- Hello, my friends, and
welcome to Yoga with Adriene.

I'm Adriene, today we 
have Yoga for Loneliness.

So this is a 
wonderful full-body practice,

but it's hands-free and 
we're off the knees today,

so it's nice and 
low to the ground.

We're gonna open 
up through the hips,

find an expansion 
through the belly and the heart,

connect to the big picture.

We even have a 
little core work in here,

I feel like no matter what
state of loneliness you are,

or have been in, this is gonna
be a good one for everyone.

So hop into something comfy, 
and let's get started.

(gentle upbeat music)

Hi, alright, let's begin today's

practice laying down, shall we?

So take your time 
getting there, there's no rush.

The self love starts now.

We come to flat back, as 
you're ready, get situated.

Feet are gonna 
come as wide as the mat,

or wider than hip width apart if

you're practicing not on a mat,

and you're gonna 
allow the knees to fall in

so that the whole 
belly area and the groin

and the pelvis 
can soften and relax.

So do whatever you have to
do to get comfortable here.

And again, we're 
wanting this place of the body

where we carry a lot 
of emotion in the hips,

in the groin, 
the pelvis, the belly

to soften, so 
there's a soft bowl here.

And you can even take 
your right hand to that area,

and then as you're ready, 
we'll bring the left hand

just over the heart 
space here, the left side.

And then I invite you, my dear
friend, to close your eyes,

and tuck the chin just slightly

to lengthen the 
back of the neck.

And then maybe one at a 
time, one shoulder at a time,

just snuggle the shoulder blade

really underneath 
your heart space so you

start to feel an 
opening in the chest.

And you can 
feel as best you can,

kind of grounded 
through the upper back body

just as it 
sinks and grows heavy,

melts into the earth.

And then a softness, 
again, a lightness,

in the lower belly 
and the groin, the hips.

Alright, so again, if 
you haven't closed your eyes,

I invite you to 
close your eyes here.

And I'd like for you to consider

the fact,

not even the idea, the fact that

there are,

I'm delighted 
just even saying it,

there are so many 
human beings around the world

that are doing 
this with you right now.

There are so many people

doing this with you right now.

Start to notice your breath,

and just meditate on that fact.

This connection,

and hopefully 
maybe eventually this

feeling that you are not alone.

As you slowly bring more 
awareness to your breath,

see if you can 
elongate your inhalations,

just take a couple 
big old deep breaths.

And in tandem with 
those big inhalations,

see if you can 
extend your exhales,

just make them a little longer.

And then notice where you 
might be gripping, holding.

If you're feeling particularly
destitute and lonely,

(laughs) I'm with you my
friend, we've all been there.

See if you can soften through
your toes and your fingers.

And then allow that softening
to travel up through the limbs

and then as you breathe in, 
feel the belly rise,

the heart expand and lift, 
and then as you exhale,

notice how it softens 
and falls like a wave.

And then naturally, 
some emotion's gonna come up.

If you're 
particularly sad today,

see if you can lean into it,
just observe, embrace it,

and then return to 
the breath each time.

Remember that you are 
not alone, and in fact,

with this 
particular shared practice,

there are so many 
people around the entire globe

doing this with you, 
connecting, right now.

Alright, slowly we'll 
begin to open the eyes,

and take the 
hands off the torso,

and then bring them to 
the backs of the thighs

as you slowly walk the feet in,

and then just 
guide your knees up

really nice and 
slow and gentle like

so that you can give 
yourself a big hug here.

Then continue to 
deepen the breath,

and maybe rock 
gently side to side,

and feel your spine 
supported by the earth here

as you kind of 
scoop the tailbone up,

and then maybe if 
it feels right today,

you peel the nose up 
just toward the knees,

creating more 
spaciousness in the back body.

You can grab the 
outer edges of the feet.

You can really 
make this your own here.

What we're wanting to 
do today is to hopefully

move the flow of 
energy up and down the spine,

and how that translates 
into the rest of the body.

Because often when we feel

anxiety from loneliness,

or maybe it's a deep 
sadness, or depression,

it often is

because there's 
stagnant energy in the body

that is getting kind of caught

and the flow isn't healthy,

and we can get hung 
up on things more easily.

And so yoga's such a great tool.

Just continue to squeeze your
knees into your chest here,

and find 
movement that feels good.

Yoga is just 
such a wonderful tool

for moving the 
energy or the chi, right,

as some people call it,

so that you can find a 
lightness and a freshness,

and a happiness 
that you deserve.

And sometimes yoga's a good tool

as opposed to other methods.

To each his own, though.

Okay, from here we're actually

gonna go into a Happy Baby Pose,

but we're not 
gonna grab the feet,

so we're just 
gonna grab the ankles.

So you'll reach 
in today and grab

the ankles right on the top,

and then use your 
thumb right where the arch

and the heel kinda come together

to really, pressure point here,

press the thumb into that space,

and then if it feels right, 
you can start to open up,

sending the soles of 
the feet towards the sky,

and then from there, same thing,

you can find little soft,
easy movement that feels good.

If you wanna grab the 
outer arches from here,

outer edges of 
the feet, you can.

And we're just gonna really take

a moment to 
consider the hip socket,

so don't get 
stuck in the pose here,

see if you can find 
little movement that

creates a little

lube, lubing effect 
(laughs) in the hip socket.

And then of course keep up
with your deep, loving breath.

So we kind of come into 
this vulnerable posture,

but it's Happy Baby, so connect
to a little innocence here,

take a couple more 
breaths to just find

any movement that feels good.

And continue to bring your focus

back to the breath 
time and time again,

acknowledging the thoughts 
and feelings that come up

and then returning to the
inhale, the exhale, the cycle.

So nothing's permanent.

We're all gonna 
have those low points,

and we're all going to 
feel alone, it's part of life.

But through our breath 
practice and our yoga practice

we can be more conscious of
the fact that it's a cycle.

What goes up must come down.

Alright, after 
you feel good here,

we're gonna bring the soles
of the feet to the ground,

knees over the heels, 
or somewhere, so.

Bring the heels in line with
the hips, how about that.

And then we're gonna 
bring the palms to the earth,

and snuggle the shoulder blades

underneath the 
heart space even more,

and then press into all 
four corners of the feet

as you inhale, lift the hips.

Think about your 
sits bones going towards

the backs of the knees here.

So you're creating 
lots of spaciousness

in the front of the hips.

Press your hands 
into the earth firmly,

and then, squeezing 
your thighs together

without moving the feet, and
lift your chest to your chin,

and then your 
chin towards the sky.

Take a deep breath in here.

Maybe lift the 
hips a little higher,

and then exhale as 
slow as you can go,

really rolling down 
articulately through the spine.

Come all the way back 
down, as slow as you can go.

Beautiful.

Lift the toes, 
dig into the heels,

spread the toes super wide,

and then release the 
feet back to the ground.

And one more time, press 
the palms into the earth,

Bridge Pose, slowly, 
starting with the tail,

lifting up, seeing 
if you can really press

into each vertebra, 
get a little massage here.

The knees stay 
stacked over the heels,

or at least try to 
find that sensation

as you press the 
palms into the earth.

And again, lift 
the chest to the chin,

and then the 
chin towards the sky.

Should feel amazing 
in the upper back body.

Breathing deep here, inhale,
lift the hips a little more,

imagine you have a 
block between your legs here.

And then exhale, 
slowly and articulately

lowering down.

Wonderful, open the palms.

Bring the feet together, 
soles of the feet

kiss as you bring 
the knees super wide.

Have to adjust 
my harem pants here.

And we're gonna come to 
a Reclined Cobbler's Pose.

So see if you can really 
feel your feet connect here,

your sweet feet.

Again, palms open, 
close your eyes,

take a deep breath 
in and as you exhale,

just allow what is, 
allow gravity to do the work.

Again, acknowledging 
any thoughts or feelings

that are coming up, 
and then knowing

that you're quite honestly and

truly held in a safe space here.

The earth has your back, 
your yoga mat has your back.

And the diverse, 
beautiful group of humans

who are doing this at the
very exact moment as you are

are connected to you here,

somehow, some way, with you.

Thanks, technology.

And then use your breath to
just connect to that life force.

And again, notice where you
might be holding or gripping.

See if you can 
begin to listen more

carefully to the 
sound of the breath.

That may change the 
quality of the breath.

And then slowly 
bring the fingertips

to the outer edge of the thighs,

blink the eyelashes open,

and then press the feet together

so you can slowly 
bring the knees up.

And then once again, we'll
guide the legs all the way up,

and you'll give 
yourself a great big hug here.

Find what feels good, 
rock gently side to side.

Keep listening to 
the sound of your breath.

And then keep the 
right knee hugging in,

and send the left leg 
up high towards the sky.

Point and flex the left foot,
squeeze the right knee in,

and then try to draw your left
toes towards your forehead,

feel that big stretch in the
back of the leg, the hamstring.

You can always bend that knee
as generously as you need.

Take one more 
deep breath in again,

really flex your 
left toes towards

your third eye, 
towards your face,

and then have some fun 
as you slow this move down.

Squeeze the right 
knee in, and think about

carving a line 
with your left heel.

So don't just drop 
your left foot down,

but again, consider 
that left hip socket

as you slowly lower 
the left heel down to hover

just above your yoga mat.

We open up through the front
of the left hip crease here,

we squeeze the right knee in,

and then option, 
Head to Knee Pose

to lift the nose 
towards the right knee.

Again, left knee's hovering,

and we start to 
just activate the core,

scoop the tailbone up a lot,

and squeeze and lift.

Shoulders are relaxed, 
we're breathing here.

And then to take 
it a step further,

there's an option to 
send the fingertips forward,

open the palms, and again,
we're scooping the tailbone up,

engaging the abdominal wall, 
spreading the toes,

breathing here.

Maybe you notice a shake, 
a tremble, that's awesome,

that's that prana, 
stirring it up in the body.

Moving the energy.

Inhale and again, 
and exhale to release

everything down.

Left heel comes to the earth,
head and neck, soft landing.

And then big twist, 
right knee over towards

the left side of your yoga mat,

open the right fingertips
towards the right side.

And you can kind of 
snuggle your shoulder blades

so that your right 
shoulder comes to the ground,

and we take five 
super big, buoyant,

beautiful, loving breaths here.

Breathe into your lower 
belly, so good for the spine.

Detoxifying, 
massaging the internal organs.

Literally helping to purify,

which absolutely 
affects your mood.

And then continue 
to remember that

there's so many 
people doing this with you,

you're not alone.

Feel supported by the earth.

And after your five breaths,
slowly guide it back to center,

and we'll send the left knee up,

in towards the chest, hug 
both knees into your heart,

scoop the tailbone up.

And then when you're ready,

right leg up 
high towards the sky.

Squeeze the left 
knee in even more.

Point and flex here, letting the

blood flow opposite direction,

letting that hip socket 
really get heavy, drop in.

Spine supported by the earth.

And then squeeze the left knee

in towards your 
upper left shoulder,

and here we go, 
really flex the right foot

so that the 
right toes are really

pointing towards your face.

You feel this length 
from the sit bone to the heel.

And we inhale in, and 
exhale, slowly lower it down.

And connect to your 
center as you do this.

Feel that breaking point where

you have to engage in the belly.

Let the right heel hover.

And then keep a 
stability in the shoulders here,

or you'll slowly peel the
noes up towards the left knee,

Head to Knee Pose, so good.

Scooping the 
tailbone up, keeping the

shoulders relaxed, 
breathing deep.

And you can stay here, 
or send the fingertips out,

then open the palms, 
elbow creases towards the sky,

and really scoop 
your tailbone up,

we're engaging the 
full abdominal wall here.

You should feel a 
little shake, a little tremble.

Breathe deep.

And take one more big breath in.

And release, right 
heel to the ground,

spine, soft landing to the mat.

Here we go, big twist.

Left knee over 
towards the right side.

Recline Twist, 
snuggle your shoulder blade

so that you can start to
guide the left shoulder down,

and five cycles of breath.

Inhaling lots of love in,

and exhaling lots of love out.

Close your eyes here, 
go inward, trust.

And then after 
your five breaths,

slowly bring it back to 
the midline, to the middle.

Hug both knees 
up into the chest.

Scoop the tailbone up.

Awesome.

Cross the ankles, 
we're gonna grab

the outer edges of 
the feet, or the big toes.

You can also just grab 
the backs of the thighs.

And in your own time, so 
you don't have to rush this,

or go into panic mode, 
you wanna actually

bring a little 
playfulness if you can

to this rock and 
roll move all the way up.

So take your time, we're 
gonna rock up to Sukhasana.

Take your time, try to 
enjoy this little transition.

So you don't have to 
nail it on the first try,

or the second, maybe 
you take a couple

swinging motions

to massage up 
and down the spine.

And be humbled by this 
move, whatever comes up,

just accept it, embrace it.

And then eventually we'll come
up to a cross-legged seat.

And draw the hands 
together at the heart.

Anjali mudra.

Sit up nice and tall.

Then again, 
remember you are not alone.

For one, I'm here with you.

But in yoga, we close out

the practice by saying namaste,

and namaste is 
really the acknowledgment

that we are one.

And so it might 
sound kind of cheesy,

but whenever I'm 
feeling blue or sad or alone,

or I feel like I'm 
lacking connection,

I try to remember that truth

that we are one.

Inhale deeply, bringing 
the thumbs to the third eye.

And exhale, bow 
your head to your heart.

Take a deep breath in, 
and today we'll whisper,

namaste.

(gentle upbeat music)