- Hello everyone. Welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene. This is my sweet assistant Benji and today we have a Vin Yin Practice. That's a vinyasa practice, a flow practice, with a little bit of relaxation and restore. So we'll hop into something comfy and let's get started. (upbeat music) Alright, my friend, let's begin lying down. If you brought a blanket or a towel, we're gonna use the blanket here in one of two ways. You can roll it up lengthwise, like a hot dog length, and come to lie on your spine here like so. Or, just depending on what type of blanket or towel you brought, you can take it and fold it up lengthways like this, less of a roll, more of a fold. Just find a nice, even fold and then lay this bottom lip right underneath your shoulder blades. So we have two supported options here. One is like so, supporting the scaps, opening up through the pecs and the chest this way. And the other one is more of a bolster move. Bringing the bottom lip of your roll to the base of the spine and then rolling on it this way. Just take a couple seconds here to figure it out and if you're like, "I didn't bring anything," just come onto your back, start to snuggle your shoulder blades underneath your heart space, the sternum. And then depending on how you're set up here, extend your legs out long or bend them. Bring your feet as wide as the mat and allow the knees to fall in. So either variation, your legs are relaxed. If you wanted to come into Reclined Butterfly or Cobbler's Pose to start, that's cool too. Excuse me, buddy. Alright, and we have begun. Allow your hands to rest somewhere that feels good. That could be on your body or maybe on the ground. And we're gonna just begin with a little restoration. So close your eyes. And just start to notice your breath, whether it feels tight, short, smooth, long. Just keep it easy for now. If you feel inspired to take some deep breaths here, I say allow it to happen. But don't feel like you have this arduous task being put upon you to breathe a certain way. So just allowing the breath to respond to this moment, to the shape that we are in. And let your breath be influenced by this shape that you're in, this choice that you've made to practice, to connect to yourself, to the big picture. Integrating the mind and the body and the heart as well. You may have already noticed just little pockets of release happening. Sometimes they're hard to name, but whether it's a dissolving of tension in the shoulders or releasing of tightness or holding in the belly or the hips or the glutes, the toes, the feet, the ankles. Perhaps you soften through the jaw, the forehead. Allow the weight of your body to just be heavy here for a couple more breaths. Now together, let's gently start to deepen the breath. We're gonna inhale for a four count, exhale for a four count. Here we go, inhale in for four, three, two, one, pause. And exhale out through the mouth for four, three, two, one, good. Inhale for four, three, two, one, pause. Long exhale, four, three, two, and one. Start to wiggle the fingertips, the toes, the wrists, the ankles. Tick-tock the feet a little in and out or if your knees are bent, you can windshield wiper, excuse me, your knees a little side to side. And let's inhale, reach the arms all the way up and overhead for a nice big full, full, full body stretch. Keep this conscious breath going. Let it guide you and move you, move your body. Alright, bend the knees. If they are not already, you're gonna turn to one side, any side, and we're gonna press up. You can take your blanket and put it to the side or your towel if you wanna use it for a little padding for your knees, that's where we're headed next. So you're gonna come to all fours nice and slow. (floor creaks) What's up, creaky old floor in the house? Spread the fingertips wide. So really, really stretch through the fingers, fingertips. Soft bend in the elbows, knees underneath the hips. We're gonna take what I'm gonna call today just kind of like a lazy Cat-Cow to start. So you don't have to be super active in your body. Really feel the stretch. Breathe in as you drop the belly, tailbone goes up. And then breathe out as you round through the spine. Tailbone lengthens down. And just follow the sound of your breath here again. Can keep it soft and easy, kind of lazy Cat-Cow. And now start to transition to a more active Cat-Cow. So navel draws in and up. We press up and away from the palms and actively press into the tops of the feet. Focus on extension through the crown of the head when you drop the belly. And really magnify, or rather, enhance that arching of the back by hugging the low ribs up and in and drawing your abdominal muscles up to contract through your Cat. Take a couple active Cat-Cows here with the sound of your breath. Then inhale, come back to nice Tabletop Position. Walk the hands out a little bit. Curl the toes under. As you exhale, press the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Three cycles of breath here, nice and slow as you pedal it out. Bend your knees one at a time. Upper arm bones externally rotate away from the ears. Now bend both knees, pause here though. Press into all 10 knuckles, bend both knees and gather your abs up and in to feel length in your low back here. Good, then from here, we'll slowly begin to walk up towards the front edge of the mat. Take your time, we'll land at the top of the mat in Forward Fold. If you have a little Benji there, give them a little love. And then clasp opposite elbow with each hand and begin to sway gently left to right, grounding through all four corners of the feet and relaxing the weight of the head down. (chuckles) Benji's doing Ujjayi Breath. Oh my goodness, good job. (laughs) Find a nice audible breath if it suits you. Just helps to anchor the mind a little bit here. Bend both knees if you haven't already. Send the lower back some love. Then draw the hands to the waistline. Draw the shoulder blades together. Elbows reach up and towards each other. We ground through our feet. Feel the power in your legs as you rise up. As you rise up, think about stacking your head over your heart, your heart over your pelvis and think about tearing your yoga mat in half right down the middle so your legs are really active and your posture's long and tall. (chuckles) Take a deep breath in here. Exhale, release the fingertips down gently at your side. Draw your abs in just a little bit here and even more lengthening through the crown of the head. Mountain Pose. Inhale, reach the arms all the way up and overhead. Exhale, interlace the fingertips. You can keep the index finger, thumb lengthened if you like. We're gonna bump the hips to the right as you lean to the left, breathe in. Breathe out as you come through center. Bump the hips to the left. Lean to the right, breathe in. Breathe out as you come to center. Inhale, look all the way up. Exhale, cactus the arms as you lift the chest here. Squeeze the shoulder blades together, elbows down and in. Good, inhale, reach all the way up. Exhale, Forward Fold all the way down. Inhale, halfway lift with airplane arms today. So imagine you're pressing like hot air down with your palms so they're active as you extend through the crown. And then release everything down. Step the right foot back, lower the right knee. Inhale, reach up towards the sky, Crescent Lunge. Exhale, take it all the way down. Lift the back knee up. Now inhale, rise again, High Lunge. You got it, squeeze the inner thighs to the midline for stability. And exhale, release it all the way down. Step the back foot up to meet the front, Forward Fold. Good, inhale, halfway lift with airplane arms. Crown of the head reaches forward, fingertips reach back. Exhale, soften and release everything down. Root to rise here. Inhale, reach for the sky, nice and tall. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Exhale, hands come down gently to your side. Breathe in. Just shrug the shoulders up towards the ears. Breathe out, let 'em drop down. Good, inhale, reach for the sky. Interlace the fingertips, bump the hips to the right. Lean to the left, breathe in. Back to center, breathe out. Inhale, lean, side body stretch. And exhale, back to center, good. Inhale, ground through all four corners of the feet. Exhale, bend your elbows. Slight back bend here, cactus arms. Squeezing the elbows in. Good, inhale, reach up. Exhale, Forward Fold all the way down. Inhale, halfway lift, airplane arms, active arms, active fingers. Exhale, soften and fold. Step the left foot back this time, lower the left knee. Inhale, we rise up, Crescent Lunge. Exhale, soften and release. Lift the back knee up. Inhale, rise up again, High Lunge. Press into the ball joint of your right big toe and then release. Back foot comes up to meet the front. Once again, inhale, halfway lift, airplane arms. Exhale, soften and bow. Root to rise, inhale, reach for the sky. This time go right into your side body stretch. So bump the hips to the right. Send your fingers to the left. Come back to center, connect to your core. Bump the hips to the left. Come back to center. Inhale, look up. Exhale, cactus the arms. Inhale, reach. Exhale, diving forward once again. Inhale, lengthen the crown of the head. Halfway lift, airplane arms. Good, exhale, soften and fold. Inhale, step the right foot back, then the left. So you're in Plank Pose. You can also do a Half Plank with the knees on the mat. Spread the fingertips, breathe in here. Breathe out. Reach the heels back. If they're lifted, everyone lengthen the crown of the head forward. Draw your abs in and up for one more breath. You got this. Then exhale, hug the elbows in, slowly lower all the way down to the belly. Press into the tops of the feet and the pubic bone. Drag your hands in line with your rib cage. Squeeze the elbows in. Inhale, lift up, Cobra. Exhale to soften and release. Inhale, press up to all fours. Then exhale, Downward Facing Dog. Inhale, lift the right leg high. Exhale, shift it forward knee to nose. So upper body's in Plank, but we're drawing the knee all the way up and in and rounding our nose towards that kneecap. Good, inhale, kick it back up, Three-Legged Dog. Anchor through your left heel. Let it get heavy. Exhale, knee to nose, shift it forward, upper body's in Plank. Inhale, Three-Legged Dog. Last time you got this, shift it forward. Squeeze and lift through your center. Then step it all the way up. Pivot on the back foot and we rise up for Warrior I, Virabhadrasana I. Inhale in here, look up. Exhale, slow and steady, take it all the way down. We're gonna step the back foot to a Plank or you can keep it lifted here as we slowly lower belly to Cobra or Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. Come through to all fours or straight to Downward Dog. That will be the meeting spot. When you get there, take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. On your next inhale, lift the left leg high, Three-Legged Dog. Exhale, shift it forward, knee to nose. Inhale, lift and lengthen. Exhale, shift it forward. Again, shoulders over the wrists, upper body's in Plank. And then last time. Good, step the left foot all the way up. Pivot on the back foot. We rise up, Warrior I. Big breath in. And big breath out takes you all the way back down. Step the back foot up to meet the front. Inhale, halfway lift, airplane arms. Exhale to soften and fold. Bend the knees, root to rise here. Inhale, reach all the way up towards the sky. And this time exhale, palms come together and slide back into home at your heart space. Pause. Close your eyes here or soften your gaze. Just observe your breath. Capture the flag here, capture a little moment for yourself. With yourself, just noticing, relaxing the shoulders. Going inward. And then slowly release the fingertips down. Inhale, reach all the way up. Soften the hard edges here. So we're gonna take it to the left side bend. Take it to the right, just smoothing everything out a little bit. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, bend the elbows, soften. Inhale, reach up. Exhale, fold. Maybe wiggle the fingertips. So a little smoother. Inhale, we float up halfway. Exhale, soften and fold. Okay, check it out. From here we're gonna walk the feet as wide as the mat and turn the toes out. Use your hands here. You can even use a prop if you brought it to help lift the floor up to you. We're gonna slowly bend the knees and drop down into a squat. Now in this squat if you want a little more activity, you're gonna stay just as you are, palms come together. We're gonna press the palms together to lift the chest. If you want a little more restore, a little more support, a little more yin, you can slide your prop underneath the bottom and work here. Both are awesome. Breathe. Think about drawing the shoulder blades together. Now an option here is to take the fingertips in your mudra and draw them out away from your body. Pause, breathe. Feel that stretch in the wrist. And then maybe only if it's available and it feels safe in your body, take the fingertips down for a little more of a wrist stretch. Forearm stretch. If you are active, so not seated on your prop, really think about pressing your arms into your legs, but then also squeezing your legs into your arms. Everyone think about lifting up from the pelvic floor. Now find your breath again. Let it be long and ever present. Maybe you're listening to the sound. Lovely, and then slowly, if you're on the prop, go ahead and release it. Just take it out in front of you and everyone, you're gonna take your fingertips behind you, one at a time and come to a seat. Hi, Benji. In your seat, allow your knees to slowly fall to the right, both knees. Then you're gonna take your right ankle and cross it over your left. Now stay here breathing if you're like, "Whew, yeah, feel it." Great, if you need a little more, we're gonna come onto the forearms here. And even more, we'll come all the way to the back. So find a place where you can be for a couple cycles of breath. You might start to close your eyes again and we're slowing it down. Just notice where you're holding or gripping. Maybe in between the eyebrows or in the jaw. In the fingers or the toes. Take one more breath. Send this breath to your hip flexors. Whatever that means to you. Okay, and then we'll slowly release. We're gonna take it to the other side. If you're lying down and you wanna start up, great if you already know you're gonna come down for this, that's fine too. Windshield wiper the knees to the left. Cross the left ankle over the right. And again, for some it's like, "Okay, this is gonna be good." Nice internal rotation in the right hip, external in the left, you're breathing. Maybe you come to the forearms. Maybe you come all the way down, Benji level. Everyone breathe. Take one more cycle of breath. So in through the nose. Out through the nose or mouth. And then very, very slowly with active feet. So just spread your toes a little, you're gonna release that. We're gonna come back up onto the elbows. And then we're gonna press back up onto the hands. And then we're gonna send the legs out long. And you're just gonna walk your hands. Have you ever seen like a kitty cat making pancakes or whatever they do? Is that what it is? You're just gonna do that along your legs all the way down and then all the way up. And then all the way down. And then all the way up. Don't think, just feel it out. Find what feels good. Last time all the way down, Forward Fold. My feet are wide here. It feels good for me today. You can zip it up tight, Pashimottanasana if you like. Otherwise, give yourself some space. Allow the weight of the head to melt over. And if you happen to have a little property here, you can bring it in for a little forehead rest. Breathe. Relax your shoulders. Soak up the last bits of this practice. These practices are designed and made for you to connect to yourself. To engage in an opportunity to provide yourself with a little bit of quality time with your breath and your inner wisdom. A lot of love. So bring your attention back to that. I know we can easily start thinking about other things. It's all part of the practice. Alright, from here we're gonna take that blankie, if you have one, and we're gonna put it under thy knees. Whatever you got. And if you're like, "No, I don't want that. "I want it for a pillow or "I want it on my belly or anything else," of course, you're the boss. And we're gonna come all the way down together, Benji level. Thank you. And you can rest your hands on your belly. You can interlace them and bring them behind your head. You can come to cactus arms or you can take a traditional Corpse Pose with the palms resting gently at your side. Get situated in your hips and your pelvis so that you're in a comfortable position. And then close your eyes and inhale deeply into your belly so much so that you feel your belly rise. Big, big, big, big, big, big belly and then exhale, soften. Allow, release and let go. And we'll repeat that. Inhale deeply down into the belly. Come on now, do it with me. (relaxing music) And exhale, allow, release and let go. And one more time, I'm not gonna cue you, just take it away. Just a couple minutes here to rest. Give yourself permission to do absolutely nothing. Relax everything and just let it go. Notice where your thoughts have moved toward. Just finish that thought and come back to this presence and this stillness. Just allow yourself to be. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. And then very, very slowly as you're ready, you start to bring some movement back to the physical body. I'm actually not gonna tell you what to do here. I'm just gonna allow you to follow the pull and move at the tempo that's right for you today. We have a saying here in my hometown in Austin, keep it weird. I think this is definitely a good moment to keep it weird. Start to wake the body back up when you're ready. Oh, Benji's waking up too. See, he knows. You can slowly bend the knees up towards the chest and give yourself a hug. Mhmm-hmm, mhmmm. Turn to one side and come up to a seat or you can rock and roll up to a seat. Hey buddy. Love you. We'll bring the palms together. Thank you so much for sharing this practice and all the practices that we collaborate on together. It's an honor and a pleasure and I love ya. Thank you. Let's take one final breath in together. And as we breathe out, you can bow the head to the heart, mind intelligence to the body intelligence, the heart. I love that we take this time together to integrate it all. You rock. Hope to see you soon. Invitation here to whisper something kind to yourself. Namaste. (upbeat music)