“As you embrace the present and become one with it, and merge with it, you will experience a fire, a glow, a sparkle of ecstasy throbbing in every sentient being.
As you begin to experience this exultation of spirit in everything that is alive, as you become intimate with it, joy will be born within you, and you will drop the terrible burdens of defensiveness, resentment, and hurtfulness…
then you will become lighthearted, carefree, joyous, and free.” Â Deepak Chopra
OM: Chant three times.
Close Your Eyes See Inside
MEDITATION: Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position. Place your palms on your thighs. Open your eyes about halfway and rest your gaze on the floor five feet in front of you. Focus your attention on the breath. Whenever you realize you’ve gotten caught up in a thought, label that activity “thinking” and return your attention to your breath. This will happen over and over, and it’s no problem. Meditation is a practice of noticing, interrupting, and returning to your immediate sensory experience. Practice waking up and letting go as a way to get to know yourself better, to understand your own habits–which will, in turn, lead to understanding others better and feeling more connected to them. Sit like this for at least 10 minutes.
WARM-UP VINYASA:
Cow
Cat
Cow
Down Dog
Plank
Down Dog
Then lower onto your hands and knees, tuck your toes under, and come into a squat with your heels lifted off the ground. Come up off your hands and bring them into prayer position. Rise all the way up on your tiptoes and then lower back to the squat. Work on zipping your legs together to begin developing your midline connection. Come back onto your hands and knees.
Repeat the sequence three times.
SUN SALUTATION:
Mountain Pose
Upward Salute
Standing Forward Bend
Right step back into a high lunge
Down Dog
Plank
Knees-chest-chin
Baby Cobra
Down Dog
High lunge (right leg)
Standing Forward Bend
Upward Salute
Mountain Pose
Repeat the sequence on the other side, then a second time on each side.
Then do another version of Sun Salutation:
Mountain
Upward Salute
Standing Forward Bend
Flat back
Four-Limbed Staff Pose
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Right leg Warrior I
Right leg Warrior II
Four-Limbed Staff Pose
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Left leg Warrior I
Left leg Warrior II
Four-Limbed Staff Pose
Upward Dog
Downward Dog
Jump forward to flat back
Standing Forward Bend
AHHHHHHH
Upward Salute
Mountain
FEATURED SEQUENCE: Perform the sequence presented twice, once to each side.
Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)
Virabhadrasana III (warrior Pose III)
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)
Vasisthasana (Side Plank Pose)
Anantasana (side-Reclining Lef Lift)
Urdha Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose)
Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose)
Ustrasana (Camel Pose)
Bharadvajasana (Bharadvaja’s Twist)
Simhasana (Lion Pose)
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)
After the last Downward Dog, lower your knees to the floor and rest in Child’s Pose.
INVERSION: Headstand. Draw the legs into the midline to create the necessary stability to relax your breath and mind.
CLOSING POSES:
Bound Angle Pose
Revolved Head-to-Knee Pose
Seated Forward Bend
Supported Shoulderstand
Knee-to-Ear Pose
Allow the earth to support you! Namaste
Then do Corpse Pose, resting in the confidence that the ground will hold you. Open up to the big blue sky, which is just like your own vast mind.
OM: Chant three times.
Cyndi Lee is the founder of OM yoga studios in Manhattan and East Hampton, New York. She is the author and artist of OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice; OM at Home: A Yoga Journal; the OM Yoga in a Box series; the book Yoga Body, Buddha Mind; the OM Yoga Mix CD series; and the OM Yoga DVDs.
Meet Allison Stuart Kaplan, Founder and Co-Editor in Chief of ASKinyourface.com.
Meet Lauren Stewart, Co-Editor in Chief of ASKinyourface.com.
Great morning wake-up! Thank you