🏜️🌵The Arches☀️ At Peace in the National Parks Yoga Series

 

🌲⛰️☀️Hey beautiful souls!! Welcome to our "At Peace in the National Parks" Yoga Series! We will visit so many incredibly breathtaking parks, created to protect these sacred lands and all the life that exists there, from Yellowstone, to the Smokies, the Everglades, to Olympic National Park! Last week we began with a visit to Yosemite National Park in California! We found healing in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, the deep valleys, meadows, steep cliffs, and giant Sequoia trees! We connected to the tallest, widest trees, the soil, the rock, bobcats, mule deer, black bears, eagles, hawks, so much beautiful life! We found wisdom with the indigenous Awahneechee, who helped us connect back to this sacred land. This week, we traveled to the desert, to southeast Utah, to The Arches National Park!

 

🌵☀️”Nature is the purest portal to inner peace. The earth longs to feel our bare feet and the wind delights in weaving through our hair. We are always connected, we are never separate. This connection to the earth gives us our basic foundation of belonging, home, and safety.”

 

🏜️🌵The Arches in southeast Utah was named a national monument in 1929, and in 1971 became a National Park to be preserved and protected for years and years to come!  The vibrant, warm hues of browns, red, oranges, and cinnamon of the desert draw in thousands of visitors every year, from hikers, artists, musicians, painters, sculptors, and photographers to capture its beauty and share it with the world! The Arches National Park is home to over 2000 natural arches, windows, circular formations, and trails created from weather and erosion from millions of years! This is the largest density of natural arches in the world! How lucky are we that it's right here in our country!

 

 

🏜️☀️The Arches is home to so much beautiful life! The desert is not barren! There are a plethora of flora and fauna that thrive here! Over 480 species of plants live here! From grasses, cacti, and evergreens, to deciduous trees, flowers, and bushes. The animals that flourish here are rabbits, snakes, mule deer, bobcats, mountain lions, porcupines, big horn sheep, bats, and several lizards, including the Western Collared Lizard, bright turquoise and yellow, known to run on its hind legs! There are close to 200 species of birds as well, from peregrine falcons kestrels, hawks, horned lark, shrike, heron, and burrowing owls! So much incredible life to witness on our visits to the park! We connect to the wisdom of the indigenous people of this land, the Hopi, the Sioux, Navajo, and the Ute. They always remind us that we are in fact, part of this land, not just visitors. We are embedded into the rock, the soil, the sky, the cacti, the lizards, and the arches!

 

 

⛰️We began our practice in Mountain pose, our Tadasana! We were so thrilled to be here in this beautiful land, that we opened with our Breath of Joy Pranayama breath work! As we drew the breath in through our nose, we extended the hands forward, inhaled as the arms extended out to a T, another inhale as the hands stretched overhead to the sky, and with the exhale, we melted into a forward fold. We repeated this two more times, and on the third forward fold, we melted the hips down, to our shins, sinking the hips toward our heels into our Hero pose! We drew in our breath, hands overhead, exhale the right hand planted to the right, into a sidebend, left hand overhead, inhale through center, and to the left sidebend. We drew in our breath hands overhead, and to the heart, on the exhale planted the hands behind the glutes into a backbend, shoulder blades draw toward one another, gaze to the sky, arching the back, then we melt forward, knees together, crown to the earth, hands reaching along the earth toward the toes, into our Porcupine pose, quills to the sky! We became present in the body and the space we're in, and allowed all of our past events to melt back to the earth, transformed into something new, something for our greater good. We sent our fears and worries and stressors out into the breeze, to be carried further and further away from us, no longer needed to carry, as we become cleansed, and lighter. We anchored to the peace found in this stillness. Our Ujjayi breath followed, even lengths of inhale and exhale through the nose, our grounding, stabilizing breath. We unraveled into our Childs pose, reaching the hands forward, knees apart, melting the hips to the earth. We thread the needle, right hand under the left arm, grounding the right temple and right shoulder, scanning through the senses!

 

 

🏜️Even though the eyes are closed, we noticed what we see beyond the lids, finding peace and serenity in this darkness. We traveled to our smell, noticing what we smell around us, notes of cinnamon, Palo Santo, sage essential oil mist I sprayed overhead, to help us connect to the desert! We scanned to our hearing, noticing the sound of our breath, the breath of our neighbor, the hum of the furnace, pinpointing an instrument in the music. We inhaled through center, exhaled to thread the needle to the opposite side, left hand underneath the right arm, grounding the left temple & shoulder, melting back into the earth, and scanned to our taste, noticing the last thing we may have eaten, or a sip of cup of tea, coffee,  lingering in the mouth, separating the teeth, the tongue falling from the roof of the mouth. Lastly, we noticed our sense of touch, what we feel against the skin, the warmth of the air against the skin, the softness of our clothes, the stickiness of our mat, supporting us, cradling us, serving as our anchor, as we shed the layers that accumulate on the body and mind from daily life, bringing us back home to ourselves, lighter, more free.

 

 

🌵We unraveled the hands through center, bent the elbows, palms met overhead, and the thumbs draped down the back of the neck. We floated the hands down, and rolled forward into a comfortable seat or Half Lotus. The hands lifted overhead, and met in our Prithvi mudra, ring fingers to our thumbs, remaining fingers extend out, we connect to our earth element. We're reminded we are connected to the earth, in every way, and we find stability, strength, and balance in the mind, body, and soul. We rubbed hands together to create some heat, some healing energy, remembering that our hands are tools for healing, and cupped the hands to the eyes, sending healing energy to the soul. Hands floated to the crown, sending healing energy to the mind, calming the chatter. The mind can become stuck in the past, ruminating over things that have been, or travel too far forward into the future with worry, but the body is always present, so here we connect and stay present. One hand floated to the forehead, and the other to the base of the skull, gentle pressure into our vagus nerve, serving as a nervous system reset button, finally bringing the hands to the heart sending gratitude to the heart and lungs, for the work they do every moment of every day, for us. We set an intention for our practice. We inhaled the hands overhead, and to the right for a twist, peeling the right shoulder back to open the chest 5% more, opening our Anahata chakra, heart chakra, sending compassion, understanding, love out into the world. We arched the right hand to the sky and toward the opposite knee to open the side body, and then brought it to the left knee, crossing the arms, arching the back and dripping the chin. We honored the other side, and then came through center, planted the fingers behind us, opened the chest, arching the spine into a backbend. We exhaled rolling through center, inhaling hands overhead, and cactus-ing the arms, exhale we curl in, cradling the head, forearms together, inhale open out cactus the arms, exhale we curl in, one more round, exhale into our Porcupine, quills to the sky! We melted the hips down into our child's pose. We walked the hands to the right, hips draw back and to the left, through center, hands walk to the left, hips draw back and to the right, through center, floating up into our Table Top. 

 

 

🐅Our cat cow flow followed as we warmed up the spine, adding in organic movement, hips swaying side to side, or rolling forward and back into Childs pose waving back and forward into our table top. We moved to our breath, our own pace, making our cat cow our own. We came into our neutral table top, inhaled as the gaze and right foot reached to the sky, bending at the knee, exhale the knee hugs into the chest, rounding the back, inhale 2 more times, we lift, exhale nose to knee, on the third inhale, reach the left hand back for the right foot, opening the chest, in our Tiger pose, today it's our Mountain Lion! The left hand releases the foot, planting the right foot to the back of our mat, left knee into the chest, curl the back, left knee down, right leg high, a little pushup bending the elbows, nose to the mat, one more round, and then right leg out to the right side of our mat, sink the hips back, 1-leg Childs pose. We roll forward into the hands, walk the hands in and float up off of the hands into our Gate pose, inhale the hands overhead, exhale the right hand falls to the right leg, left hand overhead, into an Arch! We cartwheel the hands around, left hand to the left side, to a block or the earth, right hand overhead, another Arch! We float through center, a round of cat cow, and honor the left side!

 

 

🏜️In our downward dog, we created plank waves, floating into our plank, exhaling up into our Downward dog, 3 times, and pranam knees chest chin, into a low cobra, and up into our downward dog. We floated to the top of our mats into a forward fold, hanging heavy, and began to root to rise, we slowly lifted up, one vertebrae at a time, the head the last to come through, into our Tadasana, our mountain pose. We felt the grounding energy from the sand pull at the soles of our feet from the toes to the arches to the heels, anchoring us. This energy circled around the legs, to the pelvis, the hips, around each vertebrae of the spine to the shoulders as they melt down from the ears. The crown reaching for the heavens, we are stable, rooted, and anchored. We inhaled hands overhead, right hand to the left wrist, bending to the right, through center, side bend to the left. We came through center and to exhaled forward into a swan dive melted into a forward fold. We planted the hands and moved through a vinyasa flow, pranam knees chest chin into a low cobra, or a chaturanga flow to upward dog, or skipped the flow completely, stepping into downward dog. Always your choice!

 

 

☀️Our flow began in Tadasana, inhaled the hands up overhead, interlaced the fingers, palms to the sky, floated into Sidebends to the right and the left, through center, cactus the arms on the inhale, exhale curling the spine, cradle the head, forearms together, one more round, and on the third, interlaced the fingers behind the back, a little backbend, exhale melting forward into a fold, hands float off the back. We release the bind hands to the earth, forward fold, bending the knees, rag doll sway. Left hand down, left knee bends, right hand to the sky, through center, right hand down, right knee bends, left hand high, through center, hanging heavy. We inhale up into our Chair, hands to the heart, we sink the hips, and twist to the right, elbow hooks the knee, through center to the left, through center to the right once more, left foot lifts and peels to the back of our mat into a Lunge Twist. Hands float through center to the sky, Crescent Warrior, relaxing the shoulders down. Inhale we reach high, exhale we cactus the arms and melt the left knee down, 3 times, on the third grounding the left knee as the hips tip back, keeping our cactus arms into a Quarter Split, balance challenge with the cactus arms lifted! We float forward into Warrior III with our cactus arms, then extend the hands back, into our Airplane, flying over the Arches, an aerial view of our park! We ground the right hand, and peel the hips open into our Half Moon, left leg parallel to the mat, chest opens, left hand to the sky! With a soft landing, left foot lands to the back of our mat, right leg straightens, left hand to the left leg, right hand high, Sky Archer, maybe a bind of the hands behind the back gaze up to the right elbow, release, cartwheel the hands around, right elbow to right knee, left hand overhead Side Angle, maybe binding the hands around the back and under the right thigh, into a twisted Arch! Lots of arches today, we create little windows of our arms and legs! We release the bind, left hand down inside the right foot, right hand high, Twisted Lunge. Right hand threads under the left arm, walks the hands to the long side of our mat, Wide Leg Fold, hanging heavy. Heels turn in we slowly roll up into a 5-pt Star, prana energy through the fingertips and toes, exhale we sink into our Goddess!

 

 🌵In our Goddess pose, a little dance side to side, through center, the right heel lifts, and down, left heel lifts and down, both heels lift! Maybe staying lifted, we inhale in our cactus arms, exhale we curl in cradling the head, forearms together, one more round, and then open up 5-pt Star again. Inhale the arms out to a T, left toes turn to the back of our mat, reach the left hand forward and down, coming into our Triangle pose, right hand peels to the sky, our symbols of change and transformation! Just like millions of years of weather and erosion changes to form our arches! Right hand down, left hand high Twisted Lunge. Left hand down, left foot sweeps through center and up, 3 limb downward dog, inhale high, exhale knee to chest, 2 times, we thread the left through to the right, right hand high, Fallen Star! The beautiful night's sky full of bright stars! Right hand down, left foot steps forward between the hands Standing Splits, right toes high, exhale we crunch the right knee into the chest, and step it back, walking the hands to the right foot, Skandasana. Your favorite variation, balance hands to the heart, floating to the sky, melting the heart, or a heart opener! We walk the hands to the top of our mat, Twisted Lunge, right hand high, and down inside the right foot as it inches out to the edge of our mat, sinking the left knee, melt the hips, into our Western Collared Lizard! We can melt into the forearms or peel out into a Twist to the right, maybe binding for a back foot. Remember to look up a video of our new lizard friends, bright turquoise and yellow running around on only his hind legs! So funny!! We move through a flow and honor the left side!

 

 

🦎Our Somatic practice gives us tools to regulate our nervous system, to stimulate the vagus nerve that begins at the base of the brain and runs throughout the body touching every organ system! We agitated emotions stuck in the body, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. I usually alternate between these tools each week! We began in our Tadasana, brought the right hand to the left upper side of the chest, and extended the left arm forward, palm facing the sky. With a deep inhale, we kept the hips forward, as the left arm slowly traveled out to the left side, gaze following, to the back, paused at the back with the gaze over our left shoulder, and on the exhale slowly brought the arm back toward the top of our mat. We repeated this two more times, inhaled as the arms reached overhead, palms gathered at the heart. We brought the left arm to the right upper side of the chest, extended the right arm forward, palm facing up, and with the inhale slowly traveled the right arm out to the side as the gaze followed, to the back, and paused opening the chest. With the exhale we brought the right arm slowly back to the top of our mat, and repeated 2 more times!  We rubbed the palms together to create some healing heat, and we brought the fingertips to the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, even the base of the skull. We moved into the temples, massaging circles here, we dripped the fingers to the jaw, the hinge where we open and close the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself, and maybe you too. We pulled down on the ear lobes, pulled the middle of the ears out to the sides, up to the top of the ears pulling toward the sky. With one hand to the base of the skull, pressing into the vagus nerve, the other hand brought the index and middle fingers to the hairline at the forehead and began rolling the fingers down the forehead, between the eyebrows, down the bridge of the nose to the tip, repeating 3 times, and switching out the hands. We brought our fingertips to the base of the skull, pressing into our vagus nerve, and melted the fingertips toward the ears, along the jawline, and down the front of the neck to the collarbone. We repeated this 2 more times, releasing tightness in the throat. We tapped into the collarbone, with slow rythmic taps, all fingers in unison, into one of our acupressure points in the body. We brought this tapping to the sternum, center of the chest. We slowly tapped here, either with the fingertips or Bilateral Butterfly taps using cupped hands over one another on the chest, activating both hemispheres of the brain, continuing as we inhaled, paused to bring the hands to the heart, stacked on top of one another, and as we exhaled we audibly hummed into our bee breath🐝! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! Humming is a somatic release, also good for respiratory infection season to break things up in the lungs, and humming has shown to reduce anxiety better than sleep! We crossed the arms at the chest, and squeezed into opposite shoulders, down to the biceps and triceps, and into the forearms. We brought the hands to the shoulders again for a squeeze, and swiped the hands down the arms, chest, abdomen, low back, and legs, making sure anything still tethered to the body is fully released. We released everything from last year, last month, yesterday, that we need to let go of, swipe it away, let yourself be freed of it, so we don't carry this heaviness any longer! Allow it to melt down your back! Let it drift into the breeze, the water, no longer needed in this moment!

 

 

🐇We came into stillness, then swayed right and left, and found stillness again, noticing the effects: we can feel cool, heat, or tingling sensations, even a spontaneous yawn! All signs of a regulated nervous system. We removed anything stuck, anything harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information from the brain to the body! We sent messages to the brain that the body is not under threat, it does not have to exist in a continuous active state (fight /flight/freeze mode). We helped our body to experience a larger capacity to sit in discomfort, and not immediately reach for unhealthy soothers, or run from it. We welcome space for triggers to be felt and moved through. We have the ability to help our nervous system shift fluidly between states when each are needed, the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems! Both are useful and 100% needed, but we do not want to become stuck in one state for too long. These practices are so useful off the mat as we encounter stress or triggers in our daily lives! We find balance! We find freedom!

 

 

🏜️Our cool down began in Tadasana, we inhaled hands overhead, exhaled with a Swan dive, and planted the hands, as we stepped back into our downward dog. We rolled forward into our Plank, melting the heels to the right, Side Plank, left hand high, through center to the left, right hand high, through center, up into Downward Dog. Our knees melt, into our Hero pose, inhaled the hands overhead and sidebands to the right and left, a backbend, gaze to the sky, exhale we melt forward into our Porcupine! We roll onto the crown of the head, tuck the toes, reach for heels, and arch the back into our Rabbit pose! We float back down, lift up through the chest, roll onto the left hip, legs come through center, to the top of our mat, and open the legs out into our Straddle pose, we melt the heart toward the earth. Inhale as we walk the hands in, left foot into our right thigh, the hands reach up, and right hand reaches for the right foot, left hand overhead, Sidebend, cartwheel the hands around, left hand plants, hips lift, Rainbow Arch, right hand overhead. Hips melt back down, chest through center, we lift the legs up as they are, and switch the legs, left leg extends right foot into the left thigh, back and forth we go, and then ground the legs, left leg long, right foot into the left thigh, Sidebend left hand to the left foot right hand overhead, and cartwheel the hands around, right hand plants to the back, hips lift, left hand overhead, Rainbow Arch. Left hand comes down as we pivot toward the back of our mat into our Plank, and with control slowly lower down to our belly!

 

 

🐍We form a pillow with our hands, forehead to our pillow, and slowly rock the hips to the left and right, coming through center, hands plant under the shoulders we lift up into our Low Cobra, and melt, extend the left hand out to the left side of our mat, and roll up onto the left hip, Broken Wing, right foot plants behind the left leg, right knee to the sky, opening the chest. We float through center and find Broken Wing to the right. We float through center, left arm cactuses as the right hand reaches for the right foot, inhale we lift up through the right foot and through the chest and gaze, Half Bow. We melt, and find Half Bow with the left hand to the left foot, lifting up, and melt down, finally finding our Full Bow, hands to both feet we lift up, maybe rocking forward and back, teetering just like a giant boulder on top of a pillar of rocks! We release the feet, press into the palms and push back melting the hips into our Childs pose. We roll onto the left hip, legs come through, we're facing the back of our mats, feet plant hip width apart, palms plant behind us, fingertips toward the feet, we lift the hips, into our Reverse Table, our final Arch! We melt the hips back down, hands float and reach forward, and exhale one vertebrae down at a time to our backs! We lengthen long, hug the knees in, find a Crescent Moon to the right and left, ending in our Happy Baby, rocking side to side!