- Hello everyone. 
Welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

I'm Adriene and this is Benji

and today we have a beautiful
practice for vulnerability.

So if you have a
towel or a blanket

and you want to bring
it to practice, please do.

If not, no worries.

Hop into something comfy 
and let's get started.

(upbeat music)

Okay, welcome.

So if you brought a towel or a
blanket to the practice today,

you can go ahead and 
lay it out on your mat,

perhaps for this first bit
because we are going to begin

today's session 
in fetal position.

So take your time 
coming down to the ground,

and you can choose which
side, left side or right side.

And just gonna come to lay on
your blanket or on the mat.

And whatever arm is down,
you're going to use that one,

bottom arm, as a pillow.

And if you can, right, 
every body is different.

So honor your body and the shape
of your body here right away.

But to the best of your ability,
think about creating a little

curvature in the low 
back by bringing the knees up.

So you don't have 
to come super tight.

Right, we can kind of honor

a little bit of 
space for the belly.

Let's actually do that,
all of us,

embrace that gesture,
that loving gesture.

But best you can, bring the
knees up just enough so you feel

a little bit of 
length in the low back.

Alright, and then just take a
second to get settled in here.

Can allow your top arm 
to rest wherever feels good.

Either gently on the ground,
maybe on the hip,

the thigh, the booty.

(chuckles)

And here we are, man.

We're doin' it.

Close your eyes.

Take a deep breath in.

And as you exhale,
my darling friend,

just start to notice.

Notice how you feel.

And if you ever need to 
make any adjustments here,

listen, listen to your body,
even if they're small so that

you can kind of 
soften into this first shape.

Whatever brought you to 
this practice today, trust it.

And let's lean in.

Often we get to a place where

we feel vulnerable

and it can be scary.
(chuckles)

If not downright frightening, so
this practice is designed or the

intention is to kind of hold
you and support you in that

vulnerability so that you can

learn from it.

Use it.

Find what you need

from this place of
embracing vulnerability.

As you're ready, 
I'll invite you to take

a big breath 
in through your nose.

Deep, deep, deep breath.

And just feel the ribcage kind
of expand as you breathe in.

Feel a lift almost.

And then notice the 
softening as you breathe out.

This gentle fall of the breath.

So we're just going to 
kind of play with that,

exaggerate that a bit.
Again, a big inhale in.

Feel the ribcage expand.

This gentle lift.

And a long breath out.

And just notice the softening
there, the fall of the breath.

One more just like that.
Big inhale.

Feel a little bit 
of an expansion there.

And on the exhale, soften.

Wonderful. Just take 
one more cycle of breath here

on your own just to listen.

What are you feeling?

What are you coming 
on to the mat with today?

Is there a pattern there
that when you feel vulnerable,

you tend to do the 
same thing each time?

Whether it's avoiding it,

avoiding feelings of
discomfort or sensitivity.

Just notice how you feel.

Then on your next breath in,
begin to open your eyes.

As you exhale, press the top
hand into the earth first,

and then the bottom hand 
and nice and slow

move like you love yourself, 
you're gonna slowly, slowly

come up to a 
nice cross-legged seat.

If you have a blanket 
and you want to use it here,

you can double up 
on the blanket or towel

to give a little 
lift in the hips.

Then we'll sit up nice and tall.

Find that beautiful 
length through the crown.

And even though 
for the most part,

today's practice is 
kind of low to the ground,

we're gonna work 
to really connect to

this grounding sensation.

So there's this beautiful
balance of embracing

this feeling of vulnerability

and not sweeping 
it under the rug

but working to kind of use that
acknowledgement of that feeling

to create some soft, simple
movement that grounds you.

So these things kind of working
together so that we can propel

ourself to the 
next present moment,

which could be a 
beautiful courageous moment.

It could be a beautiful 
breakthrough of honesty.

There's so many possibilities.

Thinking of
Brené Brown right now, actually.

Some of her invitations and

thoughts on vulnerability.

So that said, we find this lift
and length through the crown and

we can already here
find a little grounding, right?

So grounding isn't always 
like in a Tree Pose, right?

Vrksasana or 
something like that.

Can we find grounding 
even in a simple seat?

Gently lift 
your sternum up high.

Try to grow a little bit taller,

a little bit longer 
through your side body.

Whatever that means to you.

It kind of just changes the
way you carry yourself here,

your spine.

Then soften your gaze down
gently past your nose or you can

close your eyes if 
you feel comfortable.

Gently tuck the chin, 
finding a little more length

in the back of the neck.

Inhale in deeply.

See if you can find that 
expansion in the ribcage.

This kind of wide feeling as
you breathe in, this widening.

And then use the 
exhale to ground down.

Dropping the shoulders tagging

a little weight in 
the elbows, perhaps.

Feeling all parts of the body
that are pressing the earth,

pressing into the earth.

Continue to gently 
deepen your breath here

and just notice 
where your thoughts go.

And let's let the 
practice today be

about acknowledging those thoughts, 
acknowledging the feelings.

And just putting a 
little power, a little love,

behind the acknowledgement.

Whatever that means to you.

Then slowly slide 
your hands to your knees.

And on your next breath in,
keep the hands where they are.

You're gonna take your heart,
you're gonna lean forward,

and we're gonna just smooth the
heart forward as you breathe in.

And then around the spine,
tuck the chin,

exhale as you breathe out.

Do this super 
slow here to start.

Inhale to come forward.

And exhale to round the spine,

think Cat Pose and 
come all the way back.

So slow motion here.

Syncing up with the 
sound of your breath.

And if you can, soft gaze or
close the eyes here so you can

really feel what's going on

in the body today.
Where you might be tight.

Then whenever you're ready, 
reversing your circle.

Taking it in the 
opposite direction.

And the tempo can 
pick up just a bit,

but maybe it doesn't, maybe
you keep it nice and slow.

Excellent, then 
bring it back to center.

Align head over heart,
heart over pelvis.

You're gonna take your hands,
we're gonna bring the fingers

and we're gonna bring them right
to this strong trap muscle here.

So if you are wearing clothes,

what are you thinking?
Just kidding.

Then maybe you get your hands
underneath any straps or any

clothes and just get 
the hands on the traps and

we're just gonna 
kind of squeeze.

Allow the shoulders and 
the elbows to relax down.

So instead of being up here,
keep them kind of down.

And you're just gonna kind of

comb away at this 
muscle for a couple breaths.

If you can try to keep a nice
tall lift in the spine rather

than collapsed here.

We're finding that 
inner support system.

That support from within.

You can move the head 
a little side to side.

Continue to deepen your breath.

Eyes can stay closed here, you
can open them and just start to

notice the quality 
of light in the room.

I lit a candle today.

Maybe any sounds

around you.

Paying attention 
to the quality of air.

Good, and then when 
you feel satisfied here,

we'll sit up nice and tall

still bring the fingertips 
to your shoulders.

And just a gentle 
heart opener here.

You're gonna inhale.

Kiss the elbows 
towards each other.

If they don't, 
if they touch, great,

they don't have to touch though,
kiss them towards each other.

And then we're gonna 
reach all the way up,

open the chest, lift your 
heart up towards the sky,

and then all the way back down.

Inhale, elbows kiss,
come forward.

And exhale,

up, around and 
down, down, down.

Inhale, elbows come toward 
each other and lift up

and exhale around and back down.

Good, one more with 
the sound of your breath.

Excellent, then slowly 
release fingertips to the earth.

Just take a breath 
in here, inhale.

And exhale out 
through the mouth,

let something go.

Just notice how you feel.

Acknowledge.

Beautiful and moving on.

So here we go.
We're gonna just keep

the left heel hugging in as you

extend the right leg out long.

So we do want to invite a nice
stretch into the groin here,

but this doesn't have to be
like a gymnastics competition.

So (chuckles) it doesn't 
have to go super wide,

it can be narrow.

Then we're gonna flex the
right toes up towards the sky.

We're gonna take the 
right hand and bring it to

the top of the left thigh.

Just do your best.

Then inhale, 
send the left fingertips up

behind the left ear.

And then we're gonna go 
all the way up and over.

And then from here,
we're gonna tilt, tilt, tilt.

So we're not 
jamming into the posture.

We're coming at it a 
different avenue, different way.

Nice and slow. You're gonna 
find this side body stretch.

Really feel that length 
through the left oblique here.

And then take your gaze,
look down.

Inhale.

Exhale, draw a line 
with your nose, look up.

Just as far as you can go.

Good, and then send 
your gaze back down.

Breathe in.

Right foot is still flexed.

And exhale to look up.

And one more time 
looking down, breathe in.

And exhale to look up.

Nice, really feel a contraction
in your right side body,

your right oblique to maybe

stretch a little 
more on the left side.

Working with opposition here.

Beautiful and then slowly
bend your left elbow.

Let the weight of your left
elbow coming all the way down

be what brings you back up.

Head over heart,
heart over pelvis.

Turn your palms face up.

Take a second 
here to breathe in.

And relax your 
shoulders as you breathe out.

Awesome work.

From here, we're gonna turn our
center and the heart center so

your core center and 
your heart center over

towards your right foot.
And then nice and easy inhale,

send both fingertips 
behind the ears.

Think up and over.

And as you exhale, 
draping over that front leg.

So, if you're feeling, 
if the veil is thin today,

just notice how you feel and use
these forward folds to kind of

get closer to that.

And then 
acknowledge how you feel.

At the very least getting an

incredible stretch 
for these big muscles.

Finding maybe some 
relief in the low back.

Take one more breath in here.

Feel that nice wide 
expansion as you breathe in.

And that softening, that
surrender as you breathe out.

Awesome, tuck the chin,
engage the core.

Hug the low ribs 
in and from here,

slowly roll it up.

Beautiful, right foot comes in.

We're gonna 
switch to the other side,

send the left leg out.

Stick with the practice,
stick with the video.

Keep using the sound of your
breath as an anchor to kind of

come back to the present moment.
So take a deep breath in here.

Ooh, and a long breath out.

We're gonna flex the left 
foot and just feel it out.

Feel the weight of the 
body pressing into the earth.

If it feels hard to 
even hold yourself up today,

know that you're not alone.
There's someone else out there

also feeling that 
so stick with it.

You're doing great.

Just reconnecting to 
that inner support system.

Sometimes the simplicity 
of just sitting up tall, right,

how powerful that can be

and also how difficult that
can be sometimes, right?

When our hearts collapse 
and when we feel vulnerable.

So this is enough, doing great.

When you're ready, take that
left hand to the top of the

right hip crease or thigh,

or just do your best 
as close as you can get.

And then here we go,

left fingertips are gonna 
come behind the right ear.

I like this move.

And then we'll 
just continue this line

all the way over 
towards the left.

Left foot still 
has energy as I slowly,

slowly lean in, 
feeling that length,

that stretch, 
in the right low back,

right oblique, right side body.

And send your gaze down.

Keep reaching, breathe in.

And exhale, draw a
line with the nose, look up.

Inhale, look down.

Reach, reach, reach.

Exhale, twist.

Spiral your heart 
up towards the sky.

Inhale, look down.

Exhale, spiral it up.

Good.
Inhale, look down.

And exhale, spiral it up.

Good.
Inhale, look down.

From here, we're 
gonna bend the right elbow,

use the weight of the right
elbow to bring you back up

all the way to center.

Head over heart, 
heart over pelvis.

Flip the palms 
up towards the sky.

Just kind of open, receptive,
just notice how you feel.

Lovely.

From here, we're gonna send the
heart center and the core center

towards that left foot.
You can kind of turn here.

Feel that left 
femur kind of hug in.

And here we go
head-to-knee pose.

Send the 
fingertips behind the ears.

Inhale to reach up high.

Length through 
the front belly, front body.

And then exhale, 
coming into the fold.

You can bend this knee 
as generously as you like.

Let the right 
leg ground you here.

So a little bit of awareness
pressing down into the earth.

Then come into the fold.

Listen to the 
sound of your breath.

Relax your jaw.

Trust this time is valuable.

To come out into the posture,

take a deep breath in.

Feel that expansion.

Use an exhale to soften.

And then slowly roll it up.

Beautiful.

Center yourself on the mat.

Bring the left foot 
in to meet the right.

We're gonna allow the soles
of the feet to kiss together.

You can grab 
onto the ankles here.

Find that lift up 
through the heart.

You got it.
Inhale in.

And then exhale, navel draws in.

We're gonna round 
through this spine.

You can allow the 
shoulders to round forward.

We're just gonna let the weight
of the head bow towards the

soles of the feet.

So some practices, we really
kind of keep that flat back

or we

engage the arms to get a
deeper stretch in the groin.

Just let this be a 
little more passive,

a little more loving.

A little more gentle, perhaps.

And returning to your inhale.

Here we go, big inhale.

Big exhale.

Big inhale.

Long exhale.

Great, ground 
through the sits bones.

Ground through the 
outer edges of the feet.

Anything that's 
touching the ground here.

Press down and from 
there we rise up slowly,

stacking up through the spine.

Great, keep the hands on the
shins or ankles as you align

head over heart, 
heart over pelvis.

Take a deep breath in.

Feel that lift.

And then exhale, a softening.

Awesome.

We're gonna bring 
the knees together here.

Cross one ankle over the other.

We're gonna come 
forward onto all fours.

You can use your blanky here
to pad the knees if you like,

if it's there, or you 
can toss it to the side.

Come to Tabletop Position.

Take a deep breath in here.

Then you use your exhale to just
find that inner support again.

So instead of just 
kind of spilling out,

just notice how your body is
doing today and then see if

there are places where you
can just create a little more

support perhaps 
for the low back.

Maybe by drawing the ribs in.

Feeling that connection to
your core, your center.

Cool, then from here, walk your
hands out in preparation for

Downward Facing Dog.
Upper arm bones rotate out.

When you're ready 
to curl the toes under.

Inhale in, exhale, 
keep the knees bent as

you peel the tailbone up high.

Then bend the knees 
one and then the other.

Keep clawing through the 
fingertips and see if during

this first Downward 
Dog here especially,

you can still keep that 
connection to the front body,

that inner support system 
kind of hugging up and in

to meet the spine.

Just play, just explore.

Then on your next inhale, let
the left heel get really heavy

as you lift the 
right leg of high.

Three-Legged Dog.

And then exhale, bring it 
all the way up and through.

Step the right 
foot all the way up,

lower the left knee onto the
mat or the blanket and then just

hang out here for a second
here, maybe finding some soft,

easy movement in 
this nice low lunge.

(neck cracks) Ooh.

Front knee over front ankle.

Return to the 
sound of your breath.

Then here we go.

Squeeze inner 
thighs to the midline,

feel that lift up 
from the pelvic floor.

So again, that inner support
system coming into play here.

Then we're gonna be brave.

We're gonna be strong,

we're gonna lift 
our hearts to the sky.

So on an inhale, send your
fingertips forward, up and back.

Strong here from 
the base of the spine,

we lift up, nice Crescent Lunge.

If this is too much, hands 
can be in prayer at the heart,

or maybe hands at the waistline,

just for a little 
more stability.

Now breathe here.

Inhale to feel 
the ribcage expand.

And exhale to find a softening,
maybe relaxing the shoulders a

little down away from the ears.

Good, from here, palms 
are going to come together.

Check it out, left elbow 
over towards the right knee.

Do not crank here.
Nice, easy, gentle twist.

So remember we 
moved the head earlier,

think about drawing a line with

your nose all the way 
past your right elbow.

Good, inhale in here 
to grow a little long,

longer and taller in the spine.

And then exhale to release.

Fingertips come to the earth.
Pull the right hip crease back.

Should feel good in 
the left hip crease, too,

to pull this back to 
this runner's stretch.

Just for one 
cycle of breath here,

flex your right 
toes towards your face.

Inhale in.

Exhale out.

Awesome, then 
plant the palms here.

Come back to 
that nice low lunge.

You're gonna bring the right
hand over to meet the left.

Little Lizard variation here.

Inhale in, look forward.

Exhale, come 
right back to all fours.

Hmm, good.

You can take a 
couple circles in the hips

one way and then the other.

Keep noticing how you feel.

Hmmm.

And when you're ready 
to walk the hands out.

Upper arm bones spiraling out.

(laughs) Spiraling out?
That's me! Just kidding.

Externally rotating 
out left to right.

So biceps are 
shining towards the front.

Let's play with that today.
Curl the toes under.

Hug those low ribs in 
and when you're ready,

inhale, use an 
exhale to peel it up.

Nice bent knees as we 
lift up to Downward Dog.

When you get there,
pedal it out.

Inhale deeply.

And exhale completely.
Okay.

We're moving it around.
Here we go.

Anchor through the right heel.

So ground through 
the right heel first.

That's your anchor.

Then inhale, 
lift the left leg up high.

Exhale, step it 
all the way through.

If it doesn't 
make it in one step,

use your left hand to guide
it all the way up, no biggie.

(floor creaks)

What's up creaky old 
floor comin' to play?

And here we are.

In this present moment,
just find a soft sway,

maybe just an easy 
movement left to right.

Stick with it, 
you're doing great.

Find your breath.

And let's engage 
front knee over front ankle.

We're gonna squeeze 
inner thighs to the midline.

You literally feel this
slight zipper up effect, right?

We're kind of lifting 
from the pelvic floor,

finding that inner support
system and then from there,

everything starts to kind of
hug in and that's where we lift

fingertips forward, up and back
or maybe hands at the heart or

hands on the waistline.

Breathe here.

Opening up, fully vulnerable.

(laughs) Lifting the 
heart to the sky.

Long Puppy belly.
Take a deep breath in.

Feel that lift, that inner
support system coming to play.

Feel things turn 
on and then exhale,

feel that soften.

Relaxing any tension.

Good, inhale in again.

And exhale, palms are gonna
kiss together and nice and easy,

bring the outer edge 
of the right elbow to

the outer edge 
of the left thigh.

And you don't 
have to crank today.

You don't even need to try to
get the thumbs to the center.

Just let this 
evolve nice and slow.

So you're gonna take your nose
and draw a line nice and slow

past your left elbow.

Then find that
wide breath here.

Ooh.

And slow and steady 
with the breath out,

we will release.

Excellent, excellent.
Pull the left hip crease back.

When you're flex the 
left toes to the face.

One cycle of breath 
here in the runner's stretch.

Big inhale.

Long exhale.

Good, then rolling 
through that left foot.

Bring the left hand 
around to meet the right.

We're in a nice,
low Lizard here.

Inhale in deeply.

And exhale.

Awesome. Use your 
hands on the earth

and a connection 
to center to step

the left knee back 
onto the mat or blanket,

Tabletop Position.
Again, just shake it out here.

Bump the hips 
a little left to right.

You can draw circles 
one way and then the other.

Awesome work 
and then guess what,

walk the knees 
together really together.

Inhale in, exhale, 
send your hips back.

And you're gonna walk the
fingertips all the way to the

front edge of the mat 
as you allow your heart

and your head to bow.

Child's Pose, your version.

Now, let your 
breath move you here.

See if you can feel the skin
of the back body stretch

as you breathe in.

And that softening 
that gentle just dropping

as you breathe out.

And that's it, my friend.

A couple more 
breaths just like that.

Feeling the rise and the fall.

The rise of the inhale.

And the fall the exhale.

Couple more breaths here in your
own private little love cave.

What do you need, 
what can we just get out?

What do we need to
just get it all out on the mat?

Maybe even leave it on the mat.

Excellent, carve a line with 
the nose, look forward.

Claw through the fingertips,

we're gonna pull 
our heart forward.

We're gonna curl the toes under,

we're gonna extend 
the right leg back.

We're gonna curl the toes
under, extend the left leg back.

What? Plank Pose, why?

Press away from your yoga mat.

Hug the low ribs up and in.
Try to find this hollow body.

Gaze straight down.
You're not here for long.

Breathing in, find that lift.

Even in the hard shape.

And then find that 
soften with this challenge.

Soft bend in the elbows as
you breathe in, feel the lift.

You can exhale, feel the soften.

One more time, inhale in deeply.

And exhale, you did it.

Slowly come to the knees, we're
gonna swing the legs around.

We're going to 
grab the blanket now,

and we're going to bring 
it to the front of the hips.

You can also use it as a pillow
if you need the neck support,

but I'm gonna encourage us to
bring the weight of the blanket

or the towel to 
the hip creases here

as you come to 
lie flat on your back.

Great, and you can even 
put your hands there for

a little more weight 
here on the hip creases.

Or if it feels best to maybe
have the hands on the belly or

the heart, 
might give that a try.

Inhale in here.

Exhale, relax the weight of your

body completely 
and fully into the earth.

Close your eyes.

Allow the tongue to gently relax
in the base of the mouth here.

Soften through your jaw,

soften through the 
skin of the forehead.

And after a 
couple deep breaths here,

just allowing the 
weight of your body

to relax fully into the earth.

Notice the parts of your 
body that are being held.

By your yoga mat, by the ground.

And then see if you can
relax into that a little more,

whatever that means to you.
Maybe softening any areas

where you might 
be holding or gripping.

Just see if there's 
little more give there.

On your next inhale,
listen carefully,

you can move slow,

slowly reach your 
fingertips up towards the sky.

And as you exhale, you're gonna
cross one arm over the other.

Doesn't matter which one.

We're gonna end with 
a little embrace here.

So you might
give yourself a hug.

And you might be 
like, "Oh man, Adriene,

"this was so good until 
you asked me to hug myself."

But just give it a go.
See what happens.

Let's tell our brains, 
"It's all good."

Even when it's not

seemingly (chuckles) 
a feel good moment.

I'm allowed to feel 
the way I'm feeling.

Take one more moment 
here to feel your own embrace.

And then slowly, we'll release.

We're gonna hug the 
knees up into the chest.

So if you have the blanket,
you can pull it to the side.

Then from here, 
turn onto one side,

any side, back to 
that fetal position.

And if it feels 
appropriate for you,

if not, it's okay, but if it
feels appropriate for you,

begin to gently lift the corners
of the mouth just slightly.

Notice what 
thoughts come up here.

And then using the top arm to
press into the earth first,

bottom arm to press 
into the earth second,

we'll rise back up to our seat.

Bring the palms 
together in prayer.

Thank you so much 
for sharing your time

and your energy

and yourself.

You're honest to God self with
me and with all the beautiful

people practicing 
around the world together.

Let's take one final breath.

Inhale in.

And exhale to bow.

Take good care.

Namaste.

(upbeat music)