- Hey everyone and welcome to your 31 Day Yoga Revolution. It's day 20. And today's practice is about peace or shanti. This is an important one. Let's get started. (lively orchestral music) Alright my friends, let's begin seated. Today I recommend grabbing a little blanky if you have one or a towel. It's totally not necessary, but if you have one on hand, you can pause the video and grab it now. I'm sitting up on a little blanket to lift my hips and I'm gonna take my left hand in front of my heart and then I'm gonna place my right hand right on top of it. Then I'm gonna loop my shoulders, anchor down through the elbows, and just place my hands gently in my lap. Welcome back to the mat. Thanks so much for being here. Today is going to be a smooth ride, bringing peace of mind and just kind of reminding us of the powerful tools of the breath, of a conscious thought or a conscious language, that self-talk, and then of course using the physical practice to kind of clear the mind and bring clarity. So, we're gonna start with the breath as always, tuning in to what's going on today, but really more than ever, I love that the birds are just going crazy today for our peace or shanti practice, really more than ever today, see if you can get really involved with the sound of your breath. By the end of practice, can we just be totally absorbed by the sound of our breath? Let's find out. Sit up nice and tall. Get to a place where you can really feel length from the base of the spine all the way up through the crown. And you may be tempted to pause the video, not enough going on here at the beginning or maybe forward, but do not, my friend. This is part of your practice. Take a moment to just listen to the sound of your breath. Give yourself permission to just drop the day thus far. Let go of our desire and our ambition to accomplish, to do things, to get 'er done. And practice being at peace. With yourself. You might tap into that inner smile. And as you continue to stoke this fire or start a little conversation, it's like pouring your favorite libation, getting ready for a nice, juicy conversation with your breath, I'd like to bring back my favorite mantra, one of my mom's mantras, and it is this, everything is as it should be. So whisper or repeat this mantra quietly to yourself as you listen to the sound of your breath. Everything is as it should be. Draw the hands together at the heart, prayer position. Anjali mudra, and then again, you decide what sort of flavor or rasa you bring to that, bring to this today. Then listen to your breath, big inhale. Exhale, bow the head to the heart, the mind intelligence to the body intelligence. At the very least, starting to get a nice stretch in the back of the neck. We're starting to calm the nervous system. Free your mind. And one more big inhale here. Then exhale, release, open your eyes, lift your chin parallel to the earth and open your hands. Awesome, alright, so we're gonna start with a nice, conscious breath today, even more than maybe we've done in the past, really finding that Ujjayi breath, so I wanna make sure that we all are on the same page, so quick little recap. We're gonna inhale in. Bring one hand to your mouth and just (exhales), exhale with a little huh sound. Feel the warmth on your hand and it's the image of course of maybe fogging up a window, so give it a try. (exhaling breaths) Couple more times. It's also a good opportunity for you to check your breath. Stupid joke, sorry. Shut up, Adriene. Inhale. And one more time. Now release your hand and let's repeat that, but this time seal the lips, big breath in. And, (exhales). All this expansive inhaling we've been doing, play with that here. And then exhale, draw it in. Then see if you can bring the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. We create a soft restriction in the back of the throat, and then we're gonna try to create that hissing sound on both the inhalation and the exhalation. Let's give it a try, here we go. Just practice on your own. (inhaling and exhaling) So there are tutorials for Ujjayi breath on my channel, you can go check them out if you like. You can even pause this video and go check it out now if you really want to do that, but just find an audible breath, that soft restriction in the back of the throat really helps, and then for those of you who have been practicing for a while, but for everyone, see if you can work to create one continuous breath as we move today, okay? And if you're really new to the practice, or you got that monkey mind today, just ease into it and we'll see what unfolds with the breath, alright. Big inhale, Ujjayi breath as you squeeze the shoulders up to the ears. Exhale, float the shoulders down. Let the breath fuel the movement. And if you can really start to focus your mind on this action, one, it already brings this sort of calming, cooling energy to the body, really great for the nervous system, really great for anxiety, but I encourage you to slow it down, so we're just gonna do this for a couple more breaths on your own. See if you can really slow it down, and if you can really slow the tempo, I think you'll find how yummy it can really be, so here we go. Sometimes less is more, right? We inhale, here we go. And you can access some of yesterday's light practice. Let's do one more. Awesome, close your eyes and observe how you feel. Wonderful, bring the palms together, give 'em a rub. Create a little friction, a little heat. And see if you can do this and still keep your heart lifted. So if the spine has started to collapse, that's your habitual self. This is where we sit a lot, so we're working to again, create a whole body awareness. And often if you're looking for a little peace of mind, or if something is going on around you or in the world that you really are like, "I don't know where to turn." There's no resemblance of peace. Often just a little bit of yoga practice really helps, because the awareness of breath and body occupy that space of worry, of fear, of confusion. Alright, take this, go even faster, even faster, even faster, even faster, even faster. And then release, palms face up on your knees or thighs. Close your eyes, soften your jaw. And notice the sensations. Bat the eyelashes open and come forward onto all fours, tabletop position. If you have a blanky or a towel, you might as well use it. You can use it today to pad the knees. Move with a kindness and listen to the sound of your breath even as you move. When you're ready, inhale, drop the belly. Let the breath fuel the movement. The movement moves with the breath. Inhale. And exhale, rounding through. Inhale. Sync up with your breath, exhale. One more time, inhale. This time curl your toes under and on the exhale, Downward Dog. Inhale, drop the knees. Lower the belly, open your heart. Cow Pose. Toes are curled under, exhale, rounding through. Downward Facing Dog. Inhale with control, lowering down, use your breath to move you. Listen to the sound. And exhale, rounding through. And then up to Down Dog. Two more times, moving with the breath, stick with it. Claw into your fingertips. And one more time. And this time, in Downward Dog, take your dog for a little walk, soft and easy. Let your breath move you. Again, the goal of today's practice is to become absorbed in the sound of your breath. You're gonna feel amazing when you step off the mat today, but you gotta do the work, stay present. No one expects you to be perfect or peaceful when you step on the mat. Alright, one more big breath here in Down Dog, and then slowly lowering the knees to the mat or the blanket. If you need to take a moment to come off the wrists here, by all means, you're in charge. And when you're ready, we really hug the lower ribs in, lift up through the upper back body. Find your foundation. And then we'll extend the right leg out long. Turn the right toes down. And just baby pulses here. So I'd like for you to really focus on the sound of your breath, the sensations in the body. Notice if you're shifting too far to the left. Great for leg strength, booty strength. Find length in the back of the neck. Become absorbed with the sensations of the body, the sound of the breath. Give the thinking mind a break. Again, right, free your mind. And the rest will follow. You know I was dying to sing that earlier. Okay, keep going here, baby pulses, and you can adjust the sound of your breath to support the movement. Maybe it's (exhaling breaths). Here we go, five more seconds. Can you maintain length in the neck the whole time? Then bend your right knee and keep it going. You can flex the foot or point the toes. So going beyond our edge here. Getting out of the thinking mind today. Building strength. Sticking with the breath. Moving the prana or the energy throughout the body. Toning the muscles of the arms, the core. Press into your left foot for stability here. We're here for five. Breathe. Fabulous and release. Curl the toes under. Take a second here to come off the wrists. Send the hips back and you just take a moment either hands in prayer or you can do wrist circles, or palms face up, as you breathe. And then we'll come back to all fours, moving with the breath. Find length in the neck. Tug the shoulders back. So go through your checklist. There's no rush here. And then you can use this body awareness and breath awareness in all of your other workouts, in all of your other classes, and really every aspect of life if you ask me. So when you're ready, inhale. Extend the left leg out long, but after you have your foundation, turn left toes down. And we pulse. And so we're not just isolating the left glute or the right glute, or the legs, we're drawing the navel up and in. We're pressing away from the yoga mat. We're creating length in the spine. We're not chickening out by stacking the hips, we're turning those left toes down. Soft bend in the elbows, not locked. So especially if you are hypermobile, soften those elbows, lengthen through the crown. We're pulsing, we're breathing. We want to give up, the mind wants to give up before the body, so keep breathing. Find that joy or the lightness, yes, be thoughtful. Pay attention to your foundation. Be nice and kind to your joints. And we're here for five. Breathe deep. And then bend the left knee. You can point the left toes or flex the left foot as if you're kicking up to a wall, and pulse. I'm not shifting all my weight into my right hand, but equally pressing through both palms, you got this. (exhaling breaths) Five more. And release. Great, this time uncurl the toes if they are curled. So press into the tops of the feet and sit back. Again, you can take wrist circles or you can bring the palms face up, just feel the blood flow, the energy shift. And I find closing the eyes really helps me tune in to what's going on. Fabulous work, stay present. We'll take the hands, come forward, all the way onto all fours, tabletop position once again. And then find your foundation, lengthen through the crown. And when you're ready, we're gonna draw the right toes all the way up towards the sky. Keep the right knee bent. Again, you can point or flex here, yogi's choice. And then I'm gonna swim the left fingertips forward and then reach around, touch my right toes. So I'm not grab, I mean you can grab here and kick, but really I'm working to open up the chest and the core. Alright, then inhale, extend the right leg, extend the left arm. Listen carefully, exhale. Bend, touch your right toes. Open through the chest. Tendency to collapse here, so find length. Give the thinking mind a break. You gotta focus here, mind-body coordination. Inhale to expand, exhale to touch. Twist and touch. Great, working the left glute here. Full body strengthener as you inhale. Again exhale, working on that coordination. Moving with the breath. Let's do one more, inhale, extend. And exhale, touch your toes. Inhale, extend. And exhale to release, other side. Right to it. Press into your foundation and extend the left leg out long when you're ready. Don't collapse in the shoulders, here we go. Bend the left knee. Find your foundation and inhale, reach the right fingertips forward. Exhale, reach to the right, try to touch your toes or your heel. Then inhale, extend. Exhale, twist. Don't rush this, so take the muscles of the belly inward and upward to support the lower back. Inhale, extend. Energy through the fingers and toes. And exhale, turn and twist, nice and slow, you got this. Inhale to extend. Then exhale. Let's do two more, we got this. Press into your foundation firmly. Lift up your heart space. Let it be light. And one more, you got this, welcome that heat, that strength. Then inhale, extend, radiate through the fingertips and toes, and release, awesome work. Child's Pose. Knees wide, big toes to touch. Take a namaste shark fin here, so you bring the, yes, yes I did say that. Bring the palms together and then you walk the elbows forward, should feel really great. And then bring the hands just behind the head or the neck here. Rest your head, rest your heart. Listen to the sound of your breath. (inhaling and exhaling) And then slowly release. And come back to all fours. If you have a blanky here, actually go ahead and take it and move it to the side. Benji hair! And we'll come to a seat. And so, sit up nice and tall here. This will be a little different for everyone. So, first modification or first bus stop will be to clasp the hands behind the thighs and sit up nice and tall here. Honoring your beautiful body. Its shape and its energy level. You might be able to walk the feet a little closer and grab on the shins instead of behind the thighs. And then wherever you are, just depending on your body, you're gonna loop the shoulders, lift your heart, and exhale, round forward. So this'll look and feel a little different for everyone, it could be here. Or it could be here. And so, this is great for the spine, but this is a test. A loving test, where does your mind go? Where do your thoughts go? Please reconnect with the sound of your breath. You're fabulous. Tuck the chin, slowly roll it up. Beautiful. Alright, we're gonna bring the right knee in, send the left leg out. If you want to sit up on your blanket here, you can. We're gonna take that right foot into the left hand and we're gonna just cradle that leg. You're gonna rock front. You're gonna rock side-to-side. You're gonna rock front, you're gonna rock back, you're gonna rock side-to-side. You can also take that foot into the elbow here for a little deeper stretch. (laughs) Anyway. Gettin' into it. Sometimes it's hard to, I get really present into the yoga and my brain and my mouth keep going, and they have to sync up again. So we're rocking side-to-side or front to back with your little leg baby. ♫ I'm just a leg baby ♫ Walkin' on my tired feet Great, now this video's gonna get flagged for music rights. For that amazing song, just kidding. Okay, take your leg baby. Take your leg baby and pull it back now. You can use your left hand right away for more stability, and you're grabbing the outer edge of your right foot and pulling that sucker back, not with force. This is a shanti practice, a peace practice, so just see what's up. You're just gonna pull it back, almost as if you're pulling a bow and arrow. And, it took me a long time to be able to get even my thighbone anywhere near to perpendicular, and maybe never, so just be kind, enjoy the playfulness. Give your thinking mind a break. And just stay present. Option here to maybe bring that arm underneath. Plant the palm. Maybe try to get that foot up a little bit. But this is as far as we're going today, so just playing here, breathing. And if there's other variations here you want to play with, already today you can. Otherwise, we're just working on opening up through the hip. Fabuloso, then release. Extend that leg out long. And then we'll take the left foot in. Find leg baby on the other side. That was "Broadway Baby" in case anybody was curious. And then maybe that foot comes into the elbow crevice, but maybe not, maybe another day, another year, another life. Rock front to back. Rock side-to-side. This time is for you, so let's start to drop in. If you've been struggling at all today, listen to the sound of your breath, and remember, it's supposed to be fun. Alright, here we go, grab the outer edge of your left foot. You can use your right hand on the earth for stability, a little reminder to sit up nice and tall. And then pull it on back, just play here. And then maybe, just maybe, we work to get that leg all the way up and over the shoulder, we just check in, just maybe. A little elephant posture of sorts here. If you want to lift up or do any variations here, you can today, but this is as far as we're going, just playing, exploring, giving our brain something to anchor in. So if there's anything that you've been worried about, this is a good practice for you today. Clear your mind, clear the cookies. Alright, then gently release that leg and we're gonna come all the way onto our backs. Take your time. Still listening to the sound of your breath. Take my invitation, get absorbed in the sound of your breath, sing out. Sing out, Louise! Whoa, lots of musical theater references coming in on this day 20. Walk your heels to the bottom left corner of your mat. Please be mindful of what's going on in your lower back, in particular, the side joint, that sacrum, right where your tailbone is and just above it. Be mindful. And then you're gonna walk the head, the neck, and the shoulders, your chest, up towards the top, left corner of your mat. So you're creating this beautiful curvature or this crescent moon in the body. And reach your arms all the way up and overhead. Left hand grabs the right wrist and we stretch out here, and you might cross your right ankle over the left. Feel the power of the breath move you. Literally, feel your breath stretch your skin here as you breathe. You can keep the gaze soft here, the eyes closed. And then one more full breath. And then use your exhale to gently move through center, and you'll start with the feet. So heels go to the bottom right corner. Again, mindful of the hips, the sacrum, and as you walk the head and the shoulders towards the top, right corner, you might feel a great stretch here. and even keep the hands on your ribs. Otherwise, for a little more, reach all the way up and feel, pay attention to the sensations, the super awesome stretch here as you grab the left wrist and gently tug it towards the right. Nice and easy. And I love this, and we're ending with this today, because, you can cross the left ankle over the right for more too, because this is a perfect example, a very gentle, passive pose, where you can occupy your mind with the sound of your breath, and where your breath can literally do the work for you, move you. You can feel, as you inhale, a big expansion in the long stretch. And take one more inhale in. And use your exhale to come back to center. Strengthening and lengthening, the balance of the two. And we talk about the asana and the body as a metaphor, and so it's good that we have this long journey together to just kind of play with passing the ball back and forth between those two things. Alright, if you have a blanky, I have a nice, heavy one too. (clicks tongue) Hey-o (laughs), doesn't even make sense. If you have a blanky, it might feel nice today to put it over the hips, right where your pelvis area is. It might feel great. You can also use it to pillow the head or roll it up behind the backs of the knees. Take your arms out wide. Wiggle your toes. Take a deep breath in. And exhale, sigh it out with a little bit of sound. Lick your lips, soften your tongue and your mouth. Soften your jaw. And come into a moment of stillness. A sweet surrender. And we finish by saying the mantra quietly, everything is as it should be. Thank you so much for sharing your time, your energy, and your practice. I truly believe that the more we practice yoga or these mindful practices, then the more peace we are able to put out into the world. So instead of namaste today, or instead of hands together at the heart, rather, we're gonna bring the two peace fingers out for this special mudra. And we'll end by simply saying, peace. Peace out. (lively orchestral music)