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- Hello everyone and welcome
to Yoga With Adriene.

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I'm Adriene and today
we are going to start

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with a posture called Sukhasana,

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a seated mediation pose, if you will.

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You don't have to do any
mediation but this is our first

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posture and hopefully 
it will improve

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this Mr. Burns quality

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that we all are slowly
falling into because of hours

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and hours on the 
computer or on Facebook.

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So, we are going to 
counteract that today

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and learn Sukhasana.

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(upbeat music)

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Ok, so welcome, 
Sukhasana, the easy pose.

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Sukhasana is not always
that easy so rather

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than thinking of it 
as the easy pose,

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which, Sukhasana 
is Sanskrit, by the way,

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translating to easy pose.

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I like to think of it 
as this pose of ease.

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So, a place where 
we attempt to find ease.

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So, we are going to
start by taking the legs,

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crossing them 
criss-cross applesauce style

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and right away paying
attention to our foundation.

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So, always in yoga 
asana thinking

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about building it 
from the ground up.

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So, the foundation 
being, of course,

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whatever part of your 
body that's touching

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the Mother, the Earth.
That was kind of new-agey.

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The Mother Earth.

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So, right away, even here,

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sit bones, these 
two push pins connecting

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to the Earth.

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I love yoga cause we
get to touch our booties.

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So you can take your fingertips

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and move the fleshy part
of your buttocks aside

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feeling the sit bones
root down to the earth.

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And then the 
outer edges of the feet

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also connecting to the earth.

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So already I am starting
to put myself in this chair

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or this place where 
I have more awareness

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than maybe I do 
unlocking my car door

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or getting into the car.

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So, if this pose is not
feeling so easy for you,

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then you can take some
props, you can take a block,

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or a blanket, which I have
here, this little Mexican

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blanket or even a book, anything

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and lift the hips up,

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so you have a little bit
of a fighting chance here.

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So, the tops of the thighs
can melt down and hips

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can open up a little bit more.

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Hands can rest wherever
they gently fall naturally

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and just ask yourself 
if you feel happier

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with your palms up 
or palms down.

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Rather than saying 
any which way lately,

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I am interested in just
empowering you to find

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what feels good. I feel like
yoga is awesome for that.

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Empowering ourselves
to find what feels good

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and then, of course, recognize
when things don't feel good.

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So, Sukhasana, the pose
of ease or the easy pose.

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We'll connect the 
outer edges of the feet,

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the sit bones to the earth

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and then we'll just start by
kind of hunkering down here

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drawing the chin to the
chest, rounding the spine,

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coming into that kind
of Mr. Burns posture.

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Chin to chest here, 
navel draws back.

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You can close your 
eyes and just letting

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the skin of the back stretch.

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Take a nice, 
sweet, deep breath in.

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And as you exhale, you can
begin to rock the pelvis down,

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sit bones connecting 
again to the earth

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and I'll just slowly crawl up
the staircase of the spine.

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Nice and slow, just
like we do in 6th grade

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theater arts class,
vertebrae by vertebrae,

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lengthening up through
the crown of the head.

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And then maybe 
I'll loop the shoulders,

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taking the shoulders a
little forward, up and back,

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and then I want to tag
a little bit of weight

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down in my elbows 
just to create space

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between my ears 
and the shoulders.

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And at any time if you're
feeling like you could use

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a little space in your neck, 
I recommend dropping

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your chin to your chest
and drawing a few circles

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with your nose, round and round.

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And if you're a little
bit tight in the neck,

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which most of 
us are, you can start

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with small, like saucer-sized
circles and then allow

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them to grow larger, 
like salad plate,

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and then big.

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Buffet plate.

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And then don't 
forget to reverse it.

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OK, so we have a 
couple of neck rolls.

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We have a couple 
of shoulder rolls

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and then, Sukhasana.

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Tops of the thighs roll down.

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There's this idea of
being present and soft

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but still firm in the body.

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So, you can think 
about drawing your navel

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to your spine and then
finding this natural

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lift in the heart, or
your sternum, the chest.

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So, the chest is lifting
up towards the sky,

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so is the crown of the head.

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We've looped 
the shoulders around,

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giving a little 
weight to our elbows.

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So, I have this 
sweet feeling right now

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of being grounded to the earth

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but still lifted and
lengthening up towards the sky.

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Then I will begin 
to soften my eyelids,

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maybe soften the 
skin on my face,

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relax the face.

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Can smile a little bit,

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like what am 
I doing, mediation,

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Sukhasana, what is yoga, 
why am I here?

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And just come to 
this place of inner calm.

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Heart's lifting, shoulder
blades are rotating

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together and down.

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Navel is drawing 
towards the spine.

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And then if we want, 
we can draw the palms

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together here, really
pressing the palms together.

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We call this Anjali Mudra,
which we will get to

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when we talk about 
mudras on another day.

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But just as a little
reminder, I like to bring

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my palms together here
in the prayer position

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to lift my heart, or lift
my sternum, to my thumbs.

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And then just notice if
you tend to lean foward

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a little bit here, 
maybe you have a little

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flexibility in the 
hips or if you feel

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like there is a magnet 
drawing your navel

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to the wall behind you.

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And maybe just as 
a little bit of a guide,

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in fact I will turn to
the side to show you this.

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Maybe just as a guide
here, we can think about

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rather than being here
or here, think about

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finding a straight line
from the crown of the head

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through the heart 
and then to the pelvis.

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So, in general, I feel
like head over the heart,

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heart over the pelvis,
is a sweet way to be.

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And then if you notice yourself
like, chilling out here,

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not being judgmental, like,
"Oh God my posture sucks,"

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but just remembering, 
head over heart,

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heart over pelvis
because it's the journey,

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it's the practice, 
it's the art of noticing,

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or the awareness 
that's gonna get us

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to this place of ease.

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So, then just being like,
"oh yeah, head over heart,

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"heart over pelvis."

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Finding that 
awareness in the body

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and then coming into alignment.

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We can sit here in Sukhasana

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for at least five nice,
long, deep breaths.

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I recommend 10 to 15.

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And remember yoga was, 
or yoga asana rather was first

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created so that the yogis
could sit in meditation pose,

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this easy pose so they
could find ease here,

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so they could sit in meditation
for long, long, long,

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long, long extended 
periods of time.

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So, arrive at your seat, 
find that ease

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and if you get really
distracted, just come back

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to the sound of the breath.

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I like to think of this
pose as a check in.

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Ok, so, that was Sukhasana
or the easy pose.

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Thank you so much for
being with us here today

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and for learning 
that basic posture.

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If you have any 
questions or comments,

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please leave them 
in the comment box

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and I'll get back to you.

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Subscribe to my channel
if you haven't already

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and visit Yoga With Adriene 
for a lot more yogic goodies.

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Namaste.

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(upbeat music)