Welcome to Yoga

Meet me in a seated position on your mat in easy seated pose. Just cross your ankles and sit up tall. Place your hands in your lap, close your eyes, and bring an awareness to your body, your breath, and your space. Notice everything about how you feel, where you feel it. Notice how your breath feels within your body without changing or controlling it in any way. Notice the space around you.

Accepting where you are and what you're doing in this moment and with this body, breath, and spatial awareness, reach your right hand out from your side with your fingertips barely touching the mat. Lower your left ear to your left shoulder and notice any new sensation. If you'd like to add on, take your left hand to the back of your head, adding a little bit of weight, just a little bit of pull. Then gently turn your head down so your nose is pointing down towards your left knee and feel free to keep your hand on the back of your head with that gentle pull or if it's too much, just release your hand down by your side. Take your time as you slowly release, bring your right hand back to your lap, and reach your left fingertips out from your side, barely touching the mat. Left arm long, drop your right ear to your right shoulder, relax your jaw, relax your eyes, breathe. If you did on the other side, take your right hand behind your head, adding that gentle pull. Now turn your head down so your nose is pointing towards your right knee, send your breath to that space where you feel the most sensation, and gently release loose your hands in your lap. Take a big inhale and big exhale. Bring your hands together heart center and interlace your fingers and press your palms forward, hands inside out, even caving through the chest for a little bit of a cat back. Let you feel good and then reach your palms up towards the ceiling and take a little side stretch bending to the right and then the left. And come back to Center, keep your fingers interlaced and bend both elbows, dragging your left elbow down towards the ground, right elbow pointing up to the ceiling, keep your forearms behind your head so you're still sitting up tall through the crown of your head, no caving forward here, and then gently switch sides, left elbow points up to the ceiling, right elbow pointing down towards your mat, sit up tall even pressing the back of your head into your forearm. Release your hands and take a look down at your shins and adjust so that your right shin is in front of your left, and from here take your left fingertips out by your side barely touching the mat and then reach your right arm up towards the ceiling overhead and then all the way over caving your chest so your right hand could touch next to your left. Your personal flexibility will determine where your right hand lands so don't really worry about that just find the place that serves you today and then very slowly drag your right fingertips out in front of you all the way to the right and then reach your arm up and overhead again meeting your right hand down next to your left. Then keep that big circle going inhale as you open reaching your right fingers forward and out by your right side up and overhead exhaling as your right hand meets your left one more time inhale open into your big circle, exhale arm reaches up and overhead meeting your laughs, no come back to Center, sit up tall and plant your hands on the ground on both sides of your left knee, turn your shoulders over your left knee, take a big inhale to lengthen your spine, then exhale slowly walk your hands forward, melting your chest over your left knee, maybe even coming down so your forehead rests on your left knee or ideally your head rests outside of your left knee wherever you are keep your right hip grounding, relax everything you don't need, your hands or fingers, your shoulders, your jaw, and as you breathe you might feel a subtle sensation of a stretch along your upper back, your middle back, your hips, and especially in that area where your kidneys might be. And as the sensation increases, focus more deeply on your smooth slow breath, inhales inflates, exhales deflates, slowly melting into place over time. Slowly rise and for a gentle counter twist, place your right hand behind you left hand to your right knee and just turn through your shoulders, turn through your chin. Come back to Center, place your hands behind you, keep your legs crossed, and lift up through your hips, lift up through your chest, shoulders roll open, you can even drop your head back, big breath in and big breath out. Take a seat on your mat and we'll switch our legs for your left shin in front of your right so your left shin is in front and notice if this is your awkward side, does this feel kind of funny. If it does, relax what you can and then place your right hand out from your right side, fingertips barely touching the mat, reach your left arm up and overhead and then cave through your chest, your left hand can meet your right, rounding through your shoulders, even tucking through your chin. And then drag your left hand out in front of you, opening up all the way to the left side of your mat and then reach your left arm up and overhead, big inhale, then exhale as you close it off, left hand meets your right again, inhale as you slowly open in that semicircle, reaching your arm up and overhead, exhale as you close it off one more time, big long inhale and exhale close it off and then come back to Center when you're done, take your hands on both sides of your right knee, turn through your shoulders, squaring off over your right knee, big inhale, lift up through your heart, and exhale, hinge at your hips, slowly folding over your right thigh, maybe bringing your forehead down to your knee or ideally you're able to turn your head to the outside of your right thigh just resting wherever it feels good for you, try to keep your left hip grounding down and notice how your breath feels as it travels up and down your spine creating space with each exhale. Slowly rise and for a quick counter stretch to your left, place your left hand behind you, right hand to your left knee, turn through your shoulders, turn through your chin. Come back to Center, place your hands behind you and lift up through your hips, open through your shoulders, your chest, you can even drop your head back, and if this is uncomfortable you can always keep your hips grounding, just roll open through your chest, big inhale and exhale, come back to seated, place your hands in your lap or is your eyes and notice everything about how you feel in this moment and bring your awareness back to your breath, your body, space around you and we'll take a moment here in a silent meditation, no music, just you and me here and now. You bring your hands together at heart center. From this place of total bliss within me to that place of total bliss within you, namaste.