- Howdy, everyone. Welcome back to Move. It is Day 22, and we are so excited that you're here. Right, Benji? Today we have a courage practice, so hop into something comfy, and let's get movin. (soft upbeat music) Alrighty, my sweet pals, let's begin standing today at the top of the mat. Nice and easy. We'll come to stand a little bit wider than hip width apart. We're just going to start with a little Knocking on Heaven's Door here. Back and forth, swinging the arms, relaxing the shoulders, starting to tune in with your breath. Soft in the knees. Left to right here. Letting go of the day thus far, and coming into the present moment for our practice today. Thank you so much for being here. Pick up the pace here and the sound of your breath for three, two, and on the one, walk your feet together, really together. Try not to look down. You know the ground is there. And have courage, lift your heart, relax your shoulders, come into Mountain Pose. You can close your eyes here. Fingertips down at your sides. Spread the fingers, energy in the hands. Tuck the chin slightly to lengthen the back of the neck. Set a little intention for our practice today. The hardest part is over. Thank you for having the courage to show up. Good. Then take a deep breath in. As you exhale, wiggle the fingertips, open your eyes. On your next breath, inhale, reach for the sky. Biggest stretch, biggest breath. And then exhale, wiggle the fingertips as you bend your knees in Forward Fold, bring it all the way down to the ground. Say hello to those hamstrings, bend your knees generously. Good. Then inhale, halfway lift, find length in the neck, so nice flat back position. And then exhale to soften and fold. Nice and easy, step the right foot back, lower the right knee, then you're going to open your left toes just a bit here. Bring your left hand, maybe to the top of the left thigh. We're just going to find soft, easy movement here in the hips, keeping the neck nice and long, keeping the left foot grounded. So not rocking it or picking up the toes, but keeping it nice and stable on the ground. Good, then bring your left toes back in, frame your left foot with your fingertips, inhale in. Exhale, lift the right knee. Strong here, low body really getting strong here. Getting a sense of what it feels like to find stability from center, to move from that place. Inhale, open the chest, look forward as you reach your right heel back. Good, then slowly exhale, plant the palms, step the left foot back, Plank Pose. Lower the knees, draw the shoulders away from the ears, lift the toes, you can cross the ankles here if you like. So we're in Half Plank. Inhale in. Exhale, bend the elbows slowly, bring the chest to the earth, and then the chin. Good, then release the tops of the feet down to the earth. Inhale, open up the chest as you lift up, Cobra. And exhale to soften and fold everything down. Good. Curl the toes under, inhale in. As you exhale, press up to Plank Pose. Quietly whisper to yourself, "I am a strong." Stronger and stronger every day. Hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Good. From here, we're just gonna step the right foot up into the lunge and lower the left knee down. Turn the right toes out, bring your right hand to the top of the right thigh, and you can allow your breath to move you or you can find just soft, easy movement in the torso here, or maybe lifting the hips up and back. Small micro movement, subtle body gestures here. Deep breaths. Nice, then turn the right toes in, frame that right foot with the hands, inhale in, exhale, lift the back knee up. Really stretch through that foot. So reach the heel back. As you inhale, loop the shoulders, open the chest, look forward. Creating a 100% full body experience here. You got this. Good, then exhale, plant the palms, step the right toes back, Plank Pose. Okay, here we go. Listen carefully. First the knees lower, we tilt the pelvis up, then the chest, then the chin, then slide it through. As you inhale, we lift up, Cobra. Exhale to soften and fold. Good. Curl the toes under, inhale, press up, power up, Downward Facing Dog. Good. Bend the knees, inhale to look forward. Exhale, give it a hop. Hop towards the front of your mat. Just see what happens. If you don't make it, take a couple more steps, and we'll meet in the Forward Fold. Good. Inhale, lift up halfway. Exhale to soften and fold. Root to rise here, ground through the feet, spread the fingertips, inhale, reach for the sky. And exhale hands to heart. Beautiful. Relax your shoulders here. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. Good. Shift your weight to your right foot. Keep your right thumb at your sternum to help you remember to lift up through the chest. We're just gonna slowly bend the left knee, reach to grab the left ankle. You can use your fingertips on a piece of furniture here. Right hand on a wall. Just coming into a quad stretch here, lengthening the tailbone down, squeeze that left knee in. Nice quad stretch. Yes, and then release and take it to the other side. Nice and easy. And if you're wobbly today, if you're falling, that's part of it, right? Have the courage to try to fall, to fail. Awesome, then release. Right away, both feet come together. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, Forward Fold. Inhale, lift up halfway, find something new. Exhale to soften and fold. Step one foot back, then the other, Plank. Here we go. Knees, chest and chin again, inhale in. Exhale, knees hit first. Gently, we tilt the pelvis, we hug the elbows in, we lower the chest, and then the chin. Good. Then slide through. As you inhale, find Cobra. And exhale, soften and release. Inhale in as you curl the toes under. Exhale, press up, navel comes up to the spine on that exhale, Plank Pose. Nice and strong. Beautiful. Inhale in again. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. Inhale, lift the right leg up high. Exhale, step it all the way forward. Inhale, keep that back heel lifted as you sweep the fingertips all the way up, nice high lunge. Front knee over front ankle here. Find your center, breathe. Big beach ball up and overhead. Good. Now grab your right hand. Excuse me, take your right hand, grab your left wrist, excuse me. Think up and over here. Big stretch. Inhale in as you lean to the right. Exhale, hug the rib cage in, strong connection to center. Good. Then inhale in again, lift your chin. Exhale, pivot on the back foot, open up, Warrior II. Good. Inhale in here. Exhale, straighten the front leg, send the right fingertips back, Reverse Triangle. Inhale in here. Exhale back to Warrior II. Beautiful. From here, we're gonna inhale, send the left fingertips forward, come back to high lunge, so you lift that back heel up. Inhale, lift the chest, lift the chin. And then exhale, soften it all down. Good. Take your twist here if you like. Inhale, right fingertips up, And exhale, right hand back down to the earth. Step the right foot back, inhale in. Exhale, knees, squeeze the elbows into the side body as you tilt the pelvis, bring the chest and then the chin, and then slide it through as you inhale we open the chest, Cobra. And exhale to soften and fold. Follow your breath, inhale in. Exhale, press up to Plank, nice and strong, deep breath in here. Press away from the yoga mat. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. Take a breath. When you're ready, inhale, lift the left leg up high. Exhale, step it through. Front knee over front ankle, strong connection to center, squeeze the inner thighs to the midline. That'll help keep the back heel lifted. As you inhale, sweep the fingertips all the way up. Relax the shoulders down, big beach ball up and overhead. Find courageous expression of this posture today. Good. Then when you're ready, grab the right wrist, think up and over as you slowly lean to the left. Breathing deep. Good. Then inhale, lift your chin. And exhale, release the bind and open up Warrior II, pull the pinkies back, find your most courageous expression of this Warrior. Good, then straighten the front leg, inhale, reach the left fingertips up and back. Big breath, big stretch. Inhale, lift the chin. Exhale, back to Warrior II. Nice. Drop the right fingertips down, lift the back heel. Inhale, come back to that high lunge. Good. Inhale, lift the chest, lift the chin. And exhale, soften and release it all back down. Take the twist, if you did on the other side. Left hand reaches up as you inhale, big breath. Squeeze the left knee in. And then exhale, slow and steady, left hand back down to the earth. Step the left toes back. This time you can do knees, chest, and chin, or belly to Cobra, or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Follow your breath, use your inhale to open your heart. Use your exhale to make your way back to Downward Facing Dog. When you get there, take a deep breath in. And just like Benji, let's sigh it out. (sighs) Again, deep breath in here in Downward Facing Dog. And exhale to sigh it out. Good. Slowly lower to the knees. Bring the two big toes to touch. Knees as wide as the mat. We're gonna turn the hands in, so turn the fingertips in, peek at me here for a demo, like so, preparing for a Lion's Breath. A fierce lion. You can do this breath in any other shape, you don't have to come to this stretch, but I'm just giving a little release for the forearms and for the wrist. Nice and snuggly in the hips. Inhale, open the chest, whatever shape you're in. And as you exhale, you're gonna send your gaze up towards your third eye, between your two brow bones, and you're going to stick out your tongue. So here we go. We inhale in through the nose. We exhale, send our gaze right up to the third eye, and exhale with the tongue out. Try it again. Inhale. And one more time, see if you can feel this in your whole body, whatever that means to you. Deep breath in. Lion's Breath, tongue out. Nice. Come back. Walk the knees underneath the hips, walk the hands out. Claw through the fingertips, curl the toes under, send the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Good. Bend the knees, inhale, look forward. Exhale, step or hop towards the front edge of your mat. If you don't make it, take another step or two or three and on your next breath in, lift up halfway. Nice long, beautiful neck. Then exhale, soften and fold. Good. Root to rise here, ground through the feet, spread the fingertips as you inhale, reach, reach, reach towards the stars. Capture one, bring the palms together, and bring it back down gently to your heart. Close your eyes, observe the breath. Find stillness. Just allow your breath to move you. Nice. Then we're gonna shift our weight to our right foot again. This time instead of the quad stretch, we're gonna lift the left knee all the way up. So again, you can use something to place the right hand upon for a little help here with your balance. Hug the low ribs in, think of lifting up from the pelvic floor, lengthening through the crown of the head. That'll help. Pressing through all four corners of that right foot. Recruiting your core, muscles of the low belly here, so we're not just holding in the hip crease here. Lift the chest to the thumbs, and slow and steady, find something to focus your gaze upon as you slowly send your left toes through and back for Warrior III. If you're new to Warrior III, take a peek at me. I'm making sure that my standing leg is soft, then I'm gonna actively rotate my left hip down, finding internal rotation of the hip socket, so it feels like I'm lifting my right inner thigh up towards the sky. I'm recruiting the muscles of my upper back body to draw the shoulder blades together, I'm continuing to extend through the crown of the head, through the chest. Working to level the hips again, recruit the muscles of the low belly. And then just a little bravery moment, send the fingertips forward. Your full expression of the pose today. Inhale in. And then exhale slowly, sweetly, bring it back to Mountain. If you fell, awesome. If you fell twice, three times, I got your back. This is what the practice is all about. Way to have the courage to give it a try. Let's take it to the other side. Palms together, pressing away from that standing leg from the start, so I'm not collapsed in this left hip, but I'm working on that foundation. This kind of working in opposition as I lift the right knee. Just find your footing. Don't rush it. And when you're ready, slow and steady, kicking the right toes back. Finding your focus, drawing the shoulder blades together. Lengthening through the torso, keeping a soft bend in that standing leg, actively dialing the right toes down, working to level those hips and lift from your right inner thigh. Your breath is your anchor here. Maybe sending the fingertips forward. Just check it out. If you fall, we'll catch you. I'll catch you. Benji has your back. It's all good. Breathing deep here. And then slow and steady, wherever you are, make your way, you can wobble all you want back to Mountain Pose. And open the palms and lift your chest proud. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, Forward Fold. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, soften and bow. This time, bend the knees, option to hop the feet back if you're feeling courageous and you feel like that's okay for your body, otherwise it's just a right foot back, left foot back, step, step, then choose your knees, chest, chin, Chaturanga to Up Dog or Cobra. Use your inhale to open your heart. And use your exhale to send it up and back, Downward Facing Dog for one last courageous cleansing Lion's Breath. Inhale in deeply here. And exhale, Lion's Breath, tongue out. Drop the knees down. Scared Benji there. Slow and steady, swinging the legs to one side. Send the legs out in front. And then hug your left knee into your heart space. Give it a little squeeze. Sit up nice and tall. Then hug your, excuse me, hook your right elbow into your left knee, send your left fingertips behind, Twist, inhale to lift and lengthen. Exhale, moving into the twist. Flex your right toes up towards your right shoulder. Nice and then slowly release and switch. Hug your right knee up and in. Hook the left elbow, right fingertips come behind, and we inhale to lift and lengthen, and exhale from center. Slow and steady, journeying more into that twist. Bringing our curiosity. And then slowly release. Check it out, we're gonna bend the knees, bring the feet to the ground. We're gonna dial the fingertips in towards the body. Inhale in, as you exhale, you're gonna slowly lift the hips, lift the bum, coming into a Table here. Great. Claw through the fingertips, press down through the knuckles, send the shins forward, lift the hip points up a little higher, maybe lift your chin as you squeeze your glutes. You're here for three, two, whew, lower on the one. Cross one ankle over the other, see if you can choose the one that's a little off, like not your dominant front leg. And come into a seat. Let your hands soften, come into Sukhasana, meditation pose here. Sukhasana, Sukha, ease. Find a softness and ease here. So any place that you might be clenching or holding, see if you can soften here, maybe even moving gently a little left to right in the spine to encourage that. Checking in with the head, the neck. Then draw the palms together. Take a deep breath in. As you exhale, bow your head to your hands. Feel a deep stretch in the back of the neck. And say one loving thing to yourself here before we sign off. One sweet thing. Come on, you can find one. One kind thing. Alright, great job. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. And there's an invitation here to whisper Namaste. Bat the eyelashes open, lift your head, keep your heart lifted for the rest of the day, the rest of your evening. You are my hero. Thank you so much for being here. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Take good care. (soft upbeat music)