Dharma Yoga – Flyt, balanse og dype hofteåpnere

So hello to everyone who is joining from home, welcome to Joy Online via onlineyoga.no. For those of you that haven't met me before, my name is Krisa. I'll be teaching a Dharma 3 sequence today. So before we start, just feel free to get comfortable, find a comfortable seat.

And we'll just use these first few moments of class to ground ourselves and welcome ourselves to our space. So even though we're not here together physically, I'm hoping that wherever you are, you can feel some sort of connection with me and with each other, even though it's in a virtual space. So just take a moment to close your eyes and allow silence to permeate the room. Begin to take nice, long, deep inhales and exhales.

And again, deep inhale and out. One last time in. And let everything go. So we'll start the class with three oms all together.

And all together the mantra for purification in honor of the Dharma yoga lineage that we'll be practicing today. So again, the aim of this mantra is to just try and purify your mind, your body and the space around us before, during and after class. So just as we do in person, I'll say one line, you repeat after me and then we'll try it all together. So it goes like this.

Pavitra va sarva vasthang gato bhiva yahasmarit pandrikacam sabahya bhiyentraha sujihi And all together. Om ma pavitra ha pavitra va sarva vasthang gato bhiva yahasmarit pandrikacam sabahya bhiyentraha sujihi And that opens up our practice. Namaste. It's really weird, by the way, teaching in a room by yourself.

But let's see how this goes. So I thought before we start the physical asana practice today, we talk a little bit about this concept in yoga called aparigraha. So aparigraha is one of the yamas, one of the ethical rules of yoga. And in essence, it means non-coveting, not being greedy.

And it's about reminding us to temper our needs and desires and try and limit it to what we need in any given time instead of what we want all the time. And as it's nearing the end of November and coming up the Christmas season and Black Friday, I thought it would be a nice reminder to just talk a little bit about aparigraha and what it might mean to you and how you can bring more of this into your life. So when we talk about aparigraha, you know, I like that when you read more about this, whether it's through books or through online articles from other yoga teachers, it's nice when they say that our desires and our needs change at different stages of our life. And I love that it describes, you know, that we all have phases in our life, you know, our needs as a child versus our needs as a teenager, as an adult, whether we're single or in a relationship, whether we have a family or not, as we grow old, they change.

And it's totally normal to customize and become aware of, you know, what is it that we need to thrive mentally and emotionally and spiritually. And also, you know, with the realities of paying for rent and keeping ourselves warm, especially as it gets colder. But when we practice aparigraha and non-greed, it's about trying to keep those temptations, those desires, those I-wants to a minimum. And for those of you that don't know, when I'm not teaching yoga, I'm actually freelancing for this olive oil specialty company.

And the reason I'm bringing that up is one of the key words that we were talking about this week in the last couple of weeks is abundance. So I think my boss will be really happy if she ever watches this video to hear that I have begun to talk about abundance and yoga as well. But in this respect, I'm not really talking about abundance in terms of materialistic things. I'd like to prompt you to think about abundance in the sense of how we can bring more spiritual abundance into our lives.

Especially this year, it's been such a challenging year, I think, for everyone around the world for different reasons. And maybe this year, this coming holiday season, instead of thinking about abundance in terms of how full your Christmas tree or your stockings or your advent calendars look at home, think about how we can begin to bring more spiritual abundance into our lives. How can we begin to share more of our time, more of our presence, ourselves to the people that we love, especially if we're not able to be with them physically this season for various reasons. So how can we show the people that we love and care about, our friends, our family, our neighbors, our colleagues, that we're here for each other?

How can we abound with ourselves to them despite the distance, for example? And when we talk about spiritual abundance, how can we reach out to teachers, to books, to documentaries and films to fill up our cup? How can we continue to go to classes even though we can't meet physically? What can we do to bring more spiritual abundance into our lives instead of focusing on the materialistic pleasures?

So I just want you to sit at home for a moment and maybe close your eyes. Just give yourselves a moment now to close your eyes and just visualize right here that idea of plentitude, of abundance, of cultivating emotional abundance, physical abundance in terms of our health, abundance mentally in terms of our clarity. You know, what can we do to create more space for ourselves this season? And finally, what can we do to cultivate more spiritual abundance, spiritual awareness, spiritual inspiration and activism throughout this crazy holiday season despite what is going on locally and around the world?

So Aparigraha is to let go of the things that we don't need, not to covet those things, to create space for the right kind of abundance to enter our lives. So as you continue to contemplate on that theme, I'd like you to present the child's pose and to just give yourselves a moment in child's pose, preparing for the asana part of our practice. Begin to take nice long inhales and exhales, in and out through the nose, activating your deep ujjayi breath. And from here, tucking your toes, peeling your upper body off the floor, then bringing your elbows down, prayer hands over your head.

So just a very easy little puppy dog pose to warm up the back of the arms, the shoulders. Feel free to move here any way that feels good. Then from here, bring your forearms to the floor. Coming into sphinx pose.

So elbows underneath the shoulders, feel free to drop your shoulders side to side. And then to stretch out the back of your neck, just tuck your chin to the chest. Then from here, pressing onto your hands and knees, tabletop pose. So again, just make free movements, any direction that your body feels it needs to go.

Maybe you want to add in some side stretching here, stretching the right side of your body first, then the left. Maybe doing a few cat-cow stretches, inhaling to drop your belly. Exhaling, looking towards your navel, inhaling up. Exhaling, fold.

One last time, inhaling up. Exhaling, fold. And then coming back to neutral, threading the needle with the right side first. Inhale, lifting your right arm up.

As you exhale, feeding it through to the left side, right ear on the floor. You can keep your left hand close to your face, or you can rest it on top of your right arm. Take a few breaths here. And then bring your left hand back underneath the left shoulder, inhaling your right arm up.

As you exhale, right hand down. And then the other side, inhaling, left hand up. As you exhale, feeding it through to the other side, left ear on the floor. Again, you can keep your hand directly underneath the elbow, or place it on top of the other arm.

Take a few breaths. And coming back to neutral, bringing your right hand back down, inhaling the left arm up. As you exhale, bringing it back down to the floor, pressing into downward facing dog. So your first downward dog for today, feel free to move around, maybe bending one knee and then the other.

And then slowly walking your feet all the way to the top of your mat, rolling up one vertebra at a time, bringing your hands to prayer. From here, you can close your eyes and take a moment to offer up your practice. Try and dedicate it to someone or something other than yourselves. Try and offer up the abundance of your practice, whatever benefits that you get, try and give it away to someone or something beyond yourself that might need a little help or attention these days.

And then to begin, we'll do one sun salutation all together, inhaling your arms up and over your head. And as you exhale, fold. Right foot back, right knee down. Left foot back to high plank.

Exhale, knees, chest, chin. Cobra, inhale. Downward, exhale. Right foot forward, left foot forward, all the way up.

Hands to prayer. And again, arms up, inhale. Exhaling, fold. Left foot back, left knee down.

Right foot back. Exhale, knees, chest, chin. Cobra, inhale. Downward, exhale.

Left foot forward, right foot forward, all the way up. Hands to prayer. And now Surya Namaskar. Arms up, inhale.

Exhale, fold. Stay here. Bend your knees as much as you have to bring your chest to your thighs. Uttanasana.

Allow your upper body to dangle, hang heavy towards the floor. Try and relax your neck, your forehead towards your shins. One more breath. Inhale, halfway up.

Exhale, fold. Step or jump back. Chaturanga Dandasana. Upward facing, thighs off the floor.

Exhale, downward facing. Inhale, left leg up. Exhale, left foot forward, right knee down. Point the back foot, arms up.

Kapotasana, crescent moon. Good. Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle your arms close to the ears. Every exhale, your hips, your pelvis sinking closer to the floor.

For three, two, one. Opening up to the right side. You can stay here with warrior two arms or bring your left hand over your left knee. Try and grab your back foot with the right hand.

Squeeze the thigh. Maybe you're here. Maybe you're here. Maybe you're here.

And slowly release, lizard pose. Both hands down underneath the shoulders. Feel free to move your left foot out to the side a bit so your hands are directly underneath the shoulders. Pick your back knee up off of the floor, rocking forwards and back to prepare.

And then lower your back knee down, point the back foot. Inhale, shoulders back. So try not to curl your back like this, but try and pull your shoulders back, your neck forward. Try and get that upward dog, that cobra feeling in your spine.

You can either stay on your hands, keep hugging your left knee close to the side of your body, or come all the way down onto your forearms. And again, notice how your forearms are about the same size as your foot. So instead of your arms being all the way up here, try and line up your forearms with your foot. You may need to wriggle yourself a bit back.

For 3, 2, 1. Slowly release, hands under the shoulders, step back to Chaturanga Dandasana. Upward facing, exhale downward. Preparing to do the same thing on the other side, inhaling, right leg up.

Exhale, step forward, left knee down, point the back foot, arms up, inhale. Trying to make your whole body like the shape of a crescent moon, really lengthening and stretching the whole left side of your body here. 3, 2, 1. Slowly release the arms, open your hands to the side like warrior 2, facing the left side.

You can stay here, keep working on the lunge, or you can bring your right hand to your right knee, try and pick up your back foot with the left hand, squeeze. Maybe you're here, maybe you're here. If you're able to slide your foot into the elbow, maybe you're here, looking forward. And slowly release for lizard pose, both hands down under the shoulders, move your foot out to the side to create space, back knee off the floor, rocking forwards and back to prepare.

Then lowering the back knee, pointing the back foot, inhale, peel your shoulders back, stay on your hands or your fingertips, keep hugging this front knee close to the side of your body. I'm trying to do the same variation you did as the first side, so either staying here or coming all the way down to the floor. And slowly release, hands under the shoulders, step back, Chaturanga Dandasana. Upward facing, downward facing.

Keep tucking your chin to the chest, the stretch at the back of the neck, trying to balance the top of your head closer to the floor. Preparing for the warrior poses, inhale, left leg up. Exhale, step your left foot forward, Virabhadrasana One, warrior one. Strong arms, strong legs, look up.

Enhance a prayer in front of your heart, prepare for toppling tree pose, balancing on your left foot, hugging your right knee up, try and grab your right hand, right wrist behind your back, and then super kick your right leg back, find your balance here, T-shape with the body. And slowly release, Ardha Chandrasana. Left hand down, right hand to your right hip. Begin to peel your body open to the side, maybe your hand stays on your hip, maybe you're able to raise that hand into the air.

And slowly release, gracefully back into warrior two, Virabhadrasana Two, facing the right side. Now notice your hips, if your knee is coming into the middle just like this, use your hand, try and guide it into place, trying to get your hip bones, your front knee in a straight line, and then raise the arms. Relax the shoulders, and go for the twist. Left hand, left hip, inhale the right arm up, right heel off the floor.

Exhale, right elbow over the left knee, hands in prayer, pull it towards the hips for five, four, three, two, one. Slowly release, cartwheeling yourself up towards the right side. Make your body as wide as you can, like the shape of a star, prepare for prasarita padmasana. So inhaling, your arms up, as you exhale, swan dive towards the floor, tucking your chin to the chest.

So remember to get your head closer to the floor, big toes turned towards each other, heels away from each other. Really shimmy your hips, your butt back, dangling your upper body down. You can stay here with the arms, hands to the floor. Three, two, one.

Interlace your hands behind your back, pull yourself all the way up, inhale. And then turn your feet towards the front, prepare for humble warrior pose, inhaling, shoulders back. As you exhale, bending your front knee, sliding your feet further apart, arms up and over your head, trying to reach your forehead towards your front big toe, softening the front knee like you're doing kapotasana. Keep shifting your weight forward, tuck your chin to the chest, create more space.

Maybe for some of you, your head will be able to touch the floor. Three, two, one. Slowly release, hands down, step back, chaturanga. Everyone meeting in downward facing.

Preparing to do the same thing on the other side, inhaling, lifting the right leg up. As you exhale, step forward, Virabhadrasana one. Toppling tree pose, bring your hands to prayer in front of the heart, balancing on the right leg, grabbing your left hand, left wrist behind your back, super kick your left leg back, super pull your left arm back, find your balance here. And Ardha Chandrasana half moon pose, right hand down, peeling your body open to the side, left hand to the left hip, strong back leg, maybe lifting the arm and slowly release, gracefully warrior two legs.

Prepare the legs first, your foundation, using your hands to guide your hips, your front knee into place, trying to get your front thigh as parallel to the floor as you can, lifting the arms, inhale, relaxing the shoulders, look forward, preparing for the twist, right hand, right hip, left heel off the floor, left arm up, inhale. As you exhale, elbow over the knee, hands in prayer, pull it towards the hips, good, and slowly release, cartwheeling yourself all the way to the left side, both of your feet facing the left side of your mat. This time interlace your hands behind your back, inhale, as you exhale, fold over again, big toes towards each other, heels away from each other, tuck your chin towards the chest, see if you can reach the very top of your head towards the floor. Imagine like one day, maybe your hands, your arms will be able to rest on the floor, just like this.

Try not to eat your necklace at the same time. And pull yourself all the way back up, preparing for humble warrior, keep your arms where it is, just turn your feet towards the front of your mat, inhale, leaning back, as you exhale, bending your front knee, sliding your feet apart, arms up and over your head, good, soften your front knee like you're doing kapotasana, keep reaching your forehead towards your front big toe, if you can rest your head on the floor, do that, and slowly release, bringing both hands down to the floor, stepping back, high plank. Good, stay here in high plank, whole body in a straight line, preparing for Vasisthasana, side plank on the left side, so left hand on the floor, outer edge of the left heel on the floor, lifting the hips, lifting the arms, you can stay here, bending the bottom knee, trying to grab your top knee, for some of you, maybe you can grab your foot, your toe, any variation you know, hold it there. Go over into wild thing, left leg straight, right knee bends, reaching your right arm towards the front of your mat for three, two, one, slowly release, come back to neutral, high plank, inhale, prepare to do the same thing on the other side, right hand Vasisthasana, outer edge of the right foot on the floor, lifting the hips, good, get your foundation straight first, arms up, keep breathing, try and do the same variation you did as the first side, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, here, wild thing, flip over, left knee bends, reach your left arm all the way to the front of your mat for three, two, one, slowly release, coming back to neutral, inhale, exhale, Chaturanga, upward facing, downward facing, you ready to do that all over again?

We're going to go through Shiva Namaskar second sequence with slight variations, inhale, lift the left leg up, as you exhale, pull the left knee all the way forward, we do pigeon pose first, good, right leg is straight, left knee is bent, so most important thing in pigeon pose, both of your hips facing the front of your mat, so if you feel like you're dumping your weight to the side and you can feel that your spine is curving, feel free to get a block, place it underneath your left hip in this pose, in this side, make sure your hips are square once you're there, trying to lean back, maybe you're grabbing opposite elbows, maybe you can bring your hands to prayer, so notice how the chest begins to puff open here, like the chest of a pigeon, your elbows are like the wings, so pull your wings back, your elbows back, good, maybe you can even interlace your fingers, pull your hands, your knuckles towards the floor, and then slowly release, folding over your front leg, and remember the higher up you bring your leg, your front leg, the more parallel to the front of your mat, the deeper a stretch you'll get in your glutes, so feel free to adjust wherever you need to be, and again if you feel like you need to add even more of a stretch, practice playing around with your foot as well, so if your foot is flexed, that tends to activate your glutes more, and you can add a little extra stretch here, create a nice little pillow with your hands, your arms, slow down your breath, and slowly release, bringing your hands underneath the shoulders, pressing back, downward facing dog, same thing on the other side, inhaling the right leg up, as you exhale, pulling the right knee all the way forward, left leg back, good, pointing the foot, again adjusting the hips, and then first grabbing opposite elbows if you can, maybe hands to prayer, pulling the elbows back, maybe arms straight, interlacing the fingers, and slowly release, folding over your front leg, again feel free to make your own adjustments, and then creating a nice little pillow with your arms, preparing to come out, hands underneath the shoulders, gracefully, without dragging your front foot, step back, downward facing dog, feel free to shake out the leg, shake out the hips, and going through the cycle again, inhaling, lifting the left leg up, exhale, stepping the left foot forward, Kapotasana this time, knee on the floor, back foot pointed out, inhaling the arms up, so here, second set Kapotasana, on the left side, you can keep working on the lunge, getting your hips, your pelvis closer to the floor, you can go straight into practicing your mermaid bind, or for those of you that are able to flip the grip with or without the strap, you're trying to grab a hold of your back foot with the right hand, spinning your elbows up, trying to move your head, your foot closer together, so this is how it looks without a strap, if you have a strap handy, grab one of these, put it around your foot, practice flipping the grip here, even here, without even getting my head to my foot, it's a really nice big opening and stretch in my shoulders and chest, three, two, one, slowly release, lizard pose, rocking forwards and back to prepare, and then back knee on the floor, pointing the back foot, inhale, again, stay here, come all the way down to the floor, you can stay on your forearms just like this, maybe bringing your elbows to the side this time, imagine like one day your armpit will be able to land on top of your front foot, maybe your arms can go out to the side, forehead on the floor, and slowly release, hands under the shoulders, step back to flowing through the downward facing, second set, right leg up, inhale, exhale, right foot forward, left knee down, point the back foot, arms up, inhale, so try not to waste any time, go into your variations, either staying here, working on the lunge, mermaid pose, you can also try mermaid pose if you're working on it, if you have one of these straps handy, wrap it around your foot, then you just use the strap as an extension of your arm, so bringing your elbow into the strap, creating more space, practicing the bind here, slowly release, lizard pose, back foot down, back knee on the floor, inhaling up, and then trying to go into your deeper variation of the pose, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, and slowly release, hands under the shoulders, step back, Chaturanga Dandasana, flow through, lifting the left leg up, inhale, left foot forward, Warrior One, Virabhadrasana One, second time on this side, arms up, two, and three, bringing your hands to prayer in front of the heart, this time moving to Natarajasana, dancer's pose, so you can keep your knees bent just like this, trying to grab your right foot on the inside, close to the right big toe, squeeze your knees in, left arm up, inhale, as you exhale, super kick your right foot into the right hand, leg up, and slowly release, bending the right knee up, and with control, opening up, Warrior Two, Virabhadrasana Two, arms apart, inhale, reverse warrior, lean back, and then left elbow over the left knee, right arm up and over, good, slanted side angle pose, whole right side of the body stretches, keep breathing, and then from here, straightening your front leg, right arm up, left hand towards the floor, good, preferably, if you can, on the inside of your left leg, right arm up, and cartwheel both of your hands towards the front of your mat, narrow the distance between your legs a little bit, both of your hips facing forward, inhale, halfway up, as you exhale, fold forward, trying to touch your forehead towards your knees, pulling both of your hip bones back, trying to square your hips, inhale, halfway up, right hand outside the left foot, lifting your left arm up, good, keep pulling your left hip back, your right hip forward, trying to look up towards your top hand, for three, two, one, slowly release both hands to the floor, stay here, facing forward, interlace your hands behind your back, inhale, all the way up, good, widen the distance between your legs, prepare for humble warrior pose, folding forward, left knee bent, arms up and over your head, one more breath, then from here, pulling yourself all the way up, Prasarita facing the right side, you can keep your hands interlaced, exhale, fold forward. For those of you that have a regular tripod headstand practice, feel free to go up into your tripod from here, otherwise you can stay with me, just trying to move your head towards the floor, arms up and over your head, if you're upside down, slowly bringing both of your feet down towards the floor, everyone inhaling, halfway up, hands to your hips, then cartwheeling your hands towards the front of your mat, step back, chaturanga dandasana, flowing through, downward facing dog, taking three deep breaths, preparing to do the same thing on the other side, inhale, lift the right leg up, as you exhale, right foot forward, virabhadrasana one, warrior one, arms up, preparing for natarajasana, dancer pose, hands in front of the heart, bouncing on the right foot, good, bend the knees, try and grab your left foot from the inside, lifting the right arm up, as you exhale, super kick the foot into the hand, lean forward, take mind of the pose, releasing the grip, lifting your left knee up and with control, opening up to the side, warrior two, virabhadrasana two, and then reverse, leaning back and coming forward, elbow down on top of the knee, left arm stretching all the way to the top of your mat and straightening your front leg, trikonasana, left arm up, right hand, you can rest it on your leg or bring it all the way down to the floor and turning both of your hands down, back hip forward, narrowing the distance between your legs, inhaling, halfway up, as you exhale, fold over, trying to touch your forehead towards your front leg, trying to move both of your sit bones back so that they're square, pointing towards the front of your mat, you can tension your arms just like this, standing on all 10 fingertips and preparing for the twist, inhaling, halfway up, left hand outside the right foot if you can, right arm reaching up towards the sky, preparing to come out, cartwheeling your hands down to the floor, inhaling, halfway up, interlacing your hands behind your back all the way up, prepare for humble warrior pose, sliding your feet a little further apart, bending your front knee, softening the front knee, arms up and over your head, reaching your forehead towards your front big toe with control, lifting yourself all the way up, then turning your feet towards the left side, prasarita padasana again, second set on this side, arms up and over, folding forward, so if you have a regular tripod headstand practice you can come do that now, otherwise stay where you are, in your tripod headstand, head down, hands in front of your face, lifting up with control, slowly coming down, everyone moving all together, inhaling, halfway up, as you exhale bring your hands towards the front of your mat, stepping back, chaturanga dandasana, upward facing dog, exhale downward facing dog, so from here bringing your forearms down towards the floor, dolphin pose, so in dolphin pose you can cross your thumbs on top of each other already to prepare yourself to come up, for those of you that wish to hop up into pincha mayurasana for balance, otherwise staying here, breathe, those of you that wish to come up and play, now's the time, now when you're ready, child's pose, and then downward facing dog, adho mukha svanasana, preparing for a pigeon, second set on this side, inhale lifting the left leg up, exhale pulling the left knee all the way forward, right leg back, making your adjustments, so this time adding the back bend the heart opener into your pigeon pose, you can try adding in your mermaid legs again, so opening your body to the right side, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, for those of you that are practicing flipping the grip, if you have a strap handy you wrap it around your foot, both arms up, elbows up, maybe you're this elbow or both hands to the strap, eventually trying to move your hands towards your back foot, preparing to come out, folding over your front leg, and slowly release hands underneath the shoulders, trying not to drag your back foot, your front foot, shake out the hips, shake out the legs, preparing to do the same thing on the other side, inhale lifting the right leg up, as you exhale, putting the right knee all the way forward, left leg back, so again maybe you're here, maybe you're here, opening your body to the left side, trying to grab your back foot with the left hand, squeezing the thigh, so you're trying to bring your foot, your back foot and your shoulder closing together, so feel free to push off of your front leg, leaning back, so help yourself, and then without the strap you can just try and slide your foot into your elbow, right arm up, going for the bind, if you have a strap handy you can wrap it around your foot, use that to extend the grip, practice the bind, so the strap here helps to hold your foot in place, eventually trying to guide your hands and your feet closer together, or if you're flipping the grip, both elbows up, maybe this other hand grabs the opposite elbow, or both of your hands to the strap, reaching towards your back foot and slowly release, folding over your front leg, creating a nice little pillow with your arms, one last breath, slowly release, hands underneath the shoulders, gracefully step back, downward facing dog, she got the hips, she got the legs, and slowly walking forward to the top of your mat, folding over, uttanasana, again bending your knees as much as you have to, to rest your chest on your thighs, maybe grabbing opposite elbows, and then slowly release the arms, heel to your feet together, if they're not already there, and then inhaling arms all the way up, and as you exhale, hands to prayer, closing the eyes, come back to whatever intention you said at the beginning of class, centering yourselves, and releasing your arms down into tadasana. Good, so I hope you're all as warmed up as I am, I can tell you it's actually a lot harder teaching an online class when you're not here, because now I'm doing the class with you and talking at the same time, and trying to breathe, so bear with me, I'm working out just like you, so the second half of the class we're going to hold the poses a little longer, and we're going to stand with our standing postures first, so uttanasana, balancing on the left leg first, so switch your weight onto your left leg, hug your right knee close to your right shoulder, and flex your foot, trying to grab hold underneath the heel, maybe you're here, just stepping into your hands, already beginning to feel that little bit of a stretch in your lower back, or if you can straighten your legs all the way out, good, trying to pull your forehead towards your front big toe, and slowly release, shaking out the legs, shaking out the arms, preparing to do the same thing on the other side, so shifting weight onto your right leg, hugging your left knee close to your left shoulder, find your drishti, your focus, and a point in front of you that's not moving, holding over your front leg, trying to grab a hold underneath the heel, flexing your foot, maybe you're here, just putting weight onto your hands, feeling the activation, the stretch in your lower back, or stretching your leg forward, so again, remember the trick to balancing in this pose, as you kick forward, try not to kick and pull your leg forward, but as you lift your leg, you're trying to pull it back into the hip socket for support, just like this, so as you kick your leg forward, trying to push it back into the hip, hugging your elbows in, three, two, one, slowly release, shaking out the arms, shaking out the legs, so come to lie down into a very brief shavasana, not the final one, but just use this moment to completely reset, hmm, breathing, deep inhaling, now through the mouth, in, now before we all fall asleep, inhaling your arms up and over your head, as you exhale, coming up to sit, trying to touch your toes, so now finally we find ourselves on the floor, we're going to be practicing bharadvajasana, it's a preparation for lotus pose, and this next set of poses, just really working on softening the knees, the ankles, the top of the feet, so in bharadvajasana, you're going to bend your left foot out to the side, close to the left hip, just like this, and then if you have problems with your knees, you can just keep your right foot where it is, sort of like in tree pose position, and you're going to be twisting to the right side, so the right hand supporting your lower back, your left arm pulling against the right knee to twist towards the right side, so this is the variation without the bind, those of you that are practicing the bind, you can try and slide your right foot first over the left knee, and then as close to your left hip as you can, just like this, and then to go for the bind without the strap first, you're folding forward, try and stay close to the ground as you throw your right arm behind you on this side, trying to use your other hand to guide your fingers towards your foot, and then you can come up, left hand to the right knee, straightening the spine, looking over your right shoulder, and if it's too much to go for the full bind, if you have a strap or a towel, something to help you handy or close by, you can bring the strap for example around your foot, and again it's just there to act as an extension of your arm, so here the strap is over my right foot, I'm twisting still to the right side, trying to grab this strap behind my back to go for the bind, and then using that to pull myself deeply, left hand over the right knee, looking over my right shoulder, and with this bind that you've created with your back arm, that pressure, trying to massage the kidneys, the internal organs on the back side as you twist here, one more breath, and slowly release, shaking out the legs, so preparing to do the same thing on the other side, so bending your right foot back towards the right hip, and then first without going for the full bind, if you have sensitive knees or ankles, you can just press your left foot into the inner right thigh, and then you're twisting towards the left side, so your left hand supporting your back, your right hand pulling across the left knee, looking over your left shoulder, you can stay here, otherwise those of you practicing deeper variations of the pose, your left foot slides on top of the knee, close to the hip, and again you can go without the strap, staying close to the ground, trying to use your hand to guide your fingers towards your foot, right hand pulling against the left knee, rising up, twisting towards the left side, or if you need a strap, a strap helps create more space around the foot, again twisting towards the left side, try and grab that strap if you can, pulling against the left knee, twisting towards the left side, one last breath, then slowly release, shaking out the legs, shaking out the knees, so while we're seated here on the floor, just take this moment now to see where you are in your padmasana, in your lotus practice, so if it's enough to just cross your legs, stay here, cross your legs, and just close your eyes, find some stillness in the middle of our practice, otherwise those of you that have a half lotus ardha padmasana, trying to slide your right foot over the left knee, close to the left hip, this is half lotus, half padmasana, maybe it's enough for today to just stay here, those of you that have a full padmasana, full lotus pose, trying to slide your left foot from underneath the leg, and then also on top of the knee, close to the hips, and then you find yourself in this position. Okay, now we do a little bit of core work, so if you're here, whether your legs are crossed in half a lotus or full lotus, hands next to your hips, take a big inhale, lift the knees, as you exhale, try and lift your hips, your butt off the floor for five, four, three, you can do it, two, one, slowly release, coming back down to the floor, and release the legs, shake out the knees, good.

So now that we've warmed up our knees, we've practiced our lotus pose for the next couple of minutes, as we practice our inversions, our shirshasana headstand, those of you that already have a regular headstand practice, feel free to come up now, any arm variation you know, you can do traditional arm positioning, where you're creating a helmet with your arms just like this, you can do tripod hands, forearm hands, whichever variation you're doing, if you already have a regular headstand practice, feel free to bring your legs into lotus, and I'll show you what that looks like. For those of you that are still practicing your headstand, feel free to go up against the wall, and just take the next couple of minutes to practice, and I'll demonstrate now, and try and break it up for you, and follow along as far as the sequence as you can. So this is shirshasana headstand with traditional arms, adding some leg variations into it. So if you're practicing headstand, forearms are on the floor, interlace your fingers, create a nice little wall with your hands, top of the head on the floor, elbows close to your face, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, maybe you're here, lotus pose, bending the right knee, bending the left knee, one, two, lifting the knees up, preparing to come out, gracefully with control, pressing into balasana, child's pose, and then slowly coming up, preparing for sarvangasana, shoulder stand.

So just cross your ankles, swing your legs forward, then using momentum, you're going to rock all the way up into your sarvangasana, your shoulder stand, so remove the hair tie if you wish, if you have a hair tie, coming all the way up, using your hands to support your lower back, trying to bring as straight a line as you can from your feet, through your knees, your hips, if you know how to put your legs into a full lotus, do that now, otherwise stay where you are. So if you have the lotus, keep the lotus, drop your knees over your head into padmasana, I mean pindasana, embryo pose, and then you're trying to wrap your arms around your legs, otherwise you can keep your legs straight, traditional halasana, plow pose, feel free to bend your knees, you need to come out of the pose, straighten your arms, slowly curl yourself, uncurl yourself towards the floor, preparing for matsyasana, fish pose. So lying completely flat on the floor, bring your arms underneath your hips, underneath your back, and then bringing one thumb on top of the other, lifting your chest, bending your elbows, try and roll onto the top of your head, stay here. If you have the lotus, feel free to keep your legs in a lotus, and try and grab your feet with your hands.

Whichever variation you're doing, close your eyes, slowly release, tucking the chin to the chest, and then letting your arms come out to the side, and taking a moment here. So the next pose that we'll be doing is standing stork pose. So on the count of three, you're going to try and stand up without using your hands, just like this. One, two, three.

Good. Now that you're on your feet, turning again towards the right side of your mat, and then to prepare for stork pose, you're just going to fold down towards your feet, and we're going to warm up and stretch one arm first, and then the other, and then we'll try it on both sides. So folding over here, right arm underneath the right leg, try and grab your left hand, left wrist behind your back. You can keep your right knee bent, or begin to straighten the leg, looking up towards the sky.

And slowly release, preparing to switch sides. So bending the knees, left shoulder under the left leg, trying to grab your right hand, right wrist behind your back, trying to pull that shoulder straight, shoulder away from the ear. You can keep your left knee bent or straight, looking up towards the sky, and then slowly release. So for some of you, you'll be able to bend both of your knees now, dropping your shoulders below the knees, hands towards your lower back, then trying to reach your hands together into the bind.

So if you're already able to do that, go into your bind. Otherwise, if you're like me and you need a little bit of an extra assist, if you have a strap handy, feel free to grab one of your straps, bending over, trying to reach for the strap behind your back. Then again, keeping your knees bent or straight, dropping your head towards the floor, allowing your neck to grow long towards the floor, and slowly release. Keep your shoulders where they are underneath the knees, walk your feet closer together, hands down towards the floor.

So here's your arm balance practice, trying to sit down on top of your upper arms. This is a little preview for the arm balance workshop on Sunday, if you're planning to tune into that. So sitting on top of your upper arms, leaning back, try and lift your left foot off the floor, and then your right foot off the floor. Give yourself a nice round of applause.

Good. Keep your knees bent or straight into Tittibhasana. Good. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Slowly release, lowering your hips down towards the floor. So again, still keeping your shoulders below the knees. Easy variation of Kurmasana Turtle Pose. Use your hands to grab the backs of your feet, lift your toes off the floor, begin to slide your feet forward.

Then trying to drop your forehead down towards the floor. So you can either stay here, keeping your knees bent, hands behind the feet, or those of you that are able to go into full Kurmasana, your arms first go out to the side, and then towards the back of your mat. Using the weight of your legs to hold your arms down, forehead resting on the floor, preparing to come out of the pose, hugging your knees together, finding your way, whichever way to wriggle yourself out of the pose. And then crossing your ankles, giving yourself a nice little squeeze, and then preparing for the backbend part of the sequence.

So coming to lie down on your backs, bridge pose first. So bending your knees, pulling your feet close to your hips. Then on a count of three, we'll come up all together, lifting the hips off the floor. One, two, three, all the way up.

Good. So maybe you're here, reaching your hands towards your feet. Some of you may be able to grab your feet already, lifting the thighs higher. Otherwise, you can also support your lower back with your hands, or interlace your fingers, rolling your shoulder blades closer together, and slowly coming back down towards the floor.

Maybe bringing your feet as wide as the mat, and then letting one knee drop towards the middle, and the other, preparing for the second set, second backbend. You can do bridge pose again, or full Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, full wheel pose. So pulling your feet close to your hips, knees up. If you're going into full Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, hands next to your ears, elbows pointing up, your fingertips are pointing towards the back of your mat.

So it's like you're holding egg cups underneath your hands. Roll onto the top of your head. Stay there first. Don't go anywhere.

Just practice being on the top of your head. Hands pointed now towards your feet. Good. Elbows bent.

On a count of three, you're trying to lift yourself all the way off the floor. One, two, three. Good. Straight arms, straight legs.

Trying to move your torso through your arms. Good. Feel to adjust the feet closer to the hands. You can stay here or play around with the pose, maybe shifting weight to the right side, lifting your left foot, left leg straight, then switching sides.

If you're still up, try and tap your right hand to your right hip, and then you have to switch sides. Left hand to your left hip. Whenever you're ready, tucking your chin to the chest, climbing yourself on the floor, hugging your knees to the chest. So curl yourself into a really nice ball, rocking side to side, trying to focus on your lower back here, your hip bones, using your mat to massage lower back, and then rocking forwards and back, then rocking yourself all the way up to sit, preparing for the final twist through Matsyendrasana.

So bending your left knee, your right foot over the left knee, right hand supporting your lower back. Inhale, left arm up. As you exhale, twisting to the right side, looking over your right shoulder. Slowly release, giving yourself a little counter-twist.

And then switching your legs. So your right knee is bent, left foot over the right knee, left hand supporting your back, inhaling, your right arm up. As you exhale, twisting to the left side, and slowly release, giving yourself a little counter-twist. And then preparing yourself for Shavasana, the final resting pose.

So feel free to put on some socks, another sweater, just taking this time now to find yourself in a really comfortable lying position. Take up as much space as you need with your body, letting your legs, your feet dangle naturally to the side, your arms, try and pull them away from your shoulders, palms facing up. Feel free to switch your music, try and put on something more appropriate for the final relaxation part of class. Taking a big inhale, now through the mouth, two more times in, and again, deep inhale.

So as you lie here in your final Shavasana, just allow yourselves to relax completely. And as I call out each part of the body, one by one, we'll try and switch off that part completely. So bringing your awareness to the left hand, relaxing the left hand completely, left wrist, left elbow, and your left shoulder, entire left arm, completely relaxed. Now your right hand, right wrist, right elbow, and your right shoulder, entire right arm, completely relaxed.

Relaxing both of the feet, ankles, knees, entire lower half of the body, completely relaxed. Allow your belly to stay loose, chest feels light, relaxing the throat, all the muscles on your face, completely relaxed. Leave your breath on its own, leave the body on its own, nothing more to do. Feel free to stay here for a longer Shavasana.

Otherwise, you can begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes. Inhaling, your arms up and over your head. As you exhale, hugging your knees to the chest, and then rolling over to the right hand side for fetal position. Taking a moment here, and coming all the way up to sits, facing the front of your mat, crossing the legs, bringing your hands to prayer in front of the heart, giving thanks for our practice.

And for being able to connect with each other through this virtual space. May we all experience some spiritual abundance this holiday season. May we find things that inspire us and encourage us to keep sharing the benefits of our yoga practice with others, especially over the holidays, and with our friends and loved ones that we may not be able to see physically, but maybe virtually as we have today. I wish you all a fantastic weekend and looking forward to connect with you again online, hopefully in the studio soon.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti. Namaste.