Chest & Upper Body Opening Flow

Transcript

- What's up everyone?
Welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene and
this is sweet Benji. And today we
have a chest opening, upper body opening practice. This is a huge request and
I'm right there with you guys. So today we're gonna spend some time really
opening up these muscles, this area of the body here. So hop into something
comfy and let's get to it. (upbeat music) Alright, we're gonna
begin standing today so let's take a stroll together
to the top of the mat. Hi Benji. And just bring the
feet hip width apart. Allow your hands to
rest gently at your side. Align your head over your heart. As you stand up tall and your heart over the
bowl of your pelvis. Close your eyes as
you lift the chest here. And just let that be your
action to lift the chest. And you'll notice at a certain
point you've lifted (chuckles) as far as you can and then it becomes more
of an energetic awareness. In Mountain Pose, we begin. Start to notice your breath. Again, the heart is lifting, the collarbones are open. And it may be that you
feel like this is hard. And if you do,
you're in the right spot. Now without opening
your eyes or looking down, see if you can slowly
bring the feet together, really together and feel this zipping up through the legs. Once you get there,
squeeze the legs and let that empower the
lift in your chest even more. And you might start to feel the
abs tone and the shoulders drop. Just notice that connection. And then slowly
bring your palms together, take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. Great, bat the eyelashes open. Take your thumbs from here, we're gonna bring
them to the armpit chest. And if you don't mind,
get in there. (chuckles) And you're gonna give yourself
a little manual adjustment here. You're gonna lift up
from the armpit chest and roll the shoulders back. And let's try
that one more time. Lifting all the way up
with the thumbs, giving yourself a
manual adjustment, lifting tall. And this time the fingertips can release up behind the ears
and we're gonna reach the arms all the way up
into Volcano Pose. Notice if the heart is
starting to collapse here. It's all good,
just keep it lifted. Gonna be really on that today to find integrity and
opening up the chest. Great inhale. Maybe you look up if it
feels comfortable in the neck. Exhale, bend the
elbows to goal post arms. So not a back bend here like
we're used to doing here to begin but goal post arms. Then from the goal post arms, you're gonna just
bring your right elbow back. Keep the left elbow where it is. And then bring it back
in line with the shoulder. Take the left elbow back. And notice the difference between the right and
the left side of the body. If there is one,
there is for me. There is for most. Back to center and then right. And you're moving the elbow
and the wrist in the same line, the same plane. Ooh. And one more time to each side. Whoo, and then release
the fingertips down first, slowly, to come up
all the way back to Volcano, big breath in. Then palms come together
as we bend the knees and dive into the fold slowly, Standing Forward Fold,
Uttanasana. Bend your knees. And sway a little side to side. Find what feels good. Then from here,
step the right foot back. Inhale as if
you were blossoming. You're gonna open
up through the arms, through the chest and come
up into a high lunge with the fingertips down
and the heart lifted. Great, after you
lift the chest here, exhale, take it all the
way back down to your nice low lunge and you're
gonna repeat that gesture. So, here we go again. Inhale, lift and open. Front knee stays
over the front ankle. This is slow and steady, recruiting all the muscles
as you lift the chest. And then exhale,
take it back down. And one more time, inhale, open. Squeeze the inner thighs
to the midline for stability. And exhale, lower back down. Those can be done with the
right knee down too if you need. Alright, step the
right foot back up and let's send the
left foot back and same thing. Front knee is bent, here we go. Inhale, slow and steady. We blossom open. You feel the stretch in the front body as the
shoulder blades draw together. And then exhale,
slow and steady back down. Fingertips kiss the mat. Again, engage the legs. Open up, breathe in. Exhale, strong legs as you
soften the fingertips back down. Last time, inhale, open. Kind of fluid here,
stable, but finding the ease. Exhale, slow and
steady back down. This time plant the palms, step the right foot
back to Plank. Nice, inhale in here. Exhale, lower to your knees,
so you're in a Half Plank. Good, inhale in here. Lengthen through the
crown of the head, look forward. Exhale, lower all
the way to your belly. Now check it out. You're
gonna walk your knees wide. You're gonna
keep your feet together, walk your knees wide. Inhale in, exhale,
press up to a low Cobra, low Cobra. Good, then release. Inhale in again,
press up to a medium Cobra. This is a Mermaid Cobra. And release. Good, walk the
knees back into center. Press up to your Half Plank. Good, then slowly
release the toes to the ground. Lift the knees and send
the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Great work, breathe in. Breathe out. Lift the right leg up high,
Three-Legged Dog. Breathe in. Exhale, bend the right knee,
step it all the way forward. High lunge, here we go. Inhale, reach the
arms forward, up and back. This time we're gonna
bring the elbows back down to those goal post arms. And we're gonna pull both elbows
and wrists back as you inhale, look up. Pause, breathe deep,
strong legs here. Lengthen through
the crown of the head. Inhale in again, find extension. And then exhale,
bring it all the way back down. Plant the palms, step your
right toes back to Plank. Good, lower the
knees to Half Plank. Inhale extend. Exhale, slowly lower down. Walk the knees wide
like a mermaid tail. Keep the feet together,
knees wide. Inhale, we rise up Cobra. This time the hands
can slide off the mat. You can give yourself
more space if that feels good. And then slow and
steady release, one more time. Rise up, inhale. And exhale, bring it down. Knees come in,
we press up to Half Plank. Good, inhale in here. Exhale, curl the toes under, send the hips up high and back,
Downward Facing Dog. Take a breath or two here. Melting the chest
towards the tops of the thighs. Then when you're ready,
lift the left leg up, Three-Legged Dog,
breathe in. Exhale, bend your left knee,
step it all the way forward. Inhale, high lunge. Reach the fingertips
forward, up and back, and then bend
those elbows, goal post. Pull the elbows and
the wrists in line back. Let that be
what lifts the heart, takes it into a back bend. Neck is extended, so there's
an extension through the crown. Breathe in. Ah, exhale, slow and steady. Bring it back to the mat. Alright, step the back foot up
to meet the front, Forward Fold. And from here,
hands come to the waistline. You're gonna bend your knees a lot so that your belly
comes to the tops of your thighs. Good, inhale in here. Exhale, press in
your heels to rise up. Make any little
adjustments you need to here. And then interlace the
fingertips behind your back. Inhale, loop the shoulders forward, up and back to open
up through the armpit chest. Remember that manual
adjustment we did here. So lift up from your armpit chest area and back
down to Chair Pose you go, this time with the bind. Good, inhale in again. Exhale, belly comes back
to the tops of the thighs. Bent knees, bent knees and the wrists go all the
way up towards the sky. Now try to reach your wrists up. So we're not just
going with gravity here, but we're
reaching the knuckles, the wrists up towards the sky. Breathe in, breathe out,
release the bind. Step the right foot
back into your lunge. And this time you're gonna lower
the right knee down to the mat. Press up, let's bring the hands just to the top of the
left thigh here just to start. Mmm. Then you're
gonna press into the top of your back foot,
so uncurl your toes. So we're like this. Then inhale, reach the
fingertips forward, up and back. So we're here, we're not
sinking in like Crescent Lunge. We're stacked, head over heart,
heart over pelvis. Glutes are nice and turned on.
(laughs) Okay, keep the
left foot where it is to start. Keep the left foot, excuse me, the left hand reaching and
then you're gonna slowly take your right arm up, up, up,
up and over and back to either the back of your right thigh or maybe to your right heel. Then maybe you extend by
inching your left toes forward. Maybe you extend
the left leg out. Maybe we find that extension
through the crown here, lifting the chest
just like we did in our previous lunges. To come out of the pose,
hug the low ribs in. You're gonna
bend your front knee and you're gonna come
all the way into a nice low runner's lunge at
the top of your mat. Lovely. Curl the back toes under,
press the right knee up. Step the left
foot back to Plank. When you're ready,
lower the knees, Half Plank. Here we go, inhale in, extend. Exhale, slowly lower down. Widen the knees. Inhale, rise up. Little mermaid version of Cobra. Be mindful. And release. One more time, inhale, rise up. Great release. Walk the knees together. Press up to Half Plank. Inhale in, exhale,
Downward Facing Dog. Alright, you're doing great.
Take a deep breath in. Refocus. When you're ready, step the right foot all
the way up into your lunge, lower the back knee. Bring the hands to the
top of the right thigh. And just find
your foundation here. So grounding through all
four corners of that front foot, pressing into the
top of the back foot. Getting the
pelvis underneath us. We're not here or here, but right here. Heart's lifting.
Think of that armpit chest lifting up as you send the
fingertips forward, up and back. We're here.
Quads engaged. Lengthening the tailbone down. Keep pressing actively. So don't be passive in
the right side of your body. Keep pressing actively
through that right foot. Keep reaching your
right hand all the way up and then we'll continue
to take the left fingertips all the way back down around. It could just be here,
lifting the chest. Left hand on the
back of that thigh. You can feel your
strong hamstring there. Or maybe we do
take it to the heel. And that's it.
You can just stay there or maybe we slowly
inch the right foot out, pressing still into all
four corners of the right foot with the right leg extended. To come out of the pose,
we breathe in. We exhale, hug the low ribs in. We're gonna bend
that front knee slowly. Come around very slowly with the core connection
to our runner's lunge. Then curl the back toes under,
lift the back knee. Plant the palms and step it
back to a full Plank this time. Full Plank. Now, hold onto your core
muscles as you turn all of your toes to the left.
We're coming into a Side Plank. You're gonna bend your front,
your top knee, excuse me. So you're gonna bring your left
foot to the ground and start to open up into a
supported Side Plank here. Left fingertips
reach to the sky. Open up through the chest. Lift your heart. If you want,
you can stack the feet here or take any variation of
side plank that feels good. Everyone lift from
your right obliques here. And then slowly
bring it back to center. Take a break if you need to and then we'll take
it to the other side. Toes to the right. We press away from
the mat with that right, with that left hand as the right fingertips reach up
towards the sky, sorry. (laughs) We have our kickstand
with the right foot this time and we squeeze and lift
from that left oblique. Now think about opening up
the chest even more here and extending through
the crown of the head. Keep breathing,
you're doing great. Slowly release. Come back to Plank and you can do Chaturanga to
Upward Facing Dog here or if you like practicing the Mermaid Cobra,
you can do that. Or we can just do a basic B, basic Bhujangasana. Find a little
vinyasa of your choice and meet me
in Downward Facing Dog. Nice. From Downward Facing Dog, inhale in, bend the knees,
look forward. Exhale, make your way
to the top of your mat. Forward Fold. Take a breath here,
let everything go. Bend your knees generously, belly comes to the
tops of the thighs, hands come to the waistline. Think about drawing your
shoulder blades together and your elbows towards each
other as you rise up strong. All the way, lifting
slight back bend here maybe. And then release, Mountain. Just pause, notice your breath,
notice how you feel. Alright, interlace the
fingertips behind the back. Knuckles draw down and away. Maybe this time the
opposite thumb is on top so you do a different
bind than you did before. Opening up through the chest,
the pecs, lifting heart space. And then bend your knees, belly comes over
the tops of the thighs. We reach the knuckles up
towards the sky as we relax the crown of the head
down here in the Forward Fold. Keep breathing. And then slow and with control, best you can, release the arms. Palms come to the mat. We're gonna step one
foot back then the other. Then we're gonna
slowly lower to the knees and lower all
the way to the belly. Alright, from here,
extend your arms out at a T. You're gonna press
into your left palm firmly and slowly begin to
use your right hand to rock onto your left hip
and turn onto your left ear. Peek at me if you need to. You're gonna continue this
journey rocking onto your left side until
your feet are stacked. Then from here you can repeat that kickstand
that we did in the Side Plank by bringing your right foot to the
ground here for a stretch. If you like that stretch,
you can take your right hand to your right inner thigh and
just gently give that a nudge, push out, but if that's not
feeling right in your body, just skip it. Breathe into that
left chest opener, that pec. The right hand can also stay
on the mat for some stability. So you have a couple
different options here. Great, then stay here. Breathe.
I know it's uncomfortable. Whether the foot's
in front or stacked, we're gonna
bend the right knee, we're gonna open
a little bit more, maybe bringing that
right foot behind the leg. And if not, you just skip it. You stay where you were. Breathe deep. Consider the spine here so it's still nice and long
and in the same line. Nice, and then slow and steady start to roll and release everything back so that
both hip points are on the mat. We're gonna switch and
take it to the other side. So right arm extends, excuse me. Press into your left palm. We're gonna come onto the
right side nice and slow. And for this
first cycle of breaths, just check it out. Does it feel good
to have the kickstand, maybe the stretch in the hip or maybe feet stay stacked? Breathing,
keeping the neck relaxed, the skin in the face relaxed. And then you may
just stay where you are. Or we may take that left foot
behind us and just open up a little further
into this deep stretch, bringing the breath to it. And then slowly
roll it back to center. Release both quads,
both hip points to the mat. Center your hips on the mat. And we're gonna
come up to a Sphinx Pose just to find
a little stabilizing action. And the palms can be down or
you can bring palm face up here. So slightly more lazy Sphinx
than I'm used to teaching but just softening through
the neck here a little bit, digging into the elbows as you turn your nose and your gaze left to right. Should feel good. Alright, now from here you're gonna come into
Extended Child's Pose. So just walk the knees up,
send the hips back. Melt the heart down. You can close your eyes. And if this isn't your jam, feel free to sub another
posture even if it's just lying on your back
or a cross-legged seat. Alright, we're gonna wrap this baby up by closing the
eyes and finding stillness. You might take a final deep
breath in and as you exhale just allow the weight
of your body to relax. Maybe tapping into
a moment of gratitude for this time with your body and with your breath. Go ahead and let
the breath be easy now. And take one last
moment here to just notice. Notice what
thoughts are coming up. Notice how you feel. And slowly start
to wiggle your fingertips and gently deepen
your breath again. When you're ready
we'll slowly come up and shift to a seat, comfortable seat of your choice. Bring the palms together. Way to take some time to
open the chest, open the heart. We do so many things that
collapse this part of the body. I think this is a
really beautiful, wise choice for us to
practice together in this way so thank you so
much for joining me. We'll bring the thumbs
up to the third eye and just take a last little "I love you" breath in. And we can bow all the way, head down to close, breathing that
I love you breath out. And boy, do I sure love you. Thanks y'all, take good care. Namaste. (upbeat music)