Hi, we're going to do a super quick grounding practice today, designed for beginners or
people who want to slow down their practice a little bit.
So everything today is going to be very close to the mat, we're not going to be doing anything
standing, we'll come onto knees and we'll be low, but we won't ever come to standing.
And the intention behind that is to really feel connected back to the earth, back to ourselves.
So you can use a moment here to set an intention for your practice, and that intention is just
kind of where you want to have energy today, where you want to send energy, so maybe toward
a goal or project or maybe to a certain person in your life, or it could just be an idea
or a word that you kind of want to return to as you're practicing.
So just take a moment to pull that intention into your mind and into your heart.
Take about three more really big expansive breaths to feel that intention settling within you.
And we'll keep that intention in mind as we roll over our legs, coming onto all fours.
Once we're on all fours, we're going to look for hands right underneath our shoulders,
knees right underneath our hips.
And I really like to kind of move around what's in there and kind of feel what my body feels
like today.
You can do kind of little hip circles, you can come over the hands a little wiggling
through your shoulders, just start to find your breath, and that might be a little more
shallower than normal, it might be deeper than normal, just notice what it feels like.
And we're trying to inhale and exhale through the nose, mouth closed, and start to find
a more static still position.
We're grounding through the first knuckles, gripping with our fingertips.
So we're really spreading the weight through the palm, and that's really important, especially
in this grounding practice to feel really connected.
So press down that first knuckle really strongly, always wants to start to lift up and you find
a space there.
Press it down, find the fingertips clawing at the earth just a bit, so you feel really
strong there.
And then start to broaden the shoulder blades, so collapsing them and then you fall together,
pull them apart really broadly.
The back of the heart presses up toward the sky.
Do you have a nice strong position in the arm, you can tuck the toes under and pull back
to a down dog.
Small down dog here, let the head just totally jump off.
Don't worry about it being perfect, but same thing with the hands, draw shoulder blades
onto the back.
So shoulder blades are engaged.
Try a couple times pulling shoulders to the ears and then pulling them back away from
the ears.
So shred them up and then feel what it feels like integrated on the back.
Head totally hanging.
Find a long breath, sitting out through the nose.
Start to engage the legs a little more, passing thighs back to the wall behind you.
On your next inhale, come forward to a plank position.
In our plank position, we stay on the balls of our feet, we stay really bouncy here and
we keep spreading the weight through the hands again.
On the balls of the feet, we're not on the toes.
Balls, so you're really friendly.
You can bounce, you can move, keep spreading the shoulders, keep pressing the back of the
heart up, pull that lower belly in.
One more breath here, you're strong, you're grounded, you're totally centered.
On your next exhale, down dog.
Shake the head out, let it go.
And then just with that breath, we're going to follow that floor to back.
Inhale, go forward.
Find that little ripple through the spine, you can look forward.
Exhale, draw back.
Go over our breath with that.
Feel the breath, move your body.
So it's like you follow where the breath is going instead of you forcing the breath to
match your motion.
The next time you pull back to that down dog, we'll hold that.
Stepping our feet together, head back to the mat so they touch.
And you're inhale at the right leg up.
Right leg lifts, and then find the hip.
It's not stacking on top of the left hip.
It's right in line with the left hip.
So hip start in line, squares for the floor, for the front of the room.
Reach the right leg a little higher.
Lots of energy through that right leg so that the ball of the foot is reaching over the back.
You're finding that it's engaged as you can.
On the next exhale, knee to nose, round the back.
Back of the heart up for the ceiling.
Pause there for another breath, keep crossing the back of the heart up.
Inhale like all the way under back.
Exhale, bring it all the way through, place it between the hands.
And as many steps as it takes your foot to get out there, it's fine.
Coming onto your fingertips here, so you still feel connected.
You feel grounded, you're touching near.
Dropping the back knee.
On our inhale, we're going to draw both hips back, and you're going to rock onto the heel.
Your hips are grounded.
Exhale, draw forward.
Inhale, draw back.
Exhale, go forward.
Two more.
No.
You're not good.
Hold in the front position.
Hands back to the mat.
Lift the back leg.
Step back to your plank.
Find that nice, bouncy plank.
Inhale, drop all the way down to the mat.
Tops of the toes ground.
Hands come back behind you.
Interlacing at the base of the spine.
Inhale, a little bit up.
Heartlets, keep pressing, get into the mat.
Reach the hands back.
Two more.
One more.
Inhale, on the next exhale, release down.
Place that here in.
Curl the toes.
Inhale up to your plank.
Inhale, back to your dog.
You can wiggle.
You can walk the butt a little.
Then stepping the feet together back to the mat.
Inhale, left leg lifts.
Hips are in line.
Next, exhale, knee to nose.
Hold back in the heart up.
Inhale, all the way up and back.
Exhale, place the foot low lunge.
Come to your fingertips.
Drop the back knee.
Inhale, draw back.
Exhale, fold.
Two more.
Next time you come forward, hold there.
Place the hands.
Lift the knees.
Step back to your plank.
Back to bouncy.
Next, exhale to the mat.
Enter your fingers opposite way this time.
Find the way that feels weird.
Inhale, lift up. Three breaths.
Toes plus to the mat.
Next, exhale, release to the mat.
Place the hands.
Inhale, press up to plank.
Exhale, back to your dog.
Little move, breathe.
Inhale, right leg lifts.
Exhale, knee to nose one time.
Inhale, right leg lifts.
Exhale, low lunge.
Dropping the knee.
Inhale, come up to stand on that knee.
You can reach forward into that front leg.
So both hips are moving forward together.
Start to lift that heart up.
You can reach hands up.
You can bring them to full post arms.
Or you can keep them down.
Your hips are on your knee.
Whatever feels safest to you.
Heart is reaching up toward the sky.
Two more breaths.
Next, inhale.
Come back after vertical.
Exhale, hands touch.
Step back to your plank.
And lower all the way down to the mat.
Enter the same fingers.
Inhale.
Exhale down.
Inhale, plank.
Exhale, down plank.
Left leg, inhale.
Exhale, knee to nose.
Inhale.
Exhale, low lunge.
Inhale, coming up.
Seems to go into that leg.
Find your option.
Any arm options.
Find that heart lift.
So you're grounding through that back foot.
You're grounding through that front foot.
You're pulling that energy up into the core.
Up into the heart.
And letting it come right up.
Two more breaths.
Next, inhale.
Up.
Exhale, hands touch.
Step back. Lower all the way to the mat.
And at least fingers opposite way.
Inhale.
Exhale, release.
Inhale, plank.
Exhale, down, down.
We're going to flow that side to side a couple of times.
Intention in your mind.
Feel connected to the earth.
Find wherever you can feel that groundedness.
That bouncing is coming right up through the earth.
Each time you're moving.
Right leg, inhale.
Exhale, knee to nose.
Inhale.
Low lunge.
Inhale, coming up.
To stand on that knee.
Exhale, hands come right back down.
You step back and you come to the mat.
Inhale, I see my fingers behind you.
Inhale, lift.
Exhale, release.
Inhale, plank.
Exhale, down, down.
We're going right to the other side.
Inhale, left leg.
Exhale, knee to nose.
Inhale.
Low lunge.
Drop the knee.
Inhale, lift that heart.
Exhale, right back down.
Step back. Lower to the mat.
Interlacing the way that feels weird.
Inhale, to the left.
Exhale, the lower.
Inhale, plank.
One more time each side.
Right leg, inhale.
Knee to nose.
Inhale.
Low lunge.
Drop the knee. Inhale, heart.
Exhale, lower.
Step back. All the way to the mat.
Interlacing fingers.
Inhale.
Exhale, release.
Plank.
Down, down.
Inhale, left leg.
Exhale, to the nose.
Inhale.
Low lunge.
Dropping the knee.
Heart up.
Hands touch.
You step back. You lower.
Interlacing hands.
Inhealing to left.
Exhale, release.
Inhale, plank.
Exhale, down back.
Plank from the back.
Drop the knees wide.
Toes together.
It's to come back.
Head all the way down to the mat.
Forehead touch.
Soften the lower back.
Soften through the wrist.
Two more deep breaths.
Again, try to breathe into that lower back space.
A little bit more.
Coming back to your plank.
Ground through the hands.
First knuckle down.
Finger tip script.
Step back. Walls of the feet.
Nice and bouncing.
Back of the heart.
Left step.
Intention in mind.
Drive forward.
Right knee.
Right elbow.
Inhale, left knee.
Exhale, step back.
Right. Inhale.
Exhale back.
Left. Inhale.
Exhale back.
One more each side.
Then we're going to speed it up.
Inhale, exhale.
Ready, ready? Inhale.
Exhale. Inhale.
Exhale. Inhale.
Exhale. Then we're going to do
two per side. Ready? Inhale.
Exhale. Inhale.
Exhale.
10.
9.
8.
Breathe.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Pull back.
Exhale.
Down back.
Shake that out.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Exhale, knee to right elbow.
The foot comes up behind the left hand.
Drop the leg down.
Here, drop the back knee.
This foot can be anywhere along the way.
We're coming into pigeon so it might be here.
It might be further up.
Doesn't matter.
Start to inch the left knee back.
And here we're looking for
square hips again.
So we're trying not to fall over onto that right hip.
Square hips.
You can fold something up.
Block, but just fold the mat.
Whatever to come under that right hip
if you need a little bit extra support there.
We're going to walk the hands back first.
Roll the shoulders back.
Heart forward.
Start to look up.
Big breaths.
Next, exhale.
Start to walk the hands forward.
Coming down as far as
feels comfortable.
Letting the head release toward the mat.
You can stack hands up
to rest the head off.
And then
we're going to look
for any part of the body
that's touching the mat
and ground through it.
Back foot.
Press into it.
Anything else that's touching
press into the floor.
So we're looking for
energies coming up
from the ground.
Feeding us.
The same thing.
Let that energy
right back into the world.
Each inhale, soaks them up.
Each exhale
lets some
foods right back up.
Soften through that right hip.
Two more breaths.
Start to walk your hands back in.
Ground through the hands.
Feel that grounding.
Curl the back toe under
to have your ball with the foot on the mat.
Step the right foot back
and come back to your ground ground.
And wiggle your butt.
Explore what that feels like.
Notice the difference between the sides.
Next inhale, left leg less.
Exhale, knee to left elbow.
Pull the foot up as high.
It feels comfortable. Let it drop down.
Inch the right leg back.
First we're going to sit tall.
Hands walk back.
Shoulders go back.
Hard up. Remember any props you need
and any support you need to feel comfortable here.
So anywhere along the way in these poses
is still doing the best.
Next exhale, start to walk it
forward.
And you'll let it go right into the mat.
Two more breaths.
Start to walk hands back in.
Ground toes under.
Lift, step back.
Feel your plank.
Shake, bounce, whatever.
Jump up.
And help plank.
Back of the heart, let's strong legs.
Next exhale, to the mat.
One more set of back bends.
Left hand comes forward.
Tend the fingers.
We've got fingertips touching in front of you.
Right hand comes back.
We're going to look to grab onto this foot.
So anywhere that you can grab is fine.
If you can't grab, you can grab onto pants.
If you're wearing pants.
Or you could take a towel
to put it around the hold onto.
Anything you can get.
Grab onto it.
And then keep the left hands down.
Start to kick into that right foot.
So you're using all the strength of the right leg.
To kick into that right hand.
To start to lift.
And you take big breaths.
Don't let those come shallow.
So the bigger breath you can take here.
The more forward you can be here.
Keep grounding through anything that's touching the mat.
And then lift a little bit higher up out of that ground.
Optional.
You can lift the left leg.
You can lift the left leg.
Left foot really touching down.
One more inhale.
At salaries.
Both hands come down next to your side.
Turn your head to the left.
Let heels flop out.
Big breaths.
All into the back space.
Second try.
Tender the mat.
Right hand in front.
Ready your hips.
On the mat.
Reach back.
Looking for the left leg.
Might be different one side than the other.
Where you can grab.
Totally fine.
Find that breath.
Start to kick.
That leg is so strong.
I like to have the biggest muscles.
Use the muscles here.
Press back.
Then deepen that whole breath experience.
Right foot really grounding.
Optional.
Two breaths.
Release.
Both hands come to the side.
Looking to the right.
Hips that lower back up with a little more air.
Hands come under the shoulders.
Press up to all fours.
Hands right under shoulders.
Knees right under hips.
Really gently drop the heart.
Inhale to look up.
Exhale round the back.
Looking to your balance.
Exhale.
Inhale up.
Exhale round the top.
One more time.
Going back to the neutral spine.
Bring the legs through to sit on your butt.
We're going to extend both legs out in front.
We're going to pick right foot up.
Cross it over the left knee.
Try to get whole foot on the floor.
Try to press both sit bones strongly into the mat.
So you can hold here.
Or if it feels good, you can tuck that left foot back.
As long as both sit bones still connected.
So we're really grounding today.
Take those hands. Press into the sit bones there.
Grab onto the outside of the hips.
Cross down.
Feel that connection.
Then try to sit a little taller up out of that crown.
As I have really lifts.
When you're next, inhale.
Left arm reaches up.
We're taking it across the right knee.
So you can just do the little tuck there with fingertips pointed up.
I like to fold the arms down and grab on.
Either way is fine.
Right hand comes behind you.
Inhale to sit taller.
Another turn and look over that right shoulder.
As we look back here, remember where we came from.
All the things that have made us who we are today.
Feel grounded in that past experience here.
Two more deep breaths.
Inhale to sit taller.
Exhale to twist further.
When you're next, inhale.
Both arms come up.
Back to the front.
Exhale, both hands come over to your left side.
Just tense the fingers.
Feel that grounding energy and do that opposite twist.
Just breathing there for a moment.
Both hips still really rounded.
Then inhale, arms come up.
Exhale, place the hands.
Take both legs out.
Shake, shake, shake, shake.
Left leg comes over right knee.
You can stay there or you can tuck it in.
Sign grounded hips.
Really ground them.
But a lot of energy behind that grounding.
You really want to be as rooted as possible.
Sit taller.
Right arm up.
Find that elbow.
Hook it.
Link it, whatever.
Inhale to sit tall.
Exhale the twist.
Left hand blocks up.
Reach in here.
The spine goes longer.
Each exhale, you can twist a little bit more.
Inhale, both arms reach up.
Exhale, both hands to the right.
Ground, press, end it up.
Find the counter twist.
Inhale, arms up.
Exhale, place them next to the hips.
Both legs come out.
Little shake, shake, shake.
We're going for a forward bend and then we get to go to the mat.
That's like super exciting.
Here, bend the knees.
Bend the knees really deep, like more than you think you need to.
And then we're going to find chest to thighs.
So really, walk them up as much as you need to
to find the chest touching the thighs.
It might be a really big walk, that's fine.
We're going to connect that and then we're going to
grab outside edges of the feet
or two fingers around the big toes.
So either option, whatever feels good.
Pull yourself into the thighs.
Once you have that connection,
you feel grounded or you feel safe with that connection
and it feels so good.
You can direct it, inhale, step the heels out.
Exhale, pull yourself back in.
And we're going to stop whenever we can't find that anymore
and we're going to stay until you can find that connection again.
So each time you inhale,
when it's time you exhale, find that spot where you feel safe
and you feel connected again.
If you need to back it up a little, you can.
With each breath, you notice softening in the lower back.
You notice lengthening on the hamstrings.
And then start to let the head go.
Start to soften the shoulders,
even as you're pulling with the biceps.
Soften into that forward bend.
You have eight more breaths here,
which might seem like a million
or it might seem really short.
But you're finding your depth in this pose for today,
which might be different than any other day.
In fact, now it's guaranteed to be a breath than almost any other day.
Find that breath, find it supporting you.
Find the breath rounding you up here.
Find the breath rounding you up here.
Find the breath rounding you up here.
See where I'm losing my breath.
Walk the hands back up.
Hands come right next to the hips.
We're not lifting anything,
we're just pressing into the earth here.
That supports your body to allow your spine to lengthen
without as much gravity pulling on it.
Down in the head lifts up.
Hips are still touching.
Hands are just pressing to find support there.
Your legs are touching.
Your hands are touching.
Your hips are touching.
Feel all of the energy from the ground all the way down.
Imagine all the layers under you.
Floor beams, depending on what level you're on,
all the layers of the house,
the structure beneath you to the earth,
to all the foundation beneath that.
The layers and layers and layers and layers of earth
right down connecting to the very core of the earth.
Now we're going to softly, softly release that.
You're just going to come all the way down onto your back.
So here,
come all the way down.
Find your elbows, stand the legs out,
come all the way down to lie on your back.
As we rest down on our backs,
you can do any motion that you need to
before you come to a rest position.
So if you need to pull,
knees into the chest,
do a little rock side to side.
There's any other little stretches,
movements you want to do,
go ahead and do them.
And then we're coming to complete stillness on our backs.
And I'm going to come up to sit to talk to you,
but I want you to stay there on your back.
You're going to let everything, everything, everything soften.
Your toes flop out.
Your lower back softens.
Your shoulders soften.
Hips soften.
Your jaw softens.
See if you can soften that place
between the eyebrows, that third eye center.
And remind yourself of your intention one more time.
Feel that grounded sense through your full body now.
Feel the earth and all those layers supporting you,
holding you.
And your only job here is to be completely held.
Maybe you haven't allowed yourself to really be held,
to be supported like that in a while.
Just let go into it.
Feel yourself melting.
Feel any layers that you've been building up
around you to try to do that support on your own.
Feel a few of them shed here.
As you trust the earth,
trust your support networks.
Just going to stay here another moment.
You find your mind wandering.
That's okay.
Just come back to the breath for that intention.
And then, without moving yet,
just start to deepen your breathing.
And with each breath, feel that heart space balloon up.
That heart space is my favorite part to breathe into.
I always feel positive energy come right back when I breathe there.
It's the opposite of what we do in our upset.
We let the shoulders round.
So here, breathe into that heart.
Smile.
Start to stretch or reach in whatever way feels good.
And work your way back up towards you.
Doesn't matter how you get there, you can roll to one side first.
Just work your way back up.
As you arrive back seated on your mat,
you can take your hands together.
We give thanks for this practice.
We give thanks to ourselves for making time for the practice.
We acknowledge that for yourself.
And then we take all of that groundedness that we feel here.
And we know that we have the ability to find this at any moment.
Any second, when we feel ungrounded, can text a friend.
You can take those deep breaths, those expansive breaths.
And touch the earth.
Touch something with those fingertips.
Ground yourself.
Feel the earth.
You can find it.
Know that you can find it.
And close your eyes here.
We're going to end the class with 1-0.
When we are just listening and healing.
See you next time.
