– Howdy, everyone,
welcome to Dedicate, your 30 day yoga journey. It’s Day 25, where we notice
what it feels like to be alive. Hop on the mat
and let’s get started. (bright music) Alrighty my friends, let’s
begin in Extended Child’s Pose, we’re gonna jump right in today. We have a quick practice,
so we’re gonna make the most of it. If Extended Child’s
Pose is not ideal for you, then you can start in Sukhasana. All right, so if
you’re choosing Sukhasana, sit up nice and tall,
start to breathe deep. Benji, everybody. And if you’re heading
into Extended Child’s Pose, begin to breathe deep. Way to show up. Today’s session invites you to find what feels good, or another way
of looking at it, today, Day 25 of
our 30 day journey would be to invite yourself to
follow the aliveness. What if we had a
solid practice for following what
makes us feel alive? My idea is that if we
cultivate that on the yoga mat, we will be able to
cultivate that off the yoga mat or we will be
equipped with the tools to try. Let’s rock and roll. Inhale, send your heart, your
shoulders, over to the left. If you’re on all fours,
you can do this with the hands on the knees. Inhale, heart comes forward. Exhale, around and back. Inhale, smoothing
the heart forward, moving with your breath. Exhaling, sending the navel
to spine and the hip back. Now continue with your breath
and consider today’s theme. Use this glorious
invitation to wake up the body. Check in with any parts that
might feel a little tight, a little neglected,
a little sore. And that doesn’t just apply
to of course your body parts, could be just
your energy, your mood, anything at all. Continue to move
with your breath, and if you haven’t already,
explore reversing your circle to move in
the opposite direction. And then, if you
feel like you find a place that feels good or
you just wanna reside in, you might rock and
roll there for a bit. If you find you wanna
come all the way to Cobra to stretch out
through the front body, you might come there for a bit. If you feel a little heavy,
and it feels more awesome to just find stillness
in Extended Child’s Pose, follow it and do not
decide where it ends. Take the same beautiful
dance you’ve created already and make your way to
Downward Dog in your own way, mindfully full of breath. I love the mantra
follow the aliveness. Helps us to really stay present and awake with what
we’re doing each day. It also helps us
create relationships that we want to be in, that we want to
nurture and be present and available and alive in. But we won’t worry
about all that for now, we’ll just focus on
our practice now, here, within the four
corners of our mat. So when you’re ready, inhale,
kick the right leg up high. Exhale, shift forward,
knee to nose. Inhale, reach it up. Exhale, step it all the way
up into a nice, low lunge. You’ll lower your back knee,
right hand’s gonna come over to meet the left, and we’re
just gonna pause here, breathe. Breathing deep. Alright, from the center,
nice and easy, you’re gonna take your left toes and bring them over towards
the right side of your mat. Now we’re gonna draw the center
back and then follow that, with the hands on the earth,
walking all the way back towards the back
edge of your mat. Walking all the way back,
walking all the way back. Turning the right toes in,
just like a warrior. Left hand on the earth,
check it out, right fingertips to the sky. A little Gate Pose variation. Inhale in (clears
throat) excuse me. My left knee’s right
underneath my left hip. Shoulders are stacked. Take a deep breathe in,
then exhale. Send your
fingertips out in front as if you were smoothing a surface. You’re gonna
take your right thumb and pull it all the way back,
smoothing a surface, all the way towards
the back edge of your mat. Feel that amazing stretch here,
breathe deep. Let your breath move you here. Awesome, then again,
from center. Follow this connection
to your core, draw it in, and walk it all the way back. Hands on the earth,
guiding the way, coming back to that
little Lizard variation. Beautiful, then depending
on your energy level today, stay here, enjoy,
reside in the breath. Or curl the back toes under
and lift it up, yogi’s choice. Follow your awareness,
listen to your body. Beautiful, beautiful,
inhale in, exhale, bring the left knee back. We’re gonna bring
the right knee back, come to all fours,
curl the toes under, peel the tailbone up high,
Downward Dog. Big, cleansing breath here,
I need it as well. Inhale in through the nose. Exhale out through the mouth. Say goodbye to the gunk,
inhale in. Cleansing breath
out through the mouth. Cool, inhale,
lift the left leg up high. Exhale, shift it forward,
knee to nose, get strong. Inhale, lift it up. Exhale, step it all the way up. Nice, low lunge, guide
your left foot up there and then lower the right knee. When you’re ready,
bring the left hand over to meet the right. Pause, breathe here. We tend to rush, that’s
why I love the 30 days too, we can kind of take our
time with certain things. We tend to rush,
there’s no rush, breathe. Follow your breath,
notice where your thoughts go, particularly when we
work with the hips like this. And when you’re ready,
anchor navel to spine, lift the right toes,
take them over towards the left side of your mat. Then follow this line all the
way back as you walk the hands out beyond the right edge of
the mat and all the way back. We turn the left toes in,
we bring the right hand to the earth,
and when you’re ready, left fingertips to the sky. Breathing deep. Neck nice and long. We’re not collapsing,
right ear to right shoulder. Inhale in again, exhale, send
the left fingertips forward, right out in front, draw
your shoulder into socket, and then smooth
that surface as you take your fingertips all the way
up past the crown of the head, left thumb pulling back. Feel it out. Inhale in. Exhale out. Inhale to grow a
little bit brighter. Just embody the
pose and then exhale. Navel to spine,
hand comes to the earth, walk it all the
way back to the front. Great work. When you get there,
have a listen. Keep the knee lower or
curl the toes and lift it. Breathing deep. A mindful practice
where we integrate everything so valuable. So much better than
rushing and just trying to kind of force results,
so just trust the practice. You’re doing great, inhale in. Exhale, lower the
right knee to the earth. Bring the left
knee to the earth. Walk the hands out wide. Inhale, let’s just look forward. Drop the belly, open the chest. And then exhale, hey buddy! Downward Facing Dog, peel it up. Inhale in deeply. Exhale completely,
find stillness here. When you’re ready, find
stillness, close your eyes. And notice what it
feels like to be alive today. Bend your knees if you need to, but find a little
moment of stillness. Beautiful, and on
your next inhale lift the right leg up high. Exhale, step it all the way up. Nice, low lunge. Inhale for our Crescent Lunge. Exhale, follow the breath down. Inhale, open
twist to your right. Follow the breath. Exhale, bring it down. Beautiful, pull the
right hip crease back, flex your right
toes towards your face. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, roll it all the way
through and back to your lunge. Plant the palms, curl the
back toes, lift the back knee, inhale in, exhale all the
way to Downward Facing Dog. Here we go,
follow the breath, inhale, lift the left leg up high. Exhale, step it all the way up. Lower your back knee,
follow the breath. Inhale,
fingertips reach up high. Exhale, fold it down. Right hand to earth, inhale,
left fingertips to the sky. Open twist, exhale,
bring it down, here we go. Pull the left hip crease back, flex your left
toes towards your face. Inhale to find length, extend. Exhale to soften and bow,
roll through. From here, plant the palms,
bring the left knee to the earth, come back
to Child’s Pose Extended or Balasana, knees together,
or a nice, comfortable seat of your choice. Take a deep breath in. Empty it out. Take a deep breath in. Empty it out. And on your next inhale,
take a deep breath in and at the top of that breath
pause and retain the breath. And then empty it all out. Gorgeous, tuck your chin. Slowly begin to roll it up. We’ll meet in a nice,
comfortable seat. Bring the palms
together at your heart space when you arrive. And just have a quick moment
of gratitude for yourself. Again, for showing
up here on the mat. For cultivating a practice
with integrity and with love and a willingness to learn,
to follow the aliveness, to find what feels good. I often describe yoga practice as one, of many, but one way to
help guide us to find our meaningful
contribution to society, and that can be frustrating
sometimes because you’re like, “I don’t know what
to do or I don’t know.” And so today’s
practice just reminds us that you don’t have to know. Just cultivate a practice
of finding what feels good and continue to follow
what makes you feel alive. And surround yourself by
people who make you feel alive. Okay, love you! I can’t wait to
see you tomorrow. Let us know how
you’re feeling in the comments section down below, and from my heart to yours, Namaste. (bright music) Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX72H4Mn9CA
