🌻Sacral Mother’s Day Yoga🌷!

May 13, 2024

🌳🌷 Hello Beautiful Friends!!

🌻On Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day, Happy Mother's Day to you and/or all the moms in your life! We kept that celebration going on Monday in our yoga flow! It was beautiful to create an hour of healing for my fellow mothers, to hold space for such NEEDED rest, mothers DO so much!! I loved creating the playlist too! I did have to delete some original songs for fear of choking on my own tears while trying to cue poses, but I love the end result of so many songs that honor mothers! Have a listen to the playlist here!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/366GbEuEa4DVDGyJ5TTNev?si=_JsoJFTBR_24gF1jHAVhQQ&pi=u-KPfNA1X6QAie

🌱 However, this class wasn’t solely for mothers, it was for those that possess a sacral chakra: that’s everyone! We opened on our bellies, not often cued in classes, but I found it important to ground our sacrum, our sacral chakra to the earth, this center of life, of creation, of birth, creativity, our water element. We honored our bellies and the miracle of motherhood as our cheek met the mat, we gave ourselves these moments of rest, for the abundant stress our bodies go through to bring life into the world. We found support & serenity from Gaia, Mother Earth.

🔸We were reminded that our sacral chakra isn’t just where we give birth to children, it’s where we give birth to new ideas, to our creativity we may not knew we had, we give birth to transformation, to metamorphosis, to change, we let go of what no longer serves us, and we give NEW LIFE TO OURSELVES: Rebirth!

🌿We drew in full body cleansing breaths, then into our intentional pranayama, deeply inhaling through the nose, and exhaling with our lips closer together as if slowly blowing out a candle through the mouth, to lengthen and slow down our exhale, calming the nervous system! We released past events & future schedules as we enter this busy month of May. We took time just for ourselves, present in this space, in this moment. Women and mothers are the ultimate multi-taskers, expert jugglers, and we become exhausted. We needed this rest, and so we relished in it. We warmed up the body, moving into low cobra lifts, floating the hands & feet, rolling back to child’s pose, creating low cobra-child’s pose waves. Super yummy!! We flowed into Broken Wing and Sphinx, and relaxed into pelvic rocks.

🌻We melted back into our child’s pose, extending the fingertips to the tight, center, and left, and then floated up into hero pose, knees together, sitting onto the heels for our self-healing reiki practice. We softened the body, released jaw clenching, forehead tension, chest tightening. We focused on our mental health, sending healing energy to the mind: often a time traveler, becoming stuck in the past or traveling too far forward into the future. We connected to the body, which is always present, releasing the past frustrations & future to do lists.

🌳We set our intention, moved into sidebends, a mini backbend, into our puppy, melting the heart. We brought the hands together to form our “Bliss Bowl!” We filled our bowl with those beautiful memories in motherhood where we were completely filled with joy, where nothing else mattered. We also filled our bowl with moments that we do for ourselves, things that bring us joy, to fill up our cup, so we have the energy to care for those we love. We will bring those moments of bliss into our hour as we move from pose to pose, in the tough still, quiet moments, to connect to ourselves, to bring us closer to peace!

🌷We moved in yummy ways, with a yummy warm up flow of Cat-Cow, adding in lifted bent legs, stepping back crunching the opposite knee to nose, for a few rounds! We melted the foot back into supported side planks with arm circles, and then melted into 1-legged child’s pose. Super delish!! We opened our heart & lungs, lengthened, twisted, extended, flowed linking breath + movement, opened our hips, releasing tension & tightness to release negative energy & nourish the body.

🌱Our first flow spiced up our energy, kept us warm, and rooted to the earth as we flowed from our tadasana through side bends, forward folds, downward dog + knee to tricep taps, and knee pushups with extended toes, into through Warrior 1 paired with a bind, humbling our warrior. We unraveled into a Warrior 2 to the back of our mats, exalted into our Sky archer with floating toes, back into Warrior 2, and melted into our Triangle! We floated into our Twisted Half Moon, and in those tough moments, brought our Bliss Bowls to mind to help us be content in the moment! We melted into Skandasana on each side, and to our seat for a Fallen Tree fold and then lifted the hips into a Rainbow arch! We floated into a Wideleg fold, options for twists or headstand, and then walked the hands to the top of our mat for a twisted lunge, and option to bind the back foot! A good quad stretch! We flowed through vinyasa to honor the left side. We encircled the healing space on our mats!

🌻Mother's Day is difficult for many of us, for those without their mothers nearby, those who’ve had to say goodbye too soon, those without their children, those with a strained relationship, or those trying to find their mothers, there is so much deep rooted emotions that often still exist in the body. Somatic experiencing gave us tools to regulate our nervous system, to agitate those emotions, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. We began at the crown, tapping the fingertips all over the crown, tapping into the temples, the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself. We tapped into the collarbone, and into the sternum! We inhaled through the nose as we tapped into the sternum, and stacked the hands at the heart as we exhaled while audibly humming! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! We ended with one hand pressing into the base of the skull where the vagus nerve begins, and the other hand pressing the index + middle fingers at the hairline, and slowly moving down between the eyebrows, down the bridge of the nose! We often do this massage for our cats, dogs, horses, perhaps you've done this as your child is waking up. It's a nice calming tool, so today we nourished ourselves with the same gesture! We swayed noticing the effects: coolness, heat, or tingling sensations! We removed anything stuck, harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information located at the base of the brain and runs throughout the entire body, touching every organ system! 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 mode). We helped our body adapt to triggers. 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!

🌳Our final flow began in Tadasana, and moved into our Pilar, opened the gate, stepped behind the opposite leg to the outside of our mat, floating back into our open gate, strengthening our balance! We floated into our Dancing Shiva, came back through center, and coiled the arms and legs into our Eagle for a few crunches, and unraveled into a standing split. We glided into our 3 limb down dog, bent the knee, opened the hip, circling through the hip, or flipping our dog! We extended the leg, hovered the knee at the chest, extended, and threaded the foot through into our Fallen Star, Side plank, and finally melting into our pigeon! We took time for King Pigeon or Mermaid before melting our heart in our pigeon.

🌷Our cool down moved us into our cradle the baby, rocking the baby a few times, then rolled onto the outer hip, pressing into the piriformis muscle that is so tight for many of us! We loosened the fascia, the tightly woven connective tissue, to spread it out, relieving any pain we may have. We inhaled back upright, crossed the foot over the opposite knee for a twist, came through center for a fallen tree forward fold. We walked the hands up the leg and extended back lifting the hips into a rainbow arch, honoring all the rainbow babies and the babies lost before them.We moved to the left side, and after our rainbow arch, we hugged the knees together for a seated Childs pose, then brought the soles of the feet together into our Butterfly, our posture of Metamorphosis, so many cycles and changes and we experience during our motherhood journey! We hooked the big toes, balanced on the tail bone, extended the legs into another straddle, our Balancing Bear, and melted back along the spine into our Happy Baby! Always a graceful, fun transition!! 😂

🍃We lifted the feet to the sky into our Tpose, and then melted into our favorite Supine twists. These could include stacking the knees, less intense on the spine, twisted roots, wrapping the legs around one another, or Cat the Pulling its Tail, as we reach for the bottom foot. Today, I called it Toddler Pulling on Your Pant Leg. Perfect for Mother's Day! We then settled into our savasana! Together, we completed a full body cleanse! We found meditative peace, a calming of the mind, insight into ourselves, we experienced growth fearlessness, release, and freedom. Yoga helps us shed what we no longer need, so we may see our most purest selves! Connect to divinity! 🙏🏻To slow down means to heal! That is why savasana is the peak pose, the most important pose, the goal. To find peace. In the stillness! We surrender. We discover ourselves again without the layers, the armor, the walls. They all come down, revealing our divine self.🙏🏻

🌻🌱That’s what I LOVE about yoga, it renews the soul! What we do on the mat, transforms our life off the mat! It is beautiful!! Everyone received a Mother's Day gift, a beautiful Rose Quartz palm stone, Rose Quartz, the stone that embodies love, compassion, and joy! She promotes healing, and helps us liberate ourselves from past or current wounds, and helps us feel empowered. She helps us nurture & honor our own being, and life around us. She restores clarity & calm through the chaos of life. She is connected to the Heart Chakra, and links our personal heart to the heart of the Earth.

🌳 I also wanted to share this sweet photo of the robin nest in our garage! Four precious little babies are about one week old, and they're so fun to peek in on! Especially on Mother's Day! Take time to see the beauty all around you!

🍰 And, Life is short! Enjoy a few slices of cheesecake!