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

Today on the
Foundations of Yoga

we're learning Standing Splits.

So you've requested we start to

carve through the
advanced postures.

This is one of them but it's

beginner-friendly as well
'cause we're gonna work it

from the ground up with lots
of integrity and lots of love.

So hop on your
mat and let's begin.

(upbeat music)

Alrighty, my friends.

So to get into
the posture today,

we're gonna start on all fours,
moving nice and slow.

Making sure that as we learn

new postures and return to the
basics that we're being really

mindful of how we get
in and out of things,

so that we can make
sure that it feels good.

So you might even sneak in a
little Cat-Cow here, why not?

And then when you're ready,

we'll lift the right foot up
and come into a nice low lunge,

lifting the back leg.

You might keep it down for a

breath or two while you
stretch out your lower body.

Connect to your breath
and whenever you're ready,

keep that front knee stacked

over the front ankle as
we reach the fingertips up.

Strong powerful pose here
coming into a high lunge.

And the reason we're
coming here is to really kind of

connect to strength, power,
stability in the lower body,

and keep this awareness in
the upper body of course, too.

So we're reaching up,

we're finding the 
strength in the lower body

and I'm also pulling my
right hip crease back.

Making sure to remember
foundations of high lunge here.

Nice lengthening of
the tailbone down.

Just paying
attention to the sacrum here.

Inhale in here,
one more strong breath.

And then exhale
back to your low lunge.

Awesome.

Now we're gonna slowly hop
the left toes in a couple times,

you don't have to
do it all in one.

And then on a big, big exhale.

So take a deep
breath in on a big exhale,

we'll lift the back leg up.

So we're gonna build this,
in fact, I'd like to invite you

to forget what you know about
the shape of Standing Split.

So we know
this big, big thing,

see if you can just
keep it nice and low.

Have integrity and mindfulness
as we build this posture.

So I can actually do a higher

one but I'm going to
keep it nice and low,

and I encourage you to too,

even if you think
you can go higher.

Keep a soft bend 
in your standing leg,

foundations of yoga,

pressing into all four
corners of the standing foot.

Fingertips on the mat,

long beautiful neck here,
just to start.

So lot's of
awareness in the shoulders.

We might begin to feel a shake,

so strengthening 
that standing leg

and really kind of
connecting to our core here.

And then I'm gonna
slowly press out really slow,

so bend your left knee
and then slowly press out.

Awareness through all
four corners of that left foot,

flexing the left foot
and spreading the left toes.

Now everyone energetically draw

your right hip and
maybe take your right thumb,

and energetically pull
your right hip up here.

So we're kind of
leveling the buttocks here,

squaring the hips
sometimes we call it.

And I'm gonna take
one more breath here.

And then on an exhale,
I'm going to release back down.

Awesome.
Come back to all fours,

sit back on your
heels and take a rest.

That was fun.

Let's try it again,
same side, okay?

Back to all fours.

Find your breath and
we'll step the right foot up.

In your own time,

make your way up to that
high lunge for one swift breath,

inhale in.

Pull the right hip crease back,

connect to the power of your
legs and on an exhale release.

Then we'll step the left
toes up and on an exhale,

press into the standing leg.

Draw energy up from the
arch of that right foot.

This time, maybe the
palms come to the mat

and I'd like to 
invite you to really

tone your
left quadricep here.

So engage the left quad

as you press
into your left foot.

And again, we go through our
checklist, spreading awareness

through all four corners
of the feet, finding length,

awareness in the
neck and shoulders.

This time, we can allow the
crown of the head to draw down

and we pull the
right hip crease back.

Hug the outer ribs in,

so nice awareness here
in the torso and we breathe.

Tuck the chin into
the chest if you can,

or keep your gaze
down nice and strong.

Great, so we're 
leveling the hips here

and we're focusing
on sensation rather than shape.

So if we kind of blast through,

then we never really get to a
nice beautiful Standing Split.

Or at least we can't evolve it,
it kind of just stays that way.

So forget what 
you see in the magazines

and just focus 
on the sensation here.

Nice strong pose,
one more breath.

And then we use 
an exhale to release.

Awesome.

Coming back through the
lunge and then to all fours.

Feel free to sit on the
heels or maybe this time,

you rest in a Child's Pose.

Feel free to wiggle
out the fingertips,

rotate the wrists.

Anything and everything 
that feels good here,

let it all go. (laughs)

Then we'll slowly come back up

and we'll try the same
thing on the other side.

So from all fours, we step
the left foot up into our lunge.

Curl the right toes under,
come through that low lunge.

Stretch it out here
for a couple breaths.

And then when you are ready,

we'll inhale, sweep the 
fingertips up and overhead

and just connect to
the power of the legs here.

So I like to bend my right knee
lengthen the tailbone down,

pull the left hip crease back.

So we're really coming 
into the power of the legs

and already paying attention
to my sacrum here,

so that when
I come into the posture,

I can work to keep that
nice and flat, nice and stable.

Inhale in wherever you are and

use your exhale
to return back down.

And then we'll step
the right toes in once,

twice, three times 
a Standing Split.

Just kidding. (chuckles)

Inhale in, exhale,
lift the right leg up high.

So couple of things
I'll show you on this side,

if you're watching or if you can
just listen to my voice here,

the right hip wants to stack
over the left and so I'm gonna

draw my right toes
down towards the yoga mat,

and level out the buttocks.

Level out the hips,
pull the left hip crease back.

And again, we can
tone that right quad.

Stay long in the neck.

Draw energy up
from your standing leg.

Careful not to lock
that standing knee.

Deep breath in here everybody.

And then exhale
back to your low lunge.

We're just gonna 
take our break here

in the lunge this time.

So one breath in
and a long breath out.

And then we'll
return to the high lunge,

so here we go on
a swift breath in,

come into your
power high lunge.

Exhale, straight
to Standing Split.

Maybe you do it in
one step this time,

and maybe that's just
somewhere we head later.

Other options to head for

are wrapping the arms
around the calf here.

Maybe it's just
one arm to start,

maybe eventually we get both.

So really working
from the ground up though.

Adding things on with
time and with breath.

Wherever you are,
take one more breath in.

Radiate energy
throughout the entire body.

Make sure you're not clenching
in the neck and shoulders.

And then we'll slowly
release back to the low lunge,

and we'll plant the palms and

step the left toes
back toward a Downward Dog.

Pedal it out.

Walk the feet to 
the center of the mat,

and then
we'll slowly roll it up.

Nice work everyone.

Deep breath in as we
rise up into Mountain Pose.

And exhale, shake it off.

Alright my friends,
awesome work.

So that was the
basics of Standing Splits.

This is a wonderful
posture to return to,

you know, once a week or when
you're doing your home practice,

play time to see how
it evolves and grows.

Be patient, be kind.

Really work on building
these poses from the ground up,

so you can have a
strong foundation to fly free.

I'll see you next time.

Free yoga
videos every Wednesday.

Questions, comments down below.
I love you guys. Take good care.

Namaste.

(upbeat music)