Lucinda Hollands: Welcome to class. Nice to see you.
Lucinda Hollands: Go ahead and find a comfortable position, sitting.
Lucinda Hollands: Closing your eyes.
Lucinda Hollands: Let's take a big breath in through the nose, open mouth exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: Two more. Just like that. In through the nose.
Lucinda Hollands: Open mouth. Exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: And then begin making that breath slower and deeper settling into your space.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing the weight of your body into the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: Begin focusing on right, now the present.
Lucinda Hollands: Leaving the weekend behind, leaving the rest of the day in front of us. Let's take this time for ourselves. So breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth.
Lucinda Hollands: Continue breathing and as you're breathing start following your breath through your body.
Lucinda Hollands: Going all the way down to the toes, up through the legs.
Lucinda Hollands: Your core.
Lucinda Hollands: Your arms, your neck.
Lucinda Hollands: Noticing how you feel today.
Lucinda Hollands: Slowing your breath down, giving yourself just time
Lucinda Hollands: to relax.
Lucinda Hollands: Sealing the lips and start breathing in and out through the nose.
Lucinda Hollands: Began circling through the shoulders, inhaling as we go forward and up and exhaling as they're going back and down.
Lucinda Hollands: And reversing. When you're ready, inhaling.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhaling as they're going forward and down.
Lucinda Hollands: Bringing your shoulders to a neutral position. Exhaling your ear towards your shoulder releasing through the neck.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling up and over to the other side. Exhaling your ear closer to the shoulder.
Lucinda Hollands: And lifting the head up and dropping the chin. You're keeping your spine nice and tall.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling, the chin up to the ceiling, lengthening through the back of the neck.
Lucinda Hollands: Bringing that forward.
Lucinda Hollands: And then looking over one shoulder.
Lucinda Hollands: And the other shoulder.
Lucinda Hollands: And looking over the other shoulder, letting the shoulders go with it.
Lucinda Hollands: And over to the other side.
Lucinda Hollands: Come center.
Lucinda Hollands: Big inhale both arms up.
Lucinda Hollands: And pulling that down through heart center.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhaling.
Lucinda Hollands: bringing both arms up one more time. Exhaling.
Lucinda Hollands: And then only one arm. We're going to take it over to the side, stretching through the ribcage.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing through the neck.
Lucinda Hollands: Take a couple breaths expanding through the ribs.
Lucinda Hollands: And then lifting up and take it to the other side.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling and releasing over as you exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: Feeling your breath expanding through the ribcage.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing the neck.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting both arms up into the air, take it into a deeper stretch, looking behind you, twisting.
Lucinda Hollands: Coming back to the front. If you are sitting cross legged, go ahead and change your feet.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting both arms up.
Lucinda Hollands: And twisting to the other side.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing forward. Take a big breath in.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhale, rounding through the spine, pulling in the belly button, dropping the head rolling right over the tailbone.
Lucinda Hollands: As you inhale, arching
Lucinda Hollands: all the way through the spine.
Lucinda Hollands: And exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: And inhale.
Lucinda Hollands: And one more time. Exhaling and inhaling.
Lucinda Hollands: Putting the bottoms of your feet together, keep the feet away from you.
Lucinda Hollands: More of a long diamond shape.
Lucinda Hollands: Take a big breath in and around forward.
Lucinda Hollands: Allowing the vertebrae to separate.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing through the back of the neck.
Lucinda Hollands: And slowly rolling up.
Lucinda Hollands: Take those knees together.
Lucinda Hollands: Take it on your back.
Lucinda Hollands: Legs can be long, you can have a knees together, whatever is more comfortable for you right now. You can even put a pillow or something under your knees.
Lucinda Hollands: Placing your hands on your belly.
Lucinda Hollands: Without worrying about the breathing right now. I just want you to push your belly out as far as it will go. So really pushing rounding through the belly.
Lucinda Hollands: Noticing what's going on in your back. I really don't want you arching and flattening I want you doing this with your belly. These are great exercises to improve your breathing.
Lucinda Hollands: So belly out as far as it will go.
Lucinda Hollands: Really push. and then try to pull that belly button right into your spine, but by using the abdominal muscles more than the back.
Lucinda Hollands: Again, pushing that belly out.
Lucinda Hollands: And then sucking the belly button in.
Lucinda Hollands: Out.
Lucinda Hollands: And in.
Lucinda Hollands: So as you're breathing in, allow that belly to expand.
Lucinda Hollands: Really big, even bigger, breath in.
Lucinda Hollands: And then as you exhale, pressing that belly button into your spine, helping push
Lucinda Hollands: the used up breath out of your body. Again in.
Lucinda Hollands: And out.
Lucinda Hollands: And in.
Lucinda Hollands: And out.
Lucinda Hollands: Continuing with the abdominal area, we're taking it more to the sides of the ribcage.
Lucinda Hollands: So inhaling expanding first through the belly and then widening out to the sides with the rib cage expanding through the ribs. Keeping the belly really pushed and then releasing the ribcage and squeezing that belly.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling belly, sides of the ribs.
Lucinda Hollands: And exhaling squeezing those ribs together. squeezing the belly down.
Lucinda Hollands: Using a little bit more muscle in this.
Lucinda Hollands: And finally, adding the top of the chest up through the clavicles, expanding to the ceiling and into the floor. So as you're breathing in, expanding the belly, widening through the ribcage, then expanding through the chest.
Lucinda Hollands: Really squeezing it out. Get all that breath out.
Lucinda Hollands: Let's do three more breaths on your own. Just like that.
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing that belly button way up.
Lucinda Hollands: Feeling the ribcage and the chest. Sucking in even more air than you thought that you could.
Lucinda Hollands: If you want, you can even take a pause before you start your exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: Same. You can always pause before you begin inhaling.
Lucinda Hollands: And then coming to a more normal, natural breath.
Lucinda Hollands: Let's go ahead and take your arms above your head.
Lucinda Hollands: So they can straight above your head. Palms up.
Lucinda Hollands: You are going to press those arms into the floor, without lifting the rib cage or lower back, pressing into the floor. Make sure you're breathing.
Lucinda Hollands: And then relax and release.
Lucinda Hollands: Take the arms out to a V shape so slightly further out.
Lucinda Hollands: Pressing into the floor. Press. If you need a little bend in the arms, that's fine, but the straighter they are, the better. Keep the ribs on the floor, keep pressing and breathing.
Lucinda Hollands: And release.
Lucinda Hollands: Take the arms directly out to the sides. Palms are still up.
Lucinda Hollands: Press. Press the backs of the arms, the forearms, the back of your hands, even your fingers.
Lucinda Hollands: And release.
Lucinda Hollands: Now you can rotate those hands down. So the palms are on the floor and an upside down, V, closer to the hips. Again, press.
Lucinda Hollands: And relax.
Lucinda Hollands: Hands right by the sides.
Lucinda Hollands: Press.
Lucinda Hollands: And relax.
Lucinda Hollands: Go ahead and put the bottom of your feet together and drop the knees open.
Lucinda Hollands: Place your palms together, lace your fingers. Elbows as straight as possible.
Lucinda Hollands: Big breath in.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhale, your arms over your head.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhale the arms back up to the ceiling.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping your gaze looking up at the ceiling.
Lucinda Hollands: Working through the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping the rib cage connected to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: And this time keeping those hands above your head.
Lucinda Hollands: Arms really squeezing in towards your ears.
Lucinda Hollands: And give your body a moment to relax. Releasing through the hips, through the gluteals.
Lucinda Hollands: Through the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Release you're abdominals.
Lucinda Hollands: And stretching those arms above your head.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting back up to the ceiling.
Lucinda Hollands: Go ahead and let your hands help bring your knees together.
Lucinda Hollands: Heels are close to the hips. You should be able to touch the heels, in line with the hip flexors.
Lucinda Hollands: Hands by your sides.
Lucinda Hollands: Using the floor. We're going to lift all the way up into bridge position without moving through the back as much. So we're going to just take it straight up and hold. Pressing the toes, pressing the arms, pushing those hips as high as they will go.
Lucinda Hollands: And then coming straight back down.
Lucinda Hollands: Again, you're going to press straight up into the bridge. Push. This time we're going to take the right foot up off the ground and take that heel towards the ceiling.
Lucinda Hollands: Pressing the hips up, slight drop.
Lucinda Hollands: Press up, slight drop.
Lucinda Hollands: Press up, slight drop. One more.
Lucinda Hollands: Putting their foot down, press the hips even higher.
Lucinda Hollands: Getting ready for the other side, pushing those hips up.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting the left leg up, finding your balance. Use your arms. Pressing the heel to the ceiling. The knee can be bent. And then just pressing up, slight drop.
Lucinda Hollands: Up, slight drop. Push through that supporting foot.
Lucinda Hollands: Two more.
Lucinda Hollands: Way up, drop the foot to the floor press those hips up.
Lucinda Hollands: And dropping straight down.
Lucinda Hollands: Feet max width apart. Arms up to the sides. Palms down and windshield wiper those knees.
Lucinda Hollands: The next time your knees are over to the right, let them stay there. You can take your right foot on top of your left knee and gently press it to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing that top foot if it's on top. Inhale and exhale, your knees over to the other side.
Lucinda Hollands: And you can take the left foot on top of the right knee.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing that foot.
Lucinda Hollands: Bring it center. Go ahead and pull the knees in.
Lucinda Hollands: Gently lifting the tailbone up off the mat.
Lucinda Hollands: Stretching through that lower back.
Lucinda Hollands: Through the hips.
Lucinda Hollands: And let's go ahead and press the heels straight up. If you want, you can just make fists and put them right into your hips. Let's go ahead and circle through your ankles.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing the other direction.
Lucinda Hollands: And flex and point.
Lucinda Hollands: Using all those joints, so the ankles, right at the base of the toes.
Lucinda Hollands: Using the toes.
Lucinda Hollands: And then very slowly dropping those legs down towards the floor engaging through the abdominals.
Lucinda Hollands: And then when you come down to the floor. Go ahead and roll right over.
Lucinda Hollands: Placing the elbows right under your shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: A nice easy sphinx position.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping those hips on the ground.
Lucinda Hollands: Looking in front of you.
Lucinda Hollands: Pressing the shoulders away from your ears and gently pull the shoulder blades together.
Lucinda Hollands: Take a couple breaths right here.
Lucinda Hollands: Rolling down.
Lucinda Hollands: Press yourself up to all fours, releasing through your back with some cat cows, with your breath.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling and exhaling.
Lucinda Hollands: And pressing right back his child's.
Lucinda Hollands: Stretching those arms way in front of you. Dropping your forehead to the mat.
Lucinda Hollands: Pressing up onto the fingertips lifting the wrists up into the air.
Lucinda Hollands: Drop that back down.
Lucinda Hollands: And push yourself back up on all fours.
Lucinda Hollands: Extending the left leg behind you.
Lucinda Hollands: Toes are tucked under pushing through the heel to get a stretch through
Lucinda Hollands: your calf.
Lucinda Hollands: And taking that to the other side, pressing through the toes.
Lucinda Hollands: Push through the heel.
Stretch the calf.
Lucinda Hollands: Pulling that knee back under you, tucking the toes under, pressing into downward facing dog.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhaling. As you exhale, allow the chest to fall through the shoulders, pressing back into your hips.
Lucinda Hollands: And then walking through the feet, dropping one heel at a time.
Lucinda Hollands: Both heels down.
Lucinda Hollands: Again, deep breath in.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhale drop through the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Inhale, take it to a plank position.
Lucinda Hollands: Gently drop the knees to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: Very slowly, a count of four, you're going to drop down on to your chest, keeping the elbows very, very close to you. So very slowly, one,
Lucinda Hollands: Two,
Lucinda Hollands: Three,
Lucinda Hollands: Four.
Lucinda Hollands: Take a breath. In one movement, back up to that push up position. Ready, go.
Lucinda Hollands: Pulling it up, using the abdominals. Press into the back on the chest. Again, we're going to take it back down counting for 1234 take a breath.
Lucinda Hollands: As you push up think of exhaling. Here we go, push up.
Lucinda Hollands: Exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: Two more, just like that going down very slowly. Exhaling up.
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing yourself right on all fours.
Lucinda Hollands: Let's go ahead and put the elbows down where
Lucinda Hollands: the hands were.
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing back in through your the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting back up. Taking
Lucinda Hollands: the hands another step forward.
Lucinda Hollands: And again, dropping down, keeping the hips right above the knees.
Lucinda Hollands: Press through the hands to come up. Walk yourself back, sitting back on the heels. Give your wrist a little break here.
Lucinda Hollands: Alright, take it back on all fours.
Lucinda Hollands: Let's take it into downward facing dog.
Lucinda Hollands: Go ahead and
Lucinda Hollands: take your right leg up.
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing away up.
Lucinda Hollands: Rounding, pull the knee and your head together.
Lucinda Hollands: And again push it up.
Lucinda Hollands: One more time rounding in, contracting.
Lucinda Hollands: Push it up.
Lucinda Hollands: This time we're going to take that right foot and step up to the outside of your right in hand. So just pulling it through.
Lucinda Hollands: Nice big lunge.
Lucinda Hollands: And then dropping that back knee, and for more of a stretch release that back foot.
Lucinda Hollands: So right here, you want be dropping the hips towards the floor. So pushing down gently.
Lucinda Hollands: And then cresting you're right knee open.
Lucinda Hollands: Walk your hands towards you just enough that you can start stretching up, looking in front of you with your back.
Lucinda Hollands: And then go ahead and plant those hands down, tuck your back toe under, take the right leg back up into the air. Pressing up.
Lucinda Hollands: And down.
Lucinda Hollands: Taking the left leg up.
Lucinda Hollands: Contracting in.
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing it up.
Lucinda Hollands: And in.
Lucinda Hollands: This time taking that left foot to the outside of your left hand. Pulling it through, stepping forward.
Lucinda Hollands: Dropping the back knee, give your hips a moment to release to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping weight on your hands.
Lucinda Hollands: So your body can relax. And then, if you want that extra stretch, pushing that left knee out. You're getting a stretch through the outside of the hip also.
Lucinda Hollands: And then you can walk those hands in it again.
Lucinda Hollands: Try to press a little further through the hips extending through the spine, looking forward
Lucinda Hollands: Placing those hands flat, tucking that back toe, taking it back up into the air.
Lucinda Hollands: And setting it down.
Lucinda Hollands: Right leg up.
Lucinda Hollands: See if we can get that left heel closer to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: This time we're going to take that right foot straight between your front hands.
Lucinda Hollands: Pulling it through.
Lucinda Hollands: You can always help it a little bit.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping the back knee up. Go ahead and put those hands on your knee.
Lucinda Hollands: And then walking the hands up.
Lucinda Hollands: The shoulders are over the hips.
Lucinda Hollands: Lower back heel.
Lucinda Hollands: And take it into warrior two.
Lucinda Hollands: Keep that knee bent.
Lucinda Hollands: Pressing it back.
Lucinda Hollands: So you can see your big toe if you look down.
Lucinda Hollands: Put your right forearm on your right knee.
Lucinda Hollands: Long stretch through the body. See if you can drop those hips.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping that front knee bent.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting up, reversing your position.
Lucinda Hollands: Coming up, straightening up front knee.
Lucinda Hollands: We're going to take the right hand to the inside of the right foot.
Lucinda Hollands: Reaching up.
Lucinda Hollands: Slightly pushing back with the left hip.
Lucinda Hollands: You can always use the calf or even a block right here.
Lucinda Hollands: And then you're going to use the side of your body right here, the rib cage, your obliques, to lift yourself back up.
Lucinda Hollands: Go ahead and rotate forward.
Lucinda Hollands: Putting those hands on the ground.
Lucinda Hollands: Take that right leg back.
Lucinda Hollands: Downward facing dog.
Lucinda Hollands: And putting that left foot between your hands.
Lucinda Hollands: Keeping that back leg straight.
Lucinda Hollands: I'll turn around so I'm facing you.
Lucinda Hollands: Holding that position.
Lucinda Hollands: And then dropping the back heel.
Lucinda Hollands: Opening up
Lucinda Hollands: into a nice wide warrior two position. Checking that front knee, pushing it open.
Lucinda Hollands: Placing the forearm on your knee. Think of lengthening here, keeping the shoulders nice and open.
Lucinda Hollands: Lengthening.
Lucinda Hollands: Allow room for your breath.
Lucinda Hollands: Reaching back.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting, reversing the position.
Lucinda Hollands: Reaching up, straightening that leg.
Lucinda Hollands: And then reaching down with the left arm.
Lucinda Hollands: Up with the right.
Lucinda Hollands: Reaching down.
Lucinda Hollands: Opening through the shoulders.
Lucinda Hollands: Using all those muscles on the side of your body.
Lucinda Hollands: Reaching up, good.
Lucinda Hollands: Moving towards your front foot.
Lucinda Hollands: Pushing into downward facing dog.
Lucinda Hollands: Coming into the plank.
Lucinda Hollands: So you can go down to the floor either with the knees up or you can drop them.
Lucinda Hollands: Let's go ahead and take that down to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: And pressing through the fronts of legs.
Lucinda Hollands: Lifting the upper body up off the mat.
Lucinda Hollands: Squeezing the shoulder blades.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing down.
Lucinda Hollands: Pressing it into a downward facing dog.
Lucinda Hollands: And walking those feet forward.
Lucinda Hollands: Right here just a forward fold, hanging on to the elbows, dropping the head.
Lucinda Hollands: Now, releasing forward.
Lucinda Hollands: Rolling up very slowly.
Lucinda Hollands: rolling up.
Lucinda Hollands: So we started talking about balance.
Lucinda Hollands: We'll do the tree. Practice on the tree. This is usually one of the first balances, people will use.
Lucinda Hollands: If you've got leggings or socks on. Sometimes you have to at least remove your socks. Otherwise, your foot just slips off. And then also,
Lucinda Hollands: if you're not really flexible in the hips, you can always leave the foot low, it does not have to be up high.
Lucinda Hollands: And then last time I had a chair out here. If you need to, especially when beginning, using a Wall or chair to find the balance, and then let it go. That's completely okay.
Lucinda Hollands: So either side, whichever side you're comfortable on.
Lucinda Hollands: Trying to get that foot right up pressing against the other leg.
Lucinda Hollands: And then finding your balance.
Lucinda Hollands: It helps if you focus on something.
Lucinda Hollands: Continue balancing on that side, it is hard for me to balance and talk at the same time. But once you find that balance start thinking about that breath and make it nice and smooth and continuous.
Lucinda Hollands: Instead of holding your breath, because when we're doing something we're not so good at, we tend to hold our breath and tightening up. So once you get that balance. Remember, keeping that in a strong posture, but drop into the shoulders and start thinking of the breath.
Lucinda Hollands: The hands can be in front of you, here. You may need them out here for balance. But if you if you're in control. Try letting those arms grow up like branches on the tree and then open up.
Lucinda Hollands: So keeping that balance as long as possible.
Lucinda Hollands: And when you're ready to go to the other side. Go ahead and take it to the other side.
Lucinda Hollands: We're not competing with anybody. You're just teaching your body, how to balance.
Lucinda Hollands: Go ahead and
Lucinda Hollands: take it back down to the floor.
Lucinda Hollands: Taking your right knee in and gently
Lucinda Hollands: pulling it down into your chest.
Lucinda Hollands: And then go ahead and cross that right ankle on to your left knee.
Lucinda Hollands: If this is tight, gently pushing out the right knee. And if you're okay pulling in that left leg.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing that. Pulling in the left knee and
Lucinda Hollands: squeezing it into your body.
Lucinda Hollands: And then crossing that left ankle over the right knee either pushing that knee open or pulling the leg in.
Lucinda Hollands: Releasing that extending the legs.
Lucinda Hollands: Arms out to the sides, palms up.
Lucinda Hollands: Focusing back into that big breath we started with. Really thinking of expanding through the the belly, the rib cage, and the chest, at least once or twice before going back into a normal breath.
Lucinda Hollands: Breathing deeper, wiggling the toes and fingers.
Lucinda Hollands: Rolling over to one side before pushing yourself up.
Lucinda Hollands: Take one more big breath, inhale through the nose, open mouth exhale.
Lucinda Hollands: Have a wonderful day. Namaste.