- Hello, my darling friend. Welcome back to Center. It's Day 24. Can you believe it? And the opportunity to explore continues. (snaps) Let's get started. (light music) Alright, let's begin today in Sukhasana, the cross-legged seat. Hands can rest gently on the knees. Palms face up. And let's drop right in. Tuck the chin. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take a deep breath in through the nose. And we're gonna blow it out through the mouth like you were blowing out birthday candles, so with pursed lips. Inhale in again, just like that. Exhale through pursed lips. And one more just like that. Now seal the lips. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe with me. In. Breathe out. Breathe in, this time hold the breath. Pause at the top, relax the shoulders. Relax the skin of the face. Sit up a little taller, and empty it all out. Lovely. Left hand comes to the earth. Inhale. Right fingertips reach up to the sky, and then over. Big stretch here. You can really reach the left hand, maybe sinking the left elbow towards the ground. Keep the right hip heavy. Nice. Then come through center, and just take it to the other side. Big breath to find length in the left side body. And then use your exhale to hug those low ribs in a bit, and explore the stretch here. Breathing deep. And then come back through center. One more time to each side. Finishing up here, take it to the other side if you haven't already. And then coming back to center. Palms now face down on the knees. We're just gonna take the chest forward, around. Chin to chest as you come back, and then repeat. Forward, around, back. Moving in a circle. Exploring the sensation here. Exploring movement in the spine, the shoulders, the hips. And then reverse the direction. And then allow this circle to get smaller and smaller and smaller until you are back all the way. Spiral in to center. Head over the heart, heart over the pelvis. Good. Squeeze the shoulders up to the ears as you breathe in. Exhale, let 'em drop. Twice more. Inhale, squeeze and lift. Exhale, let 'em drop. Last time. Squeeze and lift. Inhale. Exhale, let it go. Interlace the fingertips behind your back. You can square the wrists here. Aw, Benji. And we're gonna lift up through the armpit chest. Imagine you have gills here, so you're breathing into this area of body. Whatever that means to you. Just see what happens. Explore. Explore that visual. And then release the bind. Right hand comes to the left knee. Inhale. Gentle twist to the left. Exhale. Stay. Draw the belly in. Inhale. Exhale to release. Take it to the other side. Lengthen through the crown. Breathe in. Stay. Exhale. Draw the belly in. Inhale. Lovely. Exhale back to center. Extend the legs out long. You can keep a pretty generous bend in them or you can straighten with a just slight bend. So find what feels good here. Inhale. Reach the arms all the way up and overhead. Exhale. Draw your navel in and back. And then we'll take it up and over into a seated Forward Fold. Inhale to look forward. Open up through the chest. Exhale. Rounding the upper back body, coming into the fold. Use this as an opportunity to deepen your breath. Explore the sensation of your body in this shape. Nice, and then slowly release. We're gonna lean the hands back, just like so. Then we'll bend one knee, and then the other. Then we'll send the hips closer to the heels. You're gonna kick the right foot up. Cross it over the top of the left thigh. Now you get to gauge how intense this is by how close or how far your left heel is. Then everyone, draw your right knee, right thigh bone towards the right edge of your mat and flex your right foot. You can always walk the hands up a little closer for a deeper stretch. Breathe in. Breathe out. And then slowly release, and we'll take it to the other side. Left ankle crosses over. And again, notice, you can kind of explore the left and the right side of the body here. Noticing how they're different. Moving the hands or the heel forward or back. Breathe. And then slowly release. Cross at the ankles. Come through to all fours. So bring your chest all the way forward, then center yourself in the mat. You're gonna drop the elbows down. Forearms parallel. Then we're gonna inhale, drop the belly. Look forward. Tailbone up towards the sky. Knees are underneath the hip points. And then exhale, chin to chest. Round it through. Really drawing the muscles of the low abdominals in and up here. Feel that stretch through the shoulders, the upper back body. And then inhale, open up through the chest. And exhale, rounding through. Supporting the low back by engaging the muscles of the core. Inhale. Open. Exhale, round through. This time as you inhale, open. Press firmly into the tops of the feet, and gently tug your elbows back in space to open up the chest a little more. Nice, and then round through. Last time. Great, walk the knees back. Puppy Posture. Tailbone to the sky. Really melting the weight of the heart down. Opening up through the shoulders. Now press into your palms. Dig into your elbows. Draw the navel up and in as you slide the chest, the heart, all the way through, coming into Sphinx Pose. Press firmly through the pubic bone. Press into the tops of the feet, and find length through the crown of the head. Back of the neck, back of the head’s nice and long here, so not crunched. And we're tugging the shoulders away from the ears. Lovely. Then bend your left knee, and bend your right knee. Inhale in. Exhale. Lift your heart, just your heart, a little bit more. Good, then release the feet back to the mat. Release the forehead back to the mat, and press up to all fours. Lovely. So you can use a blanket or a towel to pad the knees here. We're gonna slowly walk the hands back towards the knees, and then all the way up. So we're coming on to our knees here. Great. Loop the shoulders a couple times. Make sure your knees are underneath your hip points. Once again, press firmly into the tops of the feet. Then bring your hands to the waistline. Draw the elbows back, shoulders together. Inhale in. Exhale, connect to your core. Feel the glutes engage. And you're just gonna lean back just a hair, lifting your heart up to the sky. Lengthening the crown of your head back. That's it. If you're feeling any pain at all, lift up off it and engage the core and the muscles of your glutes. Alright, come back to center. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. Curl the toes under, and sit it back for a breath. Good, lift back up. Press into the tops of the feet. Inhale in. Super small move here. Exhale, navel draws in and up. Low ribs hug in, so I feel my abs turned on here, feel my glutes. And I'm just gonna lean back a hair, lift the chest. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Only go as far that you can still feel your abdominal wall engaged. So we're not going too crazy here. Lovely, then release. We'll bring the hands back down to the mat. Send the right heel back. Left heel back, Plank Pose. Inhale in here. Exhale, belly to Cobra or we're gonna slowly shift forward into an Upward Facing Dog. Draw the shoulder blades together, lift your heart. So find your back bend here. Find your heart opener. Cobra or Up Dog. And then we'll send it to Downward Facing Dog. Meet me there. When you get there, take a deep breath in. And a long, cleansing breath out. Inhale in. Long, cleansing breath out. And last time, just like that. Inhale in. Long, cleansing breath out. Nice. Slowly lower to the knees. This time, bring them together, really together. If this isn't a good option for you on the knees, you can come to a cross-legged seat. We're just going to repeat a little side body stretch here to the left. Inhale in. Exhale, back to center. And to the right. Big breath, big stretch. And exhale, back to center. Beautiful. Come forward, back to Plank Pose. Breathe in. Exhale. Straight to the belly for Cobra or leaning forward, shifting your weight, lifting the thighs, pressing into the tops of the feet, Upward Facing Dog. Inhale in. Exhale. Everyone, meet back, Downward Facing Dog. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Exhale, slowly lower to the knees. This time, keep them wide again. Walk the hands all the way back and up the tops of the thighs. Head over heart, heart over pelvis here. Hands back on the waist. Draw the shoulder blades together. Inhale, lift up from the pelvic floor. Exhale, reconnect. Navel draws to spine. Feel the abdominal wall turn on. So you're gonna stay working here. Drawing the shoulder blades together. Lifting the heart, leaning back just a bit. Or, second option is to slide the hands to the back, fingertips press up, and we support the low back as we lean back. Palms pressing into the sacrum area. Feeling that support. Still feeling that gentle drawing in of the navel. Fully supported here, muscles of the neck are soft and easy. Crown of the head extended. Open up through the chest. Lift your heart, breathe in. Exhale. Draw the navel to the spine to lift it back up to center, and come to rest on the heels. Breathe in. Breathe out, just notice how you feel. Exploring some new territory here with a deeper back bend. Camel. Alright, come forward. Take it to Plank. Inhale in. Exhale, lower to the belly. Inhale, Cobra or Up Dog. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. In Down Dog, bend your right knee, and turn to look underneath your right armpit. Feel that stretch in your left calf, and then switch. Right heel down. Bend your left knee into center, and turn to look underneath your left armpit. Now, both heels down. Draw your navel in and up. Think about there being a hurdle in the middle of your mat horizontally. You're gonna go up and over the hurdle with your center. So center's gonna go up as you shift forward into Plank. Send your gaze a little forward and down, and then go up and back over the hurdle with your center to Downward Facing Dog. Three more times, just like that. Up and over, rolling through Plank. And then all the way up and back, Downward Facing Dog. Play here by really initiating this movement from center. And the next time you're in Downward Facing Dog, take a deep breath in. Exhale, lower the knees. Keep them hip width apart. Walk the hands all the way back and up. And we rise up one last time to explore here, so bring the hands to the waistline. Draw the shoulder blades together. Keep the left hand where it is and the right hand, you're gonna stay lifted here. No back bending for now. You're gonna reach the right hand all the way up, around, and back. All the way up, around, and back. Try to keep the hip points stable here as you work. And then reverse it. Breathe. And then switch, left arm. Try to keep the hips stable. So, that means your left hip’s not coming back with the motion. And then reverse it. Then both hands to the waistline. Bring your awareness to the pelvic floor. Find that lift, that engagement, that elevator image of drawing energy up from the pelvic floor, engaging those muscles. Let that draw the muscles of the low belly in. We can stay here, working in this shape. Just leaning back. Working with integrity. Maybe we're ready to bring the palms to the low back again as we lift the chest, the chin, and start to lean back. Drawing the shoulder blades together. Or now, maybe the option to reach one arm all the way back to the heel. Maybe the other arm all the way back to the heel. And we lift the chest. Everyone, think about sending your hip points forward. Pressing firmly into the tops of the feet. Engaging the glutes and the abs here. Lifting the chest, lifting the chin. Lengthening through the crown. Breathe. Stay with that soft gaze here. Inhale. To come out of the pose, bring the hands back to the low back or the waistline. Draw the navel in on an exhale. Keep that soft gaze, that focus forward as you come all the way up. And then come to sit back gently again, maintaining that gaze, that soft focus. Slowly bring your gaze down, gently past your nose. Find just a gentle, almost reverent bow. Take a second here to feel whatever, whatever's coming up. If you're uncomfortable on the knees, if you haven't already, you might shift to a comfortable seat of your choice. Just capturing this moment of presence. Noticing how you feel. Alright, now let's gently shift to the buttocks. Come to Sadasana. You're gonna bring the left heel in, right heel in. And just walk the hands out, should feel this nice, yummy stretch in the low back here. If this isn't right for your body, you can try a seated Forward Fold. Maybe find some soft, easy movement here that feels good. As we start to wrap this up, draw your attention inward. Keep an active breath. Really reach your sits bones to the ground to find that nice, juicy release in the low back. And then walk the hands up. Switch legs. Right heel in, left leg to follow. Same thing. Nice active breath. Notice where your thoughts are going here. Find any soft, easy movement that feels good. And keep returning back to the sound of your breath. With the eyes closed or practicing this soft gaze. Slowly, bring it back up, and bring the hands together at the heart space. Lengthen through the crown. Just take a moment to pay some damn respect to you. The hardest part is showing up, and yet, here we are once again. And we're gonna do it again tomorrow. And we're all coming to this with a different “Why”. You don't have to know your “Why”, but just remember that. And maybe take the time, especially in this last leg of the journey, to explore that. I love you so much. Take a deep breath in. And let's all exhale to bow the head to the heart. That's it for today. I'll see you tomorrow. (light music)