- Hello, everyone, welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene and that's Benji there behind me. And today, we have a 20 minute intermediate power yoga flow. Say that (chuckles) five times fast. Hop into something comfy and let's get started. (upbeat music) Alright, let's jump right in. We're going to start standing at the top of the mat. Feet hip width apart or flush together. Your choice, just nice conscious footing here, and stand up nice and tall. And just draw your hands to your belly and your heart here. One hand on the belly, one hand on the heart. Close your eyes or soften your gaze, and let's take just a moment to tune in. So we'll begin to draw our attention to the soles of the feet. Letting go of the day thus far, giving yourself the next 20 minutes to explore, to meet your appropriate edge. And ultimately, I see this as an opportunity to play. Spread your awareness throughout all four corners of your feet. Maybe lifting the toes for a moment to ground through all four corners of the feet. And then continue to make your way up. Just kind of scanning the body, drawing up through the arches, past the ankles. And get taller through the spine as you continue to travel up through the kneecaps, lifting, toning the quads slightly. Nice neutral pelvis here. Just nice and easy as you lift up through the belly and low back, mid back. Heart lifts. Chin lifts slightly. And crown of the head reaches up beyond the ceiling, beyond the sky. So now we are in our bodies or working our way to this embodiment, this feeling of energy in the whole body. Now take a deep breath in here. And as you exhale, you're going to drop your fingertips down to come up. On your next inhale, reach for the sky. You can open the eyes, and exhale, Forward Fold. Bend your knees, take it all the way down. Inhale, halfway lift, sliding the palms to the shins as you lengthen through the crown of the head. And then exhale, fold it all the way down. Now take a couple breaths here with the knees bent. You can grab onto the heels here. You can clasp opposite elbow either behind the calves coming into a deeper fold, or this is our first fold, so maybe you just keep it nice and easy in front of the shins. If you changed your mind, you want to go feet hip width apart when they're flush together, go ahead and make adjustments, and just kind of know that you can make those adjustments throughout the practice, listening to your body, and allowing the breath, of course, to lead the way. If you're in a bind, inhale in, exhale, release the arms. In a bind, meaning with your arms, not in life. Although maybe this will help with that too. We're gonna inhale, halfway lift again, palms on the shins, deep breath in, long neck. And exhale, fold. Good, keep the knees bent here as we root to rise. So connect to your core. Keep the knees bent as you spread the fingertips, reach towards the sky. Arms are in a V shape here as you lift, lift, lift. And then exhale, hands come back down to the heart, Mountain Pose. This time, we're gonna inhale, fingertips go down to come up, but we're going to bend the knees, and go all the way down to kiss the earth. Alright, so here we go. One big breath, one movement. Inhale, fingertips kiss the earth. We bend the knees, we reach down to come all the way up. Big stretch, reach for the sky. And exhale, Forward Fold. Nice, inhale, halfway lift, palms on the shins. Exhale, soften, and fold. Step one foot back, then the other. Take a look at your hands, spread them nice and wide. Heels are reaching back, Plank Pose. We're on the toes. We're lifting up through the belly. So navel's drawing up and in, engaging those transverse abdominis. Neck is so long. We're tucking the chin slightly, crown of the head forward. Great, inhale in here. Exhale, lower to the belly. Inhale, Cobra. Big stretch, big breath. Exhale, soften, and fold. Curl the toes under, inhale in. Exhale, press up, power up to Plank, and then send the hips up high and back when you're ready, Downward Facing Dog. Good. Now keep the core engaged here in the first Dog, send weight towards the lower half of the body. Upper arm bones rotate out, deep breath in, long breath out. On your next inhale, lift the right leg up high towards the sky. On the exhale, shift it forward, knee to nose. Inhale, lift it up. Exhale, shift it forward, knee to nose. Inhale, lift it up. Exhale, shift it forward, knee to nose. And this time, you're just going to draw a line from elbow to elbow with your knee. Drawing a line, just welcoming a little heat here for three, two, and one. On the one, step the right foot all the way up. We're gonna lift up into a high lunge. Sweep the fingertips forward, up and back. Now take it easy here to start. You can bring the hands behind the head, interlace the fingertips, soft bend in the back knee. Make sure you're not gripping in the face, in the jaw or the forehead, front knee over front ankle. Alright, now we're going to pulse. Inhale in, hands can be on the waistline or behind the head. Inhale in, exhale slow and steady. Drop the back knee down and lift it up. Inhale to lower, exhale to lift. Every time you're lifting, you're drawing the navel in to meet the spine. We're here for three. Skin of the face is soft, two, and one, good. Let's pivot on the back foot. Open out to Warrior II. Front knee over front ankle, spine is stacked here. Just take a second to observe, breathe. And then inhale, keep the front knee bent as you reach the right fingertips all the way up and back, Peaceful Warrior. Then draw the navel into the spine, bring your right hand to the inner arch of your right foot. Front knee stays bent. As you spiral the heart open, send the left fingertips towards the front edge of your mat. Extended Side Angle. Breathe in here. Breathe out. Breathe in. And exhale to come back to your lunge. Nice runner's lunge. Back knee's lifted here, inhale in deeply. And exhale to plant the palms, step the right foot back. Inhale in, Plank Pose. Exhale, slowly lower all the way to the belly or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Inhale on Up Dog or Cobra. And exhale to soften and release, pressing your way through Plank Pose, and then sending the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Again, keep the core engaged here. Sending weight into the lower half of the body. Hugging the low ribs in. On your next breath in, inhale, lift the left leg up high. Exhale, shift it forward, knee to nose. Inhale, drop the right ankle as you lift the left leg up high, and exhale, knee to nose. Slow and with control, inhale, lift, and exhale, draw it in. Stay here, here we go. Drawing a line from left elbow to right elbow. You got this for three, for two, welcome the heat. And one, step the left foot all the way up. Beautiful, find your footing, lift the heart. From center, we rise up. Hands behind the back of the head, fingertips interlaced, or hands on the waistline. Alright, just find center here first. Nice and easy, feeling that stretch in the front of the right hip crease, pulling the left hip crease back. And inhale in. Exhale, relax the shoulders. And let's start to pulse, inhale to lower. Exhale to lift. Inhale to lower, exhale to lift. Find a little rhythm with your breath here, and keep it nice and slow in control. Front knee is tracking over the first two toes there. Really paying attention to my hips, where they are in space, their orientation. We're here for three. We're here for two, you got it. And one, beautiful. Bring that back foot to the ground. Open up Warrior II to the right. Pull the pinkies back. Stacking head over heart, heart over pelvis. Nice wide stance, breathe. Keep the front knee bent. Inhale, left fingertips up high, and then all the way back. Feel that big stretch and length through the left waist. Right inner thigh's engaged. Inhale in here. Exhale, navel draws in. We're going to slowly bring the left fingertips to the left arch. Right fingertips reach all the way up beyond the crown of the head, Extended Side Angle. Spiral your heart up towards the sky. Breathe. Good, inhale in here. Exhale, bring it back to your lunge. Frame the left foot, plant the palms. Step the left toes back and take a little vinyasa here. Belly to Cobra, Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog, and we'll join together in Downward Facing Dog. Take a deep breath in there. Take a long breath out here, here in the present moment. Beautiful. Slowly lower to the knees. Draw the hands underneath the shoulders. We're gonna press into the tops of the feet, and you're going to kick the right toes all the way up towards the sky. Right knee stays bent. Feel free to peek at me if you need a demo. Left fingertips reach forward. Breathe in, breathe out, connect to your core as you grab your right toes with your left hand. And then we're going to start to use the breath to expand this posture. So inhale, find length in the crown of the head. Send the sternum forward as you kick the right toes back. Press away from the earth with your foundation, breathe. And then slow and with control, send it all the way back out. Reach forward, kick back, and then release back to table. Second side, here we go. Inhale to extend. Exhale to bend. Grab the left toes. Inhale to expand in the posture, breathe. And exhale to just reinforce that core engagement. Kick, kick, kick, lengthen through the sternum. Keep the skin of the forehead relaxed. And slowly release, reach the right fingertips forward. Kick the left toes back, and slow and with control, back to all fours. Walk the hands forward, curl the toes under. Send it up and back, Downward Facing Dog. Take three breaths here to find what feels good. Bend the knees. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, make your way to the top, maybe a hop today. As you inhale, halfway lift, nice flat back position. As you exhale, Forward Fold. Root to rise here, bend the knees, send the fingertips all the way up towards the sky, arms in a flying V here. Big breath, big stretch, maybe a slight backbend here today. And then exhale, hands to heart. Inhale in deeply. Exhale, let go of any stagnant energy. Relax your shoulders, release. Fingertips go down, all the way down to come up. Here we go, inhale, down. They sweep the earth, reaching all the way up towards the ceiling. Good, and then exhale all the way down, Forward Fold. Diving in, inhale, halfway lift, lengthen through the neck. Exhale to soften and fold. Bend the knees, plant the palms. This time, you might hop it back, Plank Pose, or step-step's great too. Great, from here, we're gonna turn onto the outer edge of the right foot, inner arch of the left foot for a side Plank. So we have options here, but we're going to start by tick tocking to the right. Lifting the right hips up, and then drawing the left hand all the way up towards the sky. You can stay here or stack the feet, lifting up from the hips. Lengthening through the crown. Other option to lift the top leg, breathe. And from center, slowly coming back through Plank, and taking it to the other side. Follow your breath. Lifting from that left, side waist, that left oblique. Maybe we stack the feet. Maybe we lift the top leg. Staying engaged through the core. Good, inhale in. Use your exhale to guide it back to Plank, and take a vinyasa here, belly to Cobra. Chaturanga to Up Dog, follow your breath. Mmm. And let's join together in Downward Facing Dog. When you get there, inhale lots of love in. And exhale lots of love out. Inhale, lift the right leg up high. You're gonna bend the right knee and stack the hips here as you open, open, open up through the right side body. Inhale in here. Exhale, shift right knee to right elbow. Come forward, upper body's in Plank. Good, inhale all the way back up to that open Down Dog. And exhale, right knee to right elbow. Inhale, open up, stack the hips. Last time, knee to elbow. Good, then step the right foot all the way up. Pivot on the back foot. All the way to Warrior II, here we go. Inhale, we rise up. This time, straighten the front leg as you reach the right fingertips all the way up and back, a Reverse Triangle. And then we're going to bend the front knee, kind of flow through all the way back to your lunge. Left hand on the earth, back foot pivots. Big twist here as you reach the right arm up towards the sky. Good, inhale in, open the chest. Exhale, come back to the lunge. Plant the palms, step it back to Plank, vinyasa. Moving with your breath. Joining together in Downward Facing Dog. When you're ready, inhale, lift the left leg up high. Exhale, bend that left knee and stack the hips. Press into both palms evenly, and draw your low ribs closer into your body. Here we go, inhale in. Exhale, left knee to left elbow. Kick it back up, stack the hips. Good, exhale, shift it forward, and all the way back. And one more time, shift it forward, left knee to left elbow, and then step it all the way up. Pivot on the back foot. One fluid movement here with the breath, Warrior II. Relax the shoulders. Straighten the front leg. One fluid movement here, Reverse Triangle. Reach the left hand back. Navel draws in, we come all the way through. Bend the front knee, coming into a twist. Right hand to the earth, left hand to the sky. Pull the left hip crease back, open your heart. Good and then slowly bring it all the way back down. Plant the palms, step the left foot back, vinyasa. Flowing through a little diddy, letting your breath lead the way. Let's join together. Downward Facing Dog for just one breath cycle here. Deeply inhale through the nose, and exhale out through the nose or the mouth. Good, bend the knees, inhale to look forward. Exhale, make your way to the top. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale to soften and fold. Root to rise. Inhale, spread the fingertips. Lots of energy here as you reach towards the sky. Stand up nice and tall, maybe a slight backbend here. And then when you're ready, bring it back home. Hands together in prayer. Take a second, notice how you feel, observe your breath. And then without looking down, bring your feet together, really together. So we have all these patterns. You might feel like you were standing close together, but really squeeze so you feel this zipping up from the feet all the way to the pelvis. And once you feel that sensation, we're gonna bring the fingertips down to come up. Big inhale, here we go. Bend the knees, inhale, reach for the sky, like a wave. Exhale, float it down, excuse me. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, soften and fold. Bend the knees, drop the hips back, fingertips forward. Utkatasan, really bring it nice and low. Breathe here, spread the fingertips. You might lift the toes and then place them down. Engage through the core, navel draws in and up, lifting from the pelvic floor. Hugging those low ribs in towards the body. Good, inhale in here, listen carefully. You're gonna slowly begin to lift the heels, bend the knees out at a V and come into a low squat. Fingertips are reaching up high. Inhale in deeply, press into the heels. We're gonna go back to Utkatasan. This is challenging, but lift from the pelvic floor. Find that Mula Bandha, come back to Utkatasan. Good, just one more time in case we were confused the first time, here we go. Inhale in and exhale, navel draws in, heels lift, knees to each corner of the mat. You can always bring the fingertips down if you need a little support, and back up to Utkatasan, in we, in three, two, one, here we go. Lifting up through the pelvic floor. Try to keep it slow and in control. Beautiful, then inhale in, exhale, Forward Fold. Let it all go, shake the head yes and no. Inhale, halfway lift, exhale to release, and come all the way to a comfortable seat. Cross the ankles, sit up nice and tall. Come into Sukhasana. Relax the shoulders. And just notice how you feel. From here, I'm going to give you an option on how to end the practice, or rather I'm going to allow you to choose your own adventure here as a closing. Of course, I'll offer options. So I'm gonna suggest coming onto the back, but you could stay here if you're capturing a moment of stillness and meditation, you might stay here, end your practice here today. Otherwise, we'll come onto the back. I'm gonna grab my block, it's actually my new block. My Manduka With Adriene block, and I'm going to use it as a pillow for a little massage to close. So if you have a block, you could use that. If you have a blanket or a bolster, you could roll it up under the knees. I know that you have a practice of your very own, so you can choose here. Maybe taking a spinal twist, hugging the knees into the chest, just taking the last couple beats here to find what feels good. Maybe closing your eyes, slowing down your breath pattern. A little goes a long way, so way to show up today. It's an honor and a pleasure to practice with you. We'll start to say goodbye here, but if you're feeling like you have the time and the space to be in stillness for a little bit longer, I recommend it. Thank you again for sharing your practice with me. Namaste. (upbeat music)