Yoga Flow: Side Body Expansion & Strength
Welcome to this 41-minute Hatha Vinyasa audio practice designed to help you create space through the sides of your body while building strength from head to toe. Guided entirely through audio, this immersive experience allows you to turn inward, listen deeply, and flow intuitively with your breath. Through a steady and grounded sequence of side stretches, dynamic holds, and core engagement, you’ll awaken your obliques, lengthen your spine, and strengthen your entire body. This class moves at a mindful pace, combining the structure of Hatha with the fluidity of Vinyasa, offering space to feel and explore each posture. Perfect for mornings when you want to energise your body or evenings when you need to reset and release tension. You’ll need: A yoga mat, optional blocks, or a cushion. Let your breath guide you as you expand, strengthen, and connect inward. Optional: Choose your favourite Insight Timer music as a background track
Transcript
So we'll start today's practice in child's pose,
Bringing the knees as wide as the mat,
Toes together,
Start sinking the hips towards the heels and walking the fingers towards the top edge of the mat.
Inhale,
Lengthen the spine,
Pull the shoulder blades away from the ears and as you exhale slowly allow yourself to melt towards the earth,
Allowing the chest to drop down,
Maybe the forehead touches the earth and start coming into the body and connecting to the breath,
Feeling your belly rise and fall as you inhale and as you exhale softening the jaw,
The forehead,
The shoulders and just forgetting about anything that happened today allowing yourself to come into the here and now,
Connecting to the breath,
Feeling the body on the earth and your next inhale,
Slowly start looking towards the front edge of the mat,
Coming onto the fingertips and walking your way over towards the left side of the room,
Inhale as you lengthen the spine and exhale,
Start melting towards the earth,
Allowing your right sit bone to reach towards the right heel and your right fingertips to reach out even further,
Feeling the stretch in your right side body,
Again keeping the shoulders soft,
Relaxing the jaw and the forehead and breathing into the stretch in your right side body,
Staying here for a couple of long deep breaths and as you inhale,
Slowly start to gaze towards the fingertips,
Tending the fingers and walking your way over towards the right side of the room or your mat,
Inhale as you lengthen the spine and exhale,
Sinking towards the earth,
Reaching the left sit bone towards the left heel,
Left fingertips reaching even further to really get that stretch through the left side body,
Shoulders stay away from the ears,
Feeling the shoulder blades gliding down the back and sending your breath into your left side,
Finding that balance between effort and ease,
Breathing deeply and slowly,
On your next inhale,
Slowly start to gaze back towards your hands and walk your way over to the centre of the mat,
Coming into tabletop,
Bringing your hands underneath the shoulders,
Your knees underneath your hips and we'll come into some cat cow,
So as you inhale,
Start dropping the belly,
Opening up the chest towards the front edge of the room and as you exhale,
Tilt from your pelvis as you round your spine,
Chin to chest,
Pressing the floor away with your hands,
Inhale as you drop the belly,
Open up the chest,
Exhale,
Round the spine,
Chin to chest,
Pressing the earth away,
Inhale,
Open the chest,
Dropping the belly,
Gaze forward and exhale as you round the spine,
Bringing the chin towards the chest,
On your next inhale,
We'll meet in neutral,
Start extending the right leg long behind you,
Turn the left chin towards the left side of the mat and inhale the right arm up towards the sky,
Really reaching the fingertips up,
Tilting the pelvis forward,
Engaging the glutes so you're in one long line,
As you inhale,
Reach the right arm overhead,
Keeping the shoulder away from the ear and then slowly with a strong core,
Start lifting yourself up,
Coming into open gate,
Really pressing the right foot down,
Bring your right hand towards your right shin and left arm reaches up and over,
Feeling the stretch along the left side of your body,
Taking a deep breath in here and exhale,
Cartwheel the left hand back towards the floor,
As your right arm reaches up and overhead,
Inhale with a strong core,
Reaching back up,
Right hand comes to the shin,
Left arm reaches up and over,
Shoulders away from the ears,
Take a deep breath in,
Lengthen,
Feel the stretch and exhale,
As you drop the left arm,
Right arm reaches up and over,
Last round,
Inhale as you reach the right arm back,
Engaging the core,
Lifting the left arm up and over,
Feeling the stretch,
Really reaching the left fingertips over towards the back of the room,
Shoulder blades gliding down the back and as you inhale,
Coming back towards the earth,
Reaching the right arm up and then slowly circling it back down,
Bringing the left shin back into parallel,
Reaching the right leg up,
Squaring off the hips,
Really pressing the hands into the earth,
Reaching your back leg back,
Hold,
Engaging the core,
Crown of the head reaches towards the front edge of the room,
Feeling the glutes engage,
Taking one more deep breath in and as you exhale,
Start rounding the spine,
Bring the knee towards the chin and then slowly we'll step the leg through,
Bringing the right hand on the inside of your right foot,
Maybe shifting the back knee back a little and then inhale,
Open up the chest,
So keeping the glutes engaged,
Exhale,
Start shifting your hips back,
Lengthening your right leg,
Inhale,
Shift forward,
Open the chest,
Exhale,
Shifting back,
Lengthening,
Inhale,
Shift forward,
Open the chest,
Exhale,
Shift back,
This time we'll keep the left,
The right leg extended,
Inhale as we lengthen the spine and exhale as we fold a little deeper,
Staying here for a couple breaths,
Really breathing into your right leg,
Feeling the stretch,
Maybe flexing and extending the foot or staying in stillness,
Staying aware of any tension you're holding around the jaw or the shoulders and releasing that,
Really staying with the breath and with the stretch,
On your next inhale,
Slowly start rebending that right leg and then coming back into your tabletop position,
Taking one round of cat cow,
Inhale as you drop the belly,
Open the chest,
Exhale,
Round the spine,
Chin to chest,
Inhale,
Coming back to centre,
Extending the left leg long,
Turning the right shin towards the back,
The side edge of the mat,
Coming onto the inner part of your left foot and inhale,
The left arm open to the sky,
Exhale as you reach the left arm overhead and then inhale,
Really engage the core as you lift up,
Placing your left hand on your left shin,
Right arm reaches up and over,
Inhale as you come back down,
Placing the right hand on the earth,
Left arm reaches up and overhead,
Exhale,
Reach back up,
Left hand comes to left shin,
Right arm reaches up and over,
Really reaching the right hand over towards the back side of the room,
Opening up the right side body and exhale as you slowly lower the right hand back down,
Left arm reaches up and over,
Keeping the glutes engaged,
The core strong,
Inhale,
Reaching back up,
Left arm comes down,
Right arm reaches up and over,
Shoulders away from the ears,
Holding here,
Really reach,
Engaging the core,
Engaging the glutes,
Reaching the fingertips over towards the back,
Opening up the side body and as you exhale,
Slowly releasing back down,
Reaching the right arm up,
Coming back to the centre of your mat,
Inhaling,
The left leg reaches long behind you,
Engaging the core,
Levelling out the hips,
Making sure that your leg's not too high,
It can be low but don't arch the back,
Really pressing the floor away from you,
Engaging the core,
Crown of the head is reaching towards the front edge of the room,
Breathing here,
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,
Start bringing the knee towards the chest and then with control,
Step it through in between your hands,
Placing your left hand on the left side of your foot,
Shifting the back knee back slightly and inhale as you start to open up the chest,
You can come onto your fingertips or onto blocks if you need more space and then exhale as you slowly start to shift your hips back,
Extending the left leg,
Inhale,
Reach forward,
Bending the left leg,
Opening up the chest,
Exhale as you shift back and lengthen,
Inhale,
Reach forward,
Bending the leg,
Opening up the chest,
Exhale,
Shifting back,
Lengthening the spine,
Inhale,
Shift forward,
Open the chest,
Exhale,
Shift back,
This time keeping the left leg long,
Walking the fingertips slightly closer,
Inhale,
Lengthening the spine and exhale as we fold,
Reaching the chest towards the earth,
Keeping the spine long,
Left leg is long,
Stay still,
You can start flexing and extending the left foot,
Breathing into your left leg,
Still engaging the core,
Now your next inhale,
Slowly start to re-bend your left leg,
Coming back into tabletop,
Bringing your hands underneath your shoulders,
Knees underneath your hips,
Another round of cat cow,
So as you inhale,
You open the chest,
You drop the belly and this time as you exhale round the spine,
Start tucking the toes under,
Pressing your hands into the floor as you reach back into your first downward facing dog,
Finding your down dog,
Pedalling out the feet,
Positioning yourself so that your feet are hips distance,
Your hands are shoulder width apart,
Really spreading the fingers into the earth and then maybe finding stillness,
Taking a few deep breaths here,
Really feeling your pose,
Your downward facing dog and then keeping your spine exactly where it is,
As you inhale,
Start bending the knees towards the earth but not letting them touch and then exhale,
Start extending both legs back long,
Inhale,
Bend the legs,
Exhale,
Extend,
Really pressing the fingertips and the palms into the earth,
Inhale,
Bend,
Exhale,
Extend,
Coming to stillness,
Bringing the feet close together and then inhale,
Reach your right leg up towards the sky,
Keeping the hips level and then exhale,
Slowly bend the knee,
Bring your knee towards your chest and we'll step the foot in between the hands,
Finding your low lunge,
Maybe placing your left foot slightly more towards the left side of the mat,
Engage the core,
Engage the glutes,
Really start sending the hips towards each other,
Reach the arms back,
Finding your strength and then as you inhale,
Slowly start lifting your torso up,
Reaching the fingertips up towards the sky,
Shoulder blades slide down,
Core and glutes are strong,
Finding your crescent pose,
As you inhale,
Slowly start lengthening your front leg and exhale,
Bend the front leg,
As you cactus the arms open towards the side,
Inhale,
Lengthen the arms,
Lengthen the leg,
Exhale,
Bend,
Keeping the legs bent,
Inhale,
Lengthen the arm up to the sky and exhale,
Place the hands onto the earth,
Step your right leg back to meet your left,
Hold it in your plank,
Really pressing the floor away with your hands,
As you inhale,
Lengthen the arms up to the sky,
As you exhale,
Lengthen the heels,
Reach back,
Shoulders are over the wrists,
Take one more deep breath in here and exhale,
Slowly with control,
Start lowering all the way to the earth,
Flattening the tops of the feet on the earth,
Bringing the fingertips on either side of your mat,
Tenting the fingertips,
Elbows are facing up towards the sky,
Start lifting your chest forward and up,
As you press the tops of your feet into the earth and exhale,
Slowly release back down,
Inhale,
Lift,
Opening up the chest,
Pressing the tops of the feet down,
Exhale,
Left shoulder comes to the earth,
As your gaze comes to the right,
Inhale,
Lift up,
Exhale,
Right shoulder drops,
As your gaze goes to the left,
Inhale,
Lift up,
Exhale,
Lower,
Placing your hands underneath your shoulders,
Tucking the toes and either coming up into a plank with straight legs or you can use your knees to lift yourself back up and then press back into downward facing dog,
Inhale,
Your left leg up to the sky,
Squaring off the hips and exhale,
Bend the knee,
Bring it forward,
Step it in between your hands,
Finding your fitting for your crescent lunge,
Maybe placing your right foot slightly more towards the right edge of the mat,
Inhale,
Engage the core,
Reach the arms back,
Shoulders are reaching towards the back edge of the room,
Crown of the head is reaching forward,
As you inhale,
Slowly start lifting your weight all the way into your crescent lunge,
Fingertips reaching up,
Left knee is over the left ankle,
Hips are shining forward,
Breathing here,
Finding your crescent lunge,
On your next inhale,
Slowly start lengthening all the way up and as you exhale,
Bend the knee,
Bend the elbows,
Inhale,
Lengthen,
Engaging the core,
Engaging the glutes,
Exhale,
Bend,
Inhale,
Lengthen,
Exhale,
Bend,
Inhale,
Lengthen,
Exhale,
Bend,
This time keeping the knees bent,
As you inhale,
Lengthen the arms up to the sky and exhale,
Bring your palms back to the earth,
Stepping back into your plank,
Inhale here,
Exhale,
Shift back into your downward facing dog,
Coming high onto the toes,
Start shifting your weight forward,
Bringing your shoulders over your wrists and then bending the knees and gliding back,
Coming into spinal wave,
Inhale,
Coming high onto the toes,
Shifting forward,
Exhale,
Bending the knees,
Shift back,
Inhale,
Shift forward,
Shoulders over wrists,
Exhale,
Bending the knees,
Shift and back and then coming into your downward facing dog,
Finding stillness,
Coming back to the breath,
Hopefully we didn't actually lose the breath,
Really pressing the palms of the hands into the earth,
Shoulder blades are gliding down,
Heels are reaching towards the earth and on your next inhale,
Look towards your hands and slowly start walking all the way towards the top of the mat,
Inhale,
Hands to shins,
Flat back,
Exhale,
Fold,
Inhale,
Slowly start rolling yourself up,
Arms reach towards the sky,
Exhale,
Hands to heart,
We'll come into some balancing poses,
So start bringing your right foot towards the inside of your left,
Either thigh or calf,
Bringing your hands to prayer,
Finding your drishti,
Your focus spot,
Engaging the glutes,
Engaging the core,
Trying to press the right knee back slightly,
Squaring off the hips towards the front edge of the room,
Inhaling the arms,
Maybe come up towards the sky again,
Creating that space between the shoulders and the ears,
Breathing here,
Finding your balance,
Your strength and then as you inhale,
Slowly start bringing your knee towards the front,
I'm going to come to the side and then extending your right leg out towards the front edge of the mat,
Holding here for one more breath and then exhale without the foot touching the floor,
Glide back into your warrior three,
Creating a micro bend in your left knee,
Squaring off the hips towards the earth and finding your hand positioning,
So hands either in prayer by the heart,
Reaching back behind you or if you have the balance,
You can reach your arms up above in line with your ears,
Breathing here finding your strong core,
Your strong legs and then on your next exhale,
Slowly start to bend the left knee,
Placing your right toes onto the ground,
Finding your crescent lunge,
Inhale as you reach up and then exhale,
Circle the arms coming back into your plank,
Inhale shift forward,
Exhale lower all the way down to the earth,
Inhale baby cobra,
Opening up the chest,
Reaching it forward,
Exhale release,
Inhale back to plank,
Exhale downward facing dog,
Taking two full rounds of breath here and then on your next inhale,
Look towards your hands,
Jump or step towards the front edge of your mat,
Inhale halfway lift,
Exhale fold,
Inhale root to rise,
Reaching your hands up towards the sky,
Exhale samasthiti,
Hands to heart,
Coming onto the balance on the left side,
Really grounding your right foot down as you bring your left foot either towards the inside of your right thigh or calf,
Bringing your hands to prayer by your heart,
Really engaging the glutes,
Engaging the core,
Pressing energetically,
Pressing the left knee towards the back to really open up the hips,
Shoulders are relaxed,
Finding your drishti and then maybe reaching the arms up towards the sky,
Challenging your balance a little more and then slowly release the left leg and start extending it out long in front of you,
Holding for two deep breaths,
Really finding your strength and then exhale slowly,
Start to shift your way into your warrior three,
Wobbles are completely fine bending,
Creating a slight bend in your right knee,
Really squaring off the hips,
Engaging the core,
Reaching the left leg back,
Finding your arm positioning either in prayer by the heart,
Reaching back or arms reaching forward,
Breathing deeply,
Two more deep breaths here and as you exhale,
Slowly start to bend the right knee with grace,
Coming back into your crescent lunge,
Inhale,
Reaching the fingertips up,
Really still engaging the core,
Engaging the glutes and exhale as you circle the arms,
Coming back into your plank pose,
Your choice of chaturanga,
Either up dog or cobra,
Inhale as you open up the chest,
Exhale as you shift back into your downward facing dog,
Taking two deep long breaths in your down dog,
Finding your strength,
Reaching the heels down,
Pressing the palms away from the earth,
Shoulder blades gliding back,
I sound like a broken record and then on your next inhale,
Look forward,
Either step or jump into seated,
Bringing your left leg out long,
Placing the right sole of the foot on the inside of your left thigh,
Inhale as you reach your arms up towards the sky,
Really lengthening the spine,
Exhale,
Turn your torso towards your left leg,
Flexing the foot and start to hinge from the hips as you fold over your left leg,
Inhale as you lengthen,
Exhale as you fold,
Landing wherever you naturally land,
Maintaining a long spine,
Crown reaching forward and finding acceptance here,
Non-judgment,
Allowing your body to be where it is today,
Every day is different,
Breathing deeply into the sensations,
Start calming down the body and the breath,
And on your next inhale,
Slowly start walking your fingertips back up,
Place your right hand behind you and inhale your way into your baby wild thing,
Reaching your left arm up and back as you lift your hips up towards the sky and as you exhale with control,
Release back down to the earth,
Placing your left hand next to or underneath your left shin,
Place your right hand to your belly,
Opening up the chest,
Bringing it to the chest,
Opening up a little bit more and then inhale,
Reaching the right arm up and over,
Feeling the stretch in your right side,
Breathing here,
Really keeping the chest open towards the side of the room,
Shoulders are reaching away from the ears and then on your next inhale,
Slowly lifting back up,
Placing the right hand back on the earth,
Coming back into your baby wild thing as you inhale,
Opening up the hips,
The chest,
Reaching the left arm back and then exhale,
Slowly releasing back down,
Extending your right leg out long,
Bending your left,
Placing the left sole of the foot on the inside of the right thigh,
Inhale as you reach the arms up towards the sky,
Flexing the right foot,
Turn your torso towards your right leg,
Hinging from the hips as you fold over your right leg,
Inhale as you lengthen,
Exhale as you fold,
Keeping a long spine,
Don't overdo it,
Don't overstretch,
Allowing your body to be where it is,
Noticing the subtle differences between sides and breathing into the sensations,
As you inhale,
Slowly start lifting yourself up,
Placing your left hand behind you and you start inhaling as you open up into your baby wild thing,
Engaging the glutes,
Really pressing the right foot into the earth to open up the chest,
Exhale slowly with control,
Releasing back down,
Placing the right forearm next to or under the right shin and then bringing your hand to,
Your left hand to your belly,
Opening up the belly,
Bringing it to the chest,
Opening up the chest and then inhaling the left arm up and over,
Coming into your side stretch,
Keeping the shoulders away from the ears,
Really feeling the length,
Opening the chest up towards the sky,
Breathing deeply on your next inhale,
Slowly lifting yourself back up,
Placing your left hand on the earth,
Inhaling back into your baby wild thing,
Opening up the chest and the hips and exhale,
Slowly releasing all the way back down,
Making your way onto your back,
Hugging your knees into your chest and then grabbing onto the outer edges of your feet,
Coming into happy baby,
Exploring a little,
Maybe extending one leg and then the other,
Allowing your body to click and make sounds and then slowly coming to stillness,
Really flexing your feet,
Allowing the entire spine to really connect down to the earth,
From the tailbone all the way to the top of the head,
Gently pressing the spine down as you breathe,
Opening up the hips,
Shoulders reaching down and then gently release,
Extending your left leg out long,
Hugging your right knee into your chest,
Extending your right arm out to the side and then with your left hand,
Start bringing your left knee all the way,
With your left hand,
Start bringing your right knee all the way to the left,
Keeping your shoulders connected to the earth,
Breathing into your twist,
Gaze can be up or over towards the right side,
Breathing deeply,
Allowing the spine to twist and relax and your next inhale,
Slowly coming back to centre,
Hugging the right knee into the chest and then swapping,
Extending the right leg,
Hugging the left knee into the chest,
Extending the left arm out long,
Placing the right hand on the outside of the left leg and then twisting over to the right,
Keeping the shoulder blades and the shoulders connected to the earth,
Finding your gaze either towards the ceiling or over towards the left,
Breathing here,
It's more important for your shoulders to stay connected to the earth than for your knee to touch the ground,
Making sure your form is right,
To maintain a healthy spine,
Breathing deeply and your next inhale,
Slowly coming back to centre,
Hugging your left knee into your chest,
Bringing your right knee into your chest as well,
Giving yourself a big squeeze and then slowly releasing all the way down,
Coming into our final pose,
Shavasana,
Allowing your palms to be open,
Arms out wide,
Feet fall open towards the sides,
Taking a deep breath in through the nose and exhale through the mouth,
Releasing with a sigh,
Allowing yourself to completely release and let go,
Staying here for as long as you like,
If you have more time,
I highly recommend staying in your Shavasana for at least two to five more minutes,
But if you're short on time,
Slowly start hugging your knees into your chest,
Then rolling over to your side,
Lifting yourself up,
Coming into a cross-legged position,
Bringing your hands in prayers by your heart,
Bowing your head down to your hands in gratitude for yourself and your practice.
Thank you for showing up on your mat with me today,
I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully see you soon.
Namaste.
