Embrace Change 16 Minute Yoga Flow

Change is a natural part of life, even when it feels uncomfortable or uncertain. This yoga flow is an invitation to explore movement, breath, and awareness as tools for embracing change with more ease and curiosity. In this practice, we’ll move through a thoughtful, accessible flow that encourages adaptability, presence, and self-trust. You’ll be guided to notice sensations, respond to what your body needs, and let go of the idea of doing things “perfectly.” Just like in life, each moment on the mat is an opportunity to meet change with openness.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Annie. Welcome to your short flow. We're going to focus today on embracing change, Which can be so hard. Change is hard. We get to control the voice in our head that tells us what that embrace of change feels like. So sometimes when you tap in to your mind, Your body, Your breath, And the connection that we often do in yoga. It encourages you not only to say yes or be open to a challenge, But also to grow from it. To courage. And to change. So with that in mind. Let's move a little bit. To start, We're going to begin in a hero's pose. So a couple of options here. You'll come to your knees and either sit all the way back onto your heels. If that's not comfortable, Grab a block or something that will bring the ground up a little bit. And that's going to slip right between your knees as you'll take a seat on it. In a different position, Hero's pose does not feel super comfy. Nope. Wah wah wah. Hi there, I'm Annie. In the short flow today, We will focus on embracing change, Which is so, So hard. You get to control the thoughts in your head, Believe it or not. So the more we can say yes, To embracing change, The more we can challenge ourselves to growth. And to finding courage. So we're gonna embrace a little bit of that instability today, That change, That uncomfortable feeling in order to grow. What happens if you just say yes? To the change, To the growth, To the challenge. You never know what could happen. So to begin, We're gonna start in a hero's pose. If you are comfortable, You'll just sit back to your heels with a big bend in your knees. If you're not, You could prop yourself up onto a couple of blocks, Onto a couple of books, Even a pillow. If hero's pose actually feels pretty easy for you, You might even tuck your toes and see if you can get an extra stretch through the bottoms of your feet. Sit tall, Drop the shoulders away from your ears. Look forward, Long spine, Just breathe. Take a big inhale to fill up your lungs, To puff up your chest and encourage your heart to open. To embrace change. Challenges to be courageous. Exhale, Release any doubts or worries, Anxieties or projections, Any expectations whatsoever. Then, Tops of your feet will go down if they're not already. And you'll lean back a little bit, Take the knuckles of a fisted hand into the tops, Or the bottoms rather, Of your feet. As you press down, You're gonna just encourage a little bit of opening in the bottoms of your feet, A little bit of opening so that you can feel like you're grounded, Like you're strong from your base, From your roots. And able to stand tall and embrace whatever changes ahead of you. Big breath in. A breath out. Then take your hands forward into tabletop. Hands under shoulders, Knees under hips, Drop your belly, Lift your gaze, Inhale, Look up. Exhale around your spine hollow out chin to chest do that a couple more times in your cat cow You might do a little flex and point in the toes. You might do a little wiggle of the hips side to side Whatever you'd like to add is great then you'll hold it neutral right between those cat-cow shapes. Walk your palms one palm print forward, Curl your toes, Lift your knees an inch, Embrace that uncomfortable feeling, Lift them another inch, Another inch, Another inch, Another inch until your hips are really, Really high. Then you can start to straighten your legs. Maybe they go straight, Maybe they don't. Hips are high, You're stable, You're grounded, You're supported from that upper body. Inhale, Roll forward to plank. Exhale, Lower knees, Chin, Chest, All the way down to your mat or your ground, Press up for your cobra. Drop your shoulders, Open your gaze, Open your heart to the possibilities ahead of you. Even if that means challenging yourself. Through some big changes. Drop all the way back down with control. Curl the toes and your hips up and back. Find your downward facing dog and feel free to pedal it out a little bit here. Bend the knees side to side. Press the heels down one at a time. Maybe even shift the heels side to side. On an inhale. Lift the right leg up to the ceiling, Three-legged dog, On an exhale, Right footsteps or slides forward between the palms. As you inhale, Come up to your crescent. So stand tall, Arms reach up. On an exhale, Sweep the hands back, Hinge forward, Lightning. On an inhale, You're right back to that crescent. Feel strong, Feel powerful, Feel proud here. Exhale, Open up to your warrior two. So that front heel is going to make an intersection, An invisible line to the back arch of your foot as you stand tall here. Take an inhale, Sweep the arm up and back behind you. You. Exhale cartwheel those hands down, Frame that front foot. You've got a few options here in your low lunge. You could step the left foot right into the inner right thigh for your tree pose. However, If that feels a little bit wobbly, A little bit chaotic, You might step forward, Forward fold, And then lift up. Now in your tree pose, Left foot can go inside the right ankle, Inside the right shin. Or all the way up inside that inner right thigh. You take whatever you need in that tree pose. Your roots are grounding you down. Allowing you to embrace any wobbly feeling up top. If it feels super steady, Can you practice with that uncomfortable feeling, That change, That wobble, That humbling nature of balancing poses? Maybe you reach your arms up to the ceiling. Maybe you sway your branches in the breeze. Maybe you even close your eyes. Can you take a huge breath in here? On your exhale, Step the left foot to join the right. Shake it all off. On an inhale, Sweep the arms all the way up to the ceiling. On an exhale, Fold forward, Forward, Fold. Inhale, Half lift. Exhale, Downward facing dog, Two steps back. Inhale, Roll forward to plank, Top of your push-up. Exhale, You can go all the way to the ground or stop halfway in a chaturanga, And inhale is your back bend. Cobra, Thighs on the mat, Upward facing dog, Thighs off. Lower all the way back down, Curl the toes, Send your hips up and back, Downward facing dog. Left leg lifts high, Three-legged dog, Left foot steps forward and through. On an inhale, Reach the arms up to your crescent. On an exhale, Sweep the hands back, Hinge forward. You are so strong and powerful. Lightning pose, Inhale. Reach up to your crescent. Exhale open up warrior two nice strong steady stance that allows you. To feel grounded, Rooted, So that you can embrace any wiggles or wobbles that happen up top. Inhale, Reverse your warrior. Exhale, Cartwheel down to that low lunge. Same options. Maybe you step forward straight into that tree pose. Maybe it takes you a little bit more to ease in. Once you land, Embrace that wobbly, Humbling feeling that yoga allows us. You've got to find that inner calm, That inner anchor, So that anything chaotic that happens on the outside, You're able to embrace. There's only so much we can control. So if you are able to control your breath, To control your thoughts. You can do so much. Take one more inhale in your tree. Exhale, Right foot joins the left. Shake it out. Good work. And how to soothe the arms up. Exhale, Float forward. Inhale, Half lift. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Inhale, Slowly roll forward to plank. Exhale, Lower half or all the way down. Inhale as your Cobra. Exhale, Your Downward Facing Dog. Right leg lifts again, Three-Legged Dog. Bend the knee, Open up that right hip. Twirl out the right ankle. Right foot steps forward between the palms. Take your right hand a little forward, A little wide of that right foot. Lift the back left leg, Open up that left hip. Maybe the left arm reaches up as well. Land in your half moon and then again, Notice how it feels. It's wobbly, It's humbling, It's perhaps even frustrating, And all of that is the point. If instead you feel pretty grounded here, Mix it up. Take your gaze to the left. Take your gaze to the ceiling. Or perhaps see if you can lift and lower those right fingertips. Trust yourself. You're okay. Take a big breath in. Exhale, Both hands down. Left foot joins the right. Heel toe the feet wide, Heels in, Toes out. Sink your hips low. Find your yogi squat palms to chest. Open up here. Instead of shrinking, Instead of rounding, We are opening, We are strong, We are steady, We are embracing. Every uncomfortable feeling that comes our way. Take a big breath in, Press the palms, Open the knees. On your exhale, Dive forward, Forward fold. Inhale, Half lift, Narrow out those feet. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Inhale, Roll forward to plank. Exhale lower half or all the way down. Inhale, Backbend. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Left leg lifts, Bend the knee, Open the hip, Twirl out the ankle. Left foot steps between the palms. Left hand comes forward and wide a little bit. Lift the right leg, Open up that right hip. Maybe the right arm reaches up as well. Allow this to feel uncomfortable. The worst thing that happens here is you take a change. You embrace a little bit of an extra challenge that you're not used to and your right foot falls and catches you. You'll get back in. You'll trust yourself and teach yourself that you are resilient, You are strong, You are absolutely capable of any change that comes your way. Take a big breath in. Exhale, Right foot joins the left. Heel toe wide, Heels in, Toes out. Find that yogi squat. Catch your breath. Huge inhale. Exhale, Forward fold. Narrow out those feet. Inhale, Half lift. Exhale downward facing dog, Inhale roll forward to plank, Exhale lower any amount Inhale. Back bend. Exhale, Lower all the way back down. Okay, We're going to do a little bit of a back extension heart opening series. First up, Take your elbows in front of you. Your forearms make 11s. This is your sphinx pose. Pull your elbows back towards your torso. Open your chest. Pull your heart through your shoulders. Breathe. Lock in. Turn on that low back. Big breath in. Big breath out, Lower your left cheek to the mat and wiggle your hips a little side to side. All right, Now take your palms a little bit forward and wide of your shoulders. Use your back muscles to press up to your cobra. Use your back, Use your back, Use your back. Your palms are just there for support. Bigger back extension, Take a big inhale. Exhale, Lower down, Right cheek to the mat, Wiggle those hips side to side. All right, We're layering on intensity here. Reach the arms back towards the ankles. Inhale, Lift away from the mat. Lift your chest, Lift your thighs. You can always go back to Sphinx or Cobra if that's better for you. Otherwise, This is your Locust. One more inhale. Exhale, Left cheek to the mat with all sides the same. All right, Last option. Bend the knees, Pull the heels towards your glutes, Grab the tops of your feet, Lift up and off the mat. Knees are tracking back, Not splaying open. Big inhale in your bow pose. You can go back to any of those other three options if that's better. Big breath in. Exhale, Let it go right cheek to the mat. Wiggle those hips side to side. As you press up to tabletop, Drop your chin to your chest, Erase the backbend. That strong back that holds you up. Despite any chaos, Any change, Any challenge that comes your way. Inhale, Look up, Arch your back. Exhale, Round down. Little bit of a cat cow. Inhale, Open. Exhale, Close it off. When you're ready. Come to neutral right between those cat-cow shapes, Slide your legs to either side, Take a seat, And bring the soles of your feet to touch. You'll open the knees, So kind of like a butterfly. Or a diamond shape. Grab lightly around the ankles. Inhale, Lift and open your chest, Nice flat back. Exhale, Hinge forward any amount. You can choose what to add on here. It might be a press of the elbows to the inner thighs. You might open your feet like a book and notice if that releases the outer thighs a little differently. Wherever you are, Big breath in. Big breath out, Lift your chest, Keep the soles of the feet touching, Slide your legs farther away from you. Now you've got a bigger, Wider diamond shape between your legs. Hands come outside. Now this time instead of your flat back, You're going to find your cat spine, Your rounded spine, Chin to chest, Walk yourself forward any amount. And notice how that stretch moves from the inner thighs to the outer thighs and breathe into it. Big breath in. Big breath out. Lift up and out of that. Glue your legs together with your knees still bent. Flex your feet. Inhale, Sweep your arms up. Exhale, Hinge forward. You can grab your ankles or your toes, Keeping that grip. See if you can start to straighten your legs inch by inch. Maybe the legs go all the way straight, Keeping that grip on your ankles or toes. Maybe they don't. It's your forward fold. Let your head drop your chin towards your chest. Fill up your lungs and empty your exhale, Sending that releasing energy to the back of your body, From your ankles to your calves, Your hamstrings, Your glutes, Your low back, All the way up to your neck. Big breath in. Exhale, Sit up tall, Cross your ankles, Two final big deep breaths together as we soak in all that powerful energy to embrace the changes ahead. Inhale, Sweep the arms up, Fill up with air, Open your mouth, Exhale, Sigh it out. Inhale, Last gathering of all that powerful energy to embrace change, Capture it between your palms, Seal it all in by drawing down to your heart. It was a pleasure to have you here. I trust that you can embrace any change headed your way. Take care, See you soon.