- What's up guys and gals? Today on the channel we have Yoga Tone. It's like Reggaeton but Yoga Tone. This is a practice that's swift. This'll kick you in the pants a little bit, but it's good to marry the breath with the action and the action with the breath. This is a great thing if you're wanting to build tone in the muscle, tone the body, trim the body, but also build endurance. Gain strength and also stability in the body. We want both those two things together. So hop into something comfy and let's get started. (folksy guitar music) Okay, let's begin standing at the top of the mat. Take a look down at your feet when you arrive and spread awareness throughout all four corners. Feet hip width apart or flush together. Yogi's choice. Just nice, strong footing. Tuck your chin into your chest. Roll up through the spine. Stand up nice and tall. Inhale, reach the arms all the way up and overhead. Draw the navel in and up. Find that lift from the pelvic floor. Careful not to clench in the shoulders here, so create lots of space. Maybe even consider holding a big beach ball over your head. Inhale in. Stand up a little taller. Press into the feet. Exhale bend the knees, bend the elbows, and slowly take it down. Focus on sensation here. Bend the knees as generously as you need. Breathe. So by bending the knees we offer nice length, stretch, love to the lower back body. Let the weight of the head go, the neck go. And on your next breath in, inhale, lift up to flat back position. Palms on the floor, on the shins, or maybe even palms all the way on the thighs as you find length through the crown. Spinal awareness is key here as we build and tone muscle. Create balance and stability and endurance in the body. So pay attention to this line from the crown to the tail. Take one more deep breath in. Move out of the way hood. And then exhale, forward fold. Inhale, press into the feet. Spread the fingertips, reach for the sky. Full body stretch here. And on an exhale back to mountain pose, hands at the heart. Good, big breath in. Big breath out. Big breath in to reach it up. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, bend the knees, bend the elbows, forward fold. Inhale, flat back position, your version. Find that awareness in the spine, so key. Then exhale to your forward fold. Inhale, reach for the sky. Spread the fingertips. Maintain this connection with your feet, this awareness through the soles. Then exhale lengthen tailbone, hands to heart. Just that little sequence, I just bonked my nose, one more time. Here we go. Moving with the breath, inhale. Exhale to fold, bend. Inhale to lift up halfway. Exhale fold. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, hands to heart. Close your eyes here and observe the breath. Try to deepen your breath here. Draw your attention inward. So we're gonna work swiftly today, but I'd like for you to maintain this awareness, this relationship with your breath and also this relationship, this awareness of how you feel in each moment, the sensations of the body. Working to stay present. Moment to moment, right? No yoga robots. Okay, here we go. Bat the eyelashes open. Soft knees, inhale, reach for the sky. Let's rock and roll. Exhale, diving forward. Inhale to halfway lift. Exhale to fold. This time bend the knees, plant the palms. Step the right toes back followed by the left. Nice strong plank here. Bend the knees, press away from your yoga mat. Strong body. Strong breath. Create one nice long line from the crown to the tail, and then walk the toes together. Zip up the legs. So now we're one solid piece from the crown all the way to the heels. Inhale in, exhale downward dog. Hips up high, heart back. Stretching through the backs of the legs. Breathe. Tops of the shoulders rotate. Outward, external rotation. Inner thighs rotate inward. You can turn the two big toes in to test that. Melt your heart back. Take one more breath in here. Then exhale, find stillness. (heavy breathing) Great. We'll step the right foot up behind the right hand. Left foot behind the left hand. Forward fold. Inhale to halfway lift. Exhale to fold. Inhale to reach for the sky. Press into your feet. Exhale, hands to heart. Inhale, reach it up. Exhale, bend the knees, bend the elbows. Take it down. Inhale, halfway lift. Find that wave in the spine. Exhale back. Bend the knees, plant the palms. Step or this time hop it back to your plank. Nice strong breath here, strong body. Draw the navel up and in. Hug the lower ribs in. Then send your gaze forward. Rock onto the toes, hug the elbows into the side body and slowly lower down to your belly. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, downward dog. Find your breath. (heavy breathing) Great, drop the left heel. Inhale, lift the right leg up high. Exhale, squeeze nose to knee. Inhale, right leg up high. Exhale, nose to knee. Find your breath. Inhale, three-legged dog. Exhale, nose to knee. This time step it up into your lunge. Hug the inner thighs to the mid-line. Feel free to lower the back knee here. And when you're ready, power through that front leg. Inhale, reach the arms all the way up high. Lunge. Gather your bearings here. Squeeze into the mid-line. So back knee can be lowered if you need. Create space. Bring the palms overhead, so careful not to be pinching in the shoulders. Pull the right hip crease back. Hug the lower ribs in just a bit. Engage your core. Inhale in. Next exhale, open out, Warrior II. Draw the navel in and up. Lifting up from the pelvic floor, Mula Bandha. We connect through the center channel. Then bend your front knee. Press into the outer edge of your back foot. Strong pose here. Inhale in. Exhale, straighten the front leg. Inhale in, lift it up through the crown. Exhale, send the hips back. Reach the right fingertips forward. Reach, reach, reach, reach. And then eventually, nice and slow, do not rush this, we're gonna tilt down. Trikonasana. We're trying to engage the abdominal wall here, so careful not to collapse all your weight of the bottom arm into your leg or into the floor or block. Engage, right? Navel draws in. We open up through the chest. Find length in the crown. Again, see if you can challenge yourself by connecting from this line in the spine crown to tail and the abdominal wall, by not collapsing your weight of the bottom arm into something, even if it's just for a moment or two to check. Then we'll find your breath. Beautiful. Then top arm comes down. We frame the right foot with the fingertips. We pivot on the back foot, and we inhale, look forward. Exhale, bow the head. (heavy breathing) Adjust your stance so that you can really anchor, pull the right hip crease back, and anchor through all four corners of the right foot. One more breath here, you got it. Beautiful. Then bend the front knee. Come all the way back to that high lunge. Woooah. Awesome work. Big breath in. Big breath out. Warrior II. Great and we're gonna turn the right toes in, left toes out and do the same thing on the other side. Starting with that high lunge. Lengthen the tailbone down. Bend the front knee. When you're ready, reach the arms up and overhead. Stay present with the sensations. Try to get out of your thinking mind. Just stay present with the breath, present with the sensations of the body. Try to get front knee over front ankle. Hug the inner thighs at the mid-line. Lower ribs come in, nice and tall through the crown. One more big breath here. Then exhale, Warrior II. Nice wide stance here. Connect, meet your edge. (heavy breathing) So in time we're working to get this left thigh perpendicular to the earth. In time, right? Big breath in. Big breath out as you straighten the front leg. Then send the hips back, and nice and slow, we reach. Hips back, we tilt. Heart towards the front. And then we find our Trikonasana on the other side. Triangle pose, great for toning muscle, creating balance and stability in the body. You need to breathe here. (heavy breathing) Do the work. Connect your core. Careful not to collapse into your bottom hand. This is hard work. Way to stick with it. Stay mindful. One more breath, you got it. Top arm comes down. Fingertips to the mat, we frame the left foot. Slowly pivot on the back foot. Inhale, find extension. Exhale, bow the head. Adjust your stance if you need to so that you can pull that left hip crease back. (heavy breathing) Beautiful. Then slowly bend through that front knee. Charge the inner thighs, engage the inner thighs. We come back to that high lunge. Big breath in. Full body experience. Meet your full potential here, you got it. On an exhale, Warrior II. Nice work everyone. Turn the left toes in, right toes out. We come back to our lunge. Inhale, high lunge. Facing the front of the mat again. Exhale to release. Great, step the right toes back. Shift your gaze forward. Slowly lower down belly to cobra or Chaturanga to upward facing dog. Nice and slow. Then on an exhale, downward dog. Drop the right heel. Inhale, lift the left leg up high. Nose to knee on the exhale, here we go. Inhale, reach. Exhale, draw the navel in. Nose to knee. Inhale, reach. Last one. Exhale, nose to knee. Awesome, step your left foot up. Inhale, low lunge. Then nice and easy soften the back knee, and step the back foot up to meet the front. Feet come together here save for a little space between the heels. Inhale, halfway lift. Long, beautiful neck. Exhale, fold. This time bend the knees generously, belly comes to the tops of the thighs. Get down nice and low. Create a little heat. Lift the toes, hug the inner thighs towards the mid-line. Come into your power here. Utkatasana, we reach the fingertips forward as we send the hips back. Just do your best. Lengthen tailbone down, draw the navel in and up. And then open the chest here, breathe deep. Tuck the chin into the chest, lengthen through the back of the neck. You got this. Inhale in. Exhale, palms come together. Think up and over as you twist to the left. Take 'em to the left. Find extension here, inhale. Sink a little lower. Slowly release. Fingertips spread. We open the chest, open the heart. And then same thing to the other side. Think up and over. Find length, breathe. Sink a little lower. One more breath. Then back to your chair pose. Last breath, here you go, sink a little lower. And then exhale, release, forward fold. Beautiful. Big breath in, let it all go. Big breath out. Soften in the knees, spread the fingertips and inhale, reach for the sky. Big full body stretch here, maybe slight backbend. And exhale, hands to heart. Nice work. Loop the shoulders, observe your breath. Take a little sip of water here if you need. Now we're gonna take it to the ground. So soft knees, inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, forward fold. Bend the knees, bend the elbows. Stay connected to your core here. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Bend the knees, plant the palms, step or hop it back to plank. Slowly lower down, belly to cobra or Chaturanga to up dog. As slow as you can go today guys. Nice and slow. (heavy breathing) Back to your down dog. Great work everyone. Inhale in. Exhale, melt your heart back. (heavy breathing) Take one last deep breath in. Then nice and slow, lift the heels. Come up onto the tippy toes. Send the hips up high as you can go. Then slowly, slow as you can go, slowly lower the knees. Keep your core, your center engaged. As you slowly lower back to tabletop position. Actually, this is our first time in tabletop today, so as you slowly lower to tabletop. Find strength here. Don't collapse. Press away from your yoga mat. Catch your breath. Then press into the feet. Press into all 10 knuckles. Inhale in. And on an exhale lift the knees, hovering table. Draw the shoulders away from the ears. Consider the crown of your head shooting towards the front of the room here, of your room, and your tail reaching back. Big breaths here. Welcome that fierce breath. One more, inhale in. And exhale release everything. Send it back child's pose Awesome work. Take a rest. (heavy breathing) Then when you're ready, press into the palms. Come back up to all fours. Walk the knees to the center of your mat and swing the legs to one side. We're gonna come to seated here. Extend the legs out long. Sit up nice and tall. Bring the fingertips or the palms to your side here, just in line with the hip points. We're gonna flex the feet super strong, firm down through the tops of the thighs. Lift up through the heart, Dandasana. See if you can engage the belly here. Draw the shoulder blades together. Elbows are reaching back as if they are trying to kiss each other. Strong, active pose here. You might even feel a little shake, a little Prana moving throughout the body. We're almost done; you guys are doing awesome. Way to stick with it. Inhale in. Exhale, release. Great. We're gonna bend the knees here. Bring the hands around to the backs of the thighs. Loop the shoulders. Find that same lift, that same activation that you just had in staff pose in Dandasana. Bring that to your boat variation. Don't panic. Here we go. Inhale, loop the shoulders. Find the activation. Lengthen through the crown. Open the chest, keep the chest open. Shoulder blades drawing together. Keep that action firm and strong as you slowly lean back and lift the heels up. Maybe stay here, holding on with the hands. Working to build strength, nice and slow, consciously. Send the fingertips out, open the palms. Keep the chest open everyone. Breathe deep. Inhale in. Exhale, straighten the right leg. Take the palms together in Namaste over towards the left. We also like to hold Simba over the cliff here. Just keeps the imagery nice I think. Inhale, bring Simba up through center or Namaste palms up through center. Regain your strength. Inhale, lift your heart. Exhale, twist to the right. Extend the left leg. Inhale to center, lift. Exhale, twist. Inhale, lift. Exhale, twist. Inhale, lift. Exhale, twist. Inhale, hands to heart. Exhale, twist. Inhale, Simba's up over the cliff. Exhale, lay him down. Inhale to center. Exhale and down. Let's do one more on each side. You got this. (heavy breathing) Then inhale, reach everything out and up. Navasana, and then release. Cross leg position, loop the shoulders. Sit up nice and tall, meditation pose here. Close your eyes. And say to yourself the mantra, I am strong. (heavy breathing) The mantra I am strong. If that doesn't resonate, maybe pick another mantra. Or maybe just consider that strong doesn't just mean (air blast) muscles. Maybe it means something else. Strength somewhere else. One more breath here. And then re-release everything. Come on to your back. Great work. Come to a place where you can relax here. Arms at your side. If you want to finish with a happy baby pose or a reclined twist that might be nice after today's practice. Take a second to balance out the swiftness, and the action, the activeness of today's practice with a Shavasana. We cool it down. We bring peace of mind to the body. Peace to the heart. This is what peace of mind looks like to me. Take a second to counterbalance the activity. Don't skip on this. Give yourself a couple breaths here. Return to this practice if you're wanting to develop muscle tone, or come to it whenever you just need a little pep in your step. If you're still here listening, practicing, I bow to you, tip my hat to you. Way to stick with it. And thank you for sharing your time, your energy with me. (heavy breathing) Go ahead and take the deepest breath you've taken in all day. And then on an exhale, relax the weight of the body. Everything completely and fully into your mat. (folksy guitar music) Namaste. (folksy guitar music)