Well Rounded Feel Good Yoga Flow

This yoga class offers the student a nice, well-rounded, feel-good flow. We start with some simple breathwork to arrive on our mats.

After a warm-up to get the body ready, we move into a short flow. This flow allows us to connect to our bodies through breath and movement.

We will finish off class with a short cool-down and meditation focused on the breath.

No props are needed for this practice. However, if you have favorite props you like to use, please have them nearby.

Enjoy your time on the mat today.

Transcript

Hello, My name is Amy. Welcome to your mat. Welcome to this practice. This is going to be a nice, Feel-good flow. So we'll jump right in. We'll get started. No props are needed for today's class. If you do have favorite props you'd like to have for your practice, Go ahead and grab those. But otherwise, Nothing is needed. And we're going to start by just arriving and noticing our breath. So I would like for you to come to a comfortable seat, Whatever that might be. Hands can be in your lap. I want you to close your eyes and just notice where your breath is right now. There's no judgment at this point. We're just noticing where the breath is. Is it shallow? Is it deep? It quick. Just notice. And then what we're going to do is we're going to work to equal out our inhales and our exhales. So I'm going to count for you. We're going to just do a four count in and a four count out. So here we go. Go ahead and exhale all your air out. And then we're going to inhale for a count of one. Exhale, 1. 3, 4. Inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4. Exhale, 1, 2, 3, 4. Inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4. Exhale, 1, 2, 3, 4. Go ahead and continue a couple of rounds on your own, Whatever count you want to do. So it could be inhale for 5 and exhale 5, 6, 6, 3, 3, Whatever it is, But we're going to equal that out. So we're just arriving here and noticing the breath and getting the breath. To be equal as best as you can. Do a few more rounds there. I think breath work is a great way to kind of help you arrive on your mat from whatever you might have been doing before. And then on your last exhale, Go ahead and let that go and let your breath work go. And now we're going to come into our first pose. Now, You have an option here. You can stay seated as I am, Cross-legged like this, Or you can take that left leg and bend it out off to the side here. This does not work for everyone, So if it doesn't work for your body, Go ahead and stay in that simple cross-legged. Otherwise, I've got my left leg bent out to the side here and my right leg my leg out here next to my hip and my right foot is near my left or basically attached to my left knee. Go ahead and sit up tall. And here you're just going to go ahead and exhale and rotate over to the right into a nice twist here. Come back to center, And then do the same over to the left. So we're going to counter that rotation to the left and we're just going to move between those two poses for a couple of rounds. And you can match your breath however you'd like here. I like to, You know, You can do an inhale and an exhale on your twist. You can inhale when you come to the center, Exhale to the other side. You could do the opposite, Really, Whatever works for you. Add your breath in, Whatever works best for you. So you can inhale when you come in, Exhale to the twist. Breath work is so important in yoga. It is a big part of yoga. Once more each side. And then we're going to come back to center, And we're going to add on to this before we go to the other side. So we'll switch our legs out. So if you're in this configuration, This is going to work a little bit easier for you. If you're in this cross-seated, You'll have to kind of play around with it a little bit. But all we're going to do is on the inhale, We're going to rise up on the knees and bring that left arm up overhead, Chest is open, And sit back down. So if you're in that cross-legged, You'll be able to do this, But you may have to leave. Like in my case, I've got to leave my right arm up. I can't touch the ground. So, Play around, See what works for you. I'm going to do that for a few rounds. So inhale, Rise up. Open up that chest, Exhale, Come back down. Inhale, Rise up, Bring the hips up, Arm up, Exhale, Back down. Inhale, Rise it up. I like to sweep that arm to really get the arm involved too. And exhale and come back down. And now we're going to either switch the cross of your legs. So if you're in a cross-legged seat, Flip which leg is in front or if you were like the version I was in go ahead and bend that right knee behind you. Right leg behind you. And now the left foot is attached to that right knee. Sit up nice and tall. You will be a little bit up on that right hip, And that's okay. That won't come all the way down. Inhale, Get tall. And exhale and twist to the left. Inhale, Come back to center. Exhale to the right. And continue that pattern a few rounds at your own breath, At your own pace. Whatever feels best for you. Again, You can inhale as you come to the center, And you can exhale as you twist. Or you can try it the other way. Either way doesn't matter, It's just nice to match your breath with your movement. Brings you into the practice. It helps regulate your nervous system. There's so many benefits to the breath practice that we do in yoga. So do a few more rounds each way. Just getting some nice movement twist here. We're not staying in the twist. We're just moving from one side to the other. Go ahead and do one more round on each side. And then come back to center when you're done. Alright there and now we're going to do the same thing we did. Coming up, Bringing our hips up. So bring that left arm down to the ground. Inhale and rise your hips up. Right arm will come up overhead now. And exhale and sit back down. Again, Inhale, Rise your hips up. Raise the arm up overhead. Exhale and sit back down. Once more, Inhale and really drive up with your hips, Drive your arm up overhead. Open up, Look up. And exhale and sit back down. From here, We're going to come into our standing part of the practice. I'm going to look at my notes to make sure I don't forget anything. Sometimes I do. We're going to start, We're going to come into a nice down dog. So I'm going to put my hair back for that, But you guys go ahead. If you know down dog, Go ahead and go into that. If not, I'll walk you through that. So to come into Down Dog, For those who are not as familiar with Down Dog, I like to come with all fours to begin with. Your hands underneath your shoulders, Knees under your hips, And then go ahead and tuck those back toes and lift those hips up. And now you're in an inverted V. So your body looks like an inverted V here. And you can stroll out those legs if you like. You can have a bend in your knees, But we're really working to get those hips up toward the sky. So go ahead and move there a bit. Again, There's a little stretch here. It's our first down dog of the practice. And then from here I want you to shift forward into Plank. And you can bring the knees down so you don't have to stay in full plank. You can always bring the knees down. And then we're going to lower all the way down onto our bellies. And from here, We're going to do three rounds of Cobras. Let me get my stuff out of the way here. The first round, We're going to start with our hands near the chest. So your forehead is on the ground. Your hands will be near your chest. Elbows up! And tucked back here, We don't want to be hunching forward. And inhale and rise up any amount into your Cobra. So bring that chest up, Look up, Keep the shoulders back, Exhale and come back down. Now I want you to take your hands out off of your mat to the side here. And I've got my fingers kind of tented here. Do the same thing. Elbows up. Inhale and rise yourself up. Any amount. And exhale, Lower back down. And then once more, Bring the hands out even wider, Maybe even up a little bit. And inhale and come all the way up into another. Round of Cobra with the arms wide. It's nice to just do different variations on Cobra. And exhale and lower back down. And then from here, We're going to come back to downward dog. So you can either come back up through the plank, Or you can come through all fours and come into your down dog. We're just going to stay here for a breath. Inhale. Exhale Inhale, Walk it forward. And then from here, We're just going to step that right foot back and come into a low lunge. So drop that back knee. Untuck those back toes and come on up. You can have your hands on that front knee if you like. You could have them up overhead. Another variation I love, It's a favorite of mine, Is cactus, To really open up the chest. So decide what variation you feel like you need today. And we're going to sink into that low lunge a bit. So instead of being more upright, I would like you to sink into that really to get into those hip flexors on that right side. And then from there, I want you to bring your hands down, Actually your right hand down. And go ahead and lift that back foot. Off the ground. So lift that back knee off of the ground. I said back foot, I meant back knee. Right arm is down and we're just going to come to a twist to the left. So bring that left arm up overhead, Twist looking up here. And then we're going to come up into a high lunge. So readjust yourself here. If you find it a little wobbly, Widen out the stance of your feet so they're wider on your mat. That'll help keep you a little bit more stable. And now we're into a high lunge here. So again, Arm variation, Give me what you like. Maybe you like to just have your arms out to the side. Depends on what you need for today. Sometimes I just like to just change it up a little bit so arms can be overhead. They can be down at prayer. They could be a cactus. I kind of like the holding two trays out to the side. Just thought about it, Just came up with that idea. Stay here for another breath or really I can feel it in my legs too. And then from here, I want you to lean forward, Look forward, And we're going to come up, Balancing on our left leg, And we're going to bend that right knee into our chest. As best you can. So, Go slow. Bring it in. If you need to go to a wall, Do this. Do what you need to do. Look out in front of you. Find that steady point of gaze. And then go ahead and drop that right foot down. Nicely done. Arrive here for a moment before we go to the other side so you know what's coming, You know what we've already done, You know what to expect. And from here, Left foot back. I'm going to come into that low lunge. So untuck those back toes and come on up. So again, You go with whatever arm variation is working for you today. We're going to have a nice deep bend here. Instead of being more outward, It's really going to come forward a bit here. And arms, However you like them. Open it up. Really feeling that open across the chest. And then bring that left hand down. The left knee off of the ground, And then twist to your right, Bringing that right arm up overhead. Looking up toward your hand or toward the side of your wall there. And then go ahead and come into your high lunge, However you want to get there. So if you need to adjust a little bit, Do that. Go slow. I tend to fall out of that post sometimes when I transition. You may not have that problem. Decide on the arm variation you like. You can mix it up here. You could do a different one. We're going to stay for a couple breaths. So inhale deeply. Exhale, Sink a little lower. Feel that in that leg. I feel it in my right leg for sure. One more inhale. On the exhale, Drive forward and come on up. Bouncing on that right leg and just bring that left knee up and towards your chest. You can use your hands if you like to assist here. Find a point of focus. If you fall out, That's okay. Just tap it down. Come back in. It's a practice. That's why yoga is called a practice. It's not supposed to be perfect. The wobbles are all part of it. Try talking and bouncing at the same time. That's fun. And lower that left leg down. Thanks for bearing with me and staying with me through that one. And let's just arrive here for a moment before we bring it down. I'm intentionally keeping this class a little shorter so it can fit into people's everyday normal schedules, But if you like, You could run through that series again. As a matter of fact, Speaking of that, We actually do have more time than I thought we did, So we're just going to do one more round on each side. We have time. So go ahead and step that. Right foot back, Come into your low lunge. And then exhale, Bring that right arm down, Back knee up, Twist to the left. Come up to your high lunge, Arm variation of your choice. Stay for the exhale there. Let's do another deep inhale. On the exhale, Drive up into your balance. Go ahead, If you need to tap your foot down, Go for it. Bring that right knee in towards your chest, Arms or no arms. Or hands. And exhale, Come back to Mountain. And let's do the same thing on the other side. Inhale there, Exhale, Come into your low lunge. Back knee down. Arm variation of your choice. Let's exhale and bring that left arm down, Right arm up into a nice twist here. My back knee is up. Stay for the inhale. On the exhale, I want you to come into your high lunge. Rise those arms up. Nice inhale there. And on the exhale, Go ahead and drive forward and come into your balance on that right leg, Bringing that left knee into your chest. Take a breath or two there. You can have an arm out to the side to help with balance. You could be near a wall. You could use something to assist. And drop that left leg down. And arrive for a moment. And from here, However you'd like to get to the floor, Go ahead and come to a seat. So go ahead and come to a seat. We're actually going to start on our back and then we're going to come up from there. So go ahead and lie on back. We're just going to do a supine figure four to do a little release here, So I'm just going to have both my knees are bent. You're going to bring that right foot and place it right above your left knee. And you can stay right here. You might find this is enough of a stretch for you. If you'd like to go a little deeper, If you feel like you need a little bit more, Then go ahead and reach your hands through and grab a hold and clasp. That left leg around the shin. And pull in any amounts. We're not going to go for a crazy stretch here, But it's good to feel some sensation here. See what works best for you. We all have different bodies, So we have to adapt to what is going to work for us. And we have different bodies on different days. Like some days I. . . Can do certain poses with no problem, Other days I'm like, What is going on? So practice with the body you have today. It will change from day to day. Release that. And we're just going to the other side. So go ahead and bring that left foot on top of that right knee. Stay here if that's enough sensation for you or if you need a little more, Go ahead and bring your hands through. Clasp that right leg and pull in. I like to close my eyes in this pose too, Just to really feel into the pose. Release that back down. And then however you'd like, You can either roll up or you can roll over to the side and come up. We're going to come up to a seat here. So come up here to a seat. We're going to finish out. With a pose and then a little short meditation. So go ahead and bring that right leg out to the side and bend your right knee, I'm sorry, Your left knee in. Left knee is bent. Left foot is in. And go ahead and flex those right toes. And then we're simply going to turn facing that right leg and fold over that right leg any amount. So you could be more upright. You might be somebody can come way down. You might be able to touch your toes. You might be able to reach for your shin. Whatever is going to work best for you in this pose. So pick what suits you today. And we're just folding over that leg. And in this case, Instead of rounding deeply just to get yourself down, We're more like getting that chest open. And so maintaining a straight, Flattish back instead of having it rounded. So you may be further up in that case. And then go ahead and come all the way up and we'll switch to the other side. Keep an eye on my time here. Same thing, Left leg is out, Right leg is now bent in. And the same thing, Fold over that left leg any amount. Working to keep that back more flat instead of really rounded. If you round it, Obviously it can come down a little bit more. We're working more for that flat back and toes are flexed And then go ahead and come all the way back up and come to a nice seat here. And we're just going to end. We're going to close class. With a brief short break. Eyes are closed and I want you to notice your breath. If a thought comes in, Come back to your breath. That is it. The whole point of meditation is to just keep bringing yourself back to whatever you may be focusing on. In this case, The breath. How is your breath now compared to the beginning of class? Just notice. Can you equal it out so it's inhales and exhales are about the same? Just notice. Giving you a little bit of space here. Just to be in this moment. Just notice. If you'd like to stay in meditation, Please ignore my cues. If you'd like to take Shavasana at this time, Go ahead and lie back on your mat. Stretch out on your mat. If you're ready to move on and finish up the class. Take another inhale through your nose. Exhale through your nose. Open your eyes, Arrive back, Take in your surroundings. If you'd like to join me in this, Go ahead and bring your arms out to the sides, Up and over. And then bring them down, Hands down. At your heart center. Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you taking the time to take care of yourself. And until next time.