks and you want them, you can place them there as well. We'll find half splits, hips back, toes, flexed towards the face.

And take a moment, point and flex through those left toes. It's like you're pressing into a gas pedal in a car. And hold the toes flex towards your face. One last exhale to bow in. And as you inhale, start to gaze forward and crawl forward. Talk the back toes, feel the right leg get pretty active, lift the right knee. Hands can walk slightly in front of you, and then the right leg lifts into a standing splits.

Heart bows down. Right leg goes up towards the sky. And when we experience here, like, these little bit of wobbles, it's this is where we can expand the edges. And be okay with the wobbles, but be okay with finding the breath to resent to us. Right? That's where we build the trust to stay present even through this little bit of expansion that you're stepping into.

You know, find a couple of shiva squats, so bend into both knees and kick back up through your standing splits as you breathe in. But one more time into your shiva, squeeze through your center. Inhale standing splits, Right foot will step down to meet the left in a forward fold. Find a halfway lift as you breathe in. And this time, plant the palm, step the feet back into a high plank pose.

You can lower to your belly or lower halfway. We'll find a chaturanga, lower down, straighten up the arms, maybe up dog with the knees lifted. Big breath in. Accale into a downward facing dog. Roll the hips up and back.

Okay. So presence and trust. Take this moment and pause and downward facing dog and relocate where you are on your mat. Where is your body in space? Where is your mind? Can we thread that breath in?

We'll take that and flow, but leading with the right leg. So right leg will go high into the sky as you breathe in. Exale to step the right foot on through. Drop your back knee down, inhale crescent moon, exhale as you bow back into your half splits. Crawl forward through your lunge gaze in front of you. Lift the left leg standing splits.

One time into that shiva as you exhale, inhale standing splits. Forward fold as you exhale. Come into that little squat and curl, bend the knees. Lift the heels round inwards and find a deep breath in. Let a deep breath go. Drop the heels. Lift the hips forward fold.

Lift the heart half lift. And then plant the palms, high plank pose, feet step. Find a vinyasa of your choice. So maybe you lower to your belly or halfway, co over or up dog, peel the heart up. Big breath in.

Exale hips high downward facing dog. Left leg goes high as you breathe in. Left foot steps forward and through as you exhale. Back knee down, inhale crescent moon. Exale into your half splits.

Call forward through your lunge, lift the back knee, launch the right heel, up bow the heart down, standing splits. Shiva as you squeeze in through your center. Standing splits inhale, forward fold as you exhale. Find a halfway lift as you inhale. Forward fold as you exhale.

Taking out that squatty, we'll just step right into our high plank lower halfway or all the way through a chaturanga, cobra, up dog, downward facing dog, when pa is in feel. So as the breath moves and the heart rate maybe lifts, our body gets more into this sympathetic nervous system state. And it's it's activation, it's mobilization, it's what moves us. But sometimes it can feel rather heated, buzzy, or maybe like we wanna speed up with it. Take a moment in this pause and see if you can be in the warmth of the body, the heart rate and the breath, while slowing the exhale down through this pause.

It will bend the knees and gaze forward as you breathe in, travel to the top of your mat space as you forward fold. Find a halfway lift, and this is where we can use our gaze to find our blocks. And place some right in front of our matte space. So I like to have mine on the taller setting here. You can choose your flavor.

We'll find ourselves back into our forward fold and then sit into utkatasana. Chair pose, fingertips come forward first. Weight comes in the heels, and you can feel the tailbone reach back. Almost like you're reaching to sit into a chair and sink into the thighs. Steady through the gaze, steady through the breath.

When you're ready, swing the hands behind you, and release your fingers together. So you create that bind at your lower back just like we did in that rag doll. And then bring this right foot. You can toe heel a little bit more into center, but this foot is gonna become your foundation. This left leg is gonna start to lift into one legged tadasana, but you'll keep the bind of the arms.

Right. So we have these roots that we grow down through our bottom foot. And through that rooting down, we can rise up through the heart, through the top of the head. This is gonna feel a little bit like a trust fall. And your experience is your timing. So I want you to take your time here. Start start to kick the left leg back, keep the arms bound.

Once you come into this bound airplane shape, you can pause. What I'd invite you to play here is how much you can lean the heart down towards those blocks and lift the left heel up. And as you do, you lift the bind of the hands up. So it's the standing splits with the ragdoll bind that we experienced at the beginning. And then at any point, when the hands need to release, the blocks are there for you, but maybe hang out and try it on, see where that little bit of edge is.

And when and if you do those hands release, you have hands caught. You're held. You got yourself. Ben into your shiva squat and both knees left knee behind the right and then a big kickback and the left foot steps down. Bring those blocks with you and turn to prosarita wide legged forward fold.

You can keep the blocks underneath your hands. You can set them off to the side. We're gonna take a moment here to be rather heavy through the torso and feel both feet grounded onto the earth. Stillness might feel really juicy to you here. If you need a little movement, you can sway or shake the head, bend one knee and the other.

We'll use this pause in between both sides to connect in. To feel the trust, the courage, the space of bravery that it takes, to walk into that edge. Where the body gets activated and where your mind and your breath can support you to know that it is okay to go in uncomfortable places. As you find these couple exhales, let the face soften even more, you're here. Beautiful, really nice everyone.

So we're gonna try it on the other side. Start to lift the heart on up. Grab those two blocks. We'll go for a walk with them all the way towards the back of our mat space facing your left foot. Set the blocks right up in front of you.

And then step the right foot to meet the left. Find a halfway lift as you inhale, exhale as you forward, fold back down. Chair pose, utkatasana, sit the hips back, sweep the hands forward. Both feet are down. That's where we start, right, of our foundation.

We have our hands swimming behind us and interlacing the fingers There's this bind that our palms press together with. And the weight in the left foot becomes a little bit more sturdy. Start to press and drive through the left foot to lift the right knee, lift the heart, Feel the breath and pause in this bound one legged tadasana. So we can journey through an airplane here We can take our time. We can play with this edge.

Right leg starts to kick back. Keeping the hands bound. You have those blocks underneath you at any point. As you kick the right heel back, maybe the heart bows down a little bit more. Draw the knuckles up to the sky.

Keep falling falling falling through the heart, lift the right heel. And breathe as you go. Hands to the blocks, if they're not there already, hang out in your forward fold, relax the head, or rather standing splits, right, leg high, relax the head. And find your shiva squat right knee behind the left. Kick on back, and we'll use that to step back through our prosorita wide legged forward folds.

Blocks can stay there. They move off to the side. And here we'll hang out for a moment. You can walk the hands all the way in front of you. Kinda come out of your feet a little bit more so the weight shifts into the toes, and we have this extended down dog.

And then with the weight in the palms, press the palms into the earth, shift the hips back and bow the heart down. Right? This moment to acknowledge now the effort that it takes, bravery that it takes to sit with a little bit of fear. To be afraid of trying on something new, of exploring a new evolution. Let the breaths off in you one more round of an exhale. Walk your hands underneath you, lift your heart, gratitude for the body as we turn towards the front of our mat space.

We're gonna step the left foot to meet the right, return into that little crouch in curl. So bend the knees, lift the heels on up, round your forehead in towards your knees. Feel the elbows squeeze in towards the side of your legs. Find one of those belly breaths deep into your lower diaphragm. I'm gonna smooth big exhale out.

I'm gonna lift the gaze on up, walk your hands back behind you. We're gonna return into our seats. And today, we have to try on a little bit of tapping. So if it's something that's unfamiliar to you, don't worry. I'm here with you, and my voice will help guide us. If you would like, you're welcome to close the eyes.

If tapping is somewhat new to you, keep your gaze on me, I'll walk us through it. One hand will come to the outside edge heel of your hand. And you'll start to tap just slightly through those finger pads. And start to notice the sensation of the finger pads tapping on your skin and a nice full exhale. We'll switch. So opposite hand will tap that back edge heel of your hand. And then keep the face and the shoulders rather soft.

And then we'll take both hands. Many cups, and tap just beneath your collar bones, lightly feeling the finger pads tap along your skin, and welcoming one of those deep inhales. And a deep back sail. Take those taps just above your collar bones. So in that soft part of your neck, you can kinda explore what feels like a more enjoyable sensation.

Maybe it's right below your neck or the outside edges of your neck. We'll switch just to our chin. So right below the mouth and take lightly your finger pads and tap tap tap this gentle nourishing contact of the finger pads to the skin and the breath. Taking those finger pads just beneath the nose right above the lips and give some gentle taps, seeing if the cheeks can soften and the brow to soften. And the taps will come to our cheekbones.

So right beneath your eyes, gently tap, tap, tap. Keep moving the breath. The tops come just above the eyebrows now, lightly feeling the finger pods on the skin. And the tops come just to the crown of the head. Right above.

Giving some gentle patterns onto the top of your head. And down through the temples, so just outside the eyes, can be one or two finger pads giving you some taps. And now that we have that, we'll do it two rounds, and I'll add in a little bit of words as we go. So come back to the tapping of one hand, that heel of your hands. And as you breathe, I invite you into these words that I am competent.

Switch your hands and tap the opposite outside edge heel of your hand. I am confident. And tap just beneath your collar bones, taking a breath in, and a big breath out. My body is home. Tapping above the collar bones at soft part of your neck.

My body is home. The taps just beneath your mouth on your chin. I speak my truth. The tops just beneath your nose above your lips. The taps on your cheekbones.

I am here. I am worthy. Above your eyebrows, gentle chat taps. I'm safe to be here. Top crown of your head, gentle taps. I speak kind words to myself as I breathe.

Then your temples just outside your eyes, gentle taps. This third round, I'm gonna invite you to create your own words and formations as we go through, but I'll guide you hands to the outside edge of your opposite hand to giving those taps. Swach the hands, give those gentle taps. Take the hands beneath the collarbones, gentle taps. Just above the collarbone's gentle taps and feeling your breath as you speak words to yourself that just naturally pour in here as the body is softening and opening up.

Beneath your mouth on your chin, above your lips beneath your nose, cheekbones, a few tops, Above the eyebrows, a few tops. Crown of your head, a few tops. And let's find together a full breath into the nose. Big open mouth. Take those taps.

Just land them outside the temples, just outside the eyes, sealing in this softness and this connection that you've created with yourself. Release the tapping, return one hand to heart, one hand to belly, and breathe naturally. See what's here. When you feel ready, if your eyes are closed, gently blink the eyes open. Take your time to reenter the room.

And if you're on a block, come off of it. Swing the legs around right in front of you. We're gonna lower all the way onto our box. And then just let the head rest down, straighten out the left leg, hug the right knee in. And give your right knee a nice tight squeeze, maybe roll the ankle around and a deep belly breath in.

Right thigh comes over into a supine twist as you exhale. So no effort really needed here. I invite you to savor and see what's been offered through this experience. Through the process of placing yourself into discomfort and the way you have tools within you to return into comfort inside. Bring the knees back through center, hug the left knee in and the right leg long.

You have a left shin, a nice big squeeze. Enroll the left thigh over into your supine twist. Alright. So the world is not always comfortable. When we practice placing ourselves in discomfort, we are practicing being able to step outside into the world and navigate our natural process of sympathetic run, mobilize, do, but how we can bring ourselves back down into this place within. Bring your knees back through center when you're ready.

Start to slide both legs long, rest into Shavasana. Close the eyes if it feels comfortable. Welcome one of those deep belly breaths in. Open the mouse, let the breath go to the sky. Everything can soften.

No need to control. So this space is for you to rest and be in as long as you'd like. And I will seal our time together today just with these words of may you walk with steady feet knowing that the ground is beneath you and that all you need is within you. One final breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. May you go in peace namaste.