Lessons

Lesson Info

Saturday AM: Breaking Habits

Welcome to Breaking Habits. In this class you'll need a block, a strap and a yoga mat. These'll be used to intensify or modify the practice. Let's begin. (inspirational music) So let's start off in virasana, just an upright hero's pose. Close your eyes and as always when we begin the practice, this being our first practice of the day, we just wanna settle in, take a moment and just be here. Don't worry about making things complicated or anything like that. You're just letting yourself be. Taking a few breaths, just let your body and your mind begin to hone in on this journey of yoga that we're about to embark on. About to find a little joy, a little challenge and a little bit of lightness through our practice this morning. Wherever you are, go ahead and exhale. And let's take a simple five breaths together here. So go and take a deep inhale. Pause. And exhale (exhales heavily). One more, just like that. Deep inhale. (inhales sharply) Pause. And exhale (exhales heavily). The next three ...

breaths we'll take in and out through the nose. So take a deep inhale. (inhales sharply) When you reach the top, drop the chin to your chest. Lift the chin and exhale. (exhales heavily) Deep inhale (inhales sharply). Chin to chest. Lift the chin and exhale. (exhales heavily) Last one, deep inhale. (inhales sharply) Chin to chest. Lift the chin and exhale. (exhales heavily) Beautiful, blink the eyes open and find your block. So if you need to adjust your seat in any way, or maybe you'd like to do this on your knees, again it's just fine, it does not matter one way or another. You can even sit back and have the toes tucked so you'd be sitting on the heels. But what you're going to do is you're gonna hold the block really close to your check. So you're gonna squeeze the block like so. So don't grip the block in any way, just crush it with your index knuckle. With your upper, outer arm bones hugging in you really keep the block close to the chest. The closer the block is to the chest, the easier it is to engage the muscles in the upper body and really feel the biceps and the triceps staying active. So we take an inhale here. On the exhale you begin to press the block out in front of you like you're throwing a chest pass in basketball. It's extending the block out, keeping the movement smooth. Trying to keep the arm muscles active. When you reach the capacity, bend the elbows, turning your arms into an L, reach the block behind your head and then begin to extend the block back as much as you can and it may not be much at all but you may notice here, me in this video you can barely see a movement, but you'll feel it energetically as you practice and slowly the block comes back to center. And the arms rest. Take an inhale. And then exhale, arms engage, block extends. (exhales heavily) Bend the elbows. Bring the elbows up above the shoulders as best you can and then reach the block as far back behind you as possible. (exhales heavily) Release to chest. Inhale to rest. (inhales sharply) Exhale, engage extend. (exhales heavily) Bend the elbows. Block goes back behind the head. Press in and extend. (exhales heavily) Relax, block comes back to the chest. Inhale for the rest. (inhales sharply) Exhale extend. (exhales heavily) Reach the, bend the elbows. Hands come over top of the elbows. Bring the elbows above the shoulders. Keep the arms engaged and then extend the block back. (exhales heavily) Release, last one. Take an inhale to rest. Really feel your arms waking up here. (inhales sharply) And then exhale, arms engage extend. (exhales heavily) Bend the elbows. Bring the elbows up close to above the shoulders as best to your ability. And then really reach the block back all you can. All your might. (exhales heavily) And release. Set your block off to the side. Bring your hands to the ground. If the toes were tucked in any way, feel free to untuck them and tap the feet a few times here. You'll notice all the engagement and awareness through your arms. Much easier now to keep your chest broad. So again we're breaking that habit of oftentimes the heart being closed or in places of strength. We want to have the ability to move the chest in any way we need. Begin a circle over the wrist, just a few times here. Kind of warming up the hands. And then from here, take the block, put it on its middle height. Bring your hands on top of the block. Bring your hands onto fists on top of the block so the arms rotate down and then you can just drop your chest towards the ground. So you're stretching out the arms a little bit here. Really feel that rotation of the arms. That's how you'll get the best work for creating space in your body. Feel your back kind of like a ski slope here. You can gently be pressing the chest down towards the floor if that's accessible to you. That would be moving the chin more towards the floor or if it just feels nice to relax and rest the forehead down that might feel like an appropriate option as well. And from there slowly release. Going to flip the block down onto the floor. Hold the block with your hands. So again, don't ever grip it. Just hole it, press the forearms down into the floor. Feel the biceps and the triceps turning on. Feel the top of the shoulder turning on. Tuck the toes, lift the knees and just walk the feet up for a casual dolphin pose hold here. Let the head hang heavy. Press the forearms down into the floor through so you're feeling that lift through the upper back body. You can bend the knees if you need to but try and get long through the hips. So you're getting longer through the spine no matter where you are. Feel the arms getting very active here. And release. Drop the knees back down. Move the block off to the side. Placing the forearms down on the ground, tuck the toes and step your body back to forearm plank. And then you'll notice here the way you naturally warm up your body right? So very often, with the way we naturally move. We move from our feet. Which means you always heat the body from the legs first. It's very common right? But right now we're breaking that habit, we're warming up the body through the arms. Notice where that takes your state of mind. See if you can hold your body here. Being active, being present and then roll to the outer edge of your right foot. And reach your left arm up to the sky. Stacking the hips. Being active through the arms and the shoulders. Feeling all that new stability that we created. When we were holding the block in the beginning of the movement. In the beginning of the practice we're gonna try and keep the index knuckle grounded down and then gently switch your sides. Now I say it gently, I'm trying to keep it casual for you in your mind of course because holding these forearm planks for a period of time does get very challenging right? But if you keep it usual, if you just control the things you can control, take a break when you need to, that's always okay. Steady here. And then bring your right forearm back to the floor. Roll onto the toes. Holding the traditional forearm plank. Doing the tailbone tuck. Stance is long, body is active. Legs engaged, heels pressing back in space. And then drop your knees to the floor. Pull back child's pose. Drop your forearms back down, pull your body through. Sphinx pose. And you can adjust, you can have your elbows right underneath the shoulders. Don't worry about straightening your arms at this point here. Just take a few breaths, mainly focusing on the articulation of the spine. So you gently drop the ribcage down and then you curve the chest up and through. Okay, and just a little bit of space. Perfect and then exhale, release. Bring your hands underneath your shoulders. Again, press back into your child's pose. Try and keep the hands where they are. Maybe walk the hands even further forward so as you sit your body weight back, you're getting a bit more of a stretch here. And then find your way onto your forearms again for forearm plank. But watch what we'll do here. So you'll really press the forearms down, very actively. And then what we'll do is we'll try and take 10 rounds of this. So you'll press the right forearm down, press the right foot down, you will lift the left arm off the ground and bring the left knee to the left arm. So this would be the full variation. Boom, and back. Then right arm boom and back. If that's too much for you, don't worry about it. Just bring the left knee up as much as you can, keeping the forearms down and then step back. Right knee up as much as you can. And then step the foot back. So yeah, modification or the intense variation. It does not matter either way, it's going to get you tired, it's going to wake up the body and that is our goal. So we'll begin going left first. So press into the right arm. Left foot lifts, left knee touches, step back. Left forearm down, right arm touch. Lift, left arm touch. Lower the hips. Lift right arm, touch, lower the hips. So the hips always return to their center position after each time you switch. Trying to control the movement as much as power through the movement. Just because it's work, doesn't mean there can't be a sense of awareness, a sense of thought behind the effort. How can you make each moment and each movement really matter to your practice. Stick with it, you only have a few more. You're probably like, at this point a few more sounds like a few too many but you can do it, don't worry about it. Even if you are getting too tired, just do the best you can. Stay with it. That's four, three, two, and one. Drop the knees to the floor. Release it back on the feet. Roll the shoulders a few times here. Feel all of that activity in the upper body. Take a moment, maybe your heart rate is up a little bit. Just gonna feel that out. And then go ahead and find your downward facing dog. So bring your hands to the floor. Press in those index knuckles and notice your shoulders. How often in your very first downward facing dog do you feel this much connection and engagement through the shoulder. Try and really create length through the spine. Then go ahead and lift the heels and bend the knees. Roll to the outer edge of the right foot, the inner edge of the left foot. Stretching the left hip up and back in space. Creating as much leg through that side of the body as possible. And then from the outer edge of the feet, really lift the hips up as much as you can. Pop onto your left fingertips and walk your left fingertips a little bit forward. So you're continuing to wrap the right tricep underneath to support you, connecting and stabilizing the shoulder. Pulling the hips up back in space. You're way up onto your left fingertips, you're lifting the hips nice and high. Elevating through the belly. And then from here, begin to move the hips forward as much as possible. And maybe you take it all the way to this awkward footed Vashistasana. Getting your shoulders very stable already from the work we did in the forearm Vashistasana. So feel the lift here. Perfect, stay as you are for just three, two. In a moment we're gonna make the journey back to downward facing dog. You can do so off two hands or one. So you could just begin to bend the knees and pull the hips back in space. Lengthen, lengthen, lengthen, lengthen, lengthen, left hand then lands and you roll onto the toes. Switching your side, lift the heels, bend the knees, tilt the tailbone up then roll to the outer edge of the left foot, the inner edge of the right foot. Stretching your side body a good bit. Really working through the legs. Press the index knuckle down. As much as you can. Press down through the left hand so actively that it's natural for you to rise up onto your right fingertips and watch this as you walk that right hand forward all of a sudden you'll feel the right side body getting just a little bit longer. Bit more depth in the stretch and then gently begin to smooth the hips forward as much as you would like. Shifting towards your Vashistasana with the awkward foot position. What that allows you to do is actually spin the heart up to the sky, just a little bit more. You're opening up here just a touch. Really getting as long as you can. Through the front and the back body. Creating side bending articulation though the spine. Hold for three, for two, then on one begin to pull the hips way up and back. You can have both hands down or just one hand down on the ground working your side shoulder. Strengthening and then gently bring your right hand back to the floor. Feeling all that new coordination and connection. You're more engrossed in the body, life the right leg up but on the exhale just step the right foot forwards to the right thumb as it lands. Gently drop the left knee down. Inhale, twist and reach your right arm up to the sky. And then on your exhale, bring your right hand down to the floor. Hop up onto the fingertips. Tuck the left toes, lifting the left knee. Reach the chest out long for your belly lifting into the space. To help keep your back long. Right, so often it's easy to get short in the back here. Can you keep the chest lifted to the best of your ability? While still playing the left leg as active and as connected as you need it to be? From here gently set the left knee down. Walk the hands back as you sit towards your left heel. Lift the left knee off the ground. So the left knee is lifted and then from here, see if you can lift the right foot off the ground. So the right foot is lifted and your hands are down. You can stay here or of course, you can always flirt with the balance lifting one hand. Maybe lifting two hands and again, if your balance is a little off today, doesn't matter. But maybe you'll find that sweet spot and then set the right foot down, step forward, rising and pulling the left knee into the chest. Stand up tall, get as long as you can. Hold the left knee for a moment. Lift it up as much as possible. Lifting the belly and then reach the left foot out in front of you. Just trying to hold here. Flex the toes or point your toes, whatever feels best to you. Perfect and then standing splits. As you fold over the right leg, gently melting down to the floor. Letting the heart drop a bit towards the shin. Controlling the movement. And then bend the right knee. Lean the heart forward, press the palms down, lean the chest out and step the right foot back to blank. Lower to Chaturanga. Rise to plank, drop to knee. Sit the hips back to the floor and move lower. And then you'll curve into upward facing dog. And exhale all the way back into downward facing dog. Inhale, lift the left left up to the sky. On the exhale, the left knee to the ribcage, step the left foot forward with the left arm. Good, drop the right knee down, gently twist and lift the left arm up to the sky. Opening the chest, leaning up, bring your gaze up towards your left thumb. Breathing, just enjoy the nice open there and then gently close yourself off. Left hand comes to the floor. Tuck the right toes, lift the right knee up. Play the right toes so actively that it's easy for you to get long through the chest, reaching forward. See if you can keep the belly moving away from the top of the leg. Perfect, and again even if you're barely on the tips of your fingertips, close your eyes maybe for a moment and just breathe in to the lower back. Into the mid back, are they as long as they can be? And then gently drop the right knee down. Slowly begin to walk your hands back towards your right foot, lifting your right knee off the ground. The right toes are tucked. Just like you did on the first side. You lift the left foot up this time. Try and float a hand, maybe it's the right hand first. Working on your stability. Maybe then it's the left hand. And then you're just finding this little awkward balance here and then step the left foot down. Drop the right knee down. Don't let your hands touch the floor, pull the right knee up into the chest. Get long and tall here. Really focus on the core lifting. Long lower back right? Breaking the habit of rounding. We wanna get out of that posture that we all so naturally live in from sitting in chairs so often. Catch the right knee, pull it up to the chest more. Press into the left heel as much as you can so you're really stretching the hip flexor here on the left side. And then extend the right foot forward out in front of you. Lifting through the right foot as much as you can. Lifting through the belly. Keep lifting the right foot higher, higher, higher. Challenge yourself and then sweep the right foot back as you fold over the left leg. Mini bend in the knee if you need to to move into standing split. Gently letting the body shift down towards the floor. Letting the heart move towards the front of the shin. Get active through the right foot. Lifting up as high as you can while keeping the hips square. And then slowly the hands come to the floor so you bend the left knee, step the right foot back. You find your plank pose, lower to Chaturanga. Rise back up to plank. Drop the knees to the floor. Drop the forearms to the floor. Inhale, pull into upward facing dog. And exhale right back into downward facing dog. Breathing into your down dog, and again, just feel the new engagement in the legs so you're more aware, your body's starting to feel a bit more part of the practice, starting to just have a nice, general vibe to your yoga experience. Lift the right leg up. On the exhale, the right knee to the rib cage and you gently begin to step forward, right foot to right thumb. Drop the left knee down. Inhale, reach the right arm. We're gonna move through the same progression of movement. On the exhale, the right hand comes down. The left knee lifts, the chest extends, the heart reaches forwards as much as you can. Just breathe into your spine, into this light feeling, gently drop the left knee down. Slowly begin to walk the hands back. Lifting the left knee up off the ground first. Then lifting the right foot up off the ground. Maybe lift the left hand. Maybe it's a little easier to flirt with this balance right now, the second time around. Maybe it's harder. Just imagine you're on a tightrope, let it be fun. Find a little bit of joy. A little bit of engagement and life in this challenge. Set the right foot down, don't use your hands. Set the left knee down. Rise up, pulling the left knee into the chest. Lifting through the midsection. Catch the knee, lift it up. Press actively into the right heel. Try and get as long as you can through the spine. And then extend the left leg forward. Notice if you're leaning back when that happens again. Break the habit, don't worry about the aesthetic. Instead, worry about the feeling. Let every little part of this matter to you. Sweep down and through into your standing split. Maybe you don't let the hands touch the ground to the very last moment. And then you press up and enjoy the active stretch. You're really feeling it out. Then the right knee, palms are flat. Step the left foot back. Plank pose, the right foot joins. Lower Chaturanga, rise plank. Knees drop, hips sit back, forearms lower. Inhale, come on into upward facing dog. And exhale all the way back downward facing dog. Inhale, lift the left leg up. On the exhale, left knee to the ribcage. Step the left foot forward to the left thumb. Drop the right knee down. A gentle opening of the heart as you reach through the left hand. On your exhale the left hand is down. Tuck the right toes, lift the right knee, reach the chest forward. Loading the front hip but reaching through the skull. Feel the pads of the fingertips supporting you here as much as they need to be and then gently drop the right knee down. Walk your hands back towards the right foot as you gently sit back on the heel, lifting the knee. Lift the left foot. Lift the right hand. Lift the left hand, you float. Pretend you're walking on a tightrope. You're balancing. You're visualizing the small point of nature on your yoga mat that you're just kind of surfing around in. You're feeling the instability or the stability in the instability. Set the left foot down, let the right knee drop. Press into the left heel, pull the right knee up to the chest. Get tall, elevate through the core. Right, as long as you can in your spine, catch the right shin, pull it up into the heart. As much as you can. Feel the right heel elevating away from the floor. Feel the left heel grounding you, keeping you centered. Keeping you connected and then release the right leg as you reach it forward. Notice your lower back intact. Maybe bring a hand to your lower back for integrity. For clarity, for purpose in holding the position. Again, don't worry about how high the foot is. Look at mine, it's not very high at all. You have the range of motion to lift of course. You're lifting, you're giving it everything you can but it does not matter how high the foot gets. Bend the left knee as you gently fold over the left shin finding your standing split. Again, maybe taking your time before you let the hands land. Then moving in to your full expression of the posture. Taking a few breaths. Allowing yourself to just be here. Don't be in a rush to think of the next place or how hard or how successful you were on the one footed balance. Bend the left knee, step the right foot back, you're gonna step the left foot back to plank. Lower to Chaturanga, rise into plank. Drop the knees, drop the forearms, inhale, curve the chest out in front of you. Lift the heart. And neck tilt all the way back downward facing dog. Beautiful work, gently drop both forearms to the floor at the same time and you're back in dolphin pose. We're back in our awareness through the shoulder stability. Pressing the index knuckles down. And take a moment here, curve the chest out so you're looking at your thumbs. Activate the arms and then see if you can bring your chin out to touch the mat. By the hands. When you get there, press the forearms down, lift the chin away. Step the feet in closer. Press the palms down, the chin is moving towards the mat by the hands. And then press the forearms down and moving the body away. Step the feet in closer, last one. Give it all you got. Chest goes forward, chin goes to floor. Forearms press down, hips go up. Knees drop down. Feet drop down. Sit back, deep inhale and exhale, release. (exhales heavily) Perfect, take a moment here. Locate your strap. From the location of the strap, just put it in your left or right hand. It really doesn't matter to be honest with you. Rise up onto your knees. Make sure you have a good amount of mat space in front of you so if you need to scoot back for whatever reason, of course do. Then we wanna step the right foot forward first. Now for me we're going to hook the left foot with the strap. If it's easier for you to hook it going to the left, feel free. I personally recommend putting the strap in the right hand because when you search back and catch the foot, it's actually a more natural movement for the knee to come or to bring the left foot over to the right side to catch the strap. Then we'll bring the arms up. Overhead so notice that rotation of the arm. It's a big sweeping rotation that allows the arms and the elbows to point up towards the sky. You usually catch the strap here with both hands in the middle but I want us to do today instead is have our arms be a bit more independent. So you're gonna keep the right hand on the right and the left hand on the left and just try to kick in to the strap with the left foot. Wrapping the triceps in just a touch so as you kick back, you're opening the outer arms. Lift the belly, lift the chest, breathing in. And you're here for just a few more breaths. So where can you create your space? Notice if your hands are coming middle. Mine definitely did there. See if you can keep them separate and just notice how although it's a bit more challenging, it's actually creating a bit more opening, a bit more space. Just really work to control those elbows and release. Take a moment. Sit in kind of like this effortless half split. Just be lazy for a second. Everything we've done up to this point has been incredibly engaging right? Moving at a nice controlled slow pace but incredibly engaging. Slowly begin to bring your right foot back where you started. And then switch your side. So the left foot will come forward. Alright, move to a nice place that feels comfortable for you for pressing the hips forward. And again, like I said before, it's easier for me to catch the foot when I have the strap in the opposite hand. So left (laughs) so left hand, so left hand to right foot. Boom, but it may be easier for you to go right. Doesn't matter to me either way but essentially what we're trying to get to is just right here. Keeping the straps in independent hands. So you have one for each. Wrap the arms in a bit. Feel space through the shoulders so they're not coming up into the neck and then begin to kick and lift. Opening, opening, opening. Alright, and in the beginning it's very easy to think about the hands coming together. Right, try and keep the shoulders or try and keep the, try and keep the elbows right over the shoulders but as you find that, then begin to separate the hands. Everybody see if you can lift the chest. As you walk the hands down the strap just enough right, to find the stretch that feels best to you. And again you're not just working for your biggest range of motion or your biggest flexibility here. You're working for feeling, working for the opening through the shoulders, through the upper outer arms. Alright, trying to really create a new sense of space and awareness there. And release. (exhales heavily) And again, sit into our lazy half splits for a moment. Let yourself just be. And then release and switch your side. So we'll do it just one more time on each side. Right foot comes forward. Press the hip out and you'll notice there'll be a bit more freedom, a bit more space in the hip here. And again, there's nothing that says this needs to be a monstrous back bend or anything that's your biggest range of motion. You're just trying to feel your body entering this bit of isolated shoulder stretching combining it with opening the front body, lifting the core to really help you articulate the spine through the front body opening. Begin to kick back and lift the chest. Open the front, move from the outer arms, the upper outer arms near your armpits. Think about the armpits closing as much as you can. Active through the biceps, reaching the arms back in space. Think similar to that block work we were doing in the beginning. This time you just have a leg to help channel the engagement of opening, instead of the engagement of control. And release. Sitting in the lazy half split. Taking a moment. And then moving on to your next side. So the right leg comes back. The left leg goes forward. Last round here, so really give it all that you have. Loop that foot in the strap. Feel some squaring of the hips. Find a good catch with the arms. Upper outer arms come in. Belly button lifts, kick and lift. Lift the chest, reach through the arms. Open the front body up. Try and keep the hands separate and try to keep them at shoulder widths distance apart. Elevate the front body. You're here for five. For four, three two and on one. Release. Gently undo the strap as you sit into your casual half splits for a moment. Just moving any work away from the body. And then step the left foot back. Move your strap off to the side. And find downward facing dog. Press into the palms, lift the hips up and back for a moment. Then again just to recenter the body we'll take just a light variation of a Sun A. So lift the heels, bend the knees and you get a bit of movement going and walk or float to the top. Inhale to halfway lift, exhale to fold, inhale to rise up, reach the arms up. Let the fingers touch and then exhale. Bring the hands right at the heart center. Inhale, reach the arms up. And just notice how that feels. How much different it is, exhale fold over the legs. Inhale to halfway lift. Exhale, hands to the mat, vinyasa, skip it down dog. Stay with your flow, stay with your breath. Find a little bit more in each pose that you take. A little bit more joy. A little bit more human, a little bit humble sense of yourself right? You're connecting with yourself each time you take a posture. We'll take one more of these As so go ahead and lift the heels, bend the knees, on the exhale go ahead and float your way to the top of the mat of course. Step if you would like. Inhale to halfway lift. Exhale to fold. Inhale to rise, reach your arms up. Let the fingers touch and then exhale hands. Right to heart center, inhale reach the arms up. Exhale fold down. Inhale through a Uttanasana. Exhale hands to the mat. Vinyasa or step back. And staying with your breath. Perfect, when we get back to downward facing dog just go ahead and drop your forearms to the floor. Dolphin pose. So holding your dolphin here. You could step your feet up closer, really stacking the hips over the shoulders to the best of your ability. If you know it and you want to feel free to take forearm balance. But if not, again don't worry about it. Just hold your dolphin. Feel the new space in your shoulders alright. We just open up the shoulders and we opened up the front body. Now you're just re-stabilizing or taking this opportunity to find a balance. Enjoy your efforts wherever they are. Enjoy the ease wherever you find it. Play the balance of your front and your back body. And slowly release, come on down. Sit back into your child's pose. Let your body relax for a moment there. Find a calm sense of yourself. Find a quiet awareness of the practice and everything you've done to this point. Feel your arms ignited, feel your shoulders ignited. And then jump right back into your downward facing dog. Inhale, lift the left leg up. On the exhale, left knee to the rib cage. Sweep the left foot forward to the left thumb. Let the foot land. Inhale, rise up into lunge. Reach your arms to the sky. Ground in to the left heel and then pull the right knee up into the chest. Extend the right foot out in front of you. Get long through the spine. Wrap the right leg over top of the left. Sit the hips low, wrap the right arm underneath the left, finding your eagle pose. Reach through the elbows, take the inhale getting tall. And on the exhale follow the elbows down to the outside of the right leg. Try and stabilize your hips here. Lift the arms back up enough, unwrap the right leg, reaching the right foot back. Warrior three with the eagle arms. Bend the left knee, step the right foot back. Drop the right knee down. Lift the elbows up to the sky, opening and then exhale, release the arms. Palms find the floor and step the left foot right back into your downward facing dog. Inhale, roll forward to the plank pose. Lower to Chaturanga, rise to plank. Exhale, knees to floor, hips sit back 'til the form's lower and you'll pull the chest through. Upward facing dog. Head tilt all the way back into your downward facing dog. Inhale the right leg lift. Exhale the right knee to the ribcage, step the right foot forward to the right thumb. Inhale, rise into lunge. Getting long through the arms. On the exhale, pull the left knee to the chest getting long and tall. Stand the left foot out in front of you. Wrap the left leg around the right leg. Sitting the hips low, wrapping the left arm underneath the right arm. Lifting the elbows up. On the exhale drop the elbows down to the outside of the right leg. Good, inhale lift the arms up enough, unwrap the left leg, reach the left foot back in space. Challenge your balance, it's okay if it's wobbly. Bend the right knee, stepping the left foot back. Dropping the left knee down, lift the arms up to the sky as much as you can. On the exhale unwrap the arms. The hands find the floor. The palms go down and you step the right foot back in space. Inhale, lift the left leg up. On the exhale left knee to the ribcage. Roll the left foot forward to land by the left thumb. Rise into lunge, grow from the core. Reach the arms up, getting long, getting tall. On exhale press the left heel down, bring the right leg with you. Reach the foot out, take the inhale here. On the exhale wrap the right leg around the left. Sit the hips low, right arm under left. Elbows lift up, arms fold down. Beautiful, arms lift up, warrior three with the eagle arms. Right leg extends back. Bend the left knee, step the right foot back. Knee lowers, elbows lift. Arms release, reaching up to reach down. Palms land flat, step the left foot back to downward facing dog. Roll forward to plank pose. Lower to Chaturanga. Rise to plank, knees drop, hips sit back, forearms lower. Inhale, curve your body forward, upward facing dog. Exhale, all the way back. Downward facing dog. The last time through, inhale. Lift the right leg up to the sky. Right knee to chest, sweeping the right foot forward. Land it gently. Find your lunge, reach the arms up. Press into your right heel. Pull the left knee into the chest, squeezing it in. Reach the left foot out in front of you. Perfect, wrap the left leg over the right. Sit the hips low, having tension through your fingers until the wrap happens. The elbows lift, the arms fold down. Reaching the chest out. Find a gaze, lifting the elbows up, pull the left knee with you as you reach the left foot back. Warrior three with the eagle arms. Standing through the fingers, then bend the right knee. The left foot lands back as the knee lowers. Hands reach up and back behind you. Release the arms. The hands come down, step the right foot back to down dog. Left leg lifts, left knee to ribcage. Sweep and step the left foot forward inbetween the hands. From the core, rise up to lunge. Reach the arms, let the fingers plug into the ceiling which allows you to pull the right knee into the chest standing on the left foot and extend the right heel out in front of you. Integrity in the spine. Lift through the toes, wrap the right leg over left. Wrap the right arm underneath the left. Sit low, lift the arms up high. Drop the arms down. Reaching the chest forward. Perfect effort. Lifting the elbows up away from the right knee. Pull the right knee to the chest as you reach it back. Eagle arms, warrior three. One last time, I know it's tough but you can do it. Bend the left knee, stepping the right foot back. Drop the right knee down, lift the elbows up and release the arms. The palms come flat, sweep the left foot back to down dog. Inhale, roll forward to plank pose. Lower to Chaturanga. Rise to plank, knees drop, hips sit back, forearms lower. Then you'll pull into upward facing dog and exhale right back into downward facing dog. Child's pose, drop the knees down, sit back on the feet. Take a moment to just rest. Here, if you would like, you can rise up and take a forearm balance or hold dolphin pose. Any variation of forearm balance is good or stay as you are in the child's pose. No sweat either way. We'll be here for just about 10 more breaths so you do have time. If you're like, well I'd like to stay in child's pose for a moment but then I feel like giving the forearm balance a go. And in your forearm balance really feel engagement through the index knuckle. That's gonna help you wake up the biceps. That's gonna help you lift through the upper outer arms. Which we've been opening so much in this class right? We're breaking the habit of that bad body posture. Instead we're to trying to find a posture that allows us to present ourselves into the world with power and grace. Not a slouching posture, not a timid posture. Not a posture from too much text messaging. Too much typing on the keyboard but one that really helps you see the world around you. Be an active participant in your life. Gently lower. Everything to the floor, wherever you are. Rise up to a seat on your toes, locate your strap, bring it somewhere near you and then just sit back to lift the knees off the ground. And then drop the heels down, rise up to stand. We're gonna take Natarajasana and dancer's pose. You can do so with the strap like king dancer. If you're warmed up enough to flip your grip by all means feel free. But you're just gonna take what feels best to you at this moment. So I will take the king dancer variation. Step strongly into the right foot. We'll bring the strap into the left hand and we'll bend the left knee first essentially. All you need to do to loop, this is plain and simple. Strap in right hand strap in left hand, step on the strap in the middle and then from here you catch it with the left hand open out to the side and then the rotation just naturally happens as you bring the left arm up. If you want you can catch both sides of the strap like we were doing before, trying to keep the hands at least independent. May come a bit more middle here but really feel the upper outer arms connecting and then just begin to kick back and lift the chest up. Kick back, lift through the chest, reach through the elbows. Think about your humerous bone, that's the bone between your elbow and your armpit. Your elbow and your shoulder that gets, that we're trying to lengthen. So think about that getting longer and longer while your shoulders stay on your back body. Lifting up and away, opening through the heart. And release. Take a moment here to shake out your legs and then switch your side. So press into the strap with the right foot. You'll stand in the left foot. Of course you'll catch the foot with the right hand whether you're doing the normal Natarajasana or the full king dancer with the flipping of the grip. Rotation through the arms and again I strongly recommend catching the straps independently instead of just walking down one main strap with the hands. It just feels a bit better through the shoulders in my opinion. But again, you have to find your own of course. Stand into left foot. Begin to breathe and take the action. If you're taking any variation of the king dancer, don't feel like you need the heart forward. Think about articulating the spine, feeling the upper body taller and creating more space through the body. Upper outer arms wrapped in just a bit. Think about closing the armpit, think about kicking back through the right foot. Lifting, lifting, lifting, lifting and then release. Let everything go. Take a moment, let the arms shake out. Let the legs shake out. Perfect, one final round on each side. So catch the strap. Press the right foot down, press the left foot down. Loop your body up. Open in your space. And when you're ready, begin to kick, begin to lift, begin to move. And release, try and comes out. Try to come out of it as, try to come out of it as easy as possible. It's very easy to get clumsy towards the end of a practice or when using a prop. But remember, just take your time with it. Don't rush it and it's okay to laugh at yourself every once in awhile if you do something that's rather clumsy. Switch your side. Getting to walk on the strap as much as you can. When you find the limitation of your flexibility then catch the sides of the straps independently. So right's on one and the left's on the other. Begin to lift and kick back, last time. Opening the heart. Feeling the bottom tips of the shoulder blades picking up the chest. Kicking back with a bit of vigor. And release. Set the strap off to the side. We're done with that. Take a moment, close your eyes. Just let your arms hang heavy. And then slowly rise onto your toes to sit to the backs of your achilles tendons. The lightest and gentlest way to bring your knees to the floor. Set your forearms down on the ground one more time for the dolphin pose or the forearm balance. Again feel this new sense of space in your body. Grounding through your forearms. And maybe if your habit is to never try forearm balance maybe you move your mat closer to the wall for the next couple minutes and you take a few rounds of kicking up, shifting the hips over the shoulders right. Changing the perspective. Changing what you normally do. You have the space you have the strength. If you're upside down take a moment to rest. If you're using the wall and you found a little bit of success, maybe stay with it right? You're exploring new opportunities, you're breaking past something that maybe limited you before. Maybe a limit of fear, maybe a limit of space or strength or confidence in the body. But now you have that awareness. Now you have that capability. All you need to is to trust and especially with forearm balance thinking about moving as slowly as possible. And moving gently from the hips. Moving with lightness, moving with ease. One more round for the forearm balance. If you're playing at the wall or if you're in the middle of the room but if you prefer to rest, just take a moment. This round will not be as long. Palms go flat. Forearms go flat. Keep the hands at shoulder widths distance. Really press the index knuckle down. Let that be your point of emphasis, your point of space. Sweep your way up. I'm just gonna be steady, be clear. Be kind to yourself right? So if this is hard for you, be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up if you're not having success. Don't inflate yourself if you are. It's just a yoga pose. It's only as important as it is to you in this moment of time. Don't make it more than it needs to be. Wherever you are, sit back on the feet. Roll your shoulders back, bind the hands behind your back. Chase the ground behind you, lift the heart up. Come to center, shift the hips forward. Set up for one round of camel pose. Bring the thumbs to the rib cage, lift the heart. Lift the heart, reach the hands back, maybe the backs of the legs is your place. Maybe you lean back more, maybe you find the feet. Maybe when you find the feet you can press the hips forward. Stretching and opening the chest a bit. Release. Gently sweep on to your back. Sitting your but down, moving your legs forward and we'll take one back bend. From the back being on the floor. So whether that's bridge or wheel it's your choice. But either way, set the hands, set the feet. It'll be one single long round. Press the palms down. Ground through the heels, take the inhale and on the exhale you rise. (exhales heavily) You rise, you move the heart back in space. You lift through the hips. Feel the insides of the legs rolling down. Not gonna be here for too much longer so a maximum amount of awareness, a maximum amount of effort. Breathing in. Not pushing yourself or forcing anything but just giving what you can. And lower. (exhales heavily) Let your arms drop to the side, they're probably exhausted. Step your feet far for a moment, let your knees knock into the middle. Happy baby pose. For our efforts today, catch the heels on the inside. Just will make it a bit easier in terms of the effort. Pull down gently. More importantly maybe just press up with the heels. Finding the action of counter action. From the work of the yoga practice, so much push motion, this just allows a gentle amount of pull motion. The legs creating a pull on the arms. And then if you want here, please feel free to straighten the leg. Maybe straighten the right leg, bend the left a bit. And straighten the left, bend the right a bit. And just switch sides one more time. Straighten the right, bending the left. Straighten the left, bend the right. Come back to your happy baby. Gently roll forward. Finding your seat, scoot back on your mat just so your body will stay on it. Extend the right leg out and commonly for Janusirsasana the left food would be the inside of the right leg but instead we'll take the opposite here. So the left foot will come back behind you. Ensure the left foot presses down. Right leg stays straight and you just fold over. Again, moving away from common habits. Just allow your body to relax here. Melting down in this nice, isolated hamstring stretch. So just in case you're confused, it's an internal, a slight internal rotation of the left leg. The right leg is straight, the left foot is back near the but. Allow your heart to just reach forward a bit. And then lift out, roll onto the right side. Swing the left leg forward. Roll onto the left hip, then the right knee, bringing the foot back behind you. Straightening the left leg and then just fold over the top. Allow your body to reach out. To grow out of the tight space. Calming your mind down, calming your body down. You've completed the effort of the practice. So right now you're just finding the quiet sense. Lift back up. Gently swing the right leg forward. One final Paschimottanasana and don't let it be filled with effort. So maybe you can just drop forward over the legs. Don't even need to grab the feet if you don't want to. Use this as an introverted closing off posture. Try and keep your spine long. Maybe just cross the arms on top again. Anything you want to do here is good. We drop the face down into the arms. Just finding this nice sense of closure, this nice sense of peace, nice sense of ease. And then on your next inhale lift your body up and move right onto your back for Shavasana. And as you lay on your back, take in your final moments of engaged and aware and fully present, fully controlled breathing. You just wanna think about the habits that you have in your life. Wanna think about, what habits serve you, what habits bring you joy, what habits bring you self love, compassion, self-care and then you wanna think about what habits that you have that are self-destructive. Habits that maybe build walls around the path that you're trying to create or the path that you're trying to walk in your life. How can you find a way to move away from those habits? How can you find a way to be more present with your needs? 'Cause when you figure out your own needs and the essence of your own being, you figure out how to take care of yourself and once you figure out how to take care of yourself and how to have self love and self compassion it becomes much easier to find compassion and empathy for other people. But it starts with you. Everything starts with your own being because to yourself you are the center of the world. You are your own world. Your perspectives create the world that you live in. Your perceptions create the world you interact with. So take the time, using these yoga poses practicing them in a different way, in a different order. It allows you to gain self knowledge when you begin to connect with that self knowledge. It's going to open you up to new potential, to new possibilities. It's gonna open you up to being more kind to yourself and to others, to the environment, to random situations that come up in your life. You're gonna have that sense of kindness because you have that sense of trust, confidence and compassion for yourself. Putting yourself in situations that you wanna live in, that you wanna thrive in, that you wanna be a part of. And then you become part of something more, part of something bigger than the self. But first that takes the time and the awareness to really take the hard look, to really give what you have into this journey of self discovery. Feel free to stay in Shavasana for as long as you'd like. Thank you for joining for this first class of the day, namaste.