Banishing Back Pain Naturally - Chair Yoga Class for Everyone with Sherry Zak Morris , C-IAYT

So how many people, show of hands, believe that your mind affects your physical health? If you don't believe that, you're in the wrong class, right? Right? It really, really does. Okay, so we actually have a cameraman. He just kind of volunteered his services here, so that's... James. James. King James, he says. So everybody's got to do King James, or the curtsy when you see him, right? And then his wife, Debbie, here is in the front row, so how fun is that? So Debbie found us on YouTube, so I told her that if she's in the front row, we'll get her arm in here, and she can say, I was there. I was there live, right? So it's all fun, and I think you guys know that I film most of these classes. We very rarely get anybody in. We might do one pan across just to show that there's people in the room, and that Sherry's not really just faking it, right? That I am really teaching a class. But we reach a lot of people doing that. We reach a lot of people all over the world, and that's how you found us. And now you said your piriformis muscle is feeling better, and you're feeling better. Yes. Yeah. Made a difference for my health, so thank you for that. That is so good. So that's why we do this, and hopefully that's why you're here. Okay, so how's everybody feeling overall? Let me see. Wonderful. I don't know. Your faces don't look like that. Okay? So let me see. Smiles. Okay, yeah. Look how beautiful this day is, right? It's a nice day. So we're just going to do things that make us feel really good. So remember, if anything's bothering you today and it's hurting, just don't do that. So we want to get settled in. So feet flat on the floor. We are in mountain pose when we're sitting down here. So I always like to think about we're pulling up this beautiful energy from the earth. So if you can feel your toes and your little toe, your big toe, and your heel all connected, that means like your roots are down there. So close your eyes and maybe even take your shoulders up and back a couple times and just kind of soften up there. And then you're just going to take a pause and just notice. Just notice what you're feeling, maybe what your breath feels like, what that mind of yours is doing. And maybe to yourself you could say, this time is for me, right? 100%. Yoga is a gift that you give to yourself, but this time is for you. And as you breathe in that next breath, just welcome your life force and all the beautiful prana energy that comes with it. When you exhale out, you're just letting go and you're softening. So just a beautiful process of bringing in and letting go. And then I want you to place your hands facing up on your lap so your palms are facing up, and I just want you to see if that did anything differently. There's a little shift of energy when the palms are open and receiving. Just noticing that, how that feels. And then take your palms and place them on your laps again and just notice that little shift. So this is grounding. So when the palms are down, we're kind of grounding our energy towards the earth. And when the palms are up, we're a little bit more invigorated and open. So which one feels good for you right now? You can keep it there. And then we'll begin using our small movements to start with. I always start with the neck because that's usually the tightest spot. So take a breath and exhale, slowly lift your head, drop. So just let it go. Softening in your shoulders and in your neck and all those little muscles that are used when you hold your head up. Just let them go now. And if you can, you're going to make a little circle with your nose about an inch in diameter so it's just teeny tiny. So this is like flossing our vertebra right here at the very top of our spine. Just little movements, little arthritis, little crunchies get in there. So we're just going to break them up and then go the other way with that little circle. Remember, it's just about an inch. It's just little. And then when the chin's back to neutral, we're going to take it over to the right. So right ear, right shoulder. The left arm's going to reach out to the side and you're going to spread your fingers nice and wide. Good. On your inhale, the palm is going to turn up and your chin lifts up just that wee little bit. So get that stretch on the left side. And then exhale, the palm goes down and the chin goes down. So just do that maybe just one more time because then we're going to add to it. So the inhale is up with the chin up and the palm up and the exhale is the chin down and the palm down. Now we're going to incorporate the back. So when you inhale, the chin is up, the palm is up, and you're going to arch your back. So really stretch your shoulder backwards. And when you exhale, palm is down, chin is down, and you're going to round your shoulders and round your back. So almost like that little cat-cow sensation. So inhale, you're lifting up and you're arching. Feel free to come away from your chair. Exhale, tucking down. And last time, inhale, lifting up. And exhale, rounding down. Good. And then the hand and the chin back to the center. And here we go to the other side. It's going to be left ear, left shoulder, right arm out. Two times just with the neck and shoulders. So inhale, you're up, palm up, chin up. Exhale, palm down, chin down. And again, inhaling up and exhaling down. Now we'll incorporate that beautiful upper back. So inhale, nice back arch. Oh, yeah, stretch that chest open. Exhale, tuck it down. Tuck your chin, round your shoulders and your back. And one more. Inhale, lifting up. And exhale, rounding down. Good, bringing yourself all the way back down. With your chin down, you're going to take your hands and give yourself a little neck massage. So you probably explored a little tight areas when you did a little of those motions. So just take it in there, your fingertips, maybe squeeze with your thumbs, pinch. Maybe a little poking, a little piano fingers in there, whatever's feeling good. And then bringing your fingertips to your shoulders, we're going to do a couple shoulder circles. So up and around a few times. So take one shoulder back and then the other shoulder back. And everybody, as you're doing that, I want you to just kind of scoot up a little bit as you're doing that. Yeah, because we're going to go and go the opposite way. So we need a little room. So we're going to go the opposite way now. Round and round. Good. Get the shoulders to move. And now we're going to go back again. This time we're going to look behind us as we do that. Round and round. Good. And when you come back to the center, spread those fingers all the way out. Life force reach. I love this one. Yeah, touching your neighbor. Why not? Hi, everybody. Right? Fingertips up. Push out. Fingertips down. Good. Roll the wrists backwards. Good. And roll the wrists forwards. Good. And then slowly coming down. And then shake it out a little bit. OK. So I promised some of you that I was going to tell you a little bit about the book that I read. It's called Healing Back Pain. Pat referred that book to me, and Leslie's starting to read it now. And it's by Dr. John Sarno. And I read it on the airplane ride, and it was really, really good. It's called The Mind-Body Connection. So how many people, show of hands, believe that your mind affects your physical health? If you don't believe that, you're in the wrong class. Right? It really, really does. So his theory is that if you have back pain and there's nothing really physically wrong, like you don't have a tumor and things like that, and you've got MRIs and x-rays and there's really not a lot of things that are structurally wrong with you, it could be your mind and some things that are going on in there. The two emotions, he says, that affect back pain is anger and anxiety. OK? So here's, this is what happens with anger and anxiety. This is anxiety. Oh, I'm so worried. Oh my gosh, what if I get in an accident? Oh my gosh, what happens if this happens and I don't have enough money? Look at my body posture. Look at everything about me. It's like this kind of tenseness, like, oh my gosh, what am I going to do? I just got to hunker down. Right? So that's what worry and anxiety do. It just tenses everything. The other is anger. Anger when it's like, oh, you just want to go out there and you're just like, oh, I want to get that person. I'm just going to, I'm going to bite my tongue. I'm going to hold it in. Again, it's this. So he's saying there's so much constriction and rigidity and tightness of those emotions that we don't let out that it creates that feeling in our bodies and mostly in our backs. So the most important thing we want to do is let go of those things. Remember what we always hear about worry, right? We're worrying about something in the future and we don't even know if it's ever going to happen. So we have to let go of worry, of course. And then anger, that's a harder one because we do get mad at people. We do. So we have to find a better way to kind of get rid of that. And one of the things is just to move. Don't ever feel that your spine has to be babied so much like, oh, I can't twist and I can't bend, right? Your body's meant to do that. So we're going to do a little seated cat-cow. And this one I have been noticing when I look around the room when people do cat-cow. And I'm going to watch you guys as you do it and I'm going to point something out. So cat-cow is just the rounding and the arching, right? So we round and then we arch. Good. And we round and then we arch. Good. And I'm going to look at it one more time. Round and then we arch. Good. All right, come back to neutral. Now, how many people feel any kind of stretch right in here when you do that? I feel cracking. Okay, all the way up, all the way up. You want to feel a stretch. You want to feel movement right in here. A lot of people do cat-cow this way. See this shoulder movement right here in the upper back? But you really want to pull back enough that you feel way down in here this stretch. That's why I always encourage you to scoot up a little bit when you do cat-cow because you want to feel like your low back is getting pushed back into the chair when you go down like that. And then when you come up, you want to feel there's a nice little arch there. That's going to start to loosen up those tight areas, right? So whenever we do cat-cow, think about that, especially standing and sitting ones, right? And when you're on the floor, if you ever go to a mat class, we do this a lot, kneeling. So it's the same idea. Pull that low back, stretch it. Yeah. And one more time, all the way up. Good. And then you can sit back. Yeah. All right. So let's take that one hand out. Let's say left hand out in front. We're going to do a nice little fascia stretch. This is one of my most favorites. So we're going to make a hitchhiker's thumb. We're going to go out one finger at a time. So we go 1, 2, 3, 4, as far as you can go. And when you stop there, I want you to flex your wrist. That means push your palm away and flex your wrist so that the whole inner arm gets stretched. Yeah. Stretch it. Good. Take your fingers back just straight, and we're going to bring it back in one finger at a time. So we go 4, 3, 2, and 1. And now we'll do the other side. So hitchhiker's thumb there, one at a time. 1, 2, 3, 4. Big stretch as far as you can go, and then you flex. So you want to feel that stretch all the way into the forearm, the elbow, into your shoulder. Good. Back straight with the fingers, and here we go. Back in 4, 3, 2, and 1. And when we come back in, we're going to do both. So you should be leaning back, right? And your chair is your support. Here we go. 1, 2, 3, 4. Keep your chin neutral. Keep going. Keep going until you feel that stretch in your chest. Now do that multiple flex. Oh, my gosh. How's that feeling? Take a big breath. Exhale. Oh, that feels so good. Fingers straight, and here we go. Back in 4, 3, 2, and 1. All the way. Good. Oh, those shoulders love it, so just roll those shoulders. Good. Very good. And roll them forward. Good. And roll them forward. Okay, since Debbie wanted to be in the front row, I'm going to put her on the spot. We're going to do picking fruit. So remember that's the opposites, and I've been adding a few things to it, so we're going to make it a little more complicated. So we're going to start with the left hand first, and we're going to reach, pick, out to the side. And if you can look, all the better, and drop it. Good. Here we go. Reach, maybe look up. Pick, out, and drop. Good job. Reach, pick. You're so creative. Out, and drop. And last one on this side. Reach, pick, out, and drop. Now we're going to go out in front. So here we go. Reach, pick, in the front. Give it away. Palms up. Okay, you guys got it. Good. Reach, pick, in front. Give it away. Other hand. Reach, pick, out, in front. So we're doing range of motion, right? The reachiest reach, right? The stretchiest stretch. Good. And now we're going to drop it on the floor. So it's left hand. Reach, pick. We're going down. So you should feel that low back stretch. Feel that right there in that low back as you come back in. Here we go again. Reach, pick. We're going down. And then come back in. Okay, now to the right. Reach, pick. Going down. Pick it up. And reach, pick. Going down. And pick it up. Now, the sideways. I added this one because I really like the feeling of it. So you're going to do all the way to the side, as far as you can go. So the whole left side of your back and your shoulder is getting stretched. Good. So reach, pick, and then the sound of a crunch. Good. And again. Reach, pick, and. Good. Oh, great sound. Ready? Reach, pick, and reach, pick, and. Okay, so now we're going to do both hands. So we're going to go up and out, up and forward, up and down, crisscross, bite. Okay, so get your brain to work a little bit. Here we go. Everybody ready? Nancy? Everybody ready? Reach, pick, out, drop. Okay. Reach, pick, in front. Give it away. Good. We're going down. Reach, pick, going down, up, and then reach, pick. Okay, so this is the hard part, right? One is up and one is out. It doesn't matter which one. One is up and one is out. Then both up, both down, crisscross, bite. You got it? Yeah, I know you don't have it. Okay, here we go. Best we can. Reach, pick, alternates. Palm is up. Yeah. Okay, good. Again. Reach, pick. I'm going to make fun of you. I can't help it. She's like this. Okay, come back here. We've got to do it again. Reach, pick, one in front, one on the side. I'm going to watch you. Good. All right, good. She's not on camera, so you guys can't see what she's doing. Okay, here we go. And let it go. Now we're going to go down to the floor with both. Reach, pick, going down. Good, coming in. And then crisscross. Reach, pick. Yay. Very good, you guys. Anybody get warm on that? Boy, that was a little tension there going on. Okay, so let's get the feet to move a little bit. So just pick up one foot and just point and flex. It doesn't matter which one. Good. Did I hear some cracking over there? Who was that? That was you. Oh, my God, my cameraman's cracking. Okay, here we go. Other foot. Oh, yeah, that was me. Good. And what about both? We love these quads, right? This makes our quads stronger. Very good. So we're getting into the calf muscles now, getting them nice and strong. Good, and then shake it out a little bit. All right, very good. All right, so now we're going to do seated eagle. So eagle is good for the immune system. It's also really good for stretching the shoulder muscles. So we're going to start first in cactus arms. And we're going to cross the left leg over the right. All right, so now if you cannot cross high in your legs, then you just cross low in your legs. It doesn't matter. So we're going to get a little bit into the hips as well. As we come forward, it's going to be the right arm on the top, the left arm on the bottom. And when you crisscross, you know there's three options. You can do the hug, which gives you a good stretch. You can do the back of the hands, which is a little bit more dexterity, right? And then you can intertwine the hands. Good, and then we're going to inhale, lift up. Exhale, tuck your chin, round your back, and I want you to take a nice deep breath into the middle of your shoulders. So take a big breath right between those shoulder blades, expanding the ribs. Good, exhale, release it. The next one, we're going to squeeze our thighs together. So inhale, take a big breath. And exhale, release, and squeeze down. Really tuck your chin and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Everything gets squeezed out of you. Inhale, take a breath all the way up, and unwind your arms and unwind your legs, and we'll go the other way. So now it's going to be the right leg crosses over, and then the left arm crosses on the top, and then we do the wrap. So remember any of those options you want to do. Inhale, lift up a little bit. Exhale, you're going to tuck your chin and round downward. Big breath. Exhale, squeeze. Squeeze your thighs together. Squeeze your armpits together. Squeeze it all out. Take a nice deep breath again. Inhale. Exhale, squeeze one more time. That's how the toxins get squeezed out of you. Now inhale, you're up. Take your arms out, uncross your legs, and now you're going to take your wings all the way up, and we're just going to fly. Flap. Yeah. Oh, how fluid is that? How beautiful is that? Good. All right. Oh, I even have a good song. This is the angel song. Oh, yeah. Go all the way up, you guys. Flap all the way up. Yay. Good. And when we're up here, we're going to climb the rope. Let's go all the way up. Reach up. Climb. Pull. Stretch. Reach. Good. And then all the way up to the top. Reach up. And then all the way up. Oh, beautiful. Shake it out a little bit. OK, so let's do a little side stretching. We're going to do our hip glide, which we do in a chair. This one's a really complicated setup, but it feels so good, so it's worth it. We're going to take the left leg, and we're going to walk it out so it's pointing away from us. Take your left hand to the chair, and your right knee is going to drop towards the floor. And if you can scoot that right foot back with the toes flexed, it's going to get you a really nice strong base. If it hurts your toes, then just keep your toenails flat. So bring your hand to the chair and your right hand to the right shoulder. So we're going to dip down and touch the elbow towards the hip, and the hip comes up towards the elbow, so there's actually a little lift in that hip. Then the exhale lifts that elbow up, and we lean into the chair, so we're doing a sideways bend. Good. So let's watch the breath on this one. So inhale, we're dipping, so we're contracting that muscle. Exhale, we're lifting it up, and we're stretching. Oh, that's the QL muscle we're stretching. Good. Let's do it two more times. So inhale, we're going to dip. Exhale, we're going to lift and stretch. A nice sideways bend. Good. And then inhale, we're going to dip. And exhale, we're lifting all the way up. Good. Coming back to neutral, and let's just go the other way. So we're just going to walk it the other way. So the right foot is facing forward, the left knee is dropped, the toes are tucked or flattened, and, of course, you're holding on. And really, you have one butt cheek on the mat, I mean, on the chair. Okay, left hand, left shoulder. Inhale, hip up, elbow down. So feel that contraction. Then exhale, stretch it. So the hip actually goes down on that side. Good. I can hear you breathing. Inhale, contract. Exhale, stretch. Get really long. Good. And again, inhale, dip. Exhale, lift. And one more. Inhale, dip. And exhale, lift it all the way up. Good. Coming all the way back, and walk it all the way back. Good. Now, keeping your legs wide, we're going to take it into a little forward fold here. So forward bending is one of the best things you can do for your back, and sometimes you don't feel like doing that because your back hurts. But really, it stretches those muscles that you want to stretch. So you're going to take your hands, and you're going to scooch your little tail feathers back. Remember that concept, you guys, like you have little tail feathers. You can even go like that and just whoosh them behind you, right? And then you're going to scoot your hands to your kneecaps, and you're going to lean. So it's like a 45-degree angle to start with, and you're kind of looking down. It's like you're looking over the ledge or something. And then once you feel kind of solid here and the stretches are good, you want to take your hands below your kneecaps, and you're leaning a little bit more. Now, if your hips and your low back are not feeling good there, you just want to stay. But now we're going to bring both hands to the left knee. So that means that right hand comes over to the left, and just hold and stretch there. If that right hand can go a little bit lower on the leg, maybe it stretches down a little bit more. You're going to feel that beautiful stretch on the right side of your hip. Take a breath there. And another breath there. Come on, that's a tight spot. Good. Then walk your hands to that knee, and we'll go to the other side. So walking it over to the right so the left hand goes over there. Take a breath. Maybe exhale down a little further. Maybe that left hand can walk down a little bit more. Find where that stretch feels good. We're taking two deep breaths into that space. So inhale. And exhale. And inhale. And exhale. Remember, we're letting go, bringing both hands to each knee. You're looking over that ledge again. And then when you inhale up, your back is straight all the way up and all the way up. Good. And then walk it together. And then the other back stretch, which is really good, is bringing one knee in. One knee in as tight as you can. Look what's happening to those low back muscles. You're stretching those. So all pain is constriction. And when we get pain, we want to breathe into that space and stretch it. Good. And come back in. Good. And then check it out. So let's bring the feet up again. This time we're going to bring both feet up, and we're going to alternate pointing and flexing. Pointing and flexing. Good. And then we're going to rotate the ankles forward and rotate them backwards. Good. And then shake them out. All right, so we're going to do another alternate pattern. We're going to do cactus alternates. So everybody come into cactus arms. So we'll do an easy pattern, and, of course, you know I always add to it. So we're going to take left hand to right shoulder. Good. And then back. I saw a delay on one of those. Okay. Other way. Good. And now left hand, right shoulder. Look to the left. Okay. Good. And then other side. You're always looking the opposite way of your hand touching. Good. And then now we're going to go the opposite leg. So left hand, right leg. Look to the left. Good. Come back up. And then opposite, and look the opposite way. Look the opposite way, Neva. Yeah. Okay, good. We've got to do it again because Neva's ex—you missed about three weeks, I think. I can tell, right? No, just kidding. Okay, here we go. Opposite leg. So left hand, right knee. Look to the left. Good. Coming back. And opposite, right hand, left. Good. And come back up. Now we're going to go shoulder, shoulder, leg, leg. So we're going to go shoulder. Look the opposite way. Good. Coming up. Shoulder. Coming up. Now when we go opposite leg, we're going to lift that leg and look the other way. Yeah. Good. And coming up. And then the other way. And coming up. We've got to do it again because you screwed up. Okay, here we go. One shoulder. Good. Back. Other shoulder. Back. Now we're going to lift the leg. Look the opposite way. Good, Joy. And then the other way. Here we go. Good. And then release. There's three Joys in this corner. Right here. One, two, three. Three Joys. That's amazing. I love it. Yay. This is the Joy corner. That is so cool. I love that. Okay. So are you guys ready for sun salutations? No. Yeah. Oh, who said no? Fans. Oh, totally. Okay. I was waiting for you to say that, Patty. I'm dying here. Okay. Fans. Our substitute teacher asked us if we could do five sun salutations and everyone laughed. Oh, really? She thought she was pushing you, huh? You're like, we do eight, right? Okay. So we're going to do eight. Actually, we really do nine if you really count it because blast-off is the last one. So I taught at the library yesterday and we did 20 blast-offs. So do you guys want to go for 21? Yes. You want to go for 21? Yes. Okay. You do, huh? Okay. We're going to do it. Okay. So here we go. Sun salutations. The first one is kind of a slower one just so that we get in the rhythm of it. The breath is really important in this one because all the big movements are the inhales, right? So watch. Inhale. Good. Exhale. Arms in cactus. Take a breath. Exhale. Halfway down. We're going to hold and hover here just for a moment because I want you to see how strong your back is when you're holding like this. Now take a breath. Exhale. Hands to kneecaps. And you can slide down or you can keep them there. So whatever's feeling good for your low back. Inhale. Halfway up. Take a back arch. Maybe open up the throat a little bit. Yeah. Good. Exhale. You're going to fold. Inhale. The right arm's reaching up and you're looking at the right thumb. Good. Exhale. Lower. And inhale. The left arm up. And exhale. Lower. We're going to draw the belly in and then we're going to reach the arms all the way up. Remember that's the inhale breath. Good. And exhale. Hands back to the heart center. And now we'll just flow with the breath. So here we go. Inhale. Lifting up. Exhale. Cactus. Halfway down. Take your big breath. Exhale. Slide down as far as you feel comfortable. Inhale. Lengthen halfway. Open up the heart. Good. Exhale. Fold. Right arm is reaching up, gazing at the thumb. Exhale. Lower. And inhale. The left arm up. Good. Exhale. Release. Coming all the way up. Inhale. Maybe look up this time. Big reach, you guys. Good. Exhale. Back to the heart center. Good. Another one like that. So inhale. We're lifting. Exhale. We're going halfway down. The strongest of our holds. Take your big breath. Exhale. Now we let it go. Inhale. Halfway up. Arching. Good. Exhale. We're going to take the fold. Right arm is reaching up. The thumb is open and spread. Good. Exhale. Down. And inhale. The left arm all the way up. And exhale. Lower. Now we're coming back up. Inhale. Lift. Maybe look it up. And exhale. All the way back to the heart center. Good. Now we'll do some twisting. So inhale. We're lifting. Exhale. Halfway up. Halfway down. Take your big breath. Exhale. Lower. Inhale. Open up the heart. Good. Exhale. Release it. Right arm is up. The elbow is nice and long and straight. Exhale. Lower. And then inhale. The left arm up. Good. Exhale. Lower. Inhale. The arms all the way up. And exhale. Bring them to your side. And we're going to do airplane wing twists. So we're going to twist to the left on the exhale. So everybody ready. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Center. Exhale. Right. Inhale. Center. Exhale. Heart. Good. Here we go again. Inhale. Lifting. Exhale. Halfway down. And holding. Take your big breath. Exhale. Letting it go. Inhale. Halfway up. And arch. Exhale. Take the fold. Right arm is reaching. Fingers are wide. Exhale. Lower. And inhale. The left arm is up. Good. Exhale. Lower. Inhale. The arms all the way up. And we're going to come into steeple mudra, which is index finger and thumb reaching up. And we're going to take a half moon. So we're going to tilt to the left on the exhale. Inhale. Up. Exhale. Left. Inhale. Up. Exhale. Right. Good, you guys. Inhale. Up. Exhale to the heart. Good. Now we'll get the feet to work. So here we go. Inhale. Lifting up. Exhale. Going halfway down. Draw that belly in so it's long and straight. Take a breath. Exhale. We're going to fold. Inhale. Open up halfway. Exhale. Take the bow. Right arm is reaching up. That's a nice twist. And exhale. Lower. And then inhale. The left arm up. Good. Exhale. Lower. We're going to bring the arms out in front so the palms are facing each other. Remember, when you lean forward, we're doing that little 45 degree angle. That creates more strength in your core and your back. Toes down. Heels up. And we're pressing. We're activating the lower part of our bodies doing that. Good. Heels down. Inhale. Lift. Exhale. Back to the heart center. Here we go. A few more. So inhale. We're lifting. Maybe looking up. Exhale. We're going halfway down for that hold. Take a big breath. Exhale. Sliding down. Inhale. Halfway up. Exhale. Fold. Right arm is reaching. Gazing up. Exhale. Inhale. And now the left arm. Inhale. Up. And exhale. Lower. Both arms out in front again. Remember that lean. Just more work. Heels down. Toes up. And if you've got socks off, spread your toes nice and wide and then you won't have to wear those little pedicure things, huh? You can just do it yourself. Good. Hold it. And then drop your toes and lift up. And exhale. Back to the heart center. Good. Now we're going to do blast off. So here we go. Inhale. Lifting. Exhale. Halfway down. Take your big breath. And exhale. Folding. Inhale. Halfway up. Exhale. Take the bow. Right arm is reaching up. Last twist. Exhale. Lower. And then inhale the left arm up. Good. And exhale. Lower. Bringing your arms out in front. So we're going to do 21. Always feel free to skip some if you want to. And remember, the hard part is this. Because you're not using momentum. This is a little easier because you're using momentum. Okay? So either way and you can switch off. Here we go. 21. You guys got to count with me. 20. Make sure I don't do it wrong. 19. 18. 17. 16. 15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 10. 9. Oh, there's no enthusiasm. 8. 7. Almost there. 6. 5. 4. 3. My gosh. 2. And. My gosh, you guys. That's so hard. Are we ever going to make 52? Do you think? Shake it out. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Go like this a little bit. Oh, yeah. Oh, we're creating some wind right now. Patty, do you feel that? With our swaying of our arms? Cooling off a little bit? Yay. Twist your body a little bit. You guys are doing great. Twist. On your tippy toes and just go sideways. Yeah. Oh, that feels so good. Okay, so come on down. So what I want to do after we do so many of them, you guys are going to feel tight right here because this is a lot of work for the hip flexors. So I want you to stretch them by just doing this little motion. This is a windshield wiper twist. And when you twist, you're trying to stretch this. This is what you're trying to stretch. So you're just going to go like this back and forth. So you're trying to get that knee a little bit more to open up. Yeah. And that's going to take those muscles. We worked so hard on the blast-offs. And just give them a little love. Good. And then sit back and let's take a pause. Oh, my goodness. How's the heart feeling? Is the heart happy? It is happy. Huh? It is. So take a moment. Just close your eyes. And I just want you to feel that this is the vibrancy of our beautiful body. So I know the breath is deeper. I feel it myself. And I know my heart is beating more. And I know we're warmer. And all of those wonderful physical sensations that remind us that the body is truly just magical. It wants to work for us. It makes us feel good when we work like that. A couple more nice, deep breaths, bringing that life force in. And then gently flutter your eyes open. And we're going to come to standing. Okay? So come on up. So bring the chair in front of you so the high part of the chair is in front. So we're going to do a big, long axial extension. So like the axis of the earth, we're going to create that right now. Inhale. Both arms are reaching up, up, up, up, up, up. Good. Everybody tall? Great. Bring your hands to the back. And we're going to walk ourselves back into downward facing dog. So once you get there, I want you to feel your spine really, really long, as long as you can make it. And if you have any low back pain right now, I want you to take a big breath in. And when you exhale, you're saying, I let go. And you might even say, I let go of my worry. I let go of my anxiety. I let go of my anger. I let go. Nice, long breaths. And now we're going to walk the dog, which is just coming to the tippy toes and bending one knee, and then just shifting that to the other side. And again, if you want to loosen up that low back a little bit more, you're going to twist in that. So you're actually up on the ball of your foot, and you're twisting sideways. And you're getting one hip to kind of move out. And you're really stretching, and you're twisting that low back. Good. And then you're going to look at your chair, and we're going to walk all the way up, all the way up. And we'll be on our tippy, tippy toes. So coming to the tippy toes, everybody. Good. And then we're going to come to the heels and lift the toes up. And we're going to keep the toes up, and the right arm is going to be in cactus arm, and we're going to walk to the right on our heels. So we're going to walk all the way over as far as you can feel comfortable. That's your balance there. Good. And then we're going to walk back to the center. We're going to flip the hands, so right hand down, left arm in cactus. And we're going to walk out as far as you feel comfortable. Good. And come back in. Oh, yeah. When you bring both hands down, come up to the tippy toes. That should feel good. Now the opposite way. Hand in cactus, and here we go. Off to the right. Good. And then back. Switch the hands. And off to the left. Good. Come back in. And now we're just going to rock a little bit. Forward and back. Yeah. So if you ever get those nasty leg cramps in the middle of the night, you really want to stretch your calf muscles. Let's do that, actually. A lunge is one of the best ways to do that. So let's keep the left foot forward and the right foot steps back, but your toes are tucked, you guys. So if you can, that's a little bit more into your arches. And then you're just going to pulse down. Like you're going to bend that leg and come up, and you're just going to pulse down. Try to get the heel down towards the floor. Yeah, nice, long calf muscles. Good. All right, then step it forward. Let's do the other side. Left foot down. You're tucking your toes. I know that sometimes gets those toes a little crunched. And then you're just pushing that heel down towards the floor. It's a good way to open up that hip. Oh, bless you. Do you want to open up the door, Lena? See if that helps. I know you guys are really hot over there. I can see it. Good. Come all the way forward. All right, shake it out. Shake it out. All right, so we're going to do a little hip movement today. We're going to do Elvis Moves His Pelvis. Okay, so that's always a fun one. And I love that one because it really loosens up a lot of the tight areas. So when you're looking at your chair, the right foot is going to point to like a 2 o'clock position on a clock. If you're looking at 12, it's 2 o'clock. And then you're going to softly bend that standing leg, and you're going to softly bend that right knee because we're going to go around in a circle. So your hip bones are going around in a circle. You're making a circular motion with that part of you. Good. And then we got to go the other way. So around and around. Good. Wow, you guys are grooving. Now take your right hand, and then you're going to move your right arm around and around in however you want to do it. Just swoop it around. Get the elbow, the joints, the wrists, the shoulder. Yeah. See, this is how your joints want to move. Good. And then come back in. Let's go the other side. So now the left foot, 10 o'clock position. You got to bend both knees because you want everything to be so super kind of fluid. So here we go. Circle with the hip bones. Think about the hip bones kind of leading that motion. Round and around. So we lose the ability to move like this, and that's what creates tension back there in the low back. Go the other way now. Round and round, and then the left hand, of course, is going to come up and just do any kind of movements, anything. Swirling is always good. One of my teachers calls it undulating, right? We undulate. Good. We're all adults, so we can undulate here. Okay, good. And then come all the way back. All right. And then shake it out. Shake it out. Okay, so in honor of King James in the room, who is now my camera guy, we're going to do the curtsy. Okay? So I like the curtsy because it stretches the hips. It's just a fun way to do it. We're going to take the right leg out to the side, and we're going to have the toes facing forward. And we're going to hold it there just for a moment, and then I want you to take it out another two inches. Yeah, that's where I want you to feel it, right there. You feel that muscle? Now we're going to crisscross it in the front, and we're going to bend both knees, and it's a curtsy in the front. We're going to come out, hold the foot out, and then we go backwards, and we're going to curtsy in the back. So now if you want to lift your skirt up, you can. So out, let go of your hands, and curtsy. Good for your balance. Come back in, out, and then curtsy. Good. Come back in. I don't know what the guys do. Oh, the guys bow, right? That's what they do instead. Okay. Oh, you get the good stuff. Okay, so here we go. Left foot out. Remember the toes are facing forward. They always want to go out. I promise you they do. Now lift it up two inches more and hold it. Those are your gluteus muscles. Good. Crisscross in the front, curtsy. Take a bow. Good. Out, curtsy in the back. No hands if you want to use that skirt thing. Yay. And come back in and out. Good. Come back in and then come back. Good. Shake it out. All right, you guys. Very good. All right, I think a little skiing is due. Okay, skiing just to loosen up those hips. Look behind you. Get your body to twist. Good. One more. Okay. And shake it out. Now, I think we're going to do some balancing. We haven't done this sequence in a while, and I really like this one. It's called the tightrope. So I want everybody to be on the side of their chair. See how I am on my side of the chair? It doesn't matter if you're on the right or the left side. It doesn't matter. So you're going to pretend you're on a tightrope, and you're going to bring one foot in front of the other so you're totally straight. You're going to take your hand that's not holding onto the chair, and you're going to turn your palm open towards the front. Yeah, so that's going to get your shoulder to come back and your spine to be a little bit taller. And now we're just going to balance here. So here's the options. Close your eyes for a moment. A long blink or just close them. If you can keep them closed, see what happens. Maybe you're shifting. Maybe you feel your ankles wiggling. Maybe you're really gripping that chair. Just kind of notice that. You can open your eyes at any time. And then we're going to let go of the hand on the chair. So feel free to open your eyes when you do that. You could just be tapping that chair. You know what's nearby. If you really feel like you can do it, you close your eyes and let go. So whatever's feeling good. Let your body do all that weird shimmying. It's okay. It's just creating that strength and that awareness. Good. Slowly release it. And then we'll shake it out a little bit. Good. All right. So here we go. Other foot in front. Nice tightrope. That hand is out to the side. Remember, the palm is facing forward. Just gives the shoulder back a little bit. Okay. So we're just going to test. Because usually it's easier on one side or the other. So just noticing first. And if you want to test, you close your eyes. And just notice what happens. Immediately when you close your eyes, your body does this really interesting adjustment. It's like, whoops, I've got to really get strong here. You feel your ankles kind of moving and your toes moving. Play with it. Maybe let go of the chair. Maybe keep both eyes closed. Just however you feel like it. Remember, Niagara Falls is underneath you guys. So be really, really diligent. Oh, yeah. Good. And then release it. All right. And then shake it out. Shake it out. All right. So come to the back of your chair, actually. And we're going to do one warrior. So warrior is for building strength in the lower body. So the right foot is going to stay. And the left foot is going to step back. Remember, that left foot is a little bit angled, like a 45-degree angle. And we're going to bend the right knee. And we're going to bend and straighten the right leg a few times. So I learned this one from Justine. Justine, you know, is our wonderful yoga therapist. And she said this one helps with the tracking of our knees. So that means every time you walk and take a step, this is the angle that your leg goes in. So we want to practice that. We want to make sure the knee is always straight. So right over the ankle. Good. Next time your knee is bent, we're going to hold it bent. We're going to reach that left arm up to the ceiling with the palm facing in. And that should be a real good stretch for your front of your left hip. Now, the balancing part would be both arms up. So you decide if you want to do that or you can just tap. So whatever's feeling good. Yeah. This is the brave warriors right now. And the arms come down. And because it's coming to be summer season, we are going to do push-ups for our beautiful arms. Here we go. Three of them. So remember, the elbows are going to stay in. They don't go out like that. So they stay tight to the body. So inhale, breath. Exhale, take that push-up down. Inhale, straighten it out. Exhale. That's your bicep working right there. And when you inhale straight, that's your tricep working. So here we go. Down. And we're going up. And we're going to do one more because it definitely is summer season. Down. And up. Good. And then bringing that back foot together. And maybe even shake it out. You can shake your hands if you want to. Okay. So to the other side. Left foot stays. Right foot steps back. We're in that warrior one stance. Your hips are facing forward. And let's do that knee bend again. Up and down. So this time I do want you to look down at your kneecap and make sure it's right between your second and your third toe. And you see your big toe. If you don't see your big toe, that means you're overextended or that means the knee is turning inward, and that's why we practice this. So we want to kind of be aware of what our alignment looks like. And now we're going to bend that left knee and hold it there. And the right arm is coming up. Remember, the palm is facing in because that's going to keep your shoulder nice and lined up. Good. If you want to let go or not, you decide. Full Virabhadrasana I. Good, Jim. Look at you. Good. Both hands down. Four pushups. Here we go. Take a breath. Exhale. We're going down. Inhale. We're coming up. Exhale. We're going down. Inhale. Up. And exhale. Down. And inhale. Up. I don't know if that was three or four. We're doing only one. Okay. Exhale. Down. Inhale. Up. I might have given you an extra one. I don't know. Come on in. Good. Shake it out and shake it out. So the last standing pose is going to be tree. And it's one leg for five breaths. So that's the important part for building bones. We've got to hold it. So one foot down, the other foot comes up. So you decide which one. Doesn't matter. And then you can bring one arm up to the side. Doesn't matter where you bring that branch. And then I want you to create a tree that's your unique looking tree. Right? So you can take both arms up. You can have one out and one up. You could swirl a little bit like it's a little windy. And you can move. Yeah. See, look at it. And the leaves are fluttering at the tips. Yeah. Oh, we've got to hold it one more breath. And then coming all the way down. Very good, you guys. Shake it out. To the other side. One foot down, other foot up. And then you explore. So you can hold on the whole time. It's all good because we're strengthening that leg anyway. Or you can just play with it. Good swing. Trees over there. Wow, Anita. You're going for it. Oh, yeah. Let's do one more breath. Why not? And then slowly coming back down. Good. Shake it out. Coming back to your chair. Grabbing your belts. I'm going to take a little pause here. All right. Sit back. Close your eyes just for a moment. I want you to kind of check in. And even just notice the shift from our sun salutations to now. Like, what does that feel like? What's your breath like? What is your mind doing? That's really an important question. Because hopefully when we're together, we're not really worried about too much stuff. Hopefully we're feeling a little bit cooler. And then gently opening your eyes. And we're going to take the belt. And we're going to place it across the ball of the right foot. And then both arms are holding on. We're going to stretch it all the way out. So what I want you to do once you're stretched all the way out, I want you to draw your arms back so your elbows are down by your side. Yeah, because that's going to work those biceps a little bit. So you want to feel that there's a little bit of tugging and a little bit of work in those arm muscles. Good. And then the heel kicks away a little bit, just a tiny little bit. And then it comes back a little bit. So it's a little micro-movement, but you'll feel it. You'll feel it in the back of your knees. You'll feel it in your calf. You'll feel it maybe in the arches of your feet too. Good. One more. Now grabbing the belt. The foot is flexed. You're going to grab that belt with the right hand. The left hand is out. And then we're going to open up. We're going to add just a little twist to this. So when you guys look at your thumb over there, I want you to take that arm out a little bit further backward. Yeah. Really open up the chest, the pectoral muscles. Good. Now we're going to come back in. And as we come back in, we're going to grab a hold of the belt with the left hand and the right hand is out. And when we look, we're going to do the same thing. We're going to try to reach that arm back a little bit more so we get a little deeper twist. Take a nice deep breath. Feel that stretch across your right hip. Good. And when you come back to the center, it's going to be ankle to the knee. And remember that top foot always stays nice and flexed. Your belt goes across your lap. Bring your hands to your shins. And that little concept of scooting your tail feathers away, I want you to feel that. So it's like a little shimmy. Kind of go like that. And you kick those kind of sit bones back a little bit. And it actually forces you to tilt a little bit forward when you do that. So we're going to do giving and receiving. So we're going to have the palms up. And we're going to take a breath. And we're going to exhale like you're giving away something. Just lean forward like you're giving away. Oh, yeah. Good. And then take a big breath. This is for Debbie's piriformis. Okay, and exhale. And one more. Inhale. And exhale. Now we get to receive. So bring those palms back and draw those knuckles in. Oh, yeah. Receive all that energy. Good. And then release it. Shake it out a little bit. And we'll take it to the other side. Okay, so left leg. Belt on both hands. And once we kind of get situated there, then we draw those belts back and the elbows down. So we're working the arms there. Good. And then that little kicking away. It's so subtle. Probably nobody would notice it, but you feel it. That little kicking away of the heel and the toes coming back a little bit. So if you're still wearing high heels, Jim and Christian, if you're still wearing high heels, this is a good stretch for you, okay? Us women are not wearing high heels anymore. I don't think so. Good. Okay, grabbing your belt with the left hand. Right hand is out. When we open up, we're going to take that arm back a little bit more, right? So we're just going a little bit further into that. Nice chest opener. Good. When you come back in, here we go. Opposite way. Crisscross the body. And then the left arm goes back. We're looking at the left thumb. Coming back in. And now ankle to the knee again. This time you can take your belt and put it off to the side. Remember, the top foot is flexed. And when you put your hands on your shins, you do that little shimmy. So it's this interesting little adjustment that you're just kind of making your way with those little tail feathers back behind you. And now we're going to take the arms out in front. Take a breath. And exhale. Let's give another deep breath. And exhale. Oh, let's do one more. Inhale. And exhale. Inhale. Bring it all the way back in. See, we get to have all that too. Good. And then releasing and shaking out a little bit. Yay! All right, who's sad and bummed right now? Fess up. See, it really lightens our spirit. And that's what we want, just that little bit of lift in our spirits, right? Namaste. Namaste, my dear ones. Namaste. Namaste, Leslie. Namaste. The three joys. Namaste.