Yoga for the Second Chakra

Yeah. Okay. All right. Let's start today by supta baddha konasana, lying on your back. Soles of the feet together, knees out. Second chakra. Second chakra. You ready? You're finally here. You get to do some yoga. Hey, finally you got your orange. Breathe deep in and out through the nose. Let's go ahead and let our bodies relax down into the mat. Let your energy start to just go into this teakwood. Begin to hear the sounds of the jungle around you as you slow your breath. Deep inhales, deep exhales. Each breath getting a little bit longer. Everything coming in and out through the nose. Got your orange on for second chakra. Yes, it worked out perfect. I'm into it. I'm here for that. I love it. And let's see if we can even out the breath. So as we breathe in for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, we hold for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Exhale for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Hold. Inhale. Continuing to breathe in and out through the nose. And just take a moment now to cultivate the idea of what you would like to create in this class today. So the second chakra deals with things like creativity, emotions, and sexuality. And whatever it is that you want to make more of in your life or make less of in your life, where you'd like to balance in your life in that second chakra area, I want you to bring that energy into the space. And as we go through our practice today, we will transmute that energy of the second chakra molding it into the form in which we would like it to take today. We don't have to fix every problem that we have. We don't have to come up with a solution for everything. We can just try one little thing. Maybe you'd like to be a little bit more sexy, you know, maybe that's a stagnant energy. Maybe you'd like to move a little more fluidly in your life. Maybe you'd like to find ways to be more creative, to offer that creativity to the world through your yoga sequences, to offer that creativity through your playlists, to offer that creativity through the way in which you dress yourself. Maybe there are emotions that have been running rampant, unchecked in your life, and maybe today we want to just pull in one of those emotions. Or maybe today is the day that we release. Maybe today is the day that we cry. Knowing that that's all right. Bring the knees together and roll over onto your right side. Take a moment here to notice with detached awareness what your body feels like right now. I want you to just take a moment to see What does your stomach feel like? What do your toes feel like? What do your knees feel like? What are your quads feeling like? What does your skin feel like? What does the fascia feel like? The webbing that's going around your muscles. Where's your brain at? How are you feeling today? How is your brain? Noticing, are your thoughts hurried or are they calm? But not making any judgments on that, just noticing. We'll touch back with this energy later, but right now we just want to make an awareness, taking an inventory without judgment. One of the greatest gifts is to take an inventory of ourselves and our body and our lives without making judgment, without passing any kind of emotion on that, but just saying, "Hmm, okay, that's interesting. That's where I'm feeling that today. That's a little bit different than yesterday. That's a little bit different than this afternoon." And then once we have that, we can take action. So from here, we're going to press into that left hand and come up into an easy seated pose, bringing the hands to the heart center in Anjali Mudra. We call into the space the Divine Spirit, God, Universe, higher power of each of our own understanding, whatever that means. And may that force guide us through our practice, guide us through our day. May it be a beacon of light when we feel darkness. May it soothe us with a warm hug when we feel fear. We may offer ourselves up in service to that power through the sound of Om. Taking a deep inhale. Om. Om. And letting your eyes flutter open, spread your fingertips wide, roll over on your knees, coming into your first Adho Mukha Svanasana, Downward Facing Dog. Good. And just get some movement today. Start to move the hips back and forth and maybe start to roll the spine, rolling onto your palms a little bit higher. Maybe we lift a leg and we let the hips kind of open. Maybe we bring it back down, the other side. Just letting that energy move fluidly through our bodies, however feels right to us today. And then when you're ready, walking your hands forward to your feet. Bending the knees really nice and deep, bring your feet really wide and grab onto opposite elbows. Just hang down, let that energy really move back and forth. Maybe bring your hands to the ground. And like a wave moving the spine up and down. Inhaling up, exhaling down, feeling it like a serpent in your spine. Really moving up and down. Let's try to take that spine and just move it up. Bring it up, bring it down, bring it up. Really move your spine. Come on, get the Pura Vida. It's a serpent in your spine. There's a squiggly snake. There's a squiggly snake. This is— I'm a snake. Oh, snake, move it. Yeah, start to wake up the spine. And then we'll roll it all the way up to arms to the sky, hands to the heart center. Inhale, reach the arms to the sky. Exhale, dive forward. Inhale, look up, lengthen. Exhale, plant your hands, step into a high plank position. If you're at the back of your mat, you're going to have to walk forward. Lower down all the way to the ground this time. Point the toes back. And then inhale, lift the chest off the ground, and then lift the hands off the ground. And then exhale, lower down. And then inhale, lift the chest off the ground, lift the hands off the ground. And then exhale, lower down. And then inhale, lift the chest, press the hands into the ground, lifting higher. Press the tops of the thighs into the ground. Let the shoulders roll back and then come down. Curl under the toes, press back. Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward facing dog. Breathing deep here, in and out through the nose. Deep inhales, deep exhales. Ooh, look at this. Somebody left a Jade Traveler here. Mm. From here, we're gonna start at our spine and just begin to roll, coming onto your toes like this, tucking the chin in. Coming forward and down into your Up Dog, pressing back, roll the spine. Roll the spine forward. Coming down, pressing back, roll the spine. Walk your feet forward to your hands. Inhale, look up, lengthen. Exhale, unfold. Inhale, arms reach to the sky. Exhale, samasthiti, hands at the heart center. Inhale, sweep the arms to the sky. Exhale, dive forward. Inhale, look up, lengthen. Exhale, step, hop, or float. Chaturanga Dandasana. Inhale to your Urdhva Mukha. Exhale, curl under the toes. Adho Mukha. You can move here if you want. You can start to do some of the spinal waves that we did. You can extend a leg up, you can do a little bit of hip work in your down dog. Yesterday we did static strong postures, today we're thinking about really moving that energy, moving it around. And then everybody find their way back into a downward facing dog. Looking forward, step, hop, or float your feet to the front of the mat. You're going to inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale and fold. Inhale, arms reach to the sky. Exhale, hands to the heart center. Good. Again, inhale, arms reach. Exhale, dive forward. Inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale, plant, step, hop, float, chaturanga or to the ground. Inhale, urdhva mukha or cobra. Exhale, curl into the toes, Adho Mukha Svanasana. Getting that movement, fluidity. If it feels uncomfortable for you to really move in these postures, know that you don't have to stick to the static way. You can make that movement your own, however you'd like it. It doesn't have to always look so focused on alignment, which is the way that I like to teach. I love to teach alignment-based yoga. I love to do alignment yoga, but it doesn't always have to be that way. Sometimes we can move. Nothing always has to be— anyway, everything is fluid. Look forward, step, hop, or float your feet to your hands. Inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale and fold. Inhale, arms reach to the sky. Exhale, hands to the heart center. Inhale fluidly, reaching the arms to the sky. Exhaling and folding forward. Inhale, look up and lengthen the spine. Exhale, floating into your chaturanga. Inhale to your urdhva. Exhale to your Adho. Moving the legs, moving the hips, moving the spine, making a little dance out of your Downward facing dog, making it a dancing dog. See, and then that dog barked right at the right time. It's probably the white dog telling the other dogs to leave. Get out of here, German Shepherd dog. Looking forward, step, hop, or float your feet to your hands. You're going to inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale and fold. Inhale, arms reach to the sky. Exhale, hands to the heart center. Last Surya Namaskar. Be on your own breath pace, making sure that you hold that Downward Dog for 5 breaths. And we'll all meet in Samasthiti. Francesca, next time you jump back, see if you can jump straight into Chaturanga with bent elbows instead of high plank. One, it protects the elbows, and two, it's just more fun. Okay, nice breath, Mikel. She's making them long and strong and good. When you reach the front of your mat, just close your eyes in your Samasthiti, feeling your heartbeat at the tips of your fingers. Take a deep inhale. Oh, bend the knees, arms to the sky. Utkatasana. Exhale, dive forward. Inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale, plant the hands, step, hop, or float. Chaturanga. Nice job. Inhale, urdhva. Exhale, Adho. Right foot forward, left foot turns. Inhale, arms to the sky. Make it like a dance. Exhaling, moving through your vinyasa. Left foot forward, right foot turns, Virabhadrasana 1. Exhaling all the way through your vinyasa. Now, at any time today, if you want to skip that Adho Mukha Svanasana and you would like to come into Balasana or Adho Mukha Virasana. What's Adho Mukha Virasana? Pola is demonstrating it for us, right? We learned that that's actually not Balasana, it's Adho Mukha Virasana. So learn something new every day. Everybody take a deep inhale through the nose. Let's roar. Roar! Yeah, looking forward, float those feet to your hands. Inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale and fold. Bend the knees, arms to the sky. Utkatasana. Come to standing, Samasthiti. Inhale, bend the knees, arms to the sky. Exhale, dive forward. Inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale, plant into Chaturanga. Inhale, Urdhva. Exhale, Adho. Right foot forward, left foot turns, Vira I. Exhale, move through your vinyasa at your own pace. Sometimes when I'm feeling it, I just skip right side, left side just for fun. So if you ever feel like skipping, you can always do that. We're going to always end up in downward dog. Left side. Move through. Moving fluidly like a sexy dancer doing your yoga poses, breathing deep in and out through the nose. One of the things I find really interesting is that sometimes there's this pushback about yoga people being sexy on the internet. And, you know, being sexy is part of being a human, right? It's part of our integral Pheromones, part of who we are. Just like being sweaty, sweaty. Looking forward, step, hop, or float your feet forward. Inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale and fold. Bend your knees, arms to the sky. Utkatasana. Come to standing, hands at the heart center. Close your eyes for a minute. And I want you to tap into the sexiest version of Trina that exists, the sexiest version of Rose, the absolutely sexy mamacita of Bola. Who's your sexiest self? This is going to be the sexiest, most incredible Surya Namaskar B. That you ever orgasmed. Rawr! Rawr! Okay, let's do it. All right. Bend the knees, arms to the sky. Utkatasana. Exhale, dive forward. Inhale, sexy mamas. Exhale. That chaturanga is the sexiest chaturanga I ever did. Inhale, opening the heart, let it shine. Exhale, curl into the toes. The most beautiful right foot forward, left foot turns, arms to the sky. Exhale, both hands down. It's okay to smile. From your Adho Mukha Svanasana, left foot forward, right foot pivots. Now arms to the sky, Virabhadrasana 1. Exhaling, both hands down. Move through that vinyasa. This time we're going to breathe in, and when we exhale, it's going to mrow! Inhale. This is like some dead cats over here. Come on, I want the sexy cats. Where are they at? Okay, inhale. Sexy cat it out. Wow, I don't think I would want to fuck those cats. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. What kind of cat would you like to be? Take a deep inhale. Exhale her out. Meow. Oh yeah, that's a good one. I like her. All right, all right. Looking forward, step, hop, or float. Inhale, look up and lengthen. Exhale and fold. Bend the knees, arms to the sky. Utkatasana. Come to standing, hands at the heart center. From here, you're going to inhale, reach the arms to the sky. You're going to exhale and fold forward. Inhale, look up, lengthen. Exhale, plant back, chaturanga. Inhale, urdhva. Exhale, Adho. Right foot comes forward, but left foot stays in a lunge position. And then inhale, reach the arms to the sky. Mosquito. Come for you? Did a mosquito come for you? Oh, okay. Emma, Eva's opening. Soon you'll be really meowing. All right, let's see if we can start to bend and up. And then bring both hands down, step through your vinyasa, left foot forward. Now right foot stays in that runner's lunge. Arms to the sky. Anjanasana. See if you can move through the fluidity. 5 dips. And on your fifth one, come back up and then both hands down. Move through the vinyasa. Right foot comes forward, left foot stays in the runner's lunge. Inhale, arms to the sky. Other right. Bring both hands down inside of your right foot and walk your right foot out to the side of the mat. Now you can leave that back knee up if you'd like, or you can drop it down, get a little bit deeper. See if you can keep the knee up straight over your ankle. And then instead of letting it splay out, and then if you want, you can bring your forearms down to the ground. Good. And just breathe in here deep. And you don't have to bring your forearms down, but if you're feeling it and you're sweating— it's an extra today, isn't it? I'm all— I also sweat with you. Wow, okay. I'm pretty sure this is clean, boo. This is clean. Yeah, you can also just take that shirt off. We don't care. Okay. Wow. From here, see if you can flip up that back knee. So curl under the back toe and see if you can bring the top leg over your shoulder as far as you can and bring your hand to the outside of that foot. Foot and just bring this leg as high up over this shoulder as you can. It's almost as if it were right up over the shoulder. Good. Then from here, I want you to look forward and slide your chest forward. Lift this foot off the ground. Good. And then slide the chest forward and the back foot will just automatically come off. There you go. It just happened for Michelle. Swing the front leg back, chaturanga. Nice. Inhale, urdhva. Exhale, Adho. Nice, nice, Michelle. Thank you for demoing. All right, take a deep inhale. Meow, meow, meow. Left foot comes forward now onto the outside of the left hand. Walk that left foot out to the side of the mat. Meow. Meow. And if you would like, you can drop that back knee. And if you want to come deeper, you can bring the forearms down to the ground. Oh yeah, he came by yesterday. He comes in up here and he looks at us. He'll wave at Paula. Oh, okay. Yeah, his name is Frank. No, I have no idea. I just made that up. I made that up about Frank. Everything is named Frank to me. Francesca's like, do you think they're gonna want this mat back? Oh my, monarch butterfly! Ah, so clearly you're sweating in the right place. Yeah. All right, this time we're determined. Yes, you're going to bring that arm underneath of that leg. You're going to take that leg as high over your shoulder as you can. You're going to spread those fingertips wide. You're going to curl under the back foot. Back knee has to come off the ground in order for this to happen. Bend the elbows, hug them in like chaturanga arms. Front foot comes off. Nice, Francesca. Chest forward, we'll get that back leg off. Nice, Michelle. What did you think about that? Jump to chaturanga. Nice, nice, nicely done. You did great, you did great. Based— because of this toe, I I could not demo anything. I know, it's so black under there. You sweating a little? You sweat— you glad you came and got sweaty? You did just take a shower? Yeah, with sweat. The sweat. All right, from here you're going to come forward into Malasana. So come into Malasana, bring the legs as wide as you can. We're going to bring those hands down to the ground, and I want you to bring your hands back behind you, bring them as far over your shoulders as you can. So both hands are going to come over the shoulders. Good. See if you can bring your hands flat on the ground. Some people can, some people can't. And then I want you to look up forward and see if you can lift one leg off the ground, or maybe walk your feet in and cross at the ankles. Bujja padasana is a little bit easier for some people. Both legs forward is titi basana. Either variation is going to work for what we're doing here. Yeah, you know, I can cross, but I can't legs out. It must be a bone structure thing because I've never been able to do it. Yeah, that's good too. Have fun. Let's have fun. Have fun. You're doing great. You're doing great. Everything you do is perfect. You can't do it wrong. You cannot do it wrong. You can only do it right. Have a seat. All right. Ah, Francesca, it's the orange. All right, left leg is straight in front of you, and then you're going to take the right leg and stack it directly over. So heel is on top of the knee and knee is on top of the heel. Right leg on top, left leg on bottom. Yeah. Inhale, lengthen the spine. And exhale, just fold forward, and we're going to really sit into this. Oh, it's 11:11. All the signs. Breathing deep here in through the nose and out through the nose. How was your massage, Miss Megan? It was wonderful. Sliding. So as we move deeper into the hips, into the second chakra, we allow that energy to release and we tap into the real reasons why we came here. What deep down motivated you to want to be in this space? What were you hoping to get out of it? And how can we begin to cultivate that in our everyday life, that, that power, that emotion, that feeling that we want to create in our lives? How can we begin to bring what we're feeling here in Costa Rica into every moment of our life? Where are we holding tension? Where are we holding back? Where can we express more fully in our lives? What is the truest form that we want to take? How do we want to show up? Because each day we can reinvent the person that we are. We literally can wake up and decide that the way that the brain fires no longer works for for us and that we would like to rewire that because if synapses no longer fire together, they are no longer wired together. And the same is true if we want to create new synapses, new pathways through our mind. We can choose to cultivate that daily over and over and over so that they now wire differently so that we become that person that we see and wish that we could be and that we realize that that archetype that we think that we see in another person isn't even actually who they are. It is a reflection of what we wish that we were and so we can cultivate and create that person that we wish that they were and we were and we create that through through rewiring our brain, and we become our highest self. And all we have to do is let go, release, and then it floods in. Very slowly and mindfully, on an inhale, come up and switch sides. Where are those areas in life that we see others and we become instantly irritated by their behaviors? What is it that others are doing that is not satisfactory to our own ideology. When we notice those behaviors in others that we do not like, that we think are abhorrent, those behaviors are actually a reflection of behaviors within ourselves that we would like to get rid of. And what if instead of just being like, "That behavior is terrible. I don't want to be like that anymore," we embraced it fully? We turned up the volume on it. We became the full version of that behavior. Perhaps maybe it's not that the behavior is so wrong, but that it's so much of who we truly are that we've been holding back. Where can you let go and release and allow to flow in your life? You finally arrived. That moment you've been waiting for is every moment of every day. The end is not the goal. The now is the goal. The now is the space of the juice. It's the space of love, the space of self-love, is that piece of being a human that makes you who you are. Right now is the moment you've been waiting for. You are the person who came along to save you. Very, very slowly roll your way up. With even more intention, release those legs, bring your hands forward, curl into a downward facing dog. Bend your right knee, bring your right knee into the chest. Come forward into a high plank position, hold that knee tight, and then bring it to the ground for your pigeon pose. Right Foot comes out to the left wrist and right knee comes to the right wrist. Now you can bring that further up if you want more of a stretch. If you want less of a stretch, bring it into the groin. The one thing we want to make sure is that our hips are even, so we're not dumping from one side to the other, but right there in the middle. And then inhale, lengthen your spine, and exhale, just fold forward. We come deep into this pigeon pose. Right now, in this moment, you can take a stand to be the fullest expression of you, to express yourself, to let others know what your needs are in a way that's respectful and loving not just to them but to you. That all of the emotions that you have are acceptable. That there is a time for anger, there is a time for laughter, there is a time to cry. There is a time to release and let go the manifestations of you that were created by someone else. The voices in your head that someone else placed there, the beliefs that you don't want, that you realize suddenly those beliefs have been put upon me by someone else, not what I truly believe. You see, the Yoga Sutras say that we must be careful of all gurus because the guru may not have the answer for us. Only within ourselves can we truly find the answer for ourselves. What is the answer for you? Who do you want to show up as for yourself? From here, very mindfully and slowly, walk the hands up. I put a strap in front of you unless you're Rose and you don't need that shit. Bend the back knee, bring your strap, wrap it around the back foot. You're going to bring your arms overhead to grab on to the strap, opening up your chest in the front. Maybe like shorty straps, huh? Done it. Okay. Oh, that makes sense, that makes sense. You got it, you got it. You are a little bit— can you lift your chest? There you go. You want to bring the head back and touch the foot? Hi! I don't know if I'll stay here though. Woo! Good, you got that. You didn't even need me. Nice. You know what you can do too is you can take this hand, bring it through here like a rack, rack, and grab onto your big toe. Yes. Go ahead and slowly release. Press back into your downward facing dog and bring that right leg up to the sky. Bend the knee, open the hip, maybe flip over for a wild thing. And then bring it back to center. Bend the left knee, hug it into your chest, come into a high plank position. Hug that left knee nice and tight in, and then bring it down for the left side, evening out the hip. Inhale, lengthen the spine. Exhale, Exhale and fold. As you come into that space, make a stand right now for how you are going to express yourself moving forward. How are you gonna let yourself go? And not get stuffy and not get focused on what you think you should be or who you should be or how you should show up, but instead, how are you going to express in a way that feels authentic to you? Slowly walk your hands up. You're going to take that strap. Gonna bend the back knee, opening the chest. Reach this arm over to There you go. Start to walk your hands towards the foot. Nice. See if you can lift your chest, Trina. Ah, nice lengthening at the sternum. Yeah, slowly release. You did great. Press back into your downward facing dog, lift that left leg, and finally let it release, opening up the hip. Maybe Wild Thing. Bring it back down. Come into a high plank position. Look forward. Slowly lower all the way to the ground. Bring your arms back with your palms face up. Let your head come to one side and just relax. Switch. Your head rotation. Bend your elbows. Press your palms into the ground, pressing back into your Adho Mukha Virasana. Some call it Balasana, but they'd be wrong because I looked it up. Slowly make your way up and everyone leave your mat behind. Come close up to the harmonium. Leave your mat, come close to each other, come here. Come on in, come on in. Midnight's close, closer, sweatier, closer. So the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is an allegory for the lotus flower. And the lotus flower grows in this disgusting, mucky, gross water, but it comes through and it grows into this beautiful white, sometimes pink flower that's large and big and incredible. And just like the lotus flower, we go through these rough, dark times, and those times transmute, transmute our energy and bring us into the beautiful flowers that we are and make our lives worth it. And if you think back to the things that have happened in your life that were trying and difficult and hard, the times that you struggled, those times actually made you stronger. And I think to like when you went through everything in 2020 and you busted your butt to make your studio incredible, and you went through that mucky muck and created something that other people can enjoy, you know, the times that you were most tested in life, the things that you're going through right now, those relationships that you're cultivating, the emotions that you're having inside of yourself, those things that are creating a life the way you want to change your life, the way you want to create a new reality for yourself. And as you move through these, these trials and tribulations, they actually make you stronger. Everything that you dealt with to this moment has brought you to a place where you can serve others in that beautiful studio. And so we sing the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in order to signify the moving through that mucky muck and creating ourselves as the flower that we deserve to be. And right where you're at just now, you can just go ahead and lie back, extend your legs out. Let your arms come to your side. I apologize, sorry. Let your arms come to your sides, your palms face up. Take a deep inhale and an exhale. And now this time, a deep inhale. Because through the tears come the laughter, and through the laughter comes the life. You are perfect and divine exactly the way that you are. There is nothing about you that needs to change. You are helpful to so many. You give love out to so many. You create a space around you that is a vibration of joy. There's nothing about you that needs to change unless you want to. You are perfect. You are created in the divine image of your own understanding. Let that melt into you. Begin to wiggle your toes and your fingers, reaching your arms overhead, getting a nice stretching from the fingertips down to the toe tips. Bending your knees and roll over onto your right side into a fetal position. And just take a moment here to rescan the body, noticing with detached awareness how we have shifted and changed? How has the body changed? How do your knees feel different? How do your quads feel different? How does your mind feel different from when you first started this practice today? No judgments, just noticing, just noticing. Use your left hand to press your way up into an easy seated pose. Coming a little bit closer, right hand down, left hand up. Right hand gives, left hand receives. Right hand down, left hand up. You are constantly surrounded by people who love you, and even if it feels that they're not there, they always are. Know that this space, that the people here are sending you love, that that energy can be tapped into anytime you need it, even when you feel darkest. I'm going to send a squeeze through Megan. She's going to squeeze Mikelle, and it's going to go all the way around and come back to me. And we're going to do 3 rolling aums. You're going to start your aum right after you end it. Gonna take a deep inhale. Om. The light within me honors the beautiful divine light within each and every one of you. You are so loved, you are so amazing, you are so grateful, you are so awesome. Thank you for a great class. Namaste. Namaste. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.