- Howdy everyone!
Welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene and today
we have yoga for text neck. This is a good one.
This is a big request. So hop into something
comfy and let's get started. (gentle music) Alright gang,
let's begin seated. Come on down to the ground. You can do cross-legged,
you can do kneeling, maybe sit up on a blanket or
a block if that suits you. We're definitely going to be
warming up with some neck work today so get into a place
where you feel as though you can sit up nice and tall. Even if it
requires a little effort, we'll work to soften that. Find that Sukha, that ease. So get into your shape and then
the minute you get there just start to breathe fully deeply,
we're taking this time off our phones, off scrolling to really today
very consciously, very pointedly tend
to the energy that runs up and down the spine. So that's how I'm treating this
practice and pretty much how I treat a lot of postural work or people who are wanting
to "correct" posture. You know, hard-wired patterns
or even anatomical things that need some balancing out. So the way I like to think of
it is you're breathing deep here just kind of coming
into the moment arriving. The way I like to think of it is
we're tending to the energy that runs up and down the spine and
if we cut that off in any way, for it collapse the vertebrae,
smooshed, smush. If we're kind of
in a hard-wired shape where the energy is not flowing, we're gonna feel that. There are definite effects and
that's not just a yoga thing. That is now been proven,
you know? There are lots of studies now that show
the importance of us kind of tending to the
spine energetically as well as
physically, anatomically. So in yoga we just say,
"Oh, they go hand in hand." So you can think about that
so maybe it'll help you as you continue your regular day to
day practices too to just think about it as you're wanting to
create a fluid pathway for the energy to flow up and
down the spine rather than, "I have to do yoga.
I have to sit up straight. "I have to fix
my messed up back "or my messed up neck." No, we're just simply gonna
adjust and move and breathe and direct our awareness in a way
which hopefully it'll become more natural, more available to just exist and
be in that state on a regular basis
without having to try. As hard. Okay, so a good example of
that is if you've ever tried a mediation or done something like
meditation and you've had to sit for a period of time and you
can barely hold your spine up, well you're not alone
but through regular practice, you can get to the
point where you can, you know, correct or
adjust and do it with more ease. So, okay, let's begin now but I
think that's important because now you can go in with this idea of the energetic body being our number one rather than trying to fix or change anything. It's kinda like
what comes first, right? The chicken or the egg?
Tell me down below. No, okay. So hopefully by now
you have at least taken a couple of deep,
loving, full breaths. If not, do it now. And we're just gonna
start nice and slow with gentle, small saucer sized
circles with the nose. And I encourage you to close
your eyes here so that you can really feel the sensation, what's going on
and just feel it out. Am I kind of coming
forward in the neck? Do I tend to sit back? What's going on? Small saucer sized circles. As we do this, breathe deep. Try to find what feels good
so if you come across anything sticky, maybe give it a couple
moments there with your breath to stretch it out. And then begin to notice whether
you're kind of sitting forward in the torso or back and see if
you can align head over heart and heart over pelvis as you
continue with this circular motion with the nose. Great, then reverse your circle. Try to keep it
small here to start. And see if you can really
initiate from the nose so we're integrating the neck
in a different way than the '80s head roll. Small and steady. Relax the tongue and
the face and the mouth. Relax your jaw, keep breathing
and best you can on these last couple rounds here, see
if you can lift your sternum, your chest a little more. Sweet and then
come back to center. Great, with the
chest still lifted, heart nice and open, available,
ready for this experience so that you can feel better,
better yourself, stand up, you know carry
yourself with confidence, and also, of course,
take care of the energy that runs up and down the spine. You're gonna sit back so
that you're head over heart, heart over pelvis
sensation is kicking on. And then you're
gonna close your eyes. And then you're gonna imagine placing a pencil between
your shoulder blades. And then you're gonna bring your
awareness to your shoulders and you're gonna rotate in that
socket so that your shoulder blades come together so that
you're pinching that pencil between your shoulder blades. And you might just naturally start to feel a lift
in the front body. It feels good,
it feels confident. It feels whole as
you breathe in and out. And if you don't tend to sit
anywhere near this shape in your body in a regular basis you
might even start to feel a little vibration
a little trembling, working hard so you're
gonna use your breath to just stay present with that. We're waking up muscles. Tendons, fascia. Squeezing the
shoulder blades together. And then try to maintain that
guys as we now return to the circles with the nose. This time do like
a salad plate size. And if you don't know what
that is just make your circle just a little bit bigger. This time adding the layer of
keeping the upper back body engaged and the
chest really open. Great, now allow
this circle to get bigger. We're going to
dinner plate size here. Should feel really good. Elbows maybe pull
back here for this one. Then maintain that connection
or reconnect now and you're just gonna reverse your circle here
starting with smaller circles and then allowing it
to get larger and larger on the other side. Abdominal wall
starting to turn on because we're holding ourself upright. Upper back body super engaged. Mhmmm, mhmmm. One more circle, you got it.
Breathe deep. And then bring it back, try to
keep this engaged as you bring your palms together, thumbs up
to the third eye and then you're just gonna slowly
activate upper back body, lift your chest,
lift your chest, lift your chest, lift
your forehead to the sky. Inhale in here. Exhale, draw your navel in.
You got it, one more breath. If you need, you can interlace
the fingertips and bring them behind the head here
instead for a little support. And then exhale to release. Awesome.
Everything comes down. Puppy Posture.
Take your time. We're gonna come
through to all fours. We're gonna bring the elbows
right underneath the shoulders. And this is important because
your hands are gonna want to come in so you're gonna really
keep wrists in line with elbows. And then shoulders
right over the elbows. So once you have that,
plant it, keep it, glue it where it is. Two railroad tracks,
two parallel lines. Don't let the wrists come in. This is a big deal 'cause it
happens all the time and then we kinda don't get into the right
spots that we want to open up. So glue those puppies down. Upper arm bones rotate out. We're activating the upper back
body so it's the same action. So this ball and socket
joint is rolling in and around. Okay? And then
take your gaze down and we'll slowly keep this
glued, keep that rotation. Upper back body engaged. We're slowly, slowly, slowly,
gonna walk the knees back just to the point that
we feel this opening this big stretch
in the shoulders. It'll be different for everyone. Maybe forehead
comes down to the earth. Press into the tops
of the feet for stability and press into the knuckles. Try to keep that rotation
in the shoulder engaged, wrapping around,
upper back body activated. And then if you want just a
little yummy goodness you can tick-tock the hips a
little left to right. Breathe deep. Soften through
the skin of the face. You're doing great.
Awesome work. Breathing fully. Taking this time for
yourself in more ways than one. Benefitting so
many different things just by simply taking this time. Great come back
to stillness here. Allow your breath to
move you for one more cycle. Big inhale. And then empty it out. Melt your heart to the earth. Awesome. Slow and steady draw your navel
up so from your core you're activating your midline so
that you can move from there. Carve a line with
your nose forward. Slowly lower the
hips to the ground. Then keep carving that line with
the nose all the way forward and up as you come
into Sphinx Posture. Pinch that
pencil like crazy here. Elbows still
underneath the shoulders. We're wrapping
shoulder blades around. Lot of work here. Beautiful, now tuck the chin,
lengthen through the back of the neck like nobody's
business as my mom would say. So you should be able to close
your eyes and just see this beautiful slide from the top of
the head down through your neck. So not crunching here.
Nice and long. Breathe deep. If you feel a heat, a warmth,
a tremble that's good. We're moving. Breathe, breathe, breathe
to support this movement. Good, one more breath.
You got it. Sphinx Pose. And then on your next exhale, it should feel good,
slow release. You're gonna bring the
fingertips out to a Texas T and then nice and slow
plant your left palm, you're gonna slowly
shift on to your left hip, bring your right
toes up and around. Maybe right foot comes to the
earth and then use your right palm on the earth
for a little stability. So we're here, breathing, opening up through
the pectorals now. You gotta bring the breath here. Don't hold your breath. Keeping toes awake,
fingers awake, breath alive. Mmmm and then slowly
roll it back to center. Find your Texas T. Peel the left toes up. Right hand presses into
the earth as you slowly open up on the other side. Use your left hand
for stability here. And then bring the breath. Good work.
One more breath, inhale. Exhale, slow and steady
with control back to center. This time slide the
hands underneath the shoulders. Suck the elbows in like
little grasshopper legs. Press into the tops of the feet. Press into the pubic bone. And you're gonna start with
the chin tucking into the chest. Activate the upper back body
here and then continue the journey up as you inhale. Carving a line with the nose
all the way up looking forward, Baby Cobra. Take a deep breath in. Exhale, with control lower
down, forehead kisses the mat. Once again, connect to
your foundation firmly. Now tuck the chin. Tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck,
tuck as much as you can. Chin to chest, chin to chest. And then grow it from there. Carving a line
with the nose forward, up and back.
Nice, strong back. Elbows hugging in.
And then release. One more time.
Catch a wave here on your own. Here we go, chin to chest. And releasing
on your breath out. Great, curl the toes under. Yogi's choice, you can press up to all fours here or
press up to Plank. Again, yogi's choice. Both variations you
want to integrate the neck. So if the neck is hanging off,
draw a line with the crown of your head forward. Same thing if
you're on all fours. Careful not to
collapse in the neck. Remember, it is an extension
of the spine and this is what's gonna help change your game
when you're on your cell phone. You're gonna remember, "Oh, my
energy is relying on my spine to "be nice and long.
The pathway to be clear. "No crunching,
no clogged pathways." Right? Good plumbing.
Good energetic plumbing so you can practice this
on all fours or in Plank. We're here for
three, two, all fours, peel the tailbone up. If you're in Plank,
shift the hips up and back. Together we'll meet
in Downward Facing Dog. Shake the head
loose here, breathe. Soft, easy, breezy breath here. Smooth it out. One more breath in and
our here to pedal it out. Make sure you're
not holding in the neck. Awesome, then slowly
you're gonna come back to all fours or Plank Pose. So just going
back the way you came. Nice and then all
the way to the ground, nice and easy.
Great work. This time we're gonna bring the
legs together, really together. And we're gonna swim, swim, swim
the fingertips all around to interlace behind our tail. So feet zip up tight. Fingertips interlace. Then bring your
forehead down to the ground. Tuck your chin into the chest. Big stretch through the traps. In time you'll be able to bring
the palms together if you're not there yet, welcome to the club.
All good. You're just gonna square
off through the wrists or do the best you can. Squeeze the legs together. Zip 'em up tight. And then tuck the chin
into the chest even more here. Breathe.
Should feel awesome. And then nice and easy,
press into your pubic bone. Careful not to create too much
tension in the glutes but rather think about just pressing down
through your foundation and then you're gonna
carve a line forward, up and open up
through the chest, back. Knuckles reach
towards the heels. Toes towards the
back edge of your mat. Breathe deep.
Inhale. Then stay lifted, as you exhale,
just tuck the chin to the chest. Breathe here, Locust. Gotta breathe.
Breathe, breathe, breathe. Tuck the chin to the chest.
Nice, long, beautiful neck. Take one more breath. And then release everything.
Should feel awesome. You're gonna bring the
palms underneath the shoulders. Come up to all fours. Widen the knees
as wide as you can. And then send the hips back,
Extended Child's Pose. Melt your heart to the earth,
activate the arms so really inchworm your fingertips towards
the front edge of your mat. Nice work.
Breathe in. And breathe out. Breathe in. And breathe out. Awesome, slowly
bring it back up. Walk back to your table. And then we're gonna
come on to the belly. Once again, nice and slow. Great, now this time we're gonna
(clears throat) come on to the elbows
just like we did in Sphinx. Take your time. Beautiful, then we're
gonna bend the right knee and bend the left knee. First variation,
upper arm bones, check it out. Shoulder rotation, so this
ball and socket's gonna come in, I'm gonna dig into my
elbows and then around and down. So here, just like in Sphinx. You're gonna feel that stretch
through your abdominal wall. You're gonna
activate the upper back body. You pinch your pencil here. First variation, beautiful activation of the upper body. Heart's lifted. And then you can even tuck your
chin a little bit here to find length in the back of the neck. So you're here. Or from here we're
taking a deep breath in. We're going into it and out
of it with the breath, always. I'm gonna slowly engage
pubic bone to earth, sorry. And I'm gonna
slowly shift my weight, grab my left
ankle with my left hand. And then grab my right
ankle with my right hand. Beautiful.
Then here we go. Keeping that upper
back body activation, I'm gonna kick my toes out,
inhale, lift the chest. You don't have to push it hard or create a shape that
you've seen before. Pay attention to the
sensation in your body and then breathe here. Tuck the chin. Lengthen through
the back of the neck. Kick the toes up and then out. Activate the upper back body. Use that beautiful rotation in the shoulder you've
been working on. Breathe into your belly,
neck nice and long. Tuck the chin. One more cycle
of breathe here. You got it. And then slowly release. Everyone, you're gonna
come all the way back up to nice Tabletop Position. Neutralize through the spine. Great work. When you get there,
widen the knees just a bit. Big toes come in. Then inhale, right hand comes
to the earth and left fingertips reach all the way
up towards the sky, open. You know where
we're headed here. Thread the needle, left
fingertips in and underneath the bridge of the right arm. You can use your
right hand to adjust and we find a deeper stretch. Breathe big, wide breath into
all four sides of the torso. Mmmm. And then slowly unravel and
take it to the other side. Left hand down,
right fingertips open up. Take a moment here to really
activate the upper back body just like we've been doing,
open through the chest. Lean back and then when
you're ready thread it through. As you breathe,
feel that stretch through the upper back body,
the side body, the shoulder. Breathe into your belly. Awesome. Then slowly come
back to center, unravel. You're gonna walk the knees
underneath the hip points. Press into the tops of the feet
and slowly come up just to a kneeling posture here. If you need to
pad the knees here, you know that's no big deal. Make it happen. And then from here, I'm gonna
slowly bring my hands around, fingertips facing up. I'm gonna press into the
small of my back and I'm gonna lengthen my tailbone
down as I lift my heart up. Inhale in, exhale, squeeze
the shoulder blades together. Press into the tops of the feet. Inhale in again. Exhale, slowly, carve a line
with your nose forward up and back and you might find
a slight back bend here, you might not. You might just
play with the neck. Try to keep length.
Avoid the crunch. Use your connection
to upper back body here. If Camel Pose, Ustrasana's
in your practice maybe with a strong foundation and a full
breath you reach down and grab one heel and then the other. Sending the hip points forward. Neck nice and long. With regular practice and
integrity you won't have to feel any stress in the neck here. But give it time.
Work mindfully. And wherever you are,
take one more breath. To get out of Camel you'll bring
the hands right back to where they started and then everyone,
connect to your center to come all the way back through
and we're just gonna slowly send the hips back. Seated position, nice and easy,
just let the energy settle. Nice, neutral spine. Cool, awesome work. From here, go ahead
come on to your back. Nice and slow. When you get there, take any
movement there that feels good. Maybe a quick windshield wiper
of the legs or maybe a hugging of the knees into chest. Or a Happy Baby. So take a moment to
find what feels good. Something here and
then because that's yoga, that is the moment.
What do I need? And then you can stay doing that or you're gonna take the hands and prepare for a little Fish
Pose which is what we're gonna finish with today. So if you know Fish
is not in your practice, you can stay Happy Baby, knees hugging into chest or windshield wipers, maybe twist. You're gonna bring your
hands underneath your bum if you want to try Fish. And you're gonna snuggle
your shoulder blades underneath your heart space. Really really opening up
through the pecs and chest. Now you can actually
stay here working on, ugh, taking that hump
out of the upper back body. Opening up
through the front chest. Or take a step further,
we'll extend one leg out slowly. Go ahead and let the heel kiss
the earth and then the other. You want to engage your legs
just like you did in Locust. Squeeze.
Tone the quads. Squeeze and lift femur,
thigh bone, in towards the hip. So you have a nice,
strong base here. Then option to stay here or
claw through the fingertips, dig into the elbows
just like you did in Sphinx. Pinch that pencil
as you lift your chest. And then from here, maybe
carving a line with the nose, drawing it forward up and back. Maybe crown of the
head reaches the earth. Opening up through the chest. Obviously the throat. Strong foundation here. No discomfort. Find your breath. In time you can work to
lift the legs here even. Breathing deep. Pressing down
through your foundation. Beautiful,
press into the elbows. Press into the
fingertips to slowly release. Come back to the earth. Release the hands. Together we'll all meet
here in Corpse Pose now. Open the palms towards the sky. Now, tuck the chin to the chest,
lengthen through the back of the neck and then
open your legs super wide and then arms super wide. So you're taking up more space. Great, then point the
toes and then flex the toes. And then keep it going. You're just gonna
do that a couple times. Creating a little rocking
sensation and if this is new to you, you're gonna feel weird at
first but then once you get the hang of it you feel awesome. And then close your
eyes and keep rocking. Let your breath just
soften and relax here. It should feel good. We'll keep doing
this for five, four, three, two, and
then let it all go. One. Close your eyes,
take a deep breath in. Exhale to relax everything. Corpse Pose. Relax the upper back body. As you close your eyes,
soften and relax. Imagine all the
muscles in the neck softening. Notice if you've already
somehow returned to a patterned way in the neck. See if you can tuck
your chin just slightly and find more length. Great work today. If time allows
you can stay here. If you're ready to
get up and get moving, you're just gonna start with a
nice rocking of the head gently, side to side, ear to ear. Nice and slow. If you're rocking, bring it back
to center and we'll slowly start to wiggle the fingers and toes. And then eventually
bring the hands together, thumbs up to the third eye. Close your eyes and know and
feel and trust that you are a powerful vehicle
for change and for good and when your energy is flowing properly,
in my opinion, up and down the body, when mind and body are connected to heart space and
your energy is right, you can really
be true to yourself and then be of
service to others. So way to go today. I hope to see you
back tomorrow or soon. Try to do a little
something each day. Take a deep breath in. And we exhale. And then we say, Namaste. (gentle music)
