The Lotus Pose: Yoga challenge for beginners

1. Why should you do this course?: imagine how you would feel. If you are able to achieve the most advance med, it'd pose the Lotus pose. Imagine two, if you will. If you could raise your fitness game up a level, imagine living in a body that is healthy and happy. That serves you so that you can go on to do all the amazing things that you would like to do. Working towards the Lotus pose helps you to achieve all those things. Many people believe it's one of those posts is that very few of us could achieve. I was one of those people. I used to look at this position. I thought there's no way that I would be able to achieve that pose. And now, through the right experience, through the right knowledge, through all the prepared to post that you need to be able to do, I was able to achieve that pose, and I would love the opportunity to share that with you. This course really has you in mind. You know, the kind of person I want to raise your fitness game upper level. You're also the kind of person that may be spending significant amounts of time in an office on a laptop because you work hard, and as a result, your tips and your hamstrings have become rather tight. You might be the kind of person that might not be big win yoga, but you would love to be able to achieve this post, and finally, you might be the kind of person that really loves meditation. I would like to do its traditional Hindu way the Lotus position, so this course really has aspects for absolutely everyone here is admitted. He's arising boxing star in the UK and why he does yoga for boxing and for all of the other sports that he plays. I do boxing, mixed martial arts, cost country running on football. I regularly practice yoga to keep me calm and relaxed and boxer yogis amazing as you get in three punches and get out, especially when the short burst rounds. That's why your home shouldn't be very loose. Also hits, then it would be very strong, as when you're throwing a point. All the power comes from yet when you're turning, when you throw, not cross in mixed martial arts units there, composed and relaxed, watching it through a very high head kicks on lower leg kicks and yoga is amazing for this . You like me. Might be the kind of person that really wants everything in one place. You don't wanna have to go on two different articles. You don't have to scour around lots of different videos on be able to get a little dribs of information from lots of different things. I've done that hard work for you. When I was alone in the Lotus Post, I had to go on out, then had to research all this information in order to be able to learn how to do the Lotus pose. All of this work and all the practices are here in one place. So that is very easy for you to access these practices that are also really short and sweet . I get the fact that you're incredibly busy. You have an insane schedule where you're already juggling lots of different things. And so you need something that you can just embed or integrate into your life, which is nice and easy joined. Now for a lifetime access to this course. There is a coupon code below that you can click on if there isn't one that pleased to send me an email which are also detailed below. And I will send that coupon code to you. Be a mice exclusive few that are working towards the lotus pose. So you two, like the Hindu and the Buddhist masters of before, can be a master off your own calling. Best of all, once you're on the course, you can have direct contact with me. If you have any concerns, any questions to send me a message and I will be able to contact you directly. So join me working towards the Lotus pose because your body is worth it. No mass stay, Shukria Mahbubani much love. 2. 1 Introduction to Lotus Pose: the Lotus pose is the ultimate of yoga poses. The fact that it places such a huge demand in its on our body is the reason why is considered an advanced yoga pose. Our thighs have to rotate 90 degrees from the actual hip sockets before we can safely come into this pose. Now the fact is that for the vast majority, are is we spend our lives, incidentally, positions or in kind of work, which means that we stiffen and tighten. Those muscles were either in offices. We spend a lot of time on laptops or smart phones and digital devices. These days, all were working out in the gym or doing physical cardiovascular work with titans, those my cells nevertheless, with specific poses on with specific practices, we can externally rotate those hips on, which in itself is an amazing exercise, an amazing service to your body. But it also means that you can work towards the lotus pose 3. 2 Lotus pose for meditation: one of the other really awesome aspect off the Lotus pose is the fact that is considered to be the ultimate post for meditation. The fact that it is a stabilizing pose on brings it into something close to theater. Steadiness allows the Yogi to step out of the world, stay step into themselves, become more san, much comma and be able to focus on the God within and the God above within themselves, without any distractions. 4. 3 Why is it called the Lotus pose?: why is it called the Lotus pose? The lotus pose is because of the fact that when you think about the arrangements of both our hands on dour feet, it resembles a lotus flower itself on the lotus foul blossoms in muddy water and faces the sun. And that is a beautiful banality of our life. Of the fact that you are this lotus flower that regardless off the circumstances and the craziness of our lives we can come in into ourselves, find that God within I'm face the sun. 5. 4 Contra-indications: There are a number of contraindications that you need to be aware off before you coming into the lotus pose arise. You're working towards the lotus pose. Always, always. Always listen to the keys of your brain body if our any point, you are feeling that you are in physical pain because some of the practices and the post is that we will be doing are going quite deep into your connective tissue in your fascia that then you need to step out and ease out those poses. People with knee injuries, ankle injuries or hip injuries really need to avoid working towards the Lotus Post, because this could cause further aggravation to those areas. So please seek medical advice before you embark on working towards the laters. If you've got Cy Attica pain. Also, this might exacerbate the static nerve. So again seek medical advice before you embark on this particular course. Finally, when you feel that you're ready to go into pubs Mass and go back to what I said initially, which is to listen to the cues if you are forcing your legs into a particular position on your knees, feel any kind of physical pain or discomfort. Then you come into the Marsten to sing. So be patient, practice, practice and practice. And I assure you you will be able to do the lotus pose. 6. 5 Benefits of the pose: the benefits of the fed. Marce impose our tremendous one of the things that it does. It stimulates a pelvis, the abdomen on the bladder, all these mid. The middle region over here also helps keeping your spine straight, which is amazing for your posture, but also good exercise for the spa find itself. It also because of the fact that is a meditative pose, is amazing to help you stay calm and stays in and calms the nervous system. And so any kind of levels of anxiety or emotions that we can't control coming into the put masking really help you to ease out of those emotions. Finally, one of the things that it said is that the pod mass impose kills off. This is traditional text that it kills off all disease and awakens the country Lini spirit and so that you are free you from the confines of your own physical body. So working towards the Port Marcin pays is amazing physically on its also amazing for on an emotional or a spiritual level if you also look at those perspectives. So let's start some of the practices that let's give you some grounding of what the practice is involved 7. 6 How will we work towards the pose?: I put together for you four practices. The first practice of those is the sun salutations, and then the other three are practices that go deeper into the process. The reason why it's really important to do the sun salutations and the sun salad taters are enormously beneficial for you. For yourself increases your blood circulation and lengthens and tone to muscles on it. Also done at a faster rate is an amazing X cardiovascular exercise. But setting that aside, the reason why it's really important you to do the sun salutations is because you need to add that heat and add that fire into your body before you embark on some of the deeper poses. The deeper poses are going through your muscles into your connective tissue. This is really important. I have your body nice, some war. This is especially important if you're about to do those practices in the morning. The other three practices are kind of put them into three different areas that you work on . The first practice is were you working on lengthening your hamstrings, mainly focusing on that particular area, the second of which we continue to work on our hamstrings. But we also work on our quads. On start to work on our hips is file, which I think is a really nice order of doing things on the last one. We're going really deep on working on those hips and the adopters more than anything else. And so those three practices working together really compliment each other The way that we're actually doing the practice themselves is using in yoga, where you staying that post between 1 to 6 minutes. Sometimes we're not doing anything more than three minutes on. The reason why I've done yin yoga is because yin yoga in itself goes deep into your connective tissue, your fascia. And now the more gentle we are with opposes, the deeper we go on, the flexibility of our body increases dramatically. So while serving Yasa flow could do the same things, it does take a longer time. So even faster float actually takes longer than a slow flow practice, where you're actually going deeper into those tissues. How you then practice your classes of the practices that I've put there, he is entirely up to you. You might decide that you want to do one a day and slot that in whenever you have some time free, you might set aside some time where you do entirely in that chronology. You might feel that actually, my hamstrings were quite lose. I have much rather focus on my my hips and my doctors, or you might want to work on it the other way round. It's entirely your discretion, but I do want to say that it's really important to do the sun salutation, so any kind of physical work to make sure that your body is nice and warm. Finally, some of the places I think you could probably do their whilst you're watching TV sat on the safer. You could certainly place one foot on top of the other thigh on that. It's natural, organic way to kind of throw in. Some of these posts is so whilst you go through the practice, think is there some time that I may be able to be able to put the scene on. Then I get working towards the lotus ties. Finally, let's just have some fun. Whilst for doing this every time you pose that you're doing the pigeon post would be doing the firelord post. Those are like beautiful process for themselves, so enjoy those many destinations before we work towards and achieve the lotus pose 8. 7 How long will it take before I achieve the pose?: one of the questions that get asked a lot is, How long will it take me, Teoh, Get into the Put Boston pose. And unfortunately, I can't really give any definite answer for that. It could be weeks. It could be months. It could be a year on. The reason for that is because of our physiology is entirely different. Some of us are naturally flexible and as a result will find that there be able to get into that prose a lot faster. Some of us are coming in with really tight hips and certain joints that are stiff and so working through some of those issues. But then that becomes a labor of love. If you're working through these, Posey's on dure, serving the needs of your body and saying, Look, it's like a service that you do for a car, you're servicing your body and you will eventually arrive in that pod Marcin pose. So rather than just waiting to arrive at the destination, see those small steps as that destination, As I was saying before on, Just savor it, Enjoy it, really have some fun 9. 9. Sun-salutations: start with our sun salutations were going to do four rounds of the sun citations to add that heat warmth into our body. We're going to start off quite slow, and they will speed it up as we go along. So you're feeling right and ready for the other three practices. So come and join me at the front of you, Matt. Planting your feet nice and firmly onto the ground palms facing the front, writing his shoulders back, closing your eyes, coming into your breath, using the breath to guide to inhale, extending your arms nice. And why taking them a pro? V ahead on, Then exhale, bending from your hips slowly coming down to this earth. Hold that breath pressed down or really plant down on T left foot as he lift your right one off the ground. If you feel you can take it all the way back, do so. Otherwise. Walk into the back. Drop in the look straight ahead as you inhale. Sweep your arms up over your head. Exhale, taking your arms of framing your left foot, pressing down on both of those before you lift your right knee, rocking gently back with reports before you take your left foot on, walk it to the back into downward facing girl pressing down to your palms. Drop in ease. Drop your chest. Drop your chin. Inhale coming all the way up. Beautiful. Exhale, curling your toes. Lift your knees any hips into downward facing dog, beautiful and then inhale. And he's a walk your foot to the front. We'll bring it between your £2 dropping your left knee. Inhale sweeping your arms up in this low exhale Remy, a right foot pressing down of those palms lifting your left Me brought Jenny backwards and Ford before you lift that left. Worked on. Either glide it forward, Step it forward into this fold. Hold, hold up, breath here and then eat hand extending your arms nice and wide. Bringing this up old way out. X ho. Hands to heart in hell, Extending Arab's nice and light Bring them up. Five. Your head. Exhale a way down and how taking your foot flat threw up in that knee Hell lifting a hands up all the way up. Exhale. Bring them all the way back to the front, pressing down of those lifting your back unique and then your right foot to join the left foot at the back, dropping in these, dropping your chest and chain and then in hands, glide forward into Bhuj and gas and bring your head up. Exhale, curling it. Chase Picking up your knees, pressing self down into downward facing dog Really rooting down with your right foot Now on the ground before you lift your left one and then glide it hot Step to the front, Press it down here. Drop your back to me in her low lunch exhales way to the front Pressing down this fingers like that spider fingers lifting your backing off the ground again Since the way yourself up and down before you lift your back leg, bring it to the front. Expel. Drop deeper into this earth and in how Rick to rise. Extend the arms up, Exhale hands to heart twice more Inhale extending arms. Nice. And why bringing them hold way up over your head? Ex health. One dive. The just adding some pace here, taking your right foot back dropping that me in. Hello, lunch hags, helping it to the front. Arrest those hands down, lift your back knee and take your left foot to the back impressed out into downward facing dog. One breath here, dropping your knees, dropping your chest and chain and then gliding forward, lift your head up personality palms into booting. Ghassan. Exhale Kurnia back toes, lifting any back into downward facing dog. Come back into your breath before you take a right foot off the ground. Bring it to your palms of the front, dropping your left Snee again in hell. I large exhale palms facing the front, framing a right foot, pressing down, lifting your back knee and then bringing it forward into this Ford. Fold back to your breath in a route to rise, extending your arms out nice and wide of the nice and lock. Exhale Hance to heart on for the last time and how taking arms nice and wide, extending it away up. Beautiful X handle the way down to the earth fingertips down, bending in these as much as you need pressing down on your right foot, lifting your left. Take it back and dipping that need to the earth in Hal I Lunch. Exhale, taking it back around the right foot before you lift your left knee off the ground. I'm taking your right foot back into downward facing dog. Drop your knees chest in shit. Inhale bridging gas and cobra pose acts. Hair curling, your toes lifting and easily hips downward facing dog. Come back to your breath when then rooting down on your right foot lifting and left one back off the ground, bringing in between your palms dropping right me to the in. Hello, lunch. Exhale, bringing it back to the front frame your left foot bringing a right knee off the ground, swayed backwards and Ford's to create some energy. I need hope or glide your right foot to the front. Hang your neck, head shoulders in this forward fold, Come back into your breath and how nice and deep Bring yourself up. Extending arms and isom wide are up over your head, palms gently touching. Ah, exhale hands to heart. Feel free to repeat those four rounds. If you feel that you need to add some more warmth than heat, otherwise join me for the other practices 10. Practice 1: Hamstrings: Now that you've done your sun salutations, please make sure that you do do those for at least 10 minutes or so that you can add that heat on that fire into your body. It's just easier to go deeper into the poses. If your body's warmer, we're going to do five key posts. Is here to lengthen Allah hamstrings. I joined me on your mat or any carpet wherever you are, and I want you to extend the legs nice and long in front of you, placing both the palms on each side over here. Just gonna press down on the thieves palms so that you can lengthen your back here. Now you're going to fold forward into this place, and we're going to remain here for a couple of minutes, and it's a beautiful one so that we can lengthen these hamstrings. You might feel really tight, in which case, lift your knees off the mat slightly on their slowly with each breath. We can hopefully feel ourselves going deeper into the pope. Place your palms over here on each side again and then feel yourself lengthening and to call. This is called staff. Host and arson pose hold us here for a second and then extend your arms nice and wide. Keep your eyes on your toes and just lean forward. As far as your hands are going to go today, place them on around the soles of your feet. On New Shinzo. You carves on the side over here so that you can come into this pose. We're going to stay here for about 10 Moretz, which is about a couple of minutes. Close your eyes and just save Ah, this pose for what it can do. No, I get it. Inhale and as he inhale, just feel like a chest is coming outwards so that you kind of Rothen caving into your back . You just going to lengthen someone? You should feel a deeper stretch in the back of your hamstrings here, leaning forward from your hips. Just feel like it's getting longer and you're adding a few inches there and then exhale and see if you can go a little bit deeper. It might just be a tiny bit, tiny, tiny bit, but that's all. OK, beautiful, slowly coming up, and as it coming up, you're gonna bring your left foot closer to you. as close as you can to get it on. Then allow the need to fall down to the ground and bring the soul off your left foot against your right leg. Now, this one is an awesome post. Also for your hips over opening of this area, your leg might be up here, but this is what we're working towards in the Lotus Post. You're actually allow it to come down in a in a compassionate way so we don't injure ourselves again Coming tool. And then allow yourselves just a full We'll bow avian. The So now we're getting an awesome stretch both for our hips and our hamstrings. And every so often he can inhales really self any longer from your lower back at a few inches, their second, the belly, and then exhale. I'm just allowing yourself if you bought is going to allow it. Just afford a bit deeper into this pose. Be careful not to press into the sole of your foot. So if you are the sort of people, don't press it into your body, gonna injure your hit. So it's just a gentle caressed here. Just a few more breaths. One more breath take a long, deep breath, exhale and then slowly walk yourself back up. Beautiful. Well, now we're gonna come into 1/2 pound lotus posts, which is the deeper one off the three that we've done on for this one. I'd like you to get the soul of your left foot and then place it on to your right thigh. So you're almost like working towards a lotus post by doing this one, okay, For knees off the ground, we're going to fall for it again, and you will feel this quite deep. But be mindful of your knee. You don't. It's feeling too tight and flex or turn your foot in a way where it feels comfortable for uni. So again, looking forward, aligning your torso in your hips to your right foot, inhale, lengthen and then fold forward. Beautiful game was gonna hold the throughout 10 breaths. Be gentle when you holding onto your foot again. And if you feel any resistance in the body, see if you can just breathe into and allow yourself to relax. Couple more breaths here. No one you ready in her length of one small. Lengthen the spine on a slurry feel itself walking back here lengthen, you told, say, taking a sort of that foot off and just extending it. You could windscreen wipe it just to take off any attention around uni over here. Now, we're going to do exactly the same thing for our right leg on. This is an option for you. So we're going to do a minimum of two minutes. We are going to do a minimum of two minutes here, but one leg is tends to be tighter than the other. So you could stay here for long, so bring the right solidly foot to your left thigh. Now bringing us closer to camp Teoh to your premium. Lengthen yourself over here. Beautiful. Inhale keeping eyes on your toes making sure that you're you're facing your foot and then exhale as he come down. Inhale second from your belly, creating that space. Lengthen one small feeling your heart space coming out this way and then a sale and see if he could go that little bit deeper again. With each practice that you do this every time you repeat this, you will feel you becoming more open and a lot more relaxed into this pose. It's not something that you will feel happening overnight, but I can guarantee that every time we do this, it's just a beautiful practice to feel, um, your hamstrings just becoming a little bit more looser, I suppose. And there's taking one more breath there and then coming up. And now we're going to come back to health, found Lotus Post. So to take your lethality right foot, place it on to your left leg, taking its close as he can to your body. As far as it's going to go today, don't force yourself. Please don't force yourself into any kind of post its all about patience and enjoying that process has become along, lengthening it also inhale appear and then exhaling. Seeing how for again you can go. It doesn't matter if you don't go too deep was long as we are opening up hips and hamstrings. So we're all that different stages, and we're just gonna find that edge for ourselves. Just close your eyes. Allow yourself Teoh. If you can't do just to relax into this pose, - you help feel yourself lengthening again, leaning towards your foot, eyes on the toes and that exhale, saving a little bit deeper. A few more breaths here, and sometimes you could just do this while you're watching TV. Not probably going down as far as this, but, you know, it's there's different opportunities. You confine yourself doing this, walk yourself all the way back up. Awesome. Have done three different poses that we've done the passion with a NASA Janice assassin putting the sole of the foot onto They're on each leg of the opposite leg on. Then we've done the half band notice pose. I invite you to come other way, and we're going to come into conoce impose. This is when you're gonna need your blocks or just a bunch of pillows or a cushion to help you in this post. We're going to stay here for two minutes again on all they're gonna do is basically openly Alexe so that you feel like opening up your doctors here and you'll feel the depth of that as you kind of full forward. So grabbing it's, um, blocks for myself. Here, Block is getting some of days and then I like you should slowly lean forward as much as you would like to. And again, we don't need to go too deep in this post. Just allow yourself to find the edge. On the next couple of minutes, you will fall deeper into this. So this is like I said, This is great for lengthening. Your hamstrings is great for your doctors. It's even a good one for free, Um, for your hips toe to become more open cause it's working on the sauce and then see if you can lean a little bit more forward using your breath. It wasn't a long, slightly ahead. You just keep holding this pose, you might be able to remove a block. If you feel like your body, it would like to go deeper and then slowly walking yourself all the way up over here. Awesome. Do yourself a bit of a stretch. Put these blocks to one side. So once you're here, we're gonna come into our final post, which is for the first part, which is to coming to bother can innocent. Now family is when you put the souls of both off your feet together, joins a map. Now you have an option to sit on a block. I like to sit on a block because I feel that I Congar, go deeper into this pose like you can bend far deeper into this post. So placing the soles of your feet together for this final one we're gonna stay in for a look, belong, have been staying for three minutes. So I usually use my two fingers here on to grab or to circle my toe, my big toe placing it elbows onto your thighs, leaning forward my friends on. Then you just allow yourself to fall into it. I will turn this way so that you can see what it looks like on this side as well. Beautiful. I'm just allow yourself to drop your head. Use it. It's, ah, meditative practices. Well, so you're working on your hips working towards that awesome lotus pose, but also, um, allowing yourself to enjoy that process. So coming into your breathing to show you working with your breath that you might feel like just, uh a softening around you in a hips area on top of your legs that allows you to go deeper into this pose just the last minute. Also here, - beautiful again. Inhale. Lengthen me about and then allow yourself to fall a few more breaths here. Beautiful. Taking your last breath, placing your palms in the ground, allowing yourself to gently come up. That was the end of the first practice on what we've really worked on in those five poses is really definitely our our hamstrings before also thrown in. Some work on our adopters. Andi, our hips at the very end. So constant coming back to those poses is allow you to slowly keep hoping you'd keep opening it and working towards the Lotus Post. But please enjoy the journey rather than just waiting for the destination. Join me for part two. What? We're going to continue our work on our hips. 11. Practice 2 Hamstrings, hips and quads, : welcome to part two of the practice, but this part of the practice, we're going to have five different poses. The 1st 3 posts is are going to be working on our hamstrings on. We're going to allow them to be for three minutes long so that we can gently open those without exerting too much pressure. After that, we're going to come back into our hips. But it's really important. Make that transition from our hamstrings to our hips. If you have two blocks available, that would be amazing. And I will let you know when to use those or when you don't need to use those. But if we do not have those available not to worry about it all on, we're going to enjoy the practice anyway. So join me for the first part of it will be stood up and we're gonna come into a forward fall. So bring a block with you if you have one and place it on the ground over here. Now he is two blocks. If you'd like Teoh, but you just go to stand on this block. Now if you do not have one than just remain stood on your mat itself. But if you do have one, that's absolutely awesome. Once you're here, all you're going to dio is lengthen his spine. Make its tour as he can fold forward from your hips that, you know, bending from your back folding forward over here. Allow a soft bend in your knees so that you can go deeper into this pose. As time passes, you will be able to straighten your legs a lot more, so find an edge. The suit is the legs. Start shaking. You've gone too far into the post. You don't any kind of shaking any kind of quivering placing hands. Wherever it feels comfortable. The more you practices pose a more you'll fall deeper and deeper until your hands were quite comfortably come onto the ground. This really helps you so you can go deeper into that post without forcing yourself. Blocks are amazing for that, so find yourself in that comfortable pose and just allow yourself just to rest here. We're gonna be here for a good couple of minutes on the initial stages. When you do this pose, you might find feel that you can't get your head to your knees or anything else like that. But that's the whole purpose of this post. It reveals where you're tight spots are Anderson also. Like I said, it's a great post because you're just passively allowing your body just open up on blossom like you do for the Lotus Post without exerting too much pressure. Now you can just remain in stillness here, but if you like on option, you could just in how lengthen your spine, looking straight ahead of the exhale and just see if you got a little bit deeper. So that's, um, constant option for you to explore as you come into this pose so your hips might be lower. There may be higher. But again, as you're working through this pose on a daily basis or ever offered offered you practice, the better it is. You will definitely definitely find the Your hamstrings are becoming Lisa, and this is also, you know, if you have sai Attica pain or any kind of tension around your legs. This is a great post for that as well. - If you feel at this stage that you might be able to bring you here was a little bit higher and straighten your leg a little tiny bit more than Just try that. If that's not working for you, then just remain as you are, because your body is is doing whatever it needs to. So just to remain here just for a couple more breaths before you inhale, take your feet off that block. Leave that to one side, and from here, we're going to come in to our low lunch. So you can from this post, just remain where you are keeping your feet nice and your knees nice and bent. You can take the left one back on your right one between your hands at the bottom and then just drop You're back Me over here from here. Before you move, make an assessment where you feel that this space between your back knee in your friend foot is enough. If you feel that you can add some space than hot that me for the back the further back it goes more. You're working on hamstrings over here. Once you're here, you're going to come up and then place your hands on to your near just below your knee. We're going to remain here again for three minutes in total. But We also have a twist to to work on our quarts. A swell. So just allow you your hips to fall asleep far as to the ground as possible so that it works on that quite a deep level again. Don't force yourself no force, no pressure. Just make sure your your back toes are curled as well. To give you that stability in this pose, move your hips further back so that you're not just leaning on your top thigh, either. One. It was still working on the right top of our harm strings here, which is really where we want toe focus on for for the lotus pose. Just a couple more breaths here. These kind of poses are a practice of patients as much as anything else because we're constantly moving and we loved me being constantly being busy both in our minds and physically. So this is a real practices of patients and just allowing things to happen without having to do very much. How can I have an option? You can either remain in this or you can lean forward. Place your left palm on the grounds of you can come into this twist turn towards your right hand side and see if you can grab the soul off your right foot over here and bring that towards your leg. Now, this is quite a big stretch for you, quartz. So in the initial stages, he might only be able to do maybe a couple of seconds a couple of breaths and then have to step out of the pay's. However, as you keep going, you can lengthen this. So keep coming into your breathing. Couple of more breaths. Here again, feel free to step power any time you come back into that low lunch. Beautiful on, then. Just let that go turned back over here and now from this post, we're just gonna work. It's on the same leg and we're gonna come into 1/2 split Now. This is when you can have two blocks available, so place of blocking each side if you have them. If you don't have them again, you don't need them. Get the reason that they're here. It's just cause it's a good support for your arms rather than anything else. Slide your foot as far as it will go. Can have only hell, or you can have it completely down here if you like, place your palms on the ground here. So if again, if you have blocks, amazing. If you don't, that's okay. Now get back to me. If it feels like it's too tight, bring it closer to yourself. If you feel that you can go much deeper than take it further back, I'm going to remain in this post again for three minutes in total, so you can remain upright and then exhale as you come down. I mean, how has he left your body and then X held as you come down? So that's an option, because men, absolutely still so find the one that works for you. That's lots of different ways. Basically, two worked wars. Open those hamstrings inhale as you lift your head hold. Exhale is a drop town. Inhale. Lift your head lifted body from the hips. Exhale. Drop down in how lengthen eggs held. Drop down on. Every time you do this, you'll be able to take you're like a little bit further to see if he can just take a hell a little bit further ahead and dropped down a little bit more. The other option that you do have here is to place the blocks underneath your legs here so that you can just rest in this pose even more so so you can choose lots of different options to explore. Here. You can also flex it foot and then point as you drop down, lacks point like point legs. As he come up. Excel is to come back down on point and then just a couple more breaths. There a few more breaths. Beautiful once it feel that's nice and open just to bring it back. Never here being a blocks to one side, and we're going to repeat exactly the same for the other side. So we're going to come back into the tabletop position, bringing your left foot to the front over here, and then again, work out your space. If you liked out more space hop uni for the back so that you can go deep wounded. Suppose curly bat toes just to allow that stability and then inhale and come up interlacing your fingers and then just placing that on top off your knee or just below uni preferably. So we're not placing any kind of pressure there. I just feel if you got any resisters anywhere, if your body's wanting or gravity is trying to kind of allow you to go deeper into this post, but you're feeling that resistance, see if you can use your breath just to soften and allow yourself to go deeper into that. Just a few more breaths. Beautiful and again we're gonna lean forward, placing this time our right palm of the ground lived in a back leg and see if you can go out the soul of that foot if you need to strapped and use a strap. If you feel like, well, that's quite deep for my quarts. I'll stay here just for a few breaths, then stay here for a few breaths and then move back into your low lunch. This is also a great um, I great opposed to open up your shoulders. I tend to find my shoulders are quite tight and these kind of poses because you create your resistance between your hands and your foot. They compress you for against your hand here and you'll feel that that automatically has an impact on your shoulder. So again, a few more breaths here and then slowly allowing yourself to let go of that foot, dropping it down. Turning back option if you have your blocks available with you to place those where you can place your hands if you don't. And again, you could just place him on the ground. And that's absolutely fine. Tell you now again. Scoot your left foot forward. You Bakley could go further back, but again, find a space, which is nice and easy. You don't go to the deepest part of the post immediately. Um, because we don't cause injury to ourselves. We want to kind of work with our body rather than forcing it into poses or positions it doesn't really want to go into. So find a sport, find that age so that you want certainly within your hamstrings. And you're not just kind of remaining in oppose where it's not working than I think you can find to find you read. If you finding that this is supposed where you want to, you know, remains still it's great. It works for you. Otherwise you could use your breath. Inhale head and ex health. Drop your head down in hell. Exhale, Drop down in how lift exhale, Drop now in lengthen and you might be able to feel that your your you feel is naturally wanting to go further ahead here. Exhale dropped in hell if ex held drop down. I didn't get any complaint. And flex your foot. As you continue to use your breath to synchronize this movement, such is defined. You're right on pace. You might want to remain longer Aziz about down Well, he may just, uh I prefer to make constant moves inhaling and exhaling Has he lift and lengthen and then drop down Just a few more breaths here. I can see if your hell is ready to go further into that pose. And when you do feel like you can go low enough, then you complacent blocks underneath your leg just so that you can sit here for longer. Beautiful hope you're back any closer to yourself just to automatically give you that space and then bring this back over here, place in those blocks to one side and then join me at the front of the mat over here. From this post, we're going to work to cradling the baby, which is going to be working on the top of our hips and that rotation there. So because with the Lotus Post, we need our legs to go wide enough so that we can then bring out drawer legs back in into the lotus pose. So bring your legs in front of you. I'm place both of them into us across and cross legged position while I could to do is just lift your left for off the ground over here. So feel that you're sitting bozo firmly on the ground on then envelope that foot against the inside of your right elbow. Take your left arm on, then bring that to your knee itself, interlace your fingers and bring them together. And now this is your gorgeous little baby on What I'd like you to do is just sway this left to right, taken as far as it will go. So what this does is open up the area over here, which, like I said, we need this to go further back as much as possible so that we can later drop this onto our onto the opposite thigh with minimal discomfort or to be completely comfortable. So be increasing that range of motion. Um, for the hip and the abductors keep raising that baby just for a few more breaths. One more breath, Beautiful. When you're ready to place that gently but firmly on the ground on the inside of that fire . How are we going to repeat the saying on the opposite foot. So lift in the soul of that foot on the right foot, place it into the inside of the left L by lifting it high, enveloping the other side on. Then just ready. Cradle that baby. Show it some love beautiful and again. When you first start doing this post, you might feel that you might not be able to do for the length of time that I am doing it here. So just work your way up and again, lift your head your foot higher and higher every time that you do this. It's not one of the most comfortable of faces, but you are doing like a sedative before with some of the the poses, enormous service to your body, anybody that has hip pain. This is actually an amazing post for that. Just a couple of more breaths before we come into the final pays, which is one of my favorite poses. Beautiful and then slowly to drop that down. Beautiful. Just to shake off any kind of tension that that my poor long And now what I'd like it to do is for this final pose. It's called Happy baby pose. So I like to invite you to come in to this pose. Lie yourself down. Now, I'm gonna do this for the last couple of minutes again. But you have two options here. You can just bring your left foot all the way here. Kind of directed either to your armpits or to the outside of your body, preferably to the outside of your body. And then when your shins are parallel to the ground, they're gonna lift the foot, take your left arm from the inside of that and then back to the outside impressed that dough. This is one of the best poses. Open up your hips. I could do this one that got time. Keep the other leg down on this ohrp over. If you like to do both at the same time, we can bring your right leg up. We've your hand around that. So you're having both of them from the outside of that on draw them toe outside your body. And here we are. Ah, happy baby. Happy baby pose. Yeah, So I will let you know we're about halfway through. If you're doing one, they got time. Um otherwise is to stay in this close Your eyes sway from left to right and just create some level of resistance. So when you're holding a foot, hold onto it. Maybe press your foot against your hands on that intensifies that pose, and you'll feel this the very top of the legs. So this is a great pose for your glutes, for, um for your cords, for your hamstrings. And again it's on awesome post because we're passively resting here whilst we get those deep stretches in, I just like to it's rate to my legs, bringing them behind to me and then bring them back. Justo, work that some more. So if you're halfway three now, so you can take your left foot back down and then bring your right one up in this place, Then just come into your breath just to enjoy that. For the last few minutes of, say, - slowly release your hands, bring your knees together so I upwards rocking his spy as you bring yourself up. Lengthen You told, say so that my friends Waas our second part of practice, which has been a great stretch for our hamstrings or quads glutes and was mostly ending it with the hips. Now I'm gonna move on to the final part of practice, which is gonna go quite deep into the hips to see you there. 12. 4 Practice 3: Intense Hips, hamstrings and adductors: well, can't it part Three of the practice now have to say these posters that were about to do are my favorite ones absolute favorite ones for trying to open these hips quite deep, the quite intense. So please be prepared to go into them on build your strength up and build your time up because we're going to be doing that for three minutes. And if you're just starting out on some of these posts is then you don't want to be going in for the full three minutes and we have five posies. But these will go quite deep into our quads, but especially deep into our hips and really working towards externally rotating those the first place that we're going to do, we're gonna be lying on our backs. I invite you to join me on your mat or your carpet lying on your back. Come down to a lying down position, rolling his shoulders back so that it's nicely onto the matter itself and also lowering your pelvis so that it gives you this support as we're going to come into this passive post that's going to be working on both accords and our hamstrings when you feeling nice is stable. I want you to lift your left foot off the ground and bring that leg bent over your chest over here. Squeeze it in on. Then I want to turn the left foot over to the right hand side and I want to place it on to the right knee. Use the left hand here to press against the left knee. Placing pressure on both sides of this is a good initial part of this posts. So we're just going to hold this. And this is an amazing opening for the hips over here. If you feel that this isn't a great stretch for you and you like to go deeper, then we have the option of lifting the right foot off the ground on interlacing your fingers either around your thigh or around your knee. And you can remain in this post for the next couple of minutes. If you like to work up to that pose, then again place your feet back on the ground on using your breath just to kind of guide you to where you'd like to take this place too. Taking a few more breaths here. Wherever you're at And if you're ready, they're taking your right. Sell off the ground and you can hold it here, placing a hands wherever they feel comfortable around you. You're right thigh or interlacing your fingers around your knee on drawing your your legs as close as you can to your body. You should feel quite an intense stretch in the back of your left leg all the way from there from the top right down towards uni. Just allow yourself. Just relax in this place, closing your eyes. I'm just focusing on your breath. If at any time you feel that you could go deeper, just used to breath, just press into your knees so that you bring in that closer to yourself. A few more breaths here. One more breath before you release your hands, place the soul of that foot on the ground and then to take your left foot in place on the ground. Um, I think it's great to extend the legs here just to take out any tension that you might be feeling windscreen. Wipe them left to right, and they were going to repeat exactly the same on the other side, so bringing your right leg close to your chest. Squeeze in a team using your breath, sliding a hand across into your your right foot, placing that onto your left knee and again find your own pace. If this is enough today and you feel like this is a great little stretch, then stay here and you feel like you want to go deeper. If your body is ready for a little bit more of a deeper stretch than you can, just bring yourself with your right go left off the ground in placing your fingers around in me and then just drawing that aim. So this is not just about recognizing our unique physiology. Over work in D print of these posts is where is also recognizing the day today differences . I'm sure that sometimes you wake up and you know you might have eights and pains in a particular area. On some days, you don't have it as much, and so is constantly being aware of those things as much as anything else. - Karen . Using breath, see if you can bring a draw your left leg. Close it ear to your body just a deep in that. Just a few more breaths here, my friends, - last breath, beautiful. And then dropping that left for on the ground and then taking your right foot on the ground and just repeating exactly the same thing. You might be feeling a lot of tightness around uni. So we want to take that tightness out again. Um uh, bringing both your knees close to yourself and you could just find yourself in seated position. So you couldn't just create energy here, A sweet little massage for your back Israel and then bringing yourself up over here, person down in your hands. So that's the first post on Let's start second pose. Now from here, what we're gonna be doing is a fire lock pose or otherwise known as a double pigeon post. Well, like you to do is bring your right foot or your shin. So it's parallel or as much as possible to the long go to the mat we're going to Then do is bring your left foot. Make sure it's flexible protecting the ligaments here and place that on top off your right knee. This is where we'd like to be at now. You will have I imagine, some level of space between your your foot and your knee over here. If you can see and this is what we're working towards, gently ease this so that we can bring this further down. For we don't want to do is exert so much pressure on it and force it down. That's not the point of this. What we really want to do is just allow it to happen on its own pesos level. We're placing ourselves in the right position here, and that's all that matters on. We're gonna allow the body to do his own magic magic over here, TSA Just again Find that pose. Feel yourself, just lengthening his spine. Sit nice and tool. And I do think that one of these things that yoga or the yoga practice does is teaches you a lot of patients because what you can't do is constant, do things and constantly think about things. And sometimes allowing that time for the body just to do its own practice without having to constantly move is a difficult challenge for us. So this is a great way to to teachers that level of patients. If you're feeling any kind of tightness around uni, then please step out of the pose and they come back into it again. So don't do the full three minutes. Putting too much pressure, putting any pressure. Really? Auntie Ligaments. Um, so step out of the pose, then. When you're ready, just come back in. If you feel that you want to go deep into this post, lean a little bit forward and just aren't you back slightly and see if you can place your fingertips another full palm beach to sit fingertips on the ground, Slide a little bit further back again. Use of breath to guide you and then see if you can place the palms on the ground now and feel nice and stable. And this will is. You can see this is already drawn, my knee so that it's on top, just chilling on top of that foot there and then slowly sliding her hands all the way back up over here. And they're going to ease yourself out of this post for placing both legs or both feet rather on the ground and again just, uh, show me that out and extend the leg. Any tightness around uni. We don't want any of that, obviously, And when you feel ready? You're gonna come in the opposite way. So now what we're going to do is place. I left one on the ground, parallel to them as much as possible and then take the right foot on the right foot. Are we gonna place on top of the left me once, once you're in this pace, well, again you will find is that that one of your legs is probably a little bit more flexible than the other. And it's certainly the case with me where my left leg is way more flexible than the right hand side on. That might be I kind of attribute that to the fact that I am right handed and I tend to use my right side of my body a lot more so those muscles will be a lot stronger and also locked tighter where there's a lot more flexibility in my left. So my left inside is actually more generally attuned to yoga on the deep stretches that we do for that. So you can see that the space between the foot hair on the knee is way more than the the site and you might be feeling the same Just stay with your breath. Try to be still and again. If you feel ready, you don't have to see if we can just place your fingertips on the ground here. This are change. You're back. Slowly crawl those hands a little bit more forward. Place a full palm down if you'd like to. Just take a few more breaths here, One more breath and then slowly walking your hands away back taking that foot off the knee . Very nice and gentle, placing the both of the soles of the feet on the ground on um and why pink? I mean, screen wiping those out. It's snowing outside as well. So beautiful. Okay. And from here, what we're not going to be doing is doing one of my favorite poses, the pigeon post, to join me in downward facing dog for this particular post while I could to do press down onto both your palms and then when you're ready, bring your left foot to your left tricep and then twist and turn your right foot. So that is behind your right hand. Drop your knee. So just to show that to you, you should see my right foot just behind my right hand. Take the need behind as far back as it will go now. What we like to do is aim to get this. Sheena is parallel to the shore ageism at as possible. But even if it's closer to the body, that's absolutely fine, because we can work the foot to go more and more outwards. Now, as we gotta palms down on Carla toes at the back and then just feel whether you're there's online mint between your hips. If you're leaning a one side or the other, just find a middle ground. I want to see their just stabilize yourself in that pose, pressing down only palms and again arching your back. And I was fine that this poses much more. I've always thought it's much more really supposed and a pigeon pose just by the way the nature of the way is again. Remain here for a few breaths only when you're ready, if you feel like you really want to. Any bodies wanted to go a little bit deeper than place the forearms on the ground, make sure again your low back is arched and kind of because that allows it to go deeper at your quarters. Any glutes, youthful, any kind of resistance. Breathe into that and then slowly walk your hands a little bit further ahead than you can drop your head down. That's only if your body saying to allow you to do this few more Brasilia. So feel free to step out of this on you go back into your forearms and go back into your hands, if that's what your body is kind of feeling. This is too deep, too long. One more breath and then slowly walking your hands all the way back here, bringing your knee closer to you, which immediately gives you a little bit of release on the turn of this book back coming back into tabletop and then join me again into downward facing Doc just to hold this and from here, bring your right leg. Four th tricep. Turney left foot outwards, dropping it behind her left leg. Once again, we're going to repeat exactly the same. So hope your back foot further back to give you that additional space low back to be turned downwards. A pub I to be facing upwards pressed, both palms down. I am curry back toes and just kind of relax as much as you can in this pose, feel free again to realign yourself. Take your foot out or in, so that you're working out pace. It's good for you. When you're ready, come down T apart to your forearms. Stay with your breath. When you're ready, you can go further down, dropping all the way down. I'm allowing your head. Just arrest onto the earth onto the mapped few months here and then slowly lived your head. Walk your hands so that you're back in the active post. Turn the toes of the back, brink that knee back in and then slide this foot to the back. So you're in this tabletop position. If you feel like you need to stretch out your legs, you can just cycle them here and then drop those down because we can immediately go into the next post from here, which is going to be a squat position to take your hands as close as he can to your body and bring your your feet onto its toes or to its heels. Now, if he hips are tight, it's gonna be very difficult for you to to be only heal, so you might need to be on your toes, which might also mean that you might not be able to do this post for his. Almost three minutes gets very difficult to remain in your toes. Take them as far wide as you Matt over here. And rather than falling in, feel yourself getting this additional length, placing your elbow against your knee to create some level of resistance and opening at the same times, really pressing into that palms together. And then you can just face the front and and close your eyes. You can enjoy this pose. And so quite another really deep hippo. Pinna. Like I said, if you are ready toes very difficult to remain here. Four is almost three minutes, so just find your own space with it. You know, 30 seconds it's good and then building up from there, and this will eventually allow you to bring your hips on heels to the ground. So this is ah, really great post. I think, you know, from meditative purposes, beautiful. Taken in some of our last few breaths here, one more breast, like your eyes are closed. Just gently open them, and in place both of those palms onto the ground. Lower your knees and slide him to the back over here and come back into a tabletop position for which we're going to go in to our final position. Now the final position is a very, very deep hip opener, and it's the frog post. So what like to do is turn your feet so that they're facing outwards. You're gonna take your knees as far wide as possible, so you might need to cushion your knees or turn the other way for the purposes of for me showing you I'm going to stay on this side so you can take your knees out as far as it will go on. Every time you will practice this, you'll be able to feel yourself going deeper. Drop down onto your forearms, lift. You tell by now on, Lower your back. Yeah, you should feel the deep opening into groin and your doctor areas. So this is one of the final poses that were going to be doing, and I left it right at the very end because this is one of the I'm so the king of King, this frog pose of hip openers. So this third practice generally has a lot of deep oppose hip openers. But this is the deepest one. So what we eventually aimed to do is bring our hips completely flat on the ground and again about something that, with practice, will come. We can take Iran's further ahead and drop your head lower to the earth. Just day with your breath. You can strictly walk backwards and upwards here, which will go deeper into your doctors, but just a remain gentle with that. A few more breaths slowly lifting at bringing hit palms. Close city, bringing your knees closer to yourself, and that brings us to the end of the third practice. Excellent news. We have now come to the end of our third practice on those poses that we have been doing from practice, while from practice to on practice. Three are a June enormous service to your body on the wheel. Lacking absolutely guarantee will give you the requisite openness to get into the lotus pose to keep working on them. Keep coming back to them, and eventually you will be able to get into that pose. So join me for the last part. Well, we get into the Lotus posts 13. Achieving the lotus pose: welcome to the final part of the lotus pose. All those practices, the sun salutations were finally here to keep practicing. If you try to do it today and I feel like your body is ready for it, then keep going back to those practices. And I'm sure you'll join me here so you can get into the Lotus Post. Well, I would like you to do for this world to get into it nice and comfortably is Extend the legs nice and long in front of you. Okay. Now, while I could, Then to do is bring your right foot as close as you can to your hips as possible. Use your right foot to Gramp your left leg and then to turn it over here. Firstly, push it back. This is one of the reasons why we were doing there, cradling the baby so that we can open up this area so that we don't have this level of tightness bringing that as close as you can to your right thigh to your body up over here, Feeding that nice uncomfortable over here. You're now going to bring your right foot closer to count to your right hand side as possible. Drop that down and then you're going to grab that right foot off the ground. Bring that and you're going to slide nice and comfortably over your left. I I And here we are. We're now in the lotus pose. My friends, roll your shoulders back. And you have two options here to either place your hands in the heart position over here. Or you can place your hands once you put your thumb on the long finger Nexia Index finger over here. And I'd like you to invite you. I'd like to invite you to close your eyes when they just to come into your brain feeling that grounding of your knees His sit Bynes on that stability that this Lotus post gives I lost during this post. Imagine yourself as a lotus flower surrounded by muddy waters. Imagine those to be some of the challenges that you faced in your life. But here you are serene, peaceful. I mean stillness to stay in this place. Enjoy Baskin. It has been a labor of love. Thank you so much for working towards the Lotus post with me. I'm sure Bonner from younger explore suddenly love from me to you, Shukria matter, Bonnie. Thank you. And I must say