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. Close your eyes and enjoy your breath for a moment. In today's class, we will learn the principles of how to create a stable foundation with your hands and feet.

Just like the foundation of a house, the foundation of each pose needs to be balanced and evenly grounded to provide strong support for the rest of your body. Creating the support in the body cultivates a sense of inner strength and delight. We will learn to align the basic poses of Downward Dog and Warrior I, starting with this foundation. Begin by simply noticing your seat and your posture.

Allow gravity to weight you down. Let yourself slump and just notice how that feels. Now sit up tall on your sit bones and notice the distinct difference. The foundation of every pose creates support and helps you with your posture and breathing.

Please open your eyes. Today we have joining us Karlann... and Zsofia. Come to your hands and knees for Table pose so we can begin.

Place your hands shoulder distance apart. Look at the crease of your wrists. This crease needs to be straight so the bones of your forearms are parallel. Spread your fingers wide and full, but not too wide, and press down with a firm grip so that your fingertips and the bottom knuckles of your fingers stay grounded on your mat.

Maintain this foundation. Take another breath and then, on the exhale, just settle and soften; soften your skin. On your inhale, lift your chin and gently lift the tailbone. Exhale and round in.

As you inhale, follow the breath, looking up and sweeping the tailbone high. And then exhale and round. Inhale; look up. Exhale; round again, rhythmically working through your spine, warming up your back.

Inhale, look up one final time, and hold here, keeping your tailbone raised. On your inhale, lift your knees off the mat and stretch back into Downward Facing Dog. Stretch out through your hands. As you push your hands forward into the mat, it creates leverage so you feel lifting of the hips and anchoring back through your legs.

Keep your hands well grounded and make sure your foundation didn't move. Once the foundation of a pose is set, it's set; keep it there. On exhale, bring your knees to the floor. Come back into Table position.

From Table, look at the hands, shoulder distance. On your inhale, look up and arch through your back. Exhale and round. Inhale; look up.

And exhale; round. Inhale; look up. And taking Downward Dog once again, stretch up and extend back through your legs and down through your feet. The foundation of any pose is defined as what's touching your mat.

Here, we have the hands and feet. Every foundation has four points of contact in order. In your hands, it's the mound of the index finger and thumb, from the thumb to your little finger, and from the little finger to the outer heel. Make sure all four points are evenly grounded and your fingertips are working.

On exhale, lower your knees to the floor. Spread your knees wider and sweep your feet together, flat on the tops of the feet. Exhale, sit back into Child's pose, and rest for a moment. Lower your forehead to the mat.

If your forehead doesn't touch easily, cross your forearms and let your head rest upon the arms. Simply enjoy your breath. Child's pose is a nice way to come back to the intention of your practice. With your inhale, come back into Table position.

Plant the hands. Look at the wrists, the index fingers. Feel the four points of your hands evenly and balanced, grounded. Inhale, look up, and Downward Dog.

Stretch back. I want you to notice the length of your stance, which is part of the foundation, that you have enough distance from your hands to toes. To challenge yourself, to see how this may feel, walk your feet in a couple of inches. This stance is too short, and it causes bunching up across your lower back.

Now, by contrast, walk your feet back further, like too far. You feel that you're holding on for dear life. So walk your feet in enough that you feel a balance point between your hands and feet. Root the hands, stretch up and back through your hips, and anchor through the foundation of your feet.

Look forward to the front of your mat. Then inhale and walk all the way up to a Standing Forward Fold, Uttanasana. Looking down, line up your feet beneath your sit bones. You can put blocks under your hands if you wish.

Spread your toes. Line your feet up parallel. Parallel in the feet is the middle of your kneecap to the middle of your ankle, and from your ankle, straight to the bottom of your second toe. So it's the middle of each foot that you line up with each other.

On your inhale, lift halfway forward and stretch out. Bring your hands up to your hips, lift your shoulders onto your back, inhale, and rise up to Mountain pose, Tadasana. Release your arms down. Inhale; lift your arms overhead.

As you raise your arms, feel the strength of your body, of the foundation, and what that does to your body, your posture, how it opens room for your breath. Allow gravity to help you here. On exhale, sweep forward, bringing hands back down to the mat, to the top of some blocks, or even to the front of your shinbones. Inhale, lift out halfway, and extend long.

Exhale and fold. Inhale; look up. Exhale; fold. Inhale; look up.

Exhale and fold. Stay here in your forward fold. Spread your toes; connect down. Step back with your left leg now.

Check the foundation of your front foot and see that it's still straight, parallel. On your exhale, bring your back knee to the mat. Pause. You could put your hands on blocks to lift the floor.

Keep your legs strong and make the muscles of your legs engage. Extend out through the spine, through the top of your head. Inhale, raise the back knee, and step forward. Change your legs.

Please step back with your right leg. Lower the knee. Keep your hands on the mat; just feel. Again, your hands can come up higher.

The foundation here is also your back knee, so make sure your back knee feels comfortable. If it does not, you can put some cushioning under that knee. Inhale, lift the back leg up, and step forward to the front of your mat, feet beneath your sit bones, feet parallel. On your exhale, fold deeply down the front of your legs.

Inhale, lift halfway forward, extend out, and bend your knees, sweeping your hands in front into a squat, feeling that the foundation hasn't moved at all. It never wavers. Inhale; rise up to standing. Stretch up to the ceiling; open the chest.

Exhale; bend forward. Inhale; lift halfway. Squat as you exhale. Inhale; stand up.

Exhale; bow forward. Inhale; halfway. Exhale and squat. Inhale; rise up to standing.

Lower your hands; exhale. Feel your feet.

Your feet also have four points of contact

the mounds of the big toes push down first; the inner heels; from the inner heels, spread across to the mound of your little toe and anchor through the outer heel. Have an even distribution of weight. Relax into the foundation again, allowing gravity to help you. Inhale; lift your arms up.

Exhale; bow forward, Uttanasana. Step back with your left leg, come into a lunge again, and this can be done kneeling as well. Step back to Downward Facing Dog. Hold your Down Dog, but don't hold your breath.

Remember the breath first, always primary, just that simple awareness technique. And let your foundation be a reflection of what your intention may be for today's practice, that it's steady, it's well-placed, and you're mindful. Walk forward, all the way up into Uttanasana. Bow over.

Take a breath. Bring your hands next to your feet and step your right leg back into the lunge. Enjoy your breath. Plant your hands and step back into Downward Dog.

Enjoy the breath. Let it be nice and full, relaxed and easy. Now coming back to the distance of your pose, inhale to Plank pose. Plank pose is as it sounds, like a board.

You don't want your hips to sink down or rise too high. Your shoulders are right above the wrists. This gives you an idea of how long Downward Dog should be. Shift back into Downward Dog.

Stretch up and extend through the hips and down through your feet. Inhale; come forward to Plank pose. Exhale to Downward Dog. Inhale, Plank.

Exhale, Downward Dog. And one more time. Come forward to Plank pose; feel the foundation. Then exhale; go back into Downward Facing Dog.

Hold your Downward Dog for just a moment. Reach back through your heels and lift your toes off the mat. It may seem crazy to do, but it teaches you how the foundation engages the muscles of your legs in this pose. Lay the toes down, but keep that strength.

Inhale and walk forward slowly, up to the front of your mat. Back to a Standing Forward Fold. Inhale; lift hallway out, hands up onto your hip bones. Lift your shoulders to your back.

Inhale; rise to standing. Exhale; release the arms. Inhale; raise your arms overhead. This is called the Urdhva Hastasana, stretching fully.

Exhale; fold forward, Uttanasana. Step back with your left leg. Again, this can be done kneeling if you wish. Raise your arms up over your shoulders, and this is called Crescent Lunge.

It's a modification of the traditional Warrior I. This is harder to balance, but it keeps your hips parallel with each other, keeping your lower back nice and safe. On your exhale, take your hands down to the floor. Enjoy your breath.

Inhale; step forward to Uttanasana. Second side, take your right foot back. Check the foundation, the length of your stance. Again, this can be done kneeling.

Engage your muscles. Inhale; lift your arms; stretch up, coming to Crescent Lunge. Be aware of the foundation and how that affects the balance of your hips. From your hips, extend up and just delight.

Truly enjoy what you're doing in this moment. On exhale, sweep your hands back to your mat. Pause; breathe; then Downward Dog. Step back.

Take a breath and soften your face. Keep your arms and legs strong from the foundation of your pose. Inhale, Plank pose. If you need to wiggle your feet back further, do that.

And then exhale; go back into Downward Facing Dog. Stretch back. Inhale; walk forward, up to the front of your mat. Uttanasana.

Again, realign your feet. Your hands can be on blocks here or the legs. We're gonna go into Warrior I now. Virabhadrasana is the Sanskrit name.

Keeping your right foot planted without wavering, step back with your left foot and spin the heel down. This time, with the heel down, you have more of a foundation. But it can twist your hips. So like in Crescent Lunge, keep your hips parallel with one another, your front knee over your ankle.

Now sweep your arms out in front, parallel to the floor, and clasp your hands. This gives you more focus. Stretch your arms out; look to the index finger. Now, keeping your feet grounded, your hips as parallel as you can, inhale and lift your arms.

You can look up at your hands or straight ahead if you need some more balance. The hardest thing about this pose is keeping your hips parallel. On your exhale, slowly bring your hands down to the mat. Take a breath; step forward.

Fold over; settle. Let's do the second side. Take your right foot backward. Spin the heel down.

If you're less flexible in your hips, move the back foot a little wider. This helps you keep your hips squared with each other. Enjoy your breath here, knee over the ankle. Take that right hip, turn it forward.

Remain grounded through your right foot. Sweep your arms out in front of you; extend. Reaching out through your arms, push back into your right foot. Feel the right little toe remaining grounded.

Inhale, lift your arms up, but stay in your lunge. The lower body hasn't wavered at all. Spin your hips around; draw up through the spine. Reach up through your hands.

Then exhale; take your hands back to your mat. Step back to Downward Dog; extend. Come back to the awareness of your breath and the foundation. Enjoy your breath.

On your exhale, lower your knees, Table pose. And then Table pose back to Child pose. Let your head rest. You can cross your forearms or put a block under your head.

Then just simply delight in the breath, feeling grounded not only through the feet and knees, but feeling a weightiness here in your hips. Enjoy that breath. Soften. Relax your hands.

And then inhale; rise up slowly to seated. Come back into a cross-leg pose, your lower shins crossed in front of each other, and notice which foot you have in front. This pose is called Sukhasana in Sanskrit, and the word Sukha means "nectar," Easy pose. Sit up and feel the foundation of your pelvis.

Make sure it feels balanced, not rolling back or slumping down, nor pushed too far forward, just evenness in the pose, a grounded quality. Our left hand, put it onto your right kneecap. Reach your right hand behind you. Stay on the fingertips.

Now lift up, creating length through your spine, rooting down through the feet, legs, hips. On exhale, turn slowly to the right. Let your head be the last thing you turn. As you look over your right shoulder, relax the gaze.

You could send your gaze to your cheeks. You could even close your eyes. I don't often encourage you to close your eyes, but sometimes when we do, it just helps us to have a deeper, inner experience, more of that inner delight that the practice can bring to us. Take a deep breath.

Exhale; soften. Inhale; spin around to center. Let's do the second side, right hand to left knee. Reach around with your left hand.

Root the foundation, stay balanced, and then slowly--from your lower abdomen first, through the rib cage, the chest, finally up through the shoulders, the neck, and the head-- turn. Take a breath and let gravity just settle you, not just physically settle you, but let yourself be more in the moment, more present. When our foundation is solid, everything above it will be better aligned. Take a deep breath in.

Release it all the way. Inhale, spin around to center, and pause. Keep your legs as they are and walk your hands out in front. Putting your hands out almost like Downward Dog, you use your hands as leverage as you push them down and forward to feel more anchored into your hips.

Notice the nice stretch of your lower spine. Relax your head down so your neck remains in line with the rest of your back. Soften your face. Expand the breath like you would in Child's pose.

On your inhale, walk the hands back up and in, lift your knees, and plant your feet. Once your feet are planted, pause. Grab the backs of your legs, holding tight. Help yourself down, rolling your spine onto the floor one vertebra at a time.

When you reach the floor, please extend your legs out onto your mat and sweep your arms over your head. Take a nice breath here, stretching your body. This is like doing Mountain pose in recline. The floor gives us a lot of feedback to what we're doing in our backs.

Sweep your arms back down, bend your right knee, and hug that right knee up into your chest. Keep your feet active, like Karlann is showing, not just the foot you're holding, but the foot you've lost attention from. You're just stretching your legs out, trying to get a longer extension of this bottom leg, this long leg. Exhale; release the right foot to the floor.

Take a breath. Inhale; pull the left knee up. Hold on gently and draw that knee lovingly up to your heart. I like these poses on the ground because, with the floor giving us feedback, we can feel how our breath is deep, that nice stretch of our lower back muscles.

Slide that leg onto the floor. Sweep your arms over your head; inhale; extend. Take a deep breath. Inhale.

And exhale. Bend both knees; plant your feet. With feet planted, open your arms to the side and roll your shoulders back with your palms open. We're gonna lift our hips up and over to the right side, this little shift of your pelvis.

Cross your right knee over your left knee. On your exhale, lower your knees to the side. Keep your foundation settled, which is across the shoulders this time. Zsofia is showing a more advanced modification here where her bottom ankles are also crossed.

Make sure you keep a nice, long extension through your spine. Enjoy the breath in the back of your body. On your next inhale, lift the knees back up to center. These rotations at the end of our practice are nice.

They give our spine an opportunity to turn. Inhale; bring your knees back up to center. Uncross; shift; pause. Then shift your hips over to the left.

Cross your left leg; hug in. Keep your legs strong. Lower your knees to the side. Now, in any rotation, one part moves; another doesn't.

The foundation of this pose is your shoulders, so it's the shoulder that you turn from, the arm that you turn from, that needs to stay grounded. Enjoy your breath. Breathe into your back; lengthen your spine. Soften.

Expand the breath into the back of your body. On your inhale, bring your knees back up to center and uncross the legs. Draw both knees into your chest. Slipping your hands behind your knees, stretch your feet up and wiggle your toes.

Feel the delight of your feet. Flex your ankles; extend up through your heels. Spread your toes wide, like when you were standing,

and feel the four points of your feet

mound of the big toe; inner heel; inner heel to the little toe; little toe to the outer heel. Hug your knees back down into your chest. Take a deep breath. Extend your legs one at a time.

Taking your right leg out onto the floor, shake it. Take your left leg out onto the floor and shake it. Open your feet as wide as your mat, or a little wider than your hips. Open your palms and roll your shoulders back and make sure you feel comfortable.

If there's one part of your body drawing your attention, make a subtle shift there. Close your eyes. Soften your face and let your eyes feel heavy, going back to the root of your head. In a home practice, we often forsake this particular pose, Savasana.

It's important to let your practice assimilate here. Please stay in this pose for as long as your day may allow. Keep your eyes closed. Thank you for practicing with us today.

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