- What's up, everyone?

Welcome to Yoga With Adriene,
L.A. Edition.

Here I am in Santa Monica,

and I'm wanting to kind
of do a little bit of yoga,

but I'm also wanting to
do a little relaxation,

so I just decided 
why not combine the two

and do some 
yoga for couch potatoes?

So for all you couch potatoes
and couch potatas out there,

this one's for you, some simple
stretches to do on your couch.

Let's get started.

(upbeat music)

Okay, so to begin, you can
get comfy on your couch.

Nice, right? We're gonna
start nice and reclined.

We'll slowly gain awareness
through the spinal column,

but just take a
nice chill spot here.

Depending on your couch,

you might be here or
wherever feels good, right?

Or maybe you do want to
sit up tall right away.

So just take a deep breath in,
close your eyes,

and let a long exhale out.

Nothing fancy here,

just a couple of
nice, deep breaths.

And let's do one 
more deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

Okay, you're done.
No, I'm just kidding.

But sometimes
that's all it takes, right?

Just a couple deep
breaths in and out.

Okay, so now we are
gonna sit up nice and tall.

You're gonna go ahead and

come to the edge
of your couch here.

And, of course, 
every couch is different,

and so is every body.

So make it your own.

Have fun here.
If there's a coffee table there,

and you can't do this,

or maybe you need
to slide to the edge,

live on the edge,
maybe give it a try.

Okay, we're gonna
extend the legs out long.

Really flexing through
the feet here if possible.

Again, you can be watching
your show as you're doing this,

or you could be
talking to someone,

and this is just kind of
connecting to the lower body,

finding that sit bone 
to heel connection.

Careful not to lock
the knees even here.

Why? No, we keep our
mindfulness that we learned

through our yoga practice
even here on the couch.

Sit up nice and tall.

Loop the shoulders forward,

up and back just
a couple times here.

So the feet are flexed.

And then looping the shoulders,
sitting up nice and tall.

Find a gentle lift in the heart,

just that kind of lift in the

sternum that we
often talk about.

And then we'll just take a

second here to
check in with the neck.

Whoo! I wonder if the 
mic picked up that pop.

Maybe a couple circles.

Again, nothing fancy, not
rigid here, just nice and easy.

And then we're
gonna take it forward.

So we're gonna use the
fingertips or the hands to

kind of crawl down the legs
again to also make sure that

you're not locking
out through the knees,

especially if you have a

tendency to do just
that in the joints.

Feet are staying flexed,
I'm slowly sliding down.

I can still be
looking up at my show.

(laughs) And no just kidding.

Let's take a break to
bow the head forward.

So I'm getting a great
hamstring stretch here,

this is a nice
stretch in the back body.

Another variation to try

would be to come on 
to the soles of the feet,

keep the knees bent and
take your Forward Fold here,

so it just depends on the

height of your
couch and your situation,

and, of course, 
the tightness of the hamstrings.

So that looks like this.

Cool, wherever you are, you can
stop looking at the video for

a second and just take a
couple deep breaths in and out.

And then we'll slowly roll
up and back onto our couch.

Awesome.
Side body stretch.

We just take it 
easy over to the side. Reach.

And through center,
reach opposite side.

And then back to center.
Okay, now to the hips and

the hip flexors
eventually and the quads.

So we're gonna bring the
soles of the feet to the mat.

Whoa.

Robot! 
Not to the mat, to your rug,

to your earth,
to the metaphorical mat.

And we're gonna to cross

the right ankle over
the top of the left thigh.

Already feeling
it in my hip here, so nice.

This couch is nice and low,

so I'm already getting
a nice, deep stretch.

I might just stay here and

rotate the ankle one
way and then the other.

This is a great one to
remember your yoga tool belt,

because you can do it in a
couch setting or in a chair.

So good.

And then of course you want
to take it a little deeper,

you can lean forward.

And then gently release
and switch to the other side.

Left ankle
crosses over the right.

(sighs) So nice here.

This is like the perfect
level couch for my hips today.

Rotating that
ankle if it feels good,

give yourself
a little massage,

maybe making the person
next to you massage your foot.

Yeah, right. (laughs)

And then if you want
to take it a little bit deeper,

you just lean the
heart forward a little bit.

Take a deep breath in, and
then use an exhale to release.

Awesome. Last thing.
Are you ready?

We're gonna take,

let's start with
the left knee this time,

we're gonna take
the left knee down,

and gently walk the
right foot forward.

So this also can
be done in a chair,

and depending on the height
of your couch is the benefit.

So for me this is a low couch,

so I'm gonna go into more of

the front of the hip
crease like a Crescent Moon.

If you're on a higher couch,

you can really use gravity 
to really open up through

the hip flexors and 
get a nice quad stretch,

and just kind of hold on to
the back of your couch like so.

So this is going to look and

feel a little
different for everyone.

Just be careful,
be mindful of, of course,

the knee and
the ankle, stacking.

And we take a
couple of breaths here.

Lift your heart if
you're feeling fine.

And again, if yours doesn't
look like this because of

your couch or your body,

you can still find
what feels good there.

I've done this on chairs before,

and it's really nice to let
the weight of the leg just drop

and hold on
with your upper body.

Cool. Gently release, and let's
check it out on the other side.

This time right knee down.

And again, if you're lifted
up higher, you're not actually

even putting any
weight in your leg.

You're really letting
it just kind of drop down.

It feels really good.

This couch is a
little low for me for that,

so I'm gonna go ahead and
walk my knee back a little bit

just so I can feel a nice
stretch through the front.

Lift your heart.

And then we'll
come back to center.

Always be mindful
when you're coming back, too.

You never know, right?

You want to be really
mindful of the knees.

And that's it!

Now you're ready for your show
or you're ready to do something.

Hopefully you feel better about

whatever it is
you're gonna do next,

because you've just
connected with your body.

Another option after this is to

just take a chill pill in a
little cross-legged position,

or you know, my favorite pose,

couch Corpse. (laughs)

I'm gonna trademark that.

So I'm gonna go into 
some couch Corpse here

and wish you a wonderful 
rest of your night or day,

and I'll see you next time.

Take care, everyone.

Namaste.

(upbeat music)