- Hello, and welcome to Yoga With Adriene.
I am Adriene, and today
we are going to lean the Reclined Twist,
which is like, a full body massager.
Really great for the lower back
and overall, a really nice,
calming, cooling posture.
So hop on the mat and let's learn Reclined Twist.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so, for Reclined Twist,
we are going to start, surprise!
On our backs, reclined, yay!
So, I'm gonna come to a flat back position here,
and rest the soles of feet on the mat
just for a second.
Take a deep breath in. As you exhale,
relax the weight of your body into the mat.
And then, a little two-for-one here,
I'm going to press up off my toes,
hug my knees into my chest,
wrap the arms around the shins, and just take a second.
Any time I can work this one into my yoga practice I do.
And rock a little side to side here.
Just checking in with the back.
Kind of massaging the lower back, here.
Even checking in with the shoulders.
Sometimes I use this as an opportunity
to crawl my shoulders away from my ears.
Just create a little space.
Feels good.
And then I'm ready to rock.
So here we go.
I'm gonna inhale,
reach my fingertips up and overhead.
Nice and easy breezy.
And then exhale bring them to the side,
left to right. Kind of a Texas T, y'all.
We say y'all here, Texas T y'all.
Then I'm gonna play a little piano.
So I know this sounds cheesy but just hang with me.
I'm going to press into all 10 fingerprints,
so just one by one here.
And I do this, just to kind of bring
my awareness all the way out.
So I'm not just keeping it,
a select focus here, right?
Yoga is about expanding the awareness
to all parts of the body and even beyond.
To infinity and beyond!
It was too easy I had to do it. I'm sorry, okay.
So I play a little piano here,
all 10 fingerprints rooting.
And then I'm gonna connect to my center
a little subtle body movement here.
By bringing my attention into the core, the belly.
So, again, this is just a tiny,
kind of, energetic, internal, woo-woo, (chuckles) focus.
So not a big movement, but just imagine
drawing your bellybutton, your navel, down
and scooping your tailbone up.
So that your lower back becomes
super yummy flush with the mat.
Now I'm ready to twist.
So I'm gonna inhale in. Deep breath.
And on an exhale I'm gonna melt my knees
towards the right side of the room,
or towards the right side of my mat.
I'm gonna move nice and slow here,
keeping the back of my neck nice and long here.
Chin tucked into chest.
Just noticing the sensations as I fall in
to especially that first twist.
Checking in with the body, the spine.
Taking a deep breath in, and then exhaling.
The weight of my legs
completely to the right side of the mat.
This already feels really yummy on my lower back.
My belly's already getting a nice squeeze
like a wringing of the sponge.
Couple of action points.
To go a little deeper into the twist,
or just to check in with that full spine
from the crown of the head to the tip of the tailbone,
I'm gonna notice that my left shoulder
starts to peel up a little bit,
which is sassy and stylish,
but to get the most out of the pose
I'm gonna send my awareness, my intention,
down through that left shoulder.
So essentially, I'm pinning my left shoulder
down to the earth.
Now, if my left shoulder
doesn't come all the way down to the earth,
then that's okay,
I'm gonna be patient and kind to myself,
as the yogic teachings describe
and encourage us to do.
And just let that be my intention.
So even if it doesn't come all the way down to the earth,
those are my intentions.
By bringing my awareness into that left shoulder,
I start to get more of a sensation though my twist.
Now I can take my right palm here,
and use it to guide my left thigh
a little bit deeper into the pose.
So I'm pressing down through left shoulder,
guiding my legs a little further,
a little deeper, gently into the twist.
Breathing deep into the belly here.
And then finally there's the option
to turn the head here,
turning onto the left side
looking past my left fingertips here,
to just go a little bit deeper into the pose.
Couple of nice, long, deep breaths, here.
And then to come out,
I'll take a deep breath in.
And on the exhale, unravel,
coming back gently, nice and easy through center.
Noticing the sensations in the back
as I come through and transition to the other side.
So inhaling in.
Exhale, melting the knees now
to the left side of the room,
or the left side of the mat here.
Nice and slow, taking my time.
Ooh, I heard a little bit of a pop.
And now, of course,
intending that right shoulder down.
Going a little bit deeper perhaps,
whenever you're ready by taking the left palm, guiding,
sometimes I even like to just kind of pet my thigh, here.
It's good, it feels good. The power of touch.
Just guiding in a little deeper into the pose.
When I first started yoga and I did a twist,
I'm pretty sure my legs only went this far.
So give yourself a little bit of love and kindness
as you even move into this Reclined Twist.
Just give it time, and let each exhale
be an opportunity, maybe, to go a little bit deeper.
And then on an exhale, melting back to center.
So the great thing about Reclined Twist,
or any reclined asana for that matter,
is you have the support of the earth
more so then you do in standing postures, right?
So use it.
You can hang in the twist for quite a while.
If it feels good, breathing deep, smiling,
calming the mind, releasing the lower back.
For more of a core activation,
we can do a little tick-tock.
So we can inhale in.
Exhale, melt the knees to the right.
Then inhale in.
Exhale, melt the knees back to center.
Inhale in. Exhale, melt the knees to the left.
And inhale in, melt the knees back to center.
So I'm essentially moving back and forth.
You can move at your own rhythm,
your own pace, massaging the back
as you move through center.
But I recommend, especially as a beginner,
and for the Foundations of Yoga,
to just hang out there for a little bit.
Go through your checklist.
Breathe, create space.
Allow yourself the time
to go a little bit deeper into the pose, right?
It's usually after about that fifth breath
that you dissolve into a little space
that you never knew was there. (laughs)
And then of course,
we enjoy finding what feels good in each posture.
Reclined Twist.
Okay my friends, so that was Reclined Twist.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
In fact, if you're listening to me now
then you have access to other videos
of our Foundations of Yoga series,
give them a try.
Even if you can just try one in the whole month,
I'm very curious to see how you feel.
I'm looking for some feedback.
So let me know how it goes for you.
And we'll see you next time I hope.
Namaste.
(upbeat music)