- What's up, what's up? What's up, what's up, what's up? Mmm. What's up, what's up? What's up, what's up, what's up? Mmm. What's up everyone and welcome back to Center. It's Day 19 and as you may have intuited or not, today is all about play and I promise not to sing that or be annoying in any way throughout the practice. So hop into something comfy and let's play. (light music) Alright, we're gonna begin standing today, so come on up. We're gonna bring the feet hip width apart or flush together, you can decide. Come to stand tall in Mountain Pose. I don't want to block Benji but I'm gonna get center on my mat. Come to stand tall and we're gonna bring the palms together and just start to rub them together. Dropping in, dropping your awareness and your attention inward. Maybe softening your gaze down gently past your nose. Feeling the warmth of your hands, just creating a little energy here. You might pick it up, get a little bit faster. If you're feeling tired and you're worried about this being an overly playful practice, don't worry, you're in the driver's seat, it's all good. Take a deep breath in. And as you breathe out, bring your left hand to your heart and your right hand to your belly and you can go ahead and close your eyes or keep that soft gaze and just relax the shoulders as you take a deep breath in here. Feel the belly and then the chest expand and lift. And then exhale, feel it soften and release. Again, big inhale, breathing into the belly and then the chest. And then exhale, softening. And then one more just like that, big and slow, inhale deeply. And exhale completely. Excellent, release, we're gonna open the eyes, walk the feet a little bit wider than hip width apart, toes pointing forward. Take the fingertips to your shoulders, we're gonna play around here by rocking a little side to side, keeping the hip points as much as you can forward and just moving the torso gently. Don't force it or hurt yourself here, just nice and easy and as you start to breathe a little deeper you might find that you can pull it back a little more. If you want to take a couple where you move the hip points, that's fine, but make sure you do a couple reps back and forth just allowing the spine and the torso to move. And then building on yesterday, just notice where your gaze is softening down gently past your nose. Right away a little advanced contemplation. Can you connect to your gaze and your center, your belly button perhaps and allow them to move together in one line? Just playing around. Okay, release that. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. You're gonna step or hop the feet back together, zip up through the legs. Beautiful. Now drop the chin to the chest and then look up towards the sky. Drop the chin to the chest and then look up towards the sky. Head back to center, left ear to left shoulder, breathe. And then through center, right ear or right shoulder. Breathe. One more time to each side. Left. And then through center and to the right. Nice, now we're gonna walk to the back edge of your mat. And then turn so you're facing the front. We're gonna bring the feet together, really together and we're gonna bring the arms down gently at our sides just like Tadasana, Mountain Pose. Now nice and slow, we're gonna draw the navel in and we're gonna start with the right heel, we're gonna try to keep our gaze out and we're just gonna slowly roll through the right foot walking forward and then really short steps here, roll through the left foot, walking forward. Roll through the right foot, walking forward. And roll through the left foot, rocking forward. See if you can really roll through the whole foot and try to resist the urge to look down or collapse in the shoulders or the chest. Then eventually we'll come to stand in Mountain Pose at the top of the mat. Take your time getting there. When you get there just breathe deep. Stand up nice and tall. Sweet, now in the spirit of play, we're gonna try that again. So just walk back to the back lip of your mat. I don't think I've ever said back lip of your mat, until today. Okay, bring the feet together, Mountain Pose. Now we're gonna do the same thing but this time try to hold on to that soft gaze, try not to look down and think of, in fact, actually, let's bring our fists together like this like bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish and bring it right to your core muscles, center of your abdominal wall, maybe to your belly button. Then lift up from the pelvic floor, engage the core muscles and the thing to play with this time is seeing if you can actually initiate this walk forward from this place of center. So rather than initiating it from your heel rolling through your whole foot, see if you can initiate it from center. Let's just play. Here we go, inhale, Mountain Pose with the hands at center. And then nice and slow rolling, oh, see I just, I didn't do it. So let's really practice moving from center. The center moves first. And then here we go, just playing. I'll stop talking so you can feel it out. Eventually we will walk to the tippy top, come back to Mountain Pose, arms gently at our sides. Great, now inhale reach for the sky, clap the palms together and exhale Forward Fold, diving down into the fold. Nice, take a couple breaths here, let the head hang, bend the knees, play around with it. You can clasp opposite elbow, maybe take your fingers to the earth and write your name in the sand or the name of a loved one. Actually that would be your name. Mhmmm. (chuckles) And then when you're ready, fingertips come to the mat, we're gonna step the left foot back, lower the back knee, inhale, sweep the arms all the way up. Big breath, big stretch, Crescent Lunge here. Inhale in deeply. Exhale to release, pull the right hip crease back, straighten through that front leg, slight micro-bend in the right knee. And then rolling it all the way through, we'll come to a nice low lunge, lifting the back knee, stretching it out, opening up through the chest. Turn to look past your right shoulder. Turn to look past your left shoulder. Then bend that back knee and step it all the way back up. Uttanasana, Standing Forward Fold at the top of your mat. Good, step the right foot back now or lower the right knee. Crescent Lunge on the other side. Big breath, big stretch, sweep the arms all the way up and overhead. And then exhale to release. Shift the hips back, flex the left toes towards your face, breathe in. And breathe out, roll through the left foot, come back to the lunge, lift the right knee, open the chest forward. Look past your left shoulder, breathe in. Pull the left hip crease back. Look past your right shoulder, breathe out. Nice, plant the palms, step the left foot back. You're gonna inhale, lift the right heel, just the right heel, keep the right toes down. I know, engaging the right glutes, right hamstring. And then lower the right toes down, lift the left heel. Just checking in. Pro tip, recruit your center and it'll be less painful. And then slowly release everything to the earth. Nice. Slide the hands back in line with the ribcage, press into the tops of the feet, inhale, baby Cobra. Find that extension, tuck the chin slightly, open up through the chest. And then exhale to lower. Beautiful. Press back up to all fours, walk the wrists underneath the shoulders, knees underneath the hips. Inhale, drop the belly, open the chest. Exhale, round through, warming up through the spine. So we have Cat-Cow here. Playing with our gaze, our core connection, and our breath. And now you can start to play with this veering off the railroad tracks. Bumping the hips maybe left to right. Maybe you take a Puppy's Pose here. Maybe you stretch the feet or find soft, easy movement in the neck. Maybe you take the torso for some circular motions. Finding a moment of play here, listening to your body and responding. Creating the choreography out of that listening and responding. And it's exactly that that will take you up in your own way to Downward Facing Dog, which is where I'll meet you. But take your time. Play with how you get there. And then when you get there, take a deep breath in. And as you exhale, drop the heels towards the earth. Inhale, anchor through the left heel firmly as you lift the right leg up high. And exhale, slow and steady, with control bring it all the way into your lunge. Pivot on the back foot. Left fingertips are gonna lead you up into Warrior II. So left arm leads the way and we rise up, head over heart, heart over pelvis here. Deep bend in the front knee. Inhale in. Exhale, stay here, relax your shoulders. Inhale in again, play with your focus. And exhale, relax the shoulders. Now straighten through that front leg. Reach the right fingertips all the way up and back, Reverse Triangle. Neck is nice and long. Big breath, big stretch here. Then on an exhale, we're gonna slowly come all the way back. Cartwheel it forward, one fluid movement. Left hand comes to the ground and right fingertips reach up towards the sky for a big twist. Hug that right knee in. Breathe in. And breathe out as you bring the right hand back to the mat. Bend your left knee. Listen carefully. Step it up halfway on your mat and keep the left heel lifted. Inhale in. Recruit your center. As you exhale, lift the back foot, just let it hover for a moment. And then lower it down. Inhale. And lift the back foot. Lift your right hip crease up. And then lower. And now we're gonna play with a little Standing Split. So it may just be a little lift and lower or you may start to shift your weight forward. Draw your nose towards your knee or keep your gaze straight down. Find your Drishti. Dial the left toes down. And breathe as you continue to recruit your center, your core muscles here more and more. After a little moment of play, release the fingertips back to the mat and we'll all step the left toes back. Bend the front knee. Inhale to look forward, nice low lunge. And exhale to plant the palms, step the right foot back. Strong Plank here. Inhale in. Exhale, lift the right heel, let it hover. You got this. Lower. Left heel. Lift. Engaging the left glute, left hamstring and the core. Nice, and then lower it down. Great, from here lower all the way to your belly. Find what feels good. You can play with Cobra. You can play with Upward Facing Dog. You can play with a quick rest. Inhaling deeply. And using your exhale to soften and slowly release. Make your way to Downward Facing Dog. Find what feels good and play with this transition. When you get to Downward Facing Dog, take the deepest breath you've taken all day as you claw through the fingertips. And then on the exhale, let the heels get really heavy. Don't worry about them touching the earth. Just the intention. Alright, anchor through the right heel firmly. Connect to center next and then inhale, lift the left leg up high, Three-Legged Dog. Nice and slow, shift it forward. Step it up into your lunge. Pivot on the back foot. Lead with the right arm, right fingertips, send it forward all the way up and back as we come into Warrior II. Breathe in. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Breathe out. Sink a little more deeply into that front knee. Inhale in again, press into the knife edge of your right foot. Engage the right inner thigh. As you exhale, relax the shoulders. Good, now straighten through the front leg. Inhale, reach to the left fingertips all the way up and back. Big breath, big stretch. Then exhale, have a little fun. Cartwheel it all the way forward. Right fingertips down, pivot on the right foot. Inhale, lift the left fingertips up high. Big twist. Breathe into your belly here, inhale. And exhale all the way back down. Beautiful. Step the left foot back. Here we go. Inhale, lift the right leg up, right heel up high. And lower. Connect to your core. Left heel up high. And lower. Two more rounds. You got this. Inhale, lift. And lower. Neck is long. Inhale, lift. And lower. Last time. Lift. And lower. Lift. And lower. Beautiful. Slowly, belly to Cobra or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Move with your breath. Play around. See if you can find something new here. Soft, easy movement. Lovely. Then we'll send it all the way to Downward Facing Dog. The way you get there is up to you. Hips up high and back. Inhale in deeply. And exhale completely. When you're ready, walk the feet just towards the middle of your mat, just the middle of your mat. Let the weight of the head relax. Breathe in. Breathe out. Hands come to the waistline. Bend the knees. Inhale in. And exhale, rise up strong. Coming into this, dare I say, superhero posture. Soften the skin of your face. Relax your brow and just send your gaze down gently past your nose to start. Continue to lift the chest. Observe your breath. Pull the elbows back. Now like you're a little kitty cat pressing a ball of yarn with your nose, you're gonna slowly press your nose and your gaze forward. Then lift it all the way up and back. Sending your chin to the sky. Breathe in. As you breathe out, draw the elbows together. Imagine you're looking up the clouds or a beautiful, clear starry night. Playing around with visualization in your practice is kind of fun. And then slowly release the chin back parallel to the earth. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. We're gonna end today's practice with a little Knocking On Heaven's Door. So if Knocking On Heaven's Door isn't your thing, ask yourself why. (chuckles) No, I'm just kidding. We're gonna start rocking a little side to side but you can find any other movement here. Moving and grooving here. To finish, we're gonna keep soft knees as we start to create this gesture. Allowing the arms to be heavy like noodles. And then I'd like to invite everyone to play with a little breath pattern today. So it's gonna be an inhale in. And a sharp exhale out. Try it on. Keep it going for three. Two. And on the one, slow it down. Let's take just a couple of shoulder circles here. Back and then forward. And then walk the feet together. Once again, bring the palms together. And give them a little rub. You can close your eyes here if you like. Just feel any warmth that your body has created or is creating now. Breathe in deep. And as you exhale, bring your left hand to your heart and your right hand to your belly. I create a sense of play both on and off the mat. Gently take a deep breath in. Bring the thumbs up to the third eye. And as you exhale, we'll bow the head to the heart to close. Great job, everyone. See you tomorrow. (light music)