Welcome Yogis! This class is going to get into the side body and in doing so it's allowing us to open up. What are we opening up to? The possibilities of this new year and to our own power.
Recognizing that we are these powerful beings so we're gonna tap into that. Alright let's start off in a child's pose. Big toes together, stretch your arms out, let your forehead come down.
Do a little check-in with your presence. Noticing where your attention wants to go, what you're most aware of, recognizing that power is what we are, and we at any moment can access it by choosing to do so. Make that choice to access your power via your breath.
Arms stretch out in front. And hands walk to the right off the mat. So it's up to you to really create a deeper stretch here. I like to press the palm down, shift into the left hip, and try to move the ribcage toward the thigh.
At the same time, my outer armpit kind of rolls down toward the mat. Take another deep breath. And all the way over to the left.
Same thing. I press down into right palm. Shift into right hip.
Right ribs toward right thigh. Outer armpit toward the floor. Deep breath here.
Come around to center, slowly calling the hands back onto the thighs, sitting up nice and tall because how we sit is how we live. How are you sitting? How are you kneeling? How are you present in every moment? That's going to reflect what we're doing with our power.
Take the right arm out, left arm overhead, side body stretch. Inhale coming slow through center. Exhale over to the left. Coming back around now, forward into the tabletop. Just explore the parts of your body that need more awareness.
Where can you fill up with more energy? Where can you become more aligned? Find those spaces that are tight.
Just move into it, circle the head, stretch the neck. We're just going to extend the right leg straight, keep the toes down on the ground so you're driving your heel back as you press into your hands. We'll lift the right foot up and step it behind. Look over your left shoulder.
I love this stretch on the outer right hip. This is a little bit tricky now. You're going to take that right foot all the way out to the right so your foot is aligned with your knee.
You're going to crawl your hands off the left side of your mat, reach over with the right hand. Back around the center now. Table top, right knee in, left leg extends back.
Stretch your calf. With the left foot up and step it across and behind looking over your right shoulder. Take that left foot all the way off the left side of your mat.
Walk your hands to the right. So your right hand, right knee, left foot are aligned as you reach overhead for your side body stretch. Come back around to center.
Finding a tabletop. Sending energy up through the crown. Go ahead and curl your toes and press back into a bear pose.
Feel your ribs move to your thighs, tailbone to the side, chin to the chest. Stretch them out. Now come forward into a plank, maybe a little bit short of a plank.
That's okay. Lower your knees, your chin, and your chest. Now press the pubic bone down as you come up into cobra.
Exhale, sit back, forehead to the mat. Left hand reaches back, grab that foot, rise up, push the hips, look over the left shoulder. Exhale, sit back, right hand right front, forehead to the mat.
Inhale, look over your right shoulder, left arm comes across from the stretch. Exhale to the forehead. The back of your hands are on the mat, slide your hands forward as you rise up. Inhale, thumbs reaching back. Exhale, child's pose.
Stretch. as far as you can, come through to a tabletop, and then exhale to a bear pose. Come forward, inhale nice and slow.
Chin and chest up. Melt the pelvis. Inhale, chest up.
Exhale, sit back. Left hand, left foot. Inhale, rise.
Exhale, sit back. Inhale, exhale. Both hands drag up, inhale. Bow down, exhale.
Come through the crown, inhale, table. Exhale, bear pose. Continue that flow.
Inhale, exhale, knees, chin and chest. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, sit back. hand reaches in, inhale breath, exhale, inhale up, exhale, drag the hands, inhale, bow down, exhale.
Inhale through the crown. This time exhale downward facing dog. Pedal it out.
Bend one knee. Spin the heels over the side to lengthen the side body. Move it from left to right.
You can pause or stop if you like. Just slowly start to walk all the way to the top. Step your feet as wide as you need.
And then this is time to listen to your own body. We're always listening to get some feedback. What is it that you need? You can grab the elbows. You can stretch the head.
You can reach for a bind. You can twist from left to right. Lots of options here.
We'll bring the feet in, heel to toe. When we inhale, expand, reach back both hands. Exhale, fold in half. Inhale, rise, and expand. Now the left foot is going to step behind, and we're going to reach the left arm overhead.
Come to center, inhale. Exhale, right foot, right arm overhead. Come back up, inhale.
And then as you exhale, fold forward. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, chaturanga.
Inhale, up dog or cobra. Exhale, down dog. Maybe you want to shake some energy. Pulse the heels up and down.
Find that release, that balance. And then bend and hop to the top. Reach back. Inhale, expand. Exhale, fold.
Inhale, rise. Left foot's going to step. Exhale, run.
Strong through center. Inhale. Exhale, right foot behind. Come back up. Inhale.
Full forward exhale. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, chakram. Inhale, up dog cobra.
Exhale down. Let's shake out. One more round. Hop to the top.
Inhale, reach. Exhale, fold. Inhale, rise.
Left foot steps. Exhale, rise. Inhale, exhale.
Inhale, come up. Exhale, fold. Inhale, half lift.
Exhale, try to run back. Inhaling up. Exhale, down. Just move into some stillness now.
Deep breaths in and out. Right leg's going to lift. Try to bring it one more inch higher.
Now, ground your left heel down, bend the knee and circle around. Find that anchor to create movement. Exhale, stepping to right thumb. Run the slung. Lower the back knee.
Left foot firmly pressing down as we reach up. On to the other side. Exhale. Reach the right hand toward the floor and lean to the right. You may not touch like me.
That's fine. Inhale, right hand high. Exhale into half splits. Forehand reaching toward the toes. Coming forward, crescent pose.
Back toes, we rise. Navel point towards spine. Filling up the pose with your body. Filling up your body with the breath. Lower the left hand.
Exhale, warrior two. Reverse the warrior, stretch back, side body, lengthen, be in your body, feel the entire pose. Exhale, extend inside ankle. Reaching forward, lengthening out, grounding down to the outer edge of back foot.
Inhale, stretch it all the way back. Reverse triangle. Draw the left shoulder back to really get into the side body. Inhale again. Exhale, Chaturanga.
Inhaling up, exhale step. Left leg inhale, bend the knee and ground the right heel down. Then you have that anchor in a circle. Exhale step left thumb, lower right knee.
On jnanaasana, right foot pressing as we reach. Left fingertips down, leaning to the left. Inhale, reach up again.
Exhale, straighten the legs, half splits, heart forward. Shifting forward, curling toes, inhale, rise, crescent pose. Pull the ribs in, straighten the back leg, active, strong, filling up the pose with the body, filling up the body with the breath. Exhale, warrior two, back foot flat.
Reverse side body stretch. Feel the entire body, from the feet to the head. Exhale, come forward, extend. Working on rooting through that back foot to lengthen out.
Reverse triangle, inhale. Exhale, bringing it to the mat. Chugging up this other mat.
Inhaling up. Exhale, step. Alright, here we go. Into the flow.
Right leg inhale. Exhale, step. Lower the knee.
Inhale, under the elbow. Both hands up. Exhale, right hand down, knee into the right. Inhale, right hand high.
Exhale, straight leg. Inhale, Crescent Lunge coming up. Exhale, Warrior II. Inhale, Reverse Warrior.
Exhale, Extended Side. Inhale, Reverse Triangle. Exhale, Charm.
Inhale, up dog cobra. Exhale, down, left leg inhale. Exhale, step.
Lower the knee. Inhale, en jace. Exhale, left hand down, knee left. Inhale, left hand back. Exhale, straighten leg.
Inhale, crescent pose, right. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, reverse to warrior. Exhale, side angle. Inhale, reverse triangle.
Exhale, chaturanga. inhale up exhale down right leg inhale exhale step Anjaneyasana inhale exhale lean inhale reach exhale straighten inhale crescent rise exhale warrior two inhale reverse exhale side Inhale, stretching back. Exhale to the mat. Inhale, up.
Exhale, down. Left leg, inhale. Exhale.
Lower the knee. Inhale, on your chest. Exhale, side stretch.
Inhale. Exhale, straighten back. Inhale, crescent pose.
Exhale, we're in two. Inhale, reverse. Exhale, side.
Inhale, reverse triangle. Exhale, shotter up. Inhale, up. Exhale, down.
Pause, stop, breathe, take a drink. Harnessing our energy, commanding our presence, accessing the greatest resource through us as human beings, our power, a prana-armed life force energy. Downward facing dog. Let's keep moving into the side body, opening up, opening ourselves up to ourselves.
Yes, right leg inhale, right knee, left elbow. Can you get it all the way up to touch and then extend? Now, back heel goes down as the left hand reaches forward.
Feel the left side body because that's what you're going to be feeling for the next couple minutes. Left hand to the mat. Right leg goes back. Exhale, step between the hands, and reverse your warrior with a half wrap.
Straighten the front leg and come into triangle pose. First things first, that right shoulder wants to come in. Let's move it back, opening up the chest, and then reaching the left hand. Turn the palm forward and begin to extend. Now imagine that I'm grabbing your left wrist and pulling you so much that left foot wants to come up.
Really press down into the back foot. Inhale, rise, turn to the side, hands come on the thighs. Goddess, nice and soft, sensuous movement, allowing the hips and the knees, the spine and the shoulders to really experience being in this space. Hands to heart center.
Knees are pushing out, so the arches lift, tailbone down, front ribs, belly in, shoulders relaxed, heart up, close the eyes, breathe. Now simply shift into that left knee, right leg straightening. So I want to ball my foot. It's easier for me to transition.
Place the right hand back and take a seat. Plop your butt down. Right hand, left ankle, left arm over reach.
Remember, the goal of the pose is to reach for a stretch, not reach for the foot necessarily. This transition can get a little tricky as you sit up. Left hand behind you.
So I'm looking over my left shoulder because that's the direction I'm going to go. That's counterclockwise. The feet, you're going to be pivoting.
So as I come around, I pivot on the ball of the back foot and the front heel. Ball of back foot, front heel. As I come around the end of the outer edge of the back foot, the left foot is flat, reaching over with the left hand.
So you're at the back of your mat with your right hand, left arm is reaching side body of the left. Bow and why, the same way you came, come all the way around, around, around, around, around, around to the front of your mat. And then set your back foot flat for the warrior one.
Reach behind, make a bind, and bow. Don't just let those be words for you. What does it mean to bow?
What are you bowing to? How about the greatest authentic version of you? That's who you should bow to. Straight leg and rise.
We're going to take the left arm and eagle wrap it over the right. Take the left leg and come over the top. Garuda.
It never matters if you get the full wrap or not. What you want to focus on is the right knee pushing to the right, the left knee pushing against the left hip drawing back. That will build the stability that you need.
Now reach forward so the elbow is coming in front of the knees. Now listen carefully. Don't even let this be an option.
Your hand will not touch the mat. You're going to go to half moon. Your right hand will come to your heart and you'll reach up with the left hand.
Half moon. Strong and powerful. Lifted, connected. Breathe. Start to bring the left hand down, crunch the right knee behind the calf.
No, I'm not going to make you hold shoulda stance. Just extend that left leg up and step back. Left knee to the mat, half splits.
And we'll come into full splits. And see if you can create a little bit of magic here. So, become a magician and a witch.
What you're going to do is this, close your eyes. Take the sensation of discomfort and change it into pleasure. It's a choice, just like that. It's a snap, a decision. We can either choose to believe what we believed in the past, or use conditioning as an excuse, or we can choose differently in the moment.
That's the magic. To come out of this, I like to shorten up the stance, bringing the back knee forward, because we're going to go to down dog splits. Three-legged up, right leg up in the air, right leg high, so down dog with the right leg up.
Right knee, left elbow crutch, how we started, but different now. Back heel comes down, grab the shin or the knee, pull it up toward the shoulder, so your hips come up with it, then grab, and then extend overhead. Right knee will bend and you will land in a pigeon, lifting the chest, leading with the heart as you come down. Alright, side body, other side, left leg comes up, over to the right elbow, try to get it to connect, then extend, as the back heel comes down, the right arm reaches out.
This is like just telling the body, okay, this is where we're going to go. This is what we're going to be doing. Side, right hand to the mat.
Left leg at the back. Exhale, step through. Reverse your warrior with a half wrap.
Now, come forward into triangle, hand to shin. Notice how it wants to move in. Move the shoulder back.
Open up, look up. Right hand goes to the sky, I look at the thumb, turn the palm, and reach out. If I were to grab your wrist so much that back foot wants to lift up, you've got to press down and ground, anger to lengthen. Rising up, hands up, pivot and keep your hands up as we come to goddess.
Heels drop in, knees press out, arches lift, tailbone down, ribs in, heart lifted, chin lifted, breathe. Start to bend the elbows, hands by your sides, palms facing up. Hands come together at heart center, close the eyes.
Sit all the way down onto your right heel, flying monkey, and then we'll take a seat. Left hand grabs right ankle, right arm comes over top to reach. You're reaching to stretch, not to grab. Sit up, put your right hand behind your butt, look over your right shoulder, clockwise spin. Watch my feet.
Front heel, ball of that foot. Keep coming around until that outer edge comes down into the ground, right arm reaching to the back wall. Go the same way you came, all the way around to the side, hands to the front, adjust, final warrior one stance, reach behind, we combine, and bow. Bow to the greatest authentic version of you that shows up on your mat today. Straighten your front leg, right arm coming underneath.
Get the triceps off the chest. Take right leg over top garuda. So left knee, left right hip back.
That'll bring you into stability. Steady stance. Start bringing the elbows down.
The left hand. You don't even give it the choice. It's not going to touch the mat.
It's going to go to your heart for half moon. Reach up with the right arm open and expand. Stay strong and powerful in this pose. Right hand coming down, right knee taps the cap, we skip shivas dancing, extend it high, and then step all the way back into our splits where we... In an instant, you can work some magic.
Taking discomfort, transmuting it, the alchemy of the body, into pleasure instead. I like to bring it up and then hands to the front. Down dog splits.
Left leg up. So three-legged dog. Left leg in the sky. Left knee right elbow touch.
Back foot flat. Grab the knee. Pull it in. Grab the edge.
Extend. Try to bring it over the head. Back leg is pressing strong and straight.
Bending left knee, pigeon, lift the chest, inhale, melt the heart, exhale. Down to up. Knees. Sit back. Tops of the feet.
Six breaths in the count of fours. The first five are to guide you slowly into the posture. And that last breath is to really allow the intensity.
allow the energy to rise up, maybe feelings and emotions will come up for you. We'll see how it goes. Camel pose, hands maybe to the feet, to the thighs, to the hips, to the sky. Five breaths, every breath just taking you a little bit deeper.
And that sixth breath is allowing yourself to be present with the pose. Sit back. Sit tall. In command of the breath of your energy.
Witnessing what you're feeling. Feet around the front. Lie on your backs. Knees are bent, feet are flat.
I can never hold you back. Because you get to choose. So that means you can choose if you want to do more or less.
I'm going to go with the bridge. You can go with the upper bow. Come down. Rest for a moment. Pause.
Drop. Knees up to your chest. You're going to roll all the way over to the right.
And as you do that, your right arm is going to extend out in front of you, and your left palm is going to stack. Your left arm becomes like the hand of the clock, the minute hand. And you're going to go from 9 to 10 to 11. to 12. Look under your arm and then rotate the back of your hand down as you start to bring it around. One, two, and then three.
Right hand left. So it's just a way to get into the side body as we twist. Center, and then all the way over to the other side. Right hand snaps on the left.
Turning back down, count o'clock once. Two o'clock, one o'clock, twelve o'clock. Look under the arm.
Back of the hand to the mat. Eleven, ten, nine. Left hand holds right knee. Around the center.
Happy baby. Press everything into the ground. Hold onto your right knee, pull that right knee down from the ground. Extend that right leg up, hold the bottom of the foot, flex your left foot, press the heel forward, draw it in, nice deep hamstrings stretch. Draw left knee in, right leg extends forward, pull the knee down toward the armpit.
Hold the foot, start to extend it, activate that right leg. Slowly release to the mat. Arms by your side.
I'm just going to kind of guide you into your Shavasana, into your stillness. So our body is how we experience much of our energy. That's not all of it.
So let's leave the body behind for a moment. So let your body just kind of melt into the floor, into the mat, into the earth. Relax your feet and hands.
Head, back, head, chest, head. Our body is a limited container for our energy. So what I want you to feel is the energy inside your body expanding beyond just the body.
So the energy moving outward. You may have a visualization, you may not have a visualization. With your energy, you're going to take up more and more space around you. Not just within you, but from you. Expanding out, expanding out, out, out.
Bloom with your energy. It's still connected to you. It's your ankle, your belly.
Energy is expanding more and more outward, maybe out into the depths of space. Just hang out there for a little bit. Feeling your energy, your power, expanding into the depths of space and time. Thank you, as always, for choosing to practice with me.
I honor your choice. Namaste.