20-Min Morning Yoga | Energetic Vinyasa, Twists & Balance

Start your day with this 20-minute energizing morning yoga flow designed to wake up the body and mind.

This dynamic vinyasa yoga class focuses on twists, balance poses, and spiral-y, fluid transitions throughout the practice. The sequence helps mobilize the spine, improve coordination, and build steady heat while keeping the breath smooth and controlled.

Expect a creative flow with standing balances, twisting postures, and challenging transitions that energize the body. It’s a great practice for mornings when you want to feel awake, strong, and focused.

Transcript

Bring your hands to your knees, Close your eyes. And start to deepen your breath, Just to signal to your body. That we're going to start our practice. Deeply inhaling through the nose. Maybe out through the mouth once or twice. Inhale to sweep your arms up overhead. And make your hands do a basket. Flip the baskets out and lean back until you feel a stretch. Then exhale, Round your spine, Push your palms forward. Inhale lean back. Exhale round and push forward. Few more like that. Trying to wake up your spine, Your chest, Your upper back a little bit. And then inhale, Come up and bring your hands still bound behind your head. Elbows wide, Lean back until you feel a stretch. Exhale round forward and kind of bring your elbows closer. Inhale lean back and open up the front of your body Exhale, Curl forward, Stretch the back of your body. Inhale, Come up to neutral. We're gonna twist to the right. Inhale center, Strong core as you twist to the left. Inhale, Center. Exhale twist and now we're just going to release the hands down one hand to your knee one hand behind you for our seated twist. Make sure your hips are grounded. And you're feeling this in the middle of your back. Optionally, You can do a little bit of a neck circle here by dropping the chin down and then drawing the chin over to one shoulder, Then to the other shoulder. Inhale bring your arms to the center. Hands to the back of your head. Inhale here to ground and center. Exhale, Twist to the other side and release your hands into that twist. Just so we're nice and symmetrical. And again, Here you can do those little neck circles. See how that feels. Make sure you're also relaxing your face and your jaw muscles as well. Then inhale, Make your way back to the center, Arms up. And exhale, Bring your hands behind you, Turn your fingers in towards you. And just drop your knees left and right. See how your hips are feeling today. And then have your feet about hips a distance apart and lift your hips up into reverse tabletop. Exhale, Lower your hips down. You could keep going like this, Or the next time you come up, We're going to inhale and pick up that right leg. Kick it up towards the sky. Keep it lifted as you lower the hips down. Inhale push the hips up the ceiling. Exhale lower down inhale lift up put the foot down try the other side if you'd like inhale left leg kicks up exhale hips go down inhale keep that left leg lifted tall exhale down you got it last one inhale and put the foot down now just lift up the hips for a little bit turn the toes out And push yourself forward with your hands until you can come into a squat position less enough. Bring your hands together into that basket and just roll your wrists out a few times. And then you can lift your hips, Turn all ten toes to the front again. Grab your elbows for a ragdoll position. Give your head a few shakes. Let everything kind of hang, Let your legs support you. Release your arms down to the floor. Really bend your knees and slowly roll your way up to standing. You get to the top, Inhale, Reach your arms open. Exhale, Bend your knees, Open your mouth and throw your arms down again. Inhale, Straighten up, Reach up. Exhale, Throw everything down. A few more. Inhale. And exhale. Now we're going to inhale. Exhale, Slow-mo bend. Your knees reach your arms down by your sides. Let your palms face the back of your mat. Pick up your toes, Feel those legs and thighs warming up. Inhale, Sweep your arms up. Exhale, Fold forward. You should be feeling a lot warmer now. Inhale, Flat back. And step back to a plank position. Inhale shift forward to your tippy toes. Exhale shift back. Inhale, Shift forward. Exhale back a few more we're in plank we're just going forward and back a little Come forward, Drop your knees, Bend your elbows. Inhale, Push the floor away. Exhale, Brief child's pose. Inhale, Forward to your half plank. Exhale, Bend your elbows. Inhale, Push away. And now exhale, Drop the hips back, Taking a longer child's pose. Maybe open up your knees a little more. And remember, You can always take a break here at any point during this class if you ever just feel like you need a little time out. Bring yourself into a table top position. And we're gonna drop the belly, Lift the chest for cow. Exhale, Round the spine for cat. A few more like that. Inhale, Heavy belly, Light heart. Exhale, Round, Really engage your upper back. Inhale, Neutral spine. And pick your knees up off the floor. We're holding here for five. For four. We're strong for three. Two and one push the hips back into downward facing dog Peddle out those feet. Wake up. Everything all the way down to your heels and your toes. Stretch your calves. Nice long back. And then look at your hands. Step or hop bring your feet together right between your hands inhale flat back Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale all the way up to standing. Open up your arms. Exhale, Hands to heart center. Inhale open up your arms. And exhale, Fold forward. Inhale find a flat back. Put your hands on the floor. You can step or hop back and move through your vinyasa. Inhale, Shift forward. Exhale Chaturanga. Inhale, Up dog. Exhale, Down dog. We're just here for a few breaths. See if you're going to find some length in your spine, A little more length in the legs without losing that length in your spine. Inhale pick up your heels exhale bend your knees you can step or hop to the top of your mat inhale for that flat back Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale all the way up to standing, Reach your arms open. Exhale, Hands start center. Sun B. Inhale, Bend your knees, Sweep your arms up. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale flat back. Put your hands on the floor and then you can step or hop back through vinyasa. Chaturanga. Inhale up dog Exhale, Down dog. Inhale pick up your right leg. Exhale, Bring your foot up to your hands and sweep your arms up. Keep the back heel lifted. We're doing a lunge variation today. Exhale, Bring the hands down. Step your foot back. And down through another vinyasa, Chaturanga. Inhale, Lap dog. Exhale, Down dog. Inhale, Pick up your left leg. Exhale, Step your left foot up between your hands. Inhale, Arms up high lunge. Exhale hands down, Foot back and chaturanga. Inhale, Up dog. Exhale back through downward facing dog. Just here for a little bit but remember you always have that child's pose alternative especially if your wrists need a bit of a break Now inhale, Pick up your heels, Bend your knees and step or hop to the top of your mat. Inhale, Flat back. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, Bend your knees. You end up in that chair pose. And from here, We're going to bring the hands together and twist to the right, Trying to hook the elbow to the outside of the knee. Inhale reach your arms forward. Exhale, Twist left. We keep going. Inhale, Reach forward center. Exhale, Twisting. Inhale. And exhale, Twist left. Inhale, Reach forward. Exhale twist right we're going to hold here And try and pick up that left foot. It looks like a little stork, A little flamingo. Put that foot down, Inhale, Reach the arms forward. Exhale, Twist left. Just try the other side. So shift your weight to your left. Pick up your right foot. Beautiful. Keep breathing. Put the foot down, Inhale reach the arms forward. Exhale we're gonna fold forward bind the hands of the low back and really drop your head. Maybe your hands go a little further away from you like they're gonna hit the floor. Inhale come out halfway up hands to the floor and step yourself back into a plank and vinyasa down through chaturanga Inhale up dog. Exhale down dog. Nice job. Inhale, Pick up your heels. Exhale bend the knees you can step or hop the top of your mat inhale find a flat back Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, All lift to standing, Reach the arms up. Exhale, Hands to heart center. Inhale, Pick up your right knee, Pick up your arms, And then bring your hands down in front of your heart center and bring that leg into a tree pose. You are welcome to just stay right here. Or you could always send the arms up, Look up towards the ceiling. Inhale, We're going to sweep the arms up, Bring the right knee forward again. And step back into a lunge where we were before that high lunge position. Inhale here. Exhale twist to your left. Inhale center exhale again twist left or open the arms into a t-shape inhale Exhale twisting and then you can just put your right hand down next to your front foot. Reach that left arm up in your low twisted lunge. Think along through that back leg. Put the hand down, Step your leg back, And an optional vinyasa. Feel free to just skip this and meet me back in a down dog. Inhale, Pick up your heels. Exhale, Bend your knees and step or hop the top of your mat. Inhale, Flat back. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale all the way up to standing, Reach your arms open. Exhale hands to heart center. Inhale, Pick up your arms, Pick up your left knee, And exhale, Spin that knee out to the left, Finding tree pose on this other side. Again, Maybe you want to take a variation where you look up, Challenge your balance a little bit more. Then we're going to inhale sweep the arms up point your left knee forward again And send that leg back. Find your high lunge position. From here we're going to inhale. Exhale to a straight. Inhale center. Exhale, Drop the arms into a T shape. Inhale, Center. Exhale, Strong leg, Strong core. And then we're going to lower that left hand down next to the front foot. Keep reaching that right arm up towards the sky. Long arms, Long legs. Bring that hand down, Step the foot back. And another vinyasa, If you wish. Really nice job. Now inhale, Pick up your heels. Exhale, Bend the knees, Step or hop to the top of the mat. Inhale, Find a flat back. Exhale, Fold. Inhale all the way up to standing, Reach your arms up. Exhale bend your knees and we're gonna twist to the right hooking that elbow like we did before Like we did before, Pick up your left foot like a little flamingo. And then send that left foot all the way to the back of your mat so you're now in a version of a twisted lunge again. If you're feeling very fancy, You can open up your arms. One arm down, One arm up. And then this transition is fun, But a little tricky. We're going to turn open to warrior two, So like a big windmill and spiraling motion. We're going to send the back heel down, And then I'm in warrior two. Then lean back into reverse warrior. Bend your front knee a little bit more. Challenge. Front leg to really wake up and you feel that stretch more on your side. Inhale up to the center. Exhale, Put your hands down and taking a vinyasa. They're always optional. Feel free to. . . Kind of ration your energy. As you wish. Alright, Let's try the other side. Inhale, We're going to pick up the heels. Exhale bend your knees look at the hand step or hop to the top of the mat Inhale flat back. Exhale fold forward. We're gonna bend the knees and come up into our. . . Chair position, Sweep your arms up. Exhale, Bring your hands together in front of heart center and twist to the left. Now we're going to pick up the right foot, Little flamingo moment. And then kick that leg back as graceful as we can. Into our twisted high lunge. Open up the arms. Have you tried that before? One up, One down. Sometimes one side works, The other one doesn't. It doesn't matter. And then see if you can try this transition again. So we're gonna twist ourselves open to the long edge of the mat. And end up in our warrior two. Then go ahead and lean back. Nice job. For your reverse warrior. You're bending your front knee a little bit more. Get a little more juice, A little more muscle activation. Inhale, Warrior two. Exhale, Hands to the front of your mat. Step back into a plank so you can take a vinyasa if you'd like to. Inhale, Pick up your heels. Exhale, Bend your knees, Look at the hands. Step, Maybe hop the top of your mat. And now make sure your feet about hips the distance apart. Pick up each foot and stick a whole hand underneath. Your thumbs are going to end up. . . Between your feet. And it's okay to have the knees super bent here, The arms super floppy and soft. This is more about releasing the risk than anything else. Drop your head. Sort of feel that nice stretch. Inhale then pull against your bind. Remove your hands, Turn your toes out. Drop down into that squat position again. We also did that at the beginning of class. Bring your hands together. Push your hands together so your elbows open up and they push against your knees. You should feel a bit of an opening in your chest and in your hips. Big deep breaths. Now send your hands back behind you like we did the beginning of class. Turn your toes forward. And we're in our reverse tabletop position again. Pushing the floor away. We're a lot warmer now than we were at the beginning of class. See if you can lower the hips down and extend the legs long. Now either you do reverse tabletop again or you try what I'm doing, The reverse plank. Pushing the hips up, Finding that long straight line from the shoulders all the way down to the pointed toes. And exhale, Lower down. Nice job. Bring your soles of your feet together. Open up your knees. Make your hands into a basket and give them a little bit of a circle. Release the wrists again. Hold on to the feet. Inhale, Lengthen your spine. And exhale, Folding forward. Maybe you push your knees. Open a little more with your elbows if that feels good for you. Breathe deep into your belly. Inhale come all the way up Bring your knees together and shift yourself forward. Feet at the top of the mat, But about halfway in the middle of your mat and exhale. Roll your way down with control onto your back. Extend your legs long. Reach your arms up by your ears and take a big luxurious stretch. Big inhale. Open the mouth and exhale. Release everything. Bring your feet in towards you. Bring your arms into a cactus shape. And then just doing some windshield wipers with the knees and with the legs. Rocking the knees side to side gently. Twisting your spine. We did a lot of active twisting today, So this is just some really. . . Kind of chill, Gentle twisting for your spine. Then We are ready for our Shavasana. If you feel like you need any final movements, You have time, Go ahead and take them now. Otherwise, Find your Shavasana position. Have your palms facing up. Take up as much space as you need to. Close your eyes. And Let go of any active breathing. Just watch your breath here. Start to deepen your breath. And wiggle your fingertips, Your toes, Circle out your wrists, Your ankles. Rock your head a little and big stretch again. Point the toes, Reach the arms, Big inhale. Exhale, Draw the knees in towards you. Roll a little left and right. Then roll your way up to a seated position. Bring your hands together in front of your heart. And then hands up to the forehead. And we bow to each other in a gesture of gratitude and appreciation. Thank you so much for joining me today. Again, My name is Suzanne.