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

I'm Adriene and
today we have yoga tips.

These are tips to help
you grow your practice.

So we're gonna integrate some
thoughts today on the spine,

really considering this line

from the crown of the head
to the tip of the tailbone.

Something that we 
refer to in some of our

Foundations of Yoga 
as the Dunda.

The word Dunda is Sanskrit for

rod (clicks tongue)
(chuckles)

or staff or stick,

which is why we perhaps
call the Stick Pose Dundasana,

which we're actually
gonna do today. So teaser.

So to begin,

we're just gonna jump right
in today and just kind of like

workshop this together a
little bit via the internet.

I love this, this why
I love these yoga tip videos.

Okay, so find
a comfortable seat.

If you can come to your
knees, then give that a try.

If not, cross-legged or
maybe even this part in a chair.

And just take a deep breath in.

And close your eyes and
just visualize your spine,

your Dunda, if you will.

And you can like go as far as
you can or want with me on this.

You can just kind of
like enjoy your breath.

But maybe you might also 
take this moment to just

give a little thanks and 
a little energy towards this

part of the body 
that's so incredible

and holds you
up literally, right?

And if you have
monkey mind right now, again,

tap into your breath
and you might just start,

give yourself concrete,
you know,

like start at the base of
the spine and then travel up,

travel up, just seeing it.

If you're into anatomy, you
might just kind of visualize

it all the way up to the crown
of the head and if you're like,

"Whoa, Adriene's starting
to get weird on me,"

just breathe and
sit up nice and tall

and acknowledge the spine.

Then you can take
a couple seconds here

to just kind of work out
any kinks in the neck.

Might as well,
especially when we're talking

about this Dunda too.

Maybe draw circles with the
nose one way and then the other.

Loop the shoulders
if that feels good.

And while you're doing now,

just talk a little bit about
this line from the crown of

the head to the
tip of the tailbone.

It's so important that we

acknowledge that the neck is
an extension of the spine and

for beginners this can
be kind of a "aha" moment.

It seems so obvious but then

you get into crazy poses
and not only do we forget about

the neck but we forget about
how important the energetic

body is and especially
in poses like Half Moon or

Triangle which we're
going to also play with today.

A couple moments more
of working out any kinks.

And then bring your
head back to center.

And draw your palms
together at your heart.

And then really,
really like over exaggerate,

lift your sternum
to your thumbs here.

So we're kind of finding
this big lift in the upper body,

the shoulders relax down.

And then slide your fingertips
to your lower ribs and

everyone scoop your tailbone
down towards the core of the

earth and just hug your
lower ribs in just a hair.

And then tuck your chin 
into your chest just slightly

and lengthen through
the crown of the head.

If you started on
your knees and you're like,

"Girl, this is hurting me,"
then come to cross-legged.

Always adjust
when you're feeling like

the body's trying
to tell you something.

So again, we'll just
talk through that again.

We're coming from
this kind of lifted heart,

this like exalted
shape in this spine,

this crown of the
head's kind of going back,

throat chakra's open,
lifting, lifting, lifting.

Should have worn
tighter shirt for this.

Hey-o!

This is my first
hey-o in this space.

Hilarious. Okay.
And then, let's try again.

Tucking the pelvis.
Tailbone grows heavy.

Fingertips kind of
come to the lower rib cage.

I find that helps.

And we just draw them in and

tuck the chin slightly.

Okay, and I should say too,

depending on what
level of yoga you're at,

I hate that, "level,"

where you're at on
your journey on the mat.

If you're not
feeling these things,

just kind of stick with it
anyway and see what happens

and chances are I'm sure
you'll get something out of

the video that maybe I
didn't even know you would.

So, on to the next.

So if you didn't connect
to anything there, that's okay.

But we're just kind of spreading
awareness through this Dunda,

this staff or this stick,

this line of the body
that literally holds us up.

Come to all fours now.

If you need a second to kind of

roll the wrists or
stretch the legs, please do.

You know, you know my mantra.

And then we'll come
to a Tabletop Position.

Now this, man,
this is like gold.

Seems so simple,
but it's so important.

A lot of times,

and you're gonna have to
look at the video for this,

this is what happens when
we come to Tabletop Position.

The navel drops down,

tailbone scoops up and people
are ready to go into Cat-Cow.

We come to Tabletop Position
and we're either here or here.

This is collapsed.

My energetic body,
this is usually where we're at.

I'm kind of
exaggerating but not really.

The body is kind of holding
on or hugging into kind of old

habits and so we're here
to kind of play with that.

So I'm gonna spread the
palms super wide for starters.

Then I'm gonna square knees,
ankles and toes off.

Knees underneath
the hip points,

wrists underneath
the shoulders.

Then this hurts,

this is like a lot of weight
here and my spine is just

kind of like hovering
in an awkwardness.

So I'm gonna draw my
navel up to the spine,

finding length
in my lower back,

then I'm gonna press
away from my yoga mat

and broaden through
the upper back body.

Then a lot of you have
heard me say this before,

but imagine placing a
little beverage of your choice,

I'll say,
on the back of the neck,

so that we're remembering,

oops, sorry,
if that was loud in my mic,

to find extension here.

Take a couple
breaths and play with this.

See if you can create
a nice long line from

the crown of the head
to the tip of the tailbone.

All one piece.

A couple of action points
that really helped me

really drawing the 
shoulders away from the ears.

This is great,
just kind of stabilizing,

strengthening for the
shoulders and just kind of

getting ready for
Downward Dog and growing that,

practice into eventually
a comfy, juicy pose.

Hugging the low ribs in just

like we did with our
fingertips on the ribs.

Really pressing
into my foundation.

So engage in the
tops of the feet

without necessarily like
creating tension or, you know,

like a squeezing in the bum,
but just an engaging quality.

And then take a break
with a little Cat-Cow,

kind of lifting the tailbone,

opening the heart forward.

And exhale, rounding the spine,

Just countering
this a little bit.

And then inhale.

And exhale.

And then on your next inhale,
back to Tabletop Position.

Cool, if you're really
strengthening in the wrist,

really I'd like
for you to kind of go,

this is kinda
like two for one here,

but really go ahead and
press into your knuckles.

So you're not kind of crashing
into the base of the wrist here,

but clawing 
through the fingertips and

pressing into all 
10 knuckles strong.

Then we can play with
that and test our Dunda,

or the line from the crown of

the head to the tip of the
tailbone by lifting the knees.

Now this seems like a
strengthening thing and it is,

but we're really trying to
kind of test things out here,

making sure the
neck is integrated.

I'm drawing my navel up,

lengthening through
the lower back body,

lifting up through the heart.

One more breath here,
we're shaking, we're hot.

And then we release. 
Awesome.

Go ahead and take a
break and roll the wrists.

So this is an awesome practice

and just awareness to
integrate into your life.

If you want to
improve your posture,

you know, people always say
yoga improves your posture.

And then people always get
into yoga and they're like,

"It's so true."

And it's not that the
practicing of the poses is

correcting your posture
magically in one instant,

but it's that 
overall continual practice

and awareness that 
of course bleeds, you know,

off the mat and into
the everyday and boom,

all of a sudden
you're sitting pretty.

So let's practice now this idea

of kind of maintaining energy
from the crown of the head to

the tip of the tailbone
in a pose like Triangle.

I think it's a great
pose to practice on it.

So we're gonna
come to a nice low lunge.

Take your time getting there

with the right foot
forward and the left foot back.

So there's never
any need to rush,

especially when you're
just kind of working on your

practice trying
to deepen it at home.

So you might as well use this

opportunity to 
stretch one way

and then stretch the other.

Then plant the feet mindfully,
stack your front knee over

front ankle and then
whenever you're ready,

no rush,
pivot on the back foot.

And then we'll keep
that front knee stacked

over the front ankle.

Draw the right elbow to the
top of the right thigh and

we begin to press into the
outer edge of the left foot.

So Extended Side Angle,

drawing energy up
through the arch.

Really charging
through the left leg here.

And then notice how
just naturally like,

I'm kind of going in
a Quasimodo shape here,

totally normal and then we get

so tight because we're on
our phones and computers

that then we try 
to come into this pose

and it looks like this.

So, the power of the Dunda,

tailbone lengthens
towards the left heel.

I energetically draw
energy up through my spine,

that was redundant,

and then awareness
through the crown of the head.

It is hard work.
Remember the fingertips on the

lower ribs as you
hug the low ribs in,

engage the abdominal wall.

Now we're talking.
Beautiful connectivity.

Great, it is hard work.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.

You can keep the left hand on

the waistline
here as you practice.

Notice if the
right ear's coming down.

Don't get lazy.
Let's slowly begin to

build this strength, this energy,

up through the
crown of the head,

and then you'll 
be able to kind of

come here with
more ease with practice.

Take a variation
here if you like.

Breathe deep.

And just see if you can

find the equidistance
between the earlobes.

So again, this tends
to happen a lot here.

Find space.

Draw the
shoulder blades together,

lean back into it,

and then if you're
feeling adventurous,

straighten that front leg
and try a Triangle out here.

Ooh.

Resist the urge to
crash into your ankle,

or even grip to the floor.

See if you can take
a second to hold here,

drawing your 
right shoulder underneath

and just testing
out the power of that line.

Crown of the head to
the tip of the tailbone.

Awesome. Inhale in. Exhale,
bend your right knee, release.

We're just gonna come all the

way through center and
then take it to the other side.

So drop your right knee,
come into a low lunge,

stretch it out here first.

Take a couple of
nice deep breaths.

And then when you're ready,
pivot on the back foot.

Strong foundation
in every posture,

so take your time.

Then we'll bring the top,
excuse me,

the left elbow to the
top of the left thigh.

And there's a tendency already
to kind of crash down into it.

So begin to grow integrity.

Tailbone reaches
towards the back heel.

My, I have a big rib cage too,
wants a jut out like

yeah, yoga,
which is good sometimes,

but we're really working on
the Dunda today so fingertips

gonna kind of
draw the low ribs in.

And I'm gonna remember
when I was hovering in

that Tabletop Position,

kind of the work and the effort
it took to integrate everything.

Really drawing the
navel in towards the spine.

Crawling the shoulders
down away from the ears.

Take a variation here,

challenging yourself to
maintain this beautiful energy

from the crown of the head
to the tip of the tailbone.

Extended Side Angle,

and then maybe you
might play with Triangle Pose.

Everyone draw your
left shoulder under.

Extend through
the crown of the head,

lengthen through
the back of the neck.

One more breath here.
You got it.

And then exhale,
bend the left knee.

Come back to your lunge.

And take a
Child's Pose on all fours.

Let me turn
back around this way.

Couple of breaths
here to just restore.

Stay here, I'm just
gonna mention to you

that a couple of days ago,
somebody wrote something really

beautiful in our Find What 
Feels Good Kula about how,

oh, I did a video that once used

to be really hard for me and
even though I've been working

really hard and

practicing
Yoga With Adriene for awhile,

it was still,
it was actually harder

and I think it's
because I know

so much more about my body
or I was working so hard.

I know how to like integrate.

So even things like Warrior I

that I used to
like blast through,

now I really relish in 
and, you know,

every muscle comes
along for the ride.

So I think this sort of thing

might be kind of
advanced for some people,

the Dunda,
but really it's not.

It's this kind of intrinsic
thing that we need to just

connect to so that we can
stand up tall and sit up taller.

You can go ahead
and sit up tall.

Speaking of that, just come
to a nice comfortable seat.

So that we can sit up tall and
stand up taller with more ease,

with more connectivity,

and ultimately so that
we can be more open, right?

Lots of this going on. 
Me too.

So, hopefully this yoga tip
video will help you kind of

open your heart and just
tap into more yoga off your mat.

Have an awesome day everyone,
leave questions, comments below.

It's super important.

I love the conversation and I'm
super glad to have it with you,

I'm super grateful to have it
with you so that we're not just,

you know,
doing the yoga robot thing,

but we're actually talking and

investigating and
staying curious about

our minds, bodies, and hearts.

For my heart to yours,
take good care.

Namaste.

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