This is a gentle class appropriate for all levels of practitioner. In 30 minutes we do reclined, seated, kneeling, and standing poses. Focus is on spinal mobility, hip opening, and linking breath to movement.
Meet your Teacher
Annapolis, MD, USA
Transcript
Hey there, Welcome. This is a 30-minute yoga class. It is accessible to all levels of practitioner. We will do a number of yoga poses that are great for us to do every day. This will take about 30 minutes. Feels great. You'll notice here I have two blocks. Those are not necessary. If you have them, You might like to use those at some point, But again, Not necessary. We're going to start on our backs. We'll make our way to our seat. Kneeling, Standing, And come back down. So let's do this. I invite you to find a comfortable position on your back. Let's bend our knees, Feet flat, And then open your knees wide. We'll begin like many yoga classes do with a breathing exercise. This is called Deirdre breath, Three stage breath. Take your right hand, Put it on your belly. Take your left hand, Put it on your chest. We'll do this numerous times. Big deep breath then into your belly, Right hand rises. Bring that same breath up into your chest. Left hand rises. Bring that same breath all the way up to the top. Let it all go. Breathe into your belly, Right hand rises. Same breath up into your chest, Left hand rises. Same breath all the way up to the top. Let it all go. One more time, Big deep breath down into your belly. Same breath up into your chest. Same breath all the way up to the top. Let it all go. Bring your knees back together, Feet are flat on the mat, Open your arms wide, Knees fall to the right. Knees back to center. Knees fall to the left. Knees back to center. Feet flat on the mat. Send those legs long. Take your arms overhead behind you. Big stretch. Big morning stretch we call this. Fingers way back. Toes way away. Those shoulders are engaged. If your shoulders don't like this, You can soften your arms by bending your elbows. Reach more with your right hand. Reach more with your left hand. Reach more with your right hand again. Tilt your toes to the ceiling. Reach with your heels. Reach more with your left hand. And then bend your right knee and bring your right knee to both hands. With our breath, We're going to pull this knee in towards our chest. Here we go. Inhale, Exhale, Pull that right knee in. Inhale, Exhale, Pull that right knee in. Maybe you have a little more space for this. One more time. Inhale, Exhale, Pull that right knee in. Relax that, Right knee stays in your right hand, Left hand out to the side, Use your right hand to open your right knee out to the side. Right knee back to the center. The left hand comes to your right knee, Right hand out to the side. Use your left hand to pull your right knee across your body to the left. Twist back to the center and straighten that right leg up to the ceiling, Hands behind your thigh. To support your leg might feel nice. Draw circles with your foot at the ankle. Draw circles with that foot. Whatever direction you're drawing those circles, Reverse direction, Draw them the other way. And then bend that right knee, Set that right foot down, Send your right leg long, Take your arms overhead behind you, Big stretch. Bend your left knee, Bring your left knee to both hands. Inhale, Exhale, Pull that left knee in. Inhale, Exhale, Pull that left knee in. Maybe you have a little more space for this. One more time. Inhale, Exhale, Pull that left knee in. Relax that, Left knee stays in your left hand, Right hand out to the side. Use your left hand to open that left knee out to the side. Bring that knee back to the center, Right hand comes to your left knee. Left hand out to the side. Use your right hand to pull your left knee across your body to the right. Come back to the center, Straighten that left leg up to the sky, Draw circles with your left foot at your ankle. Whatever direction you draw in those circles, Reverse direction, Draw them the other way. Bend your left knee. Set your left foot down. Send your left leg long. Arms overhead, Big stretch again. Hands back down by either side. Bend your knees. Feet flat on the mat. Roll your hips up. To the ceiling, Bridge pose. Lower your hips. Bring your knees to your chest, This time straighten both feet up. To the ceiling. Bend your knees. Feet flat on the mat. Send your legs long. Arms by either side. We're going to do two rounds of our reclined sun salutation. We've done all the components of it so far. Here we go. Arms overhead big reach. Bend your right knee, Bring your right knee to both hands, Pull your right knee in. Send your right leg long, Arms overhead, Big reach. Bend your left knee, Bring your left knee to both hands, Pull your left knee in. Send your left leg long, Arms overhead, Big reach. Hands back down by either side. Bend your knees. Feet flat on the mat. Open your arms wide, Knees fall to the right. Knees back to center. Knees fall to the left. Knees back to center, Feet flat on the mat, Arms by either side, Roll those hips up to the ceiling. Lower your hips, Bring your knees to your chest, Send your feet up to the ceiling. Bend your knees, Feet flat on the mat, Send your legs long. Let's do that one more time and then we'll transition. Arms overhead, Big reach. Bend your right knee, Bring your right knee to both hands, Pull your right knee in. Send your right leg long, Arms overhead, Big reach. Bend your left knee, Bring your left knee to both hands, Pull your left knee in. Left leg long, Arms overhead, Big reach. Hands back down by either side. Bend your knees, Feet flat on the mat, Open your arms wide, Knees fall to the right. Knees back to the center. Knees fall to the left. Knees back to center, Feet flat on the mat, Arms by either side, Push your hips up to the ceiling. Lower your hips. Bring your knees to your chest. Straighten your feet up. To the ceiling. Bend your knees, Feet flat on the mat, Send your legs long, Your arms down by either side, And let's roll up. To a seated position. Okay, We want to sit cross-legged if that is available to us. For many people, Soles of the feet touching is better and more comfortable. If that's the case for you, That's fine. Let's sit up nice and tall. Let's roll our shoulders up to our ears. Our shoulder blades back down our back. Take our right hand to our right knee, Our left hand to our left knee. Let's draw circles with our torso. Big slow circles. With our tour, So. Whatever direction you're drawing those circles, Let's reverse direction. Draw them the other way. Come back to stillness where we started. Take your arms wide. Hands down by either side. Palms facing up, We'll do a seated cat cow. So with your inhale, Lift your chest, Lift your gaze, Push your shoulder blades together. And with your exhale, Round your shoulders, Chin to chest. A few more times. Inhale. Lift your gaze. Lift your chest. Push your shoulder blades together. Exhale, Around your shoulders, Chin to chest. Two more times. Inhale, Open up towards the ceiling. Exhale around your shoulders, Chin to chest. Inhale, Lift your chest, Lift your gaze. Exhale around your shoulders, Chin to chest. Come back to that neutral position where we started. Take your arms wide. Bring your hands back down by either side. Lift your arms up high overhead, Big reach, Big extension of our spine. And then open your arms. Twist to the right. Come back to the center, Lift those arms up high overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the left. One more time, Both sides. Back to the middle, Arms up high overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the right. Back to the middle, Lift your arms up high overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the left. Come back to the middle, Lift your arms up high overhead, And then cross your hands on your knees. Left hand, Right knee. Right hand, Left knee. Sit up nice and tall. Let your chest fall forward. Now, If your lower back is okay with this, See if that chest can be completely heavy. Perhaps it can soften a little bit. You can sink a little bit more. Keep breathing. It's very tempting in a held pose to also hold our breath. Stay with that breath. Is that chest. Sinks a little bit more. And then sit back up, Left hand stays on your right knee, Right hand behind, Sit up tall, Look over that right shoulder. Now we'll do this with our breath also. So as you inhale, Straighten that spine. As you exhale, Twist over that right shoulder. Inhale, Straighten. Exhale, Twist. One more time. Inhale, Straighten. Excel twist. Come back to the middle, Raise those arms up again, And go the other way. Right hand, Left knee, Left hand behind. Inhale, Straighten that spine. Exhale, Twist over that left shoulder. Inhale, Straighten that spine. Exhale, Twist over that left shoulder one more time. Inhale, Straightening. Excel twisting. Now let's go back and forth. Back to the middle, Arms up high overhead. Left hand, Right knee, Right hand behind. Back to the middle, Arms overhead. Right hand, Left knee. Left hand behind. One more time, Both sides. Back to the middle, Lift those arms up. Left hand, Right knee, Right hand behind. Back to the middle, Lift those arms up. Right hand, Left knee, Left hand behind. Back to the middle, Lift those arms up. Cross those hands on those knees. Let that chest fall forward again. Sit back up. Take those arms wide. Right hand down on the floor beside you, Left hand up and over. Cartwheel those arms the other way. Right hand up and over. One more time, Both sides. Cartwheel over, Left hand up. End over. Cartwheel over, Right hand up, And over. Come back to the middle, Both hands up high overhead. Let's bring our hands to heart center and we're going to transition over to our hands and knees. Okay, On our hands and knees, We want to start in tabletop position. That is knees approximately under our hips, Hands approximately under our shoulders. Your toes can be flat or your toes can be tucked, Whichever is more comfortable for you. Let's do a few rounds of a traditional Cat-Cow. So with your inhale, Your gaze is forward. You tuck your tailbone. Your tailbone sort of tilts forward. Chest and belly sink a little bit. And with your exhale, You push away with those hands, Those arms straighten even more. Round your shoulders, Chin to chest. A few more times. Inhale, Gaze forward, Tuck your tailbone. Exhale, Around your shoulders, Chin to chest. Two more times. Inhale, Gaze forward. Exhale, Round your shoulders, Chin to chest. One more time. Inhale, Gaze forward. Exhale, Round your shoulders, Chin to chest. Come back to that neutral tabletop position and let's draw circles with our torso. Big slow circles with our torso. We are pulling our hips. Back towards either heel, We are pulling our chest. Up towards either hand. Imagine yourself inside a barrel and you're scraping the sides of the barrel with your torso. Whatever direction you're drawing these circles, Reverse direction, Draw them the other way. And come back to that neutral tabletop position. Spread your knees wider than your hips and let your hips fall back towards your heels for a child's pose. A resting child's pose. Arms relaxed, Shoulders relaxed, Upper back relaxed. Hips as heavy back towards your heels. As your body will allow. Come back up to tabletop position. Shift those hands forward about one hand length on the mat. Left hand on top of your right hand. Push your hips back. Towards your left heel. Rise back up, Left hand back to the left side of the mat, Right hand on top of your left hand. Push your hips back towards your right heel. Rise back up. Come back into that tabletop position. And lower your forearms down to the mat. Forearms are flat on the mat. Upper arm is straight up and down. Hips are still up in the air. This is a version of puppy pose. Push away with your hands, And stand up on your knees. Take those arms up high overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the right. Back to the middle, Arms overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the left. Back to the middle, Arms overhead, Right hand grab your left, Right wrist. Bend to the right. Come back to the middle, Switch hands, Bend to the left. Come back to the middle, Cactus your arms. Look at the ceiling, Lift your chest, Push your hips forward, Lean back. This is a version of camel pose. Arms up high overhead. Hands back down to the mat. Forearms back down to the mat. Let's do that one more time. Push away with your hands, Stand up on your knees, Take your arms overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the right. Come back to the middle, Arms overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the left. Come back to the middle, Arms overhead, Right hand grab your left wrist, Bend to the right. Back to the middle, Switch hands, Bend to the left. Back to the middle, Cactus your arms. Face and chest up to the ceiling. Arms up high overhead. Hands to Heart Center. Back down to tabletop position, And however it works for you to get here, We want to bring our right foot forward in between our hands. Now, I'm not going to use the blocks for those of you who are not using blocks. If you have blocks, The nice thing about them is they bring the floor closer to your hands. I'm not going to use those in order to do it the same way as the people who aren't using the blocks. Right foot is forward in between my hands, Left knee down. We want that right shin. Roughly perpendicular to the floor. Shift your weight forward, More deeply bend that right knee. Sinking into those hips, You'll see my left thigh is tilted forward. Walk your hands back. Straighten that right leg. Fold over that right leg that is as straight as your body will allow it to be. This is called a halfway split, Runner's lunge. Lift those toes up. That has the effect of pushing your heel away. And that straightens your leg a little more. Walk your hands forward, Shift your weight forward, Or deeply bend that right knee. Walk your hands back, Straighten that right leg, Fold over that relatively straight right leg, Halfway split runner's lunge. One more time, Walk those hands forward, Shift your weight forward, More deeply bend that right knee. Walk your hands back. Straighten that right leg. Fold over that right leg that is as straight as your body will allow it to be. Halfway split runner's lunge. Walk your hands forward, Either side of that right foot where we started. Stand up on your left knee. This is called coach position. Take your arms up high overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the right. Back to the middle, Arms overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the left. Back to the middle, Arms overhead. Cactus your arms, Gaze and face up to the sky. Arms overhead, Hands to heart center, Left elbow down to your right knee. Unwind that, Bring those arms up high overhead. Hands back down to either side of that right foot. However it works for you to do this, We want to switch feet. So that right knee comes back. That left foot comes forward. Again, However you get there is the right way to get there. Again, Left shin now is roughly perpendicular to the floor. That left foot is up in between the hands. Shift your weight forward more deeply bend. That left me. Walk those hands back. Straighten that left leg. Fold over that relatively straight left leg, Halfway split runner's lunge. Walk your hands forward, Shift your weight forward, More deeply bend that left knee. Walk your hands back, Straighten that left leg, Halfway split runner's lunge. One more time. Walk those hands forward. Shift that weight forward. More deeply bend that left knee. And walk those hands back. Straighten that left leg. Fold over that relatively straight left leg. Runner's lunge. Walk your hands forward, Either side of that left foot. Stand up. On that right knee, Coach position. Arms overhead, This is a low lunge. Open your arms, Twist to the right. Back to the middle, Arms overhead. Open your arms, Twist to the left. Back to the middle, Arms overhead, Cactus your arms, Face and chest to the ceiling. Arms overhead. Hands to heart center, Right elbow down to your left knee. Unwind that. Arms up high overhead. Hands back down to either side of your left foot. Here comes our next transition. Bend that right knee, Tuck your right toes, Lift that right knee up off of the mat. Step your right foot forward to be next to your left foot. And you're in a forward fold. Okay, If your lower back allows it. Shoulders relaxed, Arms relaxed, Neck relaxed. If your lower back allows it. Your arms can swing freely underneath your gaze. However, If you'd like to rest your hands on something. And they don't reach the floor. You could rest your hands on your shins. You could rest your hands or your elbows on your knees. And then as slowly as you like. Roll all the way up. To a standing. Position. So we started on our backs. We move to our seat. We move to hands and knees. Finally, We're standing. Let's take those feet just about hip width apart. Shake your arms out so they're nice and heavy. And then twist side to side, Empty coat sleeves. All right, Come back to where we started. Roll your shoulders up to your ears. Shoulder blades back down your back. Arms are what they call externally rotated. Your palms are facing forward, Inside of your palms facing forward. If your quadriceps are engaged, You can do that by bringing your kneecaps up to your hips. Core is engaged. Mountain pose. Very strong pose. Okay. Lift those arms up high overhead. Right hand, Grab your left wrist. Bend to the right. Come back to the middle, Switch hands, Bend to the left. Come back to the middle, Cactus your arms, Face and chest up to the ceiling. Arms overhead, Hands to heart center, Back to mountain pose. Two more times, Lift those arms up high overhead. Right hand, Grab your left wrist, Bend to the right. Come back to the middle, Switch hands, Bend to the left. Come back to the middle, Cactus your arms. Chest and face to the ceiling. Arms overhead. To your heart center. Back to mountain pose. One more time. Lift those arms up high overhead. Right hand, Grab your left wrist, Bend to the right. Come back to the middle, Switch hands, Bend to the left. Come back to the middle, Cactus your arms, Face and chest to the ceiling. Arms overhead, Hands to heart center. Back to mountain pose. Okay, We're gonna do. . . Three rounds of a half turn. Sun salutation. So we start in our mountain pose. Lift those arms up high overhead. Dive down to a forward fold. We were here just a few minutes ago. The next thing we do is flatten our back. There's two ways to do that. One is called a halfway lift. Bring your hands approximately to your knees. That flattens your back. The other option is to just bend your knees a lot more. That flattens your back. Then we fold again. And then we come all the way up. Haynes to Heart Center. Back to mountain pose. Let's do that two more times. Arms up high overhead. Dive down to a forward fold. Halfway lift, Flatten your back. Fold again all the way out. And it's the Heart Center. Back to mountain pose one more time. Lift those arms up higher overhead. Dive down to a forward fold. Halfway lift, Flatten your back. Fold again all the way up. Haines to heart center, Back to mountain pose. Okay. Arms up high overhead. Bend your knees, Sink your hips, Tilt your chest and your arms forward. This is called chair pose. Quadriceps are engaged. Chest and arms are tilted forward. If your arms are okay with it, Imagine in your room where this wall meets the ceiling. That's where you're pointing with your hands. If your shoulders and arms aren't good with that, Options are hands to heart center. We're just letting those arms be a little more relaxed. First one is all the way down. Big inhale, Exhale, Forward fold like we just did. Halfway lift, Flatten your back. Fold again, Rise all the way up. Here's the heart center. Back to mountain pose. Okay. Lift those arms up high overhead. Bend your knees, Sink your hips, Tilt your chest and your arms forward. Bring your hands behind your back. And your chest down towards your knees, Ski jumper. Back to chair pose. Hands to heart center, Left elbow down to your right knee. Back to chair pose. Hands behind your back, Chest to your knees. Back to chair pose. Hands to heart center, Right elbow down to your left knee. Back to chair pose. Hands behind your back, Chest to your knees. Back to chair pose. Big inhale. Exhale, Forward fold. Halfway lift, Flatten your back. Fold again, And then rise all the way up. He used to heart center. Back to Mountain Post. Awesome, Okay. Let's take our feet. A little bit wider than our hips. Lift your toes. Point your toes out to the side. Take your arms overhead. Bring your hands to heart center. And then bend your knees and sink your hips down, Down, Down, Down, Down towards the mat. This is a yogi squat. When you've gotten as low as your body will allow you to go. Most of us reach the edge with our hips or our knees or our ankles. When you get as low as you can go, Take one more breath. And return to a seat. On the map. Okay. Legs are straight. Legs are together. Take your arms overhead. And then just fold forward, Your hands fall down to your legs. Wherever they do. We're not straining to touch our toes. Your hands just come down to your legs wherever they are. Relax your shoulders, Relax your arms. If your neck is okay with it, Let your head be heavy. This is called a seated forward fold. And then roll yourself all the way back. On to our back. Bend your knees feet flat on the mat. Open your arms wide. Knees fall to the right. Knees back to center, Feet flat on the mat. Knee fall to the left. Back to the center, Feet flat on the mat, Arms by either side. Push those hips up to the ceiling. Bridge pose. Lower your hips. Bring your knees to your chest and your hands to your knees. Gently rock side to side on your lower back. And then come to stillness. Straighten your legs straight up to the ceiling, Legs up the wall, Hands behind your thighs to support your legs. And then bend your knees. Feet flat on the mat. Send your legs long. Your arms by either side. We'll transition to Shavasana. Now I am a big proponent of a long shavasana. I won't do that on this video. So I invite you to lie here for as long as you wish. Melting into the mat. And I thank you so much for joining me. If you're not following me, I'd love for you to follow me on Insight Timer. Have a wonderful day.
