Hello yogis and welcome.
Today's practice is all about backbends.
We'll begin in our first prone backbend which is called anahata asana or the heart melting pose.
Come onto hands and knees.
Align your hips over your knees and maybe tuck your toes under for a little bit more stability.
From here,
We'll take Anahata Asana or sometimes called Puppy Pose.
You'll walk your hands out into the space in front of you and then melt your chest,
Turn your forehead towards the earth.
Find your breath.
Breathe in.
Exhale,
Breathe out.
On an inhale,
Maybe feel more length from the booty to the fingertip.
And then as you exhale,
Maybe lean into more of that depth.
Deep arch in your back body.
One more cycle of breath.
Breathe in.
Let the breath go.
Breathe out.
Good,
From there,
Slither forward onto your forearms.
For a moment,
Come into Forearm Plank.
Tuck your toes under if they're not already tucked,
Straighten your legs,
Dome up the back body,
Pull the navel up and in towards your lower back.
Breathe in.
And then exhale,
Breathe out.
Lower your pelvis to the mat for Sphinx Pose.
Untuck your toes,
Press into your hands,
Press into your forearms and lift your heart,
Sphinx.
And then exhale,
Lower all the way down.
Bring your hands by your breastbone.
Let's do Rolling Cobra.
Press into the tops of the feet.
Baby Cobra to begin.
Lift the heart.
Lift your gaze.
Exhale lower back down second round maybe put some more power in your arms press into your hands hug your elbows in and lengthen through the spine bhujangasana cobra pose exhale lower all the way down stay with baby cobra cobra or maybe press into your hands lift the hips up straighten your arms power up the arms and the legs for Upward facing dog pose.
Take another breath.
And exhale,
Lower back down.
Tuck your toes under,
Walk your toes a little bit closer towards your kneecaps.
Keep your hands where they are.
Look forward,
Breathe in.
Exhale,
Push the earth away,
Breathe out.
And then all the way back to your first downward facing dog.
From there,
Usually a little petal of the feet,
A little shake of the hips should feel pretty nice.
Feel the connection of your hands to the mat.
Imagine you were tightening a jar with your right hand and loosening a jar with your left.
From there,
Press into your hands.
Try to extend through the arms more.
Align your shoulders with your ears and melt your heart towards your thighs,
Perhaps creating more depth in your forward bend or your downward facing dog pose.
Breathe in.
Let it go.
Exhale.
Breathe out.
Let's get moving from here.
Sweep a straight right leg up and back to the space behind you.
Open your right hip,
Bend your right knee and twist to your right.
Inhale,
We extend right leg straight up and back.
Let's go one time.
Knee towards your nose,
Thigh towards your belly,
Shoulders over your wrists,
Curl up and in.
Again,
Right leg straight up and back to the space behind you.
And now you'll step forward,
Right foot to your right thumb.
Lower the left knee to the mat.
Inhale,
Arms go forward,
Up,
And overhead.
Stay there.
Fan your palms to face forward.
Hook your left thumb in front of your right thumb.
And then shimmy the arms alongside your ears.
Take an inhalation to lengthen.
And then as you exhale,
Maybe lean into it,
Hips heavy and the heart rises.
Do that again.
Inhale,
Pulse.
You back away,
Round.
And exhale,
You lean in and deepen.
One more cycle inhale pulse back away Exhale and deepen in.
Stay low in the pelvis,
Lift the heart up,
Generous back bend towards the back of your space.
And then release hands outside of your front foot.
Well done.
Keep your back toes tucked or tuck your toes back under.
Lift your left knee up and now step forward.
Left foot to meet your right foot.
Top of your space.
Uttanasana,
Forward bend.
Halfway lift hands to shin thighs,
Lengthen flat back.
Uttanasana,
Forward fold.
Root to rise.
Stand up,
Inhale.
Urdhvahastasana.
Cactus your arms as you exhale.
Squeeze the shoulder blades behind you and lift the heart.
Generous backbend.
Inhale,
Stand up,
Rise.
From here,
We'll dive the arms forward,
Swim the arms back behind you,
Interlace your grip behind your lower back,
And then reach the class forward towards the space in front of you.
Take a moment,
Breathe in.
And then exhale,
Release.
Hands to the mat,
Breathe out.
Let's switch legs.
Right foot steps back to the space behind you.
Lower the right knee down.
Same,
Same.
Inhale,
Anjanasana.
Fan the palms forward.
This time it's right thumb in front of your left thumb.
Shimmy the arms back to the space behind you.
Find a long length in your spine as you inhale.
And as you exhale,
Maybe lean back.
Hips heavy,
Heart rises,
And maybe you look up.
Do it again.
Pulse back away.
Gather up the energy.
And exhale,
Lean into it.
Hips heavy,
And the heart rises.
One more inhale pulse back away Exhale,
Lean into it,
Deepen into it.
Stay there.
Keep reaching the fingertips to the back of your space.
Lift the heart,
Lift the gaze for three.
See you.
And one nicely done hands to the mat this time plant the hands down tuck your right toes under straighten your right leg step your left leg to meet your right plank exhale push back downward facing dog pose connecting vinyasa inhale roll to plank you have choices knees chest chin or through a push-up halfway down chaturanga dandasana cobra super cobra or upward facing dog pose whatever back bend you like lift the hips lift the heart exhale adho mukha svanasana downward facing dog pose stay for the breath breathe in Let something go.
Exhale,
Breathe out.
Good,
Here we go,
Left leg,
Left leg up and back.
Open your left hip,
Bend your left knee and twist to your left.
Inhale,
Extend left leg straight up and back.
One time,
Please.
Knee towards your nose,
Thigh towards your belly,
Heel towards your butt,
And curl.
Push.
Inhale,
Left leg straight up and back.
And finally,
Bring it forward,
Left foot to your left thumb,
Lower the right knee down.
Similarly,
Inhale arms forward up and overhead,
But this time float the arms alongside your body and take that interlaced grip behind your lower back.
Take a breath,
Inhale.
And as you exhale,
Deepen,
Pelvis down,
Arms extend,
And the heart rises up.
Again,
Inhale,
Pulse,
Back away.
You can let this be moderate.
Exhale and deepen.
You don't have to go to your extreme edge quite yet.
One more.
Inhale,
Pulse.
Gather energy.
Exhale and ascent.
Stay low in the pelvis.
Inhale,
Arms by your ears.
Reach up.
And then lower again,
Hands outside of your front foot.
Tuck your right toes under.
Lift your right knee up.
Step forward,
Please.
Right foot to meet your left.
Kapavirmat Uttanasana.
Halfway lift,
Inhale,
Lengthen.
Uttanasana forward fold.
Stand up,
Rise up,
Inhale,
Ordva hastasana,
Look up.
Again,
Right away,
Cactus your arms,
Bend your elbows,
Lift the heart and look up.
Inhale,
Root to rise,
Stand tall,
Urdhva Hastasana.
Now dive your arms forward,
Your heart forward,
And then interlace your grip maybe the other way behind your lower back and reach your clasp forward towards the space in front of you.
Breathe in.
Exhale breathe out keep your right foot forward step your left leg back lower the left knee to the mat same same other side inhale arms forward up and overhead Sweep the arms alongside your body.
Interlace your grip that awkward way again behind your lower back.
For me,
It's left thumb on top on the second set.
Take a breath in.
And exhale,
Descend.
Lower the pelvis,
Extend the arms,
And lift the heart.
Again,
Please inhale back away round.
And exhale,
Deepen in.
Last time,
Yogis.
Inhale back away.
And exhale,
Deepen.
Good,
Stay low in the pelvis.
Inhale,
Arms by your ears,
Reach up.
And then lower hands down to the earth.
Plant the hands,
Tuck your left toes under,
Lift the left knee up,
Step to plank,
And then push back,
Adho mukha svanasana,
Down dog.
Stay for the breath,
Breathe in.
Let the breath go.
Breathe out.
Good,
From here,
Come onto the balls of your feet,
Drop down towards your knees,
And let's swing the legs out into the space in front of you.
Legs are out into the space in front of you.
You hold on to your hamstrings behind your knees.
Lift the heart,
Lift the chest.
And let's lower down,
Vertebra,
Bivertebra,
Bivertebra.
For our backbend practice on our back,
First round is Setu Bandhasana Bridge Pose.
Arms alongside your body,
Fingertips tickle your heels.
Keep your feet parallel,
Knees over ankles.
Shoulders relax alongside your body.
Take a moment,
Breathe in.
The exhale press into your feet breathe out and lift your hips up Stay here,
Maybe arms alongside your body,
Or maybe interlace your grip behind your lower back.
Maybe roll the shoulders down the back.
Press into the backs of your shoulders,
Press into your arms,
Press into the feet.
Use those legs,
Use those arms to help find buoyancy through the heart.
Setu Bandhasana Bridge for three.
Breathe,
Two.
And then lower down vertebra by vertebra.
Release the grip.
Come on to your back.
Constructive rest between sets.
Take your feet wide and let your knees kiss.
Maybe right hand to your belly,
Maybe left hand to your heart and you pause.
Hmm.
Okay,
We're going to go again.
Option to advance.
So feet are hip distance apart and parallel.
The fingertips tickle your heels just so you have that good measurement of your alignment.
Knees over ankles,
Arms alongside your body.
Take a full breath.
In.
Exhale exert,
Press into your feet,
Press into your arms and lift.
Again stay here with your arms alongside your body pressing weight into your hands or maybe interlace your grip the awkward way this time maybe opposite shoulder goes down first and you come back to bridge pose remember this is a really good perfectly good place to stay if you want more walk your feet closer towards one another maybe hug your right knee and towards your chest and extend the right leg completely vertical.
Hold it for three.
Two.
And one return your right foot down,
Switch sides,
Right foot down,
Left knee into the chest.
Left leg goes straight up to the sky.
Hold it for three.
And one,
Both feet lower to the mat,
Press into your feet,
Press into your arms.
One more big breath.
Inhale.
And then lower vertebra by vertebra by vertebra as you exhale.
Take your feet wide and let your knees kiss.
Take a moment,
Let it settle.
I know that can be a lot.
Ahhhh.
Okay,
Yogis,
We're going to go for the big kahuna.
It's called ordva dhanurasana or upward bow pose.
Your feet are hip distance apart and parallel.
Fingertips for a moment can just tickle your heels.
You know that you can always go back to bridge pose if you want to stay with that variation.
If not,
Hands by your ears.
Traditionally,
The fingertips face the shoulders.
You can imagine your fingertips turn away from you or actually turn them away from you.
So that your elbows can draw in closer towards your ears.
Follow my cue.
Take a breath,
Inhale.
On your exhale,
Press into your hands and come up onto the crown of your head.
Stay here.
Set your shoulder blades down the back.
Hug your elbows in.
And then maybe press into your hands and rise on up to upward bow pose.
Ordva Dhanurasana.
Push into the hands.
Push into the feet.
Create length in both sides of the body.
Create length and extension through the spine.
Hold it for three.
And one,
Lower the head down,
Tuck your chin towards your chest,
And then come on to your back.
Well done feet wide knees kiss.
So every good backbend practice comes with a couple of rounds.
So that way you feel a little bit more comfortable each and every time.
If you're totally cooked,
You can stay right here.
You can go back to bridge pose or join us.
Feet are hip distance apart and parallel fingertips,
Tickle your heels.
Let's try it again.
Hands by your ears.
Again,
The fingertips can face your shoulders,
Or if you turn them away from you towards the sides of your mat,
Your elbows will naturally hug in.
Make sure that's happening.
Press into the crown of your head.
Set your shoulders down the back,
Hug your elbows in,
And then press into your hands.
Now this time,
Yogis,
You might come up onto the balls of your feet and you might walk your feet a little bit closer towards your hands,
Creating a deeper arch in your spine.
Press into your hands,
Press into the tippy toes,
Create length and extension.
You've got it.
Hold it for three.
Two.
And one,
Walk your feet back,
Lower your head down,
Tuck your chin towards your chest and come on down.
Constructive rest feet wide knees.
I'm already quite warm from those few back bends.
If you feel like that's more than enough for you,
Of course,
You can opt out one final round.
It's the big expression Ekapada or Vodanyarasana,
One legged upward bow pose.
Here we go.
Feet parallel again,
Hip distance apart.
Arms alongside your body just to check that measurement.
Fingertips can tickle your heels.
Then hands by your ears.
Fingertips towards your shoulders.
You'll notice the elbows kind of splay out.
So if you turn your fingertips away from you,
Your elbows will draw in,
Creating more external rotation in your upper arm bones.
From there,
Press into the crown of your head.
Set the shoulder blades down the back,
Hug your elbows in,
And then press on up.
From here,
Maybe walk your feet again closer towards your hands,
And then maybe walk your toes together.
Hug your right knee in towards your chest,
And extend the right leg completely vertical.
Hold it for three.
And one,
Lower the right foot down,
Step into the ball of the right foot,
Hug the left knee in towards the chest,
Extend the left leg straight,
You got it,
Hold it for three.
Two.
One,
Both feet to the mat,
Press down through the feet,
Lift up.
And then exhale,
Head down,
Chin to your chest and come on down.
Well done,
Yogis.
Feet wide,
Knees kiss.
Take a pause.
Come back to your intention.
Come back to your breath.
Come back to your foundation of being here in your body.
Hmm.
OK,
Separate your knees apart.
Hug your knees in towards your chest.
Take a quick rock of the hips side to side,
Maybe a circle of the body in one direction or the other.
Hmm.
And then happy baby pose.
Hold onto your knees,
Your shins,
Your ankles,
Or the soles of your feet.
Just a nice way to alleviate any residual tension in your lower back.
This is a forward bend,
Right?
Hips.
Towards the mat,
Tailbone towards the mat,
Knees down,
Feet up,
Creating that resistance for traction in your lower back.
Maybe you extend your legs out wide towards the sides of your space.
And then bring your feet together.
Hold on to your ankles,
The tops of your feet,
Or interlace your grip around the little toe sides.
Press into your feet,
Knees wide.
Pull your feet away from you.
Stretch through the back of your shoulders,
The trap muscles.
And then slowly release back,
Come on down.
Hug your knees in towards your chest.
You can rock and roll a couple of times forward and back.
Forward and back.
And eventually,
Come on back up to seated.
Well done,
Yogis.
I hope you feel rejuvenated and awakened by that practice.
Keep coming back to this video as much as you need to practice your backbends,
At least a few of them that we explored.
And I hope this is a benefit.
Until next time.
Namaste.
