- Hi, everyone.
Welcome to Home, your 30-day yoga journey.
It's Day 19.
Drum roll, please.
(drumming)
Balance.
Let's get started.
(upbeat gentle music)
Alrighty, my friends,
let's begin in a nice, comfortable seat.
Welcome back.
As your ready, sit up nice and tall.
Close your eyes and just take a moment here to tune in.
Notice how you feelin' today.
Go ahead and use this moment to acknowledge whatever it took
(chuckles) to get here.
Some days a bit easier.
Some days a bit more difficult.
But perhaps it is true that the hardest part is now over.
You're here, you've pressed play,
you've landed
and you can allow the practice to do its thing,
simply be present
as best you can along the way.
We'll, of course, use our breath
as a tool to anchor
one present moment leading to the next.
Take a deep breath in here.
Inhale, big, big, big, big, big.
And exhale nice and slow, long breath out.
Inhale, big, big, big, big, big.
Lift your heart, lift your head.
And exhale long, slow breath out.
And one more cycle,
this time just notice where you might be clenching.
Just kind of a pattern or habitual thing,
or maybe it's really
a bit of tension in the body today.
Big breath in if you haven't already.
And then use your exhale to really soften any areas that you
might feel like you are holding or clenching.
Cool. Then we'll slowly open the eyes.
We're gonna bring the fingertips to our sides.
We're going to bring back this little synchronization.
Pull the pinkies back and when you're ready,
inhale, here we go, lifting the arms up halfway.
So wrists are in line with the shoulders.
Exhale, palms come together.
Today as you bring the palms together think about lifting
your sternum up to meet your thumbs.
So we're reinforcing that lift.
Chin to chest keep the sternum lifted,
even though you're bowing the head.
And then inhale, reach fingertips all the way up.
Think about reaching from your side waist.
Side waist to the shoulders, shoulder to the elbow,
elbow to the wrist, wrist to the fingers and beyond.
And then exhale, press it down with energy,
here we go.
All the way to the earth.
Inhale.
Fingertips reach out.
Exhale, hands come together.
Namaste.
Chin to chest. Reach behind.
Inhale, long puppy belly.
Think long belly as you reach up.
Exhale, float it down.
Inhale.
Fingertips left to right.
Exhale, palms together in prayer.
Chin to chest, reach behind.
Inhale, all the way up.
And exhale float it down.
Marrying the action to the breath,
the breath of the action. Reach it out, breathe in.
On your exhale palms come together.
Chin to chest.
Keep the heart lifted.
Inhale all the way up, listen carefully,
reach, reach, reach.
Exhale, we're gonna take a twist to the left.
Right hand to the left knee, left fingertips behind.
Try to keep the heart lifted here.
Tuck the chin slightly.
Inhale to sit up a little taller.
Exhale to draw the navel in.
Maybe gently look past your left shoulder.
Inhale in again, lift your sternum.
And exhale, slowly release, come back to center.
Fingertips on the earth, at your sides.
Here we go, inhale.
Send them out left to right.
Exhale, palms come together.
Namaste.
Chin to chest. Reach behind.
Big inhale.
Long belly reach, reach, reach.
On the exhale, twist to your right, nice and slow.
Ooh, my shoulder.
Inhale to lift the heart.
Exhale, little bit of a journey into the twist.
I'm gonna keep reminding you there's never really any need,
I just don't see it to crank or push in these twists
so keep it nice and easy. Work from the inside out.
Take your time. Keep finding that grace.
Alright, inhale.
Use your exhale to bring it back.
Awesome, bring the palms together.
Let's bow the head to the heart.
Inhale in deeply here.
Exhale, empty it out.
Pause here. Notice how you feel.
So sometimes a path to balance
is not in the doing all the
things that we're told
to do for our well-being but in the
listening or the undoing even.
So taking these moments
to really pay attention.
Again, notice where you might be gripping
or holding anything at all.
And then inhale, drop that breath down into your belly.
Exhale to release and come forward,
Downward Facing Dog. Take your time.
If you want to sneak in some little Cat-Cows before you head
up that way,
you know I'm all for that.
Take your time.
Start to amp up the breath.
Make that inhale a little bit longer.
See if you can extend the exhale as well.
If you're working in some spinal flexion in Cat-Cow,
go ahead and make your way to Downward Dog.
Start to ground through the fingertips.
Remember, upper arm bones rotate out and then we'll balance that
external rotation with the inner rotation of the femurs,
the thigh bones, knowing of course,
that starts at the feet, the ankles,
the shins, the knees, the hips.
Here we go. Inhale in deeply.
Exhale, melt your heart towards the tops of your thighs.
It's okay to bend the knees generously here.
Good, make sure you're not holding in the head or the neck.
So it's one thing if you want to peek at me,
I got you, but then make sure
you take a couple solid breaths here.
Each practice in Downward Dog, do check in.
Make sure we're not gripping or holding in the neck,
cutting off that flow of energy to the crown.
You're here for one more breath. You're doing great.
Excellent, tuck the chin.
Slowly shift forward into Plank.
You got this.
Walk the toes out. Take a nice wide stance.
Make sure you're not too narrow here.
Hips, excuse me, toes are as wide as the hips or wider.
Wrists underneath the shoulders.
We're gonna puff up through the upper back body.
We're gonna send the heels out, way out,
crown of the head reaching way forward.
Inhale in deeply here.
And exhale, bending the elbows,
lowering all the way to the belly with control.
Great. Press into the tops of the feet.
Drag the hands in line with the rib cage.
Squeeze those elbows into the side body.
Tuck the chin, inhale,
press into the pubic bone and roll up, Cobra.
Keep it nice and low.
And exhale, forehead kisses the mat.
Tuck the chin, think about uncurling here.
Press the pubic bone into the earth.
We rise up, breathe in.
Maybe Cobra grows a little taller.
And exhale forehead kisses the mat.
Keep squeezing those elbows in.
Claw through the fingertips and again,
inhale, we rise up, Bhujangasana.
On the exhale it crests and falls.
Forehead kisses the mat.
Beautiful.
Nice and easy here, you're gonna press up to all fours.
Inhale in, exhale, Tabletop Position.
Walk the knees underneath the hip points.
Wrists still underneath the shoulders.
Oh, what's up creaky old floor?
Are you there?
Nope. No, okay.
(floor creaks) Oh, there we go.
Alright, that's for like O.G.
Yoga with Adriene community.
Alright, here we go.
Front body lifts up. (floor creaks)
(laughs) Now it's really coming into play.
Front body lifts up to meet the back body and peek at me if
you're confused about what that means.
So here I go of my beautiful natural curvature of the spine
doing its thing with gravity.
I'm gonna draw my navel up, hug the little ribs so that my lower
back can lengthen and it's this feeling of kind of sucking up my
front body to meet my back body.
It's a bit of an odd image when
you're not like in the room together.
So, here we go.
Tabletop Position.
Inhale, kick the right foot out.
Keep the right toes on the ground here to start.
In fact, let's do a little sawing motion front and back
just to reinforce this connection to Dunda.
Start to strengthen through the wrists.
Great, then we'll find stillness.
You're gonna inhale.
Exhale, lift the right heel up.
Think about keeping your right pinky toes dialed
down towards the ground.
Adding the left arm, inhale,
left thumb up towards the sky, pinky down.
Reach forward as if you're shaking someone's hand.
And exhale, bring it all in. Rounding through the spine.
Good, inhale.
Extend, expand.
Exhale, draw it in.
Pressing into the top of your left foot for stability.
Inhale, extend.
Exhale, navel draws up to the spine.
Beautiful. Inhale, extend.
And exhale, draw it in.
One more, you got it. Inhale, extend.
And exhale, draw it in. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
Try to touch your right heel to your right glute.
Good and then release.
Take a second here if you need to rotate the wrists, you can.
Okay, don't give up on those wrists.
You know, maybe you're not used to being on your hands so we
can't expect it to just be like, oh, sensation free.
We're gonna build some strength and stability there.
Alright, resetting, finding that Tabletop.
When you're ready, inhale in.
Exhale, navel draws up to the spine,
neck nice and long.
Inhale, kick the left foot out.
Let's keep the left toes on the ground here to start.
We'll find that rocking sensation front and back here.
This is a great time to just check in with your hands too.
Also make sure that the upper arm bones are rotating out.
You want your elbow creases shining towards the front of the
room rather than being here.
Just nice, mindful of placement.
Then press into the top of your right foot.
Here we go. Inhale in.
Exhale, lift up.
Left heel, left toes dialing down towards the ground so that
hip can stay somewhat level.
Lots of awareness here.
We're not leaning into the right side of the body.
We're pressing into both palms evenly.
And then we can stay here working just the leg
or let's add that right arm if you're ready.
Inhale, extending forward.
Try to keep that right shoulder plugged in.
Hug the low ribs up and in.
You're doing great. Inhale.
Exhale, bring it all in.
No need to rush here. Inhale, extend.
Exhale, bring it in.
Inhale, extend.
Press into the top of your right foot.
And exhale navel draws up.
Inhale, extend.
Exhale, draw it in.
Inhale, extend.
Exhale, draw it in.
One more, finish strong. You got it.
Inhale.
Exhale, squeeze and lift, squeeze and lift.
Definitely defying gravity here. Squeeze and lift.
Try to reach your left heel towards your left glute.
Strengthening that hamstring.
Yeah, baby. Come back down.
Awesome. Here we go. Bring the big toes together.
Knees as wide as the yoga mat.
Send the hips back.
Reach the fingertips forward.
We're gonna tent pole the palms.
That just is a phrase that means put a little pole in the center
of your palm, lift your wrists up.
Keep your fingertips on the ground though.
It's almost as if you're clawing into the earth.
And then from here, we're gonna draw the chin into the chest,
but keep the wrist lifted.
Should feel really good.
Press into your pinkys.
Even if the forehand doesn't
come towards the earth, that's alright.
Just allow the weight of your head to go here.
Breathe into the low back.
Breathe into the belly.
So active arms.
Beautiful, press in to the tops of the feet.
Plant the palms, slowly rise back up.
Walk the knees underneath the hip points,
curl the toes under and as you're ready,
follow your breath, hips up high and back.
Downward Facing Dog.
Inhale in deeply here.
Exhale, nice cleansing breath out through the nose or mouth.
Good. Bend your knees.
Inhale to look forward.
Exhale to make your way to the top.
You can crawl, baby step, hop,
float, ragdoll.
Feet together today, really together.
You're gonna zip up through the legs,
feel this connection from the arches of your feet all the way
up through your inseam.
Then bend your knees just slightly.
Listen carefully, think about lifting your hip creases up
towards the sky so you feel a little more spaciousness in
the backs of the legs.
Then clasp opposite elbow with opposite hand and take a second
here with the legs zipped up
so you have to hold on to your balance.
Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
Take it to one side and then the other, nice and slow.
Keep thinking of lifting your hip creases up high towards the
sky, zipping the legs together.
Protip, slow it down.
Alright.
Back to center.
Go ahead and release it.
Bend the knees generously.
Tuck the chin and slowly roll it up.
Enjoy.
Squeeze the legs together.
Open the palms forward. Lengthen through the crown.
Take a deep breath in.
And use that exhale to
relax your shoulders down, down, down.
Great, lead with a thumbs here.
Inhale, palms facing each other as if you were holding a big
beach ball up and overhead.
Volcano pose. Zip through the legs.
Thumbs back, pinkies forward.
Go ahead and open up here once you land so you can create more
spaciousness in the shoulders.
Now zip up through the legs, inhale in.
Exhale, nice and slow palms kiss together.
We're gonna slice right down the midline today,
returning to this so nice and slow.
Inhale halfway lift your version.
Pull back with the hip creases, reach forward with the crown.
Exhale, soften and fold.
Step the right foot back. Just the right foot.
Back knee lowered or lifted.
Inhale, we rise up.
Palms facing each other. Reach for the sky.
And then exhale, check it out,
we're gonna send the fingertips to the ground.
Pull the left hip crease so both legs are straight here.
Then bend your right knee, step it up,
come into that Pyramid Pose.
Inhale to find extension.
Lengthen the spine, gaze forward.
Exhale to soften and fold in.
Take one breath here.
If this is a little too much, you can return to this runner's
stretch that we know so well.
Alright, big inhale in and out.
Then we'll use the fingertips on the earth and a connection to
center to come right back down to a nice low lunge.
Inhale, open the chest, look forward.
Exhale to plant the palms, step it back to Plank.
Inhale to look forward, come forward on the toes.
Again, remember, you can always lower the knees here,
but nice and strong in your core.
Deep breath in.
Exhale to lower all the way down to the belly.
Inhale, Cobra, let it grow.
And exhale to soften and fold back down towards the earth.
Curl the toes under inhale in, keep your gaze down.
As you exhale, press up to Plank.
Super strong.
Deep breath in.
Listen carefully, exhale, lower all the way back down.
Inhale in, stay here.
Toes curled under.
Exhale, press up to Plank.
Inhale in.
Exhale, lower down to the belly.
Last one, you got this. You are strong.
Inhale in.
Exhale, power up to Plank and Downward Facing Dog.
Nice work.
Shake the head.
Smell your armpit.
Stay present.
Alright, bend the knees. Inhale to look forward.
Exhale to make your way to the top.
Feet together, really together.
Zip up tight.
Inhale halfway lift, your version.
Nice, long, beautiful neck.
And then exhale to soften and fold.
Fingertips come to the earth. We step the left foot back.
Back knee lowered or lifted.
Inhale to rise up strong with your breath.
Big inhale.
Exhale, float it down.
Fingertips to the earth.
Peel back with the right hip crease,
straighten the front leg. Take your time here.
When you're ready, step the back foot up and in,
Pyramid Pose.
Again, other option here would be in your runner's stretch.
Nice and grounded through their feet.
Inhale, look forward, find extension,
a little bit of length. Open up through the chest.
Exhale to fold in.
Nose toward the knee.
That's just like the intention. Don't worry if it gets there.
Cycle of breath here, in and out.
Stay grounded through the feet.
Then find a bend in that front leg,
fingertips come to the earth.
We kick the left foot back into that nice low lunge.
Keep your core lit here as we open up,
inhale, look forward.
Exhale, plant the palms, step it back.
Shifting forward, belly to Cobra.
Nice and slow.
Use an inhale to open your heart, lift up.
And using the exhale to slowly lower.
Okay, here we go. You can do this on your knees.
Curl the toes under.
Inhale in.
Exhale, navel drives up to the spine as you press up,
Plank.
Top of a push-up.
Great, inhale in.
Exhale, slowly lower with control.
Inhale in.
Exhale, press it up.
Inhale it at the top.
Exhale, slowly lower with control.
Inhale in.
Exhale, press up, power up.
This time quietly whisper to yourself,
"I am strong."
I am strong.
Downward Facing Dog.
Inhale lots of love in here.
Exhale lots of love out.
On your next inhale lift the right leg up high.
Exhale, step it all the way up.
Pivot on the back foot. Warrior II.
Leading with the left fingertips forward, up and back.
Sink into that front leg. Take up space here.
Find your breath.
Then inhale, reach the right fingertips forward, up and back.
Keep that front knee bent. You got this.
Strong and steady. Peaceful Warrior.
Listen carefully, hug the low ribs in.
Right elbow's gonna come to the top of the right thigh,
left fingertips to the sky whenever you're ready.
Big breaths, strong legs, reach it up.
Good, option to take their right fingertips
to the inner arch of the right foot.
Option to take the left fingertips all the way forward.
Nice bright line from the outer edge
of the left foot to the left fingertips.
Breathe deep wherever you are.
Inhale, wiggle the left fingertips.
Exhale to bring it all the way back down.
Find your twist by taking the right fingertips up towards the
sky as you breathe in.
And then use your exhale to bring it back to the lunge.
Plant, step the right foot back.
Straight to Downward Facing Dog or moving belly to Cobra,
Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog.
We'll meet in Downward Facing Dog.
Hips up high and back.
You can also take Benji's
version of Downward Facing Dog right now.
(chuckles)
On your next inhale,
let's take the left leg up high.
Exhale to shift it forward, come all the way up.
Pivot on the back foot.
Lead with right fingertips reaching forward.
Front knee stays bent, up and back, Warrior II.
Strong.
Back toes are turned in.
We're working on this connection from the base of the spine to
the top being in a straight vertical line.
So if you're leaning forward here,
pull it back, my darlin'.
Press into the outer edge of your back foot.
So strong foundation.
Now that we have the strong foundation,
send the left fingertips forward,
up and back, Peaceful Warrior.
Tuck the chin slightly, hug the low ribs in.
Then navel draws in from center.
We bring the left elbow to the top of the left thigh.
Right fingertips up towards the sky.
Extended Side Angle, your version.
You can stay here or maybe bring the left fingertips down.
Maybe right fingertips all the way up.
Creating a nice line from the outer edge of the right foot all
the way through the side body and out the right fingertips to
infinity and beyond.
Take a deep breath in.
You got this. Wiggle the right fingertips.
Use your exhale to dial it all the way back to the lunge
right in to your twist.
Right hand to the earth.
Left fingertips towards the sky.
Big breath in.
Open your heart.
And then exhale all the way out.
Plant the palms, step the left toes back.
Big breath in here.
Exhale with control, lower all the way down.
Squeeze your elbows in. Here we go.
On the breath, inhale, rise up, Cobra.
And on the exhale,
it crests and falls with control.
Awesome. Slowly press up to all fours.
You're gonna walk your knees wide,
walk on the toes together, and then curl them under.
Then walk the hands in and we're gonna slowly lift up knees wide,
toes together.
Cool?
Alright, so we have options here.
First option everyone should take,
which is just to lift the corners
of the mouth just a hair.
Take a deep breath in. Long breath out.
Notice if you're dumping all of your weight into your
fingertips, start to light up this energy that
we've been cultivating through this whole journey.
You got it.
So the first thing you can do is just to start to light up that
energy and stay with like one or two fingers on the ground.
You might get to a place where you bring your palms together,
squeeze the heels together, lift up from the pelvic floor,
and we come here to a toe stand.
Check it out.
So we're here just working, working.
Here working, working.
Squeezing, squeezing, squeezing.
Remember the squeezing of the legs right
from that first Mountain? Find that here, that lift.
You can even lift your center a hair and that might actually
help, even though it seems counterintuitive,
seems harder.
Okay.
And then we can take the palms forward.
Third option and work in an arm balance, Bakasana.
So nice wide stance with the hands,
upper arm bones rotate out.
We're gonna send the gaze forward.
All this work we've been doing of Dunda lengthening,
lengthening, see ya, Benji!
Love you.
We want to keep the gaze out.
If you keep the gaze in then
you're gonna do a somersault.
So we're breathing here.
We're gonna work wherever we feel good today.
And I'll guide you through the practice of Bakasana
if we want to get a little taste.
So upper arm bones rotate out, gaze forward.
We lift the center, we walk the knees close
into the armpit chest.
All the work we do in the feet so good for these asanas, right?
It's not just your core and your arms.
Alright, so wherever you are, keep breathing.
Nice, long, smooth, deep breaths.
If you want to give Crow a try
let's walk the knees up towards the armpit.
Keep the toes together and just keep your gaze forward as you
find this sawing motion front and back.
Front and back.
And maybe this is all we work with today.
Working up a bit of tapas, a little heat.
And then maybe you find, maybe one foot comes off the ground.
And then maybe the other.
Keep breathing.
You got it.
Just notice where you are today and then maybe,
maybe we lift the toes up.
Play around just for a bit.
And if you need to take a break, that's alright.
Deepen your breath.
And then if you're working in the Crow,
Bakasana, go ahead and come back out.
If you're in the toe stand, let's meet everyone with the
hands back on the earth.
Then walk them out, out, out.
Feel the stretch in the low back.
We're gonna slowly bring the knees back into the center,
press into your toes.
Protect the knees.
Here we go, knees kiss, soft landing and then we're gonna
swing the legs to one side, any side,
and send the legs out long and in front.
Good, take the palms to the tops of the thighs,
sit up nice and tall as you loop the shoulders,
excuse me, forward, up and back.
Deep breath in as you flex your toes with your face.
And then exhale, point the toes, slide your hands all the way
down and bow inward.
So we're not really going for
like the peanut butter and jelly move.
That's like O.G. yoga.
Just going for a bit of a reverent bow
and a gentle curvature in the spine.
You can totally grab a hold, go for the gold,
but find what feels good, for sure, here.
Okay, a few closing breaths here.
If you have a little extra time after today's practice,
you might try ending with Nadi Shodhana,
alternate nostril breathing.
Particularly if it's towards the end of the day
or if you're just feeling a bit anxious.
I will link to it.
Take one more deep breath in.
Use your exhale to slowly roll up, rise up.
You can either come to lie flat back position or cross at the
ankles and sit up nice and tall.
Take a second to scan the body.
Notice how you feel.
Then slowly bringing the palms together.
Thumbs up to the third eye.
Inhale lots of love in.
And exhale lots of love out.
I love this idea or just I love when I remember on any given day
that balance is my natural state.
So this idea of coming home really to me,
it just makes a lot of sense.
I'm not trying to achieve my balance.
I'm trying to return back.
Back to it.
Balance is my natural state.
Let's take one final breath in together.
Here we go, big inhale.
And exhale to bow.
Namaste.
(upbeat gentle music)