Episode 1 — Water: Fluidity into Grace

Hi, welcome to class. I'm Apsara. Today we're going to begin our intermediate series, and if you are a complete beginner, then I recommend starting with the 15-day beginner series, which is also on this channel. Today's class is all about the element water, so we're going to do a fluidity and flexibility based practice into grace. So when you're ready, let's just come to a comfortable seated position and get started.

Take a moment to close your eyes, sit tall with the spine, let the hands rest on the knees, any way that's authentic for you. Just take a few moments to check in with your breathing. Take a deep inhale in through the nose, feel the expansion through the chest, feel the belly moving out and up. On your exhalation, gently draw the low belly in towards the spine; you're releasing the breath from the chest, and it comes out naturally from the nose.

Inhale, feel the expansion through the full upper body, the sides of the body are expanding as well. And then on exhalation, nice and easy, draw the low belly in, activating the core muscles, and release. One more time, deep inhale in, feel the energy coming into the body, the cool air is entering and expanding, spreading everywhere. And then on exhalation, feel a sense of letting go, complete ease and relaxation, the warm air is leaving the body through the nose. After the exhale, take a moment to be still, observe yourself, always beginning from a place of relaxation in the body, no stress.

Let's just join the hands in pranam, take a moment here, one more time in, inhale. Gently rub the hands together; when it's warm enough, transfer it to the eyes. You can give your eyes a small massage, or just keep it in place, and then as you open your eyes, gaze into the hands.

So now we're going to get started on the hands and knees, coming straight away to a tabletop position: align the shoulders over the wrists, spread the fingers, place the knees under the hips. So as you can see, my spine is parallel to the floor; press into the fingertips, knuckles, heel of the hand, so you're really feeling a strong connection with the ground.

On your inhalation, begin to lift the sitting bones up, arching through the full spine, lift your chest and chin, the arms are straight. As you exhale, begin to round the spine from the base of the spine all the way down to the crown of the head, chin towards the chest. Inhale, lift through the lower spine, middle, upper spine, the head up last, open the throat. On exhalation, push the floor away, hold the navel in towards the spine, rounding the spine.

So let's do these movements slowly, keep going. Inhale, open the chest, imagine you're dragging the heels of the hand towards you. Exhale, push the floor away, navel in towards the spine. Inhale, count it, lift through the full body, open the throat, lift the gaze up, push the floor away. Exhale, maintain the strong connection with the shoulders, rounding the spine, head down.

Cat-tilt, and you're done — three more times. Inhale, really moving slowly to feel the articulation of the spine. Exhale, navel in, head down. Inhale, exhale, one more time. Inhale, and then finally exhale out, rounding through the full spine. Pull the navel in, tuck in towards the chest, and just hold it for a moment. For three, keep breathing, for two, one. Now we're going to do some spinal waves.

So sit the hips back on the heels in Balasana position, and then inhale again, rounding the spine, come forward to hands and knees. When you're going back, lift the sitting bones up into your cow tilt as you sit back in Balasana, and then exhale again, rounding the spine to come forward, hands and knees.

Inhale, arch through the spine, sit back, chest up, chin up. Exhale, rounding forward. Let's just make it smooth, three more times. Inhale, you can go at your own pace, no stress. Exhale. Inhale, lift through the chest, head up. Exhale, rounding forward, one more time. Inhale, open. Exhale, round and come forward.

Now the next time you come forward, just hold it there, hands and knees. Turn the fingers completely around to face the knees from the outside, and then go ahead and sit the hips back on the heels. You're going to feel a very deep stretch in the wrist; you can come forward again, inhale, and then exhale, sit back. If it's a little uncomfortable, you have the option of taking the hands a little closer to the body, driving the heels of the hand towards the mat. You can see my chest is lifted, the chin is slightly lifted, holding and breathing for three, for two, one. Now come forward.

Let's keep the palms facing up towards each other for a counter stretch, the eyes of the elbows are facing out. It feels a little funny, but this is so good for the wrist. Holding and breathing for three, for two, one. Sit back in Vajrasana, interlock the fingers, palms together, and just go ahead and rotate the wrists out, five times one way, and then five times the other way. And then you can just shake it out, let it go, no stress.

Come back to the hands and knees. Let's continue from here. Inhale, lengthen the spine once again. Exhale, push the floor away. So now our shoulders are protracted, we're pushing the floor away. Step one leg back and the other leg back — here we are in a plank position. Be very strong with the legs, the navel draws in, you're actively pushing the floor away, so you're feeling this in the shoulders. For three, we come with the breath. For two, take one more breath, and then exhale over to Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward facing dog.

Separate the feet about hip distance, and start to pedal the legs, bending the right knee towards the chest, and change — left knee towards the chest, keep alternating a couple of times. Be fluid here, start to imagine the element water as you're practicing; water takes any form, so just really experience and be free. So from here, let's bend both the knees together, lifting the heels up high, lengthening through the full spine, and just holding here for three, for two, one. Set the heels down.

Now even in this position, we're going to take some spinal waves. So on your inhalation, roll the spine forward, I'm coming over to a plank position. On your exhalation, bend the knees, lift the sitting bones up, lift the head up, and push back to Adho Mukha. Inhale like a wave, roll forward to the top, plank, exhale, push back to downward facing with an arched spine.

Let's do it a couple more times. Inhale to come forward, feel the strength in the body. Exhale to go back. And now a little more smooth. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale, one more time. Inhale, come forward to plank, and then exhale back to your downward dog. Now try to straighten the knees, separating the feet about hip width, push the floor away, and let's just hold it for a couple of breaths. For three, listen to your breathing, keep your eyes focused at one point. For two, one more breath.

And then slowly, drag down onto the knees, and come and stand on the knees for Parighasana. You can face the middle of the mat, extend the right leg out, and flex the foot so you can see the toes are pointing up. The knee is directly under the hip. On your inhalation, open the arms, broad chest. On your exhale, just imagine that you're being pulled laterally towards the right side.

So go as much as you can, maybe you can reach the toe, or you can hold anywhere you can. Left hand straight up to the ceiling. And if you want to take this one step further, take the arm overhead, so you're deepening the lateral sensation in the body. Keep the arms straight, the elbow is reaching out. And just holding and breathing here. For three, strong leg, keep the kneecap pulled up, feel the thigh muscles. For two, go a little bit more, open the side body, one more breath. And then inhale, slowly exit the position.

Broad chest, hands on the hip, bring the right leg back in, bring the knees together. Inhale, left leg out, flex the foot, the toes are pointing up. Inhale, broad chest. Exhale, begin to reach laterally. So keep going as much as you can through space; in the end, you're going to hold wherever you can reach. Right hand up to the ceiling, and if you can, diagonally overhead. So really reaching and opening the side body, for three, keep your eyes focused at one point. For two, maybe a little more, one. Inhale, come back to center, broad chest. Exhale, hands on the hip, bring the knees back in. So nice.

Now face the beginning of the mat once again, come back to hands and knees. Inhale, arch your spine, chest up, chin up. Exhale to Adho Mukha, hips back and up. From here, look forward to the top of the mat, lift the heels up, and you can tiptoe your way to the front of the mat. If this is difficult, bend the knees and walk in.

Set the heels down, separate the feet about hip width, keep the hands in front of the feet. Inhale, straighten the back, look forward. You can also be on the fingertips. Exhale and go a little deeper, your knees can bend to bring the stomach towards the thighs. One more time, inhale to lengthen, exhale to fold over the legs, the knees can bend.

Now bring the feet completely together, you can reach for opposite elbows around your legs and then just fold into the position. If it's difficult to straighten the knee, you can look at this — this is the modification: the knees are bent, and we're folding over the legs. Be careful with the balance, shift the weight a little bit more forward towards the toes, away from the heel, make sure you can breathe deeply and well.

Now release the hands, inhale with a straight spine, come all the way up to standing, join the palms, look up at the hands. Exhale, hands by the side, Samasthiti. So now we're going to do two rounds of Hatha Yoga Surya Namaskar. Start at the beginning of the mat, big toes together, heels slightly apart, pull up on the kneecaps so you feel the activation in the legs, especially the thighs. Broad chest, and also be relaxed at the same time.

Inhale, Samasthiti, stay where you are. Exhale, join the hands in Pranam at the center of the chest. Inhale, take the hands up, slightly arch back using the upper spine. Exhale, lengthen, coming forward for Uttanasana with a straight back, go down. You can bend the knees.

Inhale, right leg back, lower the knee down, lift the center of the chest. Hold the breath, come to a strong plank position. On exhalation, lower the knees down, with the sitting bones up, lower the chest and chin — Bhujangasana. Inhale, let's not use the hands, just the strength of the spine. Exhale to Adho Mukha, hips back and up, empty the lungs.

Inhale, right leg forward, lower the left knee down, lift the chest up, chin up. Exhale, left leg forward, back to Uttanasana, go down. Inhale, come up all the way with a straight spine, slightly back. Exhale, back to Samasthiti.

Inhale, in Samasthiti. Exhale, hands up to the heart. Inhale, take the hands up, slightly back. Exhale to Uttanasana, go down. You can bend the knees if you need to. Inhale, left leg back, knee down, lift the center of the chest. Hold the breath and come to a plank position. On exhalation, knees, chest and chin — Bhujangasana. Inhale, press the feet down. Exhale over to Adho Mukha, empty the lungs.

Inhale, left leg forward, right knee down, head up. Exhale, right leg joins, coming back to Uttanasana. Inhale, come up all the way, slightly back. Exhale to Samasthiti.

So we're going to make the next round a little bit different. Inhale, Uttanasana half squat, hands up, gaze up. Exhale, coming back to Uttanasana, go down, head back.

Now step the right leg back, lower the knee down — here we are in a low lunge position. We're going to hold it here, slowly coming and balancing on the thigh. See how this feels, keep sending the hip forward and downward, the knee directly above the ankle in one line. Take away the strain from the back knee by moving the knee back a little bit behind the hip. If you can, the hands can come to the ground as you open the chest. If you have some blocks, you can place them under the hands, or just keep the hands here.

Now we're going to add a back arch. So on your inhale, look up, and then as you exhale, slowly start to open the chest towards the ceiling. Keep going as much as comfortable for you, holding there. For three, listen to the breath. For two, keep your eyes focused at one point. One more breath, and then slowly lift your head up last to exit the position. Wonderful.

Now keep the left forearm on the thigh, bend the right knee and reach for the foot with the right hand. If you're not able to hold it this way, another modification: right hand down, reach back for the foot with the left hand. Okay, so whichever side you prefer, I'm going to hold it like this — bend and hold the foot. Take an inhale here.

On exhalation, just take the foot a little closer to the body, I know it's a very deep stretch on the thigh. Inhale, extend it back. Exhale, take it in, one more time. Inhale, extend it back. Exhale, bring it in. Okay, so there's no pain in the knee here, you're just feeling this at the thigh.

Then you can extend the left hand forward, looking forward for three. For two, keep taking the hip forward and downward. One more breath, and then slowly release this leg out, keep the fingers framing the left foot.

And let's come to a half-split position, move the hips back, straightening the front knee. If this is not possible for you, you can keep the knee bent, and you're going to still experience the opening in the hamstring. If your knee is straight, keep the back straight, you can gaze at the toes. If you want to go deeper, bring the stomach to the thighs, and only then can you fold a little more towards the leg. Holding and breathing, flex the foot, toes pointing up. For three, for two, one more breath.

Wonderful. Now come back to your lunge. Now we're going to go through these movements, half split to lunge. So when you come to lunge, you're going to inhale, lifting the chest up. When you go back to half split, you're going to exhale. Inhale forward, opening the chest. Exhale, go back. Inhale, come forward, working on the back hip flexor. Exhale, working on the front hamstring. One more time, inhale, open. Exhale, go back.

Now you can continue staying in your half split, otherwise you can also try to kick it forward, coming to Hanumanasana, your full split position. Setting the hips down, square the hips to the front of the mat, you can take the arms back, just opening the chest. Breathing here for three, for two, one.

Option to take a twist: right hand on the left shin and then left hand behind you, opening the chest this way. Holding and breathing a lot, and then coming back to center. Keep the hands down, squaring the hips one last time.

Then we're transitioning to pigeon pose, so lean your hip a little bit to the left side and bend your left knee in. And here we are in pigeon, once again re-align the front thigh to face the mat. So from the pigeon position, take the fingers in front of you, and again open the chest. Keep sending the right hip forward and downward.

And now bend the right knee one more time, reaching for the foot with the right hand, try to bring it in so you're hooking the elbow crease inside over the foot. Then you can try to balance by interlocking the fingers like this. And if your balance is pretty good here, we can go one step further: take the left hand all the way up, locking the fingers like so, keeping your hips square to the front. You can try to look up towards the ceiling. Take a moment, and then slowly release the leg. So nice.

Now keep the hands rooting down, on your inhalation send the left leg all the way back and up for three-legged dog. So raise the leg up, let's keep it squared for right now, straightening the knee, pointing the toe. Then bend the knee and open the hip towards the right side, so there's more weight on the right hand — you can take a few ankle rotations, and then the other way, maybe three times each side. And then once again bringing the leg straight up, three-legged dog, and setting it down.

Take a moment here. Inhale, come to plank. Exhale, knees, chest and chin — Bhujangasana, if you like, use the hands, come up a little bit more but relax the shoulders. Exhale to Adho Mukha, empty the lungs.

Now step the right leg forward, lowering the left knee down to the mat. Slowly coming and balancing on the thigh, keep sending your hip forward and downward, aligning the knee over the ankle in one line. Holding and breathing here. So you can continue with the hands here, option to take the hands to the ground; if you have some blocks, keep it on the blocks. See how this feels.

Now we're going to add in a back arch. Inhale, look up, and then as you exhale, open the chest, keep your hip downward as you open the chest towards the ceiling; you can try to look back. Holding and breathing here. For three, for two, one more breath, and then slowly exiting the posture, lifting the head up last. So nice.

Now for our quad stretch, right forearm on the thigh, bend the left knee, reaching for the foot with the left hand. Remember to modify — you're going to hold it this way, otherwise you can hold it with the same hand. Inhale, extend it back. Exhale, bring it in. Two more times: inhale, back, lengthen; exhale, take it in. One more: inhale, back, and then exhale, bring it in.

Now keep it in and hold steady, hip down. For three, no pain in the knee, just experience this on the thigh and in the groin. For two, one more breath, and then slowly release, framing the right foot.

Transition to half split, pick up the foot, flexing the foot, and then you're going to feel this on the right hamstring. Remember to modify: bend the knee, keeping the spine long, don't round your back. If the knee is straight, option to go a little deeper — as long as the stomach touches the thigh, you can feel a little bit more. Staying and breathing here for three, two, keep listening to the sound of your breath, one.

Now let's do those transitions: lunge to half split. Inhale forward for lunge. Exhale back, half split position. Inhale, lunge — you can see I'm not moving the hands at all. Exhale to half split; only the hip is coming forward as I inhale, the hip is going back as I exhale. Inhale, open. Exhale, back. All right, one more time: inhale, forward, and then exhale, back.

Hanumanasana, you can stay here or keep forward for your full split position, simultaneously walking the left knee back and sitting your hip down. Squaring your hip down, you can take the arms back, opening the chest, deepening this a little bit more. Breathe here for three, for two, one.

Option to take the twist: place the left hand over the left leg, right hand behind you, keep the balance as you look over the right shoulder, and then slowly back to center. Stay here for one more breath, and then lean over to the right side, bending the right leg for your pigeon pose. Bring the hips back to center, level everything, okay.

So now from here, keep the fingers down, be comfortable. And then for our mermaid pose, bend the left knee, reach for the foot with the left hand, take the foot to the elbow crease. You can interlock the fingers together, staying here. If you have the balance, reach the right hand up, holding the fingers. Holding and breathing here. Take a moment, and then slowly release.

Keep the balance to the center, step back all the way to three-legged dog, straightening through the knee. And then bending the knee, all over to the left side, opening the hip — you can take a few rotations of the ankle. Bring it back to center one more time, just straightening the left leg upwards, and set it down.

Inhale, come forward to plank. Exhale, knees down, chest and chin down. Now stay here for a moment — you could also bend the knees, interlock the fingers behind, and lift up the shoulders. Three, two, one, inhale.

Exhale, let's take a few seconds of rest. Pause the hands, you can rest the chin down or turn the head to any one side. Take a moment, breathe here.

Okay, so now from here, let's come to sphinx position. Put the forearms in front of the chest, bringing the feet together, pressing into the tops of the feet, elevate the knees off the mat. So you should feel the glutes, the backs of the legs — basically the legs completely working in this position. Imagine you're dragging the elbows towards you, lifting your chest up, and let's stay for three, for two, one, go back to the mat.

Separate your legs about hip width, just a little bit. Press into the feet, keep the activation going, knees up, the hands back. Inhale, lift the chest up, hands back. Exhale, down. Inhale, exhale, one more time. Inhale, just trying to balance here, for three. Work the back muscles, for two, one, all the way down. Turn the head to the other side, taking a few seconds of rest, slowly coming back to center.

Now take the hands underneath the thighs, feet together, forehead down, chin down. Inhale, lift the right leg straight up without tilting the hip. For three, for two, one, release. Inhale, lift the left leg up, holding the position for three, two, one, release.

Hands in Bhujangasana position. You can either keep the hands here or you can even come onto the fingertips. I'm going to take this version today. So now, press into the tops of the feet, separate the legs slightly apart. Inhale, peel your head and chest off the ground, come up as much as you can, opening the front side body, and be comfortable. Only go to your limit, no stress. Holding and breathing here, keep the legs very engaged. And then exhale, you're going to reverse the same way, taking the head down last.

All right, one more time, hands in position. Inhale, come up all the way, then you can flatten the palms down. If it's available to you, keep arching back, and then you could also try to bend the knees — you can stay with the knees bent reaching back as much as you can, or go ahead and join feet to head. Take a breath and breathe, keep the hands on the ground — Bhujangasana one more time. Inhale, exhale, sit back on the heels, Vajrasana.

Hands on the knees, close your eyes, take a moment to just experience everything you've practiced. No hurry, take your time — it can be a little intense, so go only according to your capacity.

From here, come and stand on the knees, separate the knees about hip width for our camel position, Ustrasana. Keep the hands on the lower back, open the shoulders as you inhale. On exhalation, start to open through the chest, reaching the hands back towards your respective heels. Once you've taken hold of the heels, send the hips slightly more forward, then lengthen through the arms and allow the head to drop back. Keep the legs engaged, keep the eyes at one point, breathe deeply. Inhale, exhale, one. Inhale, exhale, two. Inhale, exhale, three.

Now bring the hands back to the hip and reverse the same way, lifting the head up last, coming back to Vajrasana for a moment. Taking a moment once again, just to observe yourself, no stress.

When you're ready, come back to downward facing dog, let's hold downward dog for one breath. Then you can bend the knees, look forward on exhalation. Inhale, you can jump and sit down to the beginning of the mat, or just sit normally.

And then let's go ahead, bend the knees, hands forward, roll the spine back one vertebra at a time for wheel pose. Separate your feet hip distance. If you're familiar with bridge, you can do that instead if you don't want to do wheel today. If you're setting up for wheel, turn the hands up next to the head, elbows facing up.

Inhale deeply. Exhale, start to come up, open through the chest, align the feet, the toes pointing forward. Move the weight back towards the hands, and then bring it forward to the legs. So just play with these movements — back towards the hands, and forward to the legs, back towards the hands, and then forward towards the legs, one more time towards the hands.

Now hold it here towards the hands. You can also work with straightening the legs here, see how that feels. Keep the weight back towards the hands, opening the chest. You can also bend the knees, try to bring the feet closer towards the hands. Holding here, breathing deeply, no stress.

And then when you're ready to come out, just go ahead, bend the knees, bring the chin to the chest, coming down slowly.

Immediately, taking a Supta Baddha Konasana position, joining the heels of the feet together, opening through the inner thighs. Staying and breathing into the position, no stress.

Now slowly join the knees together, hug the knees towards your body, just roll a little bit from side to side, like you're massaging the edges of your spine. And then let's do a few rock-ups and roll-backs. So just rock up, use the core strength and roll back. One more time up, and back. Up, and back. Let's do it one more time, up. Now stay up.

Keep the feet down, extend the legs forward for Supta Virasana. So bend the right leg back, and then the left leg back. If you're not able to do this comfortably, you can use a block, sit on the block. Essentially, we're moving the calf muscle out of the way, the toes are pointing back, knees together.

If you're comfortable here, you can take the hands back, open the chest one more time, chin up. To go a little deeper, drop the forearms on the mat, still opening through the chest, and head back. If you're very comfortable, lie down, crown of the head down. Take the arms up, reach for opposite elbows, and hang out here. Be still, no stress, listen to your breathing. For three, for two, one more breath.

And then slowly reverse the same way: hands forward, pick it up, coming back onto the forearms, arching the spine, and then coming back onto the palms, and slowly exiting the position. Wonderful.

Now extend the legs forward, but we're almost done. Let's straighten the legs for our twist, the spine is straight. Bend the right knee towards the body, cross it over the left leg, and then fold the left leg from underneath — Ardha Matsyendrasana. Raise your left hand straight up.

Exhale, you can just hug the knee, twist and look back. If you want to go a little deeper, bring the armpit and the elbow over, taking a mudra like so, looking over the right shoulder. You can also try to hold the right ankle. Broad chest, no weight on the hand, very light touch with the hand. Keep your eyes somewhere close to you, and then slowly look forward to release. Done.

Change the legs, bring the right leg underneath, left leg over, sit straight. Inhale, right hand up. Exhale, you can just hug and twist, look back. To go a little deeper, cross the armpit over, reaching towards the left foot, left hand back. Listen to your breath, no stress. One more breath. Now slowly look forward, release.

Paschimottanasana, straighten the legs, start with the knees bent, feet flexed. Inhale, hands up, lengthen the spine one last time. Exhale, reach forward, try to bring the stomach to the thighs, holding the outer edges of the feet. Only if you have stomach to thighs and you're comfortable, you can work on kicking the heels forward, maintaining stomach-to-thigh contact. The moment you're losing that contact, you know that's where you have to stop and just breathe. We want the lower back especially to release, no stress there.

If you're pretty comfortable in the posture, you're going to straighten the legs. And nice and easy — fast, calm the breathing. For three, for two, one.

Inhale, you can raise the arms up. Exhale, the arms down, open the legs slightly apart, and roll the spine back. Keep the palms facing up, closer to the body, eyes closed.

After a practice like this, it's very important to rest for some time, so please be in Shavasana, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. So thank you all so much for joining. Be patient, practice with complete awareness, and I'll see you next class.