Start in a comfortable cross legged position 3-5 Deep Breaths

Seated Twist - Bring left hand to right thigh, reach right hand around behind back, fingertips on floor and lengthen from sitting bones all the way through the crown of the head.  Keep chin in line with chest, breathe, relax shoulders down. 3-5 Breaths. Repeat other side.

Cat/Cow - Come to all fours, hands under shoulders, knees under hips.  Feel for pulling belly up and in to support low back.  Inhale as you scoop your chest forward, exhale as you round spine, pulling belly up and in more – repeat 5-10 breath cycles

Opposite  Arm/Leg Extensions - Start by inhaling & raising opposite arm/opposite leg, reach through fingers and  toes, exhale drawing knee into navel, elbow into knee, pulling belly up and in.  Repeat 6 rounds each side, feeling for creating heat through core & belly.

Downward Facing Dog - From all fours, hands under shoulders, knees under hips, inhale round spine, relax neck, exhale, curl toes under, reach hips up. Reach gently up through sitting bones and back through heels. Let your head hang and breathe.  Enjoy the change of perspective. 5-10 breaths

Low Lunge - Pulling belly up and in step Right foot forward between hands.  Set back knee down.  Have front foot a few inches ahead of right knee.  Press down through both feet and bend front knee until you feel a gentle awakening throughout left thigh.  Deep breath, open mouth exhale if you like.  3 Breaths

Downward Facing Dog - 3-5 Deep Breaths

Low Lunge - left foot forward 3 Breaths.

Downward Facing Dog - 3-5 Breaths

Childs Pose - Come to all fours, then rest hips back toward heels and forehead to the floor.  Stretch arms forward or back, whatever feel better.

Locust Variations - Come onto belly.  Pelvic tuck – curl pubic bone toward navel- lift arms and stretch back toward sides, lift legs.  Inhale stretch arms forward (like Wonder Woman) keep shoulders on the back, and open legs, exhale stretch arms back and squeeze legs together. Repeat 3-5 Breath Cycles

Rest on Mat, Breathe

Child’s Pose 3-5 breaths

Come onto back, bring knees into chest 3 Breaths

Dead Bug - Hold onto outside edges of feet, draw knees down toward mat, feet face the ceiling, send tailbone, sacrum toward mat.  Breathe

Spinal Twist - Bring knees into chest, exhale knees to the left, open arms wide to either side, look over right shoulder, 3 breaths.  Inhale knees into chest repeat other side.

Savasana – Come back to center, knees into chest deep breath, then stretch out legs and arms, close eyes and rest for as long as you like:)))

P.S.  If you are new to practicing yoga in your home, you may find that the distractions are endless.  This provides the practitioner with AMPLE opportunity to practice letting go and staying present.  So when you become aware of dustbunnies, raisins, lost remote/sock/whatever under your couch, that’s great!  It will still be there when you are done.  When your kids, cat, spouse, dog accost you on your mat, try not to get too frustrated, this is life, and I swear nothing draws life to it like an unrolled yoga mat on the living room floor!  This is a sweet moment to smile, breathe, and go with the flow, but for crying out loud, turn your phone down! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXO

At some point along the way, all of our beautiful intentions for kindness, peace, and harmony in our lives, and self improvement and good health get bogged down in the mire of waking up every morning to perform a marathon of juggling acts, feats of problem solving, and let’s face it some mundane tasks.  The juice that has kept us going, that has enabled us to put ourselves on our own lists has slowly (or maybe quickly!) leaked away until we’re left dim, gray, uninspired, on the couch, watching reruns of Keeping up with the Kardashians, yikes!  This is where the secret weapon of inspiration, the ZIZAP of one thing that gets your blood pumping, can save us in only a heartbeat from a downward spiral into the blah, the apathetic haze of watching our own lives pass us by without presence, awareness, interest, intrigue, curiousity, fun!

Inspiration can come from infinite places; stunning nature, amazing causes, a smile, a moonlit sky, music, whatever-  Personally I need to have an arsenal of inspiration that I can carry around with me and call on as needed.  Sometimes it’s an amazing teacher, or a handstanding feat that gets me going, but something that never ever fails is, Gwen Stefani!  All I have to do is think of her for half a second and I’m ready to go!  First of all, she can bang out about 20 push-ups, sing a song, run up and down on stage, bang out 20 more push ups all while wearing a pink bustier.  Then there’s the fact that she’s a mother and wife, an artist,  business tycoon, and she seems happy, I don’t know for sure, I don’t know her (ok I met her once, but that’s an whole other story), and oh yeah, she’s over 40. 

When I feel dull or like quitting, for an instant I think of the woman in the mini skirt doing push ups on stage with a smile on her face and I’m juiced, ready to try some more in whatever it is, finding compassion, making my way to my mat, being present with my kids, running faster, being sweeter to my sweetie.  So moral of the story, take a minute or two,  feel around and find out what authentincally brightens you, in an instant, what quickens you, gets you participating in your life, so when you feel your mojo draining out of you, you are prepared, and keep on shining!

Word of today is BREATHE!  And maybe the phrase of today should be “Lessen your Expectation!”  It’s my day off, so you would think it would move at a more leisurely pace, but it’s not so far, in fact it actually feels as though time has sped up and I am hurtling forward and might be approaching warp speed; grocery shopping, check, frig cleaning, check, ruthless closet cleaning, check, meal planning and kitchen cleaning, check, bill paying and emailing, check and check, yes there has been baby snuggling and story reading, but there has also been yogurt smearing and toy dumping.  When I view my life from this breathless vantage, it doesn’t look so hot.  The list of things that haven’t been done is still far longer than the things that have been done.  When the sun shines in through my kitchen window on this kind of day all I can think is how dirty the windows are, and that my friends, doesn’t work for me!  To top it all off our bodies respond to these very non-life threatening stresses the same way our ancestors bodies responded to getting chased by a bear or tiger, fight or flight, adrenaline, cortisol, stress, oxidation, blah blah blah.

Time for a yoga vitamin, a huge deep breath, followed by at least 10 more.  Time to stop for a sec and tune in and feel how my heart and mind are racing, time to make a choice about how I operate.  Will having all these expectations about this day actually bring me and my loved ones more peace and happiness?  Now I’m not advocating quitting paying your bills and cleaning your refrigerator, I’m just saying geesh!  Let’s practice awareness, let’s create less stress for ourselves, let’s tend our own fires so we don’t burn out!  How do we do that?  Breathing deep, quieting down, performing our tasks with mindfulness (aka not multi-tasking!) and commiting to the practice, beacause learning these skills does take practice, lots and lots of practice:)))  BREATHE & Have a Beautiful Day!!!