Day 8: Flow

We are on day eight of this challenge, and you're still here, and I'm still here, and that is just awesome. So, today we're gonna flow. And flow to me just is like... Meditation in motion. So, we're just gonna move, and we're gonna push today.

And move quickly and we're gonna work hard and I hope you're gonna have fun, I know I am, here we go. So, we'll sit. Bringing your feet out in front of you, taking the... Hands behind the thighs. Take just a moment, please, with me and close your eyes.

So, I like to to close my eyes when I'm preparing to, not even just preparing to move, but sometimes just to recalibrate. So, with your eyes closed, bring your awareness out of your life... and into your living body and we'll notice, what does it feel like? Can you feel that there's energy lifting you, running up and down your spine? Can you feel the weight of your bones against the mat?

Soft... Or energized or what about soft and energized? Anticipatory, maybe, 'cause we're gonna move right now. Open your eyes up and inhale. And exhale, tuck the tail under, keep the shoulders over the pelvis.

Dig deep. And lift, inhale. And round the spine. So, you're holding pretty firmly with your arms. I can feel my arm muscles working.

And inhale, feel the back muscles working, lifting. And exhale, round. And inhale. And exhale, reach, round, roll back. Take the arms up, take the arms out, forward, and roll up.

Arms up, arms open, round, and reach, get really close to your thighs, and roll back. Take the arms up, open, forward, and roll. Get close, and inhale, and exhale, you go back, back, back, and we reach, and open, and push the air out of your body as you roll up and get close and two more rounds. Mobilizing the spine. Heating up the body.

Out, forward, and lift. And last time, roll back and reach, and open and reach for it and pause. And we curl forward, we did this with the band. Oh yeah, you might not want your band for this. And back, and three, And back, and four, guess how many.

One more, all the way up, sit tall, rotate left, roll down. And lift five. Four, hold on if you need to, three, curl in, practice curling in with the band, here's number one, we're gonna roll up that side, get tall, sit up in your rotation and find the center. And inhale, rotate. Exhale, roll down.

And lift, five. Control, four. And three, dig deep. And two. And...

One. All the way up, up, up, up, up, up. And center. Roll all the way down. Coming down to the mat, preparing for a bridge, pelvic curl, head is down, arms are long, feel the connection to the feet on the mat.

Roll up. So we bring into our awareness, start thinking about being balance between the feet. Inhale. And around. And then what can you do to move your body in a way that feels efficient?

So you're not overdoing or over-gripping but you're working hard with ease, hips up high, inhale. And exhale, peel down. And inhale. And exhale- lift up. Up, up, up and inhale.

And exhale, roll down, down, down, down, soft in the shoulder blades, long through the arms. Last time, exhale to lift. Hold your lifted position, lift the left leg up, stretch it to the ceiling, take it to the mat, and flex, pull back. Take it to the mat. Flex, pull back.

Take it to the mat. Flex, pull back, two more. And back, last one. And back, hold it up, flex through the foot, and press up. And up, and up, and up, and up.

And now point the foot and bring the leg in to the body. In to the body, in to the body, bring it right in close, drop the tail, bend the knee, put the foot down, inhale. And lift, exhale. Pressing down through the feet. And we take the right leg up.

Stretch it to the ceiling. And kick away, and flex up, reach down and pull back, and three, of five, control through the back of the leg, this is it, hold it up, flex through that foot, and press up. And up, and up, and up, and up- oh no! We pull the leg in, we bring the leg in, come all the way in. Bend it. Lift the other leg to meet it.

Take the arms out to the sides. Inhale, take the legs across. Exhale, stretch them out. Pull them back to center, and bend. Inhale navel to spine, reach over.

Stretch out. Pull back. And bend, and inhale. We reach out. Draw in to come to center.

And bend. And reach over. Extend. Draw in to come to center. And bend.

Last time over. And reach. And in. And bend. And one more time to the back.

And reach. And in, and bend the knees. Hands to the knees. Press down into your knees with your hands. Take the legs out, the arms out, hold the arms back.

Take the arms around, as they come to a T we bend the knees. Inhale, reach out. Start to bring the arms around. Bend the knees, and reach out. Keep the legs out, arms wide, and bend.

And reach out. And reach out, and bend. And three more, inhale, open, and exhale. And inhale. Open and exhale.

And inhale. Open and exhale, hands on the left knee, right leg goes forward, we push down. And one, press. And two, press. And three, press down on the knee.

Four, stretch long through the straight leg. Feel energy through the back of the straight leg. We'll do four. Four. Maintaining stability in the trunk.

Three, two, two, one, one. Quick, hands on both knees. Curl into yourself. Hands behind your head. Right leg out straight, lift and twist.

And lift and twist, crisscross. You reach up to go over. Reach up to go over. And breathe. Breathe.

Strong legs, they just reach like they're one leg as they pass each other by, we go four. Four. Three, three. Two, two. One.

One, bend the knees. Head comes down. Legs reach out. Arms over head, inhale, head, chest, arms. Exhale, roll up.

Up, up. Up, and open. And around. And articulate, reach the arms forward, create opposition, press the legs down. Feel the whole body working, reach back.

Inhale, arms up, head up. Exhale, track in and down. Round the spine. And open. And round.

And roll back. Control, control, control, control. And reach. And inhale. And exhale.

And open. And round. Last time. Feeling the lower spine connecting. Take the arms back.

Lift the arms and the head. Roll up, up, up. And open and just pause here and take the arms back. And back, and back. And two.

And one, reach the arms overhead, hold the hands together, lift taller, and twist. Just one. Center, and twist. And center, and lift as you twist. And center, lift as you twist.

And center, we'll go two. Center, pulling up with the arms, use the arms to lift the body. One. And one. Reach forward.

Roll back, not all the way. Just for your information, lift the left leg up, take it in the hands, and pull. Pull, change. Pull, pull. The leg that's not in your hands is actively pressing down, into the ground.

Pull, pull. Pull, pull. One more. Take the hands behind the head, continue with the legs. Pull, pull.

Pull, pull. Pull, pull. Pull, pull. Oh Meredith, keep the legs straight. Everybody try to keep the legs straight.

Lets do this one. And this one. And now, we rotate. If it's tiring, hang on. Give yourself a break, that's totally fine.

But keep trying. Keep working. Keep challenging yourself. If it's still too hard, you could just go back to the crisscross. Or not.

We're just gonna go one more time, here it is. Over. And over. Legs up, head down. Inhale, exhale, roll over.

Flex the feet. Separate the legs. Roll down. Head comes up. Legs come around.

Body comes up. I'm gonna scoot forward on my mat, 'cause I know what's coming. Here we are, in our teaser, we roll down. Roll over. Flex, separate, roll down.

Lift the head. Legs together, roll up. And one more, roll down like this. Reach up, roll over. Flex the feet.

Separate, roll down. Head comes up. Legs come around and together, we roll up. Up, up, up. Roll down.

Roll over. Find the mat with your feet. Reach around with your arms. Lengthen and lift the spine, like you're trying to reach the spine taller and longer. Hold on to the right foot, take the left leg...

Up and press away, one. Two, and change. Whoa, it's a little tricky for me today. And change. And pull.

Pull. And change, reach to the ceiling, and reach away, one more. Pull, pull. And pull, pull. Both legs down.

Keep them together. Roll up. Reach forward. Lift up. Flex, separate, down, inhale.

And round. And lengthen. All of the things we've been practicing, and round. And lengthen. And inhale.

And exhale, round. And lengthen. Abdominals back. And round. And roll up.

And sit tall one more time, inhale. And exhale, round. And reach. And back. And lift.

And arms out. And twist. And reach. And lengthen, and center, grow taller as you rotate around your waist, reach forward. Reach out.

Come center. And twist. Go down. I forgot where the hand position went for just a minute there, but I got it. I figured it out.

The hand goes to the outside of the foot, Meredith. And reach out. And center, last time, inhale. And down. And reach out.

And center, one more time, inhale. And down. And reach out. And center, take the arms down, turn towards me. Cross the top foot over the bottom, hand is quite a ways away from the shoulder.

We're gonna pull the ribs up away from the floor, or away from the arm. We're gonna lift up into our side plank. We're gonna make a rainbow with our body, look down. We're gonna come back. And bend.

And inhale. And exhale. And inhale. And bend, one more, inhale. And exhale.

And inhale. And bring the leg underneath you, hand behind your head, lift that top leg up, lift it high, flex your foot, come forward, and pull back. Kick, kick, reach back. Inhale, and back, inhale, and back. Two, and back.

One, and back, lift it, circle, five. Four. Three. Two. One, circle the other way.

Four, three, two, one, bend. Sit down onto that hip, so you're sitting in rotation. In rotation. In rotation. And we continue onto that side.

Legs to the other side of the mat, ready for the side bend, inhale. And reach up. And inhale. And down. And inhale.

And reach up. And inhale. And down. And inhale. And reach up, are you having fun?

I am. And back. And bend. Left hand behind the head, and we go pull, pull. Reach back.

Pull, pull. Head pressing into the hands, pull, pull. Neck is long. Two more. Reach higher as you go back, last time, higher as you go back, and then we circle one.

And two. And three. Push something heavy, four. And five, reverse. One.

And two. And three. And four. And one more. And bend.

And sit on the diagonal. Breathe. Come down to continue on to that side. Legs on the opposite side of the mat, so we've switched arms again. Go into the twist.

So we've done the twist on the elbow, today we do the twist on the hand. Reach out. Go under, press up and back. Come back. Let's hover.

And inhale. And exhale, reach up and back, stand on your feet. Come back. And hover. And one more, up.

And, through. And, back. And hover. And lift. And turn to the mat.

I know we have the other side, just remember what hand you've already used. Finding a plank position, pointing the right foot, lift up. Two. Three. Four.

Five, bring the knee into the chest. And back. Into the chest. And back. Push the straight leg back, three.

And four. And five. Take it down to the mat, and kick up. And hover. And push-up.

And kick up. So you can not hover, you can put the top of your foot down on the mat, push up. And reach up. And down. Push up.

Plus two. Up, up. And down. One more. Reach up.

And then come back. So I was on my right hand before, whatever hand you were on, is the hand that doesn't move. So I'm gonna bring my left leg center. I'm gonna roll onto my feet, and bend my knees for the twist, I know I can't see you, but you could organize so that you could see me, if you need to. And if you don't, here we go.

We reach out, inhale. And under, way down towards the ankle on that bottom arm. And reach out. And hover. And inhale.

And reach through. Meditation in motion, so one movement. Just linking to the next. Last time, reach through. Yes, breathe.

Focus, concentrate, control, center, find the mat. Left leg lifts, five. Four. Three. Two.

One, it comes to the middle of the body. Exhale, and back. And exhale, and back, and exhale, and back. And two, and back. And one, and back, I'm laughing 'cause I'm having fun.

And now we reach up. Come back, we hover the foot, push up. Lift up, foot down, reach high. Come down. Hover.

Bend, press. And reach up. And back. That's a nice stretch on that straight leg, and that supporting leg rest too. And back.

Bend, stretch, last one. And back. And I'm gonna put my foot down for this last one, we're gonna bend, press knees down, stretch back. Pause and catch your breath. Or wait for me to catch mine, I'll be right with you.

We're gonna come forward. We're gonna come down onto our elbows for the single-leg kick. So we pull the arms back, lift the abdominals, send the chest forward. Knees facing parallel, float the legs up, and we kick, kick, kick, kick, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, hold the body still. Use the hamstrings to keep stabilizing the trunk.

Pull the arms back, all of the time. Lift the chest up, all of the time. Keep the eyes forward and up, all of the time. Straighten the legs, lower the body, head to one side. Hands up and behind you, elbows to the mat, kick one.

Two. Three, stretch out long. And kick one. Two. Three, and stretch out long.

And kick one, two, three. And stretch out long. And kick one, two, three. And stretch out long. And reach overhead.

And opposite arm, opposite leg, swimming, inhale, two, three, four, five and out. And inhale, two, three, four, five and out. And three, two, three, four, five and out. And two, two, three, four, five, and out. And last time.

And out. Take the arms out. Bring the hands under the head, lower the legs. Lower the head. Heels together, toes apart.

Abdominal muscles and shoulder blades down, pick up the legs. Flex the feet in little beats, so we, pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop, pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop, squeeze the inner thighs. Da-ta-ta-at, inner thighs, inner thighs, inner thighs. I can't say it that fast that many times. So we stop.

With the feet, circle small, one. Circle small, two, so you're rotating from the hip. From the hip, from the hip. And do two more. And reverse, one lift.

Lift. Straighten the knees, straighten the knees. Lift from just below the hips. Last two. One.

Lower the body, bend the knees, reach for your ankles. So here's your strategy. We most likely will feel that the pelvis just got a little bit lighter. So we're gonna press it down. And we're gonna lift the abdominals.

And now flex the feet, flex the ankles. Lift the legs up. Now push up with your legs, and away with your legs. Up with your legs and away with your legs. (x2) And... Come...

All... The way... Down. Resting your forearms on the map, press up. Sit back.

Reaching. Reaching. Cross your ankles behind you, roll over your feet, bring your legs out the front. Cross the left leg over the right leg. Reach the arms out in front of you, inhale.

And exhale, roll down. Down, down, legs up and over. un-cross and re-cross the legs, roll up. Reach- oh if you can make it, reach up, that was doubtful on my part, take the hands back, lift, legs go down, arms come around, abdominals back, roll back. Find the place in your body where your back can be flat and your legs can be lifted and then roll over.

And un-cross and re-cross. And roll down. Lift the head, reach up. Up, up, around, and stretch out. And down, and around.

And one more time. Two more times really, if we're gonna make it even, we roll up and over, we un-cross and re-cross. We roll down to roll up, boomerang. Lift up. Open.

Reach. And... forward, last time, roll down to roll over. un-cross and re-cross. Roll down to lift up.

Reach up. Up, up. Arms reach around. Stretch the shoulders, legs go down, reach around, find your feet or your ankles, or wherever you can reach, and pull forward. And un-cross.

Re-cross. Then pull forward. And then roll up, and let's just come to stand on the floor. Come to stand on the floor, and inhale. And exhale.

So we roll down. On the floor, ready to walk back into our life, hopefully with some energy, some invigoration. We reach down, we let any tension that we have, that we don't need, just fall out of the top of the head, and go. Just goes. And then roll the spine up, stacking your body up.

Feeling the knees over the ankles, the pelvis, right over the knees, the shoulders, right over the top of the pelvis. Eyes come up, inhale. And one more, exhale, roll down. I wanted us to finish on our feet today, so that we can just walk forward into our worlds. With the energy that we've created today, together.

And inhale. And exhale. And... Here we are. Thanks for sticking with it.

Two more days, two. Next time, precision.