1 00:00:00,334 --> 00:00:02,803 - Hey, everyone, and welcome to Yoga With Adriene. 2 00:00:02,803 --> 00:00:04,838 I'm Adriene, and today we're gonna continue 3 00:00:04,838 --> 00:00:06,707 our Foundations of Yoga series 4 00:00:06,707 --> 00:00:10,744 with Uttanasana, also known as the Forward Fold. 5 00:00:11,612 --> 00:00:13,747 Very soothing, grounding, awesome pose, 6 00:00:13,747 --> 00:00:17,451 so hop on the mat and let's swan dive right in. 7 00:00:17,451 --> 00:00:20,020 (upbeat music) 8 00:00:31,465 --> 00:00:33,033 For Uttanasana, the Forward Fold, 9 00:00:33,033 --> 00:00:36,203 we're going to start in our Mountain Pose 10 00:00:36,203 --> 00:00:38,338 which we did a video for last week, 11 00:00:38,338 --> 00:00:40,173 so you can refer to that video 12 00:00:41,041 --> 00:00:43,610 to get the foundations of Mountain Pose. 13 00:00:43,610 --> 00:00:45,293 So I'll quickly just go through my 14 00:00:45,293 --> 00:00:46,813 checklists, if you will, 15 00:00:46,813 --> 00:00:48,215 here as I lift and lengthen 16 00:00:48,215 --> 00:00:50,083 up through the crown of the head, 17 00:00:50,083 --> 00:00:51,952 spread my weight evenly 18 00:00:51,952 --> 00:00:54,154 between all four corners of the feet. 19 00:00:54,154 --> 00:00:56,223 Lifting the toes helps with that. 20 00:00:57,057 --> 00:01:01,295 Tucking my pelvis in to meet my pelvic bone, 21 00:01:01,295 --> 00:01:03,363 and then finding that natural lift in the heart 22 00:01:03,363 --> 00:01:05,491 as my shoulder blades squeeze 23 00:01:05,491 --> 00:01:07,901 in and together and down. 24 00:01:07,901 --> 00:01:09,469 Chin parallel to the earth. 25 00:01:10,871 --> 00:01:12,439 For beginner's Forward Fold, 26 00:01:12,439 --> 00:01:15,575 I would recommend taking your paws to your waist 27 00:01:15,575 --> 00:01:18,712 and maybe even hooking your thumbs behind your waistline. 28 00:01:18,712 --> 00:01:19,880 In fact, I'll turn to the side here 29 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,683 just so we can demonstrate this a little more clearly. 30 00:01:23,617 --> 00:01:26,920 I'm tucking my pelvis in, drawing my navel in, 31 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:28,221 stacking the spine, 32 00:01:28,221 --> 00:01:30,891 and coming to this, like, Superhero Pose. 33 00:01:30,891 --> 00:01:34,194 In kids' yoga we call this, like, Wonder Woman or Superman. 34 00:01:34,194 --> 00:01:35,862 Shoulder blades squeezing together, 35 00:01:35,862 --> 00:01:38,298 I'm gonna inhale, extend through the crown of the head. 36 00:01:38,298 --> 00:01:40,634 Now, as I dive into my Forward Fold, 37 00:01:40,634 --> 00:01:42,736 I'm gonna keep pressing into my heels. 38 00:01:42,736 --> 00:01:44,705 I'm gonna keep drawing this energy up 39 00:01:44,705 --> 00:01:47,341 through the arches of my feet just like I establish 40 00:01:47,341 --> 00:01:50,911 in Mountain Pose so I have an active body lifting. 41 00:01:50,911 --> 00:01:52,145 So I'm grounded through my heels, 42 00:01:52,145 --> 00:01:54,281 but I'm lifting and lengthening up towards the sky. 43 00:01:54,281 --> 00:01:55,374 Just energetically, 44 00:01:55,374 --> 00:01:57,584 subtle body lifting, lengthening. 45 00:01:57,584 --> 00:01:58,418 Okay, here we go. 46 00:01:58,418 --> 00:02:00,787 I inhale, lifting through the crown of the head. 47 00:02:00,787 --> 00:02:03,090 As I exhale, I'm gonna slowly, 48 00:02:03,090 --> 00:02:05,192 keeping this nice lift in my heart 49 00:02:05,192 --> 00:02:07,728 and a nice, straight spine, I'm gonna move forward. 50 00:02:08,695 --> 00:02:10,663 The tops of my thighs are drawing up, 51 00:02:10,663 --> 00:02:12,177 kneecaps drawing up, 52 00:02:12,177 --> 00:02:13,467 navel drawing in. 53 00:02:13,467 --> 00:02:16,403 I begin to shine my sit bones towards the wall behind me, 54 00:02:16,403 --> 00:02:18,572 and I'm squeezing my shoulder blades together, 55 00:02:18,572 --> 00:02:20,841 moving nice and slow so I can really be honest 56 00:02:20,841 --> 00:02:22,642 about what this journey is like. 57 00:02:23,877 --> 00:02:27,114 It's a tough thing sometimes in yoga to really witness 58 00:02:27,114 --> 00:02:29,816 what the body is actually experiencing 59 00:02:29,816 --> 00:02:32,509 and what your body might actually be experiencing 60 00:02:32,509 --> 00:02:36,223 right now is a screaming in the hammies. 61 00:02:36,223 --> 00:02:37,224 That's okay. 62 00:02:37,224 --> 00:02:38,625 The hammies need some love. 63 00:02:38,625 --> 00:02:40,694 They need more love than we give them. 64 00:02:40,694 --> 00:02:42,362 So we'll soften through the knees. 65 00:02:42,362 --> 00:02:45,866 In fact, bend your knees as generously as you need to, 66 00:02:47,401 --> 00:02:48,935 and, in time, we'll get to a point 67 00:02:48,935 --> 00:02:50,570 where we can straighten the legs. 68 00:02:50,570 --> 00:02:52,105 So I'm here about halfway, 69 00:02:52,105 --> 00:02:53,807 extending through the crown of the head, 70 00:02:53,807 --> 00:02:55,308 bending my knees if I need to, 71 00:02:55,308 --> 00:02:57,344 bending them as generously as I need to, 72 00:02:57,344 --> 00:02:59,012 and I'll begin to melt down, 73 00:02:59,012 --> 00:03:00,947 belly to the tops of the thighs. 74 00:03:02,249 --> 00:03:05,585 And then once the weight of my head releases down, 75 00:03:06,887 --> 00:03:09,556 I'll draw my fingertips either to the mat, 76 00:03:09,556 --> 00:03:11,925 to the earth, palms to the shins, 77 00:03:12,759 --> 00:03:15,028 or maybe even I grab my elbows 78 00:03:15,028 --> 00:03:17,130 and rock them a little side to side. 79 00:03:21,234 --> 00:03:25,305 If this is a little bit of a balancing challenge for you, 80 00:03:25,305 --> 00:03:26,606 I recommend taking the feet 81 00:03:26,606 --> 00:03:28,675 and stepping them hip width apart, 82 00:03:28,675 --> 00:03:31,044 just like we talked about in the Tadasana video. 83 00:03:34,147 --> 00:03:36,316 So here I am in my Forward Fold, 84 00:03:38,285 --> 00:03:39,686 bending my knees if I need to, 85 00:03:39,686 --> 00:03:42,355 really shining my sit bones up towards the sky so, 86 00:03:42,355 --> 00:03:43,190 if I had a tail, 87 00:03:43,190 --> 00:03:46,693 it'd be shooting straight up towards the heavens right now. 88 00:03:46,693 --> 00:03:47,527 I'll grab my elbows, 89 00:03:47,527 --> 00:03:50,063 rock a little side to side if that feels good. 90 00:03:50,063 --> 00:03:53,934 Uttanasana is about letting the weight of the body hang over 91 00:03:53,934 --> 00:03:55,969 and then being with the breath. 92 00:03:55,969 --> 00:03:57,504 So we have other versions of this pose 93 00:03:57,504 --> 00:03:58,672 that are a little more active, 94 00:03:58,672 --> 00:04:01,141 that really draw the nose to the knees and all this stuff. 95 00:04:01,141 --> 00:04:03,610 Here we're just going to practice as beginners, 96 00:04:03,610 --> 00:04:04,911 or even as non-beginners, 97 00:04:04,911 --> 00:04:07,280 just creating a little space in the hammies, 98 00:04:08,648 --> 00:04:10,016 and then using the breath. 99 00:04:10,016 --> 00:04:12,452 I cannot stress this enough how important it is 100 00:04:12,452 --> 00:04:15,021 to take nice, solid, sweet, deep breaths here 101 00:04:15,021 --> 00:04:17,057 because that's where I'm gonna really create some movement, 102 00:04:17,057 --> 00:04:19,059 some space, this liquid spine 103 00:04:19,059 --> 00:04:21,595 as we like to sometimes call it. 104 00:04:21,595 --> 00:04:24,030 And that's where it becomes fun to play with, too, 105 00:04:24,030 --> 00:04:26,867 where, instead of just holding in a painful posture, 106 00:04:26,867 --> 00:04:29,536 we're moving and kind of grooving with the breath. 107 00:04:30,370 --> 00:04:32,806 This is kind of an awkward place to be talking. 108 00:04:32,806 --> 00:04:34,441 So I'm gonna stop talking for a second 109 00:04:34,441 --> 00:04:36,810 and come into the pose so that I can really release 110 00:04:36,810 --> 00:04:39,479 the weight of my head completely and fully. 111 00:04:39,479 --> 00:04:42,082 Drawing my navel up towards my spine, 112 00:04:42,082 --> 00:04:44,084 I hang forward, Uttanasana. 113 00:04:51,825 --> 00:04:55,061 Bending the knees as generously as we need to, 114 00:04:55,061 --> 00:04:58,431 and sometimes pulsing here bending the knees. 115 00:04:58,431 --> 00:04:59,466 Straightening is good. 116 00:04:59,466 --> 00:05:01,268 Creating a little bit of space. 117 00:05:02,903 --> 00:05:05,238 Again, shaking the head yes, no, 118 00:05:05,238 --> 00:05:07,474 and using that breath to find a little bit 119 00:05:07,474 --> 00:05:08,975 of lengthening as you inhale, 120 00:05:10,644 --> 00:05:12,812 and then releasing on the exhale, Fold. 121 00:05:14,447 --> 00:05:16,383 Perhaps a little more length as I inhale, 122 00:05:19,085 --> 00:05:20,854 then Folding on the exhale. 123 00:05:25,158 --> 00:05:28,428 To come up, I'm gonna bring my hands to my waistline, 124 00:05:29,596 --> 00:05:31,392 hooking the thumbs behind, 125 00:05:31,392 --> 00:05:33,700 and same thing, I'm gonna press into my heels, 126 00:05:33,700 --> 00:05:35,202 draw my shoulder blades together, 127 00:05:35,202 --> 00:05:37,504 elbows behind me as I lift and lengthen 128 00:05:37,504 --> 00:05:38,939 up through the crown of the head. 129 00:05:38,939 --> 00:05:39,806 Heart lifts. 130 00:05:39,806 --> 00:05:41,908 I use my thumbs actively here to remind me 131 00:05:41,908 --> 00:05:44,008 to tuck my pelvis in, 132 00:05:44,008 --> 00:05:45,178 and nice and slow, 133 00:05:45,178 --> 00:05:48,515 sending breath all the way through the backs of the legs. 134 00:05:48,515 --> 00:05:50,917 I begin to scoop my tailbone in, 135 00:05:50,917 --> 00:05:52,152 find that lift in the heart. 136 00:05:52,152 --> 00:05:54,354 I have this awesome tingly sensation 137 00:05:54,354 --> 00:05:57,023 going all the way down to my toes right now. 138 00:05:57,023 --> 00:05:58,458 Feel good. 139 00:05:59,793 --> 00:06:02,195 And I come back to Mountain Pose, Tadasana. 140 00:06:04,664 --> 00:06:07,167 I can take couple breaths here and dive back in. 141 00:06:10,537 --> 00:06:11,471 I do want to say one thing. 142 00:06:11,471 --> 00:06:12,405 I don't know if I have time to say this, 143 00:06:12,405 --> 00:06:14,574 but I'm gonna try to sneak it in really fast. 144 00:06:14,574 --> 00:06:16,610 Often when I'm in Forward Fold, 145 00:06:16,610 --> 00:06:18,044 I think about the backs of the legs 146 00:06:18,044 --> 00:06:21,281 as two pieces of saltwater taffy. 147 00:06:21,281 --> 00:06:24,918 And I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but it works. 148 00:06:24,918 --> 00:06:26,086 It works for me for some reason. 149 00:06:26,086 --> 00:06:28,955 If you were to imagine these muscles from your sit bones 150 00:06:28,955 --> 00:06:31,558 all the way to your heels being like two pieces 151 00:06:31,558 --> 00:06:35,629 of saltwater taffy, if we were gonna share that taffy, 152 00:06:35,629 --> 00:06:37,464 you wouldn't be able to just grab one end 153 00:06:37,464 --> 00:06:39,555 and me grab the other and us walk away 154 00:06:39,555 --> 00:06:40,734 and break. 155 00:06:40,734 --> 00:06:42,903 That would be very painful. 156 00:06:42,903 --> 00:06:45,472 But rather we have to think of these muscles 157 00:06:45,472 --> 00:06:47,741 like that piece of candy, that saltwater taffy. 158 00:06:47,741 --> 00:06:49,476 We're going to, in order to share it, 159 00:06:49,476 --> 00:06:51,511 we're gonna have to create a little bit of space. 160 00:06:51,511 --> 00:06:53,157 We're gonna have to move it 161 00:06:53,157 --> 00:06:54,547 a little bit, breathe with it, 162 00:06:54,547 --> 00:06:59,085 laugh a little bit, you know, take our time creating space, 163 00:06:59,085 --> 00:07:02,028 melding that taffy so that eventually, 164 00:07:02,028 --> 00:07:04,891 we break off with that treat and we feel good and walk away. 165 00:07:06,026 --> 00:07:07,160 Maybe that's a little far out there, 166 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:08,061 but you know what I'm saying is 167 00:07:08,061 --> 00:07:10,697 you can't just dive into the Forward Fold 168 00:07:10,697 --> 00:07:12,065 and expect the magic to happen. 169 00:07:12,065 --> 00:07:13,333 You have to be with the breath. 170 00:07:13,333 --> 00:07:15,235 You have to look at what's really going on 171 00:07:15,235 --> 00:07:16,697 in the backs of the legs, 172 00:07:16,697 --> 00:07:19,939 and then, of course, Find What Feels Good. 173 00:07:20,807 --> 00:07:24,010 Okay, so that was Uttanasana, a Forward Fold. 174 00:07:24,010 --> 00:07:25,845 I hope you enjoy trying the posture. 175 00:07:25,845 --> 00:07:27,947 If you have any questions or comments, 176 00:07:27,947 --> 00:07:31,685 please, please leave them in the comment box below. 177 00:07:31,685 --> 00:07:32,819 I'd love to hear from you. 178 00:07:32,819 --> 00:07:34,921 Also make sure you subscribe to my channel 179 00:07:34,921 --> 00:07:38,124 and like the Facebook page so you don't miss anything, 180 00:07:38,124 --> 00:07:38,958 and we'll see you next time. 181 00:07:38,958 --> 00:07:39,793 Thanks so much. 182 00:07:39,793 --> 00:07:40,660 Namaste. 183 00:07:40,660 --> 00:07:43,263 (upbeat music)