It鈥檚 Day 2 and with an important theme, a call to action, an invitation to drop the doing of yoga and reside in the role of the observer. When we practice in this way on the mat - we create an opportunity to move into a new presence.
Get ready to stretch, to twist, and to listen to your breath, as you move your spine and connect with your body.
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Notice how you feel before and after the practice. Let me know how today goes for you via the comments below!
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- Hi everyone, welcome back to
Flow, Your 30 Day Yoga Journey. I'm Adriene,
this is Sweet Benji and it's Day 2, Notice. Let's get started. (light rhythmic music) Alrighty, come on
down to the ground. Take your time. We're gonna start in a nice
comfortable seat of your choice. Sit up nice and tall. As soon as you get there,
start to relax your shoulders. Just allow the hands to
fall wherever feels good today. On the knees, the thighs, may be resting
gently in your lap, maybe on your furry companion
that's come to join you. And we have begun. We've already begun. Take a second to just check in, scan, not just the body, but your energy, your heart space. Just notice, what am
I comin' to the mat with today? And then notice which thoughts, what thoughts have kind of formed around this moment and being asked to
notice how you're feeling, what's going on. Now let's draw
the palms together. With this gesture we can fully acknowledge whatever's
going on together. And as we start to
gently deepen the breath, we give ourselves
an opportunity to move past that
and into a new presence. So the invitation today is to reside in the
role of the observer and just keep
coming back to that invitation, noticing what's going on, noticing how things
change as we get moving. Notice how the breath can change our mindset or the amount of thoughts
we're having per minute. Let's do it. Take a deep breath in,
together, inhale. And exhale, bow
the head to the hands. If you want to just kind of remember your
intention from yesterday, this could be a
good moment to do so. And take another deep breath in. And exhale out. Lift the head,
bat the eyelashes open. We're just gonna
take a gentle twist here, left hand to right knee. Think of lifting up
tall through the spine. So if you need to sit up on
a blanket or a block here that could be a good
idea to find length. Inhale in, exhale,
twist a little further. Don't push, just explore with the power of your
breath moving you. And then bring
it back to center. Inhale in again,
take it to the other side. Exhale, navel draws in. Inhale in again. Exhale, twist a little further with the support of that
exhale and the spine, nice. Come back through center. I hate to move 'cause Benji's
all snuggled up against me, but we must. We are the leaders of
this practice today, Benji. So we're gonna
guide our friends, sorry bud, to all fours.
(laughs) No dogs were harmed
in making this practice. And right away,
let's head into Cat-Cow. So you can drop the belly,
open the chest. And I'm gonna stop guiding for
a bit and just allow you to move slowly back and forth through this
pattern with the spine, deepening your breath. And as you're ready,
come back to Tabletop Position. Get ready for a spinal balance,
AKA hello abs. Okay, so right toes,
left fingertips reach out. A little detail to notice today is the left palm is facing in
towards the midline of your mat. So your left thumb's up and
the right toes are facing down. Hug your low ribs
in up with your abs. So abs draw up,
low ribs hug in, inhale in. Exhale, keep the neck long. Bend the elbow, bend the knee. Good inhale extend. Exhale, round through.
So same as yesterday. Inhale extend. Exhale, neck stays long. Left elbow to left hip crease,
right knee to right elbow. And inhale, extend. Move slow, exhale,
round and lift the abs. Last one, inhale, extend. Exhale, neck
stays long, squeeze. Hello obliques. Inhale extend. And exhale,
round it in, knee to nose. Excellent. Release.
If you need to send it back, take a couple moments to find
some relief in that right wrist, especially if
you're new to the practice. I totally understand it takes
a while to get all these little muscles turned on to
support that joint properly. And then when you're ready,
let's come back in and take it to the other side. Right thumb pulls,
excuse me, points up, right shoulder pulls back. Dial those left toes down, and then draw the abs
in and hug the low ribs in. Good, neck nice and long. Here we go, inhale. Exhale, neck stays long. Bend the elbow,
bend the knee, squeeze. Inhale extend. Exhale, round it in. Abs draw up, up, up. Inhale extend. Exhale squeeze. Inhale extend. Exhale, knee to nose. Press down
through your right foot. Press through your
left palm, last one. And release, nice work. Take a second to bump
the hips to the left. Turn to look past
your right shoulder. Feel that long stretch
in the left low back, left side body. And then take it through
center and to the other side. Bump the hips to the right. Turn to look past
your left shoulder. Release, come back to center. Curl the toes under,
walk the hands back. We're gonna
come into that squat. If this squat is like,
"No, I don't like this. "I need to omit
this from the practice," Go right to your Forward Fold,
Standing Forward Fold. So you'll go here. Otherwise, we're in this
squat for a breath or two. We can find some fluidity in it. Doesn't have to be rigid
or held too tight here, especially in the
beginning of our practice. Hi buddy. And then we'll join our friends, anyone who might be in
the Forward Fold already, let's join them by
lifting the hips up high, dropping down
through the heels, toes pointing forward.
(chuckles) Now we're gonna clasp opposite
elbow with opposite hand and we're gonna rock gently a
little side to side here. Try not to let it get
too rock and roll here. So stay in control. So really feel the
stretch of the low back, bend the knees, breathe. Soften the jaw,
soften the skin of the face. Let go a little bit here, allowing yourself
this time and space, giving yourself permission to just really be
in the present moment by noticing what you're
feeling with every gesture, with every breath. Alright, resist the urge to just go through the
motions essentially, give yourself this
particular practice to really notice how
you're feeling, how it goes. Release the arms,
bring them to your waistline, bend your knees more, ground through
the feet and inhale, root down to
rise up to Mountain. Stand up nice and tall. Take a couple moments here
to loop the shoulders one way. Maybe check in with the neck. And then when you're ready, spread the fingertips
super wide like starfish. So really crazy, stretch those
fingers and we'll inhale, reach all the way up towards
the sky and exhale diving forward, slow and steady,
back into the fold. We're gonna continue the journey by walking the palms
all the way out to a Plank. Reach the heels back,
crown of the head forward, inhale in, then exhale to your
Downward Facing Dog. Bend your right knee
as you drop your left ankle to the earth. And then bend your left knee as you drop your
right ankle to the earth. Now drop your
left ankle to the earth and inhale,
lift your right leg up high. Exhale, shift it
forward into your lunge. Keep the back knee lifted. Here we go. Inhale,
straighten the front leg. Pull that right hip crease back. Exhale, bend the knee. So this movement, inhale, comes from the right
hip crease pulling back. You might even
take your right thumb to that right hip crease
and really pull it back. Breathe. And then bend the front knee,
left hand comes to the ground. Inhale, reach the
right fingertips forward. Reach reach reach big circle up,
around and back. And now we're in a spinal twist. We're reaching
the left heel back. We're gonna
continue that journey. Just like yesterday,
inhale, reaching it forward, up, around and back. And one more time,
big inhale, reach it up, around and back. Now as you bring it down, go ahead and lower your
left knee to the earth. Uncurl your left toes, press that left foot
firmly into the mat. Inhale, sweep the arms all
the way forward, up and back. We're coming into a
Crescent Lunge here. Squeeze your thighs to the
midline so you feel that lift, that connection up
from the pelvic floor. Inhale, maybe heart
lifts and you look up. Exhale, we take
it all the way down. Back knee lifts,
right toes step back, Plank Pose.
Inhale in here. Exhale, lower to the belly. Inhale, rise up Cobra,
your version. And exhale, soften and release. Curl the toes under. Press up, power up to Plank. Quietly whisper
to yourself here, "I am strong."
I am strong. Then send the hips up and back,
Downward Facing Dog, and let's take it
to the other side. Inhale, left leg lifts up high. Exhale, step it
forward into your lunge. Breathe here.
Keep that back knee lifted. When you're ready,
pull the left hip crease back. Maybe take that left
thumb to the left hip crease. And then bend, straighten. Bend straighten. Bend, right hand
comes to the earth, left fingertips reach forward. Really reach
beyond your fingers here. So you're taking up as much space as possible as
you trace a big circle up, around, back and down. Squeeze the left inner thigh
towards the center of your body, of your mat. Careful not to crush
into that right wrist. So stay lengthened
through the spine. It helps to breathe deep
and turn on those abs. Lovely, the next time
the left hand's down, let's bring the
fingertips to the mat, lower the right
knee to the earth, press into the
top of the right foot, squeeze the inner
thighs to the midline, lift up from the pelvic floor, and sweep the arms forward,
up and back, Cresent Lunge. Draw your navel in. Lift the heart,
inhale, maybe lift the gaze. And then exhale,
soften and release, bring it all back down. Beautiful,
we'll lift the back knee, step it back
to Plank or half Plank. So you can be on the knees here,
or reaching the heels back. Inhale in deeply, lengthen through
the crown of the head, so neck is nice and long. Exhale slowly
lower to the belly. Inhale, rise up,
Cobra, lift your heart. And exhale, soften and release. Curl the toes under,
press up to Plank. Brief moment here,
quietly whisper to yourself, "I am strong."
I am strong. Send the hips up high and back,
Downward Facing Dog. Breathe in here. And exhale, breathe out. Bend your knees, walk your hands all the
way back towards your toes. Inhale, halfway lift here, lengthen through
the crown of the head. So you wanna draw
your elbows back, shoulder blades together, and find some good
length in the neck here, whatever version you're taking, whether it's
fingertips on the mat, palms on the shins or thighs. Good, then release everything. Bend the knees generously, sweep the fingertips
forward to come all the way up. And then keep
reaching towards the sky, Volcano Pose here as
you ground through the feet. Just notice how you feel, relax the shoulders,
keep reaching, active body. Can you find a little bit of
calm in this activation here? Good, then release
just the right arm down. And then the left arm down. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out,
just notice how you feel. Notice where your
weight is on your feet. Could we play
with the distribution? Notice how your breath is. Is it really high up in
your body and your neck, your chest and shoulders? Can we bring it
down more into the belly? Can we try? Maybe the shoulders
are rounding forward, heart sinking a little bit. We all know that shape. So maybe there's some
responsiveness there. Once we notice,
we lift the chest. Draw the
shoulder blades together. Alright, here we go again. Inhale, reach for the sky. Spread the fingertips. Big breath, big stretch, exhale, diving down
into the fold once again. From here, walk it all the
way out to Plank, inhale in. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. Bend the right knee, look underneath your
left armpit chest here, so there's a twist, getting that nice stretch
in the left calf and hamstring, and then switch. Bend the left knee,
look underneath the right arm. Then from here,
come back to Down Dog. We're gonna draw the belly up
and in and we're gonna imagine there's a big hurdle in the
center of the mat as you go all the way up over the
hurdle and into your Plank. Inhale in here. Exhale, belly to Cobra or maybe
Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Use an inhale to
lift and open your heart. And use an exhale to
soften and release it down. From here, press to all fours. Then you're gonna bring the
knees as wide as your yoga mat, then send your hips back
in an Extended Child's Pose. Relax the weight of
your forehead down. If Extended Child's
Pose is not your jam, you can go ahead and come onto your back and we'll
meet there in just a moment. So we're starting to
soften and wind it down. Wherever you are,
maybe close the eyelids, take a deep breath in. Feel your breath
expand the rib cage. And then feel
everything soften on the exhale. Lovely, if you're
in Child's Pose, slowly carve a line
with the nose forward, slide your heart forward,
come all the way up, and let's swing
the legs to one side. Come to lie on our backs. So now we're all together,
bend your knees. Bring the soles of
the feet to your mat, and now walk your feet as wide as the mat and allow
the knees to fall in. So you're not holding
or gripping in the legs. Bring the hands to the belly, and again,
find that expansive breath, maybe closing the eyelids,
take a deep inhale, feel the rise
of that inhalation. And the fall with the exhale. You can start
to relax your body. And again,
using this opportunity to notice what it feels like to slip into the
role of the observer here. One of the most
profound things about this branch of the yoga
practice is really getting that opportunity to not do the poses and check
the box but to really listen and notice and then respond accordingly. A beautiful dance that slowly ushers us into alignment, into flow. If you've lost track
of your deep breathing, trust me,
you're not the only one. So let's return to it now. Sending the
inhale down to the belly, feeling that
expansion as you breathe in. And feeling that surrender,
that softness, that gentle cascading
downward with the exhale. Relax your jaw. Release any
gripping in your toes. And then just notice your
heartbeat here, your energy, if you feel a vibration
or if you feel a calm. There's no right or wrong here. The best thing you can do is just be honest about
what you're noticing. And we can continue to show up with that and move
with that together. Love it so much. Hug the knees into the chest. Take a gentle twist to one side. Any side. Breathe and then the other, just a little
release for the back. And then slowly
bring it back to center. And then give
you a little option, you can come to Cobbler's Pose, knees wide,
Reclined Cobbler's Pose, Supta Baddha Konasana, or we can extend
the legs out long. Thank you, Benji, thank you. And then reach the arms up, place your right hand
gently on the ground, and then your left
for our final posture, take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. Slowly bring the palms together, take a deep breath in. Beautiful, and a long breath out
to close this practice. Seal it with a kiss. Great work, everyone. I'll see you tomorrow. Namaste. (upbeat rhythmic music)