- What's up my friends? Welcome to Yoga with Adrienne. I'm Adrienne, and today we have an awesome side body flow for you. So, whether you're lookin' to lose weight, or just get strong and toned, supported from within, this is a really awesome practice to learn and to return to so you can build strength with ease and with grace, and in a way that feels good. So, hop into something comfy, and let's get started. (bright acoustic music) Alrighty, my friends, let's begin today in extended child's pose. So, get down on your mat, bring the knees super wide, big toes to touch, and then we'll slowly walk those spider fingers all the way towards the front edge. When you get there take a deep breath in. (deep breath) And then, as you exhale, relax your head down, and begin to, as they say, arrive here now. Now, if the extended child's pose is not chillin' your body, you can start the sequence in a nice easy comfortable seat of your choice. Take a second to trust me, trust the video, trust this moment, and close your eyes. Take the deepest breath you've taken in all day. And exhale, let it go. (deep breath) If you like, take a moment here to set a little intention, consider why you started this video. And then you can choose to carry your intention with you as we move throughout our practice today. (deep breath) When you're ready, gently begin to deepen the breath. (deep breathing) A little press into the tops of the feet, claw the fingertips into the mat, and lifting from your center, we'll slowly rise all the way back up to all fours. Great, walk the wrists underneath the shoulders. This is our first time on all fours together. Knees underneath the hips, toes in line with the knees, tabletop position. Welcome my friends, let's rock and roll. Inhale, drop the belly, look up, big stretch of the front body. Exhale, rounding through the spine, reverse it, chin to chest. Naval draws up towards the sky. Inhale, drop the belly, pull the shoulders down and back, look up. (deep breath) Exhale, rounding through the spine, chin to chest. Let's do one more nice and slow, find what feels good. Inhale. (deep breath) Cow pose, open broad through the chest. Exhale, cat pose, rounding through, press away from your yoga mat. Cool, inhale all the way up to tabletop position, walk the palms just a little bit in front, and then really find that awareness through the hands, rooting down, tops of the shoulders drawing away from the ears. Inhale in, curl the toes under. (deep breath) Exhale, send the hips up high, heart to melts back, downward dog. Take your dog for a little walk here, beginning to warm up through the legs, keep that awareness in the hands rollin'. Rockin' and rollin', that's what I meant (laughs). And nice deep breaths continue to evolve to support you. (deep breathing) Great, turn the two big toes in slightly, this time find a little containment in the front body. So, draw the naval in, hug the lowers in. So, we're not just dumping all our weight back, but really finding that integrity through the front body, through that midline. Take a deep breath in here, look up, and exhale, step your feet up to the top. You can also do a nice slow walk, you know that I'm a big fan of that, just taking our time, connecting the dots. We'll meet in Uttanasana, extended standing forward fold. So, take a second here to really find your footing, toes pointing forward, bend the knees generously. Eventually, allow the weight of your head to release. (deep breath) Like you love yourself, big breaths in and out here. (deep breathing) Don't be shy. (sighs) And when you're ready, rooting down to the earth. Okay, are you just doing yoga asana here, or can you really find what feels good? Connect to the big picture. Understand that it's all connected, so really feel your feet connecting to the earth, all four corners, and tuck the chin into the chest. And as slow as you can go my friend, roll it up all the way. Take your time slowly stacking through the spine. Eventually, we'll stack head over heart, heart over pelvis here, and go ahead and right away open the palms, and we wanna start to really find this lift in the sternum, yes, but also really in the armpit chest. So, if you want, before you get a little sweaty here, you can take your thumbs to the armpit chest, and just give yourself a little lift, and you can feel that lengthen the side body, and as you do that, lengthen the tailbone down. See if you can firm the shoulder blades down the back body. So, we're focusing on this area right from the hip to the upper back, the armpit chest, the shoulder, the lats. Really working to create space and length, stretch and strengthen this area of the body, so you can really think about lifting through the front body as we always do, grounding through the back body. Then also the side body, having this awareness, this length as you come into mountain pose, and continue to deepen the breath. So, we're just gonna start really slow here, getting in the habit of moving with the breath, while still maintaining that awareness in all four sides of the torso. So, you wanna keep the shoulder in the sockets, so rather than going out or going forward, we're gonna take it at a nice diagonal angle here, so the shoulder stays nice and stable. And we'll inhale, hands come up to a flying V. As I like to call it, big breath in. And then exhale, they just come all the way back down. And inhale again, see if you can keep all four sides of the torso lifted and alive, so you start to really find a little bit of awareness through the upper back body, whatever that means to you, exhale, lower down. And let's do one more big breath in, and as you inhale spread the fingertips. Fill the torso with air, and exhale, release. (deep breath) Fabulous, interlace the fingertips behind, open the chest, knuckles draw down and away. So, you don't need to force this or push this. We're gonna come to this a couple times during this practice so maybe you keep the wrists nice and square to start, you don't bring the palms together. Just be really mindful, right, you can never be too mindful. It's a sign of listening and loving yourself, deep breath in, exhale release, break free. (deep breath) Inhale, same flying V. As you reach up, this time you might lift the toes, so you can ground through all four corners of the feet. Inhale, and then exhale, down we go, all the way, forward fold. Great, here we go, we inhale, lift up to a flat back, your version. I'm gonna take my palms all the way to the tops of my thighs so I can really find length through the crown. Lifting, lengthening, nice long line from the crown to the tail, big breath in. (deep breath) Use your exhale to take it down, forward fold. Awesome, inhale, root to rise, fingertips out to that flying V, inhale, reach for the sky, big breath, volcano pose. And then exhale, down we go, forward fold. (deep breath) Inhale, lift and lengthen. (deep breath) Just checkin' my mic. (laughs) Then exhale, fold. This time, plant the palms, we're gonna step the right foot back, followed by the left, plank pose. Now, consider the torso, so we have the front body, back body, and the side body. Lots of awareness as we breath in and out here in plank, pressing away from the yoga mat. Take one more deep breath in. And exhale, lower the knees, hug the elbows into the side body, and slowly lower all the way down to your belly. (deep breath) When you arrive, interlace the fingertips behind the tail, press in your foundation, keep the chin tucked into the chest here, so really mindful as you inhale, draw the knuckles down towards the heels. Again, tucking the chin, so we're not here, but here. And nice and low, no need to come super high here. Press into the tops of the feet firmly, ground down through the shins, pubic bone, one more breath. (deep breath) Woo, and then exhale, release. Welcome that heat, palms come underneath the shoulders, we curl the toes under, we send the heels towards the back edge of the mat, which lifts the knees, tones the quads, and we inhale press up. (deep breath) Exhale, downward facing dog. (deep breath) Deep breath in here. (deep breath) And big breath out. (deep breath) Awesome, drop the left heel, inhale, lift the right leg up high. Take a second to bend the right knee, and go ahead and open up, stacking the hips, but see if you can keep your right shoulder in line with your left shoulder. And really drawing the right knee up, and the ball of the right big toe over towards the left. So, again, lifting right knee up, and drawing the right foot over. (deep breath) Send awareness breath to your right side body. One more big breath in. (deep breath) Then exhale, release, right toes turned down, and then slowly we'll bring that right foot all the way up into a nice low lunge. Take a moment to catch your breath, find your foundation. Do lower that back knee here to start, front knee over front ankle. (deep breath) Great, then a couple big breaths here, as you pull the right hip crease back. Just find your footing, stretch the legs. (deep breath) Then when you're ready, take the left hand down. Turn the right toes out just slightly, and inhale, right fingertips up towards the sky. Breath, again, send so much love and awareness to the right side body, that right rib. Fill the lungs with air as you breath in deep, and then exhale, everything comes back into center. (deep breath) Plant the palms. Step it back to plank, or half plank, so you can keep the knees lowered here. We're coming to plank, we'll inhale, shift the weight forward, exhale, slowly lower all the way onto the belly. (deep breath) Inhale, cobra. Pull the elbows back, keep the chin tucked into the chest. And exhale, release. (deep breath) Curl the toes under, send the heels back, lift the knees, tone the quads, inhale, press up to plank. (deep breath) Exhale, downward dog. (deep breath) Great work, take a second, paddle it out here. (deep breath) Listen to the sound of your breath. Then when you're ready, drop the right heel, inhale, lift the left leg up high. Find your foundation, when you're ready, bend that left knee, and we'll begin to stack the hips. So, there's a tendency to wanna do this here, no prob, if you really want that, you can take that, but take a moment to find the foundation in the hands. Then see if you can keep the shoulders in alignment, stable. As you lift that left knee up, and then send the left toes over. Again, the action of lifting the left knee up, and sending the left toes over. One more breath here, you got it. And then release, left toes down, and then all the way up and through into your lunge. Great, lower the right knee, take a second to reconnect with your breath, feel the blood flow opposite direction. Awesome, working core strength today too, also toning the arms, strengthening the arms. (deep breath) It's all connected. I love yoga playtime because I focus on my breath, and the synchronicity of the flow, and in return, (deep breath), awe, just enjoy the transformation my body makes, right. So, sometimes we just focus on the transformation, and we miss all the joy, that's all I'm saying. Okay, right hand down, left toes turned open slightly, pull that left hip crease back. Inhale, open up towards the sky. Draw the right shoulder away from the ear. Send lots of love, awareness, breath, into that left side body. Lengthen, tailbone down towards the back heel, breath deep here, one more inhale in. (deep breath) And exhale, bring everything back into center. (deep breath) Vinyasa, plant the palms, step it back, belly to cobra, or you can move chatarunga to upward facing dog. (deep breath) Inhale, lifts you up, and exhale brings you back. We'll meet in downward facing dog, inhale to plank, exhale, Adho Mukha, take your time getting there, move at your own pace. (deep breathing) From down dog, we'll inhale, look forward, bend the knees. (deep breath) And exhale, hop, or step to the top. (deep breath) Inhale lifts you up halfway, your version, find length. (deep breath) And exhale, forward fold. Root to rise, spread the fingertips, flying V, once again, as you inhale. (deep breath) And then exhale, back down you go, taking it slow and steady, moving with the breath. Inhale, halfway lift, long neck, find length. Exhale, fold. Bend the knees, plant the palms, step or hop it back to plank, move through Vinyasa, belly to cobra, or chatarunga to up dog. Take your time, move with your breath. We'll meet in downward facing dog. (deep breath) From your down dog, drop the left heel, and inhale, lift the right leg up high. Right toes turned down, we level the hips here, engage through the right inner thigh, so lift your right inner thigh up towards the sky. Find length in the side body, really lengthen lengthen. As you melt your heart back, inhale in, exhale, knee to nose. Connect to your power. Cultivate strength. Great, step the right foot up all the way, we'll pivot on the back foot, and inhale, rise up strong, flying V arms here maybe, Warrior 1. (deep breath) So, imagine that there's this incredible connect from your hip to your armpit chest, and then all the way through to your wrists. What if that was one big connect, rather than these separate parts? Draw energy up from the feet, as if you were trying to pull your yoga mat in towards the center. Take one more deep breath here. (deep breath) Then exhale, right hand's gonna grab left wrist, and nice and easy, just a nice slow gentle tilt to the right. Now, hug the lower ribs in, breath. (deep breath) Then inhale back to center. Exhale, Warrior 2. (deep breath) So, you might widen your stance a little bit here, woo, head over heart, heart over pelvis. When you're ready, strong focus, out past the right fingertips. (deep breath) Big breath in. (deep breath) Big breath out. (deep breath) Inhale, reach the right fingertips forward up and back, keep that front knee over front ankle, and then we'll send it all the way into Peaceful Warrior. Inhale in. (deep breath) Exhale, dial your heart forward. Extend to the side angle. Right elbow on the top of the right thigh, we'll send the left fingertips up here to start, big stretch. (deep breath) We can also have right fingertips down towards the earth. Lengthen through the side body, hug the lower ribs in, inhale. (deep breath) And exhale. On the last breath, we might take the left fingertips forward towards the front edge, inhale, find length. And exhale, release everything down. Left hand comes to the earth this time, back knee lifted, we inhale all the way up, big twist. Then exhale, all the way down. (deep breath) Great, step it back, move through your flow, or you can send it straight to downward facing dog. Inhaling as you open your heart, and exhaling as you melt it back. (deep breath) When you arrive, (deep breath) big breath in, (deep breath) big breath out. (deep breath) Here we go, drop the right heel down this time, inhale, lift the left leg up high. Lift from your left inner thigh, level the hips, strong and steady here. (deep breathing) One more breath, inhale, you got it. (deep breath) And exhale. Connect to your center. Knee to nose, naval draws up. Shoulders right over the wrist here, upper body's in plank. (deep breath) Great, then step it up. Pivot on the back foot. When you're ready, Warrior 1, Virabhadrasana 1. (deep breathing) So, imagine the arm is an extension of the hip socket here, really reaching, lengthening. (deep breath) Hug the lower ribs in, find that containment, press into the outer edge of the back foot strong. Focus on sensation over the shape. (deep breath) Then inhale. Lift your heart a little more. Press into that back heel, and we'll take the left hand, grab the right wrist, and just a gentle tilt to the left. Feel that connect, that stretch from the right heel all the way through the right fingertips. Inhale. (deep breath) And exhale, release. (deep breath) Inhale in again. (deep breath) And exhale, Warrior 2, other side, check it out. So, if you're new to the practice, big breaths, take it nice and slow. Everyone, try to find something new. Maybe you've done a lot of Warrior 2s in your life. Can you find something new to play with, to experiment, explore? (deep breathing) Focus is out past the left fingertips for a breath or two here. See if you can soften the skin of the face, pull the pinkies back, and lift your heart. Then keep pressing into the knife edge of that back foot. As you send the left fingertips forward, up and back, keep that front knee bent as you find Peaceful Warrior here. Naval draws in, big stretch. Inhale, lengthen, and exhale, extended side angle. For starters, left knee comes to the top of the left thigh, we tug back through that left hip crease, (deep breath) front knee over front ankle. Inhale, right fingertips towards the sky, big breaths. Fill all four sides of the torso with your inhale. Ground down through your foundation on the exhale. Maybe we open it up, left fingertips down to the earth. Find length through the crown, inhale. Exhale, maybe right fingertips towards the front edge, find that connect, strong connect, from the outer edge of the back foot, all the way through the right fingertips. Inhale in again. And exhale, we soften and release back to the lunge. Find your twist here, back knee stays lifted, inhale, open the chest, left fingertips towards the sky. And exhale, release. (deep breath) Plant the palms, step it back, move through a Vinyasa, or straight to down dog, or you can take a little child's pose here instead. Inhale, exhale. (deep breath) We'll meet in down dog. (deep breathing) When you arrive, and take your time getting there, no rush, when you arrive take a deep breath in, and then go ahead and let out some heat through the mouth, exhale. (deep breathing) Bend the knees, inhale, look forward. Exhale, make your way to the top. Inhale, lifts you up halfway, take your time, find length, and exhale, fold. Inhale, root to rise, inhale, reach for the sky. And exhale, hands all the way down at your sides. (laughs) Got so zenned out there. Take a moment here to just stand in mountain. Observe your breath, observe the sensations. (deep breathing) And gently bat the eyelashes open, swim the fingertips around, opposite thumb on top, the one that feels a little wonky, let's just change it up a little bit here. Knuckles draw down and away, open the chest, and lengthen to the tail bone. Open through the chest, lengthen through the tailbone, lift your heart, one more breath. (deep breath) And then exhale, break free. Inhale, root to rise, big stretch. Exhale, slow with your breath, all the way down, soften and bow. (deep breath) Inhale, lift and lengthen. (deep breath) Exhale, fold. (deep breath) Plant the palms, step it back, move through a Vinyasa, or straight to downward facing dog. (deep breathing) Great job guys, big breath in, big breath out. Side plank, Vashit... Vasisthasana. Whoa. Here we go, taking a second to really connect to your center, your core, we're gonna come into plank here by drawing the naval up, rolling through the whole spine, and then shifting the torso forward so it's parallel to the earth. (deep breath) Then take the right hand to the midline, we're gonna come on to the outer edge of the right foot to start, and then, right away, I'm gonna take my left hand to my outer edge of my right hip and just lift it up, guide it up. Great, then I'll reach left fingertips up towards the sky, sorry if I said right hand, left hand, all the way to the outer edge of the right hip, lift it up, and then, right away, my body may be telling me I need more support. So, I'll bend that left knee, bring the left foot to the ground, and still keep the hips lifted here, working on the arm strength, the core strength of course, but just having a little more support, so that I can maintain this length in my spine, my side body. I'm sore (laughs). Press away from the yoga mat, or we can also take different variations here, tree legs. But last but not least, I'm gonna plug that left shoulder into socket, and send the left fingertips up towards the sky. Deep breath in, lift the hips. (deep breath) Take one more breath cycle in and out, you got it. And then use an exhale to bring you back down. Great, move through Vinyasa, or slowly lower the knees, and take child's pose in between by swimming the fingertips behind. (deep breath) Moving with the breath. (deep breathing) We'll meet back in downward facing dog. (deep breath) Other side, here we go. Big breath in. (deep breath) When you arrive, big breath out through the mouth. (deep breath) Naval draws up. Move from your center, move from the middle as you slowly shift forward. Great, left hand comes to the center this time, and we stack the feet. Right hand comes to the outer edge of the left hip to guide it. Lift it all the way up, up, up, up. And then right fingertips up towards the sky, careful not to drop in the neck here, crown of the head shoots forward, nice long lines of energy. If you need to bend that knee, we find a little support here. Breathe deep, connect to your power, press away from you yoga mat. 100% full body experience. Last but not least, we'll send the right fingertips all the way up, find that length, again, you can take any variation you like here, or evolve your practice in time too. And one more big breath in here, find expansion, and then exhale to release. Last call for Vinyasa, take it or leave it. (deep breath) We'll meet in down dog. (deep breath) For a big breath in, and a big cleansing breath out. (deep breath) Let's do one more, inhale in. (deep breath) How about a lion's breath exhale, tongue out? (deep breath) Great, slow and with control, with grace, lower the knees down, bring them together, arch to arch together, swim the fingertips back, child's pose. (deep breath) If you can, see if you can soften through the jaw, maybe even part the lips or open the mouth. (deep breathing) Relax the weight of the shoulders down. (deep breathing) And inhale lots of love in, deep breath. (deep breath) Exhale lots of love out. (deep breath) Slowly begin to reach the fingertips up towards the front edge, and nice and easy, soft, you can pretend like you're moving through water here, we're just gonna transition to a seat, so swinging the legs to one side, and sending the legs out in front. It's nice to move slow, especially if you're new to the practice. A yoga asana practice is much more powerful than people realize. The systems of the body getting moved around, the energy of the body getting shifted. (deep breath) Homey don't play sometimes, so nice and slow mindful movement is really good. Alright, so when you get there, go ahead and dig the heels into the earth, lift the knees up towards the sky, and then bring the hands behind the thighs. So, a lot of times when people think boat pose, Navasana, they feel like, awe, they have to get into this perfect shape, right. Whoa (laughs). That's why we shouldn't try to focus on the shape, but rather the sensation. So, since we're focusing on the side body awareness today, and this lift through all four sides of the torso, this is a great little pose to try. Looping the shoulders, lifting the heart, and then keeping that connect from the hips all the way up through the armpit chest, as you lift the shins parallel to the ceiling. Then you can stay there, hands behind the thighs, or reach the fingertips forward, maybe open the palms, and you can stay there or inhale, flying V, exhale straighten the legs. (deep breath) Great, come back. Inhale in, exhale, try again. Flying V, straighten the legs. Great, come back, and one more time. Inhale, flying V. (deep breath) Exhale, straighten the legs. (deep breath) Great, and release. Come to Sukhasana, meditation pose, where you just let everything go, maybe open the palms. Then close your eyes and once again, find this lift from the hips to the armpit chest. Just opening through the front body, and the back body, upper back body. (deep breath) And just take a quiet moment to notice what it feels like to be alive today, and listen to the sound of your breath. (deep breath) Flowing in and out that prana. (deep breath) Pranayama. (deep breath) And then gently release. Let's come to flat back position, nice and slow, awesome work. Hug right knee into the chest, whenever you get there, and then take a little twist. So, we'll inhale, right knee, all the way up and in. And then exhale, Supine Twist, to the left. You can open out through the right arm, should feel amazing here, big breaths. (deep breathing) Then roll it back through center. (deep breath) And switch. Left knee in, right leg out, big breath as you squeeze left knee up towards your heart. Exhale, Supine Twist. (deep breathing) Great, one more big inhale. (deep breath) And exhale, release. (deep breath) Come back to center, hug both knees into the chest. Feel that support, that length in the lower back. Snuggle the shoulder blades underneath your heart space, and then whatever feels good here, I'm gonna recommend taking the palms to the knees, and then reaching the knees towards the front edge, you can soften through your feet, and just allow the lower back to come up here, so you can slide a hand underneath the lower back. It should feel really great. From here, you can take it to a happy baby pose if you like. (deep breath) Or to some yogi bicycles for a more core workout. So, take a moment to ask yourself what you need, listen to yourself, practice listening. Then eventually, we'll head to our final and most precious posture, Shavasana. Take your time, again, you have happy baby, you can do some core engagement, you can take a Suptabaddha-koṇāsana. Or we're ready for the corpse pose. So, this is your practice. Thank you so much for sharing it with me, thank you for letting me guide you today. Return to this practice. You can give yourself a challenge of doing this once a week for a month, and just notice how things change. If you wanna do more you can, but I think it's a nice little challenge to try this once a week for a month, or just try it four times. Just notice how it changes, how it shifts. Make sure you take some time, even if you only have a little bit, to rest in Shavasana, find stillness. A moment where you can let go, and allow the nutrients of your practice to seep in and settle in. Awesome work today. Again, thank you for sharing your practice with me. I'll see ya next time. Namaste. (bright acoustic music)