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Hey everyone, welcome to Yoga With Adrien, I am Adrien, and today we have a great practice,
Yoga for Beginners. This is a wonderful practice if you're wanting to get into yoga or you're
returning to the mat. Today we're going to focus on foundation as a way to grow flexibility
and create space in the body. So if you like this video and you have a good experience
or you want to return to the video, you can click the "Add to" tab below and add it to
your favorites so you can find it easy and return to the practice and see how the body
changes and how the practice evolves.
But for now, hop into something comfy and let's do foundation and flexibility.
Alright, so we're going to begin in a cross legged position. You can take a blanket or
a pillow folded up and set up so you can sit up nice and tall if you have it, if you don't,
don't worry about it. Just take a second to sort of ground down through the sit bones,
whatever that means to you and roll up through the spine. So you might drop your chin to
your chest and you might take a nice conscious mindful moment, maybe this is the first conscious
mindful moment like this of the day to roll up through the staircase of the spine, maybe
loop the shoulders up and back. And then find some space. That's the goal of today, is to
find, create space in the body. So just sit up nice and tall here, you can close your
eyes, take a moment to just trust yourself not looking at the video as we sit up nice
and tall. And take a nice breath in and find a nice long exhale out.
Again, trust yourself here. You can close your eyes and just listen to the sound of
my voice here as we sit up nice and tall, lengthening through the crown. Grounding down
through the sit bones, softening or relaxing the jaw here. Just noticing if you're clenching
there or anywhere, softening and relaxing. Deepening the breath. See if you can give
yourself permission to just be in the moment. This is easier said than done, I understand
and acknowledge that. So just give yourself permission to be in the moment, be with this
video. Know that the to-do list and the doing and the tasks that are on our list will definitely
still be there when we're done with our video. When we're done with this practice. Couple
more moments here just noticing the breath and again just giving yourself permission
to just be in the moment, to be on the mat, to take this time for yourself.
And you can keep the eyes closed here as we draw the chin to the chest, we're just going
to check in with the neck. So drawing a couple of circles with the nose. And then reversing
the circle. You might notice a little soundtrack of crunchiness back and forth as you rock
the head. And we're just kind of setting the tone, creating a vocabulary for our practice
today which is going to be find what feels good. Listen to your body and make the most
of each breath, each moment, so that when you step off the mat and into the rest of
your day, into the art of doing and the to-do lists and the tasks, you feel a little bit
more at ease, a little bit more spacious, at peace.
Alright, couple more breathes here. And then we'll bring the head back to center and draw
the shoulders up towards the earlobes, take a deep breath in and on the exhale draw them
down and away. Two more just like that, shoulders lift up, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. And on
an exhale drawing the shoulders down and away. One more, we inhale, draw the shoulders up
to the ears, and exhale, drawing the shoulder blades in together and down the back. Awesome,
draw your palms together at your heart, take a deep breathe in. Exhale, open your mouth,
let it go. Inhale, lift the sternum to the thumbs, exhale out through the mouth. One
more just like that, as if you're fogging up a window, deep breath, and exhale, let
it go. Awesome.
Releasing the fingertips gently to your sides, we're going to plant the left palm, inhale
reach the right fingertips up and over. Pause here for a couple breathes finding a nice
spacious stretch in the side body, not clenching anywhere, but keeping that space between the
left ear and the left shoulder. Then inhale, smile, and exhale, swiftly move back through
center and we'll take it to the other side. Think up and over, again, space as we press
into the sit bones, find length in the neck. So we're not holding here, we're not clenching.
But again, setting the tone for our practice and perhaps the rest of our day to find what
feels good. To move how you see fit and to really connect the body to the breath. Great.
Inhale in. Smile, follow your breath back to center and we're going to spread the fingertips
super, super wide and dive forward onto all fours. If you're sitting on a blanket or a
pillow you can now move it to the side and we'll come to all fours for a little Cat Cow.
And just remember, the foundation is that which is touching the mat or the earth, so
we're going to pay attention to our foundation now right away, pressing into the top of the
feet, pressing into the palms and press the earth away. Now just take a second here to
rock front and back. Just notice when you start to get tired and collapse. And keep
pressing the earth away, again paying attention to our foundation here. And then when you
feel satisfied, release the floodgates open and we'll begin a little Cat Cow. So inhaling,
heart radiates forward, belly drops, we feel the stretch, you can move a little bit in
the neck, in the tail. Again, setting the tone for our practice that we're going to
find organic movement here and not be so rigid, stuck. No rules. Take a deep breathe in here
and then on an exhale rather than just wham, creating this rainbow shape or this N shape,
start at your tailbone, see if you can just crawl up the spine. Slowly, again, just connecting
to the sensations, and then we can find a little rock, front and back, if it feels good.
Alright, let's continue inhaling, looping the shoulders, dropping the belly, got a little
Zenned out there, opening the heart towards the frontage of the mat. And then exhale.
Pay attention to your foundation as we move here, maybe check in with the knees, top of
the feet, press into the knuckles. Inhale, finding a little breath and movement synchronicity.
Then exhale, navel draws up and we stretch the back. Cool. One more in your own time.
Awesome.
Then we'll come back to tabletop position. We're going to bring the two big toes together
and bring the knees as wide as the mat. Great. Inhale, loop the shoulders, heart radiates
forward and exhale and send it back. Extended Child's Pose. Feel the legs. Stretch here,
forehead comes to the mat, breath. On your exhale you might allow the weight of the heart
to melt down towards the earth. And again, just pay attention to your foundation even
here. That which is touching the earth. Then on your next breath in, draw a line with your
nose, look forward, we're going to shift our weight forward, just as you did before, Cat
Cow variation here, but pressing up and out of the foundation, so we're not just collapsing
in here. We're pressing up out of the earth. Again, learning how to use our foundation
to support, to gain more flexibility and space in the body. Take a deep breathe in, follow
your breath, your exhale as you round it back again to that extended Child's Pose. Then
inhale, heart scoops forward, we breath in and exhale, send it back. One more just like
that. We inhale, pressing all ten knuckles, the palms are going to want to get tired here,
they probably are already, so just keep a nice awareness on the foundation, on an exhale
send it back.
Cool. Now we'll lift the palms up and bring them together, bring them up and over the
head kind of like a little shark fin here. Then I'm going to calm my elbows out, finding
a nice space in the side body, breathing into the arms and shoulders. Now you can find the
little rock in the ribcage here, back and forth. And if the forehead is not yet touching
the earth, the shoulders are too tight, you can bring the blanket here, just kind of lift
the earth up to you. Or you can just stay mindful, let it hover here. One more breath
cycle in and out, deepest breath you've taken all day. Awesome. Then we'll bring the palms
back down, draw the navel up towards the spine, again, nice integrated movement as we transition
always. Back to all fours.
Great, so we're going to take a second here to press away from the earth again, press
on the tops of the feet, and just check in with one hovering Cat. Some might say that's
not a beginner's pose, but it really is a great way to check in with this line from
the crown of the head to the tip of the tailbone and it also is an excellent way to again get
this kind of -- our theme for our practice today, building from the ground up foundations.
So press away from the earth again, make sure you have your alignment, wrists underneath
the shoulders, knees directly underneath the hips. And then we're going to let the knees
hover. Now the first thing that's probably going to want to go is the neck, so keep your
gaze straight down and in front, perhaps just ahead and between your two index fingers.
Draw the shoulders away from the ears, navel up towards the spine and just notice how the
body get tired here, but how we can support it by continueing to press up and out of the
foundation, by wrapping awareness through all parts of the body and of course keeping
a good attitude. One more breathe here, awesome everyone. Then exhale, lower the knees, great,
curl the toes under and walk the fingers up towards the tops of the thighs. Cool. Take
a second here to inhale, loop the shoulders forward up and back, sit your weight back
down on your heels and breath into the feet.
Nice long, smooth deep breaths. And if this is too much you can lift up for a break or
two, but we're going to take one more breath here on the feet. Then we'll spread the palms
super wide, again, nice mindful, hand to earth connection. Dive forward. Great. With the
toes already curled under, I'm going to keep the knees bent, melt my heart back, and as
if someone is lifting you up from your tail, like a momma would do to a baby cub or something,
we're going to lift up from the tail. So keep the knees bent, lift the tail up, come into
a nice first Downward Dog of the practice, take a deep breathe in, and then exhale, slowly
lower the knees. Just like that, one more time as if someone was lifting you up from
your tail. Pedal it out now, bending the knees one and then another, draw your shoulders
away from the ears. Take a deep breath in through the nose. And then exhale, once again,
slow descend back down to all fours. Cool. Bring the two big toes together again, widen
the knees as wide as your mat. Cool.
Now we're going to walk the palms in, bring the right palm to the center line. So again,
playing with our foundation, there's this tendency to collapse into the wrists, the
arms, this is why we all say, "I can't do yoga because I have bad wrists" but actually
you can do yoga and your wrists need your time and attention and love. Probably more
than you know. So here we go, pressing up out of the earth here, just practice that.
Finding that openness in the chest and the heart. Again, pressing away. Pressing into
all knuckles and really the mound of that thumb and that index finger pressing into
the earth. Cool. Inhale, open up through the left wing, left arm reaches up towards the
sky. We're going to do three of these. Open the chest, and then exhale back to center.
Don't collapse here, keep pressing away. What's happening to the tops of the feet? Pressing
up and out of your foundation as we open up again. Doesn't have to open up all the way,
it might only come to here if you're new to the practice, or maybe even to here. So just
ride your beautiful wave as you inhale open, exhale close. And one more, we inhale open,
keep pressing away from the earth and exhale close. Awesome. Walk the palms in front, send
it back for a rest. Extended Child's Pose.
Rising back up on the inhale, we're going to do the same thing on the other side. So
bringing the left palm into the center line now, taking a second to press up and out of
the foundation, again, check in with the tops of the feet. Cool. Inhale opening up to our
twist, opening the chest, the heart, we reach right fingertips up towards the sky. I seriously
doubt I was able to bring my range of motion all the way here when I was new to the practice,
so again, it might come here, it might come here, it might come here, but we're not collapsing,
we're opening up, pressing away from the earth. On an exhale, float it down and we'll do two
more of these. Inhale. Don't forget about the tops of the feet. One more, keep extension
through the crown. And exhale, float it down. Awesome. Walk the palms in front, draw the
knees back underneath the hip points, curl the toes under and again, as if someone was
lifting you up from your tail. Here we go. Now we pedal the feet here. So there's no
rush to get to the Yoga Journal ad, that's ridiculous. No offense to Yoga Journal. Just
saying no need to create a shape you've seen before, create your own shape and sensation
and I promise you will find some juicy rewards in yoga asana practice.
Pedal it out. One more deep breath in, you've got this, and then exhale, another slow descent
down to the knees. Awesome. Great. So we're going to come to the tops of the feet here,
just for a little stability and I'm going to send my right toes all the way out. Take
a deep breath here to point and flex the feet, just stretch that right leg, you might even
rotate the right ankle one way and then the other. Notice if you're collapsing into your
arms, press away. Then nice and slow draw your right knee all the way up and we're going
to slowly place our right foot -- so I only say slowly so that we're not just like, whoa,
because that happens and it's natural. So just trying to gain a little awareness here
in the beginning stages of our practice and so we can do it always. Right? So bringing
that right knee up slowly and placing it up in front. Cool. Take a second to just kind
of make sure you're on two skis rather than a tightrope. Give yourself some space, we'll
draw the fingertips to the waist line, press down with the thumbs to lift your heart up.
So nice strong front leg there. Cool. Now just notice that that front leg is over that
front ankle or perhaps lagging behind, see if you can stack that front knee above that
front ankle. Great. Then take your right thumb and pull the right hip crease back, in fact
that might change your stance, pulling it a little bit shorter than you were before.
If you're feeling like this left knee is going jazz hands then jazz knee, then you can double
up on your mat here or once again you can use your blanket to pad. I have double mats
today, so I'm good on my knee. So we've pulled the right hip crease back, we've lifted up
through the heart and then we're just going to take a second to breath here. Notice when
you feel like, whoa, hugging your thighs together, stand up nice and tall through the crown of
the head and once again use your foundation.
So there's definitely more than meets the eye here, this isn't like boring beginners
pose. Hell no. Press into the top of that back foot and feel that upward current of
energy. So we're definitely not trying to make the practice rigid, but we are trying
to find nice alignment and remind ourselves that we can do a lot with the energetic body.
So press up and out of your foundation. Find this upward current of energy, this lift,
kind of like a superhero here as we open the chest. Then you can stay here for stability
or you can test your balance a little bit by reaching the fingertips forward, up and
back. So we're pulling the thumbs back, there's no need to be tight here, you can open it
nice and wide.
Great. If you're feeling adventurous my friend, you might look up, slowly drawing the focus
up to the sky. And this is a great place to test your balance, find that foundation, pressing
into that ball joint of your front big toe. Pressing into the back foot and again maintaining
that beautiful upward current of energy. Cool. One more breath here, then exhale slowly float
the fingertips down, send the fingertips forward. We're going to pull the back toes under, this
should feel great as we lift that back knee, yeah, baby and come into our runner's lunge.
Take a second here to just move it out. Might find a little movement rocking front, back,
any organic movement, side to side. Then checking in with your alignment. Breathing into the
tight places, kind of rocking or lingering into any place that needs a little love. Cool.
Then inhale, everyone look forward, become light on the fingertips, and exhale, plant
the palms and step it back to your Downward Facing Dog. Nice and slow. Three breathes
here in and out. And then slowly lowering the knees back to the earth. Great.
Here we go again, now on the other side. Come on to the tops of the feet nice and strong,
send the left toes out long. Nothing fancy here, just checking in with that sit bone
to heel connection. Pointing and flexing the foot, maybe rotating the ankle one way and
then the other. And then bending that left knee and nice and slow. And I only say slow
so that we start to anchor in the power of awareness. So nice and slow as we let that
left foot up, if it doesn't make it all the way use your hand to find your shape. Again,
not on a tightrope but nice and spacious here. Cool, bring the fingertips to the waistline,
press the thumbs to the back to lift your heart up. Nice strong leg there. Feel free
to pad that right knee. We're going to take the left thumb, whenever you're ready and
pull that hip crease back. Again you might find that it shortens your stance a little
bit here. Left hamstring parallel to the earth. So now we have our shape, now we go beyond
the shape because yoga is not just about the shape shifting, that's not fun, it's not as
fun. It's not as rewarding. So we take a second to lift the heart, and find that upward current
of energy. We can do that by pressing into the foundation. Nice and strong. Pressing
into all four corners of that front foot. We breath here. If we feel a little whoa,
we can hug the inner thighs together, we can use the openness in the heart and maybe ground
a little weight down through the shoulder blades or the elbows. So finding that opposition.
You can stay here or reach the fingertips forward, up and back again. You can take up
as much space as you need to here. Breathing deep, nice long smooth deep breaths. If you're
feeling adventurous, draw a line with your nose, slowly look up. Hugging the inner thighs
to the midline, chest is open. Take one more breath in here, you've got this. Press into
your feet, and on an exhale let it rain down, wash it away, belly to the thigh, we come
into our runner's lunge. This is going to feel good. Yeah.
Cool, so take a second here to work it out, rocking front, back, side to side, finding
any organic movement that feels awesome to you. Breathing into the front of that right
hip crease, continuing to peel that left hip crease whenever necessary, and of course just
checking to make sure that front knee isn't straining past that front ankle too much.
How's your neck? Everyone check in with your neck. Take a deep breath in, and then we'll
plant the palms and step it back to Downward Dog once again. Pedal the feet.
Now we're going to go for a walk. So sowly walking towards the front of our mat, but
I encourage you to take this second to get your money's worth, find what feels good.
Check in with the feet, can come up onto the fingertips. Move nice and slow and then together
we'll land in a nice forward fold here. Right guys? We're doing good, let it all hang, bend
your knees, grab your elbows and rock little side to side. Keep returning back to your
breath, nice long smooth deep breaths. We'll release the fingertips and bend the knees
generously now as we draw the chin into the chest and slowly roll it up. You can close
your eyes for this, again just trust. What we're doing is we're slowly rolling up to
a standing posture, Mountain Pose. So give yourself a little bit of freedom to close
your eyes and check in with the body as we roll up into Mountain. When you arrive loop
your shoulders up and back again and bring your awareness to the feet, now the foundation
of this pose. Pressing away from the earth by drawing energy up from the arches of the
feet, you might lift the kneecaps a little. Everyone can interpret this a little bit different,
especially in the beginning stages of practice. But, again, we often just kind of think about
this part. It's like, I'm an actor, a lot of actors only think about acting from here
up, but it's a full body experience, right? So start at your feet, pressing away from
the earth, and just connecting to the shakti or the energetic current that lifts up. And
then really easy, we're going to inhale, reach the fingertips up, palms come together, and
exhale, float the fingertips down and away. Keeping awareness on the feet as you inhale,
reach up, and exhale. Float the fingertips and maybe now slightly behind the hip points.
One more time, deep breath, press up out of the earth, long spine. Exhale, fingertips
interlaced behind the tailbone here. And we can either keep the fingertips square if that
feels right or we can bring the palms together. So palms together might be a place that we
work towards so anywhere in between too is fine. Nothing fancy, just take a second here
to rock a little side to side, to open the chest, check in with the neck and the shoulders.
Don't lose sight, don't lose awareness of your foundation as we work it out here, opening,
opening. And then with the awareness, with a grace, almost with a bit of elegance we'll
release the fingertips. And inhale, reach it up. Exhale soft bend in the knees as we
dive forward all the way.
Cool. Inhale, lift to a flat back position. Today we're going to slide the palms all the
way to the top of the thighs, keep a soft bend in the knees and return to the sensations
we had perhaps in that hovering Cat. So again, pressing away from the earth, drawing the
shoulders away from the earlobes. One more breath here, nice long beautiful neck, gaze
is down for one more breath. And then slowly we'll slide the palms down the fronts of the
legs, bring the fingertips to the mat and step our right foot back to that runner's
lunge. Take a deep breath as you look forward toward the front edge of your mat. On the
exhale, slowly lower, soften that right knee to the earth. Bring the right palm in line
with the arch of the left foot here. Then notice how we're just collapsing everything
in, I'm guilty of it, I'm doing it right now. See if you can find a little integrity by
again, bringing a little awareness to your foundation, we're going to press up and out
of that right palm, even out of that left foot. And then we're going to come onto the
top of that right foot and find a little awareness there.
Cool. Moving into a twist, I inhale slowly, open up through the left wing and same thing
as before, I'm not going to collapse in, but I'm going to press up out of my foundation.
So my inner thighs are hugging together, I'm pressing into the earth, inhaling, exhale,
float it down. Two more just like this, inhale, pay attention to your foundation to float
your pose. Exhale back to center. Last one, inhale, soft, graceful fingertips here. And
exhale, release. Awesome, everyone. Curl the right toes under. We'll come onto the fingertips,
then we're going to send the sit bones up and back, straightening that left leg and
keeping that left heel on the earth. So, most of us might stay here, in fact I'm just going
to stay here, you might find a little bit of movement back and forth, you might allow
the weight of the head to relax over. If you're not really feeling a deep stretch here, you
might send it all the way back, right sit bone to the heel, but otherwise I suggest
for today keeping the hip points lifted and pulling that left hip crease back. Again,
weight of the head over. Couple breaths here. Breathing into the back of that left leg.
Then rolling through that left foot I'll slowly come back to my runner's lunge. Yeah, baby.
Lift that right knee. And look forward, deep breath in. Awesome and exhale. Plant the palms,
step it back to your Down Dog. And then we'll find a nice slow descent to the knees, back
down, shift our weight forward to our half plank. So this might take a little bit of
adjusting, but I'm wanting to lengthen the tailbone down towards the back of the knees
only to create a nice long line from the crown of the head to the tip of the tailbone.
Toes can stay on the ground or lifted, doesn't matter here. As we breath, press away from
the earth again. Then take your gaze, shift your weight slightly forward, and we're going
to hug the elbows into the side body and lower all the way down into the belly. Cool. Keep
the palms underneath the shoulders, press into the tops of the feet, press *** bone
into the earth, so again, find your foundation. And we're going to inhale, lift up into a
Baby Cobra. Exhale, forehead kisses the mat. Two more just like that. Inhale, press into
your foundation, create space as you press away from the earth, Baby Cobra, exhale, float
it down. Last one, loop the shoulders, pull the elbows back, press away from the earth.
And exhale. Forehead kisses the mat.
Awesome. Curl the toes under, hang with me, draw the navel to the spine, send the sit
bones up and back. Downward Facing Dog. Beautiful everyone. Take a deep breath in, and let it
out through the mouth. Nice and easy, we're going to step that right foot up now, into
our lunge and soften the left knee down to the earth. Cool. Same thing as before. Again
finding that foundation here as we bring the left palm now in line with the arch of the
right foot. And then softening the top of that left foot down to the earth. Great. Make
sure you're not on a tightrope here, right crease is pulling back and I inhale, soft
fingertips as I open, again I might just come to here opening the chest, maybe here, maybe
each time I grow a little more each time I do this video. But I'm keeping my foundation,
so a tendency here is that that knee is going to want to open here, so that I can open my
chest up more. No, building from the ground up, so I keep that ball joint of that right
big toe down on the earth as you inhale, squeezing the inner thighs towards the midline, opening
up. Exhale, float it down. We can also be on the fingertips here if we need. Inhale
opening up. And exhale, floating it down. If you have a block you can also be on the
block here. Last one, inhale, open up into your twist. Nice deep belly breath here, nice
purifying twist, and then exhale, float the fingertips down. Great. Come onto the fingertips,
curl the back toes under, think up and over as we rock back onto that right heel. Pull
the right hip crease back and stretch it out, feeling the weight of the head softly fall
over. Breath.
One more breath here, then slowly again rolling through the front foot, nice and slow. We'll
plant the palms and we'll step it back, coming onto all fours. Bring the two big toes together,
widen the knees as wide as the mat and send it back extended Child's Pose. So even here,
even though we consider this a resting pose, we can pay attention to our foundation. Use
our breath to find nice deep opening stretches, inhale, look forward and exhale, forehead
kisses the mat, heart melts down. Pay attention to your foundation here as you quiet the breath.
Again, taking this moment for yourself, letting go of any stress, any tension, in the body
or in the heart, in the mind. This is a beautiful pose for all levels, just surrendering to
that which is greater than you. So if you're frustrated or you have a heavy heart or a
full plate, stressed out, come into this posture, take five nice long deep breaths. Then slowly
pressing into all ten fingerprints, we're going to rock back up to all fours, walk the
knees underneath the hip points, cross the ankles, and slowly, nice and easy, use your
palms or fingertips to guide you all the way through into seated, a nice seated posture
here.
We'll cross the legs. And just a gentle twist, so the right palm comes to the left knee.
We'll bring the left fingertips behind. We inhale, lift up and out of our foundation,
find that current of energy, and then exhale, journey into your twist. So I'm not cranking
here, I'm using my foundation and this upward lift to create space and I'm using my exhale
to explore. Can even lift the hands to do a hands free version here, just making sure
that we're pressing into the outer edges of the feet, we're lifting up through the heart.
And on your exhale gently melt it back through center and we'll take it to the other side.
Left palm to the right knee, right fingertips behind. Again, so often when we come here
we just forget about the legs and the feet, so again we're paying attention to the foundation,
drawing energy up through the earth. In order to find more space, more integrity flexibility
in body, so it's kind of a great rule of thumb to just kind of think of everything from the
ground up here, especially in a twist as we use the exhale to explore, the inhale to lift
and lengthen. Can experiment on this side, too, going hands free. We'll take a nice deep
breath in and use the exhale to gently melt it back to center.
Great. Catch the palms in the knees here. And we're going to slowly draw the navel back,
chin to chest, slowly, breathe. Then palms on the knees here, I'm going to slowly release
my ankles and rock back onto a flat back position, hugging the knees to the chest. That felt
great. So we'll wrap the arms around the shins here and just give yourself a hug. Never underestimate
the power of a little hug here on the mat, it's great for the spine, great for the lower
back. Even a great little squeeze or a massage to the digestive organs here as we relax the
shoulders down, squeeze the legs into the belly.
Cool, then we'll slowly release, soles of the feet to the mat, and bring the fingertips
down so the arms are nice and straight. Now hike your heels up to where your fingertips
end here, toes pointing forward. Now last pose before we relax here, we're going to
press into the palms, press in all four corners of the feet again, remember your foundation.
As you inhale slowly lift the tailbone up, lift the hip points up toward the sky. Now
notice as we peel our foundation changes, we lift the spine up, lifting, lifting, lifting.
All the way up as far as you can go, and then exhale massaging the spine as we replace the
foundation down and release buttocks to the earth. Again, inhaling, pressing into all
four corners of the feet, we lift the tailbone up, slowly rising, and then exhale, float
it down. One more just like this, press into your foundation, but keep a sense of grace
and ease as we lift the tailbone up. Feel that stretch in the front body. And then exhale,
slowly release.
Okay, so this next time we're going to keep the gaze straight up, so don't turn your head
side to side to look to the video. Tuck the chin to the chest and we're going to inhale,
slowly rise up. Listen to the sound of my voice here as we prepare for Bridge Pose,
Setu Bandha. So I can stay here with the hips lifted for a couple of breaths. Imagine shooting
your hipbones to the back of your knees as you lift the pelvis. Now we can stay here
palms pressing into the earth or we can shimmy the shoulder blades in and interlace the fingertips
behind the tailbone, opening the chest. Breathe here. Wrists are square here, palms together,
we breathe, we press into all four corners of the feet. You can take your gaze to your
belly and look at the inhale as it stretches the belly along. Then on an exhale, with control,
with grace, let the fingertips release and make your slow exit down. Awesome.
When you arrive hug the knees to the chest one last time, give yourself a hug, rock a
little side to side. Then release the soles of the feet to the mat, extend the right leg
out long, followed by the left. If you have a blanket here you can cover up with the blankets
or you can pillow the head. It's also nice to roll a blanket up, but it behind the knees
and let the arms spill out gently to the side. Preparing for our final and most precious
posture for today, Shavasana. You can stay here as long as you like, breathing, letting
the mind be at ease, letting the heart rest, feeling the support of the earth here.
So this is really only especially after doing such an active beginners practice, pressing
up and out of the foundation, finding that integration. Here is a posture where we do
the opposite to balance it out, we allow the mind and the body to rest, we allow ourselves
the permission really to do absolutely nothing, to just be still. Just soften and release
and relax and allow and let go. And I just want to say that I know this can be the hardest
pose for some people. Particularly in a world where we're just constantly going, going,
going and doing, doing, doing. So if this is difficult for you, consider this just like
any other posture, one that you need to practice, evolve and grow. Keep allowing yourself the
permission to do absolutely nothing, hence the name the Corpse Pose. Giving yourself
this moment to relax in Shavasana.
Let the breath return to its natural rhythm, you can stay here, open yourself to a new
experience, maybe stay here a little bit longer than you even anticipated and have a great
most beautiful rest of the day. Nice work everyone. Namaste