- Hello, everyone. Welcome to Home, your 30-day yoga journey. It's Day 18, believe. Let's get started. (upbeat gentle music) Alright, let's begin today's practice on our backs. Yes. Take your time getting there. Right away, bend your knees, bring your feet to the ground. Come into our constructive rest pose. So you can walk the feet as wide as the mat so you don't have to hold your legs up. And right away let's bring the hands to the belly and just chill out for a second. So we're gonna move in today's practice. Adding another layer of vocabulary, but I'd like to invite you to just take a second to see how fast you can surrender. Lately I've been calling this a flash of surrender. How fast can you let go? And this practice has been immensely helpful for me in my recent journey and I've been implementing it into my home practice and even post run recoveries. So whatever's going on with you today just, ah, arrive. See how fast you can chill out. And if you can't, that's all right. That's great information as well. A flash of surrender. Can you start to relax everything? Close your eyes. Really land here in the moment. Honoring this time. Maybe you take a deep breath in here. And allow it to be a breath of gratitude first for yourself for showing up, for really believing in yourself and believing that this time could be valuable. On your exhalation, just allow the weight of the body to relax here for a second. Taking just but a moment to really empty your cup here. Chill out, surrender. 'Cause then you know, we're gonna fill it. So just take a couple breaths here on your own. Mmmmm. And then when you're read, continue to gently deepen the breath and we're gonna start to rock the head gently side to side, ear to ear. Getting that gentle massage in the back of the head. Welcoming a gentle, passive-ish stretch to the neck and even the trap as you rock gently back and forth. And then just notice your tempo. Notice your tempo. Cool, bring the head back to center. We'll let the knees part, we're gonna walk the feet now in line with the hips, toes pointing forward. So just keep noticing your patterns, especially with the toes, it's just a fun little, I think, experiment, a little indicator of pattern. No right or wrong, no judgment of whatever it is you're noticing. Just notice your pattern. See if you can bring your toes to point forward, heels crawl up towards the sits bones. Great, then interlace the fingers, bring them behind the head, elbows wide. Extend your thumbs so you have this nice little neck hammock. Give yourself a little massage. Yes. Start to breathe a little deeper using this shape to inspire more depth of breath. Whatever that means to you. Really breathing maybe into the rib cage. Feeling it expand. And then just take a second to notice the quality of air in the room or whatever environment you are playing in today. Maybe take a second to notice the light. The quality of light. Just expanding our awareness. And see if you can trust or believe that wherever you are today, maybe you're like squeezing in this practice like early or super late because you didn't want to miss Day 18. What if you could trust and believe that everything is as it should be? You're exactly where you're supposed to be, exactly the right time practicing, what if that were true? Just a little food for thought. Okay, we're going to give a gentle pull on the back of the neck, just creating a little gentle, gentle, gentle, gentle traction. Chin tucks into the chest, elbows get nice and wide. Inhale in, keep that gentle pull, just that gentle traction. As you exhale, lift the head, the neck, the shoulders, the elbows up high. Start to engage your abdominal wall and pause here. Low belly and upper abdominal, abdominals. (laughs) Articulate, Adriene, are coming in to do a little kiss in the center. And we're here for three, two. Look up towards the third eye and back on the one. Good, and then slowly lower down. Here we go, big inhale. Exhale to lift. Again, we're not crunching here in the neck. We're keeping neck nice and long. So you can imagine you're holding like a juicy piece of fruit between your chin and your chest. Keep the thumbs extended to cradle the neck if you're still working on building strength here. You shouldn't have any pain in the neck. Not here, not I. Gaze up and then back. Nice long neck for three, squeeze and lift a little higher for two. Squeeze and lift a little higher and then slowly lower on the one. Alright, now let's synchronize with the breath. Inhale in. Sharp exhale to lift. Inhale to lower. Exhale to lift. Lower back these flush with the mat the whole time. Inhale to lower. Sharp exhale to lift. Inhale to lower. Sharp exhale to lift, squeeze. Inhale to lower. Exhale, lift a little higher. Inhale to lower. Exhale to lift. Inhale to lower. Exhale to lift. Last one, hang with me. Inhale to lower. Exhale to lift, hold. Reach your right fingertips forward. Palms face up. Left fingertips forward, palms face up. Great. Then bring your thumbs, you're gonna slowly draw a line all the way out. Then all the way in. Look up and back as you take the thumbs all the way out in line with the shoulders. And all the way in. And one more time you got this. Soften your jaw. Excellent, hands are gonna come behind the thighs here. Go ahead and lift the feet, lift the toes, hug the knees into the chest, nose towards the knees. Keep lifted here for three. Squeeze and lift, two. And on the one, slowly release the head back down, it kisses for a moment, flash of surrender, (sighs). And then we're gonna rock and roll up and down the length of the spine. You know your body best so if this is not right for you just make it a little adjustment. And we're gonna come to meet all the way up in a nice cross legged seat. Sit up nice and tall. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. Close your eyes here. Take a deep breath in. Use your exhale to drop the shoulders down. Again, inhale to sit up a little taller. And exhale to relax the shoulders down. And one more time, listen to the sound of your breath. Big inhale. Long exhale. Cool. Come forward on to all fours. Nice and easy and make your way to Downward Facing Dog. Make sure to spread the fingertips nice and wide. Take a second here to find what feels good. Maybe play with the length of your stance today how long or how short your dog could be. Alright, ground through the fingertips, ground through the knuckles. Take a second here to find stillness. Inhale in deeply. And exhale completely. Awesome. Bend the knees. On your next inhale, carve a line with the nose to look forward. On the exhale, make your way to the top. You can step up ragdoll. You can do the baby steps, slow crawl. We'll meet in a Forward Fold standing at the top of the mat. Take a second here. Ground through the feet. If you came on to the mat with any stress or any tension, let's take a second here to breathe deep in through the nose and maybe out through the mouth. Letting some of that go, just maybe. Then bend your knees generously, tuck your chin and slowly begin to roll up, Mountain Pose. Stack up through the spine. Lift your heart. Inhale in. Take a variation of the shape that feels really good today, whatever that means to you. And then slowly shift your weight to your left foot. Peel your right heel up, just the right heel. Just take a second here to find that connection to your center, to your midline. Then you can keep the right toes on the ground or we can test that relationship, that connection to center, the Sushumna, the midline by lifting the right knee up. Just standing One-Legged Tadasana here. You can flex the right foot if you like here, right knee lifting up. Beautiful. Again, we can keep the right big toes on the ground. We're just testing this connection to center, not trying to prove anything. We're here for three, two, breathe deep. Good, on the one, release and switch. So find that gentle lift up from the pelvic floor. Find that connection of center drawing in and up. Lift your heart and when you're ready, start with just the left heel. So you can really feel that energy, that awareness spreading through all four corners of the right foot. We're lifting, lifting, lifting. We're finding that that inner work, that connection. So if this pace feels a little slow for you, good. It's on purpose. This isn't just like, oh, for those who are working on balance. This is for everyone, wink, wink, I love you. So just play here. And really trying to find this kind of like inner intrinsic work so that really we can find a different type of ease when we start to balance, right, on the arms and legs in different ways. So it's about your relationship to center. You can lift your left knee up now if you haven't already, flex that left foot. And just see, are we kind of leaning all the way into that right foot or can we find that lift, that ground, that push and pull, that little dance of opposition? Even here, breathing deep, imagining that left's hip socket going down, down, down. Great, standing One-Legged Tadasana, take one more deep breath in, inhale. And then exhale slowly lower. Right away, here we go, let's go. Inhale, reach for the sky. Enjoy. Exhale, enjoy this move all the way down. Forward Fold. Good, inhale halfway lift. Bringin' it back. Exhale, soften and fold. Awesome work. Bend the knees, plant your palms, step one foot back, then the other. Here we go. Return to Plank. Return to Plank. Not quite. Shift your weight forward. Gaze forward on the toes. Soft bend in the elbows. Squeeze and lift. Here we go. Slow and with control lower all the way down to the belly. Inhale, Cobra. Let it be small. Exhale, soften and fold. Your choice, curl the under press up to all fours or press up to Plank. Here we go. Nice and strong. Inhale in deeply. Exhale, send the hips up and back or peel the hips up and back, Downward Facing Dog. On your next inhale, lift the right leg up high. Here's our Three-Legged Dog or Down Dog splits. Claw through the fingertips, take a deep breath in. Exhale, bend your right knee, shift it forward. Come all the way through, squeezing your right knee up to your heart. Then send it back out, inhale, Three-Legged Dog. Exhale, shift it forward. Right knee kisses right elbow. Gaze straight down. Remember upper body's in Plank. Inhale, Three-Legged Dog. Last one don't rush it, nice and slow. Right knee kisses left elbow. Gaze straight down, upper body's in Plank. Good, inhale, kick it up. Now exhale, step it all the way up and through. Back knee stays lifted unless you like to lower it. We know that's an available option. Squeeze the inner thighs in the midline, sweep the arms forward, up and back. Nice high lunge here. Bend that front knee. Soft bend in that back knee to get your center underneath you. Find that loop of energy. Lifting through the front body. Grounding through the back body. You got this. Inhale in, maybe you look up. Exhale, nice and slow, come all the way down. Plant the left palm. Inhale, right fingertips up towards the sky. Big breath, big stretch here for your twist. Then exhale, right hand comes to the earth. Beautiful, we step the right toes back. Belly to Cobra or now maybe Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Move with your breath. Use your inhale to open your heart. Cobra or Up Dog. Use the exhale to transition back to Downward Facing Dog. Alrighty, once you're in Downward Dog, go ahead and anchor through that right heel and on your next breath in slide the left leg up high. Three-Legged Dog. Press into both palms evenly. Here we go. Inhale in again, lift from your left inner thigh. Lift it a little higher. Exhale, shift it forward. Left knee squeezes in towards your chest, gaze down. Anchor through the right heel, that brings you back up, Three-Legged Dog. Exhale, left knee comes up and over to kiss the left elbow. You got this. Inhale, rise back up. Cross it over, nice and slow. Careful not to rush. Slight bend in the elbows here as we kiss left knee to right elbow. Good, inhale, kick it all the way up. Nice work. With control, step it all the way up into your lunge. Remember, you can always use your hand to guide that foot all the way up. Back knee lowers if you like otherwise, let's keep it lifted. See what happens as you squeeze the inner thighs to the midline. Wake up through that center channel and here we go, reaching the fingertips forward, up and back. Front knee over front ankle. Bend your back knee to get your center underneath you. Great, energy through the fingertips. Use the exhale to relax any tension in the shoulders. Use the inhale to find a lift, expansion. Wonderful. Inhale in. Maybe you carve a line with your nose to look up. Then exhale, soften it all back down. Right hand comes to the earth. On your next breath in, left fingertips reach up towards the sky. Wiggle the left fingertips. Big twist here. And then slowly exhale, bring it all the way back down. Plant the left palm, step the left toes back. Here we go, belly to Cobra or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Move with your breath. Synchronize breath to movement. Movement to breath. We'll meet in Downward Facing Dog. Take your time. So that's the thing too, believe, believe me when I say make it your own. Take your time. If you go to a public class, don't ever let anyone rush you. Right? Meet your appropriate edge but, believe in whatever it is, whatever feedback you're getting back. Right, your intuition. Huge part of this at-home yoga journey. Bend the knees, inhale, look forward. Exhale, make your way to the top. On your next breath in, lift up halfway. Nice flat back position. Long, beautiful neck. Exhale to soften and fold. Let everything go. Root to rise here. Inhale, reach of the sky. Big breath, big stretch. Open your heart. Maybe slight back bend here. And then exhale, we stack it all back. Hands come back to the heart space and go ahead and let your fingertips come to your sides. And again, the best and most beautiful Mountain Pose here, whatever that means to you. Just notice how you feel. On your next breath in, spread the fingertips. Let's reach for the sky. Exhale, Forward Fold. Soft bend in the knees. Inhale, halfway lift, your version. Long through the neck. Exhale to soften and fold back in. Good, bend your knees, plant your palms, step or hop it back, Plank Pose. Shift it forward. Slight bend in the elbows. Belly to Cobra or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Inhale to open the chest. Moving with your breath. Exhale to make your way back, Downward Facing Dog. From Downward Dog, inhale lift the right leg up high. Exhale, bend that right knee. Squeeze it all the way up into the chest and then we're gonna step it forward into our lunge. Pivot on the back foot, Lost Warrior, what's up? Inhale, Warrior I. Reach the fingertips forward, up and back. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. We're looking for that sensation. Don't worry about what it actually looks like. Just working from the inside out here. Making adjustments based on the sensation. Great, then inhale, look up. Exhale, bend your elbows, come through those cactus arms and then we're gonna interlace the fingertips behind the back. Yay! Alright. Inhale to lift the chest. Draw the shoulder blades together. Exhale, peel the right hip crease back, send your gaze forward. And just look down into the pond, strong legs. Good, inhale in. Listen carefully, navel draws in and up. We're gonna lift the back heel, just step it up halfway. You're gonna straighten through the front leg. Peek at me if you need to. We got this. All this beautiful work in the spine, this length through the Dunda, the stick or the staff from the crown to the tail, hold onto it here. Welcome a little bit of heat. Soft bend in your right knee. Alright, we can stay on the left big toe here, sending our gaze forward, looking into the pond, or we can inhale in. Exhale, just start to slowly lift from your left inner thigh all the way up. Kicking left toes back, crown reaching forward. We have everything we need here. Hugging the low ribs in. Nice open chest. That upward lift through the front of the spine. That grounding down through the back. Maybe the left big toe stays on the ground. Maybe we work to dial the left pinky toe down as we lift the left inner thigh up. Just check it out and if you fall, you know we'll catch you here. We got it. Take one more breath wherever you are. And then exhale, slowly bend your right knee. Left toes come to the ground, plant and we come back to Warrior I. Ooh, hair toss. Inhale. Exhale, let it all go. Come all the way back down. We pivot on the back foot. Left hand comes to the earth again, and we reach right hand toward the sky. Big twist. Inhale, wiggle the right fingertips, open up through the chest. Exhale, plant the palms, take it straight to Downward Facing Dog. Maybe a little Child's Pose if that suits you best or we move through vinyasa. Belly to Cobra or Chaturanga Up Dog. Listen to your body and respond. Then we'll meet in Downward Facing Dog, take your time. Breathe, breathe, breathe. Alright, from Downward Facing Dog here we go, second side, then we're almost done, stay present. This is the good stuff. Anchor through the right heel. Inhale, lift the left leg up high. Exhale, shift it forward. Squeeze your left knee in towards your heart. Pause. And then step it all the way up whenever you're ready. Pivot on the back foot. We rise up strong. Front knee is bent, Warrior I. Strong back leg. Take a second here. Find your center. So it used to be like find the hips pointing forward, find your center and everything else will kind of come into alignment from there. Right? Working with your body, your grace. Inhale, look all the way up. Strong legs. Bend your front knee. Exhale, bend the elbows. Come through those cactus arms. Yes. Interlace the fingertips behind. Knuckles draw down and away. Keep your front knee bent for now. Open up through the chest. Yes. Inhale, look up. Exhale, think up and over. Remember as if you have a little beach ball or something here. Right in the top of the left thigh. Think up and over. We're gazing into the pond here, keeping that back foot strong. Good. Find your center. Then from here, front knee's still over from ankle. I'm gonna slowly lift the right heel up and then from center I'm gonna lift it and bring it halfway straightening through the front leg. Great, pause here. I'm not collapsed in to my left hip. I'm pressing up and out of it. Strong and steady. Open up through the chest. You can start to dial your right hip down, keep the right toes on the ground if you like here. Gaze forward. Building lots of strength. Or we can inhale in, exhale, hold on to center as you begin to lift from the right inner thigh. So we really want that right inner thigh to get some sunshine here as you slowly lift up. Soft bend in that left knee here. And just play lifting, lifting, lifting. Pressing into all four corners of the left foot. Gazing down. Nice long neck here. Not crunched. Shoulder blades drawing together and down the back body. Remember your breath. Good, wherever you are, take one more breath. Remember, if you fall, don't you worry about a thing. We'll catch you, that's why we're all here together. And then slowly bring the right toes back down, bend your front knee and let's come back to that Warrior I. Pivot on the back foot. Nice work. Inhale to reach up. Think of this as like a rinse. Exhale, let it all go. Right into your twist. Pivot on the back foot. Right hand comes down. Inhale left fingertips reach up. Breathe deep. And exhale, come all the way back down. Plant the palms if you want one more vinyasa take it here. Last call for vinyasa. Feel free to leave it and meet us in Child's Pose. Knees together, hips back, heart melts. And here we go, a flash of surrender. You decide what feels good here, you can keep the fingertips reaching forward or maybe drag the palms all the way back towards your toes allowing the shoulders to let go. Rounding forward here. Take three cycles of breath here. Count 'em out, my love. In and out, in and out, in and out. And then continue to keep a nice, soft, easy breath here. Allowing it to return to whatever feels like a natural rhythm here now, at this point in the practice. Feel your breath moving you. We're wrapping up here. So if this is not a comfortable shape for you, you can come to seated. I'd like to invite you to close your eyes and just consider what it means to wake up each day, and have a practice where you can believe in yourself. This is that practice. Thank you so much for showing up. Thank you for sharing your time and your energy with me and with all the glorious people practicing with us today. As you're ready, bring the hands to the earth. And slowly tuck your chin to roll up. Can stay on the knees here or shift to a nice, comfortable seat of your choice. Bring the palms together. And then thumbs up to the third eye. And we'll seal this one with our kiss. Take a deep breath in. And exhale to whisper Namaste. (upbeat gentle music)