- Hello everyone. Welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene and this is Benji and today we have a moon practice for you. So this is perfect to do on or around a full moon or this is also really great when you're just wanting to do an at home practice maybe later in the day. You don't want to get too energized or stimulated. So hop into something comfy and let's get started. (bright music) Alrighty, let's begin today's session in Child's Pose. So come on down to the ground. If Child's Pose is not awesome for you, no worries. Maybe begin in a nice comfortable seat or laying gently on your back. When you get down into a nice easy pose to start, we will use this shape to right away tap into the breath. So go ahead and take a big inhale whenever you're ready. And nice and easy, relax your shoulders as you exhale. Then continue just like that using an inhale to really just settle in to the present moment. And use your exhale, nice and long exhale, to really land here. Letting go of the day thus far. Letting go of any expectations and just trusting that you made the right choice to spend this time with yourself for a little moon practice. So essentially just taking a second to get quiet or to try. Some times harder than we think to get quiet here in the beginning. And so many of our practices stimulate the body. They revolve around that more sun, solar energy. So today's practice, keep in mind, is the opposite of that. Designed to soothe you and bring balance to busy lifestyle. Going, going, going. Bodies and, of course, that monkey mind. As you're ready begin to slowly come back up wherever you're at. You can make your way up to all fours nice and easy. And from a Tabletop Position I'll invite you and myself as well to drop the belly and inhale, open the chest. As you exhale, round through, Cat Pose. And as you inhale, nice and slow, drop the belly. Cow Pose. Exhale, round the spine. Navel draws up. And exhale, soften the belly. Tailbone lifts. Last time, rounding through the spine. Navel draws up. And then inhale to a nice neutral spine. We'll drop the elbows just where the hands were and we'll walk the knees back trying to keep the wrists and elbows and the knees all in the same line, the same plane, parallel. And as you're ready, big opening in the shoulders here, gently ease your heart space down towards the earth. Allowing your tail to lift up towards the sky. Do not underestimate the grounding effect of your hands here. That hand-to-earth connection so keep it strong. And then start to deepen the breath here in Heart to Earth Pose, Anahatasan. Hip points are over the knees. Ankles are in line with the knees. Awesome, then slow and steady we'll lift back up. Moving with the sound of your breath nice and slow. Then we're gonna walk the knees all the way up towards the wrists. Then we're gonna curl the toes under and you're gonna slowly lift yourself up into a nice Forward Fold. Hang loose here for three to five breaths. Seeing if you can now extend your inhalations and extend your exhalations a little more. Shake the head loose. Let go of any stress or tension in the body. And then when you're ready, ground through your feet and slow and steady, slow, slow, slow roll up to standing. Stack your head over your heart, your heart over your pelvis and on your next big breath in, reach for the sky. Interlace the fingertips and you're gonna press your palms all the way up. Try to keep the shoulders relaxing down. Lengthen your tailbone. And then grounding through the heels lift, lift, lift as you breathe in. As you breathe out, take your hands over towards the left side. Feeling a great stretch on the right side of the body. Dig into your right heel. Great, then bring it back up to center. Take it to the other side. Finding that slow tilt, feeling that awesome stretch in the left side body. Great, inhale, come back to center with grace. Find soft fingertips as you release. You're gonna walk the feet out just a little bit wider than hip width apart. Spread the fingertips. Turn the toes out, a little 45 degree angle and bend your knees as we come into Goddess Pose. Now in time you'll be able to really open up here but just notice where you are today and see if you can find a balance between the strength that this pose requires and a little bit of softness or grace. Awesome, maybe drop it half an inch lower. Find your breath. Inhale in. And then exhale to slowly lift, bring your hands together at the heart. From here we're gonna step to the top of the mat, nice and easy. Beautiful and then when you're ready inhale, reach for the sky once again. This time, exhale, Forward Fold all the way down. On your next inhale, step your left toes back, lower your left knee. Inhale, sweep the arms all the way up to the sky. Crescent Lunge. Exhale, fold it down. Fingertips come to the earth. You're gonna lift the back knee and then we're gonna step the back foot up for Pyramid Pose. Gently tug your right hip crease back. Keep the fingertips on the ground here. You can also use blocks or you can take the hands to the heart or the reverse Namaste. Breathe deep here. Lots of awareness from crown to tail. Awesome, inhale in. Exhale to slowly release. Bring the left toes back to your nice low lunge. One more time, lower the left knee. Crescent Lunge. Big inhale to sweep the arms all the way up towards the sky. Exhale to Forward Fold. Curl the back toes under, lift the back knee. Rock that back foot up to meet the front. Inhale, lifts you up halfway. Exhale to soften and bow forward. Root to rise, inhale. Reach all the way up. Big full body stretch here. And you're gonna take it right back down. Exhale, soft and easy. Great, on your next inhale step the right toes out. Lower the right knee to the earth. Big inhale to gently sweep the fingertips forward. up and back. Crescent Lunge. Exhale, slowly lower and release. Curl the back toes under, lift the back knee and when you're ready, gently step it halfway up for Pyramid Pose. Actively pulling the left hip crease back. Nice and easy. Maybe bringing the hands to the heart here. Or reverse Namaste. Find your breath, big inhale. Exhale to soften and release. We'll send the right toes back out. Lower the right knee gently and inhale, sweep the arms all the way up. Ride the wave of the breath here. On the exhale, it crests and falls back down to your nice low lunge. Lick, lift, don't lick (chuckles), lift the back knee. Nice and easy step it back up to meet the front. Inhale, halfway lift. Find length in the neck. Exhale to soften and fold. Root to rise here, big inhale. Reach for the sky. This time take the big moon in your hands, this image of a big sphere even, overhead, nice and big. Opening up through the shoulders and then once again, take it over to your left. Big stretch in the right side body. And then hold on to that big beach ball. Hold on to the moon and then take it over to your right. Great, then bring it back to center. Bring the palms together to kiss and then slide it back down to your heart. Now you're gonna step back to that Goddess Pose so come back to a nice wide legged stance. Turn your toes out, bring your heels in, nice 45 degree angle. Inhale, lift the sternum to the thumbs. Exhale, open the elbows, sink down nice and low. Beautiful, inhale in. Exhale a little lower, soft and easy. Keep the jaw soft. Pull the elbows back. In time, you'll find the space. Excellent and one more breath here, maybe sink a little lower. You got this. Excellent, then straighten both legs. We'll bring the hands together at the heart. You're gonna turn the right toes in, turn the left toes out. Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, here's that Pyramid Pose again. Inhale in deeply. Exhale completely. One more time, inhale deeply. And exhale completely. Awesome work. From here soft bend in your left knee as you bring your fingertips to the ground. You're gonna kick your right foot out so you're in a nice low lunge here. Then here we go, we're gonna take the left fingertips in and around to meet the right and we're gonna come through a nice low squat here, Skandasana. Then keep it nice and low as you come through using your fingertips to slowly guide you. You're gonna come through Skandasana to the other side. Then back through to the left. And then one more time all the way to the right. Woo, beautiful! Now we'll spiral our heart towards the front of the mat. You're now right foot forward, left foot back. Nice low lunge. Here we go, step the back foot up, Pyramid Pose. Hands come into a mudra. Maybe in the front of the heart or maybe in the back, reverse. Inhale in. Exhale out. Inhale in. Exhale out. Inhale in. Exhale to slowly rise back up. Awesome, from here bend both knees. Whoa, hold on to your center and when you're ready, step the feet together, really together. Just take a second here to close your eyes and observe your breath. Feel your breath like a wave. Feel that lift and that expansion as you breathe in. And then allow gravity to do it's job as you breathe out. Softening, grounding as you breathe out. Close your eyes if you haven't already. Again, noticing what moves, what lifts, what expands as you breathe in. And noticing what softens and falls as you breathe out. Now finding an exquisite stillness here to end our practice. From here you can take it to the ground for restorative Shavasana or you can take it to a nice comfortable seat for a short meditation. Or if it's all you have time for, the highest in me recognizes and honors the highest in you. Thanks for practicing. Take good care. Thumbs up to the third eye. And we finish by whispering, Namaste. (bright music)