- What's up everyone?
Welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

I'm Adriene and this is Benji.

And this is a
practice that invites you

to fall in love with
your greatest teacher,

your most amazing confidant,
your best friend, yourself.

Also fun for partners and pals,

but this is
really a great practice

that is hopefully gonna hold you

in a beautiful space,
wherever you are,

to find what feels good and
practice a little self-love.

So hop into something comfy,

grab a blanket if you have one,
and feel the love blossom.

Let's go.

(upbeat music)

Alright, let's begin on
the ground. Take your time.

Comin' on down, we're gonna find

a nice, comfortable
seat of your choice,

and we're gonna 
interlace the fingertips.

Wherever you land 
just allow the hands to

rest gently in your lap.

Take a moment here

to just gently find soft,
easy movement in the head,

the neck.

Relax your shoulders.

And then bring the
head back to center.

Head over heart,
heart over pelvis.

Sit up nice and tall.

Imagine there's a
beautiful golden string

pulling you gently up, up, up 
from the crown of your head

so you just create 
more space here

in this posture, in the
shape that you've chosen

to begin this
beautiful practice of love in.

And as you're ready,

we'll take a deep breath in.

Good, and a nice,
easy exhale out.

That's it. Big inhale in.

And nice, easy exhale out.

Good. One more time.

The biggest breath
you've taken all day.

Inhale lots of love in.

And nice slow exhale here,

lots of love out.

Now slowly, gently
lift your hands up

and look at your hands

and notice that you're
holding your own hand here,

and just notice
what that feels like.

We're gonna lift the
chest a little more,

melt the shoulder blades
down the back body a little more,

sit up taller.

Then inhale in here

and exhale gentle
twist to the right.

Beautiful, 
inhale back to center.

And exhale, 
gentle twist to the left.

Inhale to center.

And exhale,
nice and easy to the right.

Inhale to center.

Nice and easy to the left.

Now, keep it going, inhaling
as you come back to the middle

and exhaling as you twist.

Keep the lower half of
your body nice and heavy,

and keep the skin on the face,
the jaw, the brow, calm.

Soft and easy here

as you inhale to center

and exhale to the side.

Great, the next time
you're back at center,

again, just take a
look at your hands.

You're holding
your own hand here.

We're gonna press
the palms forward now,

feel that stretch in the wrist.

And then inhale, send the
pinkies all the way up and back

for a big stretch
here on the side body,

the front body,
and the back body.

Inhale in deeply here,

and as you exhale, release
the grip, wiggle the fingertips,

and float them down gently

to the earth.

Pause here and just
notice how you feel.

Beautiful, now we're 
gonna come forward

onto all fours nice and slow.

Alright, and I'm
gonna ask my date tonight

if you don't mind
Benji, up, over here.

Come on. (snapping) 
Up here. Good boy.

Oh, that's good. That's great.

And we'll meet in
Tabletop Position.

Wrist underneath the shoulders,

knees directly
underneath the hips.

We're gonna move the hips
in a circular motion here.

So nice and easy
moving in one direction.

If this makes you feel
silly or smile, just enjoy that.

And then move it in
the opposite direction.

And then back to center.

Draw your navel up
to meet your spine

so you feel this
connection in your core.

From here, inhale,
drop the belly,

open the chest, look forward.

Exhale, round through
the spine, chin to chest.

Good. Inhale, drop the belly.

Heart energy shines forward.

And exhale round through
the spine, chin to chest.

Feel the skin of
the back stretch.

Twice more on your own
with the sound of your breath.

And after two more rounds,

go ahead and drop the elbows
right where the hands are,

walk the knees back, 
and melt your heart to the sky.

Puppy posture here or 
Heart to Earth Pose, Anahatasan.

Beautiful opener for the
shoulders here, a surrender.

Maybe the forehead
comes to the mat, maybe not.

Now start to listen to
the sound of your breath

a little more closely here.

Let the sound of your breath

kind of symbolize
your heart's song here.

Get a little closer. Snuggle
in to the sound of your breath.

Maybe that's implementing 
Ujjayi breath here.

Or maybe it's
letting out a sigh.

Don't be shy.

Snuggle up to the
sound of your breath.

Okay, press into
the tops of the feet,

claw through the fingertips.

We're gonna keep the
elbows and knees where they are

and just lift the head

and begin to shift
your heart forward here,

coming all the
way to your belly.

We're gonna interlace
the fingertips again,

and once again,
just take a look down

and notice that you're
holding your own hand.

Elbows are underneath 
the shoulders here.

Inhale, press into the elbows,

draw the
shoulder blades together

and down your backside
as you lift your chest.

Close your eyes.

Breathe here, 
just feeling that length

from the waistline all
the way up to the shoulder,

all the way up to the ear.

Good, then draw a
line with your nose,

past your left shoulders

as you press firmly
into your right elbow.

Good, and then draw
a line with your nose

over past the right shoulder

as you press firmly
into your left elbow.

And bring it
slowly back to center.

You're gonna walk
the elbows forward.

Bring your chin to
rest on your knuckles here

and we're just gonna
kick the legs for three.

Try to touch your
heels to your glute. Two.

And one, let it go.

Bring the hands down, elbows
back underneath the shoulders.

So it's time to get a
little steamy in here,

in this date night's
just about to get hot.

So here we go. 
Curl the toes under, inhale in.

Welcome a little
fire as you lift the hips

for a forearm Plank.
You got this.

Breathe deep here.

Reach your heels back
and draw your navel up.

We're creating more strength,

connection, and muscle tone

in the abdominal wall.

We're getting
strong in the back body.

We're keeping the
chest nice and open.

And just when
you want to give up,

we're actually going
to turn the right knee

to kiss the center
of the mat, down and in,

and then lift it up.

And then bend the left knee,

drop it down to kiss
the center of the mat,

and then lift it up.

Four more times, right

and left.

Right and left.

Right and left.

Last time. You got this. 
Right and left.

Beautiful. Both knees come down.

We release the
hands back to the earth

and we walk the knees back
once again, Heart to Earth Pose.

Breathe deep. 
Big shoulder open right here.

Try to press into all of
your knuckles firmly, evenly.

Inhale lots of love in.

And exhales lots of love out.

Beautiful. From here, again, 
lift the head, lift the chest,

slide on through to home.

This time we're gonna walk,
belly comes to the mat.

We're gonna walk the right elbow
to the center of the mat.

We're just gonna reach behind

and look to maybe
grab your left foot.

If you can't reach,
we'll just bend the knee

just like we did in
that kick, kick, kick.

You'll just bend the knee

and you'll feel
your hamstring engage

and you will feel
your quad lengthen.

With the arm, with the bind,
of course, it's a little more.

Breathing deep here.

Nice big stretch through
the front of that left hip.

Good. Then release and switch.

Take it to the other side.

Again, if you can,
grab that leg, it's okay.

You'll still feel it by
drawing the right heel up

firmly towards the right glute.

Okay, slowly release that. 
Come back to center.

Bring the hands
underneath the shoulders.

This time, curl the
toes under, inhale in.

As you exhale,
you get to choose,

you can press up to all fours

or to the top of a Plank.

Your choice.

Take a deep breathe in here,

then everyone exhale
Downward Facing Dog.

We'll meet my
date tonight, Benji,

in his pose of choice,
Downward Facing Dog.

Send the hips up high.

Take a couple
breaths here for you.

Find what feels good.

Keep listening.

Work to really get close,

present with the sensation
of each posture of each breath.

One present moment
really is a window

opening up into the next.

And then we're gonna slowly,
nice and easy walk.

You can criss-cross your steps,

maybe one foot than the other,
all the way to the top.

Feet hip width apart 
or flush together, your choice.

Coming into a
Standing Forward Fold.

Relax the weight of
your head over here.

Just allowing the blood to flow

here with the head
below the heart and the hips.

Now take the deepest
inhale you've taken all day here.

And as you exhale,
really let something go.

Something that's been
maybe weighing you down,

causing you distress or creating,
cultivating an insecurity.

Take a deep breath in here
and use an exhale to let it go.

Maybe an argument,
a silly thing,

or maybe even an important thing

when choosing at least for
the duration of this practice to

let it go.

Alright, now ground 
through the feet.

Find your footing as you bring 
your hands to the waistline.

Inhale in, 
bend your knees generously,

drop your hips,
and slowly rise up to stand.

As you stand up
nice and tall here,

lift the chest, open your heart,

then you'll release your hands

and you're gonna hold your
own hand behind your back now.

Work to bring
the palms together.

It's okay if they don't make it,

but work to bring
the palms together.

Open up through
those tight shoulders.

Take a deep breath in.

And a long breath out.

Deep breath in again.

And this time, as you exhale,
bend your knees.

We're gonna dive for forward.

Keep the fingers interlaced here

as the crown of the head
reaches down towards the earth

or in my case towards Benji.

We'll shake the head a
little yes, a little no.

And then release the bind,

gently bring the
hands to your mat.

Good. From here, we're gonna
step just the right foot back.

Try to keep the
back knee lifted.

Know that the
ground is there for you

if you want to lower it.
We're gonna keep it lifted.

We're gonna inhale sweep
the arms forward, up and back,

nice high lunge here,

and exhale, hands to the heart.

Good. Inhale, 
bring the right elbow

over towards the
outer left thigh.

Bye, Benji.

And we're gonna spiral the heart
up towards the heavens here

in a Revolved Lunge.

So breathe into the belly here.

And as you exhale, draw the
shoulders away from the ears.

Just let the neck
be nice and long.

Good, inhale in again,
come back to center

in your nice high lunge.

Release the fingertips
down to come up, inhale in.

Exhale, wiggle the fingertips,

bring it all the way back down.

Step the left toes
back lower from Plank

all the way to your belly.

Let an inhale open the
chest as you lift up Cobra.

Exhale, soften and release

all the way back
down to the earth.

Curl the toes under, 
your choice, all fours or Plank.

Take a deep breath in.

And exhale to
Downward Facing Dog.

Beautiful.

Take a deep breath in here.

And a long breath out.

This time, step the 
right leg forward,

try to keep that
back knee lifted,

know that you can
always lower the knee here.

And when you're ready, inhale,

sweep the arms up and over
your head, nice high lunge here.

Pull that right hip crease back

and slowly lower
the hands together

down at your heart space.
Here we go.

Left elbow now
reaches up and around.

We create length
in the left side body

as we move into our twist,
outer edge of that left elbow

to the outer edge
of your right knee.

Press the palms together.

Again, find length 
in the neck here.

Legs are nice and strong.

Can always lower 
that back knee here

if that feels
best for you today.

Breathing deep as you open
your heart up towards the sky.

Good. Relaxing your shoulders.

Inhale in deeply.

As you exhale power
through those legs,

come all the way back up,
hands at the heart.

High lunge, 
fingertips go down to come up.

As you inhale, 
reach high towards the sky.

And then as you exhale,
wiggle the fingertips as you

bring it all the way back down.

Good. Step the right toes back.

Here we go, inhale in. 
Exhale, lower to the belly.

Inhale all the way up for Cobra.

And exhale to release.

Your choice, all fours or Plank.

And we'll meet in
Downward Facing Dog.

Bend your knees, walk your hands
now back towards your toes,

and let the head hang
here breathing nice and easy.

Good. Then walk the hands
all the way back out to a Plank.

Take a deep breath in.

Then back to that Forward Fold
at the back edge of your mat.

Walk 'em all the way back.

Let the breathe be easy.

Maybe find a
soft easy sway here.

And again, connect to your core,

walk it all the way up to Plank.

Welcome back, Benji.

And then hips up high
and back, drop your heels.

Send it all the way
back to Forward Fold.

And twice more, 
all the way out to Plank.

Building some heat, and all
the way back to Forward Fold.

Last time.
All the way out to Plank.

And all the way
back to Forward Fold.

This time in the Forward Fold,

you can take your hands
underneath your feet here,

toes to the wrist creases.

Wrist creases.

Say that five times fast.

You can wiggle
your toes if you like here.

We can allow the weight
of the head to hang over.

Nice, easy breaths.

Then we'll release that

and walk the hands all
the way back out to Plank,

and then drop
down to the elbows.

Interlace your fingertips,
hold your hands once again,

and we're gonna drop
the hips to the right

and then back to center.

And drop the hips to the
left and back to center.

We're not doing a lot
of these. You got this.

To the right, feeling
those obliques turn on,

and to the left.

And to the right.

And to the left.

And twice more. 
You got this. To the right.

To the left. Breathe.

And last time. To the right
and to the left. Beautiful.

From here, drop the knees,
cross the ankles,

and slowly roll
through to a seat

and just close your eyes

and see how fast you
can find stillness here.

Just listening to the
sound of your breath.

(calming music)

Now, once again,
interlace the fingertips,

open your eyes,
hold your own hand.

You're gonna take your
hands behind your head

and really press
your head into your hands

as you open up through
the chest, the armpit chest,

really lift the heart.

Open the elbows wide,
take a deep breath in.

And then exhale to
release everything.

Come forward.

Walk the knees back
underneath the hips

and send the hips up high and
back for Downward Facing Dog.

The heels do not
have to touch the ground,

but experiment with how
short or how long your dog is.

Just play a little bit.

So you can walk the feet
closer or walk the feet back.

Good. Then bend the right knee

and turn to look
underneath your left arm.

And then drop your right heel
down to the earth and switch.

Bend your left knee

and turn to look
underneath your right arm.

Great. 
Then straighten both legs.

Inhale, look forward,
bend both knees.

Exhale, make your 
way to the top.

From here, bend the knees,

send the hips back,
fingertips forward.

A brief Utkatasana to
really feel your power.

And then we rise up, 
inhale, reach for the sky.

And exhale, hands to heart.

Once again, just see how
fast you can find stillness,

feel your own essence,
that connection inward.

Getting to know

you better.

Shift your weight to
your left foot and inhale.

We're gonna peel the
right knee all the way up.

First with no hands, 
a Standing One-Legged Tadasana.

Then we'll take this right foot

and bring it either
above the left knee or below.

We can even keep our
right toes on the ground

or we can even use a
wall to help us work

on this Tree Pose,
this Vrksasana.

Pressing the palms
together at the heart space

and really
feeling that connection.

Or if you are
practicing this with someone,

you can press palm
to palm with them here,

either with your short arm

or by crossing over

like so, so that'd be here.

So you can play.

If you are snuggling up

to your very best friend,
your best teacher,

best confidant,
which is yourself,

then you can mirror me
here with palm to palm.

Holy palmer's kiss.

Take a deep breath in,

grow a little 
taller in your tree.

And then exhale to release.

Second side, shift the
weight over to the right foot.

Peel the left knee up on
a imaginary golden string

and just check this out here.

So you're not
hanging on for dear life,

just in case you're
brand new to the practice.

You're looking at
what needs to be engaged,

what needs to be
softened to cultivate balance,

which is a great,
beautiful metaphor

for our life off the mat.

And then when you're ready,
we can take that foot,

place it wherever
appropriate for today's posture

and we'll press
the palms together.

Press the right inner thigh 
to meet that left foot.

And if you're practicing
with someone in the room,

maybe you take a hand to theirs,

either the arm closest to
them or you can cross over.

There's lots of options.

This is a good one.

So the arm that's closest to you

you can reach up high

and then cross over to
meet them in the middle.

You could also come up
with your own variation.

And again, 
if you're solo like me,

feel the warmth of your
palms pressing together,

nurturing your most
important relationship.

The one with yourself.

The one that influences
all the other relationships.

Okay, here we go. Inhale in.

Exhale, if you
haven't already, release.

Just come to stand in
Tadasana Mountain Pose.

Notice how you feel.

On your next inhale,
open the arms super wide

and as you exhale,
give yourself a big hug.

Take a deep breath in as
you feel your own embrace

and how powerful that can be.

Feel your feet
grounding on the earth.

Stand up nice and tall.

Inhale to open it up

and just put the
opposite arm on top here

as you give yourself a
big ol' hug once again.

And then we'll release the arms.

You're gonna take the
right arm to the left side,

right hand to the
left side of your neck

and you're just
gonna drop your right ear

over your right shoulder

and give yourself a
little neck massage here.

And then switch
to the other side.

Left ear over left shoulder.

Give yourself a little
massage with your left hand.

And then come
back to Mountain Pose.

And if you're solo, just breathe
deep here nice and slow.

If you're working with someone,

maybe go back to back with them

and just feel the warmth
of their body very gently.

Don't need to press.

Be really respectful
as you go back to back

and just listen to the
sound of your breath here

for a couple cycles.

In and out.

In and out.

Notice what it feels
like to just breathe.

To be present fully.

And what would the
quality of our life be like if we

had more of a relationship

to this sensation 
or this feeling

of being fully
present with ourselves

and fully present, more
fully present with one another.

Alright, if you're
back to back with someone,

you can step back to
the front of your mat.

I'll step back to
the front of my mat

and we'll inhale to
reach the fingertips up,

clap the palms together, (claps)

and then send it all the
way back down Forward Fold

one last time.

And then bring the
hands to the earth,

step one foot back then
the other, lower your knees,

swing the legs to
one side, any side,

and we are coming
down to our backs here

for some floor work.

So come on down
to the ground. Yay.

Bring the hands, palm face down,

underneath your
hips here, your bum.

Snuggle your shoulder
blades underneath your chest.

And when you're ready,

engage your core to send
your toes up towards the sky.

If you can straighten the legs,
great, zip 'em up tight.

If not, bend the knees 
as much as you need.

Inhale to lower the feet down,

hovering just above the earth,

and then exhale to lift them up.

Inhale to lower.

Exhale to lift.

Inhale to lower.

Exhale to lift.

Inhale to lower.

Exhale to lift. Keep it going.

Soften your gaze or
close your eyes here

and find a little
groove with your breath.

Exhaling as you
lift the legs up,

inhaling as you
lower them to hover.

To take it out of the low back,

engage those upper
abdominals by hugging,

really knitting
the low ribs down.

Down and in.

Good. The next time 
the legs are up,

we're gonna release the hands,
we're gonna bend the knees,

and we're gonna grab the ankles

or the outer edges of the
feet for Happy Baby posture.

So find soft,
easy movement here.

You can massage the back body.

Find what feels good here.

Opening up through the hips.

Nice. Then we'll release 
the feet to the ground

And then when you're ready,

right ankle's gonna cross
over the top of the left thigh

and we'll lift the left foot up

to find a little
figure four position here,

and same thing, 
soft, easy movement here

as you breathe deep.

Now release the
left foot to the ground,

but keep your
right leg crossing over.

So you're gonna bring the
right toes down to the ground.

Right leg is crossed over
the top of the left thigh.

Then you're
gonna lift the hips up

to bump them to the
right side of your mat

and then you're just gonna
allow the weight of your legs

to drop to the left side.

You might bring your
hands behind your head here

or into Cactus Arms,

or maybe the palms rest
gently on your ribcage.

Breathing deep here, maybe
turning onto your right ear.

And then slowly
come back to center

and we'll take it
to the other side.

Crossing the left
ankle over the right,

finding that figure four.

Neck is nice and long here,
so tuck your chin.

Rocking gently side to
side if that feels good,

keeping the feet active.

And then releasing
the right foot down,

crossing the 
left leg over the right,

lift the hips up,
bump them to the left,

and then allow the
weight of your lower body

to melt to the right as
you come into this twist

on the other side,

turning onto your left ear,

and breathing nice
wide lateral breath here.

So don't skimp
on the breath here.

You're gonna want to take a
nice deep, full belly breath in.

And a long breath out.

And then slowly unravel. 
Come back to center.

Soles of the feet
come together, knees wide.

One hand on the belly,
one hand on the chest.

Close your eyes,
take a deep breath in.

And a long breath out.

And then bring
the knees together.

Walk the feet as
wide as your yoga mat

and we find internal rotation,
knees kissing together.

Take a deep breath in.

And a long breath out.

Now extend the legs out long,

rock the head
gently side to side.

Get that massage in
the back of the head.

And then if you
brought a blanket to class,

now's the time to
get cozy with it.

So you can wrap
yourself up however you like.

You can go 
full burrito, taquito.

Maybe you share your
blanket with someone, maybe not.

Maybe you enjoy

wrapping yourself
up in a little cocoon,

just you and only you.

Get nice and cozy.

And if it's a warm climate

for some, maybe, depending
on where you're practicing,

you can roll your blanket up

and use it as a bolster

underneath the
backs of the knees

or the back of the head.

Now allow your arms

to rest gently at
your side, palm face up.

If you are
practicing with someone,

you might grab their hand,

but honestly, maybe not.

Maybe you guys are just

individually relaxing 
side by side.

Maybe you're practicing
with someone virtually.

So you're kind of connecting
with them across oceans.

And I think that's one of
the most beautiful things

about this practice.

This type of practice, 
in particular,

is that by showing up

on our mats at home,

which is increasingly 
more uncomfortable

than showing up sometimes

in a group and
sometimes the total opposite but

it really does
ask a lot more of us

to show up and
be with ourselves,

to hold ourselves accountable,

and ultimately to
practice loving and caring

for ourselves first so
that then we are familiar

with how to do that for others

in a really true
and authentic way.

Take a deep breath in here.

And actually, whether you're
practicing with someone or not,

let's all bring one
hand back to the belly

and one hand back to the heart.

So let's all kind
of bring it inward,

just as a way of
us all recognizing

that it starts with ourself.

And we can't
bypass that relationship

and that this practice

and every practice
in which we show up

to get to know ourselves better.

Supports...

Supports you in that process,

the process of
learning to love yourself,

to know yourself.

Okay, deep breath in.

Long breath out.

And it is a process.
That's all, I'll say. (chuckles)

And nothing more.

Just breathing here, listening
to the sound of your breath.

Inhaling lots of love in.

And exhaling lots of love out.

Now I'd like to invite you to

quietly, to yourself,
just in your head,

name one thing, one thing 
you love about yourself.

And no one else ever
has to hear this thing.

And if this is
really difficult for you,

I just want you
to feel supported

and I want you to know

that I'm aware of how
difficult this can be

for any one of us
on any given day.

Just name one thing.

One single thing that
you love about yourself.

Alright.

Slowly peel your hands out
from underneath your blanket

if they're there and
bring the palms together.

We're gonna bring them
right up to the forehead.

Thank you so much
for sharing this time

and your energy with me.

Both are
extremely valuable, I know,

and you could do a
lot of things today

and you chose this practice.

So I really appreciate you

and I hope you have a
beautiful rest of the day.

May this fun little
practice inspire you

to keep showing up for yourself

so that you can keep
showing up for the world.

I love you all. Take good care.

Namaste.

(upbeat music)