- Hey everyone, and 
welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

I am Adriene and today we are
going to learn Plank Pose.

Plank is very common in a lot
of active Hatha yoga classes

and so today we're 
gonna break it down

and learn the proper 
way to build strength

and be happy in Plank. 
So hop on the mat.

(upbeat music)

Okay, so we're going 
to begin on all fours.

Taking a second 
before we break down Plank

to just kind of 
connect to this integration

in the body that I feel 
like is so necessary in Plank

so it's not just about strength.

In fact, a lot 
of people think that

they don't have the 
arm strength to do Plank

and it's more than just these
babies it's from head to tail.

So, we come to all fours.

Wrists underneath the shoulders,

knees directly 
underneath the hips.

Just take a second 
here to press into the tops

of the feet, and 
let the knees hover.

And then just 
notice what happens here.

Does the head hang low? Do we
collapse into the shoulders?

What do you have to do to 
really come into your body,

crown to the head, 
tip of the tailbone.

Couple of action points here.

I'm gonna press up 
and out of the palms.

The tendency is gonna be to roll
to the outer edges of the hands.

I wanna really focus on pressing
through the index finger

and thumb and 
all this fleshy area.

Fleshy area, hey-oh, in between.

One, that's gonna alleviate any
undue pressure on the wrist.

Two, it's gonna help me press
in, up and out of my arms

so that I can create 
space in the shoulder blades,

so not collapsing 
into the shoulders.

So, before we go 
into the full posture,

let's just practice 
that here on all fours.

Maybe on an exhale, 
find your breath.

Pressing in the tops of the
feet, let the knees hover.

Couple of action points:

pressing up and 
out of the palms,

index finger and thumbs.

Tops of the shoulder also roll
out and away from the ears.

Check in with your belly.

Drawing that navel 
up towards the spine.

And then gaze is straight down

so we're not crunching 
the back of the neck here.

We're not forgetting 
about the head and neck.

So remembering the 
neck as an extension,

a natural 
extension of the spine.

Pressing into the 
full area of the palm.

Might begin to feel 
that warmth or that tremble.

And then on an exhale,

we're following your breath,
we release.

Can take a second to just notice
the sensations in the body

and let's send it up 
for Downward Facing Dog.

Just how we'll head
into our Plank today,

which is also how 
we head into Plank

in most Hatha yoga classes.
Of course, no class is the same,

and there's no 
right or wrong way, but,

typically, we'll come into

this from Downward Facing Dog.

So from here, I'm gonna bring
my awareness to my hands.

Again, Hasta Bandha, 
the hand-to-earth connection.

Pressing into 
all 10 fingerprints,

and the area between 
the index finger and thumb.

Now, bring your 
awareness to your belly.

Hug that navel up 
towards your spine

as we rock forward, arms 
perpendicular to the earth.

I'm gonna bring my 
shoulders right above my wrist.

So I don't want 
them to go in front,

I want them to 
stack right above.

Ah, and here I am. Now, 
going through our checklist.

Crown of the head 
is extending forward.

Tops of the shoulders looping
out and away from the ears.

I'm pressing up 
and out of the palms,

seeing if I can really create
space between my shoulder

blades here, so I'm not
collapsing into the bones here.

Ooh, that's hard, but 
I'm pressing up and out.

Now, sitbone-to-heel
connection. I'm really extending

through my heels here,
tucking the pelvis.

If you feel any 
pressure in your lower back,

send that tail 
towards your heels,

elongate in the lower back.

Again, not collapsing 
but pressing up and out.

Don't forget to breathe here.

We tend to hold the breath here.

No bueno, breathe.

Nice and long in 
the back of the neck,

extending the base of the skull

towards the front of the mat.

And on an exhale 
I can lower the knees.

And send it back for a rest,
Extended Child's Pose.

Feel free to turn the 
palms face up here and breathe.

Can rock the hips a little,
gently side to side.

And then we dive in 
for more. Variations.

There's always tons 
and tons of variations.

Hence, the word variation.

But I just want to 
offer a couple here.

We can do a half push up,
so in Plank

we're at top of a push up here.

I can lower the knees,
and make adjustments.

Tucking my pelvis in, 
really sitching that navel

towards the spine here. 
Shifting my heart forward.

If you want to get 
shmancy on me you can

cross the ankles here.
Whew, doesn't matter.

What matters is that we're aware

all the way through the 
toes as I tuck my pelvis,

same thing here, tendency is
to collapse into the shoulders.

I wanna press up and 
out of the shoulders here.

Find that long, beautiful neck.

Gaze is down in-between 
the index fingers.

And here I'm getting 
the same benefits of Plank.

I'm building that strength 
from the crown of the head

to the tip of the tailbone,

in the abdominal wall,
in the arms.

But I'm doing it with 
good alignment, with integrity.

Can start at Half Plank,
and then slowly

build up to full Plank.

For people with carpal tunnel,
or wrist issues,

we can go on the elbows here,
so, same thing.

Elbows directly above 
the shoulders, fingertips

pointing forward, 
and come to Plank here.

This is actually a little bit
harder. For me, I should say.

Nice, straight line.

Make sure you're not 
collapsing into those shoulders,

particularly for those wrists.
Make sure we're pressing up

and out, so we're taking all
that weight off the shoulders,

which gets me off the wrists,
and we're also not taking

the shoulders in front of the
wrists, make sure the bones

are stacked, in your favor.

To rest, we take it back,
Extended Child's Pose.

Okey-doke, so 
that was Plank Pose.

Plank is awesome because we
build strength in the front body

and the back body 
at the same time. Yoga!

Which means, one, we're
building strength in the body,

but also we're aiming towards
healthier spinal support,

so, better posture,

and hopefully less back pain.

Great for the abs, and tons
of benefits, which I'll list

on the blog. So visit the blog,
yogawithadriene.com,

If you haven't subscribed,
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so you don't miss anything,
and I'll see you next time.

Thank you. Namaste.

(upbeat music)

Also, I wanted to thank my
very special friend, Sam Webber,

for giving me this tank top
that I wore today on the mat.

Thank you Sam! Love you!