- Howdy everyone.
Welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene and today we have
an awesome practice that's gonna help you just get that
little boost to feel your best. So hop into something
comfy and let's get started. (bright music) Alrighty my friends, welcome. Let's begin today's practice in a nice comfortable
seat of your choice. So you can come into
a crossed-legged seat, Sukhasana. You can even begin
this first bit of pranayama on the edge of your couch. If you're feeling good maybe you
just went on a run or something, you want to sit in
Virasana on your knees. Right-o. But after you make your decision
let's lean right in to make today's practice as glorious and
as efficient as possible so that we can get you
feelin' your best. So when you've found your seat, sit up nice and tall. Bringing your attention
and your awareness to the line that runs from your crown to the
base of the spine, your tail. And just notice where you are,
quite literally, today. Like are you kind
of shifting forward? Is it really
hard to sit up tall? Are you starting to notice the
benefits of your daily practice kind of start to pay off here?
Wink, wink. So just notice. I know when
I first started practicing, it's hard for me to
talk with my eyes closed, that it was really difficult for
me to sit up tall in meditation. Now I feel much
more at ease here. So wherever you
are just lean in, notice. And then let's all close the
eyes if we haven't already. Just soften through your
fingertips wherever you are and we're gonna inhale.
Take a deep breath in. Fill all four sides
of the torso with air. Really dropping that
breath into your belly. And then exhale, let it
out through the mouth as you relax your shoulders. Twice more just like that. Little deeper, little longer
with the breath each time. Here we go, big inhale, fill up. Nothing fancy, exhale,
empty it out. And one more time, big inhale. Breath travels
down as you breathe in. And then we flip the
direction of the breath. It comes up as we
exhale out through the mouth. Beautiful, bring the
palms together at your heart. Bring your head
toward your heart. Your chin towards your chest. Now with the eyes closed,
set a little intention here. Something that's gonna
help you feel your best. You can maybe
complete the sentence, "I choose..." Fill in the blank. And start to breathe deep as you
feel this deep stretch in the back of the neck and the traps,
the upper back body. Lower body's nice and heavy. Excellent. If you've landed on something,
go ahead and repeat it. Consider it already done. Imagine it already so as you
quietly repeat your intention. Just trust that
whatever came up, (clicks tongue)
it's the right thing. Okay, and then
slowly let's release. We'll bring the head back up. Head over heart,
heart over pelvis. If you're not in a
cross-legged seat you can still do this next little ditty. Just catch up with
us when you need to or go ahead and transition now. Alright, left hand's gonna reach
all the way up towards the sky. And then exhale,
bring it all the way down. Inhale, right fingertips reach
all the way up towards the sky. Exhale, bring it
all the way down. Now both arms. Fingertips are gonna
go behind the ears as you reach all the way up. Big breath in. Stretching through all
four sides of the torso. The front, the back, side
to side, reach, reach, reach. And then on your exhale you're
gonna send your right hand to your left knee for a twist.
Seated twist here. Breathing down into the belly. Again, that directional breath
as you breathe in and then think of the breath coming up and out
through the nose as you exhale. Inhale to lift and lengthen. Grow a little bit
taller in the spine. Exhale to twist
just a little bit deeper. Maybe send your gaze
gently past your left shoulder. Then for one more cycle of
breath here just notice where you might be gripping or holding
in the toes or in the jaw or in your hands and
see if you can soften. Relax any tension. Yeah, then we'll come
all the way back to center. Head over heart,
heart over pelvis. Now this time with the right arm
we're syncing up the breath to the movement and the
movement to the breath. Inhale as you reach it up. Exhale as you bring
it down with control. Inhale as you reach it up. Catch something. Exhale as you bring
it down with control. Now both arms, fingertips
are gonna go behind the ears. Engage it through
your core, your center, draw the navel in and up as you
reach the fingertips all the way up towards the sky.
Big breath, big stretch. And then exhale, nice,
easy twist to your right. So left hand to
comes to the right knee, right fingertips behind. And we want to try to maintain
that head over heart here. So if you're
collapsing back here, let's see if we can
work in time to bring the head over the heart,
heart over the center. And if you feel
like that's impossible, you might sit up on
a blanket or a towel. Lift the hips up. Okay, we're breathing here. Keep the chest lifting. Notice where you might
be gripping or holding. See if you can soften with
every exhale and sit up a little taller with every inhale. Again, find that
directional breath. As you breathe down,
belly expands. Relax the shoulders
as you breathe out. Great, take one more
cycle of breath here. Then together we'll inhale in,
sit up nice and tall. And exhale, come all
the way back to center. Awesome. We're gonna take our fingertips
forward and continue this forward motion, mertion,
all the way to all fours. So find your Tabletop Position. Try to be meticulous right away. Wrists underneath the shoulders
so you're stacking the bones. Knees right
underneath the hip points. So not too wide, not too narrow. Then spread your fingers
super wide like starfish. Upper arm bones
rotate out, externally, away from your chest and the
elbow creases shine forward. Then press firmly into
the tops of the feet here, inhale in. Exhale, claw
through the fingertips. Start to hug the
low ribs up and in here. Again, still pressing
into the tops of the feet. Beautiful, neck
is nice and long. Gaze is straight down. So we have this nice, engaged
active Tabletop Position. We're gonna put it to the
test by curling the toes under, inhaling in, and exhaling,
lifting the knees, letting them hover. You'll start to feel
your low belly turn on. Upper arm bones
still rotating out. We're breathing here. We're starting
to find that shake, that prana,
that sensation that reminds us oh, we are alive and well. We're here for three, two,
knees kiss the earth on the one. Uncurl the toes, drop the belly,
open the chest, Cow Pose. Breathe in, soften your
gaze or close your eyes. Really feel what's
going on in the spine today. Spinal column
and then here we go, exhale, chin to chest. Same thing. Really paying
attention to this sensation. Alright, then keep it flowing. With you breath,
inhale, drop the belly. Exhale, round through. Inhale, drop the belly. Exhale, round through. Now keep it going on your own. And if you like you
can start to veer off the railroad
tracks a little bit. Finding what feels good. Checking in with different parts
of the body based on where you are today or where
you are in your practice. And you can always just
stay within the structure. But I say like, especially if
you're at home and like you're wearing whatever you want and
you're in the comfort of your own space I say
get a little freaky. So you can start to
check in with the shoulders. Check in with the side body. Awesome, then reel it back
in to that Tabletop Position. Once again, we're
gonna curl the toes under. We're gonna find our foundation. Nice and strong.
Inhale in. As you exhale,
Hovering Table, lift the knees. Hug the low ribs in. Breathe deep here.
Keep the neck nice and long. You're pressing
away from the yoga mat. Feeling this hollowing
through the upper back body and this hollowing through
the abdominal wall. You're here for three. Find a softness in the jaw, two. And on the one, release. This time we're gonna
bring the big toes together, knees as wide as your mat. Inhale to drop the belly. Exhale, take it to the right,
round through, come through
Extended Child's Pose. Sigh it out a
little bit here. Ah! And then keep the circle going
as you take it to the left and now come all the
way forward once again. Now keep it going here. Beautiful circle. Opening up through
the hips, the legs, the side body,
the shoulder girdle, the neck. The palms, the forearms. Try to stay nice and awake. Brighten your toes,
keep the toes pressing down into the earth. When you feel ready,
reverse your circle. Reverse it. And then same thing here. You can kinda go a
little freestyle here. If you find a little catch and
you want to work in the catch, go for it. If you find, oh man,
this Extended Child's Pose just feels awesome. I'm gonna chill here
while Adriene keeps talking. Maybe a little wrist
love might do the trick. All the while,
remember the breath comes first. Keep breathing. And then if you're
still movin' and groovin', let's meet back in
Extended Child's Pose. Hips melting back
towards the heels. Don't worry if your
Extended Child's Pose doesn't look like mine. And if Extended Child's Pose is
just not a great shape for you then I recommend you
just working here in a nice wide-legged knee position
but with the shoulders up. So hips up. Alright, if the
heart's melting down, let's take the palms
and bring 'em together. Walk the elbows forward. Melt your heart a little more. Feel that stretch in the tricep
and the shoulder as you take your little shark fin up and
behind the nape of the head, the neck, behind the head. And then if you're lifted here,
if you're not back, let's take a couple moments here
to check in with the neck by bringing one ear to one shoulder and the other ear to
the other shoulder. Fabulous.
Take a big inhale in. Exhale, let's come
all the way back up. You're gonna
keep the knees wide. Big toes stay together. Left hand presses
away from the earth. As you open up
through the chest, you can imagine
pulling a little bow and arrow. Why does it have to be little? Let's say pulling a big bow
and arrow all the way across the chest as you reach
up towards the sky. Again, integrate
breath and movement, marry them together
as you inhale, reach forward. Exhale, come
all the way through. Thread the needle. Right fingertips underneath
the bridge of the left arm. Great, bring you
right ear to the earth. Inhale in. Exhale out. Ground through the left palm. Inhale to reach for the sky. Exhale, thread the needle. One more time, inhale,
reach for the sky. And exhale, twist. Take one cycle of breath here. Breathe into your belly. And then slowly release. Right hand comes to the earth
and big inhale to reach the left fingertips to the sky. Try to keep the knees wide. As you exhale,
thread the needle. Soft and easy. Take a cycle of breath
here just on this first one. Feel it out. And then marrying
the action to the breath, breath to the action. Inhale, left fingertips
reach towards the sky. We open up through the chest. Exhale, thread the needle. Inhale, open. Big bow and arrow here. And exhale. Twist. Great, let's do one more. Inhale, grounding through
the fingerprints, right palm. And thread the needle,
take a big buoyant, beautiful breath here in. Stay as you breathe out. Sweet, then slowly
come all the way back up. Great, awesome. Walk the knees underneath you. You're gonna cross
on ankle over the other. Mindfully, you can use your
palms to come all the way back through center and back to
your nice comfortable seat. Cool, bring the left heel
in towards your center and send the
right leg all the way out. Then we'll slowly take our head and heart to point
towards our right foot. You can spread your toes,
little yogi toes. Actively, not gonna get into
too much detail here but just a little bit to help you
activate this extended leg, pull your right thigh bone,
that right femur in. So just like we do
a lot in our lunges, pull that right hip crease back
and then keep that active and engage as you inhale
both fingertips reach behind the ears. Big breath, big stretch. Exhale, as you take it over. Belly toward the
top of your right thigh. If it doesn't come close,
no worries. It's just that intention of kind
of working towards something and not shying away. So breathe deep here,
wherever you are. In time you might work to get
that head to knee pose that this shape is named after. Another option is to take the
fold and bring it more into the left low back by sending
your left hand over towards your right ankle. And then just so
you get a little boost, a little energy, go ahead
and soften your head. Let the weight of
your head relax. Now take a couple
solid breaths here. And then just notice
where your thoughts go. Typically when we kind of
know what a shape looks like, we've seen it on the
magazine cover or whatever, just let that go. (chuckles) It ain't worth it, let it go.
Focus on the sensation. Take this precious time for you
and enjoy it and you're awesome and you're doing the work. Body's gonna be
smiling after this. Alright, one more breath. Feel free to bend your right
knee as generous as you need. Be kind to that left hamstring. Cool and then slowly release. Nice, easy twist here as we take
the right hand to the left knee. Just gentle twist to the left. Alright, inhale, lift the chest. Breathe into your belly. And then exhale, release. Awesome. Okay, we're gonna
do the same little ditty on the other side and
then we're gonna close it out. You're doing great. Right heel comes
in towards the center. Go and extend the
left leg out long. If your leg's so tight,
you're not alone here, that you're already kind of
starting with a super bend, embrace it, keep it,
love it. It's all good. Alright, so part of looking
and feeling your best is kind of rewiring our thoughts and our
language around how we work with our bodies and how we
see ourself so just be kind. Here we go.
Plugging that left femur in. Shifting gears so we
can find that active leg. And when you're ready, inhale,
both fingertips behind the ears as you reach up. And then think up
and over as we reach toward the left foot. And then feel free
to experiment here, right? Like you're not stuck. This isn't a photoshoot
so breathe into your belly. See how this side is
different from the other side. Notice when you get frustrated. Experiment. Eventually, taking time to relax
the weight of the head over. And then this is it. We're almost done so listen
to the sound of your breath. Let it soothe you. Let your time spent on the mat fray any weary nerves or worries. Stretching' out,
use your breath. And then when you're ready,
we will release. Counter twist here.
Left hand to the right knee. Inhale, lift your heart. Maybe smile just a bit here. Breathe, breathe, breathe. Beautiful and
then we'll release. It's spring time in Austin when
we're shooting this and when it's coming out live
so we're gonna end with a Cobbler's Pose or a butterfly, (chuckles)
Baddha Konasana. So bring the soles
of the feet together. We're gonna start with hands on
the ankles here just so you can really drop, drop down
through again the femur, the thigh bone. And then in time you can
maybe take hands to the toes. You can use your
thumbs to massage the arches. If you've never done
that before, give it a go. See what happens. Okay, and then inhale. Lifting up from
the pelvic floor. Finding this
length from crown to tail. Once again, bringing that
loving awareness to the spine. Take a big inhale in. And then exhale,
try to keep that length. So we're not gonna round. You're gonna keep that length as
you bend your elbows and you're gonna send your gaze to kind
of look in an imaginary pond. Just try to see your reflection. And I always joke, it's a bad
joke but it's always like that moment in Zoolander when he's
like looking in the puddle and asking, "Who am I?" So give yourself that image. It's gonna keep the
spine nice and long. But also just kind of reflect
back to remind you even if it's in the silliest of ways that you
know this time is for you to be with yourself,
to check in with yourself, take care of yourself. Alright, maybe send your
heart a little bit forward. A little more
forward for this last breath. Taking stock with the
hips and then slowly release. Bring it up. Alright, send
your hands behind you. Bring your feet to the earth. You're just
gonna windshield wiper. Oh yeah, should
feel good after that. The knees to one
side and then the other. Take a couple
cleansing breaths here. Just a couple final I love you
breaths as you windshield wiper the knees one way
and then the other. Alright, feet come to
the earth, elbows come down. Glad Benji's over there. Some of you have
done this with me before. Last little boost, you're gonna
bring your feet to the ground and you're gonna give your
foot a little wake up call. So you can start nice and
small and you can go crazy. If you're in an upstairs
apartment or something maybe be mindful. But if you're in a place
where you can go crazy I suggest you
do it for three, two. Keep it going.
And on the one, release. Come back up to your
nice comfortable seat. (laughs) Bring the hands
to your heart space. Take a deep breath in. And empty it out. Twice more just like that.
Big inhale. And empty it out. Last cleansing breath.
Inhale lots of love in. Exhale lots of love out. Thanks everyone. Let us know how this
little ditty went for you in the comment section down below. Hope you're doing well. Share this video with a friend
who you think might enjoy it. Heck, share it
with an enemy too! The world needs more yoga.
I love you guys. Thanks for sharing your time and
your energy with me and with all the amazing folks who
showed up to practice today. Take good care. Namaste. (bright music)
