30-Minute Core Flow

Strengthen and stabilize with this 30-minute Core Flow — a standing-focused practice that blends yoga with Pilates-inspired movement principles to build core control, balance, and full-body stability. This session draws on Pilates-style core engagement (think controlled, precise movement and breath-led stability work) layered into a flowing yoga sequence — standing balances, controlled leg extensions, side-lying work, all topped off with a savasana rest.

Transcript

Hello everyone, My name is Suzanne, And welcome to this Pilates-inspired yoga flow. We're going to start standing at the top of the mat with the feet about hips distance apart. You can close your eyes. And just start to shift your weight forward and back. Forward into your toes. And back into your heels. Forward into your toes. Back into your heels. Keeping your feet flat on the floor but just shifting the weight forward and back almost like pouring water into the front of your feet and then into your heels. And the next time you come to the back, We're going to hold here and feel what parts of your body engage and activate. Then lean forward and try holding here. Feeling that activation in the body. Good, Then come back to center. And now we're going to go left and right. Shifting your weight into your left foot. Shifting your weight into your right foot. And then the next time you're over on your left foot, See if you can hold there. For a few seconds. Again, Feeling what engages, What relaxes in your body. And then switch over to your right foot. Again, Just feeling everything engage or relax accordingly. And then find your center. Perfectly between left and right. And front and back. Inhale, Sweep your arms up overhead. Exhale, Fold forward and really dramatically reach off the top of your mat so you feel a big stretch down the back of your body. Inhale here. Exhale, Bend your knees and slowly roll your way up to standing. Let your arms hang and roll the way up. Inhale, Arms open in a circle. Exhale again, Big stretch as you fold forward. Inhale at the bottom. And exhale, Bend your knees and slowly roll your way up to standing. Inhale, Open up your arms. And exhale, Big stretch as you fold forward. Inhale here. Exhale, Bend your knees and roll your way up. Inhale, Open up your arms. Exhale, Bring your hands to your hips. Inhale, Untuck your tailbone, Stick your butt out a little. Exhale, Tuck your tailbone underneath you, Engage your core. Inhale as you stick your butt up. Exhale as you tuck under. A few more times like this and show your pelvic tilt. Exhale, Posterior pelvic tilt. Inhale. And exhale, Feel how those ribs tuck into your belly. Inhale to come up onto your tippy toes. And exhale, Lower your heels down. Inhale, Now add the arms if you can. Lift them up like a zombie. Exhale, Lower them down. Inhale, Heels up, Lift your arms up. And exhale, Heels down and arms down. One last one. Inhale, Lift up, And exhale, Lower. Now we're going to add on. Inhale, We're going to lift the heels of the arms. Exhale, Bend your knees, Keep the heels floating, Then put them down, And then stand up and lower your arms. Repeating. Inhale, Heels up, Arms up. Exhale, Bend knees, Lower heels, And come down. Keep going and see if you can find a lot of stability in that core to help you remain nice and controlled with the motion. And hang in there. I know the Thighs are probably burning. The feet and the ankles are really struggling. That's the point of this. For this last one, We're going to try something different. So go ahead and inhale, Reach your arms up. Pick up your heels and exhale, Bend your knees and sitting down. You're going to try lowering one heel down. And then the other heel down. I'm just alternating like that. Like a little march in place. One heel up, One heel down, One heel up, One heel down. Keep breathing, Hang in there, And if you're feeling really brave you can try A few now where you do both heels down, Both heels up. Just one last one, Almost done. And then you can stand up, Relax your arms. Nice job. Inhale, Sweep your arms up overhead. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, Find your flat back. Exhale, Put your hands on the floor and step back to a plank, But we're going to make sure that the toes are out and the heels are together so the feet make a little v-shape. Inhale, Shift forward. Exhale, Shift your hips back, Open up your knees, Like a little frog position. Inhale, Forward chair, Plank. And exhale, Back to center. To your little froggy down dog, Let's call this. And then the next time you're in your froggy down dog, We're going to stay back here and just pulse. We're going to push the hips back for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Look at your hands and step your feet outside of your hands with your toes still turned out. Inhale, Lengthen your spine. Exhale, Drop your hips down and lift your hands up to heart center. So we're in a yogi squat here. Drop your head over towards the right for a little neck stretch and draw a little half circle over towards the right. And then over the other side, Drop your head to the left. And a little half circle over on the left. We're going to release the hands down, Lift the hips up, Turn all 10 toes to the front again. And then let your head hang heavy, Let your arms hang heavy as you roll your way up to standing. Inhale to sweep your arms up overhead. And exhale, Bring your hands together, Bring your feet together, Bring your hands to your hips. We're gonna inhale, Pick up the right leg and point the toes, Exhale, Lower the foot down so it just grazes the floor and flexes. Inhale as you lift up and point. Exhale as you lower down and flex. And as we're doing this, We're feeling that core really strong and active. The hips are really stable and even. Embrace the wobble that's going to happen in that left leg. Now hold your right leg up and we're going to hold here for five and point for four. Two and one. Nice job. Put it down. Feel free to shake it out if you need to. Inhale, Pick up your left leg for the other side. Point your toes and exhale, Lower down, Flexing your foot, Just grazing the floor. Inhale as you lift. As you lower. And you don't even have to come up super high with that leg, Even just a little bit. Really strengthens a lot in the hip area and asks a lot of your core. So you're doing great. Hold that leg now for five. For 4. Two and one. Nice. Put it down. Feel free to shake it out. Inhale, Sweep your arms up overhead. Exhale, Fold forward. And he'll find a flap. Your hands on the floor and step back to a plank position. Inhale, Pick up your right foot, Point your toes back and exhale, Push back into a three-legged dog. If you feel this is too much for you, Then just stay back and three-legged dog. We're going to meet there anyway in a few reps. So the next time you're in your three-legged dog, Hold up here, Point your toes straight up at the ceiling, And we're just going to poke the ceiling 10. 9, 8, Poke poke, 7, 6, 5, Feel that glue working, 4, Two, One, Nice job. Look at your hands. Step your right foot up between your hands. The left foot joins here at the top of your mat. Inhale, Find a flat back. Then exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, All the way up to standing, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Hands to heart center. Inhale, Reach your arms open. Exhale, Fold forward. And he'll find a flat back. Put your hands on the floor, Sit back to plank. And we'll do the other side. So pick up your left leg, Point your toes back, Inhale. Exhale, Push back to three-legged dog. Inhale, One-legged plank. Exhale, Three-legged dog. And again, You have that modification to just meet me in three-legged dog, That's totally fine. Next time we are in three-legged dog. We're going to point the toes straight up towards the ceiling. And we're going to poke up 4 tenths. 7, Feel the glute, 6, Two and one. Nice look at your hands and step that left foot up between your hands. Other foot joins it. Inhale, Flat back. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, All the way up to standing, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Hands to heart center. Now we're going to pick up the right leg, Bend the knee. We're going to open our hands out in front of us like we're holding a platter or two platters. Inhale, We're going to open our platters left and right. And exhale, Bring them back in. Inhale as you open and exhale as you close. Really testing the stability of the torso here. The torso and the core are really stable. The arms and the knee are kind of moving around it freely. Hang in there, Embrace the wobble that's happening in your left leg. All those little muscles that are activating and working. Nice, You can put down your right foot. We're just going to try the other side. Pick up your left knee. And we're going to inhale, Open our bladders left and right. Especially feeling that you can bring your hands a little more to left and right, Really feel Stretch in the front of your shoulders. That external rotation of the shoulders. Almost done. And then you can put down your left foot. And we can relax. Inhale, We're going to sweep the arms up overhead. And exhale, Fold forward. Inhale to find a flat back. Put your hands on the floor, Step back to a plank position. Inhale, Shift forward to your tippy toes. Exhale, Push your hips back to downward facing dog. You might need to walk your feet in. A teeny bit. Just feeling that lovely stretch through the back of your spine. Inhale, Pick up your heels. And exhale, Lower your heels down. Inhale, Pick up your heels, Stretch the bums and the feet. Exhale, Lower the heels down. Inhale, Heels up. Exhale, Heels down. And as you do this, Also feel your lower back lengthening, Like your low back's also going up towards the sky. Now you can bend your knees, Looking at your hands. Step your feet up towards your hands. Inhale, Find a flat back. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, All the way up to standing, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Hands to heart center. We're going to pick up the right leg, Bend the knee, And find a tree pose. So spin your right knee out to the side and find a place for your right foot somewhere on that left leg. Bring your hands together, Focus your gaze. And if you feel like a challenge, You can send your arms up overhead and maybe even look beyond your hands for even more of a challenge for your balance. Really focus on that strong, Solid core while also feeling some softness, Some wobbliness. Right knee kicks forward, Right leg kicks forward, And then with control, Tip your chest forward, Kick your right leg back. You're super parallel to the floor here, Squaring off your hips. This is our warrior three variation. Really good. And let's come up to standing. Just bring your feet together. Let's try the other side, Shall we? Let's pick up the left knee. Open that knee to the side, Find a place for your left foot, And this is your tree pose on the left. Bring hands together. Whatever you tried before maybe You want to send your arms up. Your tree has grown some branches, So to speak. Or maybe you want to send your gaze up beyond your branches. And feel that mix of stability and balance and strength and softness. Bring your hands to heart center, Point your left knee forward, Kick that left leg forward long. And with control, We're going to tip the chest forward as we simultaneously kick the left leg back. Coming into our warrior three. So we're very parallel to the floor. You can always try dropping your chest a little more and lifting your back leg a little more also. For a bit more of a challenge. Bring your feet together, And you're back in standing. Nice job. Inhale, Reach your arms open and exhale, Bend your knees, Sit back into a chair pose here. Bring your hands to your hips and we're going to shift the weight to the left foot and start to do our little scooter motion with our right leg. The right toes are gently tapping in, Tapping out, And the arms also open and close. Open and close, And we're trying to keep the torso really stable, The left leg really stable. And then eventually, We're going to meet up in a lunge. So next time your foot is back, Kick it back a little further, And we're going to come back into our lunge with our arms up. Inhale here. And then exhale, Bring your hands to heart center. Lean forward. Your back leg straightens and then lean back so your back knee bends. And we just keep going. We inhale, Tip forward, Straighten, And exhale, Lean back. If it helps you to think about it this way, The left leg does not change. It's just the right leg bending and straightening. And the upper body is kind of taken along for the ride. This is very challenging. We have a few more left. Hang in there with me. Yeah, We're almost done there. Keep pushing through that back foot, Through that back knee. Now the next time that you are forward, Reach your arms right up by your ears. With control, Step your back foot up to your left foot, You're in a chair pose, And stand up and relax your arms down. Woof, Nice job. Are we ready for the other side? Let's inhale, Reach the arms up. Exhale bend the knees And then we're gonna try the left side. So now it's the left foot that becomes our scooter leg. And the arms are also opening and closing. As you reach your leg back, You reach your arms forward like you're getting longer. Try and keep all of your in that right side, The left foot, The left toes are so so light. The torso is stable, The hips are stable, And then step back into your lunge. Sweep your arms up. And take a moment to kind of arrive here. And bring your hands to heart center. We're gonna inhale, Lean forward, Straighten that back leg, And then exhale, Bend your back knee. And lean back. Keep going forward and back. Just letting that back knee, That back foot, Propel you through the motion. As you lean forward, And as you lean back. We just have a few more. We're almost done. I know these are really, Really tough. You're doing great. Hang in there just a few more. Pretty soon we're going to lean forward with the chest. Then we're going to extend the arms forward by our ears. There we go, And let's step the foot to the other foot, Front of the mat for chair pose. Inhale here, And exhale, Stand up and relax your arms. Inhale, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, Flat back, And step your feet back into a plank position. Inhale, Shift forward a little. Exhale, Take your hips back into downward facing dog. Take a moment to shake out your head, Pedal out your. . . Hips and your knees a little bit just kind of make sure everything's feeling nice and long and relaxed and warm. Now shift forward to your plank position and make your way down onto your forearms. So forearm plank now. Inhale here and then exhale on the left. We're going to come onto the left forearm, Pick up the right arm. We're on the inside and outside edges of the feet. Inhale here. Exhale for the other side. Right forearm down, Left arm up. Try to lift your hips a little bit higher, Push the floor away as much as you can. And then lower down onto your right hip. Your right arm is going to go long on the floor, So it works as a pillow for your head. And bend your knees and you want your heels to be in line with your hips. We're going to pick up the top leg and we're going to bring that knee forward, Keeping the leg in this bench shape and keeping the bench shape, Kick your leg back. As you bring it forward, You inhale. And as you kick it back, You exhale. And you can always put one hand on your hip. Kind of feel the hips are stable, The torso is stable. All about the stability of the hip joint and stability of the core also. You can also put your left hand out on the floor in a little tent in front of you for a little extra stability, A little extra help. Important that the leg is always keeping that same shape because we're going to keep building on this as you now extend your left leg along. As you bring your leg forward, Like kicking off of your mat, You point your toes. As you exhale, You draw your leg back in line with your hip and you flex your foot. So as you inhale, You lift and you point. Exhale as you kick back and you flex. Inhale as you lift and point. Exhale as you kick back and flex. And again, Checking on those stable hips, On that stable core. You should really feel a burning in the side of your hip and your glutes. Now once you have your leg back in line with your hips, Extend your left arm long. We're going to lift up the arm and leg at the same time. So they make like a 45 degree angle to the floor. And exhale, Lower them down to where they were. At the same time like a puppet inhale leg and arm up Exhale, Leg and arm down. Trying to not lift the legs so high. Your chest or your torsos starts to fall back. Okay, Now we're going to hold at 45 degrees and we're just going to pulse here. 10, 9, 10. Eight, Seven, Six, 5. . . 4. . . 3, 2, 1. Nice job. Put that top knee down and slide it way forward off of your other knee and extend your other leg long. Your bottom leg is now going to flex and we're going to float and pulse that bottom leg for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Three, Two, And one. That is your inner thigh talking to you. And you can relax it down. We're going to do the other side now, So whether you just want to flip over, Flip around, However you want to do this, We're going to meet on the left side of the body. Left arm is long, Knees are bent, And heels are in line with the hips. All right, Let's float that top leg. And we're going to keep that leg in that bent shape, Flex the foot, And we're going to draw the knee into the chest. And then we're going to kick the leg back while keeping the hips and core stable. Sometimes the second side is a little harder because one side is already a little tired. Just be mindful of that. Focus on your breathing and just go really slow, Trying to refine this movement. Trying to keep the leg exactly the same shape, Trying to keep it floating in line with the hip. This is kind of their preparatory motion before we now extend the legs. And we kick it forward, We point the toes. Exhale, We kick it back and we flex. Inhale, Let go of the paintbrush of your toes. Pointing the toes forward and exhale, Kicking long through the heel as you kick the leg back. Almost done here. The burn is strong on the side of that hip, I know. Next time you have it just in line with your body, We're going to open the arm out down along our side, And we're going to, Like a puppet, Inhale, Lift up the leg and the arm up. And exhale at the same time, Lower arm and leg. Try and coordinate it so you inhale and lift at the same time. And exhale, Lower down. Inhale up to like a 45 degree angle. And we lower down. If you can hang in there, We have just a few more left. Keep breathing. You can always make the mood a little smaller if you need to. Before we go into our pulses, Go ahead and start pulsing for 10, 9, 8. 8, 7, 6, 5, Five, Four, Three, Two, And one. Nice job. Bring that knee in towards your chest. Send your other leg long, Flex your foot, And then just pulse your bottom leg, Feeling that tension. Inner thigh waking up, Trying to kick your heel long, Trying to get as much height as you can from the floor. Just a few more and lower down. Nice job. All right, Let's meet up in a seated position. We're gonna hug the knees into our chest and roll forward, Put the hands on the floor. Meet up in a tabletop position. Now drop your belly, Lift your chest as you inhale, Look forward. And exhale, Round your spine, Push the floor away. Inhale, Heavy belly, Light heart. Exhale, Rolling back. Okay, We're going to do a little bit of a burnout round for the core now. So meet me back in a plank position. And exhale, Push back into down dog. Now inhale, Come to plank, And then right knee is gonna go to left elbow, Left knee to right elbow, And push back to down dog. We're going to add on to this. Inhale, Forward to plank. Now we go right, Left, Right again, And left again. So that's four total. And we go back to down dog. Now we're going to do six. So three sets of two, Right and left and right. And lift just one more set, Right and left and push back to dog. We're gonna keep going, Inhale forward to plank, And you got it. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Two, One, Push back to downward facing dog. And last round, Inhale forward to plank, And we go 10. 8, So strong, 7. Two and one nice job we're going to put the knees down We're gonna sit back, You can take a child's pose. Maybe open up your knees a little wider. Take your time finding a nice comfortable position for your arms. And take a few deep breaths. Really nice job. Definitely not easy what we've just done. A lot of core activation, A lot of balance, A lot of challenges to our stability. Walk your hands back in towards you. Then we're just going to bring the insides of the wrist together and then kind of like drawing circles with the wrist. There's always one part of your wrist that's touching. You're just kind of drawing circles with your hands and your wrists and then try going the other way. Just trying to release the wrists a little after all those planks. Give them a little shape. And then come down onto your butt so you're sitting. On your hips. Take both legs out in front of you and fold your right leg back like a tree pose we did before. Inhale, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Fold over your left leg. I'm breathing deeply here. Allowing your torso to fall down thanks to gravity. Little closer to the floor for that lovely opening in the low back. Especially in the right lower back. Inhale, Reach your arms up. And next we're going to twist towards the right. So your left hand is on your right knee, Your right hand is back behind you. Setting up really tall and taking that twist. Alright, From here we're going to inhale, Pick the right arm up, And then lean over the straight legs. It's going to end up being a sort of a side stretch. Then come up, Put the right hand back behind you, Pick up the hips, And reach back with your left arm. Beautiful stretch for the chest and the side body, And lower the hips down. Let's try the other side. So fold your left leg back in now, Right leg is straight. Inhale, Arms reach up. Exhale folding over your straight leg. Relaxing your forehead down, Your neck down, Your whole upper body is kind of being pulled down by gravity here. Breathing deeply into that left lower back area. We're going to inhale, Come up, Reach the arms up once again. And exhale, Twist to your left. So have right hand on your left knee. And left hand is back behind you, Making sure your spine is really long and tall. You're flexing your right foot so that straight leg is really active. And then inhale, We're gonna pick up the left arm. And exhale, Lean over the right straight leg. Almost feels like it's behind you. You're going to lean over, Find that beautiful side stretch on the left leg. Inhale, Come up, Put the hand behind you. Press into it and lift your heels and your chest away. You can reach back or you can reach to the side, Depending how comfortable you are. Backbend your side stretch you want it. Lower your hips down and relax. Good. Extend both legs forward. And have your knees bent, Your feet are at the top of the mat, Your knees are bent. We're going to inhale, Reach the arms up. And slowly roll down onto our backs. And we are all done for today. We are ready for our savasana, For our rest position. Feel free to take up some space with your legs, Your arms, Turn your palms up, Close your eyes. And take a moment to really find a comfortable position and fully relax into the floor after all that effort. Really allow your body to release any last bits of tension or work. Or trying or striving and just let your body be. Completely relax and be here for these next few minutes. Feel your breath rising and falling, Your belly softening. And just let your mind rest on the sensations of your body and your breath. Start to deepen your breath. And bring some gentle movement into fingertips and toes, Wrists and ankles, And take a big stretch. Reach your arms, Point your toes, Big inhale. And exhale. Hug your knees into your chest. And slowly make your way on to one side. Give yourself a little hug, Curl up into the fetal position. I appreciate this practice. And meet me in a cross-legged position. Take your time. Once you're in your cross-legged position, Inhale, Sweep your arms up overhead. Making a basket with your hands, Bring the basket down from the heart center and flip it inside out. Push your palms away. And around your back so you stretch your upper back. And I'll bring the hands up still about. And then exhale, Relax the arms, Wiggle the shoulders, Give yourselves a little shake. And a little round of applause.