okay so we're going to begin flat on our

backs today now this is a gentle morning

practice so permission to take your time

here today you know just checking in

with the body and going nice and slow

here especially at the beginning so I'm

going to take a second to check in with

my heels make sure they're in line with

the hips or if you're feeling like

having a really good morning open them a

little wider arms resting gently at the

sides palms face up we'll take a second

to press into my head press into my

elbows and lift the chest up so that I

could draw my shoulder blades in and

down shoulders away from the ears and

then relax back down onto the earth and

what I'm doing is I'm basically just

opening up this area of my chest

energetically but also physically

feeling the skin of the the chest kind

of stretch open here

and then I tuck my chin to my chest

lengthen through the back of the neck

and take a second here to connect to my

natural breath so just noticing the

natural ebb and flow of the breath can

close your eyes so if you're really

sleepy and you don't want to go back to

sleep right away you can just keep a

soft gaze a nice Drishti past the edge

of the nose here so first just noticing

the natural rhythm the natural ebb and

flow of the breath kind of honoring the

breath in that way here as we start our

day then the nice and easy nothing fancy

just rolling the head here rocking

rather the head a little side to side

ear to ear can relax the jaw soften the

skin of the face sloshing the back of

the head and checking in with the neck

here maybe the breath starts to deepen

here

slowly waking up the body one nice sweet

inhale at a time okay then I'll come

back to Center stillness take a nice

deep breath in exhale let it out letting

the weight of the body go completely and

fully into the earth into the mat

feeling supported here I'm going to

bring my awareness to my feet so nice

and easy pressing into the heels and

then pointing through the toes pressing

into the heels and pointing through the

toes and then just I'll pass it over to

you here maybe rotating or rocking the

ankles little side-to-side rotating them

in a couple circles and again nothing

fancy just nice organic movement here as

I wake up the feet wake up my roots for

the day maybe spreading the toes and

then noticing that ripple effect that

naturally happens when I press in my

heels kind of feeling that sit bone to

heel connection when I point my toes

maybe lengthening the tops of the legs

noticing how the tops of the thighs take

shape when I engage the fee noticing

that ripple effect in the body and relax

the feed and bring it to my hands same

thing here spreading the fingertips now

and then reeling them in rotating the

wrists and again I hand it over to you

just finding that nice organic movement

as I bring awareness took my hands the

wrists and then same thing here letting

that ripple effect happen noticing what

it does in the body if you only really

want to get into it right away you can

start to feel it in the torso and the

shoulder now I'm going to add my feet

back in and my ankles and just notice

how that affects the body so we can do

this in our bed too you notice my hip

points start to shift I'm sure I look a

little silly here but starting to just

integrate the body which is again what

my yoga is all about what this practice

inspires

that connective tissue breathing a

little life into the body once you feel

satisfied come back and now I'm going to

practice just integrating the breath to

the movement the movement to the breath

so marrying those two together I'll

inhale reach the fingertips up and

overhead full body stretch and exhale

floating the fingertips down good

morning inhale spreading the fingertips

deep breath reach it up stretch and

exhale floating down one more inhale

checking in with the shoulders

lengthening through the side body

spreading the fingertips and toes and

exhale float it down press the palms

into the earth all ten fingerprints root

down I'm going to hug the knees into the

chest either by drawing one at a time or

I can begin to already light that fire

gently in the belly by drawing both

knees in at the same time pressing into

the palms and then letting the lower

back become flush with the mat keep the

feet nice and soft here remember this is

gentle morning practice I'm going to

wrap my arms around my shins here

keeping the shoulders relaxed soft feet

soft in the face take a deep breath in

lengthen through the back of the neck

and exhale slowly peel the nose up to

meet the knees we're going to do three

of these just checking with the spine

with the support of the earth on an

exhale we float it down

deep breath in relax the shoulders hmm

and one more time exhale hedgehog pose

navel draws down tailbone scoops up lots

of space between the shoulders and the

ears here and just visualizing that

space between each vertebra one by one

spreading and then we exhale release to

a reclined baddha konasana or butterfly

nice and soft as I release down here if

the hips feel really tight it is morning

and low then we can draw the toes down

towards the edge of mat so we don't have

to be in a full soup Tabata Kinison here

open the chest open the shoulders maybe

draw your shoulder blades down we're

going to take the hands to the belly

here so again the heels can be drawn up

here or the toes can draw down so no

sharp pain

make sure there's no sharp pain here so

make adjustments as needed

always hands come to the belly and I'm

going to take three nice full breaths in

as I inhale the hands of the belly rise

belly breath and on an exhale they fall

checking in with the breath inhale belly

Rises and exhale it falls one more time

inhale feeling the skin of the belly

stretch as you inhale it Rises and

exhale it Falls

beautiful take the fingertips to the

outer edges of the legs we'll close this

chapter as we bring the knees together

inhale reach the knees again excuse me

squeeze the knees up towards the heart

arms wrap around the shins take a couple

seconds here to rock a little left to

right

this should feel great in the morning

crawling the shoulder blades down kind

of feel like a baby bear cub here kind

of massaging the back on a tree hear

something and then I'll cross the right

ankle over the left grab on to the outer

edges of the feet if I can't grab the

outer edges the feet here and I can take

my middle finger index finger and thumb

and grab on to the big toe but I like to

grab all the way to the outer edges here

kind of squeeze my feet warm them up if

they're a little chilly maybe take my

thumbs to the arches of the feet and

give them a little wake-up call this is

also a great little posture little shape

to take in bed before you even roll out

of bed just be mindful and I can bend

the elbows a little left to right and

then when I begin to rock north to south

so I already rocked a little left right

now I'm going to bend the elbows and

rock north to south

hello I can rock a couple times here

massaging the spine then again this

might look a little silly but it feels

great massaging the back finding what

feels good do it as many times as you

like and then eventually I'll rock up to

a nice comfortable sukhasan or a nice

crisscross leg position making sure to

take a second here to roll up through

the entire spine and maybe find that

alignment of head over the heart heart

over the pelvis so just noticing if the

weight is shifting forward or rounding

back we can take a block or a blanket

and lift the hips up here if we need to

but taking a second to check in with the

body in this shape

okay finding that opposition how's my

hair

to find that opposition so lifting up

through the front body grounding through

the back body shoulder blades in

together and down and then again letting

that conversation or that ripple effect

happen here you can keep the eyes soft

so find what it is for you maybe it's a

couple loops of the shoulders maybe it's

a couple circles with the head drawing

circles with the nose and so when I'm

teaching public class I often ask people

to just find what it is for them because

everybody's different

who knows how you slept you know so just

taking a couple seconds to come into

this posture with a little movement

letting the body have that ripple effect

so again some suggestions are drawing

circles with the nose looping the

shoulders one way and then the other

sometimes it's nice to round all the way

forward as we do in our sukhasan video

and then when I arrive I'll bring the

palms together at the heart

nice full breath tops of the thighs roll

down as the heart lifts up I'm going to

interlace the fingertips here and inhale

press the palms forward reach the

pinkies forward up and back as you take

a deep breath in and on an exhale

floating the fingertips down in a way

just like that we flow again inhale

interlace reach up heart stays lifted as

I crawl through the side body and exhale

float the fingertips down

interlace inhale pressing forward up and

back on an exhale this time maybe now I

start to float the fingertips slightly

behind the hip points really opening up

through the chest waking up the

shoulders two more times like this

inhale and exhale maybe letting an

exhale out through the mouth here good

morning one more inhale

this time let the fingertips come to the

earth fingertips pressing into the mat

or into the earth really pressing into

that pinky - so all ten fingerprints

shoulder blades are rotating in and

together so I'm opening up through the

chest tops of the thighs are drawing

down here as I lift up through the heart

inhale extend through the crown of the

head on an exhale I'm going to draw a

line with my nose past the right

shoulder so nice and easy here gentle

morning practice I'm going to stay here

for a couple breaths it's as if I'm

receiving a kiss on the neck here hello

good morning but two reaches on here so

I can draw the shoulder blades in and

together it can press up and out of the

fingertips I can really lengthen through

the crown of the head by maybe lifting

the chin slightly just really breathing

in here

inhale exhale draw your chin to your

chest and now drawing a line with the

nose to the opposite side towards the

left shoulder receiving that kiss on the

other side of the neck here finding that

ease that graze and this time we'll draw

a line with the nose up towards the sky

careful not to crunch in the back of the

neck so I'm maintaining that lift in the

chest and I'm going to inhale open the

palm so spiral your shoulders open nice

and wide and inhale spread the

fingertips left to right really reaching

as we reach all the way up palms kiss

together chai and then exhale we're

going to dive forward onto all fours

spread the palms nice and wide wrists

underneath the shoulders knees directly

underneath the hips I'm going to press

up and out of my foundation to find that

tabletop position extend through the

crown of the head and then I'm going to

inhale cat cows scooping the heart

forward feeling the skin of the belly

stretch close your eyes here soften your

gaze the tendency is going to want to be

rush through this but I encourage you to

really find that micro movement travel

up and down the spine inhale shoulders

loop heart radiates forward long belly

tail up towards the sky and exhale

starting at the tail letting it travel

all the way up pressing up and out of

the tops of the feet here pressing up

and out of the palms crown of the head

releases let's do one more moving with

the breath

inhale come to tabletop position I'm

going to curl the toes and slowly walk

my fingertips up towards the tops of the

thighs take a second here to inhale open

the shoulders open the palms reach up

slide back bend here and then exhale

releasing back down I'm going to come

onto the tops of the feet here now two

big toes are going to come together

knees are going to wide in now I'm going

to dive back in all fours for a cat cow

variation and this is one of my

favorites so fingertips are going to

reach forward so I'm going to maintain

the same movement that I did in cat cow

but I'm going to take it in a circle so

this is where the good morning practice

really gets good I inhale scoop my heart

come forward again knees are nice and

wide about as wide as the mat big toes

together inhale and as you exhale take

it around through extended Child's Pose

fingertips reaching I'll pause here just

to show you the shape and I'm going to

continue my journey as I inhale scoop

the heart come forward and exhale navel

draws up as I round the spine around and

back inhale come forward and exhale come

back now you're off so this is going to

be a little bit different for everyone I

encourage you to open yourself up to a

new experience I know I may look a

little silly here but I'm going to start

to really see if I can shine a little

light into those dark crevices of the

body that haven't received a little

light in a long time and if it's morning

time I'm going to want to move nice and

slow I may want to rest here for a

couple breaths in between extended

Child's Pose or if while I'm moving I

find a catch I might rock back and forth

through that catch a little bit finding

that space I want to make sure I take

time to reverse my circle checking in

with the elbows I can begin to get the

neck and

here my high school yoga students call

this drunk cat how nice to always say

drunk with love yes and then when you

feel satisfied in your circles this is

great if you have you can just do one

thing in the morning do this cat cow

variation it's so awesome so rounding

back and forth when you feel satisfied

will come to extended Child's Pose

then inhale draw a line with your nose

look up reach the fingertips forward I'm

going to come back to all fours bringing

my knees underneath the hips and once

again curling my toes under walking the

fingertips back this is a great you know

little moment to just check in with the

feet for the day again stretching the

backs of the feed and then anyhow

spiraling the shoulders I lift up palms

come together Jai that's the celebratory

namaste tuck your pelvis in here my

friends and then exhale floating back

down this time I'm going to dive my

palms forward and nice and easy send the

sit bones up and back for a little

downward dog with bent knees my friend

bent legs bend the legs draw your navel

towards your spine really gentle here

today as we just check in with the backs

of the legs check in with the feet so

not really worried about creating the

perfect downward dog shape here I'm just

getting a little oxygen going little

stretch in the backs of the legs and

checking in with the body you know from

here I'm going to slowly walk the feet

up see if you can roll through your

whole foot so no rush coffee's Brewin to

you Brewin we only have this moment so

we might as well enjoy it as we walk up

to the front of the mat and then we'll

land at the front of the mat here

together drawing the navel in towards

the spine and softening the knees for

nice yummy forward fold uttanasana

okay so feet are hip-width apart here or

even wider hello it's morning time give

yourself a little space be kind to your

body let the head hang over maybe

take the head a little bit yes a little

bit no grab the elbows Rock a little

side to side and same thing we did in

sukhasan here my friends just let that

ripple effect happen naturally really

you don't need me to tell you what to do

here you know you know what to do fine

what the body needs and then when you

feel satisfied let everything release

press into your heels press into the

front two corners of the feet ball joint

of the big toe ball joint of the pinky

toe and then as if I was drawing energy

up from the arches of the feet I'm going

to bend my knees scoot my tailbone in

and roll it up nice and slow again we

all have days ahead of us we probably

have a busy day ahead of us so the

tendency is going to be to rush here but

please my friends take this time for

yourself you deserve it slow down I'll

slowly rise up and begin to loop the

shoulders forward up and back and open

up back to you back to you feet

hip-width apart as they come into my

best and most beautiful Tadasana because

we're going to have the best and most

beautiful day today nice fluid deep

breaths taking a second to loop the

shoulders one way than the other and

then same thing maybe drawing a couple

circles with the nose again you know I'm

here to empower you so it's nice to have

a guide in the video to follow but if

any other expressive movements come out

of these things in the morning get it do

it your body will thank you your mind

your heart everything will come together

and integrate and your light will shine

brighter and then people be like that

person okay so from here I'm just going

to open the palms spiral the shoulders

here really opening the palms and inhale

reach up palms come together and exhale

float them down away from the hips I can

begin to soften the knees as I inhale

reach up and exhale float it down

one more time inhale reach up this time

take your right hand grab your left

wrist think up and over as we go into a

nice side body stretch here nice and

easy nice and organic and then I switch

again

easy breezy nothing fancy one more time

on each side think up and over it see

how simple and then I inhale reach

fingertips up and exhale opening the

palms one last time