- Hello everyone. Welcome to
Home, your 30-day yoga journey.

It's Day 8, and I'm here with
Benji to welcome you back for a

special practice, one that 
I really love because

one, we get to get cozy,

but also this is 
one that just allows us

a little bit of 
time and space to pause,

to be still, 
to breathe, to meditate

and remember just how 
potent this practice can be.

There is always an opportunity
to find a little bit of healing

in small movements and

small moments with 
ourselves throughout the day.

So that's exactly 
what this practice

celebrates and reminds us.

If you have 
a pillow or a blanket,

bring it to this session.

If you don't, 
don't worry about it.

Hop into something extra 
comfy and let's get started.

(upbeat gentle music)

Alright, darling friends.

come on down to the ground.

Couple of options today that 
I think you are going to love.

One, you can sit up 
on a blanket or a pillow.

You can lay a little blanky
out if you have one or a towel.

You can grab a blanket for
yourself and only to have it

taken by an 
animal in your house.

Which I'm going to go ahead
and let him keep that for now.

But it's Day 8.

This is a day where we

usually say, "Day 8, don't hate,
meditate, feel great."

So if you're 
new to this journey,

I would just like to extend
that little mantra to you.

Day 8, meditate.
Don't hate, feel great.

And the idea is that this
year, this session is really an

invitation to be open,

to heal whatever ails you.

This can be like

just a feeling you have from a

stressful conversation 
with someone

or it can be something deeper.

So my loving advice is to
just enjoy this practice and not

really worry about the outcome
but I think that it's worth

considering all of 
this as we set ourselves up

so sit up tall on something.

If you're a little bit chilly,
pause the video,

go grab a sweater.

You can wear socks for 
this session if you like.

I'm gonna let Benji stay on
the blanket since he's so cozy

but my plan was to have 
you wrap up in it like a

you know, 
I don't know, like this.

And so you can get 
really cozy with it.

The at-home yoga practice is
beautiful in that way that we

can really listen and respond.

We can do that in 
other settings as well

but there's 
nothing like this setting.

So take a second pause 
the video if you need to.

Let's get a little bit 
cozy and we'll meet in a nice,

comfortable seat of your choice.

Let's start together 
with a little reverent bow,

so just bow your 
head in gently tuck the chin.

Then drop your gaze.

Maybe close your eyes.

Whilst I could go on and on

about all the ways in which I

believe this practice of
yoga and its philosophy

to be healing,

how about we just open

ourselves to the 
possibility together?

Open our hearts and our minds to
experiencing it for ourselves.

So best you can and I want to
acknowledge that I know it's

difficult, particularly if
you're sneaking in this practice

because you want 
to get your Day 8 in,

I know how the 
day to day can be.

But to the best of your ability,
let's just see if we can kind of

offer ourselves a flash of
surrender just where we drop

the day thus far, 
we drop everything,

all the narratives.

And for this moment 
and this moment only,

it's you and I and

the sound of our breath.

Inhale in.

Exhale out.

Inhale in.

Long breath out.

Then one more, 
big full breath in.

And this time, as you exhale,
relax the shoulders.

Empty, empty, 
empty, empty, empty.

Awesome. Bat the eyelashes open,
it's amazing what just three

breaths will do, 
I already feel like,

whoa, okay, I have to remember
that I'm leading the practice.

You're gonna place a little
charcoal pencil, with the kids

I say little marker you to pick
your color and we're just gonna

draw small circles 
with the nose one way,

keep it small.

Like a little saucer plate.

And then keep going 
in the same direction.

Allow the circle to 
grow to like a salad plate.

The perfect size 
plate for your croissant.

Your toast.

Your concha.

And now big, big plate.
Full size.

Breathe, listen to 
the little soundtrack

your neck (chuckles)
has to share with you.

Alright, and then reverse it,

starting with 
the full size plate.

Soften through the jaw,
part the lips.

If you're 
collapsing the spine here

maybe sit up on a little blanky.

Here we go, now to 
the the mama bear plate.

Relax your shoulders and now to
that small saucer sized plate.

And back to one, back to center.

Head over heart, 
heart over pelvis.

Take a deep breath in. 
Inhale, fill up.

Listen carefully.

At the top pause, hold.

Retain the breath.

Capture it.
Hold your breath.

And now empty it out.

Empty, empty, 
empty, empty, empty,

empty, empty, 
empty, empty, empty.

We'll continue 
with this technique.

Nice and easy, big inhale.

Breathe in.

At the fullest heighth 
of your breath, pause.

Retain the breath.

Try to soften 
through the shoulders,

the skin of the face,
sit up nice and tall.

Hold it.

Good and empty, 
empty, empty, empty it out.

Empty, emtpy, empty 
it out to its fullest.

Empty, empty, 
empty, empty, empty.

And here we go, big inhale.

Pause, retain the breath.

Keep the shoulders relaxed.

And release, exhale.

Empty it out, 
empty, empty, empty,

empty, empty, empty, 
empty, empty, empty.

At the bottom of that exhale,
big breath in.

And pause, retain the breath.

Lengthen up through the crown.

And release, 
slow and with control,

long exhalation. 
You got this.

Slow and steady.

Empty, empty,
empty, empty,

empty, empty, empty.

At the bottom of that exhale,
big buoyant,

beautiful inhale in.
Here we go.

Pause, retain the breath.

And release, empty it out.

Slow and with control.

Nice, long exhalation here.

Empty, empty, empty, empty.

For this next round,

please soften your 
gaze or close your eyes.

I'll guide you. 
Here we go. Big inhale.

At the top, pause,
retain the breath.

Nice work.
Empty it out.

Keep going, keep going,
just keep going,

going, going, going.

Big inhale.
Here we go.

Fill it up, fill it up,
fill it up,

fill it up, fill it up,
pause retain.

Stay calm.

And release slow and 
with control and make it long,

make it smooth. Enjoy.

Exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale.

And one more time, breathe wide.

Think a big, full lateral breath
you're breathing in to all four

sides of the torso.
Inhale, inhale, inhale.

You know what to do.

Gracefully pause, 
capture the magic,

the spirit, the breath, retain.

And empty it out.

Slow and with 
control, empty, empty,

empty, empty, empty, empty,
everything out.

Awesome work.

From here, please lean back.

Gently, bring 
the knees together.

Send your legs 
out long in front.

If you're lifted up on the
hips, you can stay lifted here.

It might be quite nice.

We're gonna bring the 
hands back to support us.

Little stretch for 
the palms and the wrists.

Point the toes, 
breathe in, lift the chest.

Flex the toes up 
towards the face,

flex your feet and 
exhale, breathe out.

Aw, little Benji's 
enjoying the Day 8 practice.

Inhale, point the toes,
lift your chest.

And exhale, flexing the feet.

Toes towards your face.

Excellent.
Press up on the fingertips.

Sit up nice and tall.

I'm wanting to create a nice
straight line or the sensation

of a straight line from

the base of the spine 
all the way to the crown.

So just do your best.

And then we're gonna 
pick the right knee up.

We're gonna place the 
right foot on the ground.

You're gonna give yourself
about a hand's width of space

between your left inner 
thigh and your right heel.

So no need to zip it up 
all tight and pretzel like.

Give yourself some space.

Yes.

And then big inhale.

We're gonna take the 
left fingertips up high.

You know what to do 
here but I'll remind you.

Use this action to 
find length, find space.

Spaciousness is 
what I was gonna say.

Inhale, keep that space, 
that lift as you breathe in.

As you hook the left 
elbow to the right knee.

Right fingertips come behind.
Peek at me if you need to.

Sweet, and then inhale.

Lift with the inhale.

Exhale, twist.

If you're used to 
doing this really tight,

I lovingly challenge you to keep
that width

so you can create 
more of a twist in the spine.

The mid back in particular.

And you can turn to gently look
past your right shoulder

if it feels right.

Inhale in.
Breathe into your belly.

Pause, retain at 
the top if you like,

and then use that same slow
and controlled exhale out here.

You got it.

Nice and active 
in the left foot.

One more breath in.

And use your exhale to slowly
release and come back to center.

Send the right leg out.
We're going to switch sides.

Peel the left foot up.

Again, give yourself 
about a hand's width here.

So this femurs, 
just a little nerd moment,

this femur, this hip socket
dropping down in to socket.

If I'm here and 
kind of zipping in,

trying to get this 
like picture book pose,

kinda missing out on 
some of the good nerdy stuff,

the magic.
So give yourself some space.

Let this drop down into socket.

Yes, and then 
flex your right foot.

Reach your right 
fingertips up high.

Lift your heart and 
then exhale, find your twist.

Hooking the right 
elbow to the left knee

or just right hand here.

This is a great 
little modification here.

Left fingertips come behind.

Left hip is still dropping down.

I'm flexing my right 
toes and we'll find it here.

Breathing deeply 
down into the belly.

Using that inhale to find length

and the exhale to 
explore the twist.

So these twists, 
I'm sure you know this,

but just a little 
reminder so healing,

potentially healing for 
the body and for the systems.

It's like the image I love is of
taking kind of a dirty rag and

dipping it in the water and
gently wringing it out and

just all of that 
excess stuff all, you know,

that which you no 
longer need washing away.

Take one more big inhale here.

Replenishing the body 
and the energetic body.

Use your exhale to 
come all the way back.

Okay, send the legs out long.

If you brought 
a pillow to class,

you're gonna 
grab your pillow now.

Bring it right on 
top of the thighs.

Take the hands move the fleshy
part of the buttocks aside.

Sit up nice and tall.
Big inhale to reach of the sky.

Exhale, yep, you guessed it.

Think up and over.

You're gonna drape 
your body over the pillow.

Feel free to bend the knees.

You can just allow the hands
to be soft as you Forward Fold.

Or if you want 
to take a bind here.

Use your peace fingers bring
them in-between your big toe and

your second toe here 
or whatever works for you

and use that to kind of tug in 
as you melt the belly down.

Take three to five breaths here.

Enjoy.

Feel the skin of your 
back stretch as you breathe in.

Softening as you breathe out.

Calming the nervous system.

Gently release.

Slow rise up, 
soften through the feet here.

Wiggle the toes.

Inhale in.

And exhale, just sigh it out.

(sighs)

Come on now, don't be shy,
if I'm doing this on YouTube,

you can do it 
wherever you are, I'm sure.

Here we go, big inhale.

Sigh it out.

Let go something that's 
just no longer serving you.

Just let it go. (sighs)

And one more time, here we go.

Let Benji and I 
hear you all the way

here in my home state of Texas.

Big inhale.

Sigh it out. (sighs)

A little sound, 
a little healing vibration.

Alright, watch this cool move.

Take the hands, use them to
support you as you lift your

bum, draw it forward,
knees come up.

Then take your pillow.

Bring it up and behind,
(mimicks triumphant trumpets),

come onto your back.

So this is where we take the
blanket and we're gonna wrap up

like a little tacquito or a
little burrito but I feel like

it would be animal cruelty 
for me to take Benji up off

this blanket right now.

So I'm not gonna do it.

Okay, guys, I'm just not.

But I would love for you,
my darling friends,

to get your blanket and bring
it on top of your body here.

Let's actually take a second
before you get legs extended to

hug the knees in.

Sorry, I got 
distracted with the blanket.

And then let's wrap up in 
the blanket if you have it.

If you don't have it,
you can be like me.

And we're coming essentially 
in to a Shavasana here.

So get cozy.

You definitely want 
to get to a place where

you're not holding anything.

So if your back is fussy and
you want to bring the knees up,

wonderful, great,
great listening.

Great of you to listen.

But let's find a place where
we're not holding ourselves up

so you can bring the feet wide.

You can bring 
the knees together.

Definitely want to get to a
place where you can relax the

weight of your body completely
and fully into the earth.

Awesome.

Then here we go, inhale, 
send the fingertips up high.

Big stretch.

Exhale, right arm over the left.

You're gonna give 
yourself a big hug.

Now close your eyes here.

You can really walk your 
fingertips underneath your

shoulder blades.

And with the eyes closed,
feel your breath

move you here, 
feel your own embrace.

We're signaling in 
the brain that I am held.

I am safe.

And if you guys think I'm
crazy this is like now proven,

you know, scientific research is
now proving that these types of

gestures, holding your 
own hand, finding an embrace,

many of the things we do in yoga

they change our 
chemical makeup or they can.

Okay, inhale, reach of the sky.

Hang with me, nice 
little shoulder opener here.

Gentle shoulder opener 
here at the very least.

Left arm crosses over the right.
Give yourself a big hug.

Start to relax 
through the low back,

the hips, the thighs.

Let your knee joints 
just be heavy and loose here.

Calves heavy, 
ankles, feet, toes softening,

letting go.

And then inhale, 
reach for the sky.

Exhale, allow the hands 
to rest gently at your sides.

Palms face up.

Tuck your chin 
slightly to lengthen through

the back of the neck.

Close your eyes.

Whether you grabbed a blanket or
you sacrificed it to

a literal angel, furry angel or

maybe

something else.

Basically, whether you have
a blanket or not, my darling,

blanket yourself in love.

If someone asked you to 
blanket yourself in love,

which someone is, 
that someone's me,

how do you want to respond?

What does that make you feel?

And does it change the 
quality of your breath?

And if not, that's cool.

Together, let's 
find a full breath in.

Here we go.
Inhale lots of love in.

The deepest, fullest, most
loving breath you've taken

all day, all week, 
all month, all year.

And exhale, lots of love out.

Using this exhale to find once
again that flash of surrender.

Finding stillness.

Relaxing the weight 
of the body completely

and fully into the earth,
softening through the belly.

Letting the rib cage get heavy.

Letting your heart soften.

The shoulders relax.

Let the arms, the wrists,

the fingers be soft and easy.

Relax the throat.

Take a second to swallow

and then consciously relax the

tongue here in the mouth.

Notice if you're 
holding in the jaw, soften.

Then bring your awareness 
between your two brows

to the forehead, soften.

And the weight of the head
and the skull now softening.

A total surrender to 
that which is so much bigger

than us.

And it's beautiful because
from the yogic perspective,

as we surrender to that 
which is bigger than us,

there's also this beautiful
opportunity to recognize the

surrender as actually a unity.

This idea that we

are part of that 
which is bigger than us.

Went deep.

Okay, take a couple 
of quiet breaths here.

I love you.

Give yourself permission
here to do absolutely nothing.

We're not going to be 
here long, stick with it.

Be still.

Nice and slow

bring your thumb 
to your index finger.

Let them kiss together and then
start to move your thumb

on your other fingerprints

back and forth, back and forth.

Begin to gently deepen 
the breath once again.

Think inhale lots of love in.

Exhale, lots of love out.

Continue that cycle as 
you bring some movement

or energy to the toes,
to the feet.

And notice how you feel.

If time allows, you might 
stay here a little longer.

Just pausing the video.

You might rise up

and find you have 
one minute to write down in

your journal, or on a 
napkin how you're feeling.

And maybe it's off to 
the races for the rest

of your day or your evening.

Wherever you are, 
I hope this practice

has helped you feel

the love that you deserve.

And may it remind us all 
that a little goes a long way

in the healing process.

Just get up and 
start again each day.

I have your back.
Let's bring the palms together.

Benji does too, 
my prince (chuckles).

Thumbs are gonna come 
right up to that third point.

I truly believe 
that the more people,

more of us doing yoga together

the better position we are to

find healing and to live in

a kinder world.
So thank you so much.

I mean it for practicing 
with me and for showing up.

I show up because you show up.

So on that note, 
take a deep breath in.

And we'll finish 
by whispering

Namaste.

(upbeat gentle music)