- Hello my darling friends, welcome back to Flow, your 30 Day Yoga Journey. It's Day 25, Action. Let's get started. (light rhythmic music) Okay, let's begin today on all fours. Take your time, come on down to the ground. Start to deepen your breath. And when you're ready, we're gonna start with some movement in the rib cage. Slow circles. And then we've done this before on the journey, but as you're moving in this circular direction, see if you can start to find your spinal flexion moving in and out of Cat-Cow with these circles of the rib cage. And then start to land here by deepening your breath. Go ahead and reverse the circle. Checking in with the shoulders, the hips. You can start to improvise a little bit here. Finding movement that feels good. Maybe bumping the hips a little left to right. Finding soft easy stretches. Continuing to gently deepen your breath. And then when you're ready, curl the toes under and walk the hands back. Left fingertips to the ground. Right fingertips reach up in your squat here. Breathe in. And breathe out. Bring it back to center. Left elbow, left fingertips reach up as you open up through the chest in your squat here. Breathe in. And breathe out. Walk it through now to your Plank. Hug the low rib cage in. Feel the abs turn on. Breathe in. Breathe out. Lower all the way to the belly. Press the tops of the feet into the earth. Inhale to lift up. Breathe in. Exhale, release. Breathe out. Forehead to the mat. Curl the toes under, press up to all fours and then send it back to Child's Pose. You get to decide knees together or knees wide. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now the next time you breathe in, imagine breathing into all four sides of your torso. All around. Feeling that expansion as you breathe in. And that softening as you exhale. And on your next inhale, let's rise back up to all fours. Curl the toes under and peel the tailbone up for Downward Dog. Bend the knees here. Take a couple breaths to check in with where you are today. Letting go of the day thus far. Politely putting your to-do list on hold and giving yourself permission to be here in this moment. Tending to the energy centers of the body. Tending to the physical body. And then slowly we'll make our way to the top. So bend your knees, inhale to look forward. Exhale, come to the top of your space. You can baby step. You can hop. You can float. We'll bring the feet hip width apart, toes pointing forward. Standing Forward Fold. Relax the weight of your head. And find that nice wide breath. Breathing into all four sides of the torso. Slowly draw your hands to your waist now. Ground through the feet, bend your knees. Inhale in. And then draw the shoulder blades together, elbows back to rise up into Mountain with hands on waist. Boom. Power posture. Ground through the feet. Draw energy up through the arches of the legs. Sorry, the arches of the feet. The inseam of the legs. I was feeling it. (chuckles) Lifting and lengthening through all four sides of the torso. Really pull the shoulder blades together, elbows back, crown of the head reaches up. Now from here, slide your hands from your waist all the way to your ribcage. Breathe into your fingers here as you feel the inhale expand your ribcage. And soften as you exhale. Give it a try. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Fingertips slide down to come up. Inhale. Lift your heart. Lift your gaze. Reach up. Exhale, fingertips wiggle as we bring it all the way down into our Forward Fold. Use a block if you like here. Our fingertips, left fingertips, excuse me, on the mat. Inhale, bend the left knee as you pull the right hip crease up. Reach the right fingertips across the chest and all the way up towards the sky. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Breathe into that nice wide ribcage. Yes. And then slowly bring it back down to center. Wow, the Texas sky is looking really beautiful in my neck of the woods today. And let's take it to the other side. Bend your right knee. Peel your left hip crease up. Open through your left wing. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Bring your breath. Bring that conscious breath to it. And slowly back down into the fold we go. Nice. Fingertips come to the mat. We'll step just the right foot back. Keep the right heel lifted. Right knee lifted. As you inhale, sweep the arms forward, up and back for a high lunge. Now it's always an option to bring that back knee down. Maybe you're feeling a little low in energy or maybe that's just better for your body so you can lower the right knee. Inhale in. Maybe send your gaze up. Lift the ribcage. Expand. Exhale. Float it down. Bring the right knee to the ground. Bring the left knee to meet the right knee and come into a Half Plank here. Walk the knees back, shoulders over the wrists. Crown of the head extends forward. Three baby push-ups here. Inhale in. Exhale, bend the elbows halfway. Press it up. Elbows stay hugging in. Halfway. Press it up last time. Neck stays long. And then curl the toes under, send the hips up high, Downward Facing Dog. Nice work. Inhale in here. Exhale. Inhale, step the right leg all the way up. Back knee lowered or lifted, your choice. Sweep the arms forward, up and back. Strong and steady. Right hip crease pulls back. We inhale. Lift the chest. Lift the chin. Gaze up. And exhale to slowly bring it back down. Step the back foot up to meet the front. Inhale, halfway lift here. Exhale to soften and release. Fingertips come to the mat. Step the left foot back. Sweep the arms forward, up and back, high lunge or back knee lowered. Release, come all the way back down. Lower the knees. Bring the knees together. Shift your weight forward into a Plank, Half Plank. Here we go. Three Chaturanga push-ups. Crown of the head forward, elbows bend. Maybe we go a little bit lower this time. Press it up. Lower and lift. Lower and lift. Toes come to the mat, we lift the knees, hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now on your next breath in, step your left foot forward. Sweep the arms all the way forward, up and back. Big breath, big stretch. Lift the chest. Reach from your waistline all the way up to your fingertips here. Maybe gaze looks up. And then slow and steady we release it back down. Step the right toes all the way up, forward into the fold. And relax the weight of the head over. Inhale lots of love in. Exhale lots of love out. Hands draw to the waistline. Bend the knees. Inhale in. Exhale, root to rise here. Come all the way up to standing. Deep breath in as you lift the chest. Lift your heart. Deep breath out as you release the fingertips to your sides. Take a step back on your mat and we're gonna turn to one side. Feet nice and wide. We're gonna swing the arms a little left to right here for Knocking on Heaven's Door. But as you do this, see if you can keep a little activation in your core. We call this Uddiyana Bandha in yoga, drawing the navel in and up, hugging the low ribs in. So as you sway here, can we play with the opposition and keep this connection in our core. Then slowly release the swaying of the noodle arms. You're gonna turn your toes out here, preparing for Goddess Pose, God Pose, or Horse Posture. Inhale first, send the fingertips out, Star Pose. Deep breath in. Then on an exhale, we're gonna bend the elbows, bend the knees, take your center straight down. So it's not going to go back or forward, but straight down as if you were sliding your spine down a wall. Great, then from here, bring the hands back to the rib cage. Back to this area of the solar plexus and inhale, feel the expansion. Exhale, hug the low ribs in. Inhale, feel the expansion get low. Exhale. Inhale, back to Goddess Pose. Bend the elbows. Pull the backs of the hands open and back so you feel that stretch in the armpit chest. Nice. Now interlace the fingertips behind your head, elbows wide. Inhale in, exhale, left elbow towards the outer left thigh. Good. Stay low here. Back to center. Hug the low ribs in as you take it to the other side. Nice, come back to center. And to the left. Back to center, to the right. Back to center, to the left. Back to center, to the right. Back to center. Straighten the legs, reach the arms out, Star Pose. Exhale, palms come together back to the heart space and we'll just turn to step back to the front of the mat. Inhale, reach for the sky here. Exhale, send the fingertips behind you. Lead with the heart. Lead with the sternum. Lead with the rib cage all the way down into a Forward Fold. Lovely. Inhale, halfway lift. Knit the ribs. Hug the low ribs up and in. Exhale, soften and fold. This time, step or hop it back to Plank. Lovely. In Plank, we're gonna press away from the yoga mat. Reach the heels back, crown of the head forward. Then we're gonna turn the heels towards the right side of the mat so you're in the inner arch of your left foot and the outer edge of your right foot. Slide the left hand to the waist. You can stack the feet here if you want. You can also bend your top leg to create a little kickstand for a little more support here. Now take your left hand and bring it to the bottom right rib and smear some imaginary honey, if you will, all the way across that low rib cage. Opening it up to the sky. Maybe left fingertips reach all the way up, crown of the head extends. Core is strong. Deep breath in. Lift the hips a little bit higher here. Excuse me, Benji. (chuckles) And then slowly or quickly, release back to center. Let's take it to the other side. Heels to the left. Left shoulder over that right wrist. Right fingertips come to the waistline. Lift the hips. Find center. Hug the low ribs in. Feel that connection of the low ribs to your hip points. Maybe you stack the feet. Maybe you bend the top leg. Maybe we smear that honey bringing the right hand to the left rib cage this time. Just using the power of our own touch to slowly guide and lift. Breathe. Inhale in. Exhale to slowly bring it back down. All the way to the belly we go. Press into the tops of the feet. Inhale for Cobra, Bhujangasan. Exhale to release. Curl the toes under, press it back up to Plank. Strong and steady. Right knee comes in towards the heart space here for a mindful mountain climber. And send it back. Left knee comes in. And send it back. With your breath, inhale. And exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Right knee to left elbow. Inhale. Exhale, switch. Inhale. Exhale. Keep it going. Inhale. Exhale. You got it. Even it out. And then send it back, Downward Facing Dog. Great work. Listen to the sound of your breath. Slow it down. From here, slowly lower to the knees. And slowly return back to your belly. Nice and slow. Stack the palms here. Rest your forehead on the palms. Take a rest. From here, lift one foot then the other, bending the knees. And you're just going to windshield wiper the legs a little bit here from one side to the other while the upper body relaxes. If it feels good to widen the knees here a little more, that could be nice. See if you can relax the shoulders, the traps, the neck. And then release the legs down. Press into the tops of the feet. Press into the pubic bone. And let's rise up for Sphinx Pose. So bring the elbows underneath the shoulders, forearms, parallel. Spread the fingertips. Inhale, lengthen through the crown. Exhale, your lower rib cage hugs in a bit here. And you should feel this nice connection through the front body here as you do that action. So all these beautiful series of listening and responding, coming into action based on what we're feeling, what we're experiencing from the inside out. Powerful stuff. Take one more breath here. Then exhale. Slow and steady transition through all fours. You can swing the legs to one side, any side, or cross the ankles, and come through to a seat. Oh, (chuckles) Benji. Bring the hands behind the thighs, loop the shoulders, lift the sternum, coming into little Navasana, Boat Pose, shins parallel. Maybe we reach the fingertips forward. Maybe we extend one leg. Then the other. Inhale, maybe we exhale, extend both legs, and take it into a low Boat today, hugging those low ribs in, keeping the skin of the face soft and relaxed. And maybe we bring it back up high Boat. And one more time, low Boat. Give it a try. And then we release. Ah. Bring the hands to the belly, allow the legs to get heavy here. Allow the shoulders to get heavy. Nice. And then interlace the fingertips, bring them behind the head, extend the thumbs. Bend your right knee, slide the sole the right foot to the ground. Bend your left knee, slide the sole on the left foot to the ground. Inhale in, as you exhale, press your low ribs down into the earth to lift the head, the neck, the shoulders. Then lift the right shin, lift the left shin and now your legs are in Tabletop. Take your left armpit chest across over to your left thigh, keep the pelvis heavy and steady. Then slowly bring it back into center, massage the spine, and take it to the right. Through center, left armpit chest to the top of the right thigh. Through center, right armpit chest to the top of the left thigh. So we're not doing elbow to knee here. Knees are staying over the hip points. I'm keeping the head, the neck, the shoulders lifted as I come through center. Even it out. And we relax everything to the earth. Bring the feet to the ground, allow the knees to fall to one side, any side, breathe in. Breathe out. Take it through center, allow the knees to fall to the opposite side as you breathe in. Breathe out. Knees come together feet wide, relax the body completely as you inhale in. And exhale, letting go. Finding stillness. Sliding the hands to that third chakra area and feeling the warmth of your hands here and the low rib cage, the solar plexus. You might even move the hands around a little bit here. And then finding that flash of surrender. Permission here to do absolutely nothing after a practice that is all about embodying action. Remembering to take this moment at the end, always, to give it up to something bigger than yourself, unite with something bigger than yourself. I love the humility that yoga has brought to my life and practice. It's always good when balancing that third chakra to keep that in mind. Yep, love you guys. So good. Bring the palms together. Thumbs up to the third eye slowly. Take your time. Deep breath in, lots of love in and lots of love out to close this practice. Amazing work. We're almost to the end of the journey but don't worry, in every end is a new beginning. For now, have a beautiful rest of the day. I'll see you tomorrow. Namaste. (upbeat rhythmic music)