Core And More Vinyasa Yoga Class

Join me for a rejuvenating Vinyasa yoga class designed to build core strength while promoting relaxation. This beginner-friendly session offers a balanced mix of movement and stillness, making it accessible to all levels while still providing a challenge for those looking to deepen their practice.

In this class, we'll flow through a series of postures that target the core, including belly breathing to connect with our breath, gentle twists to release tension, lunges, and core stability, and a few backbends to strengthen the spine.

Transcript

Hi everyone,

Welcome to your practice.

For our class today we're going to start on our belly so you can take a moment to get nice and comfy.

If lying on your belly is inaccessible today you are welcome to take any seated position and while lying down take a moment to stretch out the body,

Extend each foot a little bit wider than your mat and bring your hands into a class position under your forehead.

You can rest the left ear to your hands and gently close your eyes.

We'll take a moment here to tune in and deepen the rhythm of our breath.

With your eyes gently closed begin to feel the breath passing through the nostrils,

Down the throat,

The chest and eventually into the belly.

Feel that inhalation press the belly against the mat and on an exhale feel the entire body begin to soften.

Allow the breath to be deep but gentle and as we regulate the rhythm of our breath we also begin to regulate the rhythm in our minds.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Relax.

Soften the body and soften your mind.

As you inhale invite a sense of peace and gentleness into your body and as you exhale allow yourself to let go of any thoughts,

To let go of your day,

To let go of your day,

Your to-do list,

Let go of your entire week and give yourself these next 20 minutes to be present.

As you breathe in silently repeat,

I am breathing in and as you exhale silently repeat,

I am breathing out.

Relax.

Feel a sense of ease entering the body and the mind.

Take three deep breaths here.

Inhaling through the nose and then on an exhale sigh it out.

Allow the body to relax a bit more with that breath.

Two more.

Inhale fill up the lungs.

Exhale and release.

Let everything go.

Last breath just like this.

Breathe in.

Feel that belly expanding against the mat and then for that last breath let it all go.

Let it be a nice loud sigh out the mouth.

Gently open your eyes and we'll begin to find some movement in the body.

Stretching the arms out in the shape of a capital T,

You're going to keep your left ear to the mat and gently begin to bend into that right leg.

Take it all the way over to the left side.

Peel the right shoulder away from the mat and left side.

Peel the right shoulder away from the mat and find that deep twist into the body.

You might feel some clicks or some cracks as the body starts to wake up and as you rest here in this position for a moment take another deep breath in.

A slow breath out.

And then on an inhale we'll gently roll back onto the belly.

Re-adjust the body slightly and bring your right ear to the mat.

This time we'll take the left leg over to the right side,

Peeling that left shoulder away from the mat as we find this twist into the left side of the body.

Take another deep breath in.

A slow breath out as we relax.

Inhale,

Gently return onto the belly.

Re-adjust the body and then slowly press yourself up to a seated position on your heels.

While in our thunderbolt pose or Vajrasana,

We'll take some time to mobilize the joints in the wrist.

But if this position is uncomfortable for you,

You are welcome to take any seated position or just place a block or a folded blanket under the hips just to take some pressure off of the knees.

From here,

We're going to extend the arms straight out in front of us,

Spread the fingers and then bring the thumb to the inside of the palm.

Wrapping each finger around the thumb,

Straighten out the arms,

Slowly begin to draw some circles into the wrists in any direction that is comfortable for you.

You might be able to do this with your hands,

Or you might be able to do this with your feet.

You might be feeling or hearing some clicks or cracks here.

Take your time to gently warm up into this area.

Begin to move in the opposite direction.

And when you're ready,

Slowly release this grip with your thumb and shake out the hands.

Slowly bring both hands onto your mat and then press yourself up into our first downward facing dog of the class,

Lifting the hips up to the sky.

Take a moment to find a comfortable position.

We'll spread into the fingertips,

Lift the weight out of the wrists and into the upper body as we slowly begin to press the heels towards the earth.

While here,

You're welcome to bend your knees.

There is absolutely no reason to have the legs completely straight if the hamstrings are feeling a bit tight,

And we'll take our time to walk out our dog.

Bending from left leg to right,

Left leg to right.

Feeling that stretch moving through the hamstrings,

The hips,

The knees,

The knees,

And even taking some time to stretch out the toes and the ankles.

Find a comfortable space here as you warm up into your body.

Now gently come to find a still position in a downward facing dog.

Again,

Feel free to keep those knees slightly bent as we lengthen against the spine.

We'll find a bit of core activation here.

So on your next breath,

We're going to slowly lower into a hovering tabletop position.

So keep those knees just above the mat as you bend deeply,

Creating a straight tabletop back.

Hold for 5,

4,

3,

2,

1,

And send the hips back,

Downward facing dog.

Hold it here for a breath in.

And then as you breathe out again,

Hover in that tabletop position.

Keep the knees just above the mat as you feel the core firing up and hold.

5,

4,

3,

2,

And 1.

Send the hips back,

Downward facing dog.

Well here,

See if you can press the heels a little bit closer to the mat,

Maybe straightening out the legs just a bit more.

But again,

Keep that bend as much as you need in your body today.

Now we're going to go through one more round of this hovering tabletop position.

So on your next breath,

Roll forward.

Find that hovering tabletop,

The knees just above the mat.

Keep a straight spine and we'll hold the chair for a little bit longer.

For a count of 10,

9,

8,

7,

6,

5,

You can do it,

4,

3,

2,

And 1.

Nicely done.

Press the hips back,

Downward facing dog.

See if we can get those heels a little bit closer to the mat here and take a few moments to simply breathe in your downward facing dog.

Feel as you inhale,

The belly expands.

You might even feel a slight lifting in the abdominal area.

And then as you exhale,

See if you can find a bit more relaxation in this position.

And staying with this whole firing up the core idea,

You're going to roll forward into a plank pose.

Take a moment to find a good position,

A position that feels good but still challenging.

Spread the fingertips on your mat,

Round into the upper back slightly and a gentle tucking of that tailbone to really feel the core firing up and expanding.

Feel the core firing up and activating here.

You're going to press the heels a bit closer to the mat,

But keep a nice straight line through the spine.

And we'll hold here for 5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

And now from this position,

Lower the knees to the mat.

Tuck the elbows into the side body as you hover your chest above the mat in a low chaturanga.

And then gently come all the way onto the belly.

Nice well-deserved rest here.

Take a deep breath in.

And as you exhale,

You can capital T your arms out to the sides.

And we're again going to find that belly twist that we did earlier.

Again,

If being on your belly is inaccessible today,

You're welcome to do a twist in a seated position.

From your belly,

We're going to bring left ear to the mat.

Bring that right leg up and over,

Dropping it to the left side as we peel the right shoulder away from the mat.

Taking a breath in.

And as you breathe out,

You'll slowly return onto your belly.

Readjust the body.

And we'll move to the other side,

Bringing the right ear to the mat.

Pulling the left foot up and over to the right side.

Feel the left shoulder peel away from the mat.

So we take a deep inhale.

Exhale to return all the way onto the belly and just relax here for a moment.

Now we're going to move into a bit of spine mobilization.

These next few movements that we do are slow and gentle.

There is no pressure to move into a deep backbend,

But really going to focus on activation of the muscles.

So bringing your hands just a bit wider than your mat.

Tent your fingers and lift your palm away from the earth.

Bend the elbows out.

And as you inhale,

Begin to lift the chest away from the mat,

Rolling the shoulders away from the ears and opening the heart space.

Your arms are still going to be bent here.

Don't straighten them out completely.

Keep that bend and begin to engage the glutes and the legs by pressing the tops of the feet firmly into your mat and lifting the kneecaps up.

On an exhale,

Slowly lower the chest all the way back down,

Bringing the forehead to the mat.

Keep the hands and the elbows in the same position.

As you slowly inhale,

Lift the chest away from the mat.

Open the heart once more.

Engage the glutes and the legs.

And on an exhale,

Gently lower the chest all the way onto your mat.

One more time.

Inhale,

Lift the chest away from the mat.

Open up the heart.

Squeeze the glutes together.

See if you can find a little bit more space around the ears and the shoulders.

And then on a slow exhale,

Come all the way onto your belly.

Gently press yourself into a downward facing dog position,

Lifting the hips up to the sky and stretching out those legs,

Pressing the heels towards the earth and spreading the fingers evenly on the mat.

Take a moment to find a full body stretch here.

And again,

You're welcome to keep that bend through the knees.

Continue to breathe deeply,

Feeling that expansion and softening in the belly as you inhale and exhale.

Now,

Shifting your gaze between your hands,

You're going to slowly walk yourself over to the top of your space.

Try and take small steps here,

Keeping the legs as straight as possible for as long as possible,

But bending when you need.

And once you reach the top of your space,

Heel toe the feet a bit wider than the hips as you come into a wide forward fold position.

Allow the head,

The neck,

The shoulders and the arms to hang loose here,

To feel a gentle pull of gravity through the upper body and a complete relaxation through the torso.

Now,

Gently take hold of each elbow,

Relax the neck,

And then slowly bring the arms back to the center of your body.

Relax the neck,

Relax the head,

Unclench the jaw,

And gently begin to sway from side to side,

Finding a hinging motion from the hips.

Feel as you sway here,

The hamstrings begin to loosen a bit more,

A softening through the shoulders and the upper body.

And surrender to this gentle pull of gravity.

And then when you're ready,

Release the arms towards the mat,

And we'll roll out vertebra by vertebra,

Nice and slow,

Until the neck and the head come up last.

And then as you breathe in,

Reach the arms above the head,

Take a slight bend through the spine,

Lifting the heart space up.

Exhale,

Hands to the sides.

From here,

Bring your hands behind your back,

Interlace the fingers,

And then as you exhale,

Bend your knees slightly,

Hinge from the hips and fold forward,

Allowing the arms to drop up and over the head,

Feeling that opening through the shoulders,

The upper body,

All the way through the arms.

Relax here for a moment,

And continue to breathe deeply.

Now gently release the hands towards the mat,

And step back with the right leg.

Bring both hands on the inside of the left foot,

So you might need to heel-toe that foot a bit wider than your hip here.

As we find a lizard lunge,

Take a moment to maybe rock back and forth slightly as we open into our hips,

And then gently step back into your downward-facing dog.

Lift the hips up to the sky,

Press the heels towards the mat,

And then on a breath in,

Shift your gaze between your hands.

You can either step,

Jump up,

Or float your way through to the top of your space,

Coming into a halfway lift.

Bring your hands over to your shins,

And create a nice tabletop back here.

You want to imagine that someone could rest a glass on your back,

And it would be completely still.

And then on an exhale,

Relax in your forward fold.

Drop your neck,

Drop your head,

And while here,

Bring your hands behind your back.

Interlace the fingers,

And allow the arms to again drop up and over the head.

Take a moment to breathe in the space,

And then on an exhale,

Gently release the hands.

Towards the earth.

Now stepping back with your left leg,

Bring both hands on the inside of the right foot.

Again,

Heel-toe the right leg a little bit wider than the hips,

So that you have some space,

And begin to rock back and forth slightly in this lizard lunge,

Opening into the hips,

And maybe even finding some movement through the ankle here.

Open the heart up,

Roll the shoulders from the ears,

And then when you're ready,

Step back into your downward-facing dog.

Again,

Finding that nice full body stretch from fingertips to toes,

Seeing if you can maybe stretch out the heels a little bit more.

Lengthen the spine,

Spread the fingers,

And lift the tailbone towards the sky.

Begin to shift your gaze between your hands,

Step,

Jump,

Hop,

Or float your way through to the top of your mat,

Coming into a halfway lift,

Hands to shins,

Create that nice tabletop spine here,

And then on an exhale,

Fold forward,

Relax the neck and the head.

Now gently bend your knees so that you can place your hands firmly on your mat,

And we'll step back into a lunge with the right leg.

From here,

Gently lower the right knee to the mat,

Inhale,

And reach your arms high above the head as we find our Anjani Asana,

Low crescent lunge.

Sink the weight into the hips,

Open the heart space up,

And begin to draw the elbows behind the ears.

Take a deep breath in,

And then on a breath out,

Slowly lower both hands to the mat.

Now listen carefully,

We're going to move into our gate pose,

So as you breathe in,

Slowly take the right foot forward,

And then bring the left foot forward,

And we're going to move into our gate pose,

So as you breathe in,

Slowly take the right foot out behind you,

And come to stand on the right knee.

Extend the left leg long,

Turn the left toes in slightly,

And inhale,

Reach both arms up to the sky.

As you exhale,

Slide left hand down left leg,

Bringing this right arm up and over,

Feeling a nice stretch into the right side body.

Breathe deeply,

And begin to draw the right shoulder back,

The left shoulder in slightly,

Finding a nice opening around the heart space.

And on your next inhale,

Reach both arms above the head,

And slowly transfer the weight over to the right hand,

Bringing the right hand firmly onto your mat,

Finding a supported side plank.

Finding balance in the shape,

We're going to slowly lift the left leg off of the mat,

Keeping the ankle in line with the hip.

Now from this position,

We're going to bring the knee and the elbow in towards the torso,

Hugging everything together,

While testing our balance and our strength.

As you breathe in,

Again extend the leg out and the arm over the ear,

Reaching and engaging.

Exhale and tuck everything into center,

Feel that core firing up.

Two more times,

Inhale,

Extend out,

Keep your balance.

Exhale and tuck to center.

Inhale,

Extend out.

Exhale and tuck in.

All right,

Now again,

Listen carefully.

We're going to bring the left hand onto the mat,

Keep this left leg extended out behind you,

And once you have this position of left leg out,

We're going to reach the right arm forward,

Again testing our balance a little bit here.

Now this is step one.

If you don't want to take it further,

Stay in this balanced position,

If you don't want to take it further,

Stay in this balanced position.

You want to go a bit more,

Reach back with the right hand and see if you can take hold of the left foot as you bend that knee.

This is step two.

You might be feeling a gentle stretch through the left quad muscles,

And to take it even further,

We'll kick the left foot into the right hand,

Dipping the belly down and opening the heart space up.

So gentle backbend here,

We're still playing with our balance and our core strength.

Hold for another five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Now with control,

Extend both the arm and the leg,

Maintain this balance,

Take a deep breath in,

And as you exhale,

Tuck the elbow and the knee into your chest.

We'll do this three more times.

Inhale,

Extend out,

Hold that balance,

Exhale and tuck everything into center.

One more time,

Inhale,

Extend and reach,

Exhale,

Tuck and hold.

And last time here,

Inhale,

Extend the arm out,

The leg back,

And with control,

Lightly place both the knee and the hand to your mat,

Taking the legs a little bit wider than your hips,

Bringing your toes to touch,

Sink back into your extended child's pose and take a nice well-deserved break here as you tune into the rhythm of your breath.

As you breathe,

Feel the belly expanding into your thighs,

Feel that softening in your shoulders as you breathe out.

Allow the hips to become heavy,

The shoulders to roll away from the ears,

The arms to melt into the mat.

And on your next inhalation,

Slowly make your way back to a downward-facing dog,

Lifting the hips up towards the sky and pressing the heels towards the earth.

Shift your gaze between your hands,

We'll slowly bring the hands together,

Lifting the hips up towards the sky and pressing the heels towards the earth.

Shift your gaze between your hands,

We'll slowly step,

Jump up,

Or float our way over to a halfway lift at the top of our space.

On an exhale,

Gently fold forward,

Relax the neck,

The head,

The shoulders,

And then as you breathe in,

We'll move over to the other side.

Exhale here and step the left leg back for a lunge.

Slowly lower down onto that left knee and as you breathe in,

Reach both arms up towards the sky,

Finding your Anjani Asana,

Low crescent lunge.

Sink the weight into the hips,

Roll the shoulders away from the ears,

And open the heart space.

Take a deep breath in,

And as you breathe out,

Lower both hands to the mat as we begin to move to gate pose on the left side.

Listen carefully.

As you breathe in,

Take the left leg out behind you and inhale,

Come to stand on the left knee.

Extend the right leg long and inhale,

Reach both arms up to the sky.

As you breathe out,

We'll slide right hand down,

Right leg,

Feeling that stretch into the left side body.

Begin to pull this left shoulder back,

Right shoulder forward,

As we open into our heart space a bit more.

Taking one more inhalation,

And on your exhalation,

Gently transfer over to a supported side plank.

Left hand firmly to the mat,

Right arm reaching up and over the ear,

And when you have your balance here,

We're going to slowly lift this right leg off of the mat,

Keeping the heel in line with the hip.

As you inhale,

We're going to slowly lift the right leg off of the mat,

Keeping the heel in line with the hip.

Take a moment to find your balance,

Maybe even finding a drishti,

A focal point here,

Where you can anchor your balance as we begin to move into this core exercise.

Take an inhale,

Stretching the arms and stretching the leg,

And then on an exhale,

We'll tuck knee and elbow in towards the torso.

Hugging the abdomen,

Squeezing and engaging the muscles through the body.

Breathe in,

Extend the arm and the leg out,

Find your balance,

And exhale,

Tuck everything into center.

One more time,

Inhale,

Extend and reach.

Exhale,

Tuck and hold.

And as you breathe in,

Again,

Extend the arm and the leg out,

And with control,

We'll bring both hands over to the mat.

Keep your right leg lifted and in line with your hip,

While you reach your left hand forward.

Take a moment to breathe deeply as you extend the leg out,

And as you breathe in,

Tuck knee and elbow to chest.

Inhale,

Extend and reach.

Exhale,

Tuck and hold.

One more time,

Inhale,

Extend the leg out,

Reach the arm forward,

And exhale,

Tuck everything to center.

Exhale,

Tuck everything to center.

Now with control,

Again,

Extend the arm forward,

Leg back,

And if you want to find this tiger pose,

We'll reach back and take hold of the right foot.

Step one,

If you want to go to step two,

Begin to kick the foot into the hand,

Dip the belly down,

Open the heart space up,

And we'll hold here for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

With control,

Slowly release the arm and the leg to your mat,

Tuck your toes,

And find a downward facing dog.

Take a moment in this position to stretch out your body,

Press your heels towards the earth,

Maybe walk out your dog,

Bending from left leg to right.

Take a couple of deep belly breaths,

And then on an exhale,

Gently release to all fours.

I mean,

Into a child's pose,

With the knees a bit wider than your head,

Relaxing the hips,

The spine,

The shoulders,

Soften the arms into your mat,

And find your breath flowing with ease through the body.

On your next inhale,

Slowly push yourself up to a seated position,

Cross over the ankles,

And come to take a seat.

With control,

Gently begin to find your way onto your back.

Keep the knees bent,

You should just be able to touch your heels with your fingertips.

The feet are about a hip-width distance apart.

We'll move the feet to the side,

The feet are about a hip-width distance apart.

We'll move into a few rounds of bridge pose,

Finding a comfortable space here.

On your next breath,

Slowly begin to lift the hips up towards the ceiling,

Pressing the hands firmly into the mat,

Finding a gentle curve through the spine.

We want to keep the legs engaged,

So squeeze the thighs towards each other,

They don't need to touch,

But just keep that activation running down the legs,

And into your glutes,

Finding a gentle hold in this backbend,

Take a deep inhale.

And on an exhale,

Slowly begin to release,

Vertebra by vertebra,

Back onto your mat.

We'll move a few times with breath.

On your next inhale,

Begin to lift the hips up towards the sky,

Squeeze the thighs towards each other,

Engage the glutes.

And on an exhale,

Slowly release,

Coming all the way onto your back,

One vertebra at a time.

We'll find this posture one more time.

Inhale,

Ride the breath all the way up,

Really squeeze the glutes together,

Engage the thighs,

Find an extra bit of lift through the spine here.

And as you breathe out,

Slowly ride the breath all the way down.

Now extend your left leg long on the mat,

Gently bring the right knee into the chest.

Tug the right knee towards the armpit,

Taking it out slightly to the side,

Feeling that stretch into the hip flexor.

Holding it here for a deep belly breath in,

Holding it here for a deep belly breath in.

And on your exhale,

We'll slowly take the right knee over the left side of the body,

Moving into a gentle supine twist.

Move from the middle of your back so that you're able to bring both shoulder blades in contact with your mat.

And if the knees or the hips are taking a bit of strain,

Feel free to pop a block under the knee.

Get comfy in this twist and begin to breathe deeply,

Feeling that breath flow through the body,

Relaxing you a bit more with each exhale.

Feel the expansion into the right side body as you breathe in,

And allow softness to enter the entire body as you breathe out.

Gently close your eyes,

Settle into a space of relaxation as we move into the end of our class.

When you're ready,

On your next inhale,

Lightly bring the right knee back into the chest,

Adjusting the body so that the left knee can join you at the top of your space.

Wrap the arms around the shins and give yourself a tight squeeze before you exhale and release the right leg long on your mat.

Keep the left knee into the chest and give it an extra squeeze,

Taking it out slightly to the side towards your armpits,

Stretching a bit deeper into your hip flexors.

Take a deep breath in,

And on an exhale,

Gently drop the left knee over the right side of the body,

Binding that twist from the middle of your back,

Bringing both shoulder blades flat against your mat.

Keep your eyes closed and begin to breathe deeply into the left side body,

Inviting a sense of relaxation with every exhale.

When you're ready,

On an inhale,

Lightly bring the left knee to the chest,

Bringing the right knee to join as you wrap the arms around the shins,

Giving yourself one last squeeze as you take a moment of gratitude for your body,

For your breath,

For showing up for your practice today.

Begin to move into your Shavasana by extending each foot to each corner of your mat.

By extending each foot to each corner of your mat,

Bringing both hands over to the belly,

With your eyes closed and your body relaxed,

Start to feel the gentle rise and fall of the belly moving with your breath.

Take a deep breath in through your nose,

Filling your lungs completely,

Hold this breath for a moment and then exhale slowly through your mouth,

Letting go of any tension.

Take another deep breath in and as you exhale out the mouth,

Feel your body begin to relax and melt into the mat.

Continue to breathe naturally,

Allowing your breath to flow softly and easily.

Now gently bring your awareness to your feet,

Notice any sensations there and allow your feet to relax completely.

Feel the relaxation moving up through your ankles,

Your calves and your knees and allow that awareness to move to your lower back and your abdomen.

Feel your lower back sink into the mat,

And let your belly rise and fall gently with your breath.

Allow your chest and your upper back to soften and relax.

Feel your shoulder blades spreading wide and your shoulders and your arms and your legs,

Feel your shoulder blades spreading wide and your shoulders releasing all tension.

Allow this relaxation to flow down your arms all the way to your fingertips.

Feel your arms growing heavy and still.

Bring your awareness to your neck and your throat and allow any tightness to dissolve.

Feel your jaw unclenching,

The muscles in your face relaxing.

Feel your eyelids and cheeks become heavy as you let go of any remaining tension.

Imagine now a warm gentle wave of relaxation washing over your entire body,

From the top of your head all the way to the tips of your toes.

Feel yourself sinking deeper into the mat with each exhale,

Becoming more and more relaxed with every breath.

Allow your body to rest here in stillness and quiet.

There is nothing you need to do,

Nowhere you need to be,

Just let go and be present in this moment of complete relaxation.

If your mind begins to wander,

Gently bring your focus back to your breath and the sensations in your body.

When you are ready,

Slowly begin to deepen your breath,

Inviting a sense of gentle awareness back into your body.

Wiggle your fingers and your toes and slowly start to reawaken your body with gentle movements.

When you are ready,

Roll over onto one side,

Resting in the fetal position for a moment and then using your hands for support,

Gently press yourself up to a comfortable seated position.

Take a moment to notice how you feel,

Bringing a sense of gratitude to this moment of rest and renewal.

To end our practice,

Take a moment of gratitude for showing up on your mat today,

A moment of gratitude for your body and for your breath.

Thank you for practicing with me.