- Hi everyone, 
welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

I'm Adriene, and I'm 
here with my muse, Benji,

and today we have a big request.

It's yoga for writers.

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

(upbeat music)

Alright, my friend,

let's begin in a 
comfortable seat today.

Come on down to the ground.

Thank you so much 
for selecting this video.

I hope it serves you well.

You know, the hardest 
part is showing up.

We know that as writers,

or people who are 
wanting to practice

sitting down to write regularly.

So let this be a beautiful
step in the right direction,

something that 
supports you in your practice.

For today, if you want,

to get a little blanket 
or pillow to sit up on.

We're gonna begin 
in a cross-legged seat,

or any comfortable 
seat of your choice,

where you can get the 
spine nice and long and tall.

So I'll give you a 
second to get settled in here,

and let's approach this 
just kind of soft and easy,

so if you're feeling 
really cramped up today

or you're feeling frustrated,

that's all good, 
just come as you are,

and we're gonna 
ease into the practice

with some slow breaths,

some mindful breathing.

As you're ready, 
sit up nice and tall,

relax your shoulders,

again, working toward 
sitting up nice and tall.

If it's not happening today,
it's okay.

It's the working toward that
goal that that really matters.

Sitting up on 
something does help.

Take a second to 
just allow your energy

to drop into this moment.

Carve a little path inward,

and work to

slowly let the day thus far,

your thinking mind,
your to-do list,

let it go for now.

And let's take a 
deep breath in together.

And as you exhale,

just place the hands mindfully

on the knees or the thighs,
or even in your lap,

but just a mindful placement,
with that breath out.

And then on your next breath in,

let this inhale 
be longer, smoother,

deeper, fuller, here we go.

And then exhale everything out,

letting go of the thinking mind.

And finally, 
if you haven't already,

close your eyes 
or soften your gaze,

gently down past your nose,

and this time, we're gonna
take a big breath in together.

Here we go, inhale.

Fill it up. 
Sit up nice and tall.

And at the top of the breath,

we're gonna pause 
and hold the breath.

Hold it, hold it, hold it.

And empty it out.

Great, repeat. Here we go.

Big inhale.

Fill it up, fill it up, 
fill it up, fill it up. Pause.

Retain the breath at the top,

relax the shoulders.

Keep the skin in the 
face relaxed as well.

And empty it out.

Let everything go.

Again, big inhale, 
in through the nose.

Think of this 
being a lateral breath,

breathing in all 
four sides of the torso,

fill it up, fill it up, 
fill it up, fill it up.

Capture the magic, pause.
Hold the energy.

Hold the breath at the top.

Good, now let everything go.

Maybe this one is 
out through the mouth.

Alright, inhale in again.

Breathe in, breathe in,
breathe in, breathe in, pause.

Hold at the top, 
relax the shoulders.

Relax the skin of the face.
Relax your jaw.

And empty it out.

Last one. 
Here we go, big inhale.

Big, full, lateral breath.

Feeling all four 
sides of the torso expand

as you breathe in, 
sitting up nice and tall,

maybe finding a gentle 
lift in your heart space

for this one. Pause, hold,

retain at the top. 
Keep it soft and easy.

relaxed in the body,
capture the magic,

For three, 
hold it for two,

and one, 
empty everything out.

Excellent.

Nice and easy, we're gonna
drop the chin to the chest.

Pause here.

You can bat the 
eyelashes open here.

And use the, or listen 
to the sound of my voice

to guide you so you 
can keep your gaze down.

Let the hips be heavy.

Imagine you're pinching a pencil

between your 
two shoulder blades.

So you're gonna 
draw the scaps together,

and then once 
they kiss together,

you're holding that pencil,
take it down.

Let the shoulder blades 
melt down the back body.

So we're coming in and together.

You will feel an adjustment
in your hands and your arms.

In and together, and 
then down the back body.

Now, breathe deeply here.

Again, feeling the lungs,
the ribcage,

expand as you breathe in.

And then soften 
as you breathe out.

And then relax the 
skin of the forehead,

close your eyes if you need to

to help initiate this action

as you create a 
big passive stretch

in the back of the neck.

Then slow tick-tocks,

drawing the left ear towards

the front of the left shoulder,

and then the right ear

towards the front 
of the right shoulder,

so chin stays down and 
you're tick-tocking here.

You should feel 
this great stretch

from the base of the neck

to the trapezius,

that big ol' trapezius muscle.

Maybe pause on one side,
take a cycle of breath.

And then take it to the 
opposite side, same thing.

Oh, yeah.

And bring it back to 
center when you feel ready.

And slowly carve a line 
with the nose to sit back up.

Try to align head over heart,

heart over pelvis here.

Inhale, send the 
fingertips forward.

Exhale, cross one 
arm over the other,

give yourself a big hug.

Inhale in deeply.

Exhale, completely 
draw the shoulders down.

Beautiful, from here,

keep the hips heavy, sits 
bones rooted to the ground.

You're gonna tick-tock 
from one side to the other.

Getting a little gentle 
stretch in the side body

and the low back, so 
nice and easy back and forth.

So try to keep the 
hips really heavy here.

Excellent. Then slowly 
release the arms,

opposite arm on top, same thing,
tick-tock back and forth,

maybe a little deeper this time.

Think of the side 
body as a stick of taffy,

and each time you 
gently come to one side

you're giving it a 
little bit more bend.

A little bit of stretch.

All the while, 
connecting to center.

Elongating your inhales.
Extending your exhales.

Great, then we'll 
come back to center.

Release the arms, 
bring the palms to the knees,

take a deep breath in

as you shrug your 
shoulders up to your ears.

Squeeze, squeeze, 
squeeze and lift

and then exhale, 
drop it down.

Good, twice more like that.

Inhale, squeeze and lift.

Exhale, shoulder blades down 
the back-body as you drop.

And one more, take it away.

Awesome. Left hand 
to right knee cap.

Sit up nice and tall.

Inhale, lift your heart,

lift the crown of the head.
Exhale, twist.

So stimulating the 
energetic body here,

the digestive organs too,

but really working to create

a healthy flow of energy
that runs up and down the spine.

Get the creative juices flowing.

You can nod the head a little,

yes here, maybe no. 
Keep breathing deep.

Good, then take 
it through center

and to the other side.

Resist the urge 
to rock back here.

Work to gently stimulate 
the muscles of your core

to sit up nice and tall.

And these things take practice

so just do your best,

using an inhale to 
lengthen up through the heart,

up through the crown.

Using an exhale to maybe
look past your left shoulder.

And any soft, easy 
movement in the head or neck

that feels good, take it here.

Awesome. Then we'll 
bring it back to center.

We're gonna come 
through to all fours.

If you need a little 
padding for the knees,

you can use your 
yoga mat if you have one

to double up like so 
and place the knees here.

Easy, simple trick.

You can also use your 
blanket or towel of course.

We're gonna come to a 
little Tabletop Position.

Bring your wrists right 
underneath the shoulders,

your knees right 
underneath your hip points.

And then once you have 
this nice neutral spine,

I'm gonna invite you 
to walk your hands out

just a little bit wider 
than your shoulder.

Alright, Cat-Cow.
Nice and slow here to start.

Press into the tops of the feet.

Press into your 
index finger and thumb.

And then press into 
all of your knuckles.

Good, here we go, inhale, 
drop the belly.

Open the chest, again,
slow to start here,

open the heart, the chest.

Hang out here for 
a couple breathes.

Close your eyes.

Notice, notice, notice.

Notice if you feel a trembling,
even here right away.

And then from a 
place of connect,

whatever that means to you,

claw through the fingertips,
press into the toes,

hug the low ribs in, 
we're gonna arch the spine,

arc the spine, excuse me,

chin to chest, crown 
of the head goes down.

Again, slow to start here.

Creating a lot of space 
in the upper back body.

Imagine lengthening, 
so rather than tucking,

just think about 
lengthening the tailbone down

towards the earth.

Take a couple more 
breathes here, to notice.

Breathe.

And now let's 
move with the breath.

Inhale, drop the belly,
open the chest.

Really, really press 
into the feet today.

And then exhale, 
claw through the fingertips,

round the spine, 
really, really, really claw

into those first knuckles.

Just claw into all of 
your knuckles, actually.

Inhale, drop the belly.

Open the chest, look forward.

Exhale, grounding through all 
of your fingers and knuckles,

round through the spine,
chin to chest,

draw the navel up, up, up.

Moving with your breath, 
inhale, Cow Pose.

Exhale, Cat Pose.

Now take one more round

just with the 
sound of your breath.

So find an audible 
breath and move with that.

Excellent.

Come back to nice neutral spine,

big toes to touch, 
knees nice and wide.

Send the hips back,
Child's Pose,

Extended Child's Pose.

But today you're 
gonna send the hips back,

walk the fingertips forward,

stay here, or there's an option

to bring the palms up behind
the nape of the neck here.

If that feels good, 
walk the elbows forward.

Start to get a deeper,
deeper stretch

through the shoulder girdle,
and the chest.

And now, my darling friend,
close your eyes.

Keep up with your 
nice audible breath,

let it be your soundtrack.

Notice the quality 
of air in the room,

any sounds that 
might be around you.

And then keep returning 
to the sound of your breath

and the sensation in your body.

Even the sticky sensations,
the fussy ones.

Pay attention.

Excellent, then 
slowly we'll release.

We're gonna come 
all the way through,

back to all fours.

Walk the knees back 
underneath the hips,

and then walk 'em back,

and you're gonna 
slowly bend your elbows

and come onto your belly.

From here, center 
yourself on the mat,

press into the tops of the feet,

slowly draw your hands 
in line with your ribcage.

Squeeze your elbows 
into your side body,

and inhale, lift up slowly,
Bhujangasana.

Keep it nice and 
low here to start

as you hug the elbows in
like little grasshopper legs.

Exhale to release, 
press back up to all fours.

You got this.

Find that Tabletop Position.

Then take the 
hands a little wider.

Pinkies towards 
the edge of your mat.

Index fingers pointing forward.

Then here we go, 
curl the toes under,

take a deep breath in.

Exhale, upper arm 
bones rotate out,

and we peel the 
tailbone up towards the sky,

Downward Facing Dog.

So getting a little healthy,
fresh blood flow to the brain.

Getting the 
heart above the head.

You can pedal the feet 
out here, bend the knees.

And if this is not 
a great shape for you,

you can just come 
into Extended Child's Pose.

Keep rooting 
through those knuckles,

keep pressing 
into the fingertips.

Upper arm bones rotate out

as your heart melts through

and towards your kneecaps.

Then for a second here,
find stillness.

Capture the magic, the energy.

Soften your gaze.

Think long, beautiful neck.

Inner thighs rotating 
in towards each other.

Nice inner spiral.

Find stillness.

If you're wearing 
a baggy shirt like me

you can go into your own 
little private love cave,

little cave of ideas and wonder.

Take it where 
you can get it, right?

Big inhale.

Exhale, slow release 
of the knees to the earth.

Good.

From here, bring the tops 
of the feet to the ground.

We're gonna walk the hands

all the way up to the thighs,

and we're gonna come 
to a kneeling position.

If this is not great for you,

you can do it on the belly,

and that's where 
we're headed after this,

so we'll meet you there.

Alright, roll your 
sleeves up if you got 'em.

Here we go, 
lengthen tailbone down.

Lift heart up.

Swim the fingertips around, 
spread the fingertips,

and you're gonna 
interlace them behind your back.

Knuckles drawn down 
towards the backs of the knees.

Start to open up 
through the chest.

Again, imagine 
you're pinching that pencil

between your two scaps,
your shoulder blades.

And then open up 
through the chest here

as you draw the 
knuckles towards your heels.

Close your eyes, relax your jaw.

Maybe soft, easy movement 
here in the head and neck.

We'll listen to 
your body and respond,

sweetly, generously, kindly.

Stay grounded by pressing 
into the tops of the feet.

For one more breath, 
maybe you take your sternum up,

your chest up, maybe 
you take your chin up,

and then gaze back,
just for a hair.

And then exhale to 
release everything, awesome.

Shake the hands a little,

maybe rotate the wrists 
one way and then the other.

Awesome.

We're gonna come 
onto the belly now,

so come back to the hands,
hands kiss the earth.

We walk the knees back,
just like we did before,

and we're gonna 
lower onto the belly.

This time we'll swim 
the fingertips around here,

for Shalabhasana, 
opposite them on top,

if you interlaced before.

Knuckles are gonna 
draw towards the heels,

and when you're 
ready, inhale in.

Exhale, press in your foundation

to lift up nice and low.

So I'm not really 
coming to my max here

and I'm keeping my 
feet on the ground.

Press the pubic bone 
down into the earth.

Lengthen the neck by 
tucking the chin slightly.

Breathe here, feel 
your breath move in you,

that rise and fall.

Good, and then slowly,
on an exhale,

release with control.

Press back up to all fours,

and bring the 
knees wide once again.

On your next inhale, 
open up through the chest,

send your right 
fingertips up towards the sky.

Lean back, way back,

and then on your exhale,
thread the needle,

right arm underneath 
the bridge of the left arm.

You're gonna really come,
or work to come onto

the right ear, 
the right shoulder here.

So you're wanting 
to feel a big stretch

in the upper back body,

and then a beautiful twist

in the mid and lower back,
nice and easy.

Legs are still firmly 
planted on the earth.

If you wanna take 
a little bind here

by bringing the left 
hand to the low back,

or the front of the 
right hip crease, you can.

Otherwise, keep 
the left elbow bent.

Inhale in deeply here.

Exhale, let everything go.
Empty, empty, empty.

One more time, inhale.

Good, on your exhale this time,

come back through to center,

and we'll take it 
to the other side.

So big stretch of the 
left arm up and overhead,

spread the left fingertips.

And then exhale, 
thread the needle.

Listen to your body as 
you move through the shape.

So don't wait to listen 
'til once you've landed.

Connect the dots.

Connect the brain with the body.

Find a version 
here that suits you.

Maybe you take the bind.

Think about spiraling 
your heart up towards the sky.

Think about 
turning your left low ribs

up towards the sky.

Inhale in deeply here, breathe.

Exhale, empty it out,

listen to the 
sound of your breath.

Good, inhale in.

And exhale to slowly come

all the way back 
through to center, awesome.

Walk the knees in 
towards each other.

We're gonna slowly swing the
legs to one side, any side.

And then send your legs
out long in front of you.

You can bend the knees as
generously as you like here.

I encourage it.

Inhale to reach all 
the way up towards the sky.

And exhale to think up and over

as you dive into a 
Seated Forward Fold.

Maybe start with the knees bent.

Feel free to lift 
your hips up if you like.

And when you're ready,
rounding the head

gently forward, 
a reverent bow.

Bowing the mind intelligence

in towards the 
body intelligence.

And as always, I just 
like to remind everyone,

if that resonates, 
great. If it doesn't,

just leave it behind, and
take charge of your practice.

Breathe deep, 
breathe full, slow breaths.

Pay attention to the sensations.

Maybe we work to 
straighten the legs in time.

Maybe we can feel 
our body talking to us,

and so we'll 
respond with more breath,

more loving awareness.

If you can, try to let the
weight of your head go here.

See if you can feel 
the skin of your back

stretch as you breathe in.

And then gently, softly 
retract as you breathe out.

Again, big expansion 
as you breathe in.

Good, and then softening 
as you breathe out.

Take one more on your own here.

And then slowly release.

Awesome work.

We're gonna bring the knees up,
feet come to the mat.

Bring your bum 
closer towards your heels.

Take a deep breath in.

As you exhale, slowly 
bring the knees to one side

and then the other,
and then you're just gonna

use this little 
windshield wiper effect

to come all the 
way down to your back.

So that's gonna 
give you a little scooch

of the bum down,
when your ready,

come onto your back.

We'll hug both knees into
the chest when you get there,

and take the deepest 
breath you've taken in all day.

Little lower back love.

You can draw 
circles with the knees.

You can rock 
gently side to side,

or if you're enjoying

kind of residing in 
the stillness today,

with just some deep, 
full breathing, do that.

Listen, find what feels good.

Good, then bring your 
left leg to the ground.

Cross your right 
ankle over your left.

Go ahead and 
thread the needle here,

and we're gonna open up the hips

by just taking a 
gentle Reclined Pigeon.

Keep the feet active.

Again, extend the left leg,
if you like.

Otherwise, keep it bent

at a nice 90 degree angle.

Breathing deep. 
Using this time

to check in with some 
loving, active breaths.

Move the energy.

Calm the nervous system.

Focus the brain 
and body inward,

so that you can perform, 
create, be your best.

Alright, let the 
left leg go down.

Continue to bring the right toes

over towards the front 
left corner of your mat.

And then we're 
gonna shift the hips

to the right side of the mat,

so peek at me 
here if you need to.

And then just allow the knees

to fall gently to the left.

You can open the arms out,
cactus arms,

or maybe a W shape here.

W, for the writers.

Just kidding, 
super nerdy (chuckles).

Take a deep breath in.

And exhale to come back, right?

You gotta say the bad ideas too.

You gotta just get 'em all out.

And second side,

cross the left 
ankle over the right leg.

Thread the needle here.

Find soft, easy movement,
if it feels good.

Extend the leg, bend the knee.

Inhale in.

Exhale, right foot
comes to the earth.

We continue to 
cross the left leg over

as if you're sitting 
cross-legged at a desk,

and then we're 
gonna bring the hips over

towards the 
left side of the mat.

Peek at me if you need to.

And then allow the 
knees to fall over.

Alright, maybe a W here,

with bent elbows, 
maybe cactus arms.

Close your eyes.

As you breathe, think down,

downward directional breath

as you breathe in, 
into the belly.

Right to that root chakra,
the base of the spine,

and then as you breathe out,

let it travel up and out

through the nose or mouth.

Good, inhale in.

Exhale slowly, unravel 
everything back to center.

Beautiful.

From here, you're gonna 
bring the feet to the ground,

bring your hands 
underneath your bum.

Walk the elbows in,

so your bum 
should be on your wrists,

spread your palms wide.

Then extend the legs out long.

This is good for the wrists, 
the forearms, the hands.

If you're wanting to just do
the more therapeutic version,

walk the heels together

and just stay 
on your hands here.

If you wanna add a 
little level of core,

we're gonna inhale 
just one leg up here.

Exhale, switch,
scissoring the legs.

Keep it going.

Keep rooting 
through your knuckles.

Pressing into the fingerprints.

Nice and easy.

One leg up, one leg down.

Scissoring.

And then if you 
wanna challenge yourself,

bring both legs low,

and for this last bit,
we'll kick the legs,

kick, kick, kick, 
low scissors, for five.

You got this, four.
Claw through the fingertips,

three, two, 
you're doing awesome.

On the one, hug the knees in,

release the arms, 
bring them to the shins,

squeeze everything in, in, in.

And exhale, let it go,

bring the feet as 
wide as your yoga mat,

knees come in 
towards each other,

to rest together.

Ending in this 
constructive resting posture

where we will close our eyes,

let the hands rest 
gently wherever feels good.

Should feel a nice little 
compression in the sacrum.

Everything is relaxed.

You're not holding anything.

So if your knees 
are not touching,

bring them together here.

Alright, close your eyes.

And quietly,

if you're willing,

quietly repeat this

affirmation to yourself.

Keep breathing.

Repeat after me.

When I sit down.

When I sit down.

Ideas flow freely.

Ideas flow freely.

Keep breathing.

Repeat after me.

When I sit down.

My ideas flow freely.

Inhale to bring palms together.

Go ahead and draw your 
thumbs up to the third eye.

Exhale here.

Thank you for 
joining me for this practice.

Let me know how it goes for you,

in the comment 
section down below.

Sit down, 
write us a little note,

and together we can share 
and cheerlead each other.

Have each other's back.

One final breath in.

And we'll close this 
practice by whispering

Namaste.

(upbeat music)