Flowing Through Difficult Emotions

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the constant demands on your attention. Alleviate stress and fatigue by finding your equilibrium with this slow and steady practice. Turn your attention inward with a soothing meditation, then move through challenging balance poses to gather your focus. Take this time to nurture yourself, and leave feeling strong, calm and grounded. Props Suggested: A blanket.

Practice turning towards sadness by invoking tenderness through movement. You'll begin with a short meditation followed by gentle rhythmic movements. Move into a slow, strong flow full of heart-opening poses, then finish with a soothing supta baddha konasana (reclining bound angle) to restore comfort and ease. Props Suggested: A strap.

Today, attend to the primal emotion of fear. Begin with a short meditation before moving into a slow, but powerful flow. You'll have the opportunity to face your fears with three inversions: forearm balance, handstand and headstand. A well-deserved cool down concludes your practice. Be sure to practice near a wall if you're not comfortable with inversions in the middle of the room. Props Suggested: Wall space.

Confront anger's fiery nature! Cultivate respect for anger and channel its energy towards creating focused strength and awareness. Calm your temper with a soothing meditation before moving into a dynamic flow. You'll test your balance with crow, invigorate your body with deep backbends, then pacify your mind with seated forward bends and a short closing meditation. Props Suggested: wall space.

Explore the lingering state of worry to learn how to watch anxious thoughts without being caught up by them. Ease your mind with a short meditation before connecting to your body with a strong, slow flow that peaks in a soothing headstand. Finish with a long pigeon pose for a deep release. Props Suggested: A blanket and wall space.

We often choose self-sabotaging behaviors over dealing with difficult emotions. Discover the top three ways we self-sabotage (procrastination, self-medication and distraction), and explore bringing awareness to these behaviors. With this insight, begin with a seated meditation before challenging and invigorating yourself with a strong flow. Soak in your well-deserved cool down with a long seated forward fold. Props Suggested: A block and a strap.

Put your new skills to practice in this final master class! Apply the tools you've learned over the past six classes to any difficult emotion. Begin with a short meditation then challenge your stamina with a strong flow and test your steadiness with balancing poses. Turn yourself upside down in headstand before slowing things down with gentle restorative poses. Be sure to grab your favorite blanket for a long, luxurious savasana. You deserve it! Props Suggested: A blanket.