Warm Up

This all levels practice features one of my favorite ways to warm up the body. Enjoy a quick flow with twists, side bends and a few grounded backbends.

A blanket might be useful to support your knees.

Transcript

Hello, Yogis. Today we're going to start in child's pose. So I've placed my blanket down the middle of my mat. If you know you have sensitive knees, It's kind of nice to pad your mat a bit. Let's get started. Child's pose, Balasana. Take your knees wide, Whether it's on the blanket or not, Or on your mat, And your toes together, And then extend your arms straight out into the space in front of you. Rest your chest, Your chin, Your forehead down to the earth and let's connect to our breath. Take a full breath in. And open mouth, Exhale. Again, Breathe in. And let it go. Exhale. One last cycle, Breathe in. And let it go. Breathe out. Good. Stay there for as long as you like, Or when you're ready, Rise on up to all fours, Tabletop position. Align your shoulders over your wrists, Your hips over your knees, And you might like to tuck your toes under for a little bit more stability. As you inhale, Arch and lengthen the spine. Look forward, Cow pose. As you exhale, Press into your hands, Round your back body, Coil chin towards your chest for cat pose. Do it again. Inhale. Set the shoulder blades down the back. Heart melts forward for cow. Exhale, Press into your hands, Dome out the back of your heart, Round your spine and coil, Chin to chest. One last time, Inhale, Roll the shoulders down the back and lift the heart forward, Cow pose. Exhale, Press into your hands, Coil and round for cat pose. Let's move on. Come back through center. Bring your right hand into the middle of your space. Take your left arm to the sky and take an open twist to the left. And now we'll thread the needle. Left arm is going to come underneath your right arm. You'll rest your left shoulder to a block or to the mat. And then maybe come on to your right fingertips. Maybe extend the right arm forward. Or option to take a half by and reach your right hand behind your left thigh. Or around your left hip. Breathe in. Maybe lean to your left shoulder, Breathe out. Again, Please breathe in. And twist it out. Breathe out. Maybe close your eyes one more cycle. Great. Release that. Bring your right hand in front of your face. Take your left arm to the sky. Reach up towards the sky. And then lower both hands down to the mat. Now let's move on from here. From tabletop, Pivot your shins 45 degrees to your right. I'm going to face away from you. You'll step your left foot back to the space behind you. Anchor your left heel down. And then reach the left arm towards the sky. From there, Reach your left arm alongside your ear. Reach your fingertips forward. And then exhale, Slice the horizon, Bring your left hand down towards your left hip. Let's do that again. Inhale, Left arm circles up and overhead. Reach forward. Exhale, Slice across, Left hand towards your left hip. One more cycle, Team. Inhale up and over. Big side body stretch. Exhale, Slice across. This time the left arm is going to lift and the left leg will lift with it. Balance, Baby half moon. Option to stay here. Maybe bend your left knee. Reach back and hold onto your left foot, Either the pinky toe edge or the big toe side of your left foot with your left hand. And then kick, Foot into hand, Hand into foot. Roll the shoulders down the back and lift the heart. Maybe lift your gaze. You've got it for three. Breathe two. And then one slowly release back to all fours. Once you're in a tabletop position, Find some organic movement, Maybe a little undulation of the spine. Maybe a little circle of the body, Circle of the hips, Circle of the shoulders. Find what feels intuitive for you and go with that, Right? Listen to your body. Let your intuition be your guide. And then when you're ready, Let's do the other side. So it's left hand to the middle of the mat now, Right arm to the sky. I just switched directions so you can see me. Right arm reaches up open twist and then exhale thread right arm underneath your left arm. Rest your right shoulder to the floor. Maybe come onto your left fingertip. Maybe extend the left arm forward. Maybe half bind. Weave your left hand around to grab onto your right thigh. Stay there and breathe. Breathe in. Maybe again, Lean into your right shoulder. Breathe out. Think lengthen the spine on the inhalation. And then a little bit of rotation as you exhale. One more cycle. Beautiful yogis. Let's release it. Bring your left hand in front of your face. Take your right arm to the sky. Unravel. Open twist. Reach up. And then lower both hands down to the mat. Let's switch directions for modified side plank. Pivot your shins 45 degrees to your left. Step your right foot back to the space behind you. Anchor your right heel down, And then you'll reach up towards the sky with your right arm. From there, Side body stretch, Right arm's gonna reach forward towards the front of your space. On the exhalation, Slice the right arm across the horizon and bring your right hand down towards your right hip. Inhale big circle right arm up and overhead reach forward As you exhale, Slice the horizon, Right hand down towards your right hip. Just one more time. Like a big yawn, Inhale, Reach up and over. Exhale and slide. This time, Right arm's gonna reach up. Maybe the right leg lifts about hip height. Baby half moon pose. Maybe bend your right knee. Maybe hold onto your right foot and then press your pelvis forward. Kick your foot into your hand, Hand into your foot, Lean back and maybe lift the heart towards the sky. You've got it for three. And then one, Slowly release, Come on back. All fours, Tabletop position. Once again, You can add any intuitive movement here. Maybe protraction and retraction of the shoulder blades, Like a shoulder massage. And then when you're ready, Press back again, Child's pose. Knees wide, Toes together, Hips towards your heels. Take a bow and fold. Breathe in. Breathe out. I call this next one child's pose flow. We're going to inhale all fours and come up into a cow pose again. Arch and lengthen your spine. As you exhale, Tuck your toes under, Lift your booty, Send your hips high and your heels down, Downward facing dog pose. On your inhale, Ripple round your spine forward to a plank, Shoulders stuck over your wrists, Heels high over the balls of your feet. And from there, Drop your heels to the right, But keep both hands pressing down. Feel the obliques fire. Inhale back through center, Lift your heels, Press into the earth. Heels drop to the left, Press down more through your right hand. Come back through center. Inhale, Heels high. You can do it. Knees, Chest, Chin, Or through a push-up, Lower all the way down to the earth. Untuck your toes. Maybe take your hands by your breastbone or take your fingertips wide off of your sticky mat. Stay on your fingertips for Super Cobra. Press down through the toes and the fingertips to lift up. Exhale and lower all the way back down. Hands and knees, Tabletop position again. Press back child's pose. Knees wide, Toes to touch. Take a breath. Breathe in. Let the breath go. Breathe out. Second round just like that inhale all fours cow pose arch and lengthen the spine exhale down dog tuck your toes lift your booty send your hips high and your heels towards the earth On your inhale, Roll forward to plank, Straight arms and legs. Exhale, Drop your heels to the right and press down more through your left hand. Twist. Inhale, Lift your heels up. Drop your heels to the left and press down through your right hand twist. Inhale, Heels through center, Either knees, Chest, Chin, Or through a pushup. One piece, Lower all the way down. Untuck your toes. Hands stay by your breastbone for cobra or fingertips wide for super cobra. Press to the fingertips, Press to the toes, And lengthen. Lift. Exhale and lower. Hands and knees, Tabletop, All fours. Back to child's pose. Knees wide, Toes together. Pause. Breathe in. Offer it up, Exhale, Breathe out. One more time, Just like that. Inhale, Cow pose. Arch and lengthen the spine. Extend. As you exhale, Down dog, Tuck your toes, Lift your butt, Send your hips high, And send your heels towards the mat. On your inhale, Roll forward to plank, Straight arms and legs. Drop your heels to the right and again, Press down through your left hand. Last time like this. Inhale, Heels up. Drop your heels to the left. Press down through the right hand. Twist. Good, Inhale, Heels up. Knees, Chest, Chin, Or through a push-up, Come on down. Building the heat, Building the tapas. Hands by your breastbone or fingertips wide. Super cobra or cobra pose. Little back bend to lengthen the spine. Exhale to lower this time hands and knees or if you want you can press up to plank pose And we'll meet back in downward facing dog. Stay for the breath. Breathe in. Let it go. Exhale. Breathe out. From here, Inhale, Right leg high up and back to the space behind you. Open your right hip bend your right knee and twist to your right Inhale, Right leg extends straight, Square off the hips with the shoulders. And then go one time, Knee towards your nose, Just enough so you can create space to step right foot to your right thumb, And then lower the left knee down to the mat. Inhale, Low lunge, Rise, Arms forward up and overhead. From there, Float the arms alongside your body and then interlace your grip behind your lower back. Stay there, Breathe in. As you exhale deep into the hips, Extend your arms and lift your heart towards the sky. Breathe out. Inhale, Back off. Back away, Find more upright lunge. And then as you exhale, Extend the arms a little bit, Lower your pelvis and lift the heart. One more time. Inhale. Back away. Reintegrate everything through the center. And then exhale. Deepen. Hips heavy and the heart rises. Good team. Stay low. Inhale. Arms by your ears. Anjanasana. And then lower hands down to the earth. Stay in your fingertips or you can also add your blocks. Press your pelvis forward low lunge. And then inch your left knee back straight into the right leg, Half splits pose. Do it again, Please. Step into the right foot, Lower the pelvis, Lift the heart. Exhale, Pull it back. Half splits or what we call Arda Hanuman, Half monkey pose. One more time. Step into the right foot, Lower the pelvis down and lift the chest. Exhale, Bring it back, Half split. The transition will be very similar to what you've already done. So re-bend your right knee from here. Bring your right knee back to meet your left. Tabletop position. Let's press back down dog. Tuck your toes, Lift your butt, And send your hips high. From here, Inhale, Roll forward to plank. We skip the heel drops. And we just lower knees, Chest, Chin, Or through a push-up. Come on down to the belly. Super Cobra. Press into the fingertips. Press into the toes and lengthen. Lift. Exhale and lower. This time, Just back up tabletop or high plank. And then we meet back downward facing dog. Pause for the breath. Breathe in. Let it go. Exhale. Breathe out. From here, Left side, Left leg straight up and back to the space behind you. Open your left hip, Bend your left knee, And twist to the left. Inhale, Extend, Left leg straight, Square off the hips with the shoulders. Knee towards your nose, Round your spine, Shift your shoulders forward over your wrists just enough so you can step forward, Left foot to your left thumb, Lower the right knee down to the earth. Inhale, Low lunge, Anjanasana, Reach up through center. As you exhale, Float the arms alongside your body and then interlace your grip, Maybe the other way. Usually for me, It's left thumb on top of right thumb. Stay for the breath in. And now exhale, Explore the depth, Lower the pelvis, Extend the arms and lift the heart. Again, Inhale, Pulse back away, Maybe soften at the elbows. And exhale descend hips heavy and the heart rises One more time. Inhale, Pulse. Back off, Gather your energy. And exhale, Explore. Hips heavy and the heart lifts. Stay low in the pelvis. Inhale, Arms by your ears. Andhanayasana. And then lower hands down outside of your front foot. Feel free to reclaim those blocks if you use them on the other side or just stay on your fingertips. Press your hips forward, Low lunge. Maybe inch your right knee back as you extend. Left leg towards straight, Come back, Half split. Again, Please bend into your front knee, Lower the pelvis, Lift the heart. Exhale, Ring it back. Arda, Hanuman, Half split. Good. One last time, Team. Step into the left foot. Lower the pelvis and lift the heart. Exhale, Bring it back. Ardha Hanumanasana, Stretch through the left hamstring muscles. Now bend your left knee. Plant the hands down. Gracefully bring your left knee back to meet your right. And tuck your toes under. Lift your sitting bones high. Press your heels towards the mat. You press back into downward facing dog. Find your breath. Breathe in. Let something go breathe out. Here we flow. One last time. Inhale. Roll to plank. Knees, Chest, Chin, Or through a push-up come all the way down again. Super cobra or cobra, Yogi's choice. Last time. Press and rise up. Exhale and lower. This time, Press back to tabletop, Please. All fours. And we'll meet again in child's pose, Right where we began. Knees wide, Toes together, Hips towards your heel. Take a moment and breathe in. And breathe out. Good. Slowly roll on up, Vertebra by vertebra. After that warmup, We're going to try to put it all together. Into what I call flash dance asana. To start. So your right fingertips are gonna come behind your right hip. You'll take your left arm out into the horizon, And just like we did earlier, Slice the horizon as you press into your shins, Press your pelvis forward, And then reach the left arm back to the space behind you. As you exhale, Sit back down and then just switch sides. Left hand behind your left hip. Right arm goes wide. Cross the horizon. Press your pelvis forward and stretch through the right side. Exhale, Lower back down. You can keep doing that, One on each side, Or let's go for, This is what I call saddle camel combo. So your knees stay wide, Your toes are still together. Fingertips are behind you. Pause here, Breathe in. And then as you exhale, Press into both shins. Press into both fingertips. Lift your heart. Imagine you were in camel pose, But in some sort of a saddle setup. Lift your heart up. Lift your gaze up. Hold it for three. Hold it for two. And then one, Sit down. From here, Draw your knees together. Toes can come to touch as well And then rest the palms face down on top of your thighs. This is called Vajrasana. Just a moment to ground, To settle, To reconnect to the earth, To your space, To your body. When you feel ready, You can blink your eyes open. Hopefully you're a little bit warmer as a result of this practice today. I look forward to seeing you again soon. Namaste.