Warrior Yoga Flow | 15 Min Practice For Balance & Strength

Transcript

hello welcome back to a new video my name is jessica today we're going to be doing a warrior yoga flow for balance and strength so we'll be incorporating all of the warrior poses today i do recommend warming up beforehand you could do this class after a few sun salutations or you could even do this on its own we're going to get started standing at the top of the mats finding tadasana mountain pose so bringing your feet about hip width distance aparts grounding down through the legs allow the palms to face open towards the front of your mats relax the shoulders away from the ears and then close your eyes rooting down through the feet and growing tall through the spine and through the crown of the head just take a moment here to allow yourself to arrive beginning to connect to your breath and connect to your physical body beginning to find your balance here as you stand in your mountain pose noticing the weights in your feet notice the strength in your legs and then start to deepen your breath as you breathe into the depths of the belly and engage your core taking one more breath here and then gently opening your eyes take a big breath in as you reach both arms up overhead as you exhale take a side bend to the left sliding the left arm down the left leg and reaching the right arm up and over gazing up at your right hands staying grounded down through the feet inhale to reach the left arm up exhale side bend to the right right arm slides down the right leg reaching the left arm up and over inhale coming back up through center opening the chest and then exhale fold forward hinging from the hips inhale to halfway lift bringing the hands to the legs flat back exhale forward fold release the crown of the head to the mat we'll do that two more times inhale halfway lift exhale to fold inhale one last time halfway lift exhale palm the mat and step back to a high plank so stacking the shoulders over the wrists you always have the option to come down onto the knees here taking a breath and then moving into your chaturanga as you bend the elbows inhale for upward facing dog or baby cobra exhale downward facing dog lifting the hips up high and pressing the heels down towards the mat will take about five breaths here so if you need to you can pedal out through the feet bending one knee bending the other keep pressing into the palms fingers are spread wide and finding nice deep breaths here finding stillness in your downward facing dog so continuing to press the heels down towards the ground relaxing the head and neck in between the arms take one more breath preparing for three legged dog grounding down through the left leg as you lift the right leg up keeping the right foot flexed and keeping the hips squared pressing down through the hands [Music] taking one more breath and then finding warrior one stepping the right foot forward in between the hands back foot will spin flat at about a 45 degree angle grounding down through the right leg to inhale lift the arms up bending into the right knee the left leg is straight and the hips are facing the front of the mats arms are reaching up towards the sky palms can touch overhead or the hands can rest shoulder width distance apart keep the core engaged knit the rib cage together soften the shoulders away from the ears we'll take two more breaths here [Music] big breath in as you reach the fingertips up and then exhale release the hands behind the low back as you interlace the fingers start to push the chest open opening the heart squeezing the shoulder blades together so the hands are in a fist and you're pressing the palms together lengthen through the spine and through the crown of the head as you inhale as you exhale start to come into humble warrior as you hinge from the hips and then lower the upper torso down so imagine that you're reaching your belly towards the right thigh and bringing your right shoulder towards the right knee just going as far as is comfortable for you keep reaching the arms up towards the sky strong through the legs bringing your gaze down to the right foot or the back of the left foot bringing the crown of the head towards the mat the core is still engaged take two more breaths exhaling completely on your last breath and as you inhale slowly start to lift yourself all the way back up keeping the fingers interlaced keep pressing the palms together we'll start to move through a warrior three so coming into our balancing pose hips are still facing the front of the mat lift the back heel up off of the mat bend into the right knee to lift the left leg up so lowering the upper torso making a t-shape with the body back leg is strong you can keep a slight bend in the right knee you can release the hands here bringing the arms alongside the body with the palms face down or you can bring the hands to heart center and prayer position or you can extend the arms straight out in front of you with the palms facing each other keep the core engaged here and try to keep that left hip down so try not to over extend in the low back good take about one more breath here strong through your standing leg and then we'll step back into warrior one so the back foot is at a 45 degree angle inhale to reach the arms up one breath here just as a transition and then find warrior two so the hips and the shoulders are going to face the left side of the mats bending into the right knee and the back foot is going to be parallel to the back of the mats arms extended out wide gazing over the front middle finger soften the shoulders away from the ears make sure the weight is even between both legs come back to your breath take two more breaths here focusing on your inhales and your exhales moving into reverse warrior flipping your front palm so it's facing up bringing your left hand to the back of your leg and reaching your right arm up and over bringing your bicep towards your ear keep bending into the right knee make sure that right hip stays open lengthening through the right side of the body take one more breath here as you exhale come back through warrior two as a transition bring your hands to your hips turn to face the long ways of your mat and then turn to face the back of your mats step to the top so the right foot will meet the left foot finding mountain pose at the back of your mats inhale reaching the arms up overhead palms touch exhale forward folds inhale to halfway lift finding a flat back exhale to palm the mat step back to a high plank take a breath here moving through chaturanga as you bend the elbows inhale for your back bend exhale downward facing dog we'll take three to five breaths here pressing into the palms hips lifted up high keeping the core engaged relaxing the head and neck feel the stretch in the back of the legs and come back to your breath grounding down through the right leg lifting the left leg for three legged dog keeping the hips squared the left foot is flexed take one more breath pressing into the palms and then find warrior one stepping the left foot forward back foot spins flat 45 degree angle grounding down through the left leg and then inhale to reach the arms up warrior one bending into the left knee the left knee stays stacked over the left ankle back leg is strong palms can touch overhead or they can be shoulder width distance apart breathing into the belly taking one more breath here and then releasing the hands behind the low back interlacing the fingers pressing the heart forward drawing the shoulder blades together take a big breath in as you reach up through the crown of the head as you exhale come into humble warrior releasing the upper torso inside of the left leg maybe reaching that left shoulder for the left knee lifting the fist up towards the sky keep squeezing the shoulder blades together bringing your gaze down to the mats reaching the crown of the head down core is engaged one more breath here strong through the legs exhaling fully inhale to lift yourself up keeping the fingers interlaced and preparing to come into our balancing warrior three hips facing the front of the mat lift the back heel up off of the mat bend into the left knee to lift the right leg up so coming into that t shape with the body the right leg and the upper torso is parallel to the mats you can release the grip of the hands here extending the arms alongside your body with the palms face down gazing down at the mat or you can bring your hands to heart center or extend the arms straight out in front of you finding your balance here strong through your standing leg embrace the wobbles and use your breath to help you find your balance bending into the left knee coming back through warrior one stepping the right foot back and reaching the arms up for the sky transitioning into warrior two hips and shoulders facing the right side of the mat back foot parallel with the back of the mat and the arms are extended out wide gazing over the middle front finger bringing the weight in between both legs keeping that left hip open so making sure that left knee stays stacked over the left ankle soften the shoulders down we'll take three breaths here reverse warrior flipping your front palm reaching the right hand for the back of the leg the left bicep comes towards the left ear bending into the left knee the right fingertips are light on the back leg and you're lengthening through the left side of your body come back through warrior two bring your hands to your hips turn to face the long ways of your mats and then turn to face the front of your mat as you step your left foot forward to meet the right foot coming back into your mountain pose grounding down through your feet closing your eyes and just noticing how your body feels and gently bringing your hands to heart center finding a moment of gratitude for this practice finding a slight bow of the head bringing your chin towards your chest namaste thank you so much for joining me for this warrior yoga flow i hope that you enjoyed it and i hope to see you in the next class soon you