Flow of Giving and Receiving

Today, we'll explore the flow between giving and receiving. Finding balance between both energies, the outward moving energy of the self, and the inward moving energy of receiving. Turn the palms of the hands up towards the sky in your comfortable seated position and be sure to bring your fingers together as if you're holding something that you don't want to slip away. So almost like little scoops with the hands. You can let the chest lift up a bit, lean back into your sit bones and take a deep breath in.

And a complete breath out. Notice just with this breath, this inhale receiving, drawing oxygen, prana life force inwards, and exhaling releasing carbon dioxide, releasing excess prana that we're not using. So this constant flow of energy that keeps us vital, that keeps us alive, the even inhale, on the even exhale. I'm finding the balance between these polarities. By lengthening the breath and keeping it even so an even inhale and even exhale.

No need to count. You can do this by the sense of feel of how it feels in your body. And as an extension of this breath, we'll we'll use a subtle movement with the hands, a subtle energetic chi gong sort of movement where when you inhale, you'll lift your palms up to shoulder level or beyond. And as you exhale, you'll turn the palms downwards and let them float back down to the earth. Inhale, palms lift up to the shoulders or beyond.

And exhale let the palms float down. Moving with the breath, energy rising, energy releasing, and finding yourself in the flow of this moving meditation. If it feels nice to keep your eyes open, you're welcome to do that. Something changes this time. You'll inhale reach your arms up and forward.

The palms of the the hands face the ground. This is the inhale. The exhale will make fists a sharp exhale that pulls the elbows in towards the side body. An energizing kundalini breath inhaling, exhaling. A different way of interacting with the breath and this idea of forward and back outward and inwards.

Draw your belly inward and up. You can go faster. You can take it slower. Last four and release. Notice how you feel and bring the hands to the heart in prayer.

Reaffirming your intention to tune in with the flow of life with giving and receiving. Breath in and bow in. Release your hands. Let the palms turn up. Inhale let the hands rise up.

And as you exhale sweep both hands over to the right, there's a little twist here too. Inhale at the hands sweep forward and exhale over to the left. Almost like you're clearing your own path. You're using that energy rising and falling and making your way forward. Some of it's intuitive.

It might not even look like this. It might look a little different. That's okay. Clearing the path moving through one more on each side. And then slowly start to, lift yourself up into boat pose. Remember, you can always keep your heels down on the ground or you can start to extend them forward in front of you, letting the chest lift up.

Good breathe in. As you exhale see, if you can wrap your abdominal muscles inwards and lift your belly in and up. Stamp your feet on the ground so their hip distance apart hands come behind you with your fingertips turned towards your seat, lift up into reverse tabletop. If it's not so great for your wrist, you're welcome to keep your seat down the whole time. This will be an inhale that expands the heart.

And as you exhale, seat comes down, legs lift to any degree into boat pose, navasana. Inhale feet come down, chest lifts up, and exhale boat pose belly wraps in. It's a big movement, so it behooves you to really slow the breath down. Exhaling, you contract inwards, inhale, you expand outwards, What happens when you really let your energy flow through you? Where you find the balance between these polarities? How about last one up?

And the last one in boat. And then we'll come up to hands and knees. You can rock and roll. You can swing your legs behind you any way you'd like. Coming up to hands and knees with the wrists underneath the shoulders and the knees right under the hips.

The next time you breathe in, you'll bring your chest forward, lift your sit bones up as you breathe in and round in as you exhale. Almost right away from our cat cow, we'll start to make big barrel like circles with the rib cage, moving to the right side all the way up and around to the left and dropping it down big circles with the ribs, allowing the head The middle spine, the lower back, to all be involved in these big circles. Switching directions when you're ready sweeping the ribs in that big barrel like motion the opposite direction. And you can allow this movement to be intuitive. You can drop into other spinal movements that you'd like.

You can play with the speed of the breath, speeding it up or slowing it down. That's sort of part of that energy of giving and receiving of opening is that sometimes you feel energized and sometimes it's time to rest. And speaking of, don't spring big toes to touch, let your hips shift back into a child's pose. Allowing the arms to continue to reach forward and taking some deep breaths into the space and the lower back. Lift your head for a moment long enough to walk your hands to the right side of the yoga mat.

So we come into a side body stretch in child's pose. Once your hands reach forward and to the right, you can let your head release. And if anything, the left fingertips might work themselves a little bit forward as if lengthening that entire left side body. And you'll feel a sensation the stretch. And allow your deepening breath to meet that sensation.

Don't lift your head. Walk your hands back to center and then over to the left side of the mat. Let your head release. Noticing the sensation in the right side body, noticing if you'd like to walk your right fingertips further forward, allowing the breath to rise to reignite to meet the sensation in the right side body. Slowly walk your hands back towards center, rise up to your hands and your knees, curl your toes under and shift your hips up and back to downward facing dog.

Paul your fingertips into the mat, letting the head release, pressing your thigh bones back. Once breathe in together and lift both heels and breathe out, let the heels go back and down. Maybe two like that, you could tip both heels over to one side. Tip the heels over to the other side. And then when they come right back down through center, Slowly start to walk up to your hands to a standing forward fold.

Let yourself release as you fold into yourself. And we move from this quieter, receptive, child's pose to a little more movement as we bend the knees and start to roll up to stand. Let your arms reach all the way up to the sky as you inhale. Bring the hands to the heart as you exhale. Inhale arms sweep out and up, taking up as much space as possible.

And as you exhale, let the arms go out to the side as you slowly swan dive forward, letting the heart lead the way as you fold. Inhale elongating the chest forward looking forward and folding in as you exhale step back to plank posts. Breathe in and plank. Lower to the ground as you exhale. The heart reaches forward as you breathe in.

And downward facing dog as you breathe out by way of hands and knees or plank pose. A deep full breath in here. You can let it go out the mouth. Let your heels lift up high, bend your knees, look forward, hop, or step up to the hands. Inhale let the chest reach forward, and fold all the way in.

Inhale expand, open upwards, exhale bring it to the heart. Two more like this. Inhale arms reach up. Notice the expansion on the inhale fold forward contract into the forward fold as you exhale. Inhale expand forward are uttanasana, half lift, hands plant, step back to plank.

Breathing in and lowering as you breathe out. Cobra inhale downward facing dog, exhale. Allow the heels to lift, bend the knees, walk or hop up to the hands. Half lift when you get there breathe in. Fold all the way in as you breathe out.

Inhale reach your arms up. To the heart with the hands. Inhale expand arms reach or the forward fold, uttanasana. Inhale for the half lift, plank. Lower down.

COBRA or upward facing dog and downward facing dog. So nice. Allow your right leg to lift up to the sky. Maybe as high as you can and notice the left heel. Left heel will lift up as you breathe in, and left heel will lower down as you breathe out.

Twice more breathing in, and out. This time it lifts up and you inhale, step the right foot up and in between the hands, warrior one. Back heel spins down to the ground, arms start to extend up to the sky, settle in through the bent front knee and the straight back leg, and then bring your hands down by your sides. Turn the palms up same shape that we made in our beginning meditation as if you were catching something. Palms will lift up shoulder level, inhaling, and exhale releasing the hands. Inhale the right leg straightens hands rise and exhale they gently release, right knee bends, moving with the breath rising, and releasing.

Good. They say in, in the practice of chi gong that this movement helps you understand All of life, this lifting and lowering. So tune in. Maybe maybe you get some insight from that. Lift all the way up And as you exhale, let's sweep both hands to the left for a moment. Inhale lift up.

Swe both hands to the right. One more on each side. Good. Inhale come back to center palms of the hands turn up. Allow your left heel to lift off of the mat.

Like an offering, pouring yourself forward into the right foot, lifting the left leg, hands can stay as they are, open, receiving this receptive pose, or you can start to extend and reach them forward. And then step right into chair pose feet together, inhaling arms reaching up, and exhaling sweeping hands to the right, inhale to the left. So now we're moving into something like a little bit faster. Inhale, clearing the path as you exhale. Inhale all the way up to stand and hands to the heart as you exhale. Chair pose as you breathe in, even out, fold forward as you exhale.

The half lift lengthening breathing in, hands plant, plank pose. These vinyasas are optional. You can always coat a down dog. You can take your cobra or your upward facing dog. I'll see you in downward facing dog.

Left leg will reach high up to the sky and three legged dog. Lift your right heel up, breathe in, and lower your right heel down towards the ground as you breathe out. Inhale, lift. Exhale lower right heel. Inhale, lift right heel, exhale, step the left foot up and in between the hands, warrior one. Back heel spins down.

Arms reach up. Establishing a steady foundation through both feet, bringing the hands out in front of you, inhale, legs straightening, hands left, and exhale settling in releasing. And we've done this before. We did it on the other side. If you'd like, you can close your eyes.

Sense into the universal flow of life force. That energy is moving whether we think about it or not. We have the choice of how we direct our attention, how we set intentions, and how we manifest the life that we really want. Inhale straighten the leg. Keep the legs straight, sweep the hands over to the right.

Inhale come back to center, sweep the hands over to the left. Breathe in. Breathe out. Rise all the way up to center, start to bend into the left knee, lift your right heel, shift the weight forward and begin to balance on that left foot for warrior three. Right leg is lifted right up in line with the hip.

Hands can remain here or reaching forward. And then step right into your chair pose, breathe in. Hands move to the right as you breathe out. Inhale. Exhale. One more on each side.

And come all the way up to stand. And you can allow this to release. You can shake it out. You can turn a little side to side. And then we'll have a seat on our mat.

Both legs can begin by extending out in front of you. Bend your right knee and bring the right foot to the inside of the left leg, letting the right knee open in a relaxed way. Allow your arms to float up to the sky as you breathe in and fold forward over your left leg as you breathe out. Hands can land on the mat. They can land on the leg or they could reach for the foot.

Let the shoulders be about the same distance away from the ground. So both shoulders the same distance away from the ground. And think a lot about pressing through that left heel as you release into Janushasana. And slowly start to rise up. And bend your right knee in and step the right foot to the outside of the left leg. Take your left elbow and wrap it around the right knee for a twist If you prefer to hook your elbow to the outside of the knee, that would be okay too.

Your right fingertips come lightly behind you. So you lift up quite tall as you breathe in and you twist as you breathe out. Think about belly peeking over the thigh gaze going back maybe over the shoulder and consider the breath in and an extra long exhale that helps you twist that draws you deeper into the twist. And slowly unwind. Come back to center.

Right foot starts to reach forward and left foot comes to the inside. Of the right leg. You sit up tall, the arms sweep upwards to the sky as you inhale and fold forward over your leg as you exhale. Head can release here. Heel is pressing forward.

Folding inwards. When slowly begin to rise. As you fold the left knee in, you can step it to the outside of the right knee. Rapping right arm around left knee or hooking the elbow outside of the knee, if you prefer. Light fingertips behind you, breathing in and lifting up tall, and breathing out as you twist.

Breathing in, long steady inhale, long steady exhale that assists you in the twist. And slowly unwind. Come back to center. Let both legs extend out in front of you, and we'll slowly come onto your back. Arms can extend and you can roll down one vertebra at a time, arriving on your back.

Bend your knees and place your feet on the ground, and we'll take the feet wider than the hips. So let's say in this moment wider than the hips, not quite as wide as your mat, gently rock your knees side to side like windshield wipers. As this happens, you can move the head a little bit as well. Move the shoulders if the shoulders want to move. And the next time that your knees drop over to the right, we'll leave them there.

And you can stay in this position. It's a wonderful place to be, or you can place your right ankle on top of your left thigh just above the knee. So we're in this sort of half bound twist. That gives us an IT band stretch as well. If it feels right for you to keep the heel here.

If not, you'll bring the foot back down to the ground. The arms can open wide and you'll deepen the breath again allowing the breath to rise of the sensation that you are experiencing. And gently release the right foot. If it was on top of the left, come back up to center and do the windshield wipers once again rocking side to side. And the next time they come over to the left, leave them over to the left, consider bringing that left ankle on top of the right thigh bone right above the knee.

Yeah. You can soften into the twist, get a sense of letting go and breathing deeply into the sensation of the IT band that the outer right thigh in this case. I'm gonna experience it in the hip. And then gently release, come back up to center, take a few more of these windshield wipers moving side to side. Keep the same sentiment of the rocking side to side, withdraw the knees up and into your chest and start to move here rocking side to side and allowing the head to release and follow.

And when it feels like time, you'll release your legs. You'll release them long on the ground or whatever is comfortable for you. With the hands resting on the body or down by your sides. We'll take three deep breaths in and out. The full inhale the full exhale, noticing the quality of the breath, noticing the sensation of the body, When you can allow the breath to release, You can allow the body to soften, allow the mind to let go, and allow the heart to settle.

Shavasana. And take a deep breath in. Let it go. Slowly bringing movement into the body through the fingers, and the toes, and the head moving. Big morning stretch will take the arms up overhead. Bend your knees, shift over to one side and slowly come up to your seat.

This comfortable seat, we'll trace our way back to the beginning of our practice with the palms lifting as you breathe in. And releasing as you breathe out. Moving meditation, tuning in with the nature of prana, of energy flow within us, and outside of us. Inhale lift your hands up, exhale bring the hands to the heart in prayer. From this place at heart center, you'll take a deep breath in and bow into the heart.

Thank you for sharing your practice.