Vinyasa Flow for Strength & Balance

Throughout the practice, you’ll be invited to move at your own pace, with options to modify, rest, or deepen as your body guides you. Expect a balanced experience that includes gentle mobility, strength-building core work, hip opening, and grounding stretches to leave you feeling energized yet calm.

Transcript

So if you're just joining, My name's Julie Arce. I welcome you to your vinyasa flow practice. Just a reminder to keep your body safe and do what you feel is appropriate. Always tuning in to your own intuition, Always tuning in to your own inner guidance. All right, We'll start in child's pose, Sitting the hips onto the heel. Allow for your big toes to touch. Walk your hands across the top of your mat. Placing your forehead, The tip of your nose down. We'll take this opportunity to arrive into a practice. Arriving fully into our day, Into our body. Scan through your body and notice how you feel. Notice if there's any places that you need to nurture. Notice if there's any places that you want to create more space. And now notice that there's any place you need more strength. No, Bring your awareness, Your attention to your breath. Notice how your breath is today. Now start to intentionally cultivate a fuller, Deeper breath. Breathing in and out through the nose, Keeping the mouth sealed through a majority of your practice. Have a slight constriction through your throat, Almost like a whisper. It's not too audible. Slight whisper. You inhale and exhale. What we'll do with this is we'll create internal heat within the body. Warming you from the inside out. Keep in mind as we flow through our practice, It doesn't matter if you come into 10% of the pose. Or full expression of the Pope. As long as you're mindfully moving, You're deeply breathing, You're practicing yoga. And inhale, Rise up into tabletop position. Stacking your hands directly underneath your shoulders, Knees come directly underneath of your hips. Look down at your hands and spread your fingers really wide, Cultivating the hastaban. Bring your thumbs in just slightly, Pushing through your knuckles, Energetically lift up through your palm. But as you inhale, Allow for your head and hips to go high, Your belly to sway down. Now exhale, Round in. Chin comes into your chest. Energetically push your hands into the earth. But two more times, Inhale, Head and hips go high, Your belly squeeze down. Exhale rounded and last one on your upper. So this helps to put our adrenals back into a natural state and let's go fight, Flight, Collapse response through the body. Allowing us to tune into more of our true nature. After you've completed that last one, Move back into your neutral tabletop. Neutral tabletop, Root down through your left hand and committing into the foundation here. Bring your right hand forward, Pinkies down, Thumbs up, Biceps by your ear. So for some of us, This will be enough right here, And that's great. Others, Extend your left leg back behind. Lengthening through your left leg. Flex the toes towards your nose and then reach for both horizons simultaneously. Lengthen and reach. Good if you're here with me, Bring your right elbow, Left knee underneath of your body to connect. Inhale, Lengthen, Reach for both horizons. Exhale, Elbow to knee underneath of your butt. But inhale, Lengthen, Last one here. Exhale, Elbow to knee. Inhale, Lengthen. Exhale release your right hand down left knee comes down onto your mat We'll do that same thing second side. Bring your left hand forward, Pinkies down, Thumbs up, Biceps by your ears. If you stayed right here on the first side, Stay here on this side as well. Otherwise, Send your right leg back behind. Flex the toes towards your nose. Roll the outer right thigh down, Inner right thigh up. Lengthen. Three times together, Exhale, Elbow to knee. Inhale, Find your leg. Exhale, Elbow to knee. Good, Inhale, Lengthen and reach. Exhale, Elbow to knee. Inhale, Reach for both horizons. Exhale, Release your left hand down, Right knee comes down onto your mat. Rooting down through your hands hands are shoulder distance apart tuck your toes under send your hips high for downward facing dog downward facing dog our feet are hip distance apart Hands are shoulder distance apart. We're still committed into our hastaba. The hands are rooted firmly into the mat. Now roll your shoulders away from your ears. Then push your chest towards your thighs. Is your head a natural extension of your spine, Looking back towards your feet? I invite you to pedal out your feet, Bending your knees left and right, Left and right if that feels appropriate. With fine stillness. As you inhale, Bring your right leg up towards the sky. Find the link through your right side. Really reaching your toes up as if you could touch the sky. Keeping both hands rooted firmly into the mat, Equal distance between right shoulder, Left shoulder in your mat. Keeping that squared off through your shoulders, Bring your right heel to your left glute. You can roll your ankle going clockwise and counterclockwise. Good. Inhale. Lengthen. Reach your right leg up. As you exhale, Set your right foot to your right thumb, Left knee comes down onto your mat for a low runner's lunge. Square with your hands on either side of your right foot, Lengthen through your spine. We'll take a few mindful moments here, Just breathing in. If you want a few more mindful moments here, Stay here. Otherwise, Go ahead and hinge forwards and backwards, Forwards and backwards. Taking inventory, How do your hips feel today? How does your hamstrings, Your calf feel on your right side? Then hinge all the way forward. Plant your left hand to the inside of your right foot. Twist and turn open towards the right side of your mouth. Reach your right arm up towards the sky. Roll your right shoulder back. Left hand is firmly rooted. Exhale release your right hand down tuck the toes of your left foot Set your right foot back to meet your left, Downward facing dog. Downward facing dog, Pedal out your feet, Bend your knees left and right, Left and right. Find stillness. Second side, Bring your left leg up towards the sky. Really elongate through your left leg. Hands are firmly rooted down. Where's your gaze? Is it back towards your right foot? Bring your left heel now. And to your right glute. Both shoulders equal distance to the mat. You can make sure this happens by looking underneath of your right shoulder and roll your ankle going clockwise and counterclockwise. Can you see your toes here? Inhale, Left leg reaches up towards the sky. Exhale, Set your left foot to your left thumb. Right knee comes down onto your mat. Take your mindful pause. Your mind starts to wander reconnecting with the sensation in the body or your breath. You did so on the first side, Hinge forwards and backwards, Forwards and backwards. The slow awakening through our bodies today. Let's go ahead and meet at the top and plant your right hand down to the inside of your left foot. Twist and open towards the left side of your mat. Gaze is up towards the left. Right hand is firmly rooted down. Imagine that you're spiraling your heart up towards the sky. And release your left hand down. Tug the toes of your right foot. Step forward to the top of your mat for a forward fold. Binge or separate your feet a whole lot. A little bit wider than hip distance apart. And then bend your knees a whole lot, Replacing your stomach onto your thighs. Grab onto opposite elbows. And sway from side to side. You'll feel great decompression through your spine here. You can even give your head a yes, No shake. Surrender into gravity. Release your hands down heel toe your feet together so the big toe mounds are connected little space between your ankles Spread your toes out wide. Lift up through the arches. Groot down through your heels. Slightly bend your knees, Dropping your hips, And then circle, Sweep your hands up overhead upwards. Exhale, Bring your hands into Namaskar. And to Heart Center. I invite you at this time to set your dedication or your intention for your practice today. Affirming how do you want to show up. What energy do you want to infuse into your practice? Please, Something in the positive. Looking strength, Being present, Moving with love. Once you have your word or phrase stated three times, Three times in your own mind as though it's present. And inhale, Bring your hands up overhead and reach, Spark through your fingers. If it feels okay on your back, You're not nurturing your back, Exhale, Baby back, Then shine your heart up towards the sky. It's okay to stay an upward salute too. Inhale, Rise up. Exhale, Fold forward. Let your hands come all the way down to the ground, Earth top. Set your right foot back, Right knee browns down. Top of your right foot releases. As you inhale, Bring your hands up overhead, Spark through your fingers, Coming into your Anjali Asana, Your low lunge. Pulling your shoulders away from your ears, You're in a slight backbend here, Pushing the hips forward. As you exhale, Release your hands on either side of your left foot. Tuck the toes of your right foot, Step your left foot back, Downward facing dog. Downward facing dog you can have choices here as we go through this practice today we have the option to go through vinyasa flows You also have the option to stay right here in down dog or take a child's pose or tabletop if you're building strength. To go through your vinyasa flow. We hinge forward into plank or kneeling plank. Then lower down, Belly, Chest, And chin. And coming into Chaturanga. Chaturanga, Inhale, Baby cobra or upward facing dog. As you exhale, Roll over your toes, Hips go high, Downward facing dog. So that's our vinyasa flow. I'll always give you the option to skip that. Staying in down dog, Child's pose, Or tabletop, Or building the strength going through the flow. Go ahead and step your right foot forward. Left knee grinds down this time. You inhale, Bring your hands up overhead. Spark through your fingers, Pull your shoulders back and down, And just soften through your gaze and through your face. Good. Exhale. Release your hands on either side of your right. Step your left foot forward to meet the right forward fold top of your mouth. Ground down through your feet, Drop your hips, Cervical sweep your hands up over, How to reach out. Exhale, Hands come into Namaste. I'm pausing here. We'll do this two more times. If you need to take a break at any time, Know that that's a choice. You can also intensify your practice if there's intensifications that you know and love. Inhale, Bring your hands up overhead, Spark. Exhale, Pull forward, Earth touch. Step your right foot back, Right knee, Ground down. As you inhale, Rise. You can push your hips forward, Pause here. Exhale, Release your hands on either side of your left foot. Tuck the toes of your right foot. Step your left foot back downward facing dog. With down dog, You can stay here or move through your vinyasa flow. Vinyasa flow, Hinge a forward plank or kneeling plank. Lower down, Keep your elbows into your ribs. Inhale, Shine your heart. Thighs are lifted and up, Dog. Exhale, Hips go high, Downward facing dog. In downward facing dog, Step your right foot forward, Left knee grabs down. Inhale, Hands come up overhead. I'm going to know that you're in a baby backbend here. Can you lift your heart up towards the sky? Push your hips forward, Activating every cell within your body. Exhale, Release your left hand. Figure your hands down on either side of your right foot. Step your left foot forward to meet the right forward fold. Root down through your feet, Core is engaged, Flat back, Inhale, Rise, Sit stand. Exhale, Hands come into Namaskar. Melbourne pose, Take a breath. Last Sun A here. Inhale, Bring your hands up overhead, Reach up. Exhale, Fold forward, Hands come down to the ground. Step your right foot back, Right knee grounds down. As you inhale, Bring your hands up overhead, Reach up. Exhale, Release your hands. Tuck the toes of your right foot, Step your left foot back, Downward facing up. Downward facing dog, Option to play or stay. Hinge it forward, Plank or kneeling, Plank. Lower down. Know that you're building strength wherever you're at. Shine your heart towards the horizon. Exhale, Hips go high, Downward facing dog. Downward facing dog, Step your right foot forward. Left knee comes down. Inhale, Hands come up overhead. Shine your heart. Exhale, Release your hands on either side of your right foot. Tuck the toes of your left foot, Step it forward, Forward, Forward. Listen carefully. Inhale halfway and lift a flat back. Exhale, Hold, Release it down. Good. Inhale. Ukkatasana chair pose. Bring your biceps by your ears. So we come into chair pose. Your weight is into your heels. We slightly tuck the tailbone under to get equal distance between the tailbone. In the pubic bone in the mouth. If there's little to no weight in your toes, We should be able to pick up the toes and wiggle them around. Sit two inches zebra into your chair. Feel the burn within your thighs and just know that you're getting stronger. Not just in your body, But also willpower as well. Another breath. Inhale, Rise up, Mountain pose. Hands come into Namaste. Inhale, Bring your hands up overhead. Exhale, Pull forward, Hands come down to the ground. Step your right foot back. Have all 10 toes pointed towards the top of your mat. Preparing for a crescent lunge. Squeeze the muscles around your bones on your right leg. Left knees directly over your left ankle. You inhale, Hands come up overhead. Shoulders over hip. Gaze us forward. And if this is feeling like a lot of pressure in your low back, Bend your right knee some. Bend the right knee that will take any pressure out as a low back if you're feeling that thing. Bring your hands into Namastar. Release your hands on either side of your left foot. Now keep your right hand rooted down, Twisted open towards the left side of your mouth. Rolling your left shoulder back some. Breathe here, Was being within the pose. Release your left hand down. Step your left foot back to meet the right, Downward facing dog. Downward facing dog, Hinge and forward plank. Plank lower down, Chaturanda. Inhale, Baby cobra or up dog. Exhale, Hips go high, Downward facing down. Downward facing dog. Step your right foot forward. Crescent lunge. Second side. I hope you're feeling the energy now. Left heel is directly over the ball mound of your left foot. Right knee is directly over your ankle. Firm up through your legs. And then inhale, Rise. Maybe you're feeling a little bit wobbly like me today that's totally normal and sometimes if we don't sleep or eat We can get a little bit wobbly in our practice. Being here, You're already winning. For the crescent lunge. Go ahead and bring your hands into Namaskar. Hinge yourself forward. You plant your left hand down to the inside of your right foot. Twist and open. Roll your right shoulder back. You breathe into the pose. Just a continual reminder to be here now. Good, Release your right hand down on the outside of your right foot. Step your left foot forward to meet the right. Heel toe your feet to the outer edges of your mat from a lasana, A low squat. As you come into your low squat, You can always use a prop by sitting onto a block. Or sitting onto a bolster if you like. So you can sit onto a block here or a pillow. This is feeling okay on your hips. Bring your elbows to the insides of your knees. And then lengthen up through your spine. But breathe into it. Breathe that check. Taking a mindful pause, Breathing into the hips as they open. And release your hands down to the earth. And now send your hips high, Keeping your feet wide, Bending your knees a whole lot, Grabbing onto opposite elbows, Swaying from side to side. Maybe you're already feeling pretty warmed up through your hamstrings, Through your legs as we went through that flow and activated the muscles so you can stretch a little bit more. Then release your hands down. Heel toe your feet back out into the outer edges of your mat, Coming back into a second set of melassa. We'll ask the hands come into Namaskar if that's accessible. We're pushing hands one into the other. We can always keep the hands down onto the ground for more support as well. Another breath And let's go ahead and come on to our glute. As we come onto our loops preparing for bow pose. I know we didn't get requests for abs today, But we're going to go through a little bit of abs. Building that internal internal fire giving us energy for our day giving us energy for whatever it is we need to be doing in life right now All right, So you can have your hands back behind for support. Bring your feet up so that they're at a 90 degree angle. You can even grab onto the backs of your legs and pull your chest in a little bit more. So there's lots of different options as we go through both pose. We can modify keeping the hands down onto the ground. Having the hands into heart center, We can also send the arms out wide as well. So the further the legs and the arms are away from the body, The more challenging it is. We're going to sink our boat, Lowering down to a two-inch hover, A little bit slower than you want to go. Good. Inhale, Rise back up, Boat pose. As you exhale, Lower it down. I'm coming to your two-inch hover. But inhale, Rise up. I promise I won't do this too much longer. Give me two more. Do abscia, Lowering down. Inhale, Rise up. Last one here. Can you stay with me? Lowering down, Lowering down. Slower than you want to go. Then release yourself all the way down onto your mat. Bring your hands underneath of your glutes, Palms are down onto the ground. And the forearms are down onto the ground as well, The inner forearms. Send your feet up towards the sky for your legs up the wall, Making a diamond around your sacrum. If you're protecting your low back maybe you stay right here today. If you want to build strength within the core, Go ahead and lower your legs down to 30 degrees. Hold it here. So holding, Building strength. You can turn it into more restorative by staying in legs of the wall up here. So that's completely a great modification. Then lower down another 30 degrees. Come up onto your elbows. Look down at your toes, Lifting your chin towards your chest. But now come to a two-inch hover. You point through your toes. Scissor kick for 10. Eight. I really believe we can do anything for 10 seconds. Five. Three, Keep breathing, Two, One and now flutter kick your legs going up and down just flutter kicking like you're floating in a pool in california Good, Five, Four, And now just pulse it, Making little tiny pulses, Creating that inner fire, That inner strength. It gives us willpower, Not just on our map, But when we step out into the world when we need it the most. Stay with me, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Bring your knees into your chest. If you're in legs at the wall, Bring your knees into your chest and rock from side to side. Massaging your spine. Massaging the muscles around your spine. Cultivating more energy within the body. Who doesn't need that? Go ahead and cross your ankles and then roll up and back. Just a few more times, Rolling forwards and backwards. Forwards and backwards. Now flip yourself all the way onto your belly. Sever your feet to the outer edges of your yoga mat. As your feet are to the outer edges of your mat. Bring your elbows directly underneath of your shoulders. Forearms are onto your mat, Your hands are spread wide. Slightly tuck your tailbone. So that you get this energetic pull of your pubic going forward. This will create more space within the vertebrae. Of your back. This is one of the best poses that we can do for caring for our low back. So you can stay right here in Sphinx Pose, Just nurturing low back. And of course, If you want more support, Bring a pillow underneath your upper body. You want to get a little bit more sensation, Your body is just craving more. Root down through your hands. Start to lift your. . . Your torso up off the mat, Arms are straight. The difference here is we have our feet all the way to the outer edges of the mat, So check in. That will give you space in the low back to go through this pose. So as you're here, Just tuning in once again, Does your body need more or less? Do you need to lower back down onto your forearms? Or is your body still yet craving more? We get more sensation within the pose by bringing the hands closer underneath of the shoulders. But any one of these variations, You're still getting. . . Cool. Benefits of the course. When you come into these backbends they're energizing for the nervous system. It's a beautiful thing to do to cultivate more energy. Be here and breathe. And start to slow her down. Pouring down all the way onto your mat. Bring your right hand out so that your right palm is facing down onto the mat. It's out long below shoulder height. Bring your right hand underneath of your right shoulder and then begin to roll twist open. Opening your torso towards the left side of your mat. Your left, No, That's your right leg in the right side of your mat, Will roll up and over so that the knees up towards the sky. So your opposite arm that's straight, That knee is up towards this guy. I think I just messed up my right and left, So I apologize for that. What we're aiming for is to get an external rotation and opening through your left shoulder. And slowly begin to unwind coming back onto your stomach. Now bring your opposite arm out. Bring your opposite arm out. Your hand is rooted down onto the ground. Bringing the other arm underneath, The one that was just opened up underneath of the shoulder, Root down, And then begin to peel your torso up towards the opposite side of the mat, Having your cheek, Your ear down. Breathe into the opposite arm as the shoulder opens up. Know your practice is good when you get yoga break. Go ahead and roll back onto the torso. Bring your hands underneath of your shoulders, Sit your hips onto your heels, Come into child's pose. Child's Pose. Make it passive. Bring your hands back by your ankle. And foreheads onto your mat. Maybe rocking your forehead. Side to side. Just a reminder to tap into our intuition, Our inner knowing. Listening to that small, Steady voice on the inside. And bring your hands back forward, Root down through your hands. Tuck your toes, Hips go high, Downward facing dog. Don't worry, We're just using this downward facing dog as a transition into pigeon. For pigeon, Bring your right knee to the outside of your right wrist, Just allowing the shin to fall where it's at. Tuck your toes of your left foot. Lift your left knee up off of your mat. Release the left leg down, Release the top of your left foot down. Square to the top of your mat and squaring up your hips over your shoulder is lengthening through your spine. Take a big breath. As you exhale, Hinge at your hips and hold into your sleeping pigeon. With sleeping pigeons, Sometimes we can feel pain or pressure. In the knee of this pose. So if you're feeling pain or pressure in your knee, I encourage you to either come into pigeon on your back. We'll bring the heel closer into the groin. The pigeon on your back is like a figure four. Maybe for just a few more breaths. With Sweet Yogis, Time to release out. Bring your hands underneath of your shoulders. Tuck the toes of your left foot. Send your right foot back down. We're facing north. Downward facing dog, Just pedal out your feet, Bend your knees left and right, Left and right. Now bring your left knee to the outside of your left wrist, Coming into pigeon on the second side. Tucking the toes of your right foot under, Lift your right knee up off of the mat. Then release your right knee down, Release the top of your right foot. So just help you to square your hips a little bit better and get better alignment within the pose. Put your knees over the top of your mouth, Shoulders over your hips, Lengthen through your spine. Then as you exhale, Hinge at your hips, Folding into second side. Finding a soft place for your head to land, Either stacking your fists and placing your forehead onto your forearms or onto your mat. Check in with your left knee, Making any modifications as needed for the left knee. Maybe bringing the heel closer into the groin or coming onto your back or a figure pool. Get lost with your breath. Next inhale brings you up. Bring your hands under your shoulders to rise. Come watch your glute on the left side and then swing your right leg forward. As you inhale, Bring your arms up over high. As you exhale, Come down to the right. Your left arm rainbows up and over. Pull your right shoulder forward, Left shoulder back. Breathe into the side body stretch on your left side. Inhale, Rise up. Plant your left hand onto the ground of your left hip. To inhale, Rise to modify wild things. Feeling expansive, Feeling energized. Exhale, Release the down. Send your left leg out long this time. Right leg comes into your. . . Inhale, Bring your hands up overhead. Exhale come down to the left right arm rainbows up and over Pull your right shoulder back, Left shoulder forward. Breathe into your right side body and just know that you're creating space and when we create space, We create capacity. And inhale, Rise up. Plant your right hand onto the ground at your right hip. As you inhale, Lift your hips up towards the sky. Feel luminous. Exhale, Release down. And send both legs out wide. Coming into one of my favorite poses, A wide-legged forward fold, A wide-legged seated forward fold. Bring your hands behind your back and lengthen up through your spine. So this might feel good right here. You can stay here. Or Start to bring your hands to the midline of your mat and walk your feet forward, Or walk your hands forward, Lengthening through your spine the whole way. And with each inhale, We create more length. Each exhale, We come into the dive. Find that place where you're feeling sensation. Just linger right there. Finding our mindful pause, Our mindful moment. Walk your hands back. And send your feet forward towards the top of your mat. Give your legs a little bit of a wiggle and a little bit of a sheet. Now place the soles of your feet onto your mat. Your knees come up towards the sky. Scoot your bum towards your heels. And then gently lay all the way down onto your mat beam. Be mindful of your body as you lay back and down. Unite your soles and allow for your knees to fall open. Coming into supta baddha kanasana, Butterfly on our back. Placing one hand onto the heart center. From one hand onto the belt. We're reuniting with our breath. Does your breath feel any different at this point of class than it did when we first started? Now scan through your body. There's those places that you nurture. We tapped into in our first child's school. Take a moment to send those areas love. To send them healing. It's just an acknowledgement. Is there a message that your body is trying to tell you? Bringing your awareness back to the places that we wanted to create space that needed to be open. How do those feel now? That you created that space and that you can come back and create it at any time. Bring your awareness now to the places that you wanted to create strength. Some poses are more challenging than others, But congratulate yourself for showing up onto your mat, For creating space, For creating strength. For creating capacity. When we do that on our mats, It's not just something that stays on our mat. We get to take it out into the world. Yoga mats are a mini cosmos of the mat. Just if there's any other message from the body, From the soul, From your heart that comes up at this time. Stay right here in this. Place of divine bliss as long as you would like. You're ready to come back into your day. Go ahead and reach down. Reach to the outer sides of your legs and close your legs if like a one. Bringing the knees up towards the sky, And then roll over onto the side of your choice. Using your arms as a pillow. Your bottom arm is a pillow. Allow for your knees to draw and fold. You can come back to the moments of mindfulness, The moments of pause anytime throughout your day. This helps to slow time down. It helps us to make deeper connections and be in the present moment. When you're ready, Pushing yourself up into a seated position, Keeping your eyes closed or down. And so with your legs crossed, Hands come into Namaskar. Slight tuck of your chin, Slight smile on your face. So much gratitude for just being alive today. For having a healthy body to be able to show up onto the mat. Gratitude for the breath. Gratitude for technology, Just for bringing us all together. Always my honor, My privilege, My pleasure to guide you through your moving meditation, Through your yoga. I am here because this is my passion. It's my love. There's no other place I'd rather. The light in me honors and sees the light in me. We have a beautiful, Beautiful day.

Reviews

Beautiful practice Julianne, thank you for sharing. Blessed Be 💫

This was absolutely wonderful! Accessible to any yoga level with easy to understand instructions, and I loved that she brought it back to yoga being a microcosm of how we can approach our world! I will do this one again!