- Howdy everyone.

Welcome to BREATH,
your 30 day yoga journey.

It's Day 16,

Discipline.

Let's get started.

(bright upbeat piano music)

Alrighty my darling friend,
welcome back.

Here we are, 
Benji is looking out

at some deer behind me.

Come on down to the ground.

Thank you so
much for being here.

Sit up tall on a blanket,
or block, or a towel

if you have one,
if not, no worries.

And you know what to do,

the discipline

of showing up,

the practice of
drawing your attention

inward,

that's how we'll begin.

Take your time

settling in here.

I'd like to remind 
you as we start,

as we began our discipline
practice that, you know,

drawing our attention inward,
focusing inward,

it's a little bit easier
said than done some days.

So just remember,

this is a practice,
this is a process.

Whatever you're coming to
the mat with today is all good.

Glad you're here. Close 
your eyes or soften your gaze

gently down past your nose.

Tuck your chin just slightly

to feel that lengthening
in the back of the neck.

And if you haven't already,

gift yourself with a 
nice big inhale in here.

And an exhale to
drop the shoulders.

So relax your shoulders down

and you might start
to lift your heart here.

As we practice
more regularly together

you'll start to
just organically,

and I do use that
word judiciously,

just start to organically see

how the body
starts to move as one.

So if I take a deep breath in

and use my exhale to
relax the shoulders,

my heart might
actually respond by lifting.

And maybe with
the heart lifting,

my legs might get
a little heavier

and the awareness just starts
to trickle into all parts.

And if you're like, "Girl, 
I am not there yet." All good.

Let's just start
to notice the breath.

We can all relax
the shoulders a bit.

And then we're just gonna
start with some slow circles

with the nose, 
one way and then the other.

And as you do this, try to
keep the length in your spine.

And we're always showing up

to work with
what we have, right?

You know, there's a
famous little phrase

my dad reminded me of recently,

that hear it a lot in the arts,
in the biz, just kidding.

But it's, "Use it," right?

Use it, if you're
feeling distracted

or if your energy's this
or that, it's like, use it.

So,

as we focus on the
discipline of the practice,

remember, all these things
that you think are distractions

or maybe not
working in your favor,

use it.

And it's really about
trusting the process, right?

Which we are gonna
honor and talk about

a little more in the future.

Okay. After you've gone one way
and then the other hopefully,

we're gonna take the right
hand over the left shoulder,

left hand over
the right shoulder.

We're gonna inhale in,
lift the elbows.

And exhale, navel draws back.
This is your Cat Pose,

spinal flexion,
round through the spine.

Good. Inhale, lift the elbows.

Long Puppy belly.

And exhale, chin to chest,
round through the spine.

Feel that low back stretch.

And one more time, inhale, lift.

And exhale, round.

Good. From here, just
slide the right arm forward,

left hand's on the arm.

We're gonna slide it all
the way down to the wrist.

Drop your right shoulder.

Good, turn to look
past your right shoulder.

And then come back to center.

Left hand to right shoulder,

right arm crosses
on top this time.

Right hand to left shoulder.
Inhale. Get long.

See if you can really
grow in the side waist here.

So we're lifting through
the right side, left side

and the front
body gets long here.

And then exhale, chin to chest,
round it through.

Head gets heavy and
the back line gets long.

Good. Inhale, front
line gets along. Big breath.

Thighs are heavy, rooting down.

And exhale, chin to chest,
back line gets long.

Inhale, lift the elbows.

And exhale, chin to chest.

Good. Inhale to center.

Send your left arm all
the way through, magic,

and then right hand
slides down to the wrist.

Drop your left
shoulder in space.

And when you're ready,

turn your gaze past your
left shoulder. Breath deep.

Good, inhale in here.

Exhale, come back to center.

Right hand to the left knee,

left fingertips
behind for a twist.

Inhale the lift and lengthen.

Exhale to journey 
into your twist.

Inhale to lift and lengthen.

Imagine you're looking
past your left shoulder

on this exhale,
looking out the window,

looking for some deer.

Sweet. All the
way through center.

Take it to the other side.
You know what to do here.

Inhale to lift and lengthen.

Exhale to journey 
into your twist.

One more cycle of breath.

And then come back
to center. Beautiful.

Hands are gonna come
behind the hips here,

we're gonna bring the
feet to the earth, knees up.

We're gonna windshield
wiper the legs to the left.

Keep the heart and chest lifted.

And over to the right.

Oh, okay. And over to the left.

Heart lifted.

And over to the right.

And one more time on
each side, over to the left,

left hip externally rotated,
right hip internally.

We might take the left ankle,
cross it over the right here.

And then let's flex both
feet as we lift the chest,

press away from the yoga mat.

We're not collapsing into the
hands or the wrists even here.

Yes. Back through center,
here we go.

And maybe
crossing the right ankle

over the top of the left thigh.

Flex both feet here,
lift your chest.

We're not
crashing into the palms.

Okie doke. 
And then back to center,

return to your
cross-legged seat.

I might invite you to
reverse the cross of your legs,

so it might be the
one that feels weird.

I can say that now
I feel pretty even,

whether my right leg is in front
or my left leg is in front,

but that was not
always the case.

Alright, so we're
returning to Sukhasana.

And in Sukhasana, 
we call this the easy pose,

or the pose of ease,
is not always easy.

But we're wanting to
come to a centered spot

where we can

reunite with our breath,

and ultimately
sit in meditation.

So, do lift the
hips up if you like

and just know that
that's where we're headed.

That's where we're aiming
to find ease in this shape.

So you can make
little adjustments

that I would never
even know about maybe

because I'm not in your body.

You can find little
adjustments along the way

to find more
ease in this posture.

So as we begin the second half

or we kind of continue in
the second half of this journey,

we're gonna focus on
breathing in through the nose

and out through the nose.

And kind of reserving this
exhale out through the mouth

for moments when we feel
like we need to release heat

or moments when we feel like
we wanna sigh something out,

or if we're doing
another breath technique.

But I'm going to
invite you to focus

or maybe you've been
working on this already,

so refocus on breathing
in through the nostrils

and out through the nostrils.

And so we're gonna work
with a little a ratio today,

or a couple of different ratios

to help us just kind
of get in that practice

of breathing in through the nose

and out through the
nose only, or mostly.

And in addition to just
kind of get some practice

at the discipline of
breathing more slowly.

So find your Sukhasana.

Hands can rest gently

on the tops of the
thighs or the knees.

Think about, I know I've
said this a million times,

but just in case someone hears
it for the first time today,

think about not only
lifting through the front line

and the back line, but
the two side bodies too.

So we're kind of
lifting the whole torso.

And as you breathe in,

think about taking
a nice wide breath

that expands laterally, right?

So we're not just
breathing down and up

which we've been
working on. Awesome.

We're now kind of
thinking about as we breathe in

and send it down,

opening up through all
four sides of the torso.

Just some food for thought,

'cause once we kind of get
in our heads with the ratio,

we can kinda lose
the depth of breath

that you've already
found on this journey

and I want you to maintain that

because it's super good
for you. (laugh)

Okay.

So nice and easy, 
let's just take, no counting,

a big inhale in
through the nostrils.

And go ahead and
connect it to the exhale out

through the nostrils.

So no real focused breath
retention or pause in between.

We're gonna save that.

So just nice, easy 
inhale in through the nose.

Good. Keep the lips sealed.
Exhale through the nose.

And one more time inhale 
in through the nose.

And exhaling out through 
the nose, nice and easy.

Alright, so now we're
gonna start with the small ratio

of breathing in 
for a three count

and exhaling on a four count.

Don't panic, I'll guide you.

Remember the theme of
today's practice, Discipline,

so stay focused.

If you need to adjust your
seat at any time, please do.

So, inhaling for three count,
exhaling for a four count,

no pause or breath
retention in between.

Nice and easy,
and nice and slow.

Okay, so take an inhale 
one more for nothing.

Exhale to empty it out.

And we'll begin
inhaling for one,

two,

three.

Exhaling for four,

three,

two,

one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three.

Exhale, four,

three,

two, one.

Nice wide breath.
Inhale for one,

two,

three. Out through 
the nose for four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three.

Exhale, four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three.

Good, exhale, four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three.

Exhale, four,

three,

two, one.

Slowing it down. One,

two,

three.

Exhale, four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three.

Exhale, four,

three,

two, and one.

Beautiful. Let that ratio go.

Breathe nice and easy here.

And just observe.
Observe how you feel.

Notice how that went.

Maybe you're like, 
"Ooh, I think I dig ratios."

Or maybe you're like,

"Oh my gosh this is
gonna require some discipline,

"and so focused,
focus on my part."

So, all responses are good.

Just make sure
you're paying attention.

Alright, Benji. Are we safe?

Any deer out there, buddy?

Are you a little deer?

He is like my little deer.

Okay. If you wanna reverse
the cross of your legs now,

you can, I'm going to.

And now we're
gonna inhale for four,

exhale for, yup,
you guessed it, five.

So let's just take one
cycle of breath to begin,

inhale in through the nose.

And exhaling out
through the nose.

And inhaling to begin.

Inhale for one,

two,

three, four.

Exhale, five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three, four.

Exhale, five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Slow it down.

One,

two,

three, four.

Exhale, five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three, four.

Exhale, five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three, four.

Exhale, five,

four,

three,

two, and one.

Nice and easy.
Let that go.

And just observe.

Notice how it went.

Notice how you feel.

Sit up nice and tall again,

take the left hand to
the left side of the mat.

Reach the right fingertips
all the way up towards the sky

as if you were
trying to touch a cloud.

You can wiggle the fingertips.

Inhale in, exhale, 
take those fingers

all the way over
towards the left side

as you hug your left
elbow into the waistline.

Now, let your right
hip get really heavy here.

See if you can create more space

between the right waistline

as you pull the
right thumb back in space.

Good. Come back to center,
right hand down to the earth,

left fingertips
up towards the sky.

Try to reach a cloud,
wiggle the fingertips

and then take it over here.

Same thing, creating
space in that left side waist

as you hug the right elbow in.

Pull the left thumb back,
left hip gets really heavy here.

And then come back to center.

Alright.

So, yep, we're continuing.

We're gonna inhale for
five now, exhale for six,

and this time, if you're 
not already trying this,

try to close your eyes

or soften your gaze down
gently past your nose

as we've been doing, finding a 
soft little focal point

just so that your
periphery gets soft,

or close your eyes.

Alright, one cycle of
breath here together

and then we'll begin.

Inhale in through the nostrils.

Stick with me.
Exhale out through the nostrils.

Inhaling for five.

One,

two,

three,

four, five.

And exhaling for six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Listen to your breath.
Inhale for one,

two,

three,

four, five.

Exhale for six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Good. Inhale for one,

two,

three,

four, five.

Connect it to your exhale, six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale for one,

two,

three,

four, five.

Exhale for, 
(clears throat) excuse me,

six, (chuckles) five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale for one,

two,

three,

four, five.

Exhale for six,

five,

four,

three,

two, and one.

Let it go.

Notice how you feel.

And jumping right in, inhaling
for six, exhaling for seven.

We're just getting started.

You do not have to master this.

If you find that you're at
the bottom of that breath,

really empty, empty, emptying,

it's a classic term, "Empty, empty,
emptying," that's good.

That is good stuff. 
That is so good.

We wanna get to that place.

So, just play around 
there and remember,

we're here to learn,
you know, we're here to,

to learn and to
explore the tools of yoga,

in an effort to know ourselves
better and to be healthier.

So if the going gets
tough or you get frustrated,

take a moment and
then just jump back in.

Okay, so we're inhaling
for six, exhaling for seven.

And then after that, 
we only have one more round

'cause I'm making
it cute for Day 16.

We're gonna do inhale for eight,
exhale for eight. Okay.

So, one cycle of breath
here together to begin, ready?

In through the nose.

Sit up nice and tall.
Exhale through the nostrils.

And here we go,
inhaling for one,

two,

three,

four,

five, six.

Connect it to
your exhale, seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale one,

two,

three,

four,

five, six.

Exhale, seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three,

four,

five, six.

Exhale, seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three,

four,

five, six.

Exhale, seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three,

four,

five, six.

Exhale, seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, empty on the one.

And let it go.

(clears throat) Excuse me.

Notice how you feel.

Sweet. Send the legs out
in front, nice and easy.

On your next inhale, reach
for the sky. Nice and easy.

Feel free to bend
the knees if you like.

Exhale, think up and over,

take your heart up and over

as if you maybe had
like a little ball,

or maybe just, we
could use our sweet bellies.

Draw your bellies up and over.

So just wanna
create length in the spine

rather than going
in short-cutting.

And then we'll allow
the hands to rest gently

on the ankles, the shins,
the calves, the feet.

And then we can work
to straighten the legs if that's,

on the menu and if not,

keep them nice and bent here.

Then everyone, draw the
shoulder blades together.

So in, towards each other
and then down the back body,

and then carve a
line with your nose

as if you're a little kitty cat

pushing a ball of yarn forward.

Inhale, look forward.

And exhale,

Forward Fold all the
way in. Your version.

Just want you 
to take a second to

drop the weight of the head,

close your eyes and
just breathe nice and easy.

Alright. Tuck your
chin into your chest,

feel that energy drawing
up from the pelvic floor.

So every time we do a roll up,

we have a great chance to
lift up from the pelvic floor,

and really feel this
connection to the spine.

That's like one of
the more nerdy things

I've ever said in my life,
but it's true.

It's like, every time we do
a roll up in this practice,

you have this like,
buffet of things

that you can kind of
bring your awareness to,

and pelvic floor,

healthy pelvic floor
is always a good idea.

So, and just right,
this awareness of spine.

Alright, come back
to your nice comfy seat.

And we're gonna end
with a pretty long ratio.

This is a little bit advanced,

but I wanted to kind
of go for the gold today,

and then we'll break it up,

and we'll start adding some
moments of pause and retention

in between the breath.
But remember, for today,

we're just connecting 
the inhale and the exhale.

And because we're awesome,

and because we're here
on a quest for the breath

to unite with ourselves

and each other,
let's go for it.

We're gonna inhale for
eight, exhale for eight.

If at any time you
don't feel comfortable,

you drop the ratio and you
can return to any movement

that we've already introduced.

Whether it's neck circles, maybe
some movement with the arms

or grounding by
bringing the hands to the earth,

or of course the Forward Fold.

If you're feeling light-headed
skip the Forward Fold. Okay?

If you just need some grounding
on this, nice stretching.

Alrighty.

Eight and eight,
aren't we great?

Day 16, let's go!

Okay. Inhale in 
through the nose. (chuckles)

Exhale out 
through the nose.

And here we go.
Inhale for one,

two,

three,

four,

five, you got it,

six,

seven, eight.

Exhale eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Inhale, one,

two,

three,

four,

five,

six,

seven, eight.

Exhale, eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

empty it out.

Inhale, one,

two,

three,

four,

five,

six,

seven, eight.

Eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, one.

Last round, one,

two,

three,

four,

five,

six,

seven, eight.

And exhale, eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two, empty, one.

Let your breath come back now

to a nice, easy natural rhythm.

Try not to fidget here.

Please close your eyes,
tuck your chin.

Ground your hands on
the knees or the thighs,

and just notice how you feel.

And then bat the
eyelashes open gently,

but keep your vibe,
whatever it is,

and bring the palms together.

I just found like a moment
of exquisite stillness there.

Did you?

So, we'll continue to play with
the breath, slowing it down.

Incredible benefits come
with slowing down the breath.

And I am very excited

about the next week
of practices with you.

So I look forward to
seeing you tomorrow,

until then, have a
wonderful rest of your day.

Let's take a final
breath in here together.

Nice and easy.

And use your exhale to
bow the head to the hands,

to the heart.

Namaste.

(bright upbeat piano music)