Yoga in Practice

(female speaker) Support for "Yoga in Practice" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina. Hi, welcome to "Yoga in Practice." My name is Stacey, and I will be your teacher. So sit well, close your eyes, and enjoy your breath. Yoga, broadly defined, is a transformative practice that connects your body with your mind, and this can help you to truly appreciate each moment.

If we wish to feel more centered, we must begin by simply remembering to breathe and live in the moment. Today we will practice how to move with our natural breath as a simple awareness technique. We will also learn how to adjust the foundation of a pose to create overall steadiness and focus. In this class, we will build to a basic balancing pose, Tree.

Focus on your breath and gently deepen it. Prepare your body and mind for the practice of yoga. Let's get started. Slowly open your eyes.

Come to standing at the front of your mat. Practicing with me today are Deedi and also Christine, who will be showing modifications of certain poses. We'll take Mountain pose, this first pose, with the feet placed hip distance apart and generally parallel. Feel the feet.

You may wish to lift and spread your toes and lay them back down. Lift up from the heart and open across the chest. Take a deep breath in and, as you exhale, root down. Inhale, lift your arms to the side, and sweep them overhead.

As you exhale, float them back down. I invite you to close your eyes to feel with more sensitivity. Inhale; lift the arms. Exhale; release.

Inhale and lift; let your breath guide your motion. And exhale.

Twice more

inhale; lift up. Exhale.

And one more time

inhale; lift the arms up. Keep your arms overhead. Rooting down into your feet, feel the foundation, which is whatever part of your body is touching the floor. Here, it is the feet.

Stretch upward into your hands, extending through your spine. On your exhale, slowly bend forward, bringing your hands down, either to the mat, or you can place your hands against your shins, even bending your knees slightly if your legs tend to be tight. Folding deeply down, lengthen your neck as well. On the inhale, lift halfway forward and extend your heart.

Exhale and fold. Moving with your breath, inhale, unfurl the spine, and extend. And exhale and fold. One more time.

Inhale, extend, and lengthen. And then, exhaling, fold. Please step back with your left leg. Step back with your right leg and take Table position.

From Table position, align your knees under your hips and place your hands shoulder-width apart with your wrists facing straight ahead. Spread your fingers, as well, to have a wider, fuller foundation. With the inhale, lift your chin and raise your tailbone to arch the back. Then reverse, tucking your head into your chest, and round.

Inhale again and let the breath move your body. Exhale and round. The breath begins first, inhale, then the arch, and then exhale and round. Inhale; look forward.

And exhale; round. Come to a neutral position, Table pose. Once you're in Table pose, make sure your hips are stable, above your knees, and walk your hands out in front, perhaps even beyond the front edge of your mat or practice space. With the arms stretched out, slowly release down with your chest and head.

This is called Puppy pose. As you see on Christine, what we're going to do is just keep the hands grounded and rooted. This will help create strength up the arms into the upper back. In this pose, keep the mid part of the back full, expanding your breath there and keeping your hips above your knees.

With the next inhale, walk your hands back in underneath your shoulders. Coming back into Table position, pause. Once again, inhale. Lift your chin to sweetly arch the lower back.

And then exhale, tuck, and round in. Inhale; look up. Exhale; round. One more time each way.

Inhale. And exhale. Inhale, look up, and hold here. Keep that gentle arch of your back.

Lift your knees and raise your hips into Downward Facing Dog, stretching back. As you can see, Downward Dog resembles Puppy Pose. Deedi's showing how the hands have to stay grounded. From the root of the hands, drawing energy up through the arms, breathe across your back.

As you push forward through your arms, you're going to feel more weight come down into your feet. Enjoy your breath here and enjoy the lengthening of your spine. Stretching up through the hips, breathe. On your exhale, lower your knees back down to the mat, taking Table position.

Step your right foot forward between both hands. You may take a couple of small steps to get it up there. Keep your hands on your mat if that feels more secure, or bring your hands to the top of your thigh. Take a breath and feel the foundation, making sure the foot is straight.

On your exhale, sweep the hands back to the mat, take a breath, and step back with that right leg. Table position again. Inhale; step forward with your left foot. You can clear your arm.

Once you're in this Table position, another thing to keep in mind here is the knee staying over the ankle. Inhale; lift your chest up, hands on your thigh for extra support. Notice on Deedi, the knee is above the heel and her foot is straight. Anytime part of your foundation leaves the mat, your pose is gonna be more unstable, so use your breath, keep your eyes focused, and just make your muscles engage a bit more.

Take your hands back to your mat and, again, step to Table position, planting your hands well. On your inhale, lift your knees and stretch back through your hips, once again into Downward Facing Dog. Enjoy the breath, just slow breath in... and a soft release.

A deep breath in. Generally, with the breathing, anytime you inhale, there's gonna be an extension, an expansion in a pose. And anytime you exhale tends to be a contraction. So as you inhale, you feel this stretch.

And as you exhale, you invite in a softening. On your exhale, step forward to the front of your mat. Look up; inhale. Exhale again.

Inhale, look up, and we'll add a squat, bending your knees, and sweep your hands in front. With hands in front, sit lower through your feet, grounding down through the ankles and sitting back through your hips. Inhale; lift up to standing, raising your arms all the way up overhead. Keeping your arms stretched overhead, exhale and twist to the right, left arm in front of you and right hand behind you.

Breathe here. Holding here, you want to make sure the twist is isolated from hips to shoulders, keeping your hips steady. Inhale; raise your arms over your shoulders again. And then exhale; twist to the left.

And, again, hips level, arms extended, breathe and soften your gaze. Now let's do this rhythmically. Inhale; raise your arms up. Exhale; twist to the right.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

One more time, inhale. Exhale to the left. Inhale; rise up. Keep your arms stretched overhead and clasp your hands.

Interlock your fingers and extend the index finger, gently drawing your arms towards your earlobes. Line up your body so your head, shoulders, hips, and feet are all in one line. With your exhale, gently bend to the right. We call this Crescent pose.

You're gonna feel a stretch from the left foot all the way up the left side of your body. If you want to add balance and challenge, take your right foot out. You can keep the toe on the floor or raise that foot gently. Spread your toes; keep bending to the side.

Focus on one point and remember to breathe. Inhale; come back up to center. Plant your foot first. Take a breath; settle.

Exhale; lean to the left, keeping your shoulders, head, feet, hips, all these points lined up. Now grounding down into your right foot, take your left foot out to the side and lift the foot slowly. Find that steadiness and keep in mind that, anytime you balance, that steadiness may be hard to reach. Inhale, come back up to center, plant the foot, and then exhale.

Release your arms. Close your eyes; pause. Sometimes the best yoga is found in the pause. Feel your feet and ground them.

The next pose we'll practice is Palm pose. Turn your hands forward and open your fingers. Inhale; sweep your arms over your shoulders. Cross your wrists over your head and stretch up through the fingertips.

This may seem easy enough, but we're going to add lifting of the heels. When you're ready, on the inhale, raise your heels. Make your legs strong and only go up as high as you can hold the balance. With your exhale, slowly lower your arms and try to bring heels and arms down at exactly the same moment.

If that didn't happen, don't worry! You have three more chances! Inhale; lift up. And we're do this rhythmically.

As you exhale, reach down with your arms and lower your heels. Two more times. Inhale; stretch up. Exhale.

Be aware of the moment, how wonderful. Inhale; lift up one more time. And exhale; lower down. Once you feel your heels reach the mat, settle.

Lift up through the spine. Slide your hands down the front of your thighs. Cupping the front of your knees, squat. Lower your elbows onto the top of your legs.

You can even bring your hands into soft fists. I call this pose Downhill Skier because it looks like skiing downhill. You can hold here. If you'd like, bring your arms in front and get more lift in your spine, or even bringing your arms overhead, which makes it a deeper stretch of your back.

Root through your feet. On your exhale, please bend forward into a Standing Forward Fold. Enjoy the breath, staying grounded. Now step back with your right foot.

Inhale; step forward with your right foot. And step back with your left foot. Inhale; step forward again. Now take your left foot back into a lunge and release the knee to the floor.

Inhale, arms over your head, and stretch up. Again, this is gonna require a bit more balance, a bit more focus. On your exhale, please twist to the right side. This mirrors what we were just doing standing.

Turn your head, keep your hips level, legs strong, and feel your feet, but mostly enjoy the breath. Inhale; sweep the arms back overhead. Then exhale; take them down to the floor. When your hands reach the mat, lift your back leg.

Keep your hands on the mat if you need that steadiness, or add challenge and come up, hands either to the hips, on your thigh, or sweep your arms overhead. Stay strong in your legs. Stretch up through your arms, but remember to stay aware and soft, not pushy, but not underdoing either. As you exhale, bring your hands back to your mat.

Step forward. Take a breath and bow. Please step your right foot back and release the knee to the floor. Inhale; lift up; raise your arms overhead.

The more you stretch your arms, the more you get this lengthening of your back, so enjoy the breath and feel the feet, the knee, everything that's grounded, your foundation. Exhale; twist to the left, your right arm forward and your left arm behind. Be aware of the back arm. Kind of lean into that back arm a bit.

And then inhale; pick your arms back up. Exhale; bring your hands to the mat. Raise your right knee, coming into a high lunge. Keep your hands on the mat if you need to.

Inhale; come up; hold your hips. Raise your arms overhead if you have that extra juice and breathe. Hold the balance and keep your breath moving. On exhale, sweep your hands back to the mat.

And then inhale. Step forward into a Forward Fold one more time. Take a deep breath and lengthen your neck. You can even move your head a little bit.

And then inhale; lift halfway forward. Bring your hands to your hips. Lift your shoulders onto your back. Rise up to standing.

Mountain pose one more time. Take a breath and settle. Then inhale; sweep your arms to the side. With your arms to the side, again put all of your weight down in your right leg.

Tap your left foot out and slowly raise your knee, the left knee coming up parallel to the floor. If you want, put your hands underneath your thigh and press your thigh down into your hands. Lift up and stretch through your head. Enjoy your breath.

And then exhale; release the foot down. Stand in Mountain pose. Then we're gonna lift the arms out to the side. Stand on your left foot; slowly raise your right leg, bringing your right leg up, the knee just rising up.

If you wish, take your hands underneath your leg, but the more you work your toes and muscles, you'll feel more steady. But if you don't feel steady, use a chair; move to a wall; step down, come back up. There's a lot of options; don't force it. On your exhale, please step down; Mountain pose.

Take a breath; check your foundation. You always think your foundation is lined up, but invariably, you'll have to make a little, subtle adjustment. Let's do Tree pose. Standing on your right leg, grounding your right leg, tap your left foot out to the side.

Lift your arms and pull this left foot up somewhere along the inner edge of your ankle, at your calf like Christine is showing, or all the way up at your inner thigh. Once you have your foot up, wherever it is, squeeze your legs together. This provides structure, steadiness, focus to the pose. Your arms can stay to the side as if you are walking a tightrope, or you can join your hands together at your heart.

If you want to challenge yourself, inhale, lift your arms overhead, and stretch up. Enjoy your breath; keep your eyes on one point. I have found, in years of teaching, that people stop breathing when they balance, so try to remember to breathe! Then on your exhale, open your arms slowly and, once again, touch the floor with your left foot.

And then re-center your weight. Let this idea of centering your weight remind you to be centered in your body. Let's shift to the left. Tap the foot, arms out to the side.

Decide on the position of your foot. Don't forget to hug your legs in. Root down into that right foot and breathe along your spine. Fold the hands, if this is a good place to go, or extend your arms if you want.

Each day, balancing is just a bit different, depending on how you're feeling, how have you slept, what is the stress in your life, how have you eaten. All of these things affect who we are. With your exhale, slowly release the arms and step back down with the right foot. Center yourself; take a breath.

Close your eyes; feel your body in space. Open your eyes. Standing on your right foot, tap your left foot. Please bring your left foot up.

Again, maybe this time, your foot goes lower. Maybe this time, your foot comes higher. Just squeeze your legs together, joining the hands to your heart. Rooting down, open this bent leg without twisting your hips, so keeping the hips focused straight ahead.

Stretch your arms overhead; if you wish, out to the side. Breathe. And then exhale. Slowly, slowly, mindfully, step back down.

Reposition, second side. Tapping your left foot, bring your right leg up. This seems like such an easy pose, and sometimes it can be very challenging, as I'm sure all these guys feel. Hands to the heart, hug in.

Sweep your arms overhead if you wish. Grow like a tree. Feel the earth beneath you, but reach and stretch for the sky and let yourself be centered between the two. On your exhale, slowly release the hands.

Step back down. Mountain pose. Pause; breathe. How wonderful the breath is when we feel it.

I invite you to sit down now. Bending your knees, plant your feet and hold the backs of your thighs. We're gonna use our legs to support our spine as we roll down. On your exhale, roll down slowly, slowly, one vertebra at a time.

Once you've reached the mat, your spine is basically your foundation; the four points, the shoulders and the hips. Rest here for a moment, feeling the spine weighted on the earth. Relax your eyes as well. Then pull one knee into your chest and then the second leg, and just hold on, giving yourself a big hug.

Rock side to side. When I first started my practice many years ago and the teacher introduced this, I was amazed that you could massage your own back. Rock down into a very slow point and slip your hands behind the knees, stretching the feet up to the ceiling. With the feet up, stretch up through the legs.

Spread the toes as if you're still standing. Then exhale, bring your knees down to your chest, and plant your feet on the mat. Bring your feet together, your knees together, and let's sweep the arms out nice and wide. If you're in a very close space, bring your elbows bent like this.

Now plant the shoulders, hugging the legs in. With your exhale, lower your knees off to the right side. Keep your legs engaged. You can see how Christine is still working her feet, knees hugging and a long stretch of the back.

When you do a twist, you want the shoulder to remain anchored. Your shoulders are now the foundation of the pose. Enjoy the breath and let it expand inside the body. Become aware of the back of your waistline.

Inhale; lift the legs back up. Take another breath, feet down; relax for a moment. Settle the shoulders. And then with the exhale, lower the knees to the left.

Once your knees are to the left, feel the back of your body. We often just breathe very shallowly. We'll only bring our breath up into our chest. Expand the breath down lower, and in this way, it brings a calming, soothing quality to your nervous system.

Inhale; pull the legs back up to center. Hug your knees once again into your chest. Place your hands behind your knees and stretch your feet up to the sky. Soften the gaze; soften the eyes.

Now point your feet up and then flex, and point and flex,

and one more time

point and flex. Draw your knees down to your chest. Take a deep breath. And then slide your right leg out onto the floor and shake it, and then your left leg.

Now position your feet about as wide as your mat, maybe a bit wider than your hips. And shoulders going down, turn your palms open. With your palms open, relax your hands so that you feel the fingers curl in, and then close your eyes. This pose that we do at the end of every practice gives us a moment to rest, relax, to assimilate the benefits of our practice.

Remain here and simply delight in the breath. Delight in the fullness of your body. You want to stay in this pose for as much time as you can. Try not to rush through it.

Feel your spine the heels, the point where your head touches the mat. Rest and restore and come to the moment. To quote Deepak Chopra... Thank you for practicing with us today.

Namaste. CompuScripts Captioning ccaptioning.com (female speaker) Support for "Yoga in Practice" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina. (male speaker) To purchase a copy...