🐊The Everglades🐆 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 visited The Arches National Park in Utah! We found healing in the warm desert, over 2000 natural arches and rock formations! We connected to the soil, the sun, the rock, bobcats, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, porcupines, peregrine falcons, rabbits, cactuses, the western collared lizard, and so much beautiful life! We found wisdom with the indigenous Hopi, Navajo, and Sioux, and , who helped us connect back to this sacred land, flora, and fauna. This week, we traveled to Florida, to The Everglades 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.”

Here we come to the Everglades!! I always thought the Everglades were marshes and wetlands, but it is actually a very slowly moving 50- mile wide river! She flows from mid-Florida to the Gulf of Mexico. The Everglades National Park is 4000 square miles, 1.5 million acres, and brings in 6 million visitors per year to see all of her beauty!  It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the U.S., and became a national park in 1947 after decades of trying to become one, it was a slow process to protect this fragile ecosystem, and sacred land! Our previous parks we visited, Yosemite and The Arches showed us tall peaks, and high elevation, and here in the Everglades, it is very flat, with 8 ft being the highest elevation in the park. The Everglades has many various habitats, from the river to the mangroves, marshes, wetlands, saw grass prairies, and cypress forests, with abundant wildlife, including 1 million alligators! Alligators and crocodiles actually live here together, the only place in the world! We also see soft-shell turtles, snapping turtles, lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, manatees in the waterways, river otters, deer, black bears, the Lubber Grasshopper, a huge orange grasshopper almost 6 inches in length, the endangered Florida panther, and over 360 species of birds, from owls, ospreys, herons, and egrets to the beautiful pink and white Roseate Spoonbill! All life is born from water, so here we honor the watery habitats of the Everglades, taking the wisdom of the Miccosukee and the Seminoles shared with us about this sacred land with us!

 

 

We began our practice on our bellies, our Alligator pose!  This prone position is always very soothing, as we connect our hearts to the earth, keep our organs protected and warm. As adults we never find this position, except maybe while sleeping, while children often find this pose to self-soothe, here we learn from children! Our hands are cactused overhead, or long by the hips, palms to the sky, as we allow our left cheek to meet our mat, the head and shoulders become heavy. Each vertebrae of the spine begins to ground toward the soil beneath us, the hips melt, and the arms and legs soften. We created our 3-part breath, inhaling deeply through the nose from the toes up into the belly taking up space, exhaling slowly through the mouth. Our next inhale moves up into the chest, filling the lungs, expanding the ribs, and on the third round, we extend our inhale all the way up to the crown. Our exhales become longer and slower with each round, calming the heart rate, blood pressure, and nervous system. 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 river, to be carried further and further away from us, no longer needed to carry, as we become cleansed, and lighter. Our Ujjayi breath followed, even lengths of inhale and exhale through the nose, our grounding, stabilizing breath. 

 

 

We inhaled our chin through center, right cheek meeting our mat, and stayed present in the body through a sensory scan! 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 inhaled our chin through center, and formed a pillow with our hands, grounding our forehead to our pillow, as the hips slowly rocked left to right, awakening the spine. We planted the hands under the shoulders and lifted the gaze and chest into our Low Cobra, shoulders draw back, elbows to the ribs, pressing into the tops of the feet to lift the knees, exhale we lower. Inhale we lift, exhale we lower. Inhale we walk the fingertips out beyond the edges of our mat, elbows to the sky, tenting the fingers, we lift into our low cobra, exhale left ear taps the earth, inhale through center, exhale right ear taps the earth, repeating once more, and melting down to the mat. Inhale we lengthen the hands back by the hips, lifting the gaze, hands and feet, we're manatees floating down the waterways, exhale we melt, inhale we lift, exhale we melt. We form our palm pillows again, forehead grounded. Inhale we lift the right knee up toward our right elbow, Half Frog, opening up the hip. We reach the right hand forward, and thread the left arm under the right, and roll to our backs, Supine Twist. Back to our bellies, pelvic rocks left to right, forehead to our pillow. We reach the left knee up toward the left elbow, Half Frog, and thread the right arm under the left, to roll to our back, Supine Twist. 

 

 

We floated to our backs, facing the back of our mats, lengthening long, hands overhead, toes reach forward, exhale knees hug into the chest, rocking side to side, massaging the lumbar spine. We inhale feet to the sky, T-pose, pointing the toes, cross the right leg over the left, left over right, scissoring back and forth, lowering the legs, hovering a foot above the mat, inhale we lift, still scissoring, exhale we lower, inhale we lift, our legs are the saw grass in the prairies in the park! We meet in T- pose, and cross the right leg over the left, bend the knees, hug the thighs together, wrapping the right foot around the left calf, Eagle legs, arms cactus out, then fold right around left, Eagle arms, inhale we reach the hands overhead, toes touch down, exhale we curl in, elbows tap knees, inhale 2 more times, crunch in 2 more times, our Osprey crunches, finding a Supine twist to the left. We find a Bridge between our sides, and meet in T-pose, feet to the sky, to repeat on the left side, Osprey crunches, and meet in a Supine twist to the right. Knees hug into the chest, as we rock n roll along the spine into a comfortable seat, spinning around toward the top of our mat.

 

 We came into a comfortable seat or Half Lotus. The hands lifted overhead, and met in our Padma mudra, our Lotus flower, her roots embedded deep into the soil of the pond, she lengthens up in the dark, cold, murky water, to the surface of the water where the light is, the sun's warmth, in order to bloom. We inhale lifting our lotus up to the water's surface, exhale down to the heart. We rubbed our 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 exhaled 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 came through center, inhale we planted the fingers behind us, opened the chest, arching the spine into a backbend, gaze to the sky, exhale we melt forward, walking the hands under the calves, into our Snapping Turtle! We unraveled walking the hands in, floating the legs, palms to the heart into our Boat, safe from the alligator-filled waters below! We twisted to the right, to the left in our Boat, and rock n rolled along the spine 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, our Florida panther, exhale the knee hugs into the chest, rounding the back, inhale we lift, exhale nose to knee, two more times, on the third inhale, reach the left hand back for the right foot, opening the chest, in our FL panther pose! The left hand releases the right foot, planting the right foot to the back of our mat, left knee into the chest, curl the back, left shin down, right leg floats, and crosses to the left side, gaze follows over the left shoulder. Gaze floats between the hands, right knee tucks in behind the left, hands walk to the right, we melt the hips back, crossed-leg Childs pose. We unravel through center, find our cat cow flow, and honor the left side starting with our FL panther! We meet in our last cat cow flow, and tuck the toes, lifting the hips into our downward dog. 

 

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!

 

 

We inhaled right leg lifts, exhale right knee taps the left elbow, inhale lift, exhale right knee taps right elbow, inhale lift, exhale right knee into the chest, right knee down, a little pushup, left toes high, bend into the elbows, nose to the mat, we float back up, right shin  melts down, left toes reach back, melting the hips down, right knee forward, lifting the chest. We roll to the right hip, pivoting to the back of our mat, reaching the left hand for the left foot, right hand overhead, Fallen Tree Sidebend. We inhale, cartwheel the hands around top of the mat, right hand plants, hips lift, Rainbow Arch, left hand overhead. Hips lower, hands to the top of our mat, inhale right leg lifts, exhale right knee into the chest, and steps right foot forward, we rise up Warrior I. Inhale we cactus the arms, right over left Eagle arms, we lift, exhale we humble in, inhale lift, exhale humble in, floating into a Wideleg fold, swaying our Eagle arms left to right, removing obstacles out of our way, clearing the path forward. We float to the left foot, Skandasana, + our Eagle arms, balance challenge! We unravel our bind, pivot to the back of our mat, right hand down inside the left foot, left hand high, Twisted Lunge. Left hand down we float forward Warrior 3, right leg hovers parallel with our mat, with airplane arms as we fly over the Everglades! Inhale we lift up right knee floating through center into our Pilar pose, we Eagle our legs and arms, right over left, into our Spoonbill Stork, inhale we lift, exhale we crunch, one more time, we unravel grounding the left hand, opening to the right into our Half Moon, right hand high. Right hand down, Standing Splits, right toes high, exhale curtsy tap right toes to the left, repeating two more times, inhale we lift, exhale right knee into the chest, hands to the heart, balancing in our Egret. 

 

 

Right toes peel back, Twisted Lunge, left hand high, we thread 2 times left hand under the right arm, and walk into our WideLeg fold. Inhale we roll up to stand, extending into our 5-pointed Star, exhale into our Goddess, deep bend into he knees, arms cactus, we look just like Mangrove trees, our roots curving above the water's surface! We inhale right forearm to the right thigh, left arm overhead, through center, and to the left, through center, extend 5-pointed Star. Right toes turn to the top of our mat, arms out to a T, reach the right hand forward, hinging from the hips, right hand reaches for a block, our shin, or the earth, Triangle pose, left hand high. Left hand down inside the right foot, Twisted Lunge, right hand high, we float forward Twisted Half Moon, left leg floats, right arms reaches out. Right hand might reach for the left foot for a bind, and maybe even lowering the hips toward the earth into our Grasshopper! That giant orange Lubber Grasshopper! We can skip the grasshopper, to fold into a cross-leg forward fold, left foot behind the right. We unravel the feet to the back of our mat, into our Plank, and move through our flow, pranam, chaturanga, or Childs pose, to meet in Tadasana 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, heel-toe the feet out, and melt the hips into our Yogi Squat. Palms meet, the spine lengthens to the crown, crown to the sky, elbows nudge our knees back as we open the hips. Palms plant as we frog hop back, find our Yogi Squat, frog hop back again, find our yogi squat, hop back until we find the back of our mat. Inhale hips lit,  walk the hands forward into our widely downward dog with heels grounded, we thread the right hand to the left shin for a twist, through center, left hand to the right shin, through center, heel toe the feet in, walk the hands back, lower the hips into our Toe Squat, inhale the hands reach overhead, and open out to a T to the right, keeping the hips and chest forward, through center, the arms open out to a T to the left, through center, lower to our seat, extend the legs long, toes to the sky, Staff forward fold. Inhale we walk the hands up the legs bringing our right knee with us, hug to the chest, we wrap our left arm around the right knee, right hand plants behind the spine, we twist. We float through center, right foot over the left leg, we counter twist to the left, and find our Grasshopper! From the ground up, left hand and right toes point to the left long side of our mat, right hand reaches for the right foot, left hand grounded a handprint out to the left, we lift the hips, hovering in our Lubber Grasshopper! We float through center, feet plant hip width apart, palms plant behind the glutes, fingertips toward our heels, and lift the hips, Reverse Table, head hangs heavy. Hips lower, we hug the knees in Seated Childs Pose, and open the legs out into a V, our Dragonfly, melting the heart forward, forehead to blocks, releasing the low back. We walk the hands and legs in, into our Staff pose fold, and honor the left side, twists, and Grasshopper!

 

 

After our Grasshopper, we float through center, Badokanasana, Butterfly, soles of the feet meet, we fold forward, knees melt toward the earth. We make peace fingers with our hands and hook the big toes, opening the legs out into a V, Balancing Black Bear, floating the legs, steady on the Root, base of the spine. We micro bend the knees and gracefully roll back, still holding our toes, until we meet our mat, Happy Bear, opening the hips, rocking side to side! We create space for anything else we may need before our final rest, perhaps a knee hug, another T-pose, reclined cowface, supine twists, bridge, plow, wheel, legs up the wall, Crescent Moon to the left and right, whatever we may need.