Prana - Day 3

Hello everyone, welcome to Prana, your seven day yoga journey. Thank you so much for returning for your Day 3 practice. Hop into something comfy and let's get started. Alright, let's begin in Sukhasana. Come on down to the ground. Sit up on a blanky if you like. And let's do this thing. Sit up nice and tall. Find that upward current of energy in the front body. That downward current of energy in the back body. Benji's getting into his position here, so everything is as it should be. With your breath, slowly lifting the shoulders up towards the ears. On your exhale, lowering them down. Good, slow to start. Inhale, squeeze and lift. Exhale, lower them down. Landing here. Arriving here. Choosing to be present for the duration of this practice. Let's speed it up a little bit. Keep it gentle, but we're gonna inhale, squeeze. Up, up, up and then exhale, just let it drop. Inhale, squeeze and lift. Exhale, drop. Let's do one more. And release, nice. Okie doke. So we're gonna start with a little Pranayama today. It'll bring a little heat, bring a little current of energy that'll take us through some movement. If you're ever feeling that it's just not right in your body, you can come back to some of the slow, more lengthened breaths that we've done in previous days. So sit up nice and tall. We're gonna bring one hand to the navel and the other hand on top. So think of this exhale and this breath as being explosive. If you're familiar with breath of fire or Kapalabhati breath, that's what we're moving into. But we can all benefit from kind of having this beginner's mind here as we focus on the theme of prana and also presence in the body here today. So the hands are here to help guide us, just to help give us a little feedback. So you're gonna inhale in deeply. And then think of an explosive exhale as you draw the navel sharply inward. Inhale, nice kind of chill. Inhale as it expands. And then exhale, short and sharp. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Now keep it going. Maybe the pace begins to pick up. You don't need to match my pace here today. But do try to find a rhythm here for a moment or two. Keeping the shoulders relaxed. Nice explosive exhale. And a nice passive inhale. And let it go. Just take a second. Shake it out a little bit if you need to. I'm very surprised that Benji stayed napping because usually he runs up during that breath. Let's just make sure he's breathing. Okay, he is. Alright, round two. Just two rounds of this Kapalabhati breath. I encourage you to play with finding your own rhythm, your own speed. Again, thinking of the exhale as an explosion, like a short, sharp exhale. Nice passive inhale. Hands on the belly if that's helpful. And let's begin. Inhaling deeply. Exhale, let it go. Nice work, guys. From here, let's extend the legs out long. You can stay seated on your blanket here if it feels good and reach the arms up towards the sky. Deep breath in here. Exhale, just a little counter pose to that breath. Take a little bent knee Forward Fold here. If you'd like to catch a little bonus here, you can take the thumbs to the arches of the feet or to the ankles or to the bottoms of the feet and just give yourself a little massage, pressing into all those awesome pressure points in the feet, bringing some love to the feet here, whether you're massaging them a lot or not. Take one more deep breath in. Nice, and then exhale, release. Bring the legs back to a cross-legged seat. Fingertips are gonna come down to the edges of the mat. Inhale, extend the arms to Texas T, moving with your breath. Exhale, hands to heart. Check it out. Reach behind. If you've never done this with me before, you're gonna reach behind, draw your chin to your chest. We have this chin lock here, Jalandhara Bandha. Palms come behind as we retain the breath for a moment, and then we inhale, reach up towards the sky. Exhale, float the fingertips down. If you're like, what? Don't worry, I got you. We're gonna go through it again here. So inhale, fingertips reach out. There's an expansion. You're reaching beyond your fingertips. Energy's reaching in opposite direction. Chest stays lifted here as you bring the palms together, Anjali Mudra. Now, chin to chest. Lengthen through the back of the neck. Think about this back of the head getting nice and long, lifting up towards the sky. As you reach behind, pause. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, float the fingertips down. Now we're gonna move with the rhythm of the breath. Sounds like a Gloria Estefan song. Inhale, halfway lift. Chest stays lifted. Exhale, palms together. You can close your eyes for this if you like. Chin to chest, reach behind, navel draws in. Inhale, reach all the way up. Exhale, float it down. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, hands to heart. Chin to chest, reach behind. Retain the breath. Inhale, reach all the way up. Exhale, float it down. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, hands to heart. Long breaths, chin to chest, reach behind. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, float it down. Last time, no cueing from me, just the sound of your breath. When your fingertips come to the ground, close your eyes, keep the chest lifted, excuse me, and just notice how you feel. So as we move a little bit deeper into our prana journey, we might start to consider from the yoga perspective this idea of prana being what can connect us all, connect us all to each other, but also connect us to everything, the entire universe. So just dropping that in here, a little food for thought. And then slowly opening your eyes if you have them closed, and let's come forward onto all fours. We're gonna go right up into Downward Facing Dog here, so take your time, take a moment to warm up the body here. Moving slow, maybe bumping the hips a little left to right, pedaling it out through the legs, maybe finding a little undulation through the spine, really tapping into the wisdom of your body today here through this breath-inspired movement. Then on your next inhale, slide the right leg up to a Three-Legged Dog, and on your exhale, gently bring it forward all the way into a lunge. You can come on to the back knee here, just take a second here, front knee over front ankle to feel the stretch, notice how we feel today, find that connection to center, and maybe you get a little light on the fingertips here and let your heart shine forward. Lovely, from here, listen carefully, we're gonna take this left foot and bring it to the right side of your mat. Come up onto your right thigh with your right elbow, and then send your left fingertips all the way behind your left ear and all the way forward towards the front edge of your mat. So we're in a little Gate Pose variation here. Think about opening your chest up towards the sky. I understand this can be a very deep stretch, so breathe deep, inhale in here, exhale, bring it back down to your lunge, frame your right foot with your hands and bring your left toes back to center. Inhale, Crescent Lunge, exhale to release. Curl the back toes under, lift the back knee, step it back, Downward Facing Dog. Let's take a cleansing breath here, so inhale in deeply, and exhale with the tongue out or a little sigh, good, inhale, lift the left leg up high. Three-legged Dog, exhale, shift it forward, step it up, Low Lunge. Take a couple beats here, a couple breaths here to get light on the fingertips. And just notice how you're feeling today in your body, in your mind, and in your heart. Opportunity to let your heart energy radiate forward, just opening up through the collarbones, getting light on the fingertips. And then we'll take this Gate Pose shape on the other side. So swing your right toes towards the left side of your mat, left elbow to the top of the left thigh, and same thing, right fingertips are gonna come behind the right ear this time, and we'll reach it up and overhead. Spiral your heart up towards the sky, stay grounded through your front foot. Draw your low abs just a little in and up. Breathe deep, and then exhale to come back to your lunge. Freeing the left foot here, Crescent Lunge, whenever you're ready, sweeping the arms all the way up. And then all the way back down, awesome work. Take it back to Downward Facing Dog here in your own time. And another cleansing breath, whenever you're ready. Inhale in deeply. Exhale to sigh it out. Nice. Slow descend of the knees down to the earth. Take a second to rest your hips back, Child's Pose. Just a quiet moment here, just a quick quiet moment. On your next inhale, press into the palms. Allow that to bring you back up. Curl the toes under, Downward Facing Dog. Inhale, lift the right leg high. Exhale, shift it forward all the way. Back foot's gonna stay, sorry, back knee's gonna stay lifted. Back foot's gonna pivot here. So coming into Extended Side Angle, right elbow on top of the right thigh. Outer edge of the back foot is rooted to the earth. And then taking, this time, the left fingertips all the way out, up and over. We're gonna do a circle here a couple times. Out, up and over. Front knee is bent over front ankle. Neck is nice and long. And the next time your left fingertips are reaching towards the front edge of your mat, stay here for a breath. Strong legs, engage those inner thighs. Tuck the chin just slightly. Reach, reach, reach, beautiful. And then let's release it all the way back down. Plant the palms, step it back. Downward Facing Dog. Inhale in deeply. Cleansing breath. When you're ready, lift the left leg up high, breathe in. Exhale, step the left leg forward, breathe out. Pivot on the back foot when you're ready. Left elbow to the top of the left thigh. So here's a good checkpoint to find that stacking of the bones, left knee over left ankle. Right toes are turned in. When you're ready, we'll move in that circular motion, reaching the right arm all the way up and around and down. Moving with your breath, getting your center down low. And the next time the right fingertips are reaching up, let's pull the right thumb back, open the chest up towards the heart and breathe here. Navel draws in just slightly. Lovely, and then on your next exhale, follow your breath. Bring it all the way down. Plant the palms, step it back, Downward Facing Dog. Last final cleansing breath. Let's make it awesome. Inhale in deeply, bend your knees if you like. And exhale to let something go. Slow descend of the knees down to the earth. Cross the ankles, one on top of the other, and then come through back to your Sukhasana, your seat. Sit up nice and tall here. Let's just take a moment here to find stillness and notice how we feel. Just reflect on your experience showing up. Cool. Gently bring the palms together. Let's bring the thumbs right up to the third eye. Keep your heart lifted here. You did it. We did it. Take a deep breath in and a long breath out. Again, a deep breath in here and a long breath out. And the final inhale, lots of love in. Exhale, option today to bow all the way down, bringing your head all the way down to the earth or towards the earth as we exhale lots of love out. Thanks everyone. Take good care. Namaste.