- Howdy everyone. Welcome to BREATH, your 30 day yoga journey. It's Day 13, Feel. Let's get started. (bright upbeat piano music) Alrighty my darling friend, come on down to the ground. Sit up on your blanket or your block, your towel if you have one. Find a gentle lift in the heart. Allow your hands to rest gently wherever feels comfortable today. Close your eyes and drop the shoulders as you start to tune in to the quality of your breath today. Notice how you feel. No judgment. No worries. Whatever level of energy you're bringing to the practice today. What matters most is you showed up. You've arrived here and in fact the hardest part is over so now we just get to feel our way through this thing together. Deepening our practice by focusing on the way things feel. So I love, just kind of connecting a little bit of the meditation from yesterday to this practice today, I love the idea of showing up with no expectation and really forgetting in a lot of ways what you think you know about yoga, these preconceived notions, so that you can begin to drop the doing and the kind of mastering a bit, even if it's just a little bit and snuggle up or lean in. Focus more, even if it's just as an experiment, on how things feel for you, for your body, for your energy state today, for where you're at on your soul's journey. When we start to experiment like this within the four corners of our mat or within the time we have allotted and carved out for ourselves to practice, we might be getting closer to feeling more like ourselves and less like we're trying to adhere to someone else's idea of who we are or who we're supposed to be. Simply put, feel your way through your practice. Find what feels good today. Be honest with yourself and boy, you will have very rich yoga practice, a very rich practice of not just physical asana but of soulful breath, contemplation, love. I'm feelin' it. Alright, draw the hands together at the heart. Let's take a breath in together. Inhale in deeply. And exhale to relax the shoulders a little more perhaps. Exhale completely. Beautiful, then you can open your eyes, lift the chin. We're gonna take the left hand to the right knee, right fingertips behind and start with a gentle twist here. As you inhale, lift and lengthen. As you exhale, draw the navel in and up and start to twist a little more. But we're not pushing, we're not forcing, we're not trying to hit a mark. We're really feeling our way through the twist. So the name of the game here is really inhale to lift and lengthen to create space and exhale to feel your way into the twist. And there's a lot you can grow there. And many people are like, "Okay, well, bring on the Chaturangas. "Bring on the "one arm balancing posture." Well, those are fun but if you can't feel your way through a twist, in my opinion, I don't know if you should be spending a lot of time on an arm balance. Booyah, just said it. Okay, here we go. (chuckles) Back to center and take it to the other side. Inhaling to lift and lengthen and then feel your way through this twist. All jokes aside, this is a great way, feeling your way through practice. While it's important to know action in alignment to stay safe and have the structures to play in and grow in. Really coming back to the health and the wealth of the spine is worth it. So whether you agree with me or not, this is good for your spine. Gonna get you ready for those one arm balance. How about that? And you will do some arm balances in this series, in this journey. So I got you all covered. Inhale to lift the heart one more time. Exhale to feel your way through the twist. Lovely, come back to center. Left hand to the earth, right hand reaches up and over. Side body stretch. Now, check it out. Navel is gonna come back as if you were going into a Cat Pose. You're gonna sweep your right fingertips through center in front of you. Left fingertips follow, it's like a dance. And then right hand comes to the ground and left fingertips up and over, side body stretch. You can feel it out here. Find a little gentle movement, maybe some pulsing. And then the same thing, back the other way. Navel draws in so we're really feeling that low back stretch as we draw the navel in and we come through sweeping the fingertips in front of the legs and all the way back up. Right hand extending, left hand on the earth. Careful not to be too far out here. I invite you to bring that elbow in, see what happens. Yes, and then through center one more time. Over to the right. And then let your left hand lift you all the way up and back to center. Gorgeous, let's come forward onto all fours. Drop the belly for an inhale, Cow Pose. Press into the tops of the feet, spread the fingertips wide. Exhale round through the spine, chin to chest. Now follow your breath and feel your way through this spinal flexion. You can find soft, easy movement here. You can stretch areas of the body, your body, that might feel sore from this past week. You can turn the fingertips in, take gentle circles. You might curl the toes under and send the hips back for a nice stretch of the feet, the soles of the feet. Maybe you're feeling a little emotional today, you can take a little Child's Pose or maybe a little smile or wipe a tear. So just take a couple seconds here to veer off the railroad tracks. And you know, you always have the structure of Cat-Cow to resign with the breath in. So feel it out. You know what? Maybe you come all the way to the belly. And if this is difficult for you, it's a lot easier to be told what to do. I totally understand in this scenario. So it's difficult for you. Know you're not alone. But just don't decide where it ends. That's my advice or that's my invitation rather to you. Don't decide where it ends. But it's this little dance that you're improvising that you're choreographing here now that's gonna take you to Downward Facing Dog. So you're going to feel your way. You're not gonna just take my cue, but you're gonna feel you way eventually all the way up to that Downward Dog. And when you get there, notice if you just kind of stop in the shape of the pose, like, "Whew, we made it through that goofy warmup, but now I'm here," keep it going. Feel it out. You've been showing up, working hard. So notice the sensation. Feel it out in your body. Different parts, uniting as one whole part. (sighs) The body's amazing. We're taking care of it. Learning or relearning to love our bodies. Take good care. Alright, keep it going all the way up to the top-tippy-top of the mat, Forward Fold. Same thing. Yep, you guessed it. When you get there, no static holds here unless you're really craving it. Find what feels good. Feel it out, shake the head. Listen and respond mindfully with conscious breath. Alright, now listen carefully. From here, we're actually gonna plant the palms, step the right foot back, step the left foot back to Plank pose. Beautiful, then drop the knees. Squeeze the elbows into the side body and slowly lower down to the belly. Good, drag the hands in line with the rib cage. Inhale, tuck the chin, roll up to Cobra this way, unraveling the neck and then exhale, forehead releases down. Again, tuck the chin. Slowly rise up. And exhale, release. One more time. Chin tucks first. Then it unravels and then we cascade all the way down, beautiful. From here, pressing up to all fours. Knees nice and wide. Big toes to touch. Left hand is gonna come to the center of the mat. And we're gonna take the right fingertips to the left wrist, press into the tops of the feet, and as if you were pulling back a bow and arrow, you're gonna press away from the yoga mat. So actually peek at me, everyone. So right here, I'm kinda collapsed into the shoulder. When I say "press away from the yoga mat," I mean press down in the earth create space in the joint here by lifting the rest of the body up and out, right? So here I am collapsed and here I am pressing up and out of the earth. Give it a try. Okay, reset. Right fingertips to the left wrist, here we go. I'm gonna draw a line all the way up the left arm. All the way up past that left shoulder. All the way across the chest, past the right shoulder and then up towards the sky. Whoo! Lean back, press into the tops of the feet. Inhale in here, breathe into all four sides of the torso. Feel that breath, stretch the back, let it get long, maybe. And then exhale through out the needle. Right fingertips in and underneath the bridge of the left arm. We're gonna come to rest on your right ear here. Left hand presses into the earth with the left elbow up so you can get a nice big stretch. Or maybe right fingers, excuse me, left fingertips, reach all the way up towards the front edge of your mat. Find what feels good here. Soften your gaze and breathe into all four sides of the torso. So nice little lateral breath. Remembering how we dropped the breath yesterday? See if you can find that here in this shape. So good for the upper back body. If you ever feel any fussiness in the neck, the shoulders, the traps, this is your jam. Breathe deep. And then slowly release. Follow your breath. Bring the right hand down to the ground. Right into the second side. Left fingertips come to the left wrist. We push away from the earth first. So create length. And then slowly left fingertips trace across the chest all the way up. We're pressing into the tops of the feet, opening up through the chest. And if I have to say, if your arm isn't coming up here like mine, if it's coming here, I know what that feels like. So in time we'll be able to open, open, open. Alright, beautiful twist here in the whole spine. Pressing into the tops of the feet, inhale in. Open up through the chest, the pec. And then exhale, thread thy needle. It was creepy. Come onto the left shoulder, left ear. And I'm really coming to the outer edge of that left shoulder. If this is a new shape for you it might take some deep breathing and little patience to get there. Use the right hand to stabilize you. Either with the elbow bent or straight and reaching out. So many of us have been in the shape a lot. Bring your breath as my mom would say, like nobody's business. So see if you can really breathe wide and down, getting into the low lung area. That'll change your life. Okay, then slowly follow your breath. Whatever that means to you, all the way back to all fours. Good, reset by bringing the knees underneath the hips, curl the toes under. So that action of pressing away from the earth that we just did, we're gonna put it into play here again like nobody's business. Love you, Mom. Okay, here we go. Lifting the knees, Hovering Table. So if I'm collapsed in the shoulders here, I'm in trouble. So we're gonna press away from the yoga mat. Elbows are straight, not locked. I lift the knees. Neck is nice and long. I'm creating a table with a little challenge of lifting the knees. So draw the low belly in towards center. So we're creating a little zipper effect, that containment in the center building core strength one breath cycle at a time. You're amazing. If you want, you can lift the right heel for three, two, one. Lower it down. Lift the left heel for three, two, one. Stay here pressing into both palms evenly. Inhale in. Press away from the yoga mat even more. And then exhale to lower the knees, beautiful. If you need to send the hips back, that's not if you need to, let's all send the hips back for a little wrist rotation here. Big or small. Maybe shake it out. Maybe say a little prayer. (laughs) Okie-doke, then we'll take it all the way forward. Curl the toes under, send the hips up high and back. Good. Bend the knees, carve a line with the nose to look forward. Inhale in. Exhale, make your way to the top. Standing Forward Fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale to soften and fold it down. Beautiful. Fingertips come to the mat. We're gonna walk the feet as wide as a yoga mat here, toes still off just a bit. Let's see what it's like today, inhale in. Exhale, drop your center. Feel it out, press into all four corners of the feet. If the heels wanna come up, go ahead and let them. And we'll use a fingertips as a little bit of extra stability, extra support here. So there's no need to rush bringing the palms together. But you can play sometimes even bringing one hand, one thumb to the heart is a great place to be. And then in time you can bring both hands. So heels are lifted or grounded and we're playing with this lift of energy through the front body. And this grounding through the back body. And that's what I really want you to try to feel today is if I'm collapsing forward, all my energy is going down. Can I feel that lift through the front and notice how that can support me in any variation of this posture? And can I feel or visualize that anchoring, that grounding through the back and how does that change the way I exist in my variation of this posture? So we're not hanging on a wing and a prayer. We're paying attention to sensation. We're activating not just with smart alignment, but energy too. Engaging with the energy of a posture. Okay, whatever variation that you're in right now take the deepest breath you've taken all day. Feel it travel down. Feel it travel up. Beautiful. Then bring your awareness to your feet. Keep awareness in the feet. As you keep the knees wide, bring the fingertips, walk them around behind you. Keep the feet nice and active as you slowly lower to the ground. If you crash a little bit, smile. One of the things I love about yoga too, if you can kind of position yourself in a loving way is all the wonderful opportunity opportunities to practice humility, you know? Instead of feeling bad or shame, you're like, "I can't float," how about, "Oh, thank you. Thank you, angels. "Thank you for giving me this chance "to know what humility feels like and to be good at that too." So if you crashed on your butt, it's a win in my book. Okay, come on to a seat, knees up here. Lift up through the front body, lift the shoulders up to the ears then take them back around and down. We're prepping for a little Boat play and Benji's gonna go to Shavasana but we're going to do a little Navasana because I want you to, you have your action and alignment. See if you can feel this lift up through the front body, feel this grounding through the back body as you lean back. So give your thinking mind a break, right? Yesterday we talked about dropping expectations. So we're gonna keep active and we're gonna be smart listening to our bodies but we're really gonna see if feeling this upward current of energy, this lift up from the pelvic floor can help us feel a little more supported in this posture. So just play, maybe the toes hover here. You can hold on to your legs for dear life. There's no cheating in my book in yoga. You're here, that's A+. YWA-plus. Shins maybe lift parallel to the sky. Hands, maybe reach forward. So I'm not collapsing the front body because I'm lifting up, feeling that upward current of energy. I'm grounding down through the shoulder blades feeling them really ground down through the back body. Inhale in. Exhale, I might straighten legs. Lifting through the front body, grounding through the back body. Good, then take a break. Come to one of my favorite yoga poses. You grab opposite hand with opposite wrists. Elbows rest on the knees and we hang the head here. Oh, feels so good. Take a nice breath. And then let's reset. Bring the hands behind the legs. Loop the shoulders. Feel that upward current through the front body, downward through the back. Lift the shins maybe, toes can stay on the ground too. Inhale in. Maybe, exhale, reach forward, maybe not. Inhale in again. Maybe, exhale, extend the legs. Maybe open the arms wide. Breathe. Lift the chest to the sky, lift the chin to the sky. And then take a break. Come to my favorite place to call home. Close your eyes, drop your chin. Inhale in deeply. And exhale completely. Alright, one more time. Here we go. Find your way there. Find your breath. Feel the lift through the front, the grounding through the back. Inhale in. Exhale, straighten the legs. Straighten the arms. You're here. For one second even, you're here, lifting the heart, lifting the chest. We're here for ten, nine, eight. You got it. Draw the shoulder blades together. Six, five, four. Three, two and on the one we return. We relax the head over maybe clasp the opposite wrist this time. The one that feels kind of funky and drop your head down low and feel your breath. As you breathe down into your belly, feel it at the side bodies, feel it in the low back. Notice what it feels like to be alive today here. You might just smile or laugh a little here. If you need to cry, just let it out. I'll invite everyone to take one more deep breath in and sigh it out here. Let's do one more just in case you missed that wave. Seriously, don't think. Here we go. Inhale. And sigh out with a little sound here. Good, now seal the lips. Breathe through your nose, tuck the chin. And let's roll up to a little meditation pose here. Or if you wanna come flat on your back, now's the time. My darling, now's the time. So we're back to one, back to where we started or maybe you're lying down on the ground right now. Getting geared up for burrito pose. Wherever you are, let's take a moment here to find stillness. To relax. Notice how you feel in mind. And in body. And in heart. Let your breath simply return. Nice, easy, natural rhythm, natural flow. Soften the skin of the face. Soften through your jaw. If the eyes are not closed, go ahead and close them just for a quiet moment here of stillness, of being. May this practice inspire you to feel your way through the rest of your day. When I move like this off the mat, I notice I just naturally welcome more contemplation into my daily life. So not just on the mat or focused in a moment of prayer, but I find beauty in the little things, the mundane, when I'm really present kind of feeling my way through the day. Draw the hands together. Thank you for sharing your practice with me and with Benji and with all the beautiful people and pets that are practicing together around the world here. Take one more final inhale in. Lots of love inward so that we can share, exhale, lots of love outward. Thanks everyone. Namaste. (bright upbeat piano music)