🐻🏕️Yellowstone 🦬 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 Yosemite & Yellowstone, to the Smokies, the Everglades, to Olympic National Park! Last week we visited The Everglades National Park in Florida! We found healing in the warm humid rivers and wetlands, We connected to the soil, the water, the sun, alligators, spoonbill storks, black bears, snakes, the endangered Florida panther, rabbits, over 300 species of birds, and so much beautiful life! We found wisdom with the indigenous Miccosukee and Seminole, who helped us connect back to this sacred land, flora, and fauna. This week, we traveled to Montana, to Yellowstone 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’s me at Yellowstone with my bison friends!!

 

 

🌲⛰️Lets go to Yellowstone!! Yellowstone will always have a very special place in my heart, my dad was born in Butte, Montana, and lived there as a child, and his parents lived their remaining years there after raising their 5 children in Spokane, WA. My ancestral roots lie here, and I feel a deep soul connection to this sacred land, quite literally my DNA is embedded here, in the soil, the water, in the natural phenomena here. Yellowstone lies in a triad corner of three states, Montanan, Wyoming, and Idaho, and covers 2 million acres! It is our country's FIRST national park, establishing in 1872. In Yellowstone, we find so many amazing wonders, the park is fueled by volcanic activity! We see geothermal pools that are up to 400 degrees, hot springs, forests, canyons, waterfalls, rivers, steep cliffs, hydrothermal geysers and steam pockets, and prairies! Over 4.5 million visitors arrive here every year, from artists, writers, filmmakers, photographers, to hikers, climbers, skiers, cyclists, horseback riders, campers, kayakers, and conservationists. We see a plethora of wildlife from huge herds of bison, a reintroduction of beautiful wolves, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, bobcats, grizzly bears, moose, elk, pika, hares, prairie dogs, trout, over 300 species of birds including bald eagles, swans and sandhill cranes! We find wisdom from the indigenous people of this sacred land, the Blackfeet, Crow, and Nez Perce, reminding us we are always connected to the earth, the soil, sun, sky, water, hot pools, and flora and fauna! All of this lies within us!

 

 

🐃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, onto our shins, into our Hero pose, inhaling hands reach overhead and cactus the arms out, today our Moose Antlers! Exhale we curl in, cradle the head, arch the back, forearms meet, inhale we open out Moose antlers, exhale we curl in. Inhale hands reach overhead, exhale we melt the right hand to the earth, left hand overhead sidebend. Inhale through center, exhale the left hand plants, right hand overhead sidebend. Inhale hands reach to the sky, melt to the heart and fingertips plant behind the glutes into a mini backbend, gaze to the sky, shoulderblades draw toward one another. Exhale we melt forward, shins grounded, hands reach back toward the heels, crown meets the earth as we lift the hips, arch the back, into our Rabbit pose, today our Prairie Dog, a little ball of fur in its tunnel in the prairie! We lifted up, opened the knees, melted the hips back into our Childs pose, threading the right arm under the left, grounding the right shoulder and temple. 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 by the geothermal pools 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 the right arm, and thread the left under the right, grounding the left temple and shoulder.

 

 

🦫We walked the hands in, coming into a comfortable seat, crossing the legs or finding our Half Lotus, one foot atop the opposite thigh, whichever of the two is speaking to us today. We anchored the sit bones, lengthened each vertebrae toward the next in line, crown to the sky. We inhaled our hands overhead, and formed our Bear Grip Mudra, fingers gripping the opposite hands' fingers, elbows pulling out toward the walls. This mudra connects us to the Grizzly bears of Yellowstone, and it helps us conquer challenges, and connect to our wisdom and intuition. The hands lifted overhead, and met in our Anjali mudra, prayer hands. We rubbed them 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 came through center, soles of the feet meet, knees open, Badokanasana, Butterfly pose, melting forward. We float up, make peace fingers with our hands, and hook our big toes, extend the feet out and up, into our V-shape, balancing on the root chakra, the tailbone, into our Balancing Grizzly Bear, deep inhale in, and with the exhale we roll back along the spine to our backs, reaching for outer edges of the feet into our Happy Grizzly Bear, rocking side to side. We floated the knees through center, extended the feet to the sky, T-pose, our waterfall legs, the famous Upper Falls at Yellowstone has a 300 ft waterfall! We found our reclined cow face, today our Bighorn Sheep, by crossing the right leg over the left, bending the knees, hugging the thighs together, reaching for shins or ankles. We release our hold, plant the left foot down, hips scooch to the right, knees fall to the left, melting into a twist. We unraveled through center, hugged the knees into the chest, found our waterfall legs and twisted to the right. We unraveled knees to the chest and rock n rolled along the spine 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, melted down into the forearms, into our puppy pose, today our Wolf kicks! 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, we float into the hands, right toes to the back of our mat, Supported Side Plank we open up to the right side, grounded into the left knee, right hand to the sky, circle through the wrist. Right hand down, inhale right legs floats parallel to the mat, exhale out to the right side, sink the hips back, 1-leg Childs pose. Right knee in to meet the left, melt down into the forearms for our cat cow flow, noticing if this feels different in the body from our traditional cat cow, and we honor our Wolf kicks on the left side! We come through center, inhale tuck the toes, lift the hips, 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!

 

 

☀️🦬Our flow began in Tadasana, inhale hands reach overhead, interlace the fingers, palms to the sky, we  Sidebend to the right and the left, exhaling through a swan dive into a fold. We moved through our own flow, pranam or chaturanga, low cobra or upward dog, meeting in downward dog. We inhale as the right leg lifts, exhale right knee to left elbow, inhale lift, exhale right knee to right elbow, inhale lift, exhale right knee to the chest, right foot steps between the hands, we rise up into Warrior I. Hands lift to the sky, shoulders draw down, we inhale Moose antlers the arms out, exhale we curl in, cradle the head, forearms together, 2 times, and on the third, find a bind behind the back, interlacing the fingers, inhale we lift opening the chest, exhale we bend forward humbling our warrior. We lifted two more times, and on the third humble, we floated forward into our Warrior III, left leg floating chest parallel to the earth, we opened our arms out toward the back of our mat, into a V, just like an Airplane, flying over Yellowstone, wave to the amazing sights and animals! Heyyyyyyyyyy!! We inhale, exhale left toes tap to the outside of the right side of our mat, 3 times, our toes hovering above the geothermal pools, we don't wanna touch, its 400 degrees! OUCH! We inhale back into our Warrior III, exhale planting the left foot to the back of our mat, straightening the right leg, left hand down, right hand high, Sky Archer. We cartwheeled the arms around, right elbow to right knee, left hand overhead, Side Angle. The left hand grounds inside the right foot as the right hand lifts, Twisted Lunge. Right hand down, back foot steps in, pyramid pose, all 10 toes forward, today our Bison, melt the heart, like we're munchin on some yummy grass!

 

 

🌲We walk the hands around to the left side of our mat, WideLeg fold, hang heavy here for a round of breath, and then turn the heels in as we rise up, one vertebrae at a time, into our 5-pt Star, extending through the fingertips, exhale into our Goddess, deep bend in the knees, and elbows, inhale we reach up, straighten the legs, hands to the sky, like a Geyser shooting hot steam and water to the sky! 2 more times, inhale extend shooting water up just like Old Faithful, exhale into our Goddess. Inhale we reach up, arms out to a T, left toes turn to the back of our mat, hinge from the hips and reach the left hand forward, and down to the shin, block or earth, legs straight, right hand high, into our Triangle, our symbol of change and transformation! Lots of this happening in this hot, steamy, geothermal environment! Right hand down inside the left foot, left knee bends, strong into the right hand, left hand high, Twisted Lunge, left hand down, left foot steps back to meet the right, Side Plank, supported, or high, or left leg floats, left hand high. Left hand down, Downward Dog, inhale right leg lifts, exhale knee to the chest, 2 times, thread the right foot through to the left, Fallen Star, left hand high, left hand down, inhale right leg high, exhale step the right foot between the hands, left foot steps in, straighten the legs, hands to blocks or the earth, into our Bison, melt the heart, back curled just like our furry friends enjoying their lunch in the prairies. Walk the hands around to the left, inhale up, create our Geyser-Goddesses, and then pivot to the top of our mat, left leg is forward, bend into the left knee, Crescent Warrior, back heel lifted, inhale arms open out, Moose antlers, exhale we curl in, cradle the head, 2 times, then inhale we float forward Warrior 3, right leg floats, exhale we bring the right knee forward, Pilar pose, hands high, right hand reaches back for the right foot, inhale in this quad stretch, exhale we tip forward, right toes to the sky, chest melts, left hand reaches forward, into our Dancer! We float up through center, right foot wraps around the left leg, eagle legs, eagle arms, right over left, inhale we lift up into our Sandhill Crane, exhale we crunch in, 2 more times, and end in a forward crossed leg fold, staying here or flying a crossed leg crow. We unravel the feet back into our plank, move through our flow, pranam or chaturanga, meet in downward dog, float forward, into a fold, rise up into 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, as we stepped back into our downward dog. We inhaled as the right leg lifted, exhaled knee to chest, inhale we lift, exhale bend the knee open the hip, finding rotation, or flipping into Wild Thing. We came back through center, right leg high, exhaled knee to chest, and planted the right shin forward, as we melt the hips, melt into the forearms, into our Swan. We unravel the right leg high, find rotation, and Downward Dog. Inhale left leg high, knee to chest, and plant the left shin forward, into our Swan. As we lift the chest up, we bring the right shin to the long side of our mat, 90 degree legs, coming into our Deer pose, today our Elk! We inhaled hands overhead, shifting our hips and chest to the left, toward our left knee, and melting forward, connecting to the beautiful elk of Yellowstone! We lifted up, right and left knee forward to windshield wipe the knees right to left, and find our Elk on the right side, right shin forward, melting forward toward the right knee. We unravel through center, plant the feet hip width apart, palms ground behind the glutes, fingertips forward, lift the hips into our Reverse Table, head hangs heavy. Our picnic table, while camping at Yellowstone! Pack away all your trash, there's bears around! Leave no trace, Leave it better than you found it! Honor this precious land!

 

🦌We lower the hips down, open the legs out into a V shape, our Dragonfly, inhale the hands overhead, exhale we melt forward, forehead to blocks, releasing the low back, melting the shoulders. Inhale we walk the hands in, knees in through center, we lift the hands and feet into our Navasana, Boat pose, floating down Yellowstone River! Inhale we lift, exhale we lower hover, 2 more times, and then melt all the way to our backs, inhale hands overhead, toes reach forward, full body stretch, exhale knees hug into the chest, a rock side to side, massaging the lumbar spine. We open the knees reach for outer edges of the feet, one more time into our Happy Grizzly, rocking side to side, and then melt the knees to the right, and left, Supine Twists.

 

 

🐻We create space for anything else we may need before our final rest, perhaps a knee hug, bridge, plow, wheel, legs up the wall. We made it to our PEAK POSE: Savasana! We could stay at the wall, or find the full length of the body on our mat. Together, we completed a full body cleanse! We found meditative peace, a calming of the mind, removed masks, heavy burdens, found insight into ourselves, we experienced expansion, fearlessness, release, and freedom. Yoga helps us shed what we no longer need, so we may see our most purest selves! We connect to divinity! To slow down means to heal! That is why savasana is the peak pose, the most important pose, the goal, the pinnacle. To find peace. In the stillness! We surrender. We discover ourselves again without the layers we shed, much like the reptiles we embodied today, removing the armor, the walls. They all come down, revealing our divine self.