Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

ody and let it sink deeper into the floor as you exhale. Inhale and lift your hips slightly. As you
exhale, start to lower your hips to the floor, incrementally lengthening your back and buttocks
down toward your heels as you go, so that you create more space between your vertebrae as your
back descends, rolling bone by bone, to the floor. This promotes the distribution of prana that
you’ve cultivated during your practice, sending it into your organs, chakras, and every other part
of your body through the meridian channels. After your back settles into the floor, extend your
legs along the floor one at a time, separating them slightly wider than hip-width apart.
Variation: If you feel that you would like extra grounding, place two or three blankets folded
in half over your upper thighs and torso. With this, you’ll instantly feel more secure and rooted to
the earth.
Modification: If you feel lower-back tenderness when you extend your legs straight down on
the floor, place a bolster underneath your knees for extra support.
2. After establishing your pose and before you officially begin, take a moment to experience
contrast in the pose. As you inhale, squeeze your buttocks firmly and flex every muscle in your
body, fully straightening your legs, pointing your toes, straightening your arms, and making fists
with your hands, raising your arms slightly off the floor and contracting the muscles of your face
as if you’ve just sucked on a lemon. Hold your breath as you exert this intense, full-body,
muscular effort, and then, with eyes open wide and an opened-mouth exhalation, make a sound
like a lion’s roar or a really deep sigh, as the breath exits your body. Let your limbs fall gently
against the floor, releasing your buttocks, belly, chest, head, and feet. Let the floor support you.
Breathe and let go.
3. Close your eyes. Do a body scan from the crown of your head all the way down to the tips of
your toes. Seek out any areas of held tension that may remain from your practice. Breathe into
them and then let them go, giving your full body weight over to the floor. If thoughts come up,
notice them, breathe into them, and then allow them to pass like clouds in the sky on a sunny day,
returning to focus on your breath as it flows through your body and brings you deeper and deeper
into relaxation.
4. Place your attention on the subtle sensation of your body relaxing and sinking into the floor. Let
the earth receive you. Let your shoulders and neck soften and open. Allow your thighs, hips,
pelvis, and lower back to release. Bring your attention to your legs. Release the inner thighs
away from each other and let your outer thighs drop toward the floor. Allow your legs to sink
into the ground as if your thighs had heavy weights on them. Move your attention up to your
pelvis and imagine your hip bones moving away from each other, allowing your pelvis and
organs to release any last remnants of tension.
5. Release any remaining hold in your stomach or diaphragm, and now just allow your breath to
breathe you. Let the backs of your arms sink into the floor and the muscles of your neck and
shoulders relax, as you allow any last thoughts to spill out of your mind and into the earth below.
As your upper body melts into the floor, soften your jaw and temples. Imagine that your brain
recedes slightly away from your forehead and nestles inside the back of your skull. Feel your
eyes grow heavier and softer underneath the lids, sinking into soothing, velvety darkness. This
perfect quiet and stillness is where deepest healing can happen. Here you’ll honor, open, and
energize your body simply by letting go. Let your heart area softly blossom, opening like the
beautiful flower it is, and be soft, receptive, and free. Now let go of time, of thought, of worry.