- Howdy and welcome back to Center. It's Day 22, Align. Let's get started. (light music) Alright, let's begin in a seated position of your choice. You can sit cross-legged or maybe you try kneeling today if that feels right in your body. Come into your choice of seat to begin and sit up nice and tall. You can close your eyes or soften your gaze here as we align the head over the heart and the heart over the pelvis. Relax your shoulders down as you gently lift up through the chest, the sternum, the heart. And then slowly draw your palms together, Anjuli Mudra. Take a quiet moment here to just notice how you feel. Aligning your attention to the present moment. And for me, aligning your attention is not about snapping into something or perfectionism or nailing it, it's a process. It's an unfolding. It's an evolution. It's always building upon itself one present moment into the next. So each time you come to the mat you have an opportunity to be in that process of aligning with the current moment, the present moment. That's why we often say let go of the past, politely put your to-do list on hold. So using this time to simply align with what is. Inhale in deeply through the nose. And exhale in deeply through the nose or the mouth. You can release the hands to your lap and we'll just take a couple small circles one way. Checking in with the neck. Pulling those shoulders down and back and then reversing your circle. Continuing to gently deepen your breath. Aligning with your breath, witnessing your breath is an incredible way to come into the present moment. If you're ever stuck in the past or worrying about the future, align with your breath. Okay, here we go. Palms are gonna come forward. We'll walk the knees out hip width apart. We're gonna take a couple of Cat-Cows here. Inhale, drop the belly. Practice softening your gaze, paying attention to your focus here as you move the spine back and forth nice and slow. So we're starting to align with more and more vocabulary. We have our foundation. We have the things that are active. We have the softening. We have our gaze. We have the breath. And bring it back to Tabletop Position. Curl the toes under, inhale in, press into the palms and lift your knees, let them hover. Tug your shoulders away from the ears. Send your gaze straight down. Neck nice and long. Soften the skin of the forehead. Now twist your knees to the right, to the right, and then come to center. Keep 'em lifted as you twist to the left. Slow and steady to the right. Neck stays long. And to the left. And one more time to each side. And then releasing back down to center. You're gonna turn your fingertips either to the edges of your mat or all the way towards your body for a stretch here. You can walk the knees closer if the stretch is too intense. And you can walk them back if you need a little more or want a little more. Then gentle circles, one way nice and slow. And then the other way. Keep breathing. And then slowly one hand at a time, release. Kick the right foot out long. Inhale in, exhale, bend the right knee, bring it all the way up and in for a low lunge. Let's just stretch it out here. So walk the left knee back. Open up through the chest, breathe in. You can find soft, easy movement here if that feels good. Pulling the right hip crease back. Front knee over front ankle. So we find the alignment of our bones. And then there's the discovery, the exploration, aligning with what feels good in your body today. So it might feel good to lift the back knee here instead of keeping it lowered. Might feel good to walk the knee further back for a deeper stretch. Nice and then slowly we'll send the hips back. Just take a little counter stretch here. Draw your gaze in towards your navel. Flex your right foot. And then roll through your right foot. Bring your right hand over towards the left side of your mat. We're gonna turn the right toes out here in a little modified Lizard lunge. So breathe deep here, open up through the chest. You can come on down to the forearms if you're really feeling it in your body, otherwise keep it nice and tall. And same thing, you can lift the back knee if you're ready or you can keep it lowered. Breathe deep. And then walk it all back to center. We'll come back to all fours. And when you're ready kick the left leg out. Inhale, exhale, bring it all the way up into your lunge. Walk the right knee back. And just stretch it out here. Breathe. Open up through the chest. Front knee over front ankle or just notice where your attention is going here. Pull that left hip crease back. And then send the hips back. Pull the left hip crease back and draw your navel, sorry, your nose towards your navel. Your gaze towards your navel. Flex your left foot. And then with your breath, rolling through the left foot coming back all the way up bringing the left hand over to the right side of the mat, turn the left toes out here. And same thing finding your variation here. Maybe lift the knee, maybe lower to the forearms or maybe keep it nice and tall. Breathe deep. Downward breath. Breathe into your belly. Send breath down the low back. And then draw it back through to center. We're just gonna come back to all fours from here. Nice, then spread the fingertips, curl the toes peel the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Inhale in deeply. Exhale to slowly lower to the knees. And bring the knees as wide as the mat. Big toes to touch. Walk your hands over towards the left. Maybe cross your right hand over your left for a side body stretch on the right. Actively pull your right hip crease back here. Breathe in. Breathe out. And then take it to the other side. Actively pulling the left hip crease back. Feel that stretch as you breathe in. And breathe out. Then walk it back to center. Come all way up. Walk the knees in. Send the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Deep breath in. Long breath out. Soften your gaze here. Close your eyes. Go inward. Align with the vocabulary you've learned thus far. Starting with the breath. And then all those little action points, playing around in the process of being present. Lovely. Inhale in. You can lift the right leg up if you want. Exhale, step it all the way up into a nice low lunge. Keep the left hand where it is. We're gonna turn the right toes out. Take your time with this. We're gonna turn the right toes out. Then we're gonna turn on to the outer edge of the left foot, Horizon lunge. You're gonna send the right fingertips forward and then all the way up and then back. Breathe deep here. Stay connected to your core. So I'm not sinking into my bones here. Breathe deep. You can rock onto the outer edge of the right foot if that feels good in your hip. And then take the right arm all the way up, forward and down. We bring the right toes back in to our nice low lunge. We pivot on the back heel. Inhale in. Exhale, plant the palms, step it to Downward Facing Dog. Deep breath in here. Go inward. Long breath out. And when you're ready, second side. Step the left foot up. Nice and slow, turn the left toes out first. We press the right palm into the mat and we're not collapsing into the right shoulder, we're pressing away from the mat. Then we turn to rock on our right foot. Outer edge of the right foot. Left fingertips go forward, up and back. Horizon lunge. You may come on to the outer edge of your left foot if that feels good in your hip. Everyone pull your left hip crease back just a bit so you can lift up from the pelvic floor. Just support. Find stability in this pose. And then to take it back, we're gonna go inhale, left arm up, forward, around and down. Exhale to come back into your nice low lunge. Inhale to look forward. Exhale to plant the palms, step it back, Downward Facing Dog. Lovely. Bend the knees, inhale, look forward. Exhale to make your way to the top. Find something new. Forward Fold. Inhale in here. Exhale. Allow the weight of the head to be heavy. Inhale in again. Exhale to slowly bend the knees, connect to your abdominals and roll it up to standing. Root down through the feet. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Bring the palms together at your heart as you stand nice and tall in Mountain Pose. Inhale in deeply. Exhale to release. Interlace the fingertips, inhale, bring the hands behind the head. So today try to keep your knees just with the slight micro-bend and your hips where they are in space as you drop the left elbow down. It's the same move we've done before but we're keeping the hips in the same plane the whole time so we're not bending at the waist. So you're moving in nice little circles and then see if you can really engage the muscles of the belly as you draw your chin into your chest. This is a great move to play with your moving Drishti. And then release. Take it to the other side. So good for the spine. Keep it slow. Again, keep the hips where they are in space. And then bring the head back to center. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. Inhale in here. Exhale, release the arms all the way down, interlace the fingertips behind your back. Inhale to lift the chest. Lift the chin, look up. Open up through the chest, the pecs. Exhale, bend your knees, lead with your heart all the way down. Keep the bind in the hands, Forward Fold. Knuckles reach up actively towards the ceiling here as you draw your nose towards your navel. Inhale in. And then exhale, release everything. Fingertips come to the mat. Awesome. Left foot steps back. Back knee lowered or lifted, your choice. Inhale, high lunge. Deep breath in here. Exhale, bend that front knee. Focus on your alignment. Pull the right hip crease back. Draw the pelvic floor up, navel in and up. Low ribs hug in. Tuck the chin. Pull the thumbs back. Now bend your left knee just a bit to see if you can align head over heart, heart over pelvis a little more. And then reach that left heel back. Good, inhale in here. Exhale to bring it all the way back down, plant the palms, step the right toes back. Belly all the way to the earth. And on your next inhale, Bhujangasana, Cobra. Inhale to lift it up. And exhale to release it down. Curl the toes under. Press up to Plank. Nice and strong. And then send the hips up high and back, Down Dog. Wonderful. Step the left foot all the way up. High lunge. Inhale in. Reaching the fingertips forward, up and back. Exhale to relax the shoulders down. Now practice soft gaze here. Pull that left hip crease back. Find your center. Bend the right knee a little bit to align head over heart, heart over pelvis a little more then you can reach it back. Breathe in. Lots of space between the hands here if you need it. Breathe out. Good. Breathe in again. And exhale to bring it all the way back down. Plant the palms, step the left toes back, Plank Pose. Inhale in. Exhale, slowly lower to the belly. Inhale for Cobra. Big heart opener here. And exhale to soften and release it down. Curl the toes under, press up to a strong Plank. And then follow your breath all the way back to Downward Facing Dog. Pedal out the feet. Claw through the fingertips. Inhale in. As you exhale, slowly make your way back up to the mat. Try to find something new. Back up to the top of the mat, Forward Fold. Inhale in. Exhale, draw your nose towards your navel. Just play. And exhale, release, bend the knees. Inhale in again to slowly rise up. And exhale, landing in Mountain Pose once again. Close your eyes or soften your gaze and observe your breath. If you're not taking long, sweet deep breaths here, try it on for size. And then without looking down at the ground, just take one step back. One step back. You're gonna bring your feet together, really together. Hands come to the heart. Shift your weight to your left foot and inhale to lift your right heel. Exhale, lift that right knee all the way up. And this is coming from center, not from my right hip crease, but really from all that core connection I've been playing with. You can stay here working with this marionette string, trying to activate the abs, pressing up and out of your foundation, the left foot, or we can capture the right shin, right ankle. Draw the right knee all the way through center. And maybe start to kick it behind us, leaning the heart forward, keeping that soft gaze. So you're here. You squeeze the right knee in just a bit. Feel that quad stretch. You might take the right hand now to the right inner arch. And from here we might kick the right knee up, the right toes out. And maybe the left fingertips forward. Breathing deep here, relaxing the shoulders. Maintaining that core connection. And then slowly releasing it all the way back to center, Mountain Pose, palms together at your heart. Take a deep breath in. Exhale, let it go. Shift your weight to your right foot. As you inhale, lift the left heel. Exhale. Inhale in again. Exhale, navel draws in. And that cues us okay, now I can try to stand on one leg. You might just play here. You have so much to play with. Soft gaze, shoulders, core connection. So you can just play. Even keep it really small, like this. Or maybe you work to hold it here, pressing the elbows left to right. Or maybe you'd like to try Dancer Pose on the other side. First starting with this quad stretch. Hip flexor stretch. And then maybe taking the left hand to that arch. And think about kicking the left knee up and then the left toes out. So it's up and out. Holding on to that focal point here. Consider your midline. Consider spreading awareness through all four corners of your right foot and drawing up from the inseam of that leg. And if you fall, no worries. We're aligning with the process, not the check mark. When you're ready, release it. Palms come together, Mountain Pose. Inhale without looking down, step or hop to the top of your mat. Exhale when you land. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, Forward Fold all the way down. Great work, everyone. Shake the head yes, no. Great, then walk your feet as wide as your mat. Keep the heels lifted as you drop your center down coming into a little froggy squat. Take a breath here. Feel your feet. Feel your hips. Feel your inhale as you breathe into your belly. And long cleansing breath out through the nose or mouth. One more time. Option to do a Lion's Breath here. Inhale in deeply through the nose. And exhale, Lion's Breath, tongue out. Walk the hands behind you. Slowly release back down to the earth. We'll come into a seat any way you know how. (chuckles) Send the fingertips, sorry, toes out in front. Reach the fingertips forward. Inhale in. Exhale, squeeze the legs together today. Test that out. Squeeze to the midline. Lift the kneecaps. Tone the quads. Take it nice and slow. Draw the hip points together. Lift up from the pelvic floor. Draw the navel in as you slowly try to press one vertebra down at a time. And then when you get down to the ground, sorry buddy, hug the knees into the chest, take a deep breath in. And exhale, send the knees over to the left for a Reclined Twist. Ground your right shoulder down. Turn your nose towards your right wrist and breathe deep here. And then melt it back through center. Take it to the other side. Drawing the left shoulder down. Breathing deep. Inhale. Exhale, bring it back to the middle. Extend the legs out long. Allow the arms to rest gently at your sides, palm face up. Take the deepest breath you've taken all day. Inhale. And exhale, let it all go. Close your eyes. Walk your shoulder blades down and take a rest. Aligning here with the most current, the most present version of yourself. And I might add in or argue that the most current, the most present, the most truthful version of yourself is the best version of yourself. What if that were true? I align with the best version of myself. Way to kick some booty today. We're definitely nearing the home stretch here. The journey continues. It's so important, I think, that you get to Day 30 so keep up the great work. You got this. Bring the palms together. Thumbs up to the forehead. Take a deep breath in. And exhale to close. Bringing some movement, some wiggles back to the toes. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. (light music)