15 min Morning Yoga Flow - ENERGIZING MORNING YOGA

Transcript

hi everyone welcome to my channel my name is cassandra and i'm going to take you through a 15-minute energizing morning yoga practice we've got some stretching we've got some strengthening we've got some great poses and transitions to wake you up and set the tone for the day ahead suitable for all levels although there are a few challenges in this one you don't need any props and let's go ahead and begin in parshva balasana thread the needle pose so you can bring yourself up onto hands and knees starting in tabletop and we're going to thread the right arm as far as we can get it lowering ear and shoulder to the mat and you want to think of pressing your right arm into the floor lean your hips a little bit more over towards the right and if you'd like you can straighten your left arm reaching through your fingertips and take a few cleansing breaths here and draw your lower belly in and we're going to stay in this pose make sure your left hand is flat on the floor this will help with stability you can either stay as you are if you'd like to add on to this one you're going to straighten your left leg and maybe start to lift that left leg off the floor so this is definitely a balancing act engage the muscles down your leg keep an internal hip rotation one more big belly breath carefully place your left knee back down slide the left hand back come all the way up and this time go ahead and reach your right arm up towards the sky and bring that palm all the way back down second side so thread that left arm through shoulder and ear lower to the mat lean your hips over to the left a little bit more and you can straighten your right arm coming up onto the right fingertips getting a nice rotation through our upper back soften your neck and your jaw just taking some deep breaths here lower belly is hugging in and you might choose to stay in this first variation or you can add the balancing with your leg flatten your right palm to the mat this will give you more leverage and then go ahead and straighten your right leg very slowly start to lift it off the floor so reach through the ball of your right foot keep an internal hip rotation through that right hip otherwise you will roll over to the left and if that happens it's no big deal happens to everyone usually one side is easier than the other if your leg was up carefully bring that knee back down slide the right hand back in and lift all the way up left arm reaches and release on a hot asana or puppy pose stretch keep your hips over your knees walk your hands forward and melt your forehead and your heart down towards the mat i'm making this a little bit more active so keeping my elbows lifted off of the mat and i'm almost imagining that i'm pushing my armpits towards the floor so a really big stretch through your upper body through your shoulders find some length here and slide forward onto your belly we'll take three little baby cobras point your toes back behind you and you can slide your hands closer towards the top of your rib cage make sure your feet are hip width distance apart little baby cobras inhale chin chest and hands float off the floor exhale to lower really press your toes into the mat inhale find some length lift up even higher exhale release it down last one inhale to lift hold where you are and reach your arms back see if you can roll your shoulders down and away from your ears a little bit more one big breath as you lift and exhale release press back into a little child's pose big toes together pressing your hips back towards your heels and this time let's press our hands together bend your elbows so reverse prayer at the back of your head and again same thing i'm imagining that i can press my shoulders and armpits down towards the mat at the same time pressing my hips back towards my heels i'm beginning to ask yourself what your intention is this morning what you want to focus on and prioritize today and straighten your arms we're going to find ourselves in our plank pose a little bit of strength we're not going to be there too too long hands underneath your shoulders go ahead and straighten your legs and feel your weight lean forward a little bit so you're reaching through the crown of your head hug in through your inner thighs scoop the lower abs in and reach your tailbone towards your heels go ahead and lift the right foot up and tap it down switch left leg up and down keep going alternating a few times here notice how whenever you lift one leg your hips probably want to lift up higher take two more on each side you got this keep pushing into your fingertips and knuckles hug in through your upper arms one more right and left downward facing dog lift your hips up and back so down dog this is our first one bend your knees if you'd like don't worry about your heels touching the mat it truly does not matter let's take three cleansing breaths so inhaling through the nose and a big sigh out the mouth twice more last one [Applause] let's reach our right leg up towards the sky bend your right knee open up your hip squeeze into your glutes get that knee up even higher and let's step that foot forward in between the hands warrior one so press your back heel down at about a 45 degree angle you want your feet to be hip width distance apart bend into that front knee so it's driving over your second and third toe and then reach on up with your arms so as much as possible it's very difficult but we're trying to lengthen our tailbone down and pull our belly in if warrior one hurts your knee you can just do a high lunge instead and get a little deeper into your hips bring your hands together at the front of your heart we're going to step up to the top of the mat bring your left knee in with you hold it there as you hover engaging and squeezing through your hip flexors let's add a twist right hand to your left knee and start to open your left arm up so your chest is facing the long edge of your mat your hips are still facing forward now your chest is going to stay as it is we meet in our warrior two so step that left foot all the way to the back of the mat you want your left foot to be parallel to the shorter edge of your mat bending again into that front knee squeeze that right knee open as you sink let's reverse left hand down right arm up big stretch here coming back up let's straighten that front leg send your hips back reach that right arm forward triangle pose tree konasana left arm stretches up to the sky feel your left shoulder roll back you're almost leaning back against an invisible wall behind you focus on your breath start to look down to the floor bend into your front knee and you can frame that front foot as you lift your back heel off the mat and just drop your back knee to the floor you're welcome to just hang out here in your low lunge or you can add a quad stretch left hand stays where it is reach back with your right hand to pull your heel in towards your glute try to press down into your big right toe roll that right shoulder back melt your hips forward and down even more as you pull that heel in very carefully release the hold of that foot and we meet in a child's pose from here big toes together maybe your knees go a little bit wider now the second time around as you reach your hips towards your heels and stretch your arms out in front of you great job take five deep breaths here releasing any tension feeling the effects of our flow on that first side notice where you feel it the most catching your breath and slowing down your heart rate and now we will be repeating this for the other side meeting in our plank pose again for those same little toe taps so shoulders are either over your wrists or slightly forward over the tips of your fingers draw the lower belly in reach the crown of the head up and lift the back of your head up so you're not dropping your head here and creasing through your neck lift and float the left leg up a few inches tap it down right leg up and down a few more go at your own pace but i really want you to focus on not moving your hips not twisting your pelvis keep your hips nice and low shoulders over your hands one more on each side lift and lift downward facing dog should feel really nice downward dog is considered to be a resting pose but it's still a demanding pose but after that plank pose it might feel like a bit of a release let's stretch our left leg up towards the sky bend your knee open up that hip get your left knee to go as high up as you can and really bend your knees so that you're almost touching your heel to your seat warrior one on the second side left foot steps forward back heel presses down at a 45 degree angle make sure you have a wide enough stance here as you bend down and sink the hips reach out and lengthen out of your low back by stretching up through your arms feel the energy all the way up through your fingertips press those floating ribs down strengthen your core even in this pose we're using this strength and focus of the pose to really set the tone for our day hands at your heart take your time and come up to stand bring that right knee in with you try not to dig your left hose into the mat add a twist when you're ready left hand to your right knee or shin right arm opens out to the side and as you twist draw your navel back and up so our chest is facing open and we're going to keep it that's that way as we transition into our warrior two step that right foot all the way back veerabhadrasana too you want your right foot to be parallel roughly to the end of your mat while your left toes are pointing forward bend deeply into that front knee and squeeze it open palms facing down to the floor keep your hips nice and low as you reverse right hand down left arm up big side body stretch here coming back warrior two straighten that left leg send your hips back and reach and extend through your left arm until you just can't reach anymore and then you can drop your left hand down and extend your right arm up trikonasana triangle pose only looking up if it's okay we don't want to create any unnecessary tension in our neck and in our jaw look down towards the floor start to bend into that front knee and frame your front foot with both hands lift the back heel and drop your right knee to the floor so either holding here in your low lunge or adding that quad stretch you're going to pull your right heel in towards you push into your big left toe feel that left shoulder rotate back so you're really sliding both shoulder blades down your back pulling that heel in even closer and let's release we meet back in a child's pose maybe even wider if it's appropriate big toes together press your hips back towards your heels and soften it down five breaths right here notice now this balance in the right and left side of your body and one last time asking yourself what your intention is today maybe just choosing one word that really captures the essence of what you're trying to focus on today and you can just walk your hands back and maybe just sitting on your heels if this is comfortable or you can sit cross-legged roll your shoulders down lengthen out through both sides of your waist let's join our palms together on julie mudra prayer at the hearts take a moment to really thank and celebrate yourself for putting yourself first this morning i know it's not always easy especially when you know you have a lot to do but i hope this practice gives you the nourishment the focus and the clarity you need to begin your day in the best way possible have your one word intention close to your heart clear in your mind's eye and let's close with the chant of om one time inhale to chant big breath in oh [Music] and bowing forward namaste thank you so much for practicing with me i hope you enjoyed this morning yoga class do leave me a comment let me know what your word of the day is and how this practice went for you if you'd like to stay a little bit longer i always recommend meditating after yoga it doesn't need to take a long time this five minute meditation would be excellent hopefully you'll practice again with me tomorrow morning putting yourself first before you start the day thank you so much namaste