- Hello, my darling friends

and welcome to BREATH,
your 30 day yoga journey.

It's Day 26, Expand.

Let's get started.

(bright upbeat piano music)

Alrighty, come on
down to the ground.

We can sit up on
something tall here to begin.

Cross the legs,
lengthen up through the spine.

Take a deep breath in.

And a long breath out.

And then turn
your palms face up,

breathe in through the nose.

And out through the nose.

Close your eyes.
Big sip of air here, inhale.

And exhale.

And one more time.
Big inhale.

Dropping in as you exhale.

Beautiful.

We're gonna extend
the legs out in front.

Bend the knees just a bit

so you can get your hands right
underneath the thighs here.

Then you're gonna inhale,
loop the shoulders,

open up through the chest.

And exhale, we're gonna 
drape the front body over

or toward the thighs.

Hands can release
down to the earth

or maybe on the
ankles or the feet

or maybe even interlace
the fingertips above the shins

or the ankles, and then relax
the weight of your head over.

So we're in a seated Forward
Fold with the knees bent.

Start to gently deepen
your breath and as you do so,

see if you can feel this
expansion on the inhale.

Torso widening.

And then the 
softening on the exhale.

Long inhalation, breathe in.

Nice, even exhale
as you breathe out.

Beautiful.

Slowly begin to roll it up.

We're gonna bring the right
knee all the way up and in.

You're gonna give
your right knee a hug

with your left elbow

and then we'll take the
right fingertips behind.

Nice and gentle here.

Nice and gentle.

Twisting to the right,
big inhale.

See if you can feel the
expansion as you breathe in.

So we're dropping 
that breath down

and the softening 
as you breathe out.

Nice, switch.

Take it to the other side.

Left knee comes up.

We hug that left knee
with the right elbow,

left fingertips come behind.

We're just checking in.

Nice, easy twist here.

Inhaling, feeling the belly,

the rib cage expand.

And exhaling,
relaxing the shoulders down.

Inhale to expand.

And exhale to soften.

One more breath here.

Beautiful.

And then we'll bring
you both knees up.

Cross the ankles.

Come through to all fours.

Can move your towel
or blanket to the side.

Then drop the belly,
open the chest.

Inhale, look forward.
Claw through the fingertips.

Exhale, rounding 
through the spine.

Inhale, drop the belly.

Heart shines forward.

With your exhale,
slow and steady, Cat.

Inhale, Cow Pose.

Exhale, Cat Pose.

Once more with the
sound of your breath.

And then inhale
Tabletop Position.

Curl the toes under,

keep the hands where
they are, lift the knees,

let them hover.
Breathe here.

Hovering Table,
neck is nice and long.

Just waking up the core,
building strength.

If you want you can
lift the right foot

for three, two, one, lower down.

If you want, 
you can lift the left foot

for three, claw through
their fingertips, two, one

and lower down. Beautiful.

From here, send the
hips up high and back.

Maybe widen your dog a bit.

Walk the hands out
or walk the toes back.

Inhale in deeply here.

And exhale completely,

really lifting those hip
creases up towards the sky.

Melting your heart
towards your thighs

and then hugging
those low ribs in,

lots of space between
the ears and shoulders.

Lovely, inhale in here.

Exhale, step hop, float,

two-step, do-si-do 
your way to the top.

Feet hip width apart 
or flush together.

Nice Forward Fold,
standing at the top of your mat.

Inhale, breathe in.

Feel that nice
wide lateral breath.

Exhale, breathe out,

ground through all 
four corners of the feet.

On your next inhale,

begin the journey 
all the way up.

Slowly stacking the vertebrae.

Rising up to Mountain Pose.

Interlace the
fingertips behind the back.

Just take a breath or two here

to open up through the chest.

Maybe lifting the sternum

and rocking a little
side to side, soft knees.

Checking with the head,
the neck, unclenching the jaw,

softening the skin of the face.

Then we'll release
the fingertips, inhale,

reach all the way up
towards the heavens.

Exhale, Forward Fold 
all the way down.

From here, feet hip width apart.

We're gonna take
the left fingertips

to the center of your mat.

So right below your gaze here,

and you're gonna
bend both knees.

Take the right
fingertips to the left wrist

and we're gonna slowly
straighten the right leg

as we open up
right fingertips to sky.

So this could be a
little tricky at first.

So the left knee is bent.

The right leg is straight

and I'm reaching the
right fingertips all the way up

to the sky.

Inhale in. 
Exhale, we come back down,

bend both knees.

Right fingertips replace the
left fingertips on the earth

and we pull back
that bow and arrow

and take it to the other side,

straightening
through the left leg,

keeping the right knee bent,

left fingertips
reach all the way up.

Nice, long, beautiful 
neck here, breathe.

And see if you can find
that expansive breath here.

Nice active breath and
then beautiful exhale.

Melt it down.

We're gonna take it
to the right again.

Left knee is bent.

Right hip crease pulls up as
you straighten that right leg,

right fingertips
reach towards the sky.

Maybe in time you can take 
your gaze to the right thumb.

And then slowly 
bring it back through.

Right hand replaces
the left, bend both knees,

and then we pull up
from the left hip crease,

straightening through 
the left leg, left fingertips

to the sky.
Inhale in.

Nice, expansive breath.

Exhale, slowly
bring it back down.

Good. Inhale, halfway lift.

Pull the elbows back, 
shoulders back.

Nice long, beautiful neck.

And then exhale, Forward Fold.

Interlace your fingertips behind
the backs of the legs here.

You can bend your knees as
generously as you need to.

Inhale in again.

And exhale, bend the
elbows left to right

as you pull your nose
in towards your knees.

You could be
chuckling here right now,

but just play, bend your
knees as much as you need to.

Spread awareness through
all four corners of the feet.

So careful not just to
lean into the front foot.

Beautiful, relax the bind,
release the bind rather.

Plant the palms,
step one foot back,

then the other, 
Plank Pose, inhale in.

Exhale, lower all 
the way to the belly.

Then we're gonna come
onto the elbows here.

Elbows right
underneath the shoulders.

Press into the pubic bone,
press into the tops of the feet.

Draw the
shoulder blades together.

Inhale for Sphinx.

Exhale, turn to look
past your right shoulder.

Imagine someone
giving you a little kiss

on the left side of your neck.

And then slowly
come back to center.

Take it to the other side.

Dig into your right elbow

as you turn to look
past your left shoulder.

Good, and then
come back to center.

Now from here, keep
the elbows where they are.

Interlace the fingertips.

Inhale in, big expansive breath.

Exhale, after the
expansion comes a contraction.

We're gonna use that
contraction on the exhale

to lift up into forearm Plank.

Reach the heels back.
You're not here long.

Nice long, beautiful neck.
Inhale in.

Exhale, dip the 
right hip down.

Bring it back up, inhale in.

Exhale, dip the left hip down.

And bring it back up.
Back and forth.

You got this.

Nice and slow.

Dipping the hip to one
side and then the other.

Alright, do one
more on each side.

You got this.

And then slowly
lower to the knees.

Send the hips back.

Drag fingertips all the way

towards the back
edge of your mat

and melt down, Child's Pose.

Or you can modify
into a comfortable seat

just to take a
moment to close your eyes.

Check in.

Breathe.

Expanding your awareness.

Every time we show up.

Staying curious.

Keeping an open mind.

Hopefully expanding 
our perspective

in that practice
or our perspectives.

Let's keep going.

Inhale, reach the
fingertips all the way up.

Slowly follow that gesture.

Let your heart, your center,
bring you back up.

We'll curl the toes under.

Lift the hips up high and back.

Come to your
Downward Facing Dog.

Inhale, lift the
right leg up high.

Exhale, step your right
foot all the way forward.

Inhale, high lunge.

Reach for the sky, deep breath.

Exhale, bring it
all the way back down.

Beautiful.
Step the right foot back.

Inhale in.
Exhale, Downward Dog.

Hi Benji, oh good job!

Benji's doing
Downward Dog with us.

Very nice. Very nice.

Inhale, lift the
left leg up high.

Exhale, step it forward.

High lunge, inhale,
reach for the sky.

Spread the fingertips.

Exhale, bring it back down.
Awesome job.

Step the left
toes back, inhale in.

Exhale, hips high and back,
Downward Facing Dog.

Alright, listen carefully.

Inhale, lift the
right leg up high.

Exhale, bend your right knee.

Stack the hips.
You could just stay here.

We've been here before or
big expansive breath here.

Exhale, we're gonna
bend the left knee.

We're gonna bring
the right toes down.

Flip the Downward Dog,
little rock star pose.

Lift the hip points
high up towards the sky

and reach the right
fingertips forward.

Right knee is bent.

Left leg is straight.

I'm using my
foundation to press away from

as I lift the hips.

Inhale in.

Exhale, slow and steady,

just come back the way you came.

Soft bend in the knees.

Downward Facing Dog, reset.

Good. Inhale in again.

Exhale, anchor
through the right heel as

you lift the left leg up high.

Stack the hips.
You could just work here.

Or if we wanna
work in wild thing,

we'll slowly
bend the right knee.

Left toes come to the ground.

I'm gonna slide my right leg
as I lift my left fingertips

all the way up.

Left knee is bent.

Right leg is straight.

I'm lifting my hip points up.

I'm pressing up and
out of my foundation.

Inhale in here.

Big, expensive breath.

And then exhale,

slowly bring it all the way back

to our final
Downward Facing Dog.

If the arms are quite tired,

take the legs
nice and wide here.

Otherwise keep
them where they are.

Big inhale, you're doing great.

Big exhale.

One last breath
cycle in and out.

Good, slowly lower to the knees.

Cross one ankle over the other.

Use your hands to
slowly guide yourself

all the way back into a seat.

We're gonna send the legs
out in front one more time.

Inhale, reach for the sky.

And exhale,
send your heart forward.

You can work to straighten 
the legs a little bit more here,

but be mindful and
use this big wide breath

to guide you a little
bit deeper into the pose,

relaxing the weight 
of the head down.

Drawing the navel in, feeling
that length in the low back.

Stay here for
another cycle of breath

and see if you can really allow
the breath to move you here.

Just whatever that
means to you, play.

And then slowly roll it up.

Benji's getting
cozy and so are we.

Point the toes, palms come-- 
(Benji moans)

Palms come together,
interlace the fingertips,

point the fingers
forward as you slowly, slowly,

with control, come
all the way to your back.

Let's shake the
toes left or right.

Just rock the toes.

A little windshield
wiper kick with the toes,

left to right.

Good, then hug the
right knee into the chest.

And release it back down.

Hug the left knee into the chest.

And release it back down.

Hug both knees into the chest.

Grab onto the outer
edges of your feet.

Kick the soles of the
feet up towards the sky,

lengthen the tailbone forward.

So the action here
is really lengthening

that tailbone down and forward

towards the front
edge of your mat,

reaching the
soles of the feet up,

grounding the shoulders down.

So lots of action
here in Happy Baby.

Now find that expansive breath.

You got it.

You can feel the compression,

this awesome connection

with your back to the
earth when you breathe in.

And then slowly release
the legs to the ground,

hands to the low ribs.

Windshield wiper 
the legs one way.

And then the other.

And one way, 
and then the other,

all the way down until your
legs are nice and straight again.

And allow your hands to
rest gently at your sides

or hands can rest on the
belly or the heart space.

Take the deepest
breath you've taken all day.

Big I love you
breath and exhale,

relax the weight of
your body completely

and fully into the earth.
You did it.

You showed up.

Wow, amazing, amazing work.

I look forward to
seeing you tomorrow.

You can do this.
You're already doing it.

So trust yourself.

Trust the commitment and
trust that it's meaningful.

Bring the palms together,
thumbs to third eye.

One final, 
big expensive breath in.

And a long, smooth exhale out.

Then we whisper,

Namaste.

(bright upbeat piano music)