An 8-Minute Flow to Warm-up and Open-Up with the Heart of a Divine Child

Lately, I’ve enjoyed listening to a song that has meaning to me, and simultaneously creating a sequence of flowing yoga postures that relates to the theme of the music. This song, about the sacred love shared between mother and child, reminds me that wholehearted love includes having a clear heart, a full heart, a strong heart, and an open heart. It reminds me that there is nothing more sacred than the love between a mother and a child, that each of us are indeed born from a mother, or born from The Mother. And, that each of us has the potential in this human lifetime to express this love fully, and to make our lives sacred through what we choose to practice and pay attention to in our daily lives. So, here, I just begin with the curiosity of a child, open to the world with wondrous eyes, and allow myself to move in a way that is intuitive and creative. The music can often guide where my body and mind goes!

I grew up to the stories of Christ and the Mother Mary. I was born on December 25. This song celebrates another Divine Child (Baby Krishna, or Gopala) and his mother (Devaki). Or, Deva (shining god) and Ananda (joyous bliss). Can you imagine the joyous bliss of being the mother of a divine child? That is exactly the state of pure loving awareness that we are each intended to feel… and to Be. Enjoy the lullaby-like music of Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band!

This morning practice had extra significance for me today. My mother passed away 3 months ago. One of the gifts she shared with me was on my last visit. She was living in a special home where she could be assisted in her daily living as she battled with dementia. As I walked in the room and she saw me, her face, her entire being lit up in pure joy. The pure joy, the pure love, of a mother (the Divine Mother) and her child (a Divine Child) was expressed without thought, without filter. This moment will be my lasting gift from her. And it will be the energy that I will practice sharing with those around me, my relations.

An 8-Minute Wholehearted Warming-Up Sequence

12-Minute Self-Awakening, Heart-Opening, Mind-Clearing Practice

I often create videos for specific clients in mind. This one is for a young man who doesn’t speak the english language well, so it is set to music. The only instruction I would add is to just let yourself be in the moment, opening your heart to life, clearing your mind of your worries and your judgments, and allowing your senses to feel what it feels like to be totally in a state of love, receptivity, and self-healing. The mantra in the music is about allowing yourself to be totally immersed in Divine Love, feeling it in your heart, and realizing that your innate super-powers rise from your devotion this Love. Jai Hanuman!

As a personal coach, whether online or in-person, it is my fundamental practice to convey an energy from my being that helps my students feel safe, seen, dignified, cared for, and yes, loved. Watching this video, I hope that you feel my loving energy. I do care. I want you to KNOW LOVE too.

A short morning practice to wake-up and move with heartfelt awareness. The music is calming and supports the theme. There is no narration to involve the thinking-mind.

A 30-Minute Morning Waking-Up & Warming-Up Sequence on Game Day

This is a typical sequence used with my athletic clients to open up the body and get it ready to move and perform. In this sequence, I had ice hockey in mind. After a sequence like this, the practitioner could move to a yoga practice of standing postures, a weight-training session for functional strength, or an energy-system activation sequence of jumps and leaps and active core-power rotational movements before a (ice hockey) game or other sport activity.

This video shows a typical sequence that an athletic person can use to warm-up first thing in the morning on a game day. It does not use weights or other props. All you need is a yoga mat. There is 5 minutes of foam rolling at the beginning and a cool-down period at the end. The intention of the practice is to mobilize and activate the lower body, core, and thoracic spine on an ice-hockey game day.

An Outline for a 60-Minute Pulling-Focus Workout

This is a video which walks you through a typical upper body pulling-focus workout, including a general warm-up with mobilizing and activating movements. It does not include much instruction on yoga breath work or core engagement, which is included in earlier videos, but shows how one might progress upper body pulling strength in an integrated way. This would be a good sequence for a strong person working on thoracic spine mobility as well as upper body strength.

Get Ready to Play: A Half-Hour Morning Warm-Up

This is a practice that went a little longer than I anticipated, but it is intended to be a morning warm-up for playing a sport later in the day, especially rotating-dominant sports like golf or tennis. It includes a little foam-rolling, some on-the-back postures to warm up and activate the core (while emphasizing awareness of neutral spine), some prone postures to move the spine in all 6 foundational movements, some standing postures to heat up and to stretch the legs, hips and torso, and also a little time for coming back to the floor, the breath, and intention-setting. There are multiple opportunities to rotate the spine, focusing on thoracic spine mobility.

A 30-Minute Morning Warm-Up Routine on Golf Day