- Hey, everyone. Welcome to Move, Your 30 Day Yoga Journey. I'm Adriene, and this is sweet Benji. And today is Day 2. Open, let's get started. (soft upbeat music) Alrighty, let's begin in our comfortable seat. "Our" meaning your comfortable seat. I'll come into mine. And let's start by bringing the hands onto the body. Maybe left hand to the heart, right hand to the belly. You made it. Here again. So honored that you would share your valuable time and energy with me and with Benji and with all of the beautiful people who are gathered here at this exact moment even, with you, with us, to move together. Go ahead and relax the shoulders. Drop your chin slightly to your chest. Just find a gentle bow, kind of a bit of reverence here in the beginning as we find a nice deep breath in. And a long breath out. Getting in the habit of landing here in the moment, just as we established yesterday, with whatever you got. So, there's no prerequisite, no expectation. Just allowing the mere act of showing up to guide us into the next moment, to open a new door or a new window into the next present moment and into the next present moment. So, you don't have to get too worried about kind of where we're going or what you're supposed to be doing, allow yourself to be present here. And then of course, we'll use the most amazing tool of the breath to help guide us there. So, inhale in deeply. Exhale completely, release the hands. Come forward onto all fours. Spread the fingertips wide, wrists underneath the shoulders and maybe even a little bit wider today. So, keep playing, knees underneath the hip points, or maybe even just a tad wider today. Take a second and look at Benji on the screen. He's leaning his head up against the sill, oh my gosh. Okay, now bring your gaze back down and let's find the breath together again. Inhale, moving the spine. So, drop the belly, open your heart, look forward. Exhale, round the spine. Think about opening the back body here as you draw the navel up. Inhale, open the heart forward. Feel that stretch through the belly. Exhale round through the spine. Navel draws up, we open through the back body. One more time, inhale, opening through the front body. And exhale, rounding through the spine, opening through the back body. Inhale to a nice neutral spine, this Tabletop Position. Good, then we're gonna bump the hips to the left. Turn your gaze to look past your right shoulders in our opening up through the left side body. And if you're into it, we're gonna take the left fingertips behind the left ear and just reach it beyond the front right corner of your mat. So, really opening up through that left side body, maybe lift your left thumb up just a bit. Inhale in. Use your exhale to melt it back to center and we'll switch. Bump the hips to the right, turn slowly to look past your left shoulder, maybe towards your left toes. Feel that stretch in the right side body, that opening through the right waistline. Then we can add the right hand if you like, right fingertips go behind the ear and we reach beyond the front left corner of the mat. Let me be lifting the right thumb up, breathe as you breathe and feel that opening in the right side body, right shoulder, and then slowly exhale to release. Great, drop the hands down. Excuse me, drop the elbows down where the hands are. Palms stay face down here. As we walk the knees back, opening up through the front body again, melting the heart towards the earth for a Puppy Posture or Heart-to-Earth Pose, Anahatasan. So, take three to five breaths here. Maybe the head comes down to the ground, maybe not. Lifting the hip creases actively up towards the sky, drawing the navel in just a bit to engage the core, to support the back, to support the spine. And this is a big heart opener here. So, breathe deep. Press into your fingertips, press into the tops of the feet. Lovely, slow and steady, carve a line with your nose forward, allow your heart to slowly shift forward, shoulders over the elbows. Walk the toes back just a little bit as we come into a Sphinx Posture here. Notice if the arms have moved here, bring them back to parallel. So, lots of attention to that which is touching the ground here in our asana, being really specific. Okay, and then we'll tuck the chin into the chest, press into your foundation, tops of the feet, pubic bone, elbows, knuckles, fingertips, and then we'll slowly lift the chin. Careful not to crunch the back of the neck. And then carving a line through space, right nose over to the right shoulder. I just saw a falling leaf, just noticing sensation. Taking it all in. Feeling maybe someone give you an imaginary kiss on the left side of your neck, ooh, thank you. And then coming back to center and taking it slowly to the other side. Dig into your right elbow. Feel that nice opening up through the muscles of the neck here, shoulder blades are drawing together. Lovely, and then slowly come back to center, keep the elbows where they are. And we're just gonna interlace the fingertips here. Alright, if you pray, you can just say a little prayer here (chuckles) or maybe just whisper quietly to yourself, "I love you." And then here we go. As promised yesterday, let's wake up those core muscles. So, curl the toes under, inhale in, take that I love you or that prayer with you as you lift the hips up high, send the heels back forearm Plank. Now, crown of the head reaches forward, tail back. We have this ongoing image of the spine from the crown to the tail. So, keeping the neck involved, always remembering that it is an extension of the spine. You're here for three, you got this. Two, one, slowly lower all the way to the belly. Nice work, release the hands, draw the palms back in line with the rib cage, squeeze the elbows into the side body and let's open up to the chest here, Baby Cobra, inhale, lift up. And exhale to release. Good, from here, curl the toes under, press up to Tabletop Position. And then continue the journey up nice and slow, Downward Facing Dog, hips up high, softening through the neck. Take some soft easy movement here, that feels good, as you begin to gently deepen your breath. Now, any stress or tension that you might've come onto this mat with today, see if you can allow it to spill off, kind of let it go for now. You can always pick it up later. So, creating some nice, fresh, new open space to breathe, to follow kind of what feels good sensation, welcoming in new patterns, new ways of moving, of breathing, of being. So, it's one thing to just say open mind, open heart, but really putting into practice is such a difficult and beautiful thing. And that's really what this journey is all about. So, here we go. Inhale, lift the right leg up high, Three Legged Dog, exhale, shift it all the way forward, lower the back knee to the ground. And again, you can stay here nice and low, breathing mindfully, deeply present with this sensation. Stay here, if that's what feels best in your body today, otherwise we're gonna uncurl the back foot. So, toes uncurl, press into the top of the left foot, and we'll send the fingertips forward, swim them around and to interlace behind the back. Draw the knuckles down and away from your body, front knee over front ankle. Drop your chin to your chest. Feel the shoulder blades melt down, and then when you're ready, lift the chin, lift your heart, breathe nice and wide, lateral breath. Fill the lungs, the ribcage. Beautiful, then slowly release the bind, stay where you are in the low body and just sweep the arms all the way up. Full Crescent, inhale in. Exhale, wiggle the fingertips as you bring it all the way down to the ground. Curl the back toes under, lift the back knee, pull the right hip crease back as you find your twist, inhale, right fingertips all the way up towards the sky. Good, breathe in. Wiggle the right fingertips. Breathe out as you slowly bring that right hand back down to the earth. Good, plant the palms, step the right toes all the way back, hips up high, Downward Facing Dog. Inhale in deeply. And exhale to let something go, create some nice new open space. Good, here we go. Inhale, lift the left leg high, Three Legged Dog. Nice and slow, there's no need to rush as you slowly step the left foot forward and gently bring the right knee to the ground. Again, stay here. If you need to, this is where we are, right? Noticing we practiced yesterday being here, right? Not somewhere where we think we're supposed to be, but really practicing listening being here. So, stay here if you like. Everyone, squeeze the inner thighs together, find that lift from the pelvic floor, front knee over front ankle. And maybe we uncurl the back toes, we send the fingertips forward. We move from center as we reach, swim the arms around and reach behind, maybe opposite thumb on top of this time. So, a little bit different in this bind. Maybe opposite thumb on top of the one that feels a little wonky. Good stuff for the brain. Knuckles go down and away. So, I know everyone knows this, but I think it's my job here to remind you to focus on what it feels like, not on what it looks like. Squeeze the inner thighs together. Find that support from within, drop the chin to the chest, and when you're ready, then lift the chin to the sky. So, you're creating a nice strong base, making it yours. Nice, full, long, deep breaths. Then release the bind slowly, send the fingertips forward, up and back. Keep the chest lifted, heart lifted, navel drawing in and up, pelvic floor lifting. Good, then wiggle the fingertips to slowly guide it back down to the mat, beautiful. Right hand comes to the earth. We lift up that back knee, strong legs, building strength here each day with every breath, inhale, send the left fingertips up towards the sky. Pull the left hip crease back and then reach that right heel towards the back edge of your mat. Big twist here. So, big breath, inhale, wiggle the left fingertips. And then exhale slow and steady, guide it back down. Plant the palms. This time, step it back to Plank or Half Plank so you can lower the knees. Good, breathe in here. So, we're gonna kind of puff up through the upper back here in Plank so you're not collapsed in the shoulder blades. This is really common. So, see if you can create almost a doming effect. So, you're pressing away from your yoga mat. Your hip points are kind of tucking in towards your shoulders so you feel your full abdominal wall turn on. We're here for three. We're here for two, we're here for one. Slowly lower the knees and send it back Child's Pose. Take a deep breath in here, close your eyes, and exhale, let it all go. Good, twice more like that. Inhale deeply, lots of love in. And maybe sigh it out through the mouth, let it all go. And one more time, don't think, just breathe, here we go. Big inhale in through the nose. And exhale out through the nose or mouth, you get to choose. Sweet, slowly come all the way back up, curl the toes under, and let's send it back up to all fours. Excuse me, back up to Downward Facing Dog. Inhale in deeply here, hips up high. Exhale as you pedal it out, noticing what it feels like to create the shape today. Today. Great, then we're gonna go for a little walk. So, you're gonna cross one foot over the other nice and slow. No rush as we slowly walk up towards the front of the mat, and careful not to blast through these transitions. So, I like to really slow down this silly criss-cross walk, because you start to notice, "Oh yeah, I feel that in my foot." "I feel that in my Achilles." "I feel that in the arch of my foot." "I feel that in my calf." "I feel that in my belly." So, get in the habit of slowing things down here and then we'll meet with knees slightly bent in a Forward Fold at the top of the mat. Again, peek at me anytime you need. And we'll just allow the head to hang here, opening up through the low back so make sure you bend those knees. And we'll clasp opposite elbow here, rock a little side to side, creating more open space in the back body and the side body, the waist. And allowing the blood to flow to the head. Take a deep breath in. Use your exhale to release the hands. Bend the knees even more, press into all four corners of the feet and slowly begin to roll it up to standing nice and slow, slow, slow, slow it down. And we rise up together, moving into Mountain Pose. Close your eyes here, lengthen through the crown of your head. Just allow your fingertips to open and be soft at your side. Lift up through the chest, relax the shoulder blades down the body. Notice where you might be gripping or holding. Then allow your breath to move your Mountain. And yes, absolutely, there's a huge metaphor there. Lovely, then from here, bat the eyelashes open, we're gonna send the fingertips behind, interlace, open up through the pecs, the pectorals, open up through the chest. And just notice if the tailbone has become kind of reaching towards the back of the mat here and see if you can just bring your center underneath you. So, I used to say, "Tuck to your pelvis." Then I used to say, "Lengthen your tailbone," because there's so many different bodies practicing here, just make adjustments so that you feel like your head and your heart and your pelvis are in alignment. And we'll just start there. Okay, one more breath opening up through the throat, the chest, the pecs. Good, then bend your knees, release the bind. Inhale, reach for the sky. Big breath, big stretch. Exhale Forward Fold all the way down. Inhale, slide the hands all the way up to the thighs, find length in the spine here. Draw the shoulder blades together. Nice, long, beautiful neck. Sweet, exhale slowly, fold it all the way down. Standing Forward Fold. Beautiful, from here, listen carefully. Bring the fingertips to the mat. You can bend your knees as much as you need. As you bend your knees, fingertips come to the mat and we're gonna slowly send the left foot back. So, we know we have been in this lunge with the knee down. Now we're gonna try this lunge with the knee up, but feel free to lower the knee at any time. Here we go. Inhale, send the fingertips forward, swim them around, interlace, draw the knuckles down, and we open up here, front knee over front ankle, head over heart. Strong base. Maybe we send the gaze up. Beautiful, breathe, breathe into the side body here. Good. Now, keep the legs strong as you release the fingertips down to come forward and up, nice full high lunge here, big breath. Maybe imagine you're holding a big beach ball here. So, lots of energy in the fingertips. Beautiful, then slowly release going right into that lunge. Right into that twist, excuse me, left hand to the ground, right fingertips to the sky. Nice high lunge here, breathe in. And as you breathe out, bring the right hand back down to the earth. Great, plant the palms, step it back for a Plank or Half Plank. Feel free to gently lower those knees. Then we'll squeeze the elbows into the side body as we slowly lower all the way down to the belly. Inhale, open up through the chest, lift your heart, Cobra. And exhale, soft and slowly, bring it down. Curl the toes under, inhale in, listen carefully. Exhale, power up to Plank, you got this. Gaze down, quietly whisper to yourself, "I am strong." I am strong. And then send the hips up high and back. Beautiful, take three breaths here, in and out, in and out, in and out. And softly bend the knees. Listen carefully, just step the left foot up. The left foot comes all the way up. Find your nice strong footing. Again, we know we can always bring the right knee down. Otherwise, keep it nice and lifted, really reach your right heel back, pull the left hip, crease back, squeeze the inner thighs to the midline. Find your core muscles, your center, as you reach forward, swim the fingertips around knuckles, fingertips interlace and knuckles go down and away. Maybe you do the opposite bind on this side. Opening up through the chest, stretching through that back foot. The Achilles, pulling that left hip back, drawing the navel in and up. Beautiful, then releasing the bind, sending the fingertips forward, up and back. Big gesture here, breathe deep. Imagine you're holding a big beach ball. Maybe just giving some energy, some life, some creativity and imagination to these shapes to help guide the way. Good, inhale in. Exhale, wiggle the fingertips right into your twist, right hand to the ground, left fingertips to the sky. So, left knee is gonna want to come out here, press down through the ball joint of that left big toe to keep that left knee hugging in. Breathe into all four sides of the torso here. Wiggle the left fingertips and allow your exhale to guide it back down to your lunge. Amazing, step the left foot back. Strong Plank or Half Plank here, you got this. So, open up through the upper back body by sending your fingertips down well beyond through your mat. So, press away, use your imagination, feel that doming effect. If the knees are lifted, send the heels back. You're here for three. You got this, breathe deep. You're here for two. And we're all here together for one, beautiful. Slowly come down to the knees, swing the feet to one side, ankles to one side, and we're gonna transition all the way through to lie on our backs. Amazing job. Benji with his head on this window sill is the cutest thing. It's magic. Okay, hug the knees into the chest when you get there. Take a deep breath in. Then keep the knees hugging in, just your version as you interlace your fingertips one last time and bring them to the back of your head. Open up through the armpit chest. So, you might even feel like, wow, this is a big stretch just to even let your elbows open wide. Gonna keep them nice and wide here. Then we're gonna send the knees just over the hips. So, right away, the abs start to turn on. Shins parallel to the ceiling. You wanna try to keep your low back flush with the mat here. We're just gonna end with some bicycles. So, extend the right leg out as you lift the head, the neck, the shoulders, bring the right elbow to the left knee. Good, then slowly switch. Inhale to center, exhale, switch. And back and forth, just make sure you're not holding your breath. Keep it nice and controlled here today. We're just waking up these muscles, slowly building towards that Day 30. Cannot wait but for now we're here and we're keeping a nice open mind, a nice present breath that guides us into the next, into the next, into the next. Alright, even and out. And then you're gonna go to one side. Let's go, I'll go to the left side. So, right elbow to the left knee, you got this. Inhale, lift the right leg up. Exhale, lower down. Just three of these. Inhale, up. Exhale, down. Last one, inhale, up. Exhale, down. We're gonna switch and then we'll relax, here we go. So, send it over to the right, left elbow to right knee. Here we go. Left finger, excuse me, left toes reach up towards the sky and slowly lower that foot down and then lift it up. Lower down, inhale, lift it up. And last one, you got it. Lower down, and lift it up. Beautiful, come back to center, send the fingertips forward, reach, reach, reach, maybe straighten the legs out and then release everything with control to the earth. Now, take a big deep breath in. As you exhale, go ahead and sigh it out and then bring your hands to your body here, and just notice. Notice where your mind went. And we are working with these shapes and with these opportunities to breathe in different shapes, to notice our patterns and ultimately improve function, to move better and towards what feels whole. This is just not gonna happen in a day. So, if that was challenging or if you felt like a burning warmth, (chuckles) some heat, just welcome the sensation and know that you're on the path. Great, release the hands gently to your sides. Palm face up. So, an open palm here to end this practice. Close your eyes, take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. In areas where you feel maybe discouraged or a little shut down or feel tension, trust that the act of you showing up for this practice can provide a gentle, loving, and safe opening for you to make new discovery. It is an honor and a pleasure to support you on this journey. And thank you so much for moving with me today. Slowly bend the right knee. Slide the left foot up to the ground. Slowly bend the left knee, slide the left foot up to the ground. Lift your heels, just the heels, and then lower them. Lift the toes, just the toes, flex your feet, and then lower them. Bat the eyelashes open, hug the knees into the chest, give yourself a hug. Inhale, lots of love in, and lots of love out. Let the feet land on the ground now with a little bit of a thud. Notice what it feels like to be alive today as you bring the hands to the forehead or to your heart. And we'll take a final breath in through the nose. And an open mouth sigh to close. Thank you, everyone. Take good care. Namaste. (soft upbeat music)