- Hello my sweet friends and welcome. It is day two of your yoga revolution. Today we're gonna practice moving with intention, building on yesterday's practice, so hop into something comfy, and let's get started. (light music) Alright my friends, let's begin in a nice, comfortable seat today. Sit up nice and tall, and right away, draw the hands together, Anjali Mudra at the heart, prayer position. And notice how this makes you feel. You might even close your eyes here. And then take a moment to consider why you're here. What led you to this moment? Set a little intention for the next 30 days. Let it be kind. Let it be thoughtful. And it can just be simply, I want to get through the 31 days. Just take a moment to connect to why you're here basically. And then take a deep breath in. And exhale, relax your shoulders. Then bat the eyelashes open, and release the hands to the knees, so it's not really what you came up with, but it's the act of just connecting and allowing the mind and the body to come together and say, "Yes, okay, I'm here." So that awareness is key. So we inhale, press the palms into the knees and lift the chest here. And exhale, chin to chest, rounding through the spine. So today's practice is about moving with intention. As you inhale, lift the heart. And exhale, round through the spine. So just explore that in your body. For me, it's about slowing down and moving from a place of connect. So, we jerk ourselves around plenty off the yoga mat, and we are rushed and rushed and rushed off the yoga mat, and then we come on the yoga mat and then we do the same thing, so can we slow it down here? And really set our sights on moving from a place of connect for the next 30 days, whatever that means to you. It could be really moving from your center, maybe more anatomically you consider really moving from your core, from your middle. But maybe it's moving with a kindness. This idea of being gentle and kind with yourself on the yoga mat, so that you're gentle and kind with yourself, and with others, off the yoga mat. Do one more spinal flex here, think Cat-Cow here, so really articulate through the spine, as you inhale, lift your heart. And exhale, draw your chin to your chest. (exhaling breath) Great, inhale, come all the way back up. We'll squeeze the shoulders up to the ears with a big inhale. Then exhale, drop 'em down. Two more, inhale, squeeze and lift. Exhale, drop it like it's hot. And one more, inhale, squeeze and lift. And exhale, relax. Beautiful, chin to chest here, we're just gonna draw U's, U's (laughs), U shapes with the nose, so drawing all the way up to one side, and then down through center, and all the way up to the other side. And down through center. And even here are you just kind of mastering the task of drawing U's with the nose or can you really move with intention? Feel it out. As I said yesterday, we are really not here to do yoga. We'll use the tools of yoga, but we'll use them to create an experience. Mmmmmm. Alright, we'll come back to center. Bring the head above the heart, the heart right above the pelvis. Take a deep breath in. Then send the hands out long. Exhale, come forward onto all fours. (exhaling breath) When you get there, really set yourself up for greatness, so spread the fingertips, wrists underneath the shoulders, knees directly underneath the hip points. Then we're gonna curl the toes under today, and come into that hovering table to light a little fire in the belly, so here we go, press away from your yoga mat. Everyone really lift up between the space in the upper back body between your shoulder blades. So lift the back body up towards the sky, so we're not collapsed here. And here we go, inhale in, gaze straight down. Exhale, lift the knees and let them hover for five. Tops of the shoulders draw away from the ears, four. Long, beautiful neck, three. Two, and one, beautiful. Slowly lower the knees down, come to the tops of the feet. Elbows are gonna go right where the hands are here for Heart to Earth Pose. So keep the fingerprints firmly rooted on the mat, and then slowly begin to walk the knees towards the back edge, keep the elbows firmly planted, and slowly release forehead to the earth. Tailbone and hip creases reach up towards the sky, and then we melt the heart down. Now start to tap into a buoyant breath here. See if you can extend the inhalations and extend the exhales as we start to open up through the chest, the shoulders. Again, keep clawing into the ground with your fingerprints. Take one more breath here. And then press into the tops of the feet and again, move from a place of connect, so carve a line, look forward, and rather than just hurling yourself towards your belly, see if you can press into the tops of the feet, press into your elbows and the hands, and slide all the way through. Great, slide the hands back in line with the rib cage. Then tuck the chin to the chest. As you inhale, lift up, baby Cobra. Move with intention. Exhale to release. Two more. As you inhale, squeeze the elbows into the side body, press into your fingerprints, and exhale, take one more, moving with your breath. And release, gorgeous, curl the toes under. You can press up to all fours or plank pose. Big breath lifts you up, all fours, tabletop or plank. Great, fire up through the legs. Reach the heels towards the back edge of your mat, press away from your yoga mat, soft bend in the elbows here my friends. Alright we're starting to welcome some heat to the body. You might pedal out the feet a little here. Take one more deep breath in. And then on the exhale, make your way to Downward Facing Dog. (exhaling breath) Really root down through that index finger and thumb, and shake the head a little loose here. Pedal it out. And then going for a nice, slow walk. Again, moving with intention. What does that look like? What does that feel like? Definitely gonna up your yoga game here if you use today's practice to explore what it feels like to move with intention. We'll walk all the way up to the front edge of the mat. And lots of awareness in the feet as we bring them hip width apart, toes pointing forward. And then bend your knees generously, let your belly come to the tops of the thighs. Arms relax down, and again, shake the head loose. Allow any stress or tension to melt off here. Any weight you've been carrying on your back, let it go. We don't need to carry that extra weight with us on this yoga journey, so starting to create some space, open up some fresh space. (exhaling breath) Some good space. Okay, here we go, big inhale to lift you up halfway. Press into your feet, slide the hands to the tops of the thighs or the shins. Then pull the elbows back and find length here. And then exhale to soften and bow. Rolling all the way up to Mountain, tuck the chin into the chest, take your time, breathe deeply. Take your time, draw energy up from the earth, so press into your feet and lift up through your arches. Eventually we'll meet in Mountain Pose. And when you get there, take a couple moments to just feel it out. You might fix your pants, fix your shirt, stretch the mouth, lick your lips, maybe you repeat the U shape with the nose, or take the shoulders for a couple loops around. And for me, these moments are really important, especially if you're in a public class, so that you are connected and moving in a way that feels good for you on any given day. So every practice is different. Each time you come to the mat, you have an opportunity to listen in a new way, create a new experience. Alright, and then when you're ready, when you feel satisfied, we'll open the palms out and lift up through the sternum. Stand up really tall here, Tadasana, Mountain Pose, and we're just gonna take a second to rotate the thumbs in and then out. And then feel how that's connected to the tops of the shoulders, or the tops of the arms, the upper arm bone here and the shoulders. Again, in and out, in and out. And the next time you're out, really wrap the shoulder blades around, find that lift through the sternum, and then from here, we're gonna inhale, lift the fingertips at a flying V, so trying to keep that wrap in the upper back body as you reach for the sky. Cool, big breath in here. Make the most of this, stretch, stretch, stretch. And then exhale all the way down, Forward Fold. Hmmmm. Inhale lifts you up halfway. Again, palms on the shins or the thighs. The goal here is to use this inhale to create length. Find length in the back of the neck, this beautiful, long line of the spine. And then exhale, just soften and release. Back up towards the sky, big flying V, as you send the fingertips, thumbs are gonna pull all the way up and back. Reach for the sky, big full body stretch here, Volcano Pose. Lift from the arches of the feet, and exhale, hands to heart. Lift the sternum up to the thumbs. Lengthen the tailbone down. Inhale in deeply here. And exhale completely. Alright, let's rock and roll. Big inhale, thumbs lift you up. Keep that rotation in the upper arm bones as you reach for the sky. Exhale, forward fold, soft bend in the knees. Slowly lower down. Inhale, with control, halfway lift. Your version, pull the elbows back, shoulders back, create length, and then exhale with your breath, soften and bow. Beautiful, bring your fingertips to the yoga mat and walk the feet in. And then when you're ready, see if you can really move from a place to connect, so we're not just tossing our leg back, but connect to your center. So draw the navel in and up, and from your core, from your middle, step the right foot back. Lower the right knee down, and then loop the shoulders. Again, try to find that openness in the chest, that lift in the sternum, and maybe even play with that rotation of the upper arm bones opening out, nice low lunge. Going to come onto the top of the back foot here, and inhale, breathe in. Then exhale, send the hips back, flex the left toes towards the sky, runner's stretch, breathing deep. So if you want a little more of a stretch here, you can walk the fingertips forward, and I encourage everyone to bend that left knee so we can really get into the belly of that hamstring there and not just over- stretching where it attaches, so soft bend in the elbows, soft bend in the knees is always a nice way to go if you want to move from a place of connect. Move with intention. Alright, take one more breath here. Perhaps you lift up from the pelvic floor a little. And then exhale, rolling through back to that nice, low lunge. This time, thumbs lifting up, so fingertips at a flying V, we inhale, reach the fingertips up towards the sky. And then come out of your stretch a little bit, especially if you're really flexible, and find that lift up through the midline. Then you can slowly ease back into it, pressing into the top of that back foot firmly. Inhale in, maybe lift your heart. And then exhale, cascade it down nice and easy. Right hand comes to the earth. Back knee stays lowered for this one. As we inhale, open up towards the left, big twist. Now imagine pulling your left hip crease back, so left hip crease, top of the left thighbone pulls back, and we inhale, reach for the sky. Draw the right shoulder away from the ear. Inhale in, again, smile. And then exhale with control all the way back down. Beautiful, plant the palms, root down through that index finger and thumb, curl the back toes under. Inhale, look forward. Then exhale, move from the middle, as you lift the back knee, try to move as one moving part here, rather than a bunch of disjointed parts. One full body experience, we come to plank pose. Breathing deep. Inhale in. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. Soft, easy movement here. So we take the idea of Sukha, that softness, that easy movement here, building on with day two, moving from a place of connect. From your Downward Dog, take a deep inhale in through the nose. And nice, cleansing breath out through the mouth. Repeat the slow walk from before, nice and slow, stretching through the Achilles, the ankles, the backs of the feet, we come all the way up to that forward fold. Feet hip width apart. Big inhale lifts you up halfway, find length. And then exhale to fold. Root down through the feet. Inhale, reach for the sky, big breath, big stretch. And exhale, hands to heart, lengthen the tailbone down, lift the sternum up. Take a deep breath in. And a big breath out. Inhale to reach for the sky. Exhale to fold. Slow it down, take your time. Move with your breath. As you inhale, lift up halfway, your version. And exhale to soften and release. Bring the fingertips to the mat, walk the feet together, arch to arch, and then again, rather than just slingin' your left leg out, see if you can really cultivate an awareness right here in the belly. Draw the navel inward and upward, and from there, step the left foot back. Maybe you step it lightly. Beautiful. Inhale, loop the shoulders, lower the back knee. And reconnect with your breath. Pressing into the top of the back foot, just feel it out, again, we're not here to do yoga. Quite the contrary, just allowing for the story to unfold, the experience to happen. Staying present with the breath. Inhale, open the chest. And exhale, send the right hip crease back this time, right toes towards the sky, Runner's Stretch. Again, if you want to intensify this stretch a little bit, you'll just walk the fingertips forward. Otherwise, bring them right underneath the shoulders. Breathing deep here. And then bend that right knee just a bit, breathe a little deeper. Awesome, then rolling through that right foot, so move with intention, move from the middle here as you come all the way back. Front knee over front ankle. Lift up from the pelvic floor. Fingertips are gonna go at that flying V, so find that rotation in the upper arm bone as you reach for the sky. And then come up a little bit. Find that pulling back of the right hip crease, that lift up through the center channel. Press into the top of the back foot for stability. Big breath in, maybe slight backbend here as you lift the sternum up and back. And then exhale, soften and release back down. Keep the back knee where it is. Left hand comes to the ground. And when you're ready, big twist here. As we pull the right hip crease back, press away from your yoga mat, and inhale, right fingertips reach up towards the sky. So focus on the sensation rather than the shape, so you might even only bring the hand out halfway. Might feel better to just come halfway and really stay connected than to push beyond. So just noticing, accepting where you're at today, and staying connected. So if you start to restrict your breath, that's a good sign to change it up. Alright, inhale. Use an exhale to come back. Mmmm. Awesome, inhale to look forward, find length. Exhale, plant both palms, curl the back toes under, and again, draw the navel in and up. Lift the back knee, Plank Pose. So really pressing down into that index finger and thumb. This time really reach the heels back. Find stillness here and let the breath move you. Careful not to collapse in the middle of the back body. So lift your back body up towards the sky. Try to lift your heart space all the way between your shoulder blades. Great, take one more deep breath in here. And then slow and with control, you can lower the knees here too. We'll lower all the way down to the belly. Press into your foundation. Slide the hands in line with the rib cage, and here we go, moving in three breaths. We inhale, Baby Cobra, open your heart. Exhale, release. Inhale, finding that lift with the breath. And cascading down with the exhale. One more, really press into the tops of the feet, press into the pubic bone here, hug the elbows in. And exhale. Gorgeous. Curl the toes under, press up to plank, big breath in here. And exhale to your Downward Dog. Gorgeous. So bend the knees this time and lift the hip creases all the way up. Feel a deeper stretch as the heart melts back, and then find a little containment by drawing the navel in, hugging the lower ribs in. Fabulous. Heels grow heavy here, doesn't matter if they come close to touching the ground at all. Alright, take one more deep breath in. And then use your exhale to slowly lower the knees back down all the way. Bring the knees together, feet together, Child's Pose. Swim the fingertips around, and slow and with control, forehead comes to mat. So if this is not a comfortable resting pose for you, you can adapt and choose another shape that feels good. We're gonna take three breath cycles in and out, really seeing if you can allow the breath to move you. (inhaling and exhaling) Beautiful, and then slowly reaching the fingertips all the way up. Lift back to all fours. Beautiful. From here, bring the knees as wide as your yoga mat. Keep the two big toes in. And we're gonna slide the right hand right underneath that center line, so right into the middle of your yoga mat and right underneath the right shoulder. Then we keep pressing into the tops of the feet here. Again, moving from a place of connect, so see if you can really move as one part rather than swinging your left arm up. See if you can take the whole body and move as one continuous movement. As you inhale, reach the left fingertips all the way up. Then exhale in and underneath the bridge of the right arm. Then inhale, open. And exhale, twist. Shooooooooo. Inhale, open. And last one, moving with the breath. And on this one, you're gonna rest on your left ear and send your right fingertips all the way out towards the front edge. Keep awareness in the tops of your feet, and again, just like we did in Down Dog, see if you can lift the hip creases up towards the sky, tailbone up towards the sky. Beautiful. Then if you'd like to take another variation with this top arm here, you can, bringing the right hand to the small of the back, or keeping it really active, and reaching up towards the heavens. Take one more deep breath in here wherever you are. And a long exhale out with control. Great, move from your center. Draw the navel in and up, and that's what brings you all the way back. Left hand comes to the midline, and moving from a place of connect. Move with intention. As you reach for the sky, inhale, right hand up. And exhale in and underneath the bridge of the left arm, so you have awareness through every part, all your fingertips. Awareness through all your toes. And so this can be a little challenging, so just try to stick with it even though it seems like we're doing simple action. To really move with intention requires focus, and that can be hard work. Okay, do one more. And then the next time your ear comes to the mat, send your left fingertips up towards the sky. Big stretch for the upper back body. Really great for the neck, the shoulders, and the back. Breathing deep. Imagine lifting your hip creases up towards the sky, tail towards the sky, and then you can take any variation you like with this top arm, continuing to breathe deep. (inhaling and exhaling) Inhale in. Exhale, allow your left hand to come all the way back up, navel draws in and up, we try to move from our center, and come all the way back to all fours. Walk the knees underneath the hips. Swing the legs to one side. So swing the toes to one side, and come all the way to a seat. We're gonna bring the soles of the feet together for Cobbler's Pose. So grab the ankles, soles of the feet come together. We loop the shoulders and find this lift up from the pelvic floor. Now anchor some weight down through the elbows, down through the shoulders, and down through the tops of the thighs, so basically you try to find places to lift and lengthen, and then places to ground. And that really is the true nature of our Hatha Yoga Practice, balancing these two opposing forces. This idea of finding a sense of balance and ease between the sun and the moon. We'll be talking more about that as the days go on. Great, just take one more breath here. And then we'll release the hands, bring them to the outer edges of the thighs, and then nice and slow, in one sweeping movement, we're gonna close 'em in, lean back, and lift the shins parallel. So hands are on the backs of the thighs, now lift the shins parallel, excuse me, to the ceiling. Now you can hold on here, breathing deep, and once again we'll try to lift up from the pelvic floor, find places to lift and lengthen and places to ground here. And then find places where you can add a little Sukha, a little ease. And don't add any tension. Soften. Fabulous. If you want to stay here you can. Otherwise, I invite you to reach the fingertips forward, find that rotation in the upper arm bones by opening the palms. Great, inhale in. Exhale, we're gonna lower. Slowly send the toes forward, hands stay facing up towards the sky. Inhale, lift. Exhale, lower. (exhaling breath) Inhale, lift. And exhale, lower. Inhale, lift, last one. And exhale, this time, send the legs out, arms out, big flying V. Great, catch yourself and come all the way down on your back, awesome. Moving from a place to connect even here, slowly lower down. Great, we're gonna bring the feet as wide as the yoga mat. Knees fall in together, finding that internal rotation in the hip, take the left hand to the heart, right hand to the belly. Take a deep breath in. And exhale, sigh it out. (sighing breath) Keep the feet where they are, and nice and slow, we're gonna allow both knees to windshield wiper over towards the right side of the mat. You can stay here or for a deeper stretch, cross the right foot over the top of the left thigh, right ankle on the left thigh. And breathe deep, nice, long, smooth deep breaths here. You might even soften your gaze or close your eyes. And then with control, releasing the right foot down. Enjoying this nice, little booty massage as you roll all the way through center, and then take both knees over towards the left. Reach the right knee down. And if you need a little more, cross left ankle, left foot over the top of the right thigh. Inhale in. And exhale, release back to center. And we'll walk the heels in. Prepare for Bridge Pose. Fingertips come down, snuggle the shoulder blades underneath your heart space, and when you're ready, big inhale to slowly peel the hips up, reaching the sits bones towards the backs of the knees, so the shins stay perpendicular to the mat. We imagine a block between the thighs, so keep some energy there, and slowly lift up. Interlace the fingertips behind the tailbone. Walk the forearms in. And then allow your breath to move you here. Lift the chest to the chin, and the chin towards the sky. Again, chest to chin, and chin towards the sky. Take one more breath. Then exhale, with control, release all the way down. Really finding that yummy articulation through the spine here. Mmm, awesome, press up off the toes, hug the knees into the chest, and we're gonna take Happy Baby here, so you'll grab the outer edges of the feet and lengthen the tailbone towards the front edge of the mat. If it's too much to do both legs at one time, you can just do one foot up towards the sky, and then the other, alternating. So our last few moments here on the mat, strike up the band. (laughs) Find a nice, active breath. And then we'll release the feet all the way down. Extend the legs out long. And inhale, reach for the sky, big full body stretch here. And exhale, release, hands come down at the sides. We relaxed the soles of the feet, the ankles. We let go in the legs. Let the hips grow heavy. Open mind, open heart. Allow the weight of the arms to rest gently, and just notice if you're tightly bound up here. See if you can create a little more space and really set your Shavasana up today with some intention. Decide what feels good. Palms face down, palms face up. Heels together or maybe as wide as your yoga mat. Then inhale lots of love in, give thanks. Exhale, lots of love out. So when we practice moving with intention on the mat, it becomes easier for us to move from a place of connect and move with intention and awareness off the mat. So thank you so much for sharing your time and your energy, and your practice with me today. We'll bring the palms together. Inhale in. And exhale to empty out. I'll see you tomorrow, day three. Nice work everyone. Namaste. (light music)