Sting Club | A Grounding Mindful Flow with @andreabogart

Hi, guys. Welcome. My name is Andrea Bogart. I know we're all in this precarious time right now, and I just wanted to see if I could offer about 20 minutes of getting out of our heads and into our bodies. Get grounded, relieve some stress, feel our breath and just move with our bodies. So thanks for joining me for 20 minutes. Let's do this. So if you have blocks, it's great. If you don't, not to worry. They're just here in case you want to use them. Now I want you to come down to Hero's Pose and if you have a block, you're welcome to sit on it. Other things can work too. Rolling up a towel. I'm just going to take these first few minutes just to get grounded into our body. So close your eyes or soften your gaze. Let your palms face down on the tops of your thighs or palms up. Whatever just feels natural and calming for you. We'll start to establish our breath. Just take a full inhale. Let it rise all the way to the top of your lungs. Exhale, side heavy out. Three more. Just like that. Full breath in. Last one. Gently. Let your lips press together and we'll start to cultivate Ujjayi breath, breathing in and out through the nose. Just invite in that sense of grounding, connecting with your present moment. Let go of whatever might be going on at home around you. Even if you have kids. My daughter's sleeping at the moment, so I'm lucky. But just allow yourself to detach from as much as you possibly can outside this moment, really dropping into your breath and your body. Drop your chin to your chest and while you keep that even flow, inhale and exhale. Just start to circle the head all the way around to the right. And then reverse. Take it around to the left. And come back up through neutral. Bring your hands in your heart center and think of something you are grateful for. Allow that gratitude, that love and that light to run into your heart space. Now just a word or phrase or anything that you can shine light out into the universe, out to others right now so you can some empathy. Blink your eyes open. Inhale, circle the arms up. Sweep tall. Reach high. Exhale, hands into heart center. One more, just like this. Inhale, sweep the arms up. Reach tall. Exhale, hands to your heart center and then gently shift forward. Drop that block off to the side. You can put that back at the top of your mat or your towel, whatever you might have been using. Work your way back into all fours, wrist creases parallel to the front Edge of your mat. Fingers spread nice and wide. Shoulders over wrists and hips over knees. Start to work through a couple of cat cows. Take a deep inhale. Arch the back. Draw the chest and sit. Bones up as you exhale. Fully round. Press the floor away. Draw the navel in. Let the head relax. Let your breath trigger your movement. Inhale, arch and exhale. Around once more. Inhale. Arch. Cow pose. Exhale fully out. Round cat pose. Inhale once more forward and exhale in through neutral spine. Extend your right toe straight back behind you. You can elevate it off the mat. More stability. Keep the foot on the earth. Add that opposite arm. Left arm reaches forward. Extended arm and leg pose. Inhale. Exhale. Tap to the floor. Good. Inhale, Lift it up. Exhale. Tap to the floor once more. Inhale. Lift it up. Exhale. Release. Down. Last one. Hold. Curl that heel in towards your glute. Maybe. Top arm circles back to find that foot. If that's too much and the balance gets really funky, just release the left hand back down. And challenge is up to you. Meeting yourself where you're at today. Honoring your body, your mind, your practice. Gently release the foot. Find extension and set everything down. Reverse. Left leg extends straight back, right arm forward. Inhale. Exhale. We tap it down. Inhale. Lift. Exhale. Tap down once more. Inhale. Exhale. Last time, we keep it lifted. Inhale. Left heel in towards your sit bone. Top arm circles back. Find that ankle. Lift the heart. Lift the chest. Nice, long, deep inhales. Smooth Exhales. Ujjayi breath. Good. Release that foot. Extend and set everything back down. Beautiful. We're just gonna take a little sway with the hips side to side. Continue to loosen up through the hips and then start to circle all the way around one direction. Feel that? Through your shoulders, your hips, your wrist creases. And then reverse. Take it around the other, Right up through neutral position. Tuck your toes. Draw your sit bones back to your heels. Reach the arms forward. Roll the wrists around. Before we get into these chaturangas, it's always nice to just warm up the wrists. A little more and I'm distracting you. While you also stretch your big toe mound and the arches of your feet. Good. Reach the arms up. Extend up to the sky. Inhale, exhale. Come right back into all fours. Tuck your toes. Lift your hips. Downward facing dog Aroh Mukha Svanasana. Give the head a little gentle shake. Yes and no. And just finesse your way into your down dog. Start to pedal the feet out a little side to side. One knee bends and then the other. And then settle into some steep stillness. Wrap the upper outer arms in towards the ears. Let the head stay soft as you press evenly through the palms. Feel your thighs draw back, heels descending down. If you're really sticky through your low back or your hamstrings, you can always put a little bend in the knees or take the feet even wider. Finding what works for you and your body. Listening as you breathe really invite in that mind, body, spirit, connection and communication. Inhale forward to plank. Topical push up. Good. As we exhale, release the knees down. Hug the elbows in. Lower halfway. Chaturanga. Modify here. Press right back up. Good. Two more of those to go. Your knees are serving you as a little modification. Lower down. Press back up. Once more. Lower down and press back up. Draw the knees a little wider apart. Sit back Balasana child's pose. Extend the arms forward. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Sit bones, draw back. Start to take a little sway in the hips side to side. You can always come to child's pose at any point during the practice should you need a rest. Inhale. Come back up to all fours. Tuck your toes. Lift your hips. Adho Mukha Svanasana Downward Facing Dog Inhale. Heels high. Bend the knees. Walk right foot, left foot forward, feet hip distance apart. Inhale. Lift your heart halfway. Exhale. Fold back in. One more. Inhale. Ardha Uttanasana. You can always connect with the sides of your ankles as well. Exhale. Fold back in. Uttanasana. Press through the heels. Bend the knees. Draw the navel in and roll up. So slow, vertebra by vertebra. Inhale. Circle the arms up. Sweep tall. Exhale. Dive. Hinge at the hips. Fold forward. Lengthen crown of the head down. Uttanasana. Inhale. Lift your heart halfway. Ardha Uttanasana. Exhale. Fold back in. Press through the heels. Circle the arms up. Inhale. Exhale. Hands to heart center. Good. Inhale. Sweep the arms up. Grab onto that left wrist. Reach up and over to the right. Feel your left hip. Press away. Inhale. Both arms reach up. Reverse. Grab onto the right rib. Sweet. Feel your right hip. Press away. Inhale. Both arms reach goal post your arms draw the thoracic spine open as the collarbones widen. Inhale, reach back up. Exhale down and fold. Let it go. Inhale. Ardha Uttanasana. Upper back presses into the upper chest. Exhale. Bend the knees. Plant the hands. Step back into high plank. Shift the shoulders over the wrists. Option to use your knees or not lower halfway. Chaturanga Dandasana. Roll over your toes into Cobra. Baby Cobra Bhujangasana. Exhale, Release it back down. Inhale again. Bhujangasana Baby Cobra. Exhale, release back down once more. As you press firm through the palms, draw the tailbone towards the heels. Keep pressing the shoulders back. Exhale. Re. Tuck your toes. Fly your pelvis off the floor. Press back up. Modified Chaturanga. Lift your hips up and back. Adho Mukha Svanasana. Take three breaths here. Inhale and exhale. Once more. Inhale forward to plank top of a push up option to modify with your knees if you need it. Lower down. Chaturanga. Pull your heart through. Roll over your toes up. Dog or cobra. Use your knees or not. Send it up and back. Downward facing dog. Inhale, right leg up to the sky. Keep the hips neutral. Just start to point and flex the foot. Good. Keep the leg extended. Drop forward, knee to nose. Inhale. Send it up and back. Right knee outside the right elbow. Nice and high. Inhale. Stretch it back. Exhale. Bring it across left elbow. Inhale. Stretch it back. Exhale lightly. Step your right foot next to your right thumb. Release the left knee down. Sweep the arms up for Anjanesana low lunge. Feel your hips drawing, sinking forward as you stretch into the psoas. Lifting your ribcage up out of the pelvis. Belly draws in. Heart open. Left hand comes down inside the left foot. Right arm up to the sky for a low twisting lunge. Option to intensify this re. Tuck your left toes. Fly your left knee off the mat. Keep drawing that right hip down, Scissoring it towards your left inner thigh. One more full breath. Release right hand. Climb down. Option to stay here if you want more intensity. Float your arms along your side body. Roll the shoulders down your mat. Keep your neck spine long in line with your sp. Release the hands down. Right foot steps back high plank. Lower it down. Chaturanga. Pull your heart through. Cobra or upward facing dog. Send it back all the Mukha Svanasana Downward facing dog. Inhale, left leg up to the sky. Start to point and flex the foot, just creating range of motion at the ankle. Right heel continues to send down towards the earth. Keep the leg extended. Draw forward, knee to nose. Exhale. Inhale. Send it up and back. Exhale. Left knee, left elbow. Inhale. Stretch it up and back. Exhale. Bring it across right elbow. Inhale. Stretch it up. Exhale lightly. Step left foot through. Release the right knee down to the earth. Sweep the arms up. Anjanesana Drawing your upper ribs in as you draw your upper hips. Hip points up. Soften the tops of the shoulders, but continue extending through the upper outer ribs and upper outer arms. Right hand comes down inside the right foot. Left arm up to the sky. Good option for that. Re Tuck and intensify as the right knee elevates off the mat. Left hand comes down. Option to keep the fingertips here to stay modified or intensify. Release the arms along your side body. If you feel like you're hovering or really weighted into that leg here, see if you can create a little space, a little buoyancy there. Good. Both hands come down. Left foot steps back. High plane. Three Chaturanga push ups. Be willing to use your knees if you need to. Three, two, one. Shift it up and back. Downward facing dog. Three breaths here. Feel the floor press away. Use that index finger and thumb. Hug the outer upper arms in. Feel your thighs. Press back. Heels sinking into the earth. Inhale heels high. Bend the knees. Slowly empty out the breath. Walk or lightly float feet to hands. Inhale, lift your heart halfway. Exhale. Fold. Utkatasana Chair pose. Bend the knees. Circle the arms up. Feel the weight shift back through the heels. Draw the sit bones back. As you feel the weight sink through the heels, feel a little subtle lift through your hip points. Feel the elongation of your tailbone towards the floor and that natural curvature of your spine as you lift energetically through the heart. The upper outer arms through the fingertips. Reach all the way up to stand. Inhale. Exhale. Hands to your heart center. Inhale. Sweep the arms up. Reach tall. Urdhva Hastasana Arms. Exhale. Fold and hinge at the hips. Inhale. Lift your heart halfway. Exhale. Bend the knees. Plant the hands. Step it back to high plank Lower down Chaturanga. Roll over the toes. Cobra or up dog. Send it backha Svanasana Downward facing dog. Inhale. Right leg sweeps up. Exhale lightly. Step it through. Warrior 1 Virabhadrasana 1. Arms extend. Right hip draws back, left hip forward. Root down through all four points of your feet as you as you rebound up through the inner arches and firm in your outer ankles. Gonna interlace the hands behind your low back. Roll the shoulders back. Lift your heart. Humble warrior. Right shoulder drops inside the right knee. Crown of the head towards the earth. Next, inhale. Sweep all the way back up to Warrior one. Exhale. Open up. Find warrior two. Right foot right knee stacked right knee over that middle toe. As we wrap the right hip under and press back through the left Inner thigh into that left outer thigh. Sink deep into your Warrior. Calm, steady breath. Calm, steady mind. Straighten through both legs and bring both arms up. Inhale, Exhale back into Warrior 2. Inhale. Lengthen. Exhale. Back to Warrior 2. Once more. Inhale and exhale. Right hand down inside the right foot. Left arm up to the sky. It's okay for your neck and shoulder. Arm up and over the ear. Parajwa Konasana Extended side angle. Good. Inhale. Stretch back up to Warrior 2. Straighten through both legs. Both arms come up. Rotate right toes to meet the left side of the room. Inhale, hands to the waist. Extend four sides of the spine. Hinge at the hips. Fold forward halfway. Release left hand down. Peel right arm up. Inhale. Exhale. Release it down. Left hand comes up. Inhale, Exhale. Both hands down. Bend the knees deep. Walk the hands forward. Drop the sit bones back. Straighten through the legs. Feel the weight. Shift more into the balls of the feet. As you hug. Aim through your outer hips. One more breath. Bring the hands to the waist. Inhale all the way up to stand. Rotate right toes back towards the front of the room. Back heel at that 45 degree angle. And then exhale. Cartwheel hands down to the mat. Right foot steps back. Maybe it hovers as you lower down. Chaturanga. Pull your heart through. Cobra Upward facing dog. Use your core. Send it back. Inhale, right leg up to the sky. Exhale lightly. Step it through. Warrior 1 Vera Badrasana 1. Inhale. Sweep the arms up, sinking deep into that lunge. As we lift up through our inner arches. Just notice if your ribcage is sort of splaying out. If you can draw that in. Draw the belly in. Feel the hip points. Lift. Interlace the hands. Maybe opposite. Index finger behind or on top. Rather roll the shoulders back. Inhale. Extend the spine forward. Fold right shoulder dips inside. Crown of the head lengthens towards the earth. We're hugging that left hip in. Really powerful through both legs. Next, inhale. Sweep all the way back up. Warrior one. Exhale. Open up. Warrior two. Good. Just simplicity. Let that effortless effort arrive. Straighten through both legs. Bring both arms up. Inhale. Exhale back into Warrior 2. Three to go. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Reach. Exhale. Warrior 2. Left hand comes down inside the left foot. Right arm up to the sky. Parva Konasana Side angle pose maybe Top arm sweeps up and over the ear. Pinky spin towards the floor. Shoulder blade drops down the spine. Keep finding that. Press through the feet. Strong and steady. All four points. Wrapping that left Hip, hip under. Pressing back with your right inner thigh. Strengthen the legs. Press back up to Warrior 2. Inhale. Straighten through both legs. Bring both arms up. Left toes meet the right side of the room. Wide leg forward. Fold. Interlace the hands behind the back. Big shoulder openers, Heart openers forward fold Posture Rita Padottanasana that again. Starting with this C clasp. And now we're going to transition. Gently releasing the hands down to the earth, maybe to the forearms. If it feels better to walk the hands through the legs towards the back of the room, you can play with that. And firming through the outer ankles, outer hips. And gently walk the hands forward. Flat back here. Find the hands to their hips. Firm through the belly. Inhale up to stand. Warrior 2 back to the front of the room. Back heel kicks longer. Big inhale and exhale. Cartwheel the hands to the mat. Step your left foot back. We have another three Chaturanga push ups. I'll modify these three with my knees. 3, 2, 1. Take the last one through a chaturanga in through your up dog or cobra and then send it back to downward facing dog. Inhale heels high. Bend the knees. Empty out the breath walker lightly float feet to hands. Inhale. Lift the heart halfway. Exhale. Fold back in. Rise all the way up. Inhale and exhale. Hands to your heart center. Gonna ground down through your left foot for one stand standing pose. Right knee comes up towards the chest. I'm going to take a figure four stretch so right ankle will cross over the left thigh to get into those hips. Drop the sit bones back evenly. You can feel that sun coming right into my face. It feels pretty nice actually. Powerful twist to that. Steady focus ahead. Something moving, something that's not moving around. And then transitioning from here into a warrior 3. Draw the knee up in towards the chest. And as we exhale, shoot that heel straight back behind us. You can always use your fingertips on the earth if you need it. Or your blocks in front of you. If you want more of a challenge option to reach the hands out in front of the of you. If your low back decides that's not where your arms should be, bring your hands back to your heart center. Slowly, mindfully bring it knee back up towards the chest. Arms reach. Kick the leg out for three, two little kick. Release it down. Hands to heart center. Full breath in, full breath out. Right foot grounds down. Left knee comes up towards the chest. Figure 4. Left ankle crosses over the right thigh. Drop the sit bones back evenly flex the toes to protect the knees. Keep drawing the navel in as you feel that weight, shift back through the heel, Transitioning into our Vera Badrasana 3 Warrior 3. Rise up. Knee to chest. Powerful drishti control transitions as equally as important as the asana themselves. Finding that ability to see, stay so present, cultivating that awareness of breath, awareness of our mind, body, spirit working together. And that option is yours. If the arms you want to play with that or keep them at your heart center and slowly bring the knee back up towards the chest. Kick the leg out in front of you for 3, 2. Give it a kick, release it down. Hands to heart center. Coming down the home stretch, take your feet as wide as your mat, coming into a deep malasana pose. Drop the sit bones in between the heels, elbows to the inner knees. Find that resistance. And although we're really sinking into this posture, see if you can find that buoyancy, that sense of lifting and elongating your spine, your tailbone towards the earth. Find a few rounds of breath here, maybe even close your eyes if that feels nice. Continuing to find yourself back to your breath, letting your breath keep you slow, so present, so aware of this moment. Gently, mindfully, we'll come back into a seat, give the legs a little shake out in front of you. Flex the toes, point the toes. Paschimottanasana. You're welcome to shift the sit bones back. Sweep the arms up, inhale, exhale, forward, fold, lengthen through from the spine, fold over the body. If you're one of those that this is really, really tight for you and you feel a sense of curling as soon as you get into this, what would be really great is if you rolled your mat up. If you don't have a towel or a blanket, and elevate your sit bones just a little bit here to give yourself. Someone like me doesn't need this because it would hyperextend my legs. But if you are really tight, that's a great way to just sort of know to lift your sit bones a little bit and really work from that elongation of your spine. This might be enough for you to stay up nice and upright. Otherwise, continue to work yourself forward. Few more rounds of breath. Each. Inhale and exhale. Softening, lengthening. Slowly roll that up, vertebra by vertebra. Make your way down to your backs. If you do have a block, bring that with you and drop your sit bones, your back all the way down, and then come into a bridge pose. Feet are hip distance apart. Gonna elevate the pelvis off the floor. Snuggle the shoulder Blades under. Maybe interlace the hands beneath you. If you are using a block, you're welcome to slide that underneath your sacrum here and just allow the low back to release. You feel supported by that block. And slowly low down from this just place one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly. We're going to come into Baddha Konasana. Let the soles of the feet come together, the knees fall out wide, the hands fall to the side for a beat. Here. Gently use the hands. Bring the thighs back together. Hug the knees into the chest and then find happy baby. Grab onto the outer edges of the heels. Elbows on the inside. Feel your tailbone lengthening to the earth as the shoulder blades ground down. Maybe a little rock side to side. And then slowly mindfully release the legs down. If there's anything else you can like your body is calling for before you head into a Shavasana, maybe a supine twist or something else, please take it but allow yourself truly. This posture Shavasana is one of the most important elements of our practice. It's the ability to surrender, to completely let go and allow all the work to just fall all the way. Let yourself just drift into this sense of nothing. Just no effort, no control, just a softness and complete honoring of compassion, gratitude and love. Wash over your body fully Shavasana. And slowly, mindfully just bring that awareness back into your body. Gentle movement through the fingers and the toes. Maybe the head drops right and left. Walk the heels towards your sit bones. Take an energetic breath as you reach the arms up and over. Make your way over to your right side, pausing there for a moment. We are just stays away from your our first day of spring. Let all the transitions that are happening this month to just be met with an open heart and open mind sense of love and compassion for ourselves, our families and everyone out there in the world. Right now. Gently press yourself back up to seated. Cross the ankles, keep the eyes closed closed and for any of you who have an extra five minutes here, I would recommend just taking a seated meditation for another five minutes if that speaks to you. If you're not sure if that's your thing or not, maybe just try a mantra and just count your breath or something so simple just I am or I am love or I am love. And if this is the end of our practice today, bring your hands into your heart center. Let's take one more full inhale inside out to close our practice. Full big breath in. Take this feeling with you into the rest of your day. Meet each moment with love and compassion right now and accept acceptance. I am beaming my heart, my open heart out there to all of you and thank you for sharing space with me. A divine light in me shares and honors that same divine light within all of you. Namaste. So thank you guys so much. This is my completely just home rig. Want to get some yoga out there too, and hopefully I can come up with a sound system and then get a little better arrangement going. But I love music as well, and what I think I'll do is curate a playlist that you can also find on Spotify. And if you fancy, you're welcome to play that on Spotify while you watch this and have a little music in the background that will be timed out with this practice. Thank you guys. Truly, I appreciate you joining me. And stay safe out there. Namaste.