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Good morning and welcome to our yoga class here at Śrī Devpurījī Āśram, Dungog, Australia. We’ll start, as we have been every morning, in a sitting position. As you see, just close your eyes and bring yourself to where you are right now. Just feel the atmosphere around us, the fresh, clean country air. Take some long, deep breaths. Use this short opportunity to bring your awareness to yourself and to your intention for our practice this morning. We’ll chant Oṃ together three times. Take a deep inhalation. And then slowly come to a lying position in Śavāsana. Place your body on the mat in a comfortable, straight line. Allow your feet to roll gently out to the sides. Turn the palms upwards, allowing your shoulders to drop back to the mat. Without doing anything, notice how you’re breathing. Notice if your breath is long or short. Purī Jī, Purī Jī... Purī. As your chest and back move as you fill the lungs to the very top, and as you breathe out, breathe out from the top of the lungs all the way down to the bottom. As you breathe, get a sense that you’re breathing in three dimensions, that the front of your body expands, the sides of your body expand, and see if you can feel your back moving as you breathe. As long as it’s feeling comfortable, keep extending, keep deepening your breath. Work towards having your fullest, deepest yogic breath. Fill your lungs from the very bottom to the very top, and allow your lungs to empty from the top down to the bottom. Complete one more round, and then bring the hands back to the side of the body. Stay with your breathing rhythm, and then as you inhale, allow the arms to lift off the ground very slowly, following your movement. Karatā Purījī, Siddha Purījī, Siddha Karatā Purījī, Siddha Karatā Purījī, Siddha... Karaṭa. And then complete one more round, and then take a few moments to notice the effects of our first breathing practices this morning. Notice the effect on your body, on the breathing itself, and on your mind, on your concentration or awareness. We’ll take a stretch through the right side of the body. As you breathe in, raise the right arm above the head, curl the right toes back towards the face, and make that side of your body as long as you can. Exhaling, bring the arm back down to the side of the body and relax the leg. And then, to the left side, as you breathe in, raise the left arm above the head, curl the left toes back towards the face, make that side of the body as long as you can, and exhaling. Stretch through the right side of the body again with your inhalation. Can you keep the left side of your body completely relaxed as you stretch through the right side? Try to soften the left arm, left hip, and left shoulder while exhaling. And then, stretching through the left side as you breathe in, raise the left arm above the head, stretch long, and keep your right side completely relaxed. Soften the whole right side of the body, so there’s a marked contrast to each side of your body, and exhaling. Bring your awareness to both sides of your body. As you breathe in, raise both arms above the head, curl the toes back towards the face, flatten through the lower back, extend the fingers, extend the toes, and exhale. Breathing in again, raising the arms above the head, spreading the fingers wide, spreading the toes wide, and exhaling. Just allow the whole body to relax. Bend both knees to the chest. Grasp the knees, draw them in towards the body, and rock from side to side, just warming up the muscles of the back. And then, rolling all the way onto your right side. Then, using your hands on the ground, help yourself up. We’ll come to sit at the back of the mat in Vajrāsana. And we’ll warm up this morning with Kārtūk Praṇām. Sitting on the heels with the hands on the thighs. Just uncurl the back toes, reach the arms out in front, bring the hands together, and look up. So, just feel around the shoulders, neck, and the hips and belly. Bring the hands apart, back beside the feet, and then we’re stepping into a forward bend and start with the knees bent. Rest the chest on the thighs, just allowing the backs of the legs to stretch slowly. And then, when you’re ready, start to straighten the legs and just notice how that feels. Raise the upper body, hands together, look up, and stretch up, just feel the stretch. Bring the hands apart, and roll forward from the hips, coming forward. As we come back into this second standing forward bend, notice any changes in your body, or how different it’s starting to feel, and then bend the knees slightly in this big step back with the right leg. Soften around the hip area, lengthen the spine, uncurl the toes, straighten the spine, raise the arms above the head, hands together looking up, palms nice and flat, and toes under, hips in the air, caterpillar, and pressing up and back into hair posture. And as we come into this hair posture, just notice any differences or changes in your body as we’ve gone through two rounds. And once more, rolling up from the spine, raise the arms above the head, hands together, looking up. Just bring the hands apart and back down onto the thighs. Take some deep breaths, and we’ll move a little more smoothly now through our rounds. As we breathe in, start to raise the arms above the head, hands together. Try to lengthen up through the sides of the body, but keep the shoulders down and soft. Bring the hands apart, roll forward from the hips, take your time and soften forward, lift the hips a little bit off the heels, slide the chest through the hands, and then, pushing off from your feet, come into Cobra. Chakra, shoulders down. Open up through the throat. Feel the hands flat and wide on the mat, the toes under. Lifting up into mountain posture, extending down through the heels, opening the backs of the knees. Letting your upper body hang between your shoulders, bending the... Knees, big step right foot forward into a sprinter. Flatten the back foot to the mat. Sit up into the hips, bring the hands together, and look up. Keep lifting up through your upper body and softening through the right thigh, letting the hips move forward. Bring the hands back beside the feet, back toes tucked under. Step into a forward bend, try to keep a little bit of a space between your feet so the hips are nice and open, and then raise the arms and upper body. Bring the... Hands together and look up, bring the hands apart. Kumbha Mahāprabhujī, Kumbha Mahāprabhujī... Up and back to hair posture. Raise the arms and upper body, hands together, looking up, and bring the hands apart back onto the thighs. Take a deep breath. Go through one more round as we breathe in, raising the arms, looking up, breathing out, rolling forward. Coming up onto the knees, sliding through into a caterpillar, then pushing off from your feet, slide forward into a cobra. Toes under, back to mountain, looking between the hands, bend the knees, step the left foot forward, raising the upper body, looking up, bringing the hands back beside the feet, big step forward. Raising the upper body, hands together, looking up, bringing the hands apart, folding forward, bending the knees, and stepping forward. Left foot back, raising the arms and upper body, looking up, bringing the hands back beside the feet, toes under, walking back, coming forward onto the knees, sitting back towards the heels, then slide through your arms into a cobra, chest to the ground, toes under, into a caterpillar, and pressing up and back, hare posture. Your awareness. We’ll slide off our heels and come to a forward bend, sitting. So if you need to sit up on a blanket or a cushion, or to roll up the end of your mat to put your hips in a much more optimal position for movement, then please do. And then we’re starting with a wide-legged forward bend. So in our forward bends, be aware of using the legs to help you into the posture, and try to keep the toes pointing straight up towards the sky. And as you breathe out, slide forward, lead with the chest, and let the head be the last part of the movement. So when you get to wherever you’re going, then bring the chin down towards the chest. Breathing in, coming up, and breathing out, relax. Go through another one, a deep inhalation, thighs down, spine long, and exhale. Purī Jī, Siddha Karatā Purī Jī, Siddha Karatā... Purī Jī, Siddha. Long spine, have a bend in the elbows to keep the shoulders soft. Take a deep in-breath, and as you breathe out, just rolling forward from the hips, try to keep the spine lengthening as you go, and stay here. Some long, deep breaths, and see if you need to make any fine adjustments by pointing the toes up, pressing the thighs down, lengthening the spine, and softening the shoulders. One more cycle of breath. Deep breath. Breathing in, coming up, and breathing out, we’ll bring the hands under the knees, lift the legs, and bring the legs out in front. And then, a one-legged forward bend: bending the right knee and bringing the right foot into the midline of the body, and then letting the knee fall out to the side. Have the left toes pointing up towards the sky. Bring the hands to rest on the thigh, and you can use the weight of your hands to press the thigh down as the thigh presses. As you bring your hands down, lift and lengthen the spine. Imagine that you’re bringing your bottom ribs. Take a deep in-breath. And as you breathe out, slide the hands down along the leg. Shoulders stay soft. Just let your whole upper body relax along the thigh. The head’s the last part of the body to move. Breathing in, coming up. And breathe out, relax. Same movement, lifting and lengthening the spine. And exhale, lead with the chest, elbows bent, soft shoulders, soft back. Breathing in, coming up, and breathing out, relax. Do one more, a deep inhalation, breathing out, sliding forward, and then staying here, just breathing deeply, making fine adjustments to your foot and leg. Lengthen the spine, soften the shoulders, soften your upper back. Breathing in, coming up, and breathing out, straighten the right leg. Bend the left knee and take the left knee into the midline of the body, letting the left knee fall out to the side. Then, have the right toes pointing up towards the sky, with the right knee pointing up and hands on the thighs. Use the weight of your... Hands to press the thigh bone down away from the hip, and then lift up and lengthen. Let’s try to bring the bottom ribs forward and let the shoulders roll down. Take a deep in-breath, and as you breathe out, slide the hands down along the leg. Just really take your time, even if it means taking a few breaths to get there. Deep in breath again, long spine, be active in the posture, and exhaling, slow and smooth. Breathing in, coming up, and breathing out. We’ll do one more. We’re taking a deep in-breath, breathing out, slowly rolling down, and holding the posture now. Make fine adjustments to your foot and leg. Lengthen the spine, soften the shoulders, relax, and... Then slowly roll up and straighten the leg. We’ll come to lie down on our back, and we’re going to Skandara Āsana, back bend. Start with the legs straight and look at the space. Lift your head and look at the space between your feet, and check that you’re in a straight line. And then roll the head back onto the mat, bend both knees, and place the feet on the ground. And the feet are at least hip-width apart, and if you’re working with any tension or tightness in your lower back, or you’re working a little more gently today, then the feet can be as wide apart as you feel you need to. Just bring awareness to your feet and check that the heels are turning outwards, that you feel a little bit pigeon-toed, but you don’t look pigeon-toed. The outside edges of your feet are parallel with your yoga mat. And then reach down towards your ankles or towards the front of your feet. And if you can take hold of your feet or ankles, that’s fine. And if not, just bring the hands close to the side of the body with the palms facing downwards. And then try to broaden across your chest, as though you’re rolling your shoulders out towards the edge of your mat, bringing your shoulder blades together in your back. And you might feel that that gives you a little bit of a curve through the spine already. Then start to press down through your feet into the mat. And press your shoulders into the ground. Feel the back of your head on the mat. Then, as you next breathe in, lift the hips off the ground as though you’re peeling your spine off the mat. Taking the hips into the air, allowing the chest to come towards the chin. Try not to collapse through the back of the neck. Now feel an evenness through your feet. Notice if the feet decided to change position, or they started to roll a little bit out towards the edges. Just flatten through your feet. Feel the ball of your big toe, the ball of your little toe. See if you can feel each edge of your heel, and then slowly roll back down. Just bend the knees to the chest and hold the knees. Extending, stretching, widening, and flexing. It is one more like that. Relax, and then point the toes away. Flexing through the ankles and stretching through the tops of the feet, and then flexing. Curling the toes back towards the face, pushing the heels away, and pointing and flexing. And then, in your own time, just try to get an evenness through the movement of your feet. And one more. And then bring the feet together, and then a big circle, and then reversing and back. Give the legs a shake out, and then bend the right knee and place the right foot on the outside of the thigh. And then, can you weave your fingers between your toes and take hold of your ankle with your other hand, supporting the ankle joint, and then make a big circle and reverse it. Coming to the end, we’ll change sides. Just shake out the legs, and bend the left knee, bringing the left foot on the outside of the thigh. Just weave your fingers between your toes, taking hold of the hand around the ankle joint to support the ankle, and then make a big circle, and reverse it. Coming to an end, and just shaking out the legs. Let’s come to sit on our heels for Vīrāsana. Let’s start by coming up onto the knees, then tucking all ten toes under, and then sitting back onto the heels with a long spine. And then use your hands on the mat, step the right foot forward, place the right elbow on the knee, rest the hand under the chin, and rest the left hand on the thigh. And as far forward as you come, you can take some stretch out of the back of the leg or back of the foot. But as best you can, work towards having a nice, straight spine. And use your concentration, just focusing on a point ahead of you, just being aware of your breathing. And we’ll change sides, left elbow on the knee, chin in the hand, right hand on the thigh, long spine. Lift tall, find your point of focus, and just find your breathing. And we’ll change sides again, and change again. And one more round, just deepen your breath and concentration. We’ll change sides, and then, coming forward and coming back, be on all ten toes, and then bring the hands to the ground and lift the knees off the mat, and then bring the hands together in front of the chest. Raise the arms above the head and, pressing down through your feet, come up into standing. Try to stay on your toes. Coming down onto the heels, bring the hands down to the side of the body with a deep breath. We’ll step the legs wide apart for Trikoṇāsana, and we’ll do Variation B, bringing the arms out to the side at shoulder height. Let’s take a look at shoulder height; see what it looks like on you. Try to have the shoulders soft and the arms high. Take a deep in-breath. As you breathe out, tilt over to the right side, bringing the right hand anywhere on your leg that feels comfortable. Try not to lean on your leg, but to use your legs to keep you strong, and the hand just rests on the leg, with the top arm sitting in your shoulder joint, palm facing forward. Relax the shoulder and look up towards the hand, and then try to tuck the tailbone under. So you’re lengthening your spine and keeping your top arm nestled strongly into your shoulder joint. Take the Purījī, Purījī... Abha Bodhi, to do that, breathing in, coming up, and breathing out, bringing the arms down, stepping the legs together, still standing posture variation D, twisting triangle, bringing the legs wide apart, bringing the arms up to shoulder height, lengthen through the spine, with your exhalation, turn your whole body to the right side.