Gentle Yoga Flow - 30-Minute All Levels Yoga Class

hey everyone Ashton here with yogi approved and today we're here for an ice all levels gentle yoga practice this video is excellent if you're newer to the yoga practice or for anyone that's just looking for a nice yummy slow flow to get your body moving and to feel good both mind and body you don't need any props for this practice if you would like to keep anything nearby feel free and when you're ready meet me on your mat alright we are going to begin today in a comfortable seated position cross-legged is just fine if you would like to do a half or full Lotus if that's part of your practice go for it now when you're ready we're just going to begin by linking our breath with our motion so if your inhale are going to take our arms up overhead and exhale hands through heart center inhaling all the way up and exhaling through but maybe you send your gaze up with your hands if you'd like little neck stretch and exhale hands through Center good moving with your breath just a nice way to Center the mind to drop into the body linking our breath with our motion once more beautiful will pause here hands to heart center to take a nice deep inhale exhale breath hmm now we're gonna plant our right palm down as we take our left arm up and overhead getting a nice side body stretch and inhale come up through Center exhale up and over opposite side just gently beginning to bring some movement into the spine keep both of your sits bones glued to the mat as you moves you're getting that nice lengthening through your rib cage in your side body let's go one more time each side hmmm good and the next time that your right palm is down we're gonna hold here for a few breaths if you'd like to take the stretch deeper on to the forearm feel free but only if you're able to keep both sits bones planted and to keep it nice and gentle I'm just gonna stay up on my palm you can choose to send your gaze skyward or you can keep your gaze directly out in front of you nice inhale exhale breath wherever you are and slowly we'll change coming up through Center opposite side and hold round your top shoulder back a bit option to send the gaze skyward option to come down to your forearm if you choose deep inhale exhale and change will come up through Center now from here you can keep your palms gently resting on your side and we're just gonna gently drop our right ear towards our right shoulder noticing if you're trying to bring that shoulder up to meet it don't worry about that let that soften and invite your right shoulder to relax deep inhale exhale beautiful inhale up and exhale drop it left nice deep breathing be gentle with yourself during your practice today just enjoy these movements and stay connected to the breath good we'll come back through Center and this time send your gaze straight up and then we'll come back through Center and send it straight down good from here we're just gonna roll the head from side to side you can stay here or if it feels ok on the neck you can take it for a little half circle around and back forward last time good this time we'll come all the way up through Center and find a little exercise right here just gonna take our arms out nice and wide spread your wings feel as if someone was pressing your palms towards the back of the mat go ahead now from here either arm on top you're just going to give yourself a nice big hug squeeze tight and then pull your shoulders down gentle tuck of the chin just so that the neck is nice and long good with your next breath open your arms nice and wide once more spread your wings and now opposite arm on top let's see if you're paying attention hmm big squeeze and then pull your shoulders down away from the ears just an ever so slight tuck of the chin deep breath in and out good with your next breath we'll open those arms up shake them out this time and then I'll move to the front of the mat coming into tabletop pose tabletop pose spreading our fingers nice and wide shoulders right above the wrists and your hips are right above your knees now to start we're just gonna wag our hips left to right move slow become aware of any sensations through your hip joint just breathe into that space in our hips we tend to store a lot of tension and tightness and so this is gonna feel really good just moving into that hip joint getting some movement getting some circulation nice go ahead and then we'll meet back in Center as you're ready and from here we're just going to drop our belly and softly lift our gaze inhale breath and then an exhale breath rounding tailbone towards the forehead as we round into the spine as well and then moving with your breath we're gonna inhale to rise and exhale to round I just take it through a few times inhale and exhale last round beautiful work we'll meet back in Center and are going to take our right hip out as we just take a little hips or goal now you can keep these circles small and just kind of circle around the knee area or we can take them bigger and send our seat back towards our heels let's explore what feels good in your body one more time all the way around and we'll meet back where we started in tabletop pose now from here you're going to press down through all five fingertips actively as we flip the top of the left hand down onto the mat getting a nice little wrist stretch breathing deeply here good just go for one more breath and then we'll come forward and shake that off and then we'll plant the left palm spreading left fingertips wide as we flip on to the top of that right hand just a couple of deep breaths sending some love to that wrist joint this feels great if you do a lot of typing or a lot of weight bearing activities on the wrists awesome from here shake that out and we'll plant that palm as well and then from here we're just gonna tuck our toes lift our hips and press up and back into our first downward facing dog now if you're familiar with this pose then you can just begin to pedal out the feet bend the knees and bring any organic movement that you'd like if you're new or to your down dog then just take a moment to look up at me you want your body to look like an upside down V position now you can bend your knees as much as you need to and there's no worries about how close your heels are to the mat in fact let's all take an inhale breath here we're gonna lift on to the balls of the feet and then with your exhale bend your knees and send your seat back towards your heels good take an inhale breath then of the max yeah we're just gonna straighten into the legs a bit again remember you can always keep that micro bend in your knees sending your gaze down between the feet putting the head hang nice and heavy good now if your inhale breath let's lift high onto the balls of the feet again and exhale just press those heels down towards the mat good inhale lift exhale press last time inhale and exhale press and hold this time let's bring the movement into the head shaking it yes and then shaking it no good take one more deep inhale exhale here enjoying this full body stretch hmm go ahead and with our next inhale we'll lift high onto the balls of the feet this time we'll drop our knees to the mat and bring the big toes to touch behind us as we send the seat to the heels for a child's pose gently resting your forehead down towards the mat maybe connecting to the mat nice deep breathing in and out through your nose just take some breaths here and your child's pose just letting everything settle down relaxed just focus on your breath let's take a final deep inhale-exhale breath together here good with your next breath we're gonna slowly lift our gaze and send it forward between our hands we're just gonna keep the hands where they are as we extend our legs out long lowering on to the belly good now from here we're just going to pull the palms back beneath the shoulders squeeze our elbows in towards each other and pressing hip bones and toenails into the mat with your inhale breath we're gonna lift chin and chest I'm sending my gaze just to the top of my mat I'm squeezing my shoulder blades together and I'm breathing hopefully you're doing the same good use your next inhale to press into your palms a bit more see if you can lift your heart and inch higher off the mat four three two and one slowly lower down or head down to the mat this time we're going to send our arms behind us and interlace the fingers pull your fist down towards your feet and then we're gonna zip the feet together take an inhale and an exhale breath now with your next inhale we're gonna lift the fist the chin and the chest sending your gaze back to the front of the mat with an inhale breath we lift a little higher and we're gonna hold fir three we're counting flow four two and one awesome job come all the way back down nice and slow well release the hands and plant them beneath the palms we're gonna press up through a tabletop position and we're just gonna step the right foot forward now if you need help to do that if your foot lands further back that's okay OOP help it up good now from here keeping the palms planted take a breath to send your heart forward and then with your next breath we're going to straighten into the front leg coming into a little half split variation here now you want to keep your left hip above your left knee we're gonna flex our right toes back towards our face take a deep inhale and exhale take one more breath good let's pull forward we'll plant our palms we'll step that right foot back we'll step the left foot forward help it up if you need it and then take one breath here to send your heart forward breathe in good half split side to will straighten into that left leg right hip over right me flexing those left toes back towards the face feeling it in the hamstring breathe deeply here good next breath we'll pull back forward we'll plant the palms and step our knees back to tabletop from here tuck your toes lift your hips up and back to our downward-facing dog but we're using this as a transition we're gonna look forward and take little baby steps forward all the way to the front of your mat bending your knees as much as you need to arriving with feet hip-width distance apart and enjoying a nice deep inhale exhale in your forward fold let your head hang heavy I just noticed that I was trying to wrench my neck forward so just try to shake it out try to let that go yes and no good now from here at least your arms down by your sides I'm just gonna round up slow all the way to standing taking our arms up overhead inhale breath and exhaling our hands through heart center just pause here take a moment take a breath if your next breath will inhale the arms back up overhead and then exhale the hands to the hips as we take a nice big 4-foot step back with our right foot try to get your knee aligning over your ankle it can be before it but you never want it to go beyond it so take a breath here and your high Crescent lunge are all in astana you can bring your arms up overhead if and when you feel ready for that pull your shoulders down away from your ears spiral your pinkies inward and stand tall and proud through your spine take a deep inhale breath micro bending into your back knee if you feel any pressure in your lower back you've got one more breath and now from here we'll guide our hands to our hips and we're going to pivot towards the right side of the mat so all ten toes are facing over that right edge now as you're ready we're going to interlace our hands behind our backs first begin by pulling the fist down lifting the heart up inhaling here and then exhaling to hinge from the hips as we come into a nice wide leg forward fold later how to hang heavy once more if it feels ok on the shoulders to keep your fingers interlaced you can take it deeper by pressing your palms towards each other if that's too much let the palms fall away or you can even release the hands down to the ankles the fee the calves whatever is available your choice we've got three deep breaths here good with your next breath if your fingers are not interlaced let's bring them back into that singular fist as we use the arms to lift us all the way up overhead gently releasing our arms up ah and then arms come down back to the hips we're going to pivot the toes to face forward and step the right foot up from here as you're ready hand staying on the hips we're just going to step our opposite foot back high lunge side two bending into your front knee remember you can bring that micro Bend into your back knee as you need to and also try to gently scoop the pelvis forward good hands can stay to the hips or if and when you're ready arms come up pull the shoulders back and down lengthening up through the crown of the head nice deep breathing good you're almost there final breath awesome job a little different X at this time from here we're gonna hinge forward and plant the palms stepping your right foot back and pressing back to downward-facing dog we're gonna stay here for three deep inhale-exhale breaths nice deep breathing here good one more well done friends from here look forward we're just gonna take a few steps forward and then come on to the seat from there we can extend the legs out long we're gonna keep the feet touching we're gonna flex the toes back towards the face taking our arms up overhead inhale breath and exhaling to hinge and reach for the feet doesn't mean you have to grab them though calves ankles whatever is available for you now we're gonna take a moment here to flex our feet back towards our face and then another breath in to really pull the heart towards the toes stay right here take a deep inhale and a d-backs Hale another deep inhale and with your exhale you have the option to round and release that feels good otherwise you can just stay upright with your heart shining forward a few breaths here good I know it's your next breath just release any grip that you may have we're just gonna round up nice and slow ah from here we're just gonna guide the bottoms of the feet to touch and a gentle butterfly pose or baddha konasana now the further your heels are away from the body the gentler the stretch so pull them in until you really feel this come into the hips but keeping it gentle so you don't have to force it to your very edge now we're gonna grab our feet and take a nice tall breath in exhale it out good two more here so we're using that leverage of the feet to keep our spine nice and tall inhale and exhale last one very nice from there when you're ready bring the hands to the outer knees guide then use to touch in the center and then extending the legs once more scooting yourself forward if you need to as we light all the way on to the back and then hug our knees into our chests give yourself a great big hug for doing something good for yourself today and taking a little time out for this nice relaxing practice we will end our practice today with a gentle spinal twist and so from here we're simply going to drop both of our knees towards the right edge of the mat and just allow them to rest down now from here try to see if you can get both of your shoulder blades to touch down on the mat if that means your knees are lifted a little bit that's okay now from there we can cactus our arms if that feels okay or you can bring them out to a tee with your palms planted into the ground final step if you would like to you can gently send your gaze in the opposite direction let's take three nice deep inhales and exhales relaxing into your twist noticing if you're tensing any part of your body here to soften with every breath good next inhale will slowly guide our knees up through Center and then we'll slowly guide them over to the left bringing both of the shoulder blades back down to the mat relaxing through those knees relaxing into the twist and maybe you send your gaze in the opposite direction nice deep breathing and if your next breath will guide our knees back into Center and slowly we'll extend our legs long if your arms are out wide maybe you keep them there you can send them more down along your sides as well but the point is we're gonna take up some space and from here our final step before our final shavasana is we're just gonna shake it out shake your body wiggle it out get that movement going wiggle it all out wiggle wiggle and really take a final breath with me here and exhale into your final resting shavasana I'll take it with you I've got a little bit of time here so just relax bringing your awareness down to your feet soften through the toes feel the points of your ankles connecting to the mat bringing your awareness of the legs the back of the calves and thighs stopping for a moment at the hips and just sending your breath there inviting them to melt into the mat bring your awareness up to the lower back along the spinal column and up into the shoulders everything is softening and relaxing feeling the back of your hands against the floor or the mat feeling each point of the arms that connect to the mat as well and finally bringing the awareness up through the back of the skull to the top of the skull and now forward into the forehead the eyebrows the eye the space directly in between the eyes inviting all of these parts to soften ending with the jaw relaxing and allowing it to soften we'll take some time in our shavasana and stillness and quiet so enjoy and sink in now remember that you're always welcome to remain in your shavasana as long as you would like in fact if you have the time I encourage it so please pause the video if you'd like to if you're ready to end your practice with me and we'll gently begin to wiggle our toes and touch each individual fingertip to our thumbs bringing the awareness back to our physical bodies deepening your breathing will rock the head from side to side and I'll reach our arms up over head point through the toes reach through the fingers stretch stretch stretch and then hug your knees into your chest give yourself a great big hug and then we'll roll over onto the right side your gaze is soft or your eyes can remain closed taking a breath here good when you're ready we'll slowly use our free hand to press ourselves back up ending our practice the way we began in a comfortable seated position well guide our hands to heart center and gently bow in honor of our time on the mat today it is truly an honor for me to guide you through it namaste thank you so much for joining me and be sure to subscribe to the yogi approved YouTube channel for more videos like this see you next time

Channel: YouAligned

Views: 4,444,781

Keywords: gentle yoga, easy yoga class, all levels yoga class, beginner yoga class, yoga class for beginners, gentle yoga class, yogiapproved, ashton august, ya classes, beginner yoga, slow yoga flow, gentle yoga flow, yoga for beginners

Id: g13nVd7OLYs

Length: 27min 39sec (1659 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 29 2018