Prana - Day 4

Hey pals, welcome to Prana, your seven day yoga journey. It's Day 4. Hop into something comfy and let's get started. Alrighty, my sweet friends, we're going to begin this Day 4 practice standing. Ah. So just come to a nice stance here. Anywhere on your mat. You can choose. We're just going to take a second to feel the feet on the earth. You can actually look down at them here to start and just notice if maybe one foot has a tendency to turn out or in and there's no judgment here. You don't even need to correct it. Just kind of noticing what the feet are doing. And then let's lift the chin, soften the gaze or close your eyes and just take a second here to move either left to right, front to back or if you feel comfortable, if you feel safe, a small circle. Just moving from your center. And as you play around here you will feel your weight shift on the feet moving from the front to the side to the back and the inner arch. And just take it the other way. And then bring your center just underneath your heart space. And think of your heart space just underneath your head as you grow a little bit taller. Inhale in deeply. Exhale, hands to heart center. You can open the eyes here, keep your gaze soft. Inhale, we're gonna reach the arms all the way up. Big full body stretch. Exhale, press the palms down and back. Opening up through the chest. Inhale, reach the arms up. Big stretch, ground through the feet. Exhale, pressing it back. Opening up through the chest. Let's deepen the breath here. Inhale, reach. Exhale, press it back. Warming up. Inhale, reach. Exhale, spread the fingertips, press it back. Shoulder blades kiss together. Now this time inhale, reach. Exhale, press it back but we're gonna send the hips back, sits bones back. Come into a little what looks like Chair Pose. And then inhale, straight legs, straight arms. Exhale, bend the knees, press the arms back, shoulder blades together. So we're still opening up through the chest here. Inhale, reach. Exhale, send it back. Option here to really bring extra loving attention to the feet. Imagine you're trying to tear your yoga mat in half so the legs become engaged with the consciousness of the feet. And the next time your arms are reaching all the way up, we're gonna interlace the fingertips here. Stay grounded through the feet. Inhale, reach up, up, up. Exhale, tilt to the right, bump your hips to the left. Inhale up through center, ground through the feet again. And exhale, take it to the other side. Inhale to the center. Exhale, side body stretch. Inhale to center. Exhale. Inhale to center, release. Let's take it for a little spin here. Widen your stance, noodle arms, knocking on heaven's door. Letting go of any stress or tension or pent up energy that you may have brought with you onto the mat today. It's all part of the practice. It's all good. That's why we're here. Way to show up. Alright, from here we're gonna walk to the back edge of the mat and find Mountain Pose. Feet hip width apart or flushed together. Your choice. Inhale, spread the fingertips, reach up high. Exhale, navel's gonna draw in so actively draw the muscles of your core in. You're gonna round through the spine and we're going to create a diving effect here so move slow here to start. Soft bend in the knees. We'll come all the way down, Forward Fold. Breathe. Notice how it feels if the feet are together. Always feel free to make adjustments so that you feel more stable, more grounded and connected. Keep more able to find your center in these postures. I think that's one of the beauties of home yoga too is you really, I just feel so encouraged in my home practice to find what feels good for me. Alright, let's walk it out. Palms slowly reach forward. We're gonna walk it all the way out to Plank. Don't panic. Inhale in here. As you exhale, actively press away from your yoga mat and reach your heels back for a generous calf stretch. Crown of the head reaches forward. We're grounding, rooting down through all of the knuckles. Inhale in here. Exhale, bend the knees, walk it back. Take it back all the way to the Forward Fold at the back edge of your mat. Take a few breaths here. Shake the head a little yes and a little no. Nice, and then slowly walk the hands back out to Plank. Don't panic. Inhale in, exhale, press away from your yoga mat. Reach the heels back. Feel that stretch in the foot, that stretch in the calf. Engage your quads just a bit and extend the crown of the head long. Inhale in deeply here. Exhale, lower to the knees. Half Plank, just want to make sure we all remember this one. This oldie but goodie. Find those abs here. You got this. And then lower to your belly. Nice. Take the fingertips off the mat just a bit. Tent the palms so bring your fingertips to the earth. Elbows are gonna come up. Peek at me if you need to. Pressing down through the tops of the feet. Pressing down through the pubic bone. Drawing the navel in and up here. Inhale, keep it low. Rise up, Cobra. Press into your fingertips. Exhale, release. Warming up the spine. Inhale, lift up. Exhale, release. Don't push it too high here to start. Listen to your body. Inhale, reach up. And exhale, release. Cool. Curl the toes under, press up to Plank. You got this. And then send the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Breathe in here. And as you exhale, find some intuitive movement. Listening to the wisdom of your body. Grounding through that index finger and thumb. Working to send the hips up and back. So really bend your knees here to get those hip creases reaching up towards the heavens. Get some of the weight out of your hands, your wrists. Nice, and then walk it back. Hands all the way back towards the toes. Take a second here, Standing Forward Fold. Breathe in. Breathe out. So yesterday we were thinking about this yogic perspective of prana. This energy, this life force that connects us to everything. Inhale in deeply. Exhale to bend the knees generously. Ragdoll with bent knees. Slowly roll up to standing. Not too shabby. Bring the hands together at heart center. So there's a little affirmation here. It's optional, totally optional. You can close your eyes here. Lift your sternum to your thumbs. And it is, I am connected to all things. I am connected to all things. I am connected to all things with love and kindness. With love and kindness. Let the affirmation just wash over you or you can quietly repeat to yourself. I am connected to all things with love and kindness. Inhale in. Exhale, drop the fingertips down gently by your side. Inhale to reach up high towards the sky once again. Exhale, navel to spine. Rounding through, diving forward slow and steady. All the way down we go. Walking the hands all the way out to Plank Pose. Take one cycle of breath here. Inhale, press away from your yoga mat. Exhale, navel draws to the spine. Engage your core. Good, lower the knees if you like. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, slowly lower down to the belly. Fingertips come off the mat. Elbows lift. Moving with the breath three times here. Undulating with the spine. Inhale, we rise up. And exhale, following the breath down. Inhale, follow the breath up. Exhale, follow it down. Last one. Maybe you're growing a little taller now. And we release. Curl the toes under. Press up to all fours or Plank Pose. Quietly whisper to yourself here, I am strong, I am strong. And send the hips up high and back. On your next breath in, let's inhale, lift the right leg up high. Exhale, shift it forward, knee to nose. Step the right foot all the way up. And this time we've been lowering the back knee. This time we're gonna keep it lifted but know you can always lower it if you want to stay nice and low. High Lunge. Squeeze the inner thighs towards the midline. Sweep the arms forward, up and back. Deep breath in here. Long breath out as you relax the shoulders, relax the skin of the face. Find your footing here. Find that strength and stability, that sthita of the lower body. Good, then inhale in here. Exhale, we're gonna straighten the front leg. Press the palms back. You're gonna lift the back heel up. You got this. Inhale, reach. Exhale, press and straighten the legs. Marrying the action to the breath, the breath to the action. And the next time your legs are straight, the back heel's lifted, the palms are pressing back. Pause here. Lift your chest a little bit higher. And then release. Bend the front knee. Bring it back down to your Low Lunge. Nice, plant the palms. Step it back, Plank Pose. Inhale in here. Exhale, lower to the belly. Reach the fingertips off the mat. Inhale, we rise up. Exhale, with the breath, we soften and fold. Maybe forehead kisses the earth. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, release. Last time, inhale, rise up. Makes me think of Hamilton. And exhale, release, good. Press into the palms, curl the toes under. Inhale in, exhale to all fours or Plank Pose. And then send the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Hello, old friend. Anchor the left, sorry, the right heel and inhale, lift the left leg up high. Exhale, shift it forward, strong in the upper body. You got this. Knee hugs into the chest. Good, then step the left foot all the way up. High Lunge, here we come. Bend that front knee over the front ankle. Sweep the arms forward, up and back. Strong legs here. Breathing deep. Hug the inner thighs to the midline. Find that lift up from the pelvic floor to support you. Ground through the ball joint of your left big toe. Alright, let's flow. Inhale in, exhale, straighten the legs. Lift high up off that back heel. Press the palms back, open the chest. Inhale, reach. Exhale, press. So this type of work really reveals if you're rushing, if you're hurrying. So slow it down, lengthen the movement. Lengthen the breath. Build strength with an awareness of your energy. No need to blast the nervous system to get results. There's another way of looking at that. The next time your legs are straight, the palms are pressing back. Stay here, you got this. Drawing energy up from that pelvic floor to support you as you lift your heart, and then let it go. Nice work. Plant the palms, step it back. Final little vinyasa here, Plank Pose. Inhale in, shift forward. Belly to Cobra or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Just one big lift as you open your heart. And exhale to release. Press up to all fours or Plank. And then send it up for one final Downward Facing Dog. Inhale in here. Exhale, see if you can hug your low ribs in just a little more as you breathe out. Maybe turn the toes in just a hair. And externally rotate your shoulders. So that's an opposite rotation of what your feet are doing, your thighs. Inhale in deeply. Exhale, let it go. Come on to your knees. Send it back, Balasana, Child's Pose. Take a rest. Your choice, reach the arms. Really reach them forward or take them back. Closing the eyes and bringing your awareness to a rhythmic breath. So you can decide the pace here. If counting is helpful for you, you can start with a four count inhale, four count exhale. And then slowly draw a line with your nose forward. And we're going to shift to our backs. So take the legs to one side. Come on down to the ground. Knees bent, feet on the earth. Coming into a Satubandhasana, we're going to move with the breath here, moving with the arms, pressing into all four corners of the feet. When you're ready, tuck the tailbone. Inhale, start to move up through the spine. Allow the arms to follow with the breath. Reaching fingertips all the way up as the hips lift up high. And then slowly with the exhale, calming back down, one vertebra at a time. That's what we're aiming for here. Again, inhale, reach it up. Moving slow, feeling each area of the spine as you lift the hips up high. And then exhale, slowly releasing. Getting that little massage around the spine. Beautiful, hug the knees into the chest. Give them a good squeeze. And then take the knees to the right, open up through the arms, Supine Twist. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Let's find a straw breath here. Breathe out. Breathe in through the nose. Breathe out through pursed lips. Nice, melt it back to center and take it to the other side. I'm not gonna cue these breaths. I'm gonna let you take them on your own. As you're ready, come back to center. Arms are gonna come to goalposts. So if you have them extended, bring them to bent elbows. Extend the legs out long. Couple supine snow angels, just the arms. So inhale, slide the fingertips up. They're gonna reach. They're gonna try to kiss together. If they don't, that's okay. And then exhale, elbows draw down and towards the waistline. Just go as far as feels good in your body. Inhale, sliding up, reach. Try to relax your lower body here. Soften through your belly. Exhale, elbows draw in. One more time, inhale, reach. Exhale, elbows draw in and then we straighten the arms and we come to Shavasana. Close down the eyes for just a moment. We'll just be here for a brief moment. So allow the weight of your body to relax into the earth. I am connected to all things with love and kindness. Wiggle your toes. Wiggle your fingertips. And when you're ready, draw the palms together. Thumbs up to third eye point. This point of inner wisdom. One of the many points of inner wisdom. This seat of intuition. I like to call it inner teacher. So I would say get hot for inner teacher. Thank you for sharing your valuable time and energy with me and all of the people and pets practicing around the world in this moment, this very moment. You matter. I believe taking time for practice really matters. So thank you. Let's take one final breath in. And exhale to close. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Namaste.