- Hi everyone,
welcome back to Center.

It's Day 8.

The beginning of Week Two 
and today we're going to

relax a little bit, meditate,

get cozy and hopefully this 
will leave you feeling great.

So wear some extra comfy
clothes today if you like,

bring a blanket or 
a towel if you have one,

maybe a couple of pillows.

If you don't have any 
of these things, don't worry,

we'll still find what feels
good together no matter what.

I think I can
safely say that on Day 8.

Let's get started.

(light music)

Okie-doke,
let's begin in a seat.

If you brought some 
props to the practice today,

just take a second 
to get settled in.

If you didn't bring anything,
no worries.

You don't need anything
but your body and your breath.

I'm gonna come to sit
on one of these pillows.

And as you get settled in here,
just take note for today and

all the other days after this,
including after Day 30,

just having a real clear 
beginning is a great way to

keep a consistent 
practice at home going

because it's a 
very clear delineation.

Okay, I'm starting now.

That's a wonderful way to find
your center on any given day

by having a
really clear beginning.

So it's Day 8.

We're gonna sit up nice
and tall and ease right in.

We've set our space up.

Whether you 
brought props or not,

we're coming 
into a nice tall seat.

And we're using 
the tool of the breath

to tell the brain, ah,
we're slowing down now.

We're shifting gears.

We're finding a
new rasa or a new flavor.

So allow your hands to 
rest gently in your lap or

on the tops of the thighs.

And while we've been 
working a lot with this

notion of steadiness, of strength,

support with the core,
in yoga we call this Sthira,

we're gonna find 
the opposite of that

and accentuate the
opposite of that today,

which is softness,

easiness or a sense of ease.

And the Sanskrit word for that

or the term for that 
in yoga is called Sukha.

So try to come into stillness
here with the eyes closed and

just allow your
breath to flow nice and easy.

Soften through your jaw

and relax the forehead,

the skin of the forehead.

And just notice
where you're at today.

Is the mind kinda busy?

Are you feeling a bit
fidgety or agitated here?

Like it's hard to sit still.

And I know you know this,
but just a reminder we are

observing without judgment here.

But I think a big part 
of the centering practice is

giving yourself the 
time and space to notice,

to observe, to really check in

and be honest with yourself.

And a lot of times that can be,
oh, my mind is super busy.

I'm stuck in overdrive.

So just take 
a couple moments here

with yourself to observe.

Then as you're ready,

gently begin to 
deepen your breaths.

Keep it nice and easy, 
but nice, long inhalations.

Start to

elongate your breath pattern.

Slow, long exhalations.

Noticing just
where your thoughts go.

Acknowledging them and coming
back to

gentle deep breathing.

Now bring your mind's eye
to the base of the spine,

the root chakra,

that pelvic floor or hammock

and we'll start to

draw a line from the base
of the spine all the way up

and then allow that awareness

to gently

lift the crown of the head up.

So nice and slow,

we're basically 
reacting to the awareness.

So we start at the tail and 
you start to draw a line all the

way up through the pelvis,

through the 
low back and the belly.

And again, responding to that
line that you continue to draw

all the way up the spine until
we are marrying a little bit

of Sthira with Sukha.

Sitting up nice and tall.

Great, you can keep your eyes
closed here or you can bring

your gaze to a soft one
down gently past your nose.

And we're just gonna take 
the left hand to the earth

and just slide it on 
your mat or your blanket

as you slowly, softly 
reach the right fingertips up.

Your left elbow might come down
towards the ground, might not,

every body's different.

And just keep the 
right fingertips soft here,

nice and easy, stretching all 
the way up towards the ceiling.

And then when you're ready,

all the way up 
and over to the left.

Inhale to reach.

Exhale, listen carefully, 
bring your right hand to

your left kneecap as 
you come up through center,

keep the right hand there and

we'll take the left fingertips 
all the way up and over.

Breathe.

Inhale in here.

Exhale, left hand comes 
to the right knee,

melting the heart back, 
chin to chest.

Should feel a nice
stretch in the upper back body.

Inhale in.

Exhale, release.

We'll slowly come 
back through to center

and now take the right hand,
slide it on the earth.

Inhale, left fingertips all the
way to the sky, straight up.

And then up and over,
deepening into the stretch.

And then allow the left hand
to melt down to the right knee,

right arm reaches
all the way up and over.

Let the hips be heavy here,
melting the weight of the

lower body down into the
mat as you reach from there.

And then, right hand 
comes down to the left knee,

chin to chest, heart back.

Stay here for a breath,

feeling that deep stretch 
in the back of the neck.

On your next inhale, 
reach both fingertips

all the way up towards the sky.

Big breath, big stretch.

And exhale to float the fingertips
gently down to kiss the earth.

Lovely.
Inhale in here.

Exhale, let everything go.

Alright, we're gonna keep
the left heel hugging into the

center of the body and
extend the right leg out.

Left hand to the earth.

Inhale, reach the right
fingertips up and over,

side body stretch.

Now listen carefully, 
we're gonna melt the heart back,

round through center and
you're gonna reach your

left hand to the outer
edge of your right shin.

Maybe or right thigh,

that's a good modification 
or if you're like, "I'm ready,"

you're gonna take it 
to the right ankle.

Maybe even the outer
edge of the right foot.

So find what feels good here

in a little kind of variation

of Janu Sirsasana.

Not quite.

That's head-to-knee pose.

Benji is my bolster here.
Thanks, buddy.

And then we'll release,
take it on the other side.

So right heel comes in, 
left leg goes out.

Slide the right hand 
to the earth.

Soft, easy left fingertips
all the way up and over.

Stretch.

And then melt the heart back
round through the spine,

come through, 
take your right hand

to the outer edge 
of the left leg.

Left hand can
press into the earth.

Ooh yeah, breathe.

Nice lower back love here.

Glorious.

Now bring both heels in.

Cobbler's Pose.

You can take your hands
to the arches of the feet.

Give yourself a little foot
massage here with the thumbs.

Okay, Benji, you're
gonna have to move soon.

I think one more posture and
then you're out of here, buddy.

Just kidding, guys.

I don't want to hear 
about it in the comments.

I would never kick Benji out.

Inhale, lift up the heart.

Exhale, bend the 
elbows left to right

and melt the chest forward.

Tops of the thighs are
actively drawing down here.

Keep the skin of the face soft.

Nice and easy as you breathe.

Opening up through

the inner thighs, the hips.

And then slowly tucking
the chin to roll it back up.

Lovely.
Okay, oh okay, my love.

Now we're gonna 
come to seated with

the legs out in front. 
Here, buddy.

Come here, come on. Oh!
Come on, come over here.

Come here. Come here!
Come here. (Benji yawns)

(laughs) Alright, 
I'm gonna roll with it.

Let's roll with it.

So seated with
the legs out in front.

Inhale, reach for the sky.

And exhale, Paschimottanasana.

So navel draws in,

we think up and over,
slowly coming forward.

Now this is a great posture to
recruit your pillow or one of

your pillows so that you can

find a little bit of 
rest in the forehead.

Like so.

Take a second to 
find a version of this

seated Forward Fold 
that rocks your world today.

And then stay with it a bit.

A couple breaths in and out,
in and out, in and out.

Notice how

the breath has
a rise and expansion to it.

And then the exhale is
an opportunity to melt.

Melt any tension,

soften anything 
that's gripping or holding.

And we're talking muscles
but we're also talking energy.

Anything that we've 
been holding on to that

it might be time

to allow to melt away.

It served its purpose.

We can say
thank you and let go.

Keep the feet flexed here
as you tuck the chin into the

chest and slowly
begin to roll up.

And then we're gonna
slowly come onto our backs.

We're gonna skip
the roll down today.

So you can do the
core roll down if you want.

Otherwise, we're gonna 
come onto our backs.

Let's have our blanket
and anything we brought handy.

And then when you get there,

we're gonna keep 
the left leg extended.

You're gonna bring the
right knee up and then slowly

sending the right
foot towards the sky.

We're gonna 
interlace the fingertips

behind the back of the thigh.

Remember we're
avoiding the back of the knee.

So back of the thigh or

all the way behind the calf.

You're welcome to grab the big
toe with your index finger and

thumb if that is suitable for
your body today but if you're

doing that make sure that
shoulder's not being pulled

too far out of socket.

You want to be able to
drop that shoulder down,

in my opinion.

To keep the shoulders 
nice and leveled here.

Pull the right hip crease down.

Keep the left leg heavy.

And then we're gonna 
point both toes, point both,

and flex.

I'm keeping my left leg heavy
today, but you can, of course,

let that left leg hover 
if you just want a little

core activation, a little
more core activation.

Now bend the left knee,

we're gonna cross 
the right ankle over

the top of the left thigh, 
Reclined Pigeon.

So let the sternum melt
down into the earth.

Keep the shoulders 
relaxed and then find your

One-Legged King Pigeon here
or One-Legged Reclined Pigeon,

excuse me, with the feet flexed.

Keep the skin of the face soft
and then maybe today we invite

a little soft rocking.

Massaging the sacrum

as you squeeze 
the legs up towards

the chest.

Each inhalation an opportunity

to feel a little expansion,

a little rise, a little wave.

And each time we exhale,

an opportunity to soften

and let anything that's

no longer 
serving you melt away.

Great, release, uncross,

and we're gonna 
just switch sides.

So extend the right leg 
out long, flex the foot,

send the left toes 
up towards the sky,

find your hamstring 
stretch

on this side.

Maybe close your eyes
if they're not already.

Relax your shoulders.

And then when you're ready,
pointing and flexing.

Option to let
the right leg hover.

And then bending the right knee,
crossing the left ankle

over the top of
the right thigh.

Excuse me, (laughs)
got really relaxed there.

And finding that gentle rock
here, both feet are flexed.

You can kind of 
use the left elbow

to press into 
that left thigh, maybe.

And the soft massaging of
the low back and sacrum here as

you squeeze the legs
actively up towards the chest.

And then we'll slowly unravel,
extend both legs out long,

inhale, reach the arms all 
the way up and overhead

for a nice full body stretch.

You can point
and flex the feet.

One more time, 
inhale in, full body stretch.

And exhale to 
slowly bring the hands

all the way back 
down to your side.

So I'm gonna give you a
couple options here at the end.

We can come right into a
Reclined Cobbler's Pose,

soles of the feet together,

or we're gonna take a 
twist before we do that.

So if you're down for a twist,

if you're just ready 
to be in stillness,

allowing gravity
and breath to kind of

open the hips, then straight
to Cobbler's Pose you go.

Otherwise, we'll hug the knees
into the chest, inhale in.

Exhale, melt the legs 
to one side, any side,

turn the head in 
the opposite direction.

Everyone, close your eyes.

Breathe in.

And breathe out.

If you're in the twist,
slowly melt it back to center

and take it on 
to the other side.

Maybe turning the head
in the opposite direction.

If you're in Cobbler's Pose,
breathe into your belly.

Everyone let the
weight of your legs be heavy.

Reclined twisters, 
melt it back to center

and let's all meet
for a moment or two in

Reclined Cobbler's Pose.
So knees are wide,

soles of the 
feet press together.

Activating that parasympathetic
nervous system today.

Inhale in through the nose.

And sigh it out
with a little sound.

(sighs)

I know it can be a
little shy in the beginning

but let's try it again
in case you want to join in.

Inhale through the nose.

This one's for the
people in the back.

(sighs loudly)

One more time,
inhale in through the nose.

Sigh it out.
(sighs)

Melting the weight 
of your shoulders down.

And then we'll
take a second here,

you can stay
exactly where you are.

Maybe grab your blanket 
and put it on the hips.

This is a nice option 
here if you want to

stay in Cobbler's Pose.

Or you can go full burrito and
take a second, wrap yourself

in your blanket depending
on where and when you're

practicing this it might
be a little chilly so you can

slowly take a second
to get situated here.

I'm gonna go full burrito.

And I'm gonna go both pillows
under the backs of the knees,

if Benji will allow me.

And this is yoga.

This is our yoga. Right?

Listening and responding.

Not doing what somebody else
tells you to do necessarily

but listening to
your body and responding.

Take a second to get set up and
I cannot stress enough if you

didn't bring props or
you don't have anything,

you don't need that to
find what feels good.

You can snuggle 
the shoulder blades

underneath your heart space.

You can start to 
breathe in for four,

hold for four, 
out for four,

finding a little box breath.

You can bring the index
finger and thumb together

for a little mudra.

Arms maybe
resting at your sides.

Or you can bring 
the hands to your body.

Maybe on the belly or the heart.

Now let's breathe in together.

Deeply in through the nose.

And as you exhale here,

allow the full 
weight of your body

to melt into the earth.

Eyes are closed

and we take a real,
solid beautiful moment here

to breathe easy and chill.

Scanning the body for
any areas where you might be

unconsciously holding, 
clenching,

tightening, carrying.

If you come across 
any sensation like that,

see if you can let it melt.

And this is a practice that,
again, we can never really

know the full value,
full impact but when I started

doing this in my Shavasana and
even in the asana on the mat,

I started noticing how often
I was doing it off the mat.

Before bed, just melting my
own tension by simply noticing

that I was gripping 
or holding, tightening.

We'll take a quiet
moment now to rest.

Allowing ourselves to 
just simply be here present

with what is.

And as you're ready,

slowly begin to 
bring some awareness

back to your fingers and toes

by maybe giving 
them a little wiggle.

Soft, easy movement.

And allow that 
soft, easy movement

to inspire a soft 
and gentle gestures.

Whatever they may be for you.

Any little moves 
that would feel good

as you begin to 
wake up the body here.

And when you're ready, 
draw the palms together

and hands up to third eye.

The melting practice
is such a beautiful one.

It's wonderful to 
relax and to unwind

but to also catch yourself,

notice when you're holding, 
gripping, carrying tension

that with one or two 
or three simple acts of

awareness, of love, of self-care

you can mindfully let it go.

Inhale in deeply to close this,

dare I say, delicious practice.

Thanks everyone, we'll see 
you back here tomorrow.

Get ready to move again.

Thank you.
Take good care.

(light music)