- What's up party people? And welcome to Dedicate, your 30 day yoga journey. Today's practice is what it's all about. So hop on the mat for your Day 12 Curate practice. Let's get started. (bright music) Okay my friends. Come on down to the ground. Let's begin on all fours. As always if you need to pad the knees you can use a little blanket or a towel. We're gonna start off nice and easy today dropping your belly for Cow Pose. Inhale. Exhaling, rounding through the spine. Continue with your breath as you inhale feeling the stretch in the opening of the front body. And as you exhale feeling the stretch in the opening on the back body. And start to listen to the sound of your breath. Continue with your spinal flexion. Considering today's theme of Curate, it's one of the reasons I fell in love with yoga is yoga is just constantly reminding me that ultimately I am those one responsible for my own happiness. And outside source is not responsible. Ultimately it's me. So let's see if we can consider that as we begin to veer off the railroad tracks here in Cat-Cow making this spinal flexion your own. So you're in charge of your experience here. You're responsible for your own happiness. So you've been working now for almost two weeks so you might find that the abdominals are a little sore. You might come forward. You might find that maybe you've had a tough day. I'm sorry to hear that. It happens. Maybe you come to Extended Child's Pose. So really curating your warm up and thereby curating your experience on the mat and the more we practice doing this on the mat, the more readily available this practice becomes to us off the mat. And since there inevitably is a myriad of things outside of our control this is a really valuable practice, really valuable tool to have in your belt. Take the same energy, whatever you've curated thus far even if you're in Extended Child's Pose, and use it to make your way to Downward Dog. Take your time. There's no rush. And then notice if you just pause here waiting for the next thing, totally normal but instead lets cue brain and body to keep going. Don't decide where it ends. Stretch it out. Notice how you feel today. Awesome. Then from Downward Dog same thing. Make your way to the top of the mat. Find you way there. Find what feels good. Make it your own. And then we'll meet in a Forward Fold at the top of the mat. Take a nice deep inhale in here. Just halfway lift. And then exhale to soften and fold. Beautiful. Bend the knees, plant the palms, step the right toes back, step the left toes back. Just Plank for one breath, don't worry. And then exhale, slowly lower to the knees. Come back to your Tabletop Position. Alright, find a nice strong base here. We're gonna slowly, slowly lift the right knee out towards the right side of your mat for a little Fire Hydrant Pose. Engage the right glutes. Then start to draw big circles with your right knee. Hands are in a nice wide base. Stacking the bones. We're engaging the lower belly. We're pressing in to the top of the left foot. Then notice if you pay attention to the fact that you've established one way of routing, one way of doing it. And then see if you can reverse it. Find the other way. Reverse direction. And there could be a tendency to lean into the left side of that mat here, so connect to your midline. Get strong in your core. Press into both palms evenly. Sweet. Then slowly release. If you need to take a little break you can sit back, I'll do it. Let's all do a little Thriller Arms. Sit back on the heels for a moment. Send the wrists forward. Thriller Arms. Inhale in. Exhale out and we'll come back to all fours. Alright, find your nice strong base. When you're ready lifting your left knee out towards the left side of your mat. So I want you to turn on the low belly here. Engage, engage. Yeah and then start to move in one direction. Big circles with the left knee. Big beautiful breaths to just move any stagnant energy. There's so many different philosophies, of course, that talk about our emotional intelligence and its connection to the hips. So just pay attention. Notice that you've established one way of moving and see if you can reverse it. Careful not to collapse into your right side. Abdominal wall engaged. Abdominal wall engaged. Okay. (laughs) Slowly releasing the left knee down. We're gonna drop the elbows exactly where the hands were. Give your wrists a little break as we come into Anahatasan. Walking your knees back, opening the shoulders, heart melts to the earth. Try to keep the forearms like an 11, like the number 11, two parallel lines. Melt your heart, chest to the earth, forehead toward the mat. Breathe deep and allow your breath to move you here. Keep pressing into the tops of the feet for stability. Press into the knuckles, the fingertips, and live inside this moment. Being mindful of your thoughts, your breath, and using your awareness to help curate your own experience. Cool. Then slowly we'll come back up to all fours. Take your time and slowly make your way to Downward Facing Dog. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. Bend the knees, inhale look forward. Exhale, make your way to the top. Have a some fun. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, soften and fold. Tuck the chin. Press into all four corners of the feet and slowly roll it up. Mm, back to the Mountain. Again, here's a wonderful opportunity each time we come to Mountain Pose or often that we find ourself in a similar shape we have an opportunity to remember (sighs), I'm in charge of my experience, the way I react to things. And, of course, this goes without saying, you know we're human so we can't always control how we react to things. But having an awareness and a practice of awareness certainly helps. From here you're gonna bring the hands to the heart. And slowly we're gonna bend the knees. We're just gonna take the right foot and bring it right behind the left. So your legs are criss-crossed here. Left foot in front of the right. Great then best you can you're gonna find that loop of energy lifting up through the front body, grounding through the back body. Great. Then we'll release the fingertips down. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, Forward Fold. Slight bend in both knees. Beautiful. Hang out here for a sec. Shake the head a little yes and then no. Then if you want you can write your name in imaginary sand here. Or write the name of someone you love. Benji. Okay. Or if that's not your jam, just gentle rocking side to side. Not clenching the toes, not locked out in the knees. Cool. Ground slowly rolling up, stacking through your spine. Hands come back to the heart. And then we'll slowly release and just take it on to the other side. So ground through your right foot and send your left foot behind. Again, careful not to lock the knees out here particularly if you have a little hyper mobility. Keep a soft bend. Nice and safe and yummy. Okie doke. Here we go. Fingertips go down to come up. We find that loop. So, pelvis might want to tilt out here so, see if you can lengthen tailbone down. Just get your center right underneath you and when you're ready fingertips go down to come up. We take a deep breath in, slight bend in the knees as now we slowly melt it forward. Sinking. Second one here. Shake the head. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to let go of any stress or tension that you might've come on to the mat with. Any words unspoken, or words that you wish you'd said, anything that needs to be forgiven and just send a little love. Go ahead and send some love out now. Right? What you give is what you get. It's all a reflection. Yes. Alright. Ground through the feet. Tuck the chin. Connect to your center, your core as you roll it up. Hands come to the heart. Yes. Feel (laughs). Sorry I just felt my energy change. Feel that flush, fresh blood, fresh oxygen as you breathe in deeply and we'll release the feet bring them together hip width apart. Alright, here we go. Fingertips come down to come up. Inhale, reach for the sky. Catch a wave. Exhale, crest, fall. Forward Fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Just find a little length. And exhale, let something go. Great, you're gonna step the right foot back. Step the left foot back. Lower all the way to the belly. Inhale for a Cobra. Gentle back bend. Exhale to soften and fold. Inhale to press up to all fours or Plank. Exhale to take it to Downward Facing Dog. Find your set up. You got it. Connect to your center. Anchor the left heel, inhale. Slide the sole of your right foot up against a wall. Now bend the right knee. We're gonna go big circles with the right knee here. Pressing into both palms evenly. Pressing into both palms evenly. Notish, (laughs). Notice the direction you've established and then now reverse it. Reverse it. Great, then kick the right foot out. One-Legged Dog and on an exhale squeeze it in, knee to nose. Beautiful. Kick it up. Three-Legged Dog. Switch it over. Left foot. Right foot comes down. Left foot lifts up high. Stick with it. We're strengthening the upper body. You got it. Breathe in. You have it. Navel in. You got it. Then bend your left knee and here we go. Big circles. You got this. Press into both palms evenly. Meet your appropriate edge. You got this. Breathing deep. Anchoring through the right heel. Upper arm bones externally rotating. Reverse the circle. Left knee opposite direction. You got it. Keep breathing. Soften the skin on the face. You're doing great. Building strength. Curating your experience. Making sure you're checking your attitude. Often the mind gives up before the body. You're doin' awesome. Here we go. Shifting forward. Squeezing knee to nose. You got this. Three, two, one. Send it back, Downward Facing Dog. Both feet on the ground. Inhale in. Exhale. Bend your knees. Look towards the top. Make your way there. Take your time. Forward Fold. Let everything go. Wooh! Nice work. Inhale in. Empty it out through the mouth. Gorgeous. Tuck your chin and roll all the way up. Slowly rise up to Mountain Pose. Send your gaze out. Chin lifted. Trust me, trust yourself, trust the video. See feelingly again, as Mr. Shakespeare once wrote and without looking down bring your feet together. Then bring the palms together. Capture this magic moment. Inhale in. Exhale, relax the shoulders down. Okay, so inhale. Fingertips are gonna reach up. Left hand's gonna grab right wrist and then we're gonna repeat what we did with the feet earlier. Right foot comes behind the left. Now straighten the legs. Careful not to lock out the knees. You're gonna slowly tilt to the left side. Breathe deep. Lengthen tailbone down. Beautiful. Then slowly come back to center. From your core, we'll release the feet and then opposite hand. So right hand to the left wrist. We'll pull up and over taking it to the right. Soft bend in the knees. Left toes behind and then we grow. Lengthening tailbone down. Lifting chin just slightly. Breathe in deep here. Inhale. Exhale to release. Awesome. Big beach ball up and overhead. You got it. Inhale. Exhale, rain it down. Forward Fold. Good. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, soften and bow. Step or hop it back. Belly to Cobra or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Yogi's choice. And then Downward Facing Dog. Last one. You're not gonna be here long so take the most loving breath you taken all day. Inhale in. And exhale out. Gorgeous. Slow descend of the knees down to the earth. And so from here we're gonna be going into a One-Legged Pigeon. So I want to offer two options. I'm gonna do a Reclined Pigeon on my back which I think most people will enjoy. But the other option is to bring your right knee up here and do Pigeon here, kind of traditional One-Legged King Pigeon. So, just offering it right away for those who know that they will like that more. Otherwise if that's a little bit new to you particularly if you're tight in the hips or low back, join me for a Reclined One-Legged Pigeon. You'll swing the legs to one side. Slowly come on to your back. And whichever variation you've chosen we'll do the right leg first. So on the back we'll kick the right leg up. Cross right ankle over the top left thigh and we'll thread the needle starting to breathe deep here. Don't forget your breath. Often people forget the breath here. So keep the breath going the whole way long and here we are squeezing the legs towards the heart space. In both variations keeping active in the right toes and left toes. Breathing into the belly. Softening your gaze or closing your eyes here. So, a little food for thought to take off the mat today, s remembrance (laughs) that ultimately we are the ones responsible for our own happiness. For the way we move and the way we perceive. The way we observe, and the way we problem solve. The Asana practice is awesome because it allows us to see kind of how we handle our stuff. (chuckle) And hip work's great and we'll continue with it because it kind of shows you like, is it kind of your pattern to go around something or to avoid it or can you learn to find expansion, feel your way through something? Trust your guts. Alright. Take an inhale. Use your exhale. Let the exhale be your cue to make your exit, to unravel. And then we'll switch to the other side. This is our last bit today so, if you're on your back really feel supported in this moment. If you're flipped, feel that connection of hand to earth, maybe palms to earth and feel supported by Sweet Mama Earth and then I'll quiet up for this side and allow you to listen to the sound of your breath. Notice what thoughts might've come up here. Acknowledge them. Come back to the sound of your breath, the wisdom of your heart for one more cycle. In. And out. (laughs) Okay, unraveling. Beautiful. If you are not on your back yet come on down to join us, pals. We'll just take a moment here to windshield wiper the legs. Be really mindful, even in these small moments, let them all be gestures of love. And then we'll extend the legs out long. Alright so we'll expand on this a bit more tomorrow but you can take this off the mat and in to the rest of your day or your evening remembering, dear one, that you are ultimately the one responsible for your own happiness. Everything you have is within. I'm here to help as are all the people practicing with you around the world, supporting you. We're all in this together. And isn't that a great feeling? Bring the palms together. Thumbs up to third eye. We'll close today by inhaling lots of love in. Exhaling lots of love out. And quietly we whisper Namaste. Thanks everyone. You're doin' awesome. Hasta manaƱa. (bright music)