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Hi everyone! Welcome to this session 
of what I call energy flow yoga

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This yoga class is designed to 
support you in your meditative practice

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When we're speaking about yoga 
we're also speaking about non-duality

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because yoga itself is a non-dual system,
which a lot of people,

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especially in our modern 
culture, don't realize.

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where normally our focus is on 
the posture, as though the stretch

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is what yoga is. But of course if you've
looked into yoga even a little bit

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you'll realize that the first limb of yoga
is posture not even necessarily stretch.

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Often it's referring to sitting in
meditative posture.

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And the other seven limbs are all 
pointing to deeper States both within

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our energy our psychology, referring to 
the breath and ultimately to Consciousness

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and so this practice is really designed
around incorporating the Asana,

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which we will be doing. Which
will be various postures and flows,

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with the most important aspect of the
practice which is concentration

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awareness, non-resistance.
Just like in the meditative practice.

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So we can learn to actually go 
into our yoga postures flows,

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whatever it is we're doing, 
using the same principle

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and so that is the most 
important part of the practice

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you could kind of say 
the stretch is secondary.

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So for this session we're going to
go into a format which I often use

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starting with breathwork which 
in yoga is called Pranayama

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and then we'll be moving into 
body stretches or holds.

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Normally from a Yin perspective. So Yin
stretches and also Yin flows I call them

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that build up Prana in the body. Prana
actually refers to Life Force energy

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and if you've heard the word Chi,
then it's the same thing except that

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would be the word used 
more in the Chinese system.

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And so as we're working that the
mindfulness concentration feeling

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are a priority and then the stretch is
just something that's going to happen

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So, we'll laid in, we'll begin lying on 
our back so let's just take a moment

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and find your mat I'm going to be sitting
while I give you the instructions

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when I teach, what I'm trying to do is
teach clearly enough where you don't have

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to open your eyes often, that way your
attention is focused inwards on feeling.

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So I'll give you another moment here
to just find the mat, lying down

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in shavasana posture, you can lie down
with your hands facing up preferably

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with an open heart posture, but if that's
not good for your shoulder then just

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lie down with whatever position
works best for your body.

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In the case of prana, that we're talking
about on a deep level of practice

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pranayama sometimes is referred to
only as the very natural breath

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that occurs when you're in deep meditation

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But for the sake of these practices
Pranyama will refer to any way

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of working with your breath. so we'll
be manipulating the breath first

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and then we'll eventually be going 
into the natural breath.

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So as you're lay there, the first thing
you want to do is notice your entire body,

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and just feel into what's going on
right now from head to toe

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kind of taking in information
not labeling anything

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so if there's tension you can 
acknowledge that if you feel good

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maybe there's something like anxiety
you can acknowledge that and

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these things, these feelings, these things
that we're noticing inside the body

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and the mind and in the emotional
system are part of our practice.

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And so we'll do our very best to just 
allow them to be there as we go through.

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So let's begin by noticing the breath
rising and falling at the navel,

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you're just going to notice the belly
expanding and contracting

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like a wave, and just allow your attention
to notice that as you breathe

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there's an expansion in the belly and as 
you exhale there's a release in the belly

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going back down. And we'll just stay 
there for a couple breaths

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before we begin to deepen it.
So as you're feeling into your breath

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now begin to deepen it 
towards your collar bone

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so you're going to inhale from 
the belly, once the belly feels full

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you're filling up the sternum and then
the upper chest right to the collar bone

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so when you're into a full exaggerated
breath, your inhale feels like a vessel

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from the bottom to the top, and the
collar bone being the top of the glass.

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now we're going to exhale and release from
the collar bone all the way back down

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until you get to the lower belly. 
So this is called diaphragmic breathing,

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and one of the main areas we want to
hone in on, is the diaphragm itself moving

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as you inhale and exhale. So you're going
to feel that underneath your rib cage.

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So for this first breath, think about it
more as you're not trying to sink in,

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you're trying to unlock the physical
breath structure, by using a little bit of

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strength here on the breath. And you'll
feel the ribs opening. You'll probably

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notice where you may be holding some
chronic tensions. Let's just take

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a couple more of those, helping us get
into the body to prepare for practice

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Something that can be helpful while you're
doing this and throughout the practice

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is to relax all your face muscles.
So relax your jaw, relax your forehead

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and your eyes, your mouth, just let
everything go and try to feel more

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into a surrendered state. And then 
we'll go into the second breath.

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So we've started to get into the body.
The second breath is focused much more

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on activating the 
parasympathetic nervous system.

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This is part of the goal of this practice
because when we're in parasympathetic

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everything's working right
and we're in a relaxed state.

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So to help augment that, I'm going
to focus on a prolonged exhale

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so let's begin still doing
your diaphragm breathing

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we start start with the count of 3 3 6.
So the first number is your inhale.

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You're going to inhale to the 
count of three, filling up.

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You don't have to fill it to the
point where you feel strained

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and once you fill up, you're going
to hold your breath for three

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and let everything relax. 
So when you're holding the breath

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don't try to force anything
just let it settle and then exhale

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to the long count of six out the nose.
So you're inhaling three,

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holding for three, and exhaling for six.

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And I know there's many of us at
every level of practice here,

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so some of you might right away
move up to 4 4 8 or 5 5 10

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if you find that your natural 
breath control is much deeper,

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but the key here is don't move up
by straining, you would only add a number

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if it feels like that's softening into your
body, and you're not having to force it.

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So inhaling first number, holding the
second number and the exhale

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equals the inhale and hold. So let's say
you eventually moved up to 6 6 12

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then you would always have the exhale
equaling the inhale and hold.

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And this is a great breath to do whenever
you need it. Even during the day

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you can take a couple minutes and do this,
and it will help to reset your system.

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We'll just stay here 
for another minute or so

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Noticing where your tension is. 
So one of the other key points

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of the practice that we're doing 
and about to go into is

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we want to find the tension. 
So it's a little different than

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what we're used to, which is trying to
get away from the tension normally.

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In this type of practice
you're going to allow yourself

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to sink into the tension, and 
be present with it as you find it.

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So let's finish one more 
of those complete breaths,

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whatever number you're at 
and then you're going to let it go.

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Once you let it go, simply notice 
the body from head to toe to fingertip

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and you will already notice that 
you're a little bit more in your body

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most likely even after doing this 
for about 5 minutes or so

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Now as we move into the stretches, 
we're going to do this practice

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mostly on a lower body sequence 
we're going to be working the hips

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and the legs and the spinal column and 
then we'll be doing another practice

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after this, that will focus 
more on the upper body.

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So you're lined down you're just going
to turn over, or I'm going to turn over

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and we're going to bend the knees 
we'll have the feet flat

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going to have the palms down by my side,
so we're going to work into what's called

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spinal breathing. So I've got the shoulder
blades underneath me

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now notice where your hip bones are
and you want to have your knees

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the same distance apart and your heels 
so that creates a straight line of energy.

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Another big aspect of this particular 
practice is we're going to build up

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a lot of energy and Prana 
circulating in the body.

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I've got the palms down shoulder weights
underneath me I'm going to pull my chin

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into my throat slightly, 
so the back of my neck is open

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and then the last thing is to tuck your
tailbone all the way between your legs

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until there's no arch in your back and
you're going to see that's already

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a fairly deep internal stretch on the 
back of your abdominal cavity.

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This position here is what it feels like
when you complete your exhale.

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Chin tucked, tailbone tucked, palms and
shoulder blades down

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and there's two parts of this breath.
The first part is just the spine,

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as I inhale, come into a deep arch in my
spine, pull the breath all the way

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to the upper chest and squeeze 
your shoulder blades together.

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and as you exhale, tuck your chin 
and tailbone pull the diaphragm up,

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and squeeze the breath out of your body.

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Okay so we're going to inhale
expand and arch.

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Exhale release, tuck 
the chin and tailbone.

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Right now you're still working the breath
that means we're not really concerned

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with the natural breath yet, we'll be
doing that more in the holds. So here

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you're deepening the breath and utilizing
the breath to move your spinal column.

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We're just going to do a couple of these

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and then we will be adding
the upper body to it.

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Make sure I'm not going to
get hooked on the mic.

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So on your next inhale, 
you've exhaled tucked everything in,

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on your inhale I'm going to start 
to float the arms up like this,

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now as I do, I want to splay the fingers
wide, rotate the palms outwards

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and then reach all the way up into 
a full arch of my spine like that,

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[ this cord is kind of pulling up short ]

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We are now going to exhale, as the exhale
happens the palms are down, and notice

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that as I exhale further and further down,
I tuck the chin and tailbone,

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I flatten everything out and press
the palms into the floor.

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And then you release, relax,
inhale, receive the breath.

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Expand, open the ribs, 
rotate the palms out, exhale.

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Palms are facing the floor coming down

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Notice how deep of an elongation that is 
to your spine as you tuck the chin

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and tailbone and 
bring the arms down.

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It's actually one of the 
deepest spinal stretches

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because you really can't get
any further on elongation

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unlike a forward fold, when you're bent.
When I do this and I draw the chin in

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and pull the tailbone through 
the whole spine is lengthened

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and being pulled up and down, 
so you're decompressing the discs.

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Let's work that for one more.

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Exhaling, tucking and then just relax 
everything now and simply notice the spine

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So throughout the practice we'll be 
checking in and just noticing

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what's going on. Feel your body and
be aware of any sensation of

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internal energy which normally is going
to feel like flow, expansion, tingling

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in the body, sometimes heat. We're going 
to go through a full Yin stretch

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for each hip now. So from this position 
I'm going to take my left knee

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and pull it to my chest and I'll explain
one thing here on Yin stretching.

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The more you let go, the more you're in a 
Yin stretch. So when I'm in a true Yin

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stretch, I'm not flexing the target muscle
I'm allowing it to expand and release.

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So what that looks like is I would take my
left hand and wrap it around the outside

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or the inside of my knee and I'm going to
pull the leg open to the left side

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as far out as I can and then just let
everything settle, and then

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your right leg is just going to hang over
to the right side on its own

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I want my chin tucked in a little bit and 
you don't have to do anything here.

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You can keep the arm down by your side or 
maybe even better would be bring the arm

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like that at 90° and it creates 
a counterweight for the left leg.

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Now my job is to simply focus my attention
on the area that's being stretched

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So my awareness is on the left groin
and on the breath at the same time and

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this is the most important component 
of the practice is maintain

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the awareness focused and whenever
you notice that you're back in your mind,

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which will happen, find your breath 
and find the body part.

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So my attention is over here on the left
groin, and what I'm attempting to do

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is simply be present with it, and not
resist anything that's occurring

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just like you would do when you're 
meditating you're witnessing it

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and allowing it to naturally unfold
through the weight of your arm

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you don't even have to pull the leg down.

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And after about 45 seconds or so the 
tendons will start stretching so in the

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Yin stretch you're actually opening up the
connective tissue not just the muscles.

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We're going to draw the left knee in now.
Inhale and just feel that stretch that

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just took place in the drawing.
Exhale, pull the left knee to your chest,

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and then sit your left ankle on your right
knee and we're going to get ready to go

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into the hip opener. So I'll give you two
options here. The first one is slightly

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more intense than the second. Your left
hand is going to slide between your legs

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and grab the back of your right knee. Your
right hand meets it, you allow

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the right knee to hang loosely and then
you pull the right knee towards you

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until you hit a level that you think
is a maximum of 95%

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So again, you're not forcing any stretches.
This is often a misconception in

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modern yoga where it becomes really
more like a competition against yourself

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or other people. You want to listen to
your body so if I'm at about 95%

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that means there's a little bit of room to
give, that means the muscle is not locked

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now my attention goes to my left glut and
immediately I find my breath and I begin

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to allow the breath to really take on a 
natural rhythm which will be a little

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deeper than when you started so you're 
both aware of the natural breath

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coming and going and you're 
aware of the left hip.

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Now the alternative if this was 
too much for you is to keep

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your right foot down, reach up and grab
your left leg in the same position,

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like this, and just pull the leg towards 
you, so it's almost the same stretch

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not quite as intense. And we'll be 
here for a few more breaths.

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Something else that's helpful is to keep
the chin tucked into the throat

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that's always lengthening your neck and
spine. So remember that you're not trying

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to change anything, you're simply
allowing the awareness to sink into

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the area that's being stretched and over
time that awareness is what will do all

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the work for you. As you know, you can't
force yourself to relax and you can't

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force yourself to release tension. 
You can try with the thinking mind

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and normally all it does is the opposite
which is create more tension.

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These stretches can easily be held for 
5 minutes if you want to do

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this on your own and that's 
typical in a Yin practice

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Then from here I'm going to allow 
the right foot to come down and

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I'll bring my arms out palms up in tea
posture. I'm going to wrap the left leg

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around the right leg and then hook
the ankles. If you can

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and if you can't that's fine. When I'm 
twisting I want to do it on the exhale,

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so I'm going to take a deep breath in and
then exhale drop your legs over to the

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right as you turn your head to the left 
and just let everything again settle,

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surrender to gravity.

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In this position now, obviously you're 
opening the outside of your hip

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but you're also opening up your chest
and your starting especially the chest

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on the left side so if you notice your 
left shoulder one little thing you

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could add here, is to slightly contract
your left shoulder blade towards your

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spine opening your chest a little further.
And your head is turned away from the legs

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If this gets a little intense on your hips
you would place a pillow under the outside

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of your leg supporting, so that you're 
not going too far over.

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Your awareness is directed to the outside
of the hip and also the left rib cage

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or the left shoulder. 
So this whole general area.

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Always check in make sure you're relaxing
your face muscles they're not clenching.

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So remember what you're doing is you're
meditating while you stretch,

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and truthfully that's much more clear 
definition of yoga, as yoga means to

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bring together or coalesce. I'll talk a
little bit more about that later

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in another class. From here we inhale
center, unwind the legs, and then we'll

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just release them and give the 
hips a break there for a second.

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You're going to place the hands down
over the hip bones. I'm going to take

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a breath into the hip bones, and exhale
down and out my legs like a wave.

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Okay so just breathe where you feel
the hip bones and then follow

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your attention down your legs and out
as you exhale this is called sweeping,

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sometimes it's called flushing, there's
different names for these techniques

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and they're all based on your ability to
concentrate. The more that you can

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concentrate, the more 
you can have an effect.

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And notice how different the hip you just
worked on feels to the side you haven't.

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Then from here we're going 
to bend the knees, feet flat.

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I'll begin by opening the right groin. 
So pull your right knee to center

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and then wrap yourhand around the inside,
the outside or another alternative is

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to bring your arm up underneath the leg
like that, so it's really up to you

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they're all going to do something
quite similar I'm going to draw

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the leg out to the right side and then
allow the left leg to just flop over

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and hang, then bring your left arm 90°
palms up, tuck your chin, and surrender

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00:21:09,911 --> 00:21:15,251
into the floor, surrender to gravity.
begin to be aware of both

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the right groin and your breath.

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Notice what is a deep but smooth breath,
when you're not controlling it you'll

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notice that your breath is slowly taking 
on a deeper rhythm without having to do

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00:21:33,685 --> 00:21:40,179
anything. And you may also notice that
now and again you require a deep breath

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so listen to that if all of a sudden your
body wants to take an exaggerated

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deep breath. maybe you're aware 
of some tension then go with that.

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And you'll see that little by little the 
longer you hold these the more

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that the area opens. So in a future class
we'll perhaps explore during the full

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five minute holds. We're going to bring
the right knee back to center now.

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And then take your right knee, just bring
it into your chest for a sec and take a

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breath and then we'll sit the right ankle
on the left knee, and as you did

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on the other side, thread through, put the
right arm between your legs,

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grab the back of your left knee,
left hand meets it, relax the left knee,

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00:22:36,758 --> 00:22:41,928
tuck your chin in, and pull the knee
towards you until you hit a maximum

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00:22:41,928 --> 00:22:48,978
of 95% then hold steady and begin to
sink your attention and breath into your

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00:22:48,978 --> 00:22:53,968
right glute. And the alternative is the 
same if this gets too much

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you have your right foot down and 
you're carrying your left leg towards you.

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I didn't emphasize this on the other
side but make sure that your knee the

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one that you're grabbing is completely
relaxed so you're not tensing up.

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If you were to flex your left knee even a
little bit, notice how that starts

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00:23:12,710 --> 00:23:18,550
locking up your hips so just 
keep that leg hanging loosely.

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00:23:18,917 --> 00:23:23,400
keeping the chin tucked in, you could
also try drawing the shoulder blades

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a little bit towards the floor and that
will help open up the chest.

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When I'm practicing my eyes are almost
always closed, because then I can feel

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much more than when they're open. And
notice that when the eyes are open,

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how that might take your attention 
away from your body.

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And then from here the left foot is going
to come down and then I'm going

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00:23:55,007 --> 00:23:59,727
to bring the arms out 90° palms up 
or down if that's better for you.

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Wrap the leg over, the right leg over 
the left, take a deep breath in

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00:24:05,302 --> 00:24:10,344
and then drop over on the exhale just
allowing it to release as you go over.

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Your head's going to turn away from 
the legs and you want to keep

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00:24:15,018 --> 00:24:18,719
your right shoulder on the mat. 
So if you were to go too far over,

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00:24:18,719 --> 00:24:23,018
you might see that the right shoulder is
pulling up. Try to use this right shoulder

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00:24:23,018 --> 00:24:27,518
as a gauge. If it's on the mat I'll allow
myself to go over. And then what will

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00:24:27,518 --> 00:24:30,945
happen is you'll not just feel the hip
opener you'll feel the stretch

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00:24:30,945 --> 00:24:35,303
move up to here. And this is where
you can also slightly squeeze

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00:24:35,303 --> 00:24:39,303
your right shoulder blade 
inwards if you prefer.

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00:24:40,408 --> 00:24:43,701
Couple more breaths here.

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Being aware of the feeling in the
stretch and the breath itself.

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00:24:57,705 --> 00:25:03,186
And then inhaling next inhale we'll
bring the knees back up to center.

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00:25:03,186 --> 00:25:09,476
Unwind the legs and just let your
legs go here.

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00:25:11,251 --> 00:25:19,101
Bring the arms down, feel into
your entire body line from head to toe.

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00:25:24,584 --> 00:25:28,404
What do you notice 
different in your body now?

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00:25:28,512 --> 00:25:34,709
After having done, I believe 
probably around 25 minutes.

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00:25:36,258 --> 00:25:40,258
So 25 minutes goes pretty quick
when you're mindful.

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00:25:40,258 --> 00:25:44,258
And notice how you can feel your body.

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00:25:44,258 --> 00:25:48,258
Probably quite a bit more 
than when you started.

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00:25:48,258 --> 00:25:52,711
The most important thing to remember
is that that feeling of embodiment

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00:25:52,711 --> 00:25:56,711
is not coming really from the stretches,

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00:25:56,711 --> 00:26:00,581
it's coming from your awareness,
that you've been bringing

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00:26:00,581 --> 00:26:03,194
and cultivating into the body.

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00:26:03,194 --> 00:26:08,670
The effect of that, is it opens up all the
Nadis which is another word for meridians

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00:26:08,670 --> 00:26:13,270
in the system and you'll 
be able to feel that.

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00:26:13,270 --> 00:26:18,774
Notice any areas that you can't feel yet
and that might give you an indicator

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00:26:18,774 --> 00:26:22,774
where the energy is not flowing as
strongly in the body.

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00:26:23,921 --> 00:26:27,661
So we're just going to do a little scan
for the next couple minutes

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00:26:27,661 --> 00:26:30,501
before we finish up.

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00:26:32,527 --> 00:26:38,100
There're many forms of scanning
and if you've done Yoga Nidra,

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00:26:38,100 --> 00:26:42,100
I highly recommend it, 
It often involves body scans.

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00:26:42,100 --> 00:26:45,740
Then the deeper ones will go into some
of the energy rhythms in the body

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00:26:45,740 --> 00:26:48,856
which we'll explore over time.

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00:26:48,856 --> 00:26:53,016
So let's just do a generalized
scan with our breath.

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00:26:53,016 --> 00:26:58,336
First thing I'll do, is notice my
right hip and the right hip joint,

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00:26:58,336 --> 00:27:02,336
and you're going to take a 
deep breath into your right hip.

321
00:27:04,207 --> 00:27:08,207
And then exhale slowly down,
and out your right leg.

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00:27:12,758 --> 00:27:17,808
Noticing all the sensations 
and again same thing.

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00:27:26,422 --> 00:27:32,174
And as you do that pay attention
to what are the sensations .

324
00:27:32,176 --> 00:27:35,406
it's quite interesting. If you've 
never felt energy before,

325
00:27:35,406 --> 00:27:38,377
it's not as hard as you think.

326
00:27:38,377 --> 00:27:41,797
Same thing on the left hip. Bring your
attention over and we'll be doing

327
00:27:41,797 --> 00:27:45,797
two breaths into the left hip.

328
00:27:47,401 --> 00:27:52,687
Breathing into the hip socket exhaling
down as though it all just flushes down

329
00:27:52,687 --> 00:27:56,687
and out your foot on the left side.

330
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:13,770
Finishing the breath you're on now,
notice both of your legs

331
00:28:13,770 --> 00:28:21,170
let the breath just breathe itself now and
just simply notice your hips and your legs

332
00:28:21,204 --> 00:28:28,204
and what do you feel. Do both legs feel
equal or can you feel the circulation

333
00:28:28,204 --> 00:28:33,394
more on one side, which is more common
as the energy circulates in our body often

334
00:28:33,394 --> 00:28:38,185
not in balance. Normally one side we'll 
have more energy, and one side

335
00:28:38,185 --> 00:28:42,891
not quite as much. Just like one side
of the body is often weaker

336
00:28:42,891 --> 00:28:46,891
and one side is tighter.

337
00:28:48,764 --> 00:28:52,764
Okay now take one or two hands
and place it over your navel

338
00:28:54,253 --> 00:28:58,253
and bring all of your awareness to the
belly button. The the belly button is

339
00:28:58,253 --> 00:29:02,253
considered the life force center of the
whole body another way that

340
00:29:02,253 --> 00:29:06,343
we learn to ground our energy
is by focusing at the belly.

341
00:29:06,343 --> 00:29:13,293
So as you inhale, using your imagination,
imagine a little ball of energy expanding.

342
00:29:15,674 --> 00:29:20,438
Maybe a little sun and as you exhale, 
it just settles there.

343
00:29:20,438 --> 00:29:25,758
And again as you inhale, even
more energy comes to the navel.

344
00:29:25,807 --> 00:29:29,807
We'll do this a couple times.

345
00:29:34,046 --> 00:29:38,898
Always noticing when the Mind tries to
wander. If it does, gently come back

346
00:29:38,898 --> 00:29:42,968
to what you're doing, 
or what you're not doing.

347
00:29:50,245 --> 00:29:54,508
So finishing one more breath, 
let that go and we'll get ready

348
00:29:54,508 --> 00:29:59,408
to close out the practice, which in this
style that I'm teaching we always do

349
00:29:59,408 --> 00:30:04,221
that in sitting. So if you can, just roll
over into fetal posture on one side.

350
00:30:12,365 --> 00:30:18,840
And then we'll make our way back up to
sitting. If this was a longer practice

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00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:23,985
then often we would sit in Savasana for
a longer period of time just allowing the

352
00:30:23,985 --> 00:30:29,488
integration factor. but after doing 
all that, you probably will notice

353
00:30:29,488 --> 00:30:34,753
that sitting is a little bit easier 
than when you began.

354
00:30:37,123 --> 00:30:42,231
So try to find a good stacked posture,
the sit bones are in place,

355
00:30:42,231 --> 00:30:46,231
there's not an exaggerate forward or 
rear arch in the lower back.

356
00:30:46,231 --> 00:30:51,381
Shoulders are up and over brought 
into place, the chin is tucked in gently.

357
00:30:51,381 --> 00:30:56,145
Looking forward, just feel into 
this strong posture for a moment.

358
00:30:56,521 --> 00:31:00,521
Once again, closing the eyes.

359
00:31:01,727 --> 00:31:08,670
Take a couple of deep breaths in 
and deep breaths out, letting it go.

360
00:31:16,530 --> 00:31:19,970
And then we're going to finish 
with the closing movement,

361
00:31:19,970 --> 00:31:24,390
I'm going to bring my arms out to 
the side and we'll do this three times.

362
00:31:24,390 --> 00:31:30,160
Inhaling up, imagine you're gathering 
energy between your arms, and exhale down,

363
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:35,776
sweep it through both your body and 
the energy field around the body.

364
00:31:35,776 --> 00:31:41,453
If you want to bring in a visualization,
you could visualize the energy or a color

365
00:31:41,453 --> 00:31:45,773
or just try to be in the feeling center.

366
00:31:46,803 --> 00:31:52,633
The key as always is to be present, and 
when you're present then something magical

367
00:31:52,633 --> 00:31:56,633
can happen that normally doesn't happen
when we're stuck in our mind.

368
00:32:08,264 --> 00:32:12,054
And the next time you come up 
the palms come together.

369
00:32:12,054 --> 00:32:17,504
When you're ready, then you'll come down
into prayer posture in front of the chest.

370
00:32:17,504 --> 00:32:22,784
We always close focused at the heart.
Taking a moment here, noticing your heart.

371
00:32:22,784 --> 00:32:26,784
Maybe there's an intention or prayer.

372
00:32:31,581 --> 00:32:37,081
And then we'll close taking a bow.

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00:32:38,062 --> 00:32:42,062
Namaste. 
Thank you.