Functional Yoga Flow: 30 Day Challenge Day 11

I always say that I don't practice yoga and other types of movement to look a certain way. I practice so that I can get on the floor and play with my grandkids one day. This short practice gives a little taste of some of the mobility/movement practices I incorporate into my routine so that I can feel good in my body for as long as possible.

Optional props: Blocks

Transcript

Hey everyone and welcome to day 11 of our 30 day yoga challenge. My name is Candice and today's practice is a functional flow. So when I say functional flow, We're just going to be doing different movements that are great for the body in the long run. So a lot of movements that I don't always see in a yoga practice but are very, Very beneficial. For our bodies in the long term. So I always say I'm not moving my body to look a certain way. I'm moving my body so that I can get on the floor and play with my grandkids one day. So we'll be playing with some deep squats, Some mobility movements in the joints, Activating some muscles that you might not use very often. It might feel a little bit weird, Some of the movements, But It's all movements that I feel benefit us so that we feel good for as long as possible. So for today's practice, You may or may not need a couple of blocks. If you don't have blocks, That's fine. You can use anything of similar shape. I've seen people use soup cans, Just anything that can bring the floor a little bit closer to you. You might not need them, But they might be nice to have handy just in case you do. And we are going to get started on our backs whenever you're ready. So just take any position that feels comfortable for you. Sometimes at the start of a practice, I like to bend my knees, Plant my feet on the mat. Maybe you take the hands to your belly or hands beside you. Soften through the shoulders. You can close the eyes and just come into the breath here. Softening the belly. Turning your focus inside. Doing a little scan of the body, Noticing how you feel, Noticing any sensations that you are experiencing right now. Not looking to change anything or judge anything, Finding some mindful awareness for whatever your experience is in this very moment right here. And you begin to deepen the breath. Looking to make the inhales and exhales equal in length as best you can. Calm and smooth, Even and deep, Continuous breaths. And if your knees are bent, You can go ahead and extend the legs out in front. Maybe take the arms up overhead, Pointing the toes, Stretching through the fingers. And take the arms down alongside the body. Keep the left leg where it is. Pull the right knee in towards the chest without using your hands. Just kind of pull it in as far as it'll go. Maybe it stays here, Maybe it's here. And can you find some circles through the hip? So feel the muscles in the core activate as you stabilize yourself as you find some circles. Around the hip. So we're not really looking for the biggest range of motion that you can find. Finding some little circles here, Notice how the weight shifts around through your lower back and through your hips as you come around. Notice the little muscles that are activating to create these circular movements. Take those circles the opposite direction. And then we'll come on back to center. Can you take your knee at a 90 degree angle, So your knee's straight up from your hip, And bend your knee so your foot, Or your shin is parallel with the mat. So from here, We're going to find some rotation through the hip. So I'm going to cue you with the foot, But you want to make the movement come from the hip. So if you want to take your hands either to your thigh or your hip just to feel the movement. We're going to find some external rotation through the hip. So with that, Your foot will kind of rotate towards the left, But the movement's coming from the hip. So I'll show you what it looks like when the movement is not coming from the hip and I'm just focusing on my foot. So it's coming all the way over. When I'm focusing the movement just on my hip, It's just a little movement. Okay, From there, Come back to center, Find internal rotation. So your foot is now going to rotate towards the right, Movement coming from the hip. Again, When you're focusing just on the foot and you want to make the foot come out, You see how other joints start to compensate and the movement becomes bigger. But we're not looking for the biggest movement. We're just looking to feel that internal rotation through just the hip. Can you isolate the movement from that hip? Come back to center. Find that external rotation. Foot swings over towards the left just a bit. Movement coming from the hips. And back to center. Over towards the right. And back to center. Extend the right leg out in front of you. Soften through the hips. Soften through the legs. Pull the left knee in towards the chest, Not using your hands. Can you find some circles through the hips? Doesn't matter how big they are. Make them as big as you want them, Just nourishing the muscles that are creating the movement. Taking those circles the opposite direction. You might hear some cracks and pops and that's completely fine, Completely normal. Take the leg back to center, Find that knee at a 90 degree angle-ish. You want to stack your knee over your hip, Shin parallel to the mat. Take your hands to your hip if you need to here, Finding that external rotation through the hip. So your foot is going to swing over to the right this time, Movement coming from the hip. And come back to center. Swing that foot over towards the left, Find internal rotation, Movement coming from the hips. Back to center. Foot over towards the right, External rotation. Back to center, Foot over towards the left, Internal rotation. Back to center. This time curl both knees in towards the chest. Give yourself a little squeeze. You can wrap the arms around your knees. From there, Extend the legs up towards the sky. The knees might be bent, Or if you can get them straight, It doesn't really matter. We're just going to find some circles through the ankles. So it doesn't matter if your knees are bent or straight. And can you find here? The biggest circles you can make through the ankles. Widest range of motion you can find. Ankles might crack, That's normal. Take those circles the opposite direction. Curl the knees in towards the chest. Grab on behind the thighs. Start to rock up and down the spine. We're going to move through this a few times. Rock up and down. Rock back. This time, Curl the right heel in towards the body as you rock up. Plant the left foot on the mat. We're going to lean forward into that left foot. Find our ankle, What's known as ankle dorsiflexion. So it's kind of a flexion through the ankle. Keep the heel down. We're just going to rock forward and back here. Feeling the stretch through the back of the heel. Rocking forward and back. Couple more times here. And then we'll come forward. Come all the way back onto your back. We'll switch sides. Left heel curls in, Right foot plants. Again, Lift, Shifting forward using your hands however you need to to get there. If you need to lean back into the hand to push yourself forward. Finding that dorsiflexion in the right ankle. And coming back, You can come all the way back onto your back if you want to, Or you can just lean back so you can cross both legs, Come through to a tabletop position. Planting your wrists under the shoulders, Knees under the hips. As you inhale, Drop the navel, Lift the heart, Lift your gaze. Just a couple cat-cows through the spine. Tuck the chin around the spine, Press the mat away. Pull the navel in. Inhale, Drop the belly. Lift your heart, Lift your gaze. Exhale, Round the spine, Press into the mat. And then we'll come back to center. Pulling the navel in, Finding stability through the core, You want to press firmly into the palm. From here, We're going to move into what I learned as a bear crawl. So you can stay either just on your hands and knees, Or if it's there for you today, You might tuck the toes under and lift the knees. Notice as you do that, The tendency for the navel to drop. So keep pulling the navel in, Keeping a neutral spine. From there, We're going to move opposite hand, Opposite knee. So I'll show you what I mean here. From there, At the same time, Move your right hand, Left foot forward. Left hand, Right foot forward, And then we'll take it back. Left hand, Right foot back, Right hand, Left foot back. So the back of the mat, Forward, Forward, Back, Back, Or if you're here, Forward. Forward. Back, Moving opposite hand, Opposite knee or foot. Back. Back. Forward, Forward, Back, Back. Couple more times. And then coming back to the top of your mat, Bring the knees down if they came up. Keep the toes tucked. Sit back onto the heels. This might be pretty intense of a stretch through the bottoms of the feet. So maybe you stay here with the hands forward. Maybe you grab your block. And lean your hands into your blocks. If it feels okay, You can come on and sit up onto the heels, Take the hands to heart center. So this is where your blocks might come in handy. You might take your blocks beside you just to have them there just in case you need. Take the hands to heart center for a moment, Sitting back in your toes pose. From there, Can you lean the heart back? Maybe take your hands to your block. Can you lift your knees? Find a toe stand. So balancing here, Keep squeezing the inner ankles together, Resist the tendency to roll to the outer edges of the feet. Woo, Take the hands to heart center. From here, Can you separate the knees, Lean the heart forward, Use your blocks if you need to. Can you drop the heels towards the ground? Maybe they come to the ground. It's a very deep squat. So you might be here, You might be here, You might use your blocks or not. From there, Rock forward, Toe stand. Lift the heart. Drop the knees, Take the hands to heart center. Lean back, We'll do that one more time. Can you lift the knees? Find your toe stand. Separate the knees. Lean the heart forward, Drop the heels towards the mat, Maybe they touch, Maybe they don't. Can you keep the bum off the ground? From here, Keep pressing into the feet. Can you stand up? Come on to the top of your mat, Get there however you need to. Using your hands as much as you need to. Standing at the top of your mat, Spreading through the toes, Standing tall. Inhale, Sweep the arms up, Reaching tall through the hands. Exhale, Soften the knees, Forward fold. As you inhale, Lift up halfway. When you do that, Can you send the right leg behind you? As you exhale, Bend into the left knee, Step the right toes down, Right knee down, Rise up, Low lunge on jnanasana. From here, Take the hands down, Pull back, Ardha Hanumanasana, Half split. Again, This is where your blocks might come in handy. Take your hands to the mat or the blocks. Keep pulling the left hip back in space. As you round forward, Keep pulling the left toes back. From here, Imagine. You're about to kick your face with your foot. Okay, Imagine the muscles it would take to lift the foot off of the mat and kick your face. So keep pulling the left hip back, Plugging that left femur into your hip socket. So you want to pull it in and up. Pulling in through the navel. Strong through the low belly. Activating through the left thigh, Can you press into the hand, Pick up the foot. Or maybe you just feel all those muscles activate and the foot doesn't lift. Either way, Feel it happen. Activate. Pause here for a breath. And then bringing that foot back down. If it came off of the mat, Re-bend into that left knee, Rise up into your lunge. As you exhale, Come back into that half split once again. Curl that right foot underneath of you as you sit all the way back and all the way down, Planting the left foot on the mat. Lean forward. Find that dorsiflexion once again. Lean back. Lean forward. Lean back, Can you start gaining momentum as you rock forward? Rock back. Rock forward, Maybe you lift up a little bit. Rock back, Rock forward, Maybe you almost stand up, But you don't. Come back, Rock forward, Stand up. Take your time. Come on back to the top of your mat. Spread through the toes, Standing tall. Inhale, Sweep the arms up, Reach tall through the fingertips. Exhale, Forward fold, Come down. Lift up halfway. As you do, Send your left leg behind you. Exhale, Bend into the right knee, Step the left toes back. Drop the left knee. Rise up. As you exhale, Hands come down, Grab your blocks if you know you need them, Pull the right leg towards the straight, Pull the right toes back towards you, And fold. So you know where we're headed. From there, Imagine you want to kick your face. So you're plugging the left. Excuse me, Right hip back. As you do that, Pull in through your navel, Squeeze through that right hip flexor. It might be really challenging. That's a very weak spot for a lot of us, And I feel it too. We stretch a lot through our hip flexors, But we don't use the muscles very much. So this is very challenging. Even though it looks like a very small movement, It is very challenging. So be gentle with yourself here. Activate through the muscles. Imagine that you want to bring that foot off of the ground. Even if it doesn't move, You're activating the muscles. That you need to get there. Squeezing in through the top thigh, Using your blocks to bring the floor a little bit closer, To bring your torso up a little bit. Rounding through the back. As you pull your right hip back, Can you pick it up off of the mat? Might be a teeny tiny millimeters off the mat, Might not move, Or maybe you can pick it up a little bit more. Keep rounding through the spine. My voice is shaking because I'm shaking, Because that's not an easy thing to do. Go ahead and drop the right heel back down. Rock forward. Sink into the hips, Rise up. Exhale, Take the hands down. Pull back to that half split for a moment as you turn that left heel underneath of you. Can you pull yourself all the way back and sit down? Plant the right foot in front of you. Lean forward, Find that dorsiflexion once again in that right ankle, And lean back. Rock forward. Lean back. Rock forward, Lean back, Start to gain momentum if you can. Maybe you lift the hips up a little bit more, Come back. Maybe you almost stand up, But you don't. You come back, Take a couple more. And when you're ready. Stand up, However you need to get there. Plant both feet on the mat. Standing tall, Roll the shoulders back. Let the arms soften beside you, Close the eyes. Feeling gentle. With yourself. For wherever your practice is today. Coming back to your breath. Go ahead and take your hands to heart center. Feel free to take this practice into another movement practice. If you want to end in a meditation or Shavasana, You can sit down or lie down. Whatever you're ready to move on to, Do it with grace and gentleness and gratitude for this amazing body of yours. We can blink the eyes open. And thank you so much for joining me once again, And we will see you again tomorrow.