I am change

Hi there. Welcome to the Filier Cup series. Today, we'll be focusing on bending through the side body. You'll need one block for practice. Take your time and arrive into your comfortable seat with the spine working to get stacked and nice and tall. As soon as you're able to get yourself settled, find a sense of stillness, and maybe soften the eyes to close, just start to shift the gaze from looking outwards to looking inwards. Witness the breath, the life force moving through you on its own.

Notice the container of the body with the surrounding forces of the floor, the air, the clothing on the skin, acknowledge and accept any passing thoughts or stagnant emotions. Allow yourself to be here and now as you are. Draw your hands to heart center, bow your gaze, and reverence, and gratitude. Take a moment if you'd like to offer your efforts to someone you know in your life who you'd like to share your practice with, or maybe this idea of everyone and everything in existence, this deeper connection that we all have. And with that in mind, we'll take the union sound the sound of ohm to begin together. If you'd like to offer an intention with your ohm, I am change.

Inhale? Take a moment further here to deepen your breath practice, your engagement with the breath, ujjayi Praniyama. Earring and feeling the breath deeper in the body through the nostrils. We'll start on our backs today when you're ready. Lying down, Minishivasana.

To fill your connection with the floor, And from there, reach your arms up by the ears, point your toes, get a nice long body stretch. You can let the back arch a little bit as you kind of find the the spacing here through the length. And then take your right hand, grab your left wrist and start pull your left wrist over to the right with your right hand and let the legs naturally banana over with the arms and feel this nice banana stretch on the floor, keep lengthening through the side body and keep both shoulders and both hips on the earth, getting this sense of your natural opening here. Take another deep breath. As you come back to the center, even your body out through a breath, like, move the hips and shoulders as needed.

And then switch, take the left hand and grab the right wrist stretch long, and then pull the right wrist over with the left hand and let the legs naturally again, side bend over just as much as you can without lifting the right shoulder and the right hip. Take a deep breath here. Using the floor as a prop to get a sense of the side body opening. Coming back to center, even yourself out ninth, long stretch inhale. And then slowly draw your knees into your chest, roll to one side and rise up to a tabletop position. From your tabletop, tuck your right toes, stretch your right heel back, get the calf opened a little bit, move in and out as you'd like to, and then roll your right foot down open like Warrior two, open your left shin, supported side plank, reach your right arm up to the sky, ground your back right foot into the earth and stretch your top arm up and over while you lift the hips, feel that stretch there on the side, inhale. And then stand up on the knees as you rise, hands on hips, gate pose, reach your left arm up to the sky, slide your right hand down the straight leg and press into that bottom shin.

Feel that other side bend with the hip going the opposite direction. Maybe look up. Take a breath. And then cartwheel the hands down to the floor back to your tabletop. You can move the shoulders and the hips as you need to to even your body out and then try the other side. Take your left toes back flex in and out to stretch the heel, get the leg length activated, and then roll the left foot down, open the shin supported side plank, round through that back foot to engage through the floor, lift up, and then side bend the left arm up and over. Take a nice breath here.

Slowly pressing through that bottom shin rising up to Sandgate pose, left hand slides down the straight leg, other arm goes up, press through the bottom shin and stretch, bump the hip a little bit the other way. Deep breathe. Cart wheel the hands down to the floor downward facing dog from here, tuck your toes, lift your hips, lift your heels, tip toe your way to the front of the mat. Easy forward fold, shake the neck out, ragdaw, willow branches much as you like, maybe bend the knees, give yourself a moment to organically find the release of the spine. As soon as you're ready, bend the knees, roll through the spinous stand, tadasana mountain pose, bring the legs closer together as you feel able to roll the palms open, present yourself for your asana practice.

Open the heart metaphorically and literally. We'll take a modified sun a with some side body bending today. So reach your arms to the sky squeeze your legs as much as you can and call the mudra, interlace the fingers except for the index finger and the thumb, stretch long through the floor up to the sky as you inhale, exhale lean over to the right, bump the hips to the left. Inhale back to center, lift up long, Exhale to the left, bump the hips to the right. Inhale back to center, look up, lean back. XL, fold forward over the legs. Inhale halfway lift, lengthen heart.

Exhale Chaturanga, step hopper float lower down. Inhale, heart opening, up dog. Exhale downward facing dog. Let's take three to four breaths here. Just using the ground to help build the length through the spine. Feeling the opposite reach or the heels and the fingertips while lifting the hips.

Rounding the outer edges of the body down, lifting the midline up. One more breath. Exhale, bend the knees, look forward, step hop, or float to the front of the mat. Inhale halfway, lift, lengthen the heart. Exhale fold forward.

Inhale from the legs, press down, reach up, lean back any amount, look up. Exhale hands by the sides, tadasana. Take a full breath here, settling into the sensations of the sun salutation. Bring your hands to your hips, feet hips with distance. Nice, easy lift as you inhale, press the hips. Look up.

Exhale fold forward over the legs. Pada hastasana fold. If you're able to bend the knees, if you need to, press the feet over the tops of the palms toes to the wrist creases. Press into the hands with the balls of the feet, and he'll stretch the heart as long as you can. Exhale, bend the elbows wide, tuck the chin. Think about the head moving towards the floor between the feet.

Rotate the tailbone up. Take good two breaths here. Feeling the shoulders on the back as you lengthen the body in both directions, hollowing the belly. With the bind halfway lift inhale, and exhale release the hands. Step back to plank pose as you inhale, Chaturanga exhale, inhale, up dog, exhale downward facing dog.

Inhale, lift the right leg to the sky, reach the foot. Exale, place the foot at the top of the mat, round your back foot open, cartwheel open to warrior two. Take a moment to find your first standing pose here, lengthen the stance until you feel a nice, challenge through both sides of the hips right knee open, back foot grounded. Straighten your right leg, bring your back foot in until you feel nice and stable through that back leg, triangle pose, hinge your right hip back as you reach forward, inhale, exhale right hand down on the right chin or further down as able to, maybe hand outside a foot on floor or block. Stretch your left arm up to the sky and pull your left hip back as you press through your front foot.

You can stay with the arm longer, add a little side bend straighten your left arm up and over, and then keep twisting the heart to the sky, maybe looking under the armor, maybe looking towards that top hand. Take one more good breath here long in all directions. Slowly releasing the left hand down, bending the knee, and then crawling through the middle of the mat to the other side of the back, side leg, back leg scandasana, and then take a moment just to settle the hips a little bit further, see what weight you can drop down towards the hips here. Take a breath. As you exhale, crawl back forward low lunge into a twist, left hand down, right arm to the sky.

You can always stay in the side bend here, or roll to the outer edges of both feet, horizon lunge, turn the toes open, drop the hips as low as you can reach the arm back, take an inhale, exhale, lift the hips, reach the arms stretch up. As you do that, roll back forward to the front of the mat, and then step your back leg forward. Take a halfway lift inhale. Exhale fold forward. Roll through the spine to stand.

Tree pose on the left leg. Bring the hands to the hip, shift your weight into your left foot. Draw your right knee into the chest. Pull the right knee open. Grab your right ankle, pull the heel as high as you can, or place anywhere the foot on the thigh that feels appropriate, pressing the foot in, finding your midline balance, hands to heart center.

You can stay here or work on a little side bend, take your right elbow to the crook of your right hip, letting the forearm rest on the thigh, the left arm goes up to the sky, and then gently find this counter balance. You push the hip to the left while you lean the the left arm up and over and feel that balance here. Take a breath. As you come back, you can stay for another breath in the tree pose, or atithaosta B, grab the big toe left hand on hip, stretch that right heel out to the side. Maybe you counter with the gaze over to the left.

Take a breath. Slowly, come back the way you came, release the knee, and then come and bring the foot to the floor. Take a moment to pause, tadasana pose. Rince that out, inhale reach the arms up, and exhale fold forward. Halfway lift inhale, exhale Chaturanga Danasana.

Inhale, up dog, exhale downward facing dog. Inhale, lift the left leg up. Exhale, place the foot at the top of the mat, round your back foot open, warrior two cartwheel open, take a couple breaths to settle in, find the distance that feels good for the body, but also a little on that edge there stretching in all directions, looking forward. Straight in the left leg, bring that back foot in just enough so you feel nice and stable through both straight legs hinge forward as you pull the hip back, take an inhale, exhale triangle pose anywhere the hand wants to land at the floor or the leg is fine, and then reach that top arm up stretch through that back hip further to the back of the mat, and stay with the arm lifted or reach that right arm up, get that nice long, long side bend through that triangle. One more breath, maybe turn the chest a little bit more.

And then as you exhale, sweep the hand down, bend the knee and crawl through the middle of the mat to your back like Skandasana, just getting comfortable deeper and deeper into this deep hip opening, pause for a breath low as you can go. Crawl through the front of the mat as you exhale, move through the low lunge, low lunge twist. Reach your left arm up, right hand down. Stay here, play with that horizon lunge. Roll to the outer edge of both feet.

Drop your hip down and reach that top top arm to the back of the mat, take an inhale, exhale sweep up, use that to roll all the way back forward and step your back foot to the front of the mat. Roll through the spine to stand. Tree pose on the right leg, draw your left knee into your chest, open the knee, grab your ankle, heal it wherever you put it before, or modify as needed for this side. Hands to heart center, tree pose, find your balance. Stay or side plank side bending tree, elbow to crook of hip, forearm rest, and you counter the hip over little by little.

It's quite nuanced, but quite effective to find this side bend balance. One more. Coming back to center, staying in your tree, or adding the Utitaosta b, grabbing big toe with the left hand, right hand on hip stretching the leg, maybe looking over to the right side. Last breath here. Coming back the way you came, releasing the leg and bringing both feet to the floor, rinsing it out, inhale reach the arms up.

Exhale fold over the legs. Inhale halfway lift. Exale chaturanga, inhale heart opening, exhale downward facing. Single breath here. Inhale, lift your right leg to the sky, exhale. Place your right foot at the top of the mat.

Drop your left knee, untuck your toes. Take your block and place your block on any height appropriate outside your right hip. Your shoulders should be right over your hip here. Reach your left arm straight up and ground your left shin into the earth while you side bend over to the right, bringing the weight into that block, but feel that counter through that outer left hip here. Maybe look up as you inhale.

And then reach that left arm forward as far as you can over the knee until you hook that left elbow as much as you can outside that right leg in the twist. Hands start at prayer, pressing down and opening up. Maybe you want to work that left hand down to the floor. You can always move your block there, if the floor's a little far away looking up, or adding that side bend arm, right arm up and over, really feeling that length around the body here, and take one more breath. As you exhale, release hands to the floor, one more time, Skandasana to the back of the mat, as you crawl through the center, drop into that back leg toes turn up, you can stay here again, or if you want, you can drop that front hip to the earth, grab your back ankle, and then push the knee back as you stretch that left arm up and over towards that straight front leg.

Take one more breath here, maybe look up. And then as you exhale unravel, crawl back to the front of the mat again, back to that side plank, press down, twist to the lunge right arm up, rolling to the outer edge of the left foot for that side plank fully stacking the legs, inhale lower the hips, reach the arm back, exhale, lift the hips, reach up and over, rainbow the body. You can always drop the knee or lift that right leg up, tap the foot, find your wild things spread around the front body, open up stretch, take a breath. Down dog, split. Take your time, press through the strength, reach your right leg up inhale.

Fallen triangle, bring your right knee to the left armpit, stretch your right leg long, reach your left arm up, twist around the body as you open, take a nice breath. And as you exhale, bring the hand back down, down dog split inhale, reach back. One legged Chaturanga is your shift forward lower down halfway. Inhale heart opening and exhale downward facing. Nice breath here. Using the Ujiid to cool down when the asana heats it up.

Inhale, lift the left leg long, exhale left foot top of the mat. Drop that right knee, untuck your toes, lift your chest, grab your block, put it on the other side, in line with the hip, right arm straight over the head, tour neutral torso as best you can, as you lean into that block, push the hip the other way, feel that nice side bend here, look up as you inhale. And then reach forward cross the knee. See how low you can get that elbow palms to press to start to help you open deeper into that twist maybe looking up. And then staying or work on that open bind right hand down to the floor of the block, left arm up, maybe taking that top arm into that side angle twist here.

One more deep breath here. As you unravel, release the hands to the floor, go to that back leg scannedasana last time on this side. Stay here as before or drop the hip to the earth, maybe use the back leg as leverage, grab it with the off front hand, as you push the knee back, you side bend over, seeing how low you can get outside, how lengthen you can get through that side body. One more breath here. As you exhale unravel, come back to the middle, low lunge top of the mat right back into that twist, prepping for that side plank rounding, pressing into that right foot, right hand, I mean, and foot as you lift up.

A little control here, drop the hip, inhale reach back. Exhale up and over rainbow, stay here. Drop the near wild thing, top the foot up and around behind you, stretch open, breathe. And while fall in triangle as you come out, left hand down, left leg up, inhale stretch. Exhale left knee, right armpit, reach the leg to the right, sweep your right arm up, wrap around the other way. Take one more breath.

Down dog split as you come out, hand down, left leg up, inhale. Exhale one legged chaturanga shifts forward, lower down. Inhale through heart opening, and exhale downward facing. Well, deserve child's pose, drop your knees, sit back and rest. Once you've reground your breath. Find your way through a down dog just for a transition.

Lift your right leg to the skies you inhale. Exhale half pigeon, bring your right shin forward to the front of the mat, right knee behind right wrist, right foot closer to left hand. He'll tilt your left foot back to get that nice catch for your hips, taking inhale, and fold forward over the legs. Give yourself a A good amount of breaths here, allowing yourself to settle into that deeper hip space. Feeling the floor again as a prop here to help you find the awareness of your hips and feet in space, your legs in space. Nice, slow breaths.

Finish up your next exhale. And as you walk up, take a second just to lift the chest. Feel how much you can open the heart here, maybe twist a little bit, get a little cobra like action, through that lifted half pigeon. And then turn to the left side, roll your left hip to the floor as the left toes turn up and pull that right heel in. The right hand is a as a grounding force.

You press into it, shift into the front chin there, ground your left with like that wide leg pose, and then stargazer as you float that left arm up, sweep it around, and see what's available, kind of like a half camel, as you push the hips forward, and you stretch back and breathe. Take a breath here. Slowly wrap back around, reground the hips to the earth, and then pull that right knee into the chest and half virasana the leg, pull the knee in, and the heel is really close to the seat. Open the hips as much as you can. Optional bind that back hand reaches under that half virasana for the ankle and use that as leverage again to half side bend up and over that back leg there.

Option to grab that back foot. If you have the foot, you pull the head under and you lean back and open the gaze to the sky. Deep breathe. Really enjoy getting long through these, like, edges of the body. Last breath here. As you come out of this, you unravel everything.

You undo that right leg back to neutral, curl around to the front, down dog split right leg to the sky. You can just bend the knee, open the hip for a little release there. If you want one more wild thing, we've really opened up these back bend twisty side bend things you can just see. What's available for you? Opening up to whatever degree feels appropriate for your body. Yeah. One more breath here. And then back around to your downward facing dog.

Let your breath bring you to neutral, and we'll move to the other side. Left flag to the sky, inhale, half pigeon, left shin forward now. Left knee into wrist, foot to hand, and then stretch back until you find the right amount of stretch for yourself. And roll over into the fold. And allow yourself to settle in here for a good couple of breaths, slowing the breath down if you can, allowing the body to use the gravity, use the weight of itself to open up the hips a little bit more.

Whenever the mind gets overpowering, the breath is a wonderful tool just to bring us back to our center. Back to the present moment. One more breath here. As you come out, you bring the hands to the floor. Take a little mini cobra sashes.

You press the hands into the earth and stretch back and lift up. From there, open up your legs to the right side of the mat, roll that front toe open with the heel pulling in, shifts forward into that wide leg camel pose. The left hand is your grounding. As you press forward with the hips, you sweep that right arm up around, and you just see what's available. You kind of use it like almost like you're wrapping around in a big circle and using the legs first and then seeing where the heart is. One more breath.

As you come out of this, you unwrap, drop the hips, and you take that half, you're awesome. You pull the left knee up, you grab the ankle and turn the knee down, heel to seat, opening up the knees away from each other as much as you can. Staying here, or the backhand, the right hand grabs the left ankle from underneath the shin, and then you use that leverage pulling as you stretch the opposite way. For a nice deep side, then maybe you grab the outer left right foot here, and then use the pulling of the legs away from each other to open up further, maybe lean back, maybe look up, take a deep breath or two. Finish up your next breath. As you unravel, you come out, you undo that bent knee inwards, open it back further.

Turn all the way back around where you came from, down dog split left leg to the sky, inhale, bend the knee, open the hip. Stay here. Once again, last wild thing, getting a chance to explore, maybe the side bending open you up even further to go further into these deeper backbends. Take another breath here. Back the way you came downward facing dog. From the down dog, look forward, walk or hop to the front of the mat.

Sit down wide leg fold. Get nice and long in the legs. Take a second to just get hingey through the center of the hips. From the start, let's do a little side bending over to the left leg anywhere on the leg is fine. Reach the right arm up and over.

Get a nice stretch. Maybe you go for that double bind again. Maybe the bottom hand goes inside as you stretch. Through the center. Other side, slide the hand down the right leg any amount.

Open up the left arm for the side bend. Maybe go for the double bind inside the foot outside and stretch. Keeping the other leg reaching while you go one way. Back to center. Now, you might be super open and ready to go all the way down any amount through that up to vista thinking belly to floor. Take two, three more breaths here.

Feeling those toes wrapping up to the sky. Maybe almost thinking of them going behind you, so you're working the external rotation while you're hinging forward. Feeling the joints of the hips really find all that new space. Last breath. With control slowly rising out there. And we'll lie onto our backs.

As you lie down, bring your feet flat to the floor and bring your feet as wide as the mat. Let your knees knock in and then go side to side very gently just letting that nice nuke that easy movement kind of settle the body. Taking an internal hip stretch twist here. Let both knees fall over to the right, cactus your arms, and you can stay like this or maybe take that right heel over the left knee, let the legs hang over each other, and maybe look over the opposite way. Take two or three breaths here.

Allowing the body to give up some of the effort it's put in for this class. It's always this dynamic pushing and then resting. Finish your next breath. Undue the leg if you hooked it. Come back to the middle feedback mats with distance and let the knees go the other way.

You can do the same thing, stay or hook the left ankle over the right knee. Cactus the arms again if they moved, look over the opposite way the knees are facing. And again, three or so slow releasing breaths. After your next exhale, undo your work, come back to the middle, final hug of the knees into the chest, squeeze yourself nice and tight. Happy baby as your knees come to the armpits, lift the feet up, maybe grab the outer feet.

See what's available. Deep breathe in through the nose, if you'd like, finish with an open mouth exhale. As soon as you're ready, let the legs go, let the arms go, settle in for your final rest, Shavasana corpse pose, just melt into the floor. You are more than welcome to stay here longer in the Shavasana. To finish out with me, just gently roll over to your right side and rise up to your final seat, maybe the same when you started in as a way of change looking at what's changed even though the body might feel or look the same.

Find your stillness as soon as you feel ready, soften the eyes, and just witness. Draw your hands to heart center, bow your gaze in reverence and gratitude. Thank yourself, honor your efforts. And we'll finish with a final ohm. Thank you for your practice.