Adaptability: A Full Body 35 Minute Vinyasa Yoga Flow

How we respond to change matters. This full-body yoga practice invites you to move with curiosity and adaptability as we flow through low lunges, simple balance poses, and breath-led movement. You'll be encouraged to adjust each pose to support your body today, discovering that yoga isn't about fitting yourself into a shape—it's about finding the variation that works for you. Leave feeling stronger, more open, and refreshed in both body and mind.

Transcript

Welcome, I'm Kali. This is a vinyasa flow. We will be moving slowly on the breath. It's a progressive flow, So we build on the same flow. Blocks are a great choice, But they are not essential for half splits. We're going to start out in table pose on your mat. We're going to get right into it today. So beginning your Ujjayi breath in through your nose and out through your nose. Wrists under shoulders, Knees under hips, Drop your belly, Lift your head, Feel your chest expand. Inhale. Exhale, Drop your head, Drop your tailbone, Feel your shoulders expand. Inhale, Drop your belly, Lift your head. Exhale, Drop your head, Lift your belly. Inhale, Drop your belly, Lift your head, Lift your tailbone, Arms are straight. Exhale, Feel your shoulders expand. One more round. Neutral spine now. Take the right hand overhead, Palm faces in, Lift the opposite leg. Gentle engagement of the Mula Bandha, Pelvic floor. Uddiyana Bandha, Abdominal lock. Take the arm and the leg out to the side for Awkward Airplane. Bring them back in line. Lower just the hand. Take that left foot over across the right foot. Tap the left toes on the ground off your mat. Turn around and look at that foot. Gentle stretch in the left side of your body. Take that left leg over to the left side, Bend the knee as in a fire hydrant position, Hover it there out to the side, Straighten the leg, Lower the foot. Tuck the back toes, Sit back on that foot to the degree that feels comfortable for you. Planter stretches are not fun for anybody, So you're not alone, But it is really good for you. It's the bottom of a posterior fascia chain. Good. And then from here, You're going to take the right hand off to the side, Sweep the left hand overhead for gate pose. I'm going to turn so you can see. Sweep the left hand down and across your body. Lift your torso, Reaching toward the straight leg. Now on gate pose. Two more rounds. Now this time, If it feels good to you, You can turn your heart a little bit to face the ceiling. Maybe your head drops back. If it feels good, You can turn your heart a little bit to the ground, Open up your back body, Sweep it across, Gay pose. Last time. Gateposts. Bringing your hands down directly in front of you in that table position, But keep your left leg out to the side. Take the left hand, Reaching it up. We're going to thread the needle, Exhale the left hand underneath your right side. Drop the left side of your head on the mat. You're going to feel this in the inner thigh of the left leg. Taking it back up, Resting it down. Taking the right hand out to the side. Exhale, Take it underneath, Thread the needle. You'll get a lot more space on this side. Maybe you want to take the left arm to the ceiling. Can you push through the outside edge of the right hand? To get a little deeper. Exhale, Take the left hand down, Push it down, Come back to that table position. Bring the leg back in. Other side now. Exhale the left hand overhead. Lift the opposite leg. Take it out to the side, Awkward airplane. Take it back in line. Lower the hand, But take that. Right foot and rest it on the ground on the left side. Turn around and look at that foot. Gentle stretch. Down that whole right side of your body. Take that right leg back through the midline out to the side in a fire hydrant position. Straighten the leg out to the side, Lower it there. Tuck the back toes on your kneeling foot and just sit back on that foot a little bit. You want to feel the stretch, But not feel it. Painful. Take the left hand and place it in line with your knee and your foot and sweep that right hand overhead. You don't want to be forward with your hand here. You want to try to be in the same line. So everything's on your mat. Or off your mat. Depending on which way you're facing. Switching sides, Gate pose. Leaning toward the straight leg. Two more times. Take that left hand to the mat. Swoop the right hand overhead. Maybe turn your heart to the ceiling this time. If it feels good to you, You can turn your heart to face the ground. Stretch, Move to your back body. Swoop it across into gate pose last time. Hand to the ground last time. Bringing your hands in front into that table position now. Taking the right hand out to the sides, Thread the needle, Taking the right hand underneath. You might not get your head on the ground for this side. This side is tricky. You might feel it in the inside of that straight leg. You might feel it in your back. Be gentle with your body as you're warming up. Push through the left hand. Come back to that table position with your arms. Take the left hand out to the side. Exhale, Thread the needle. You're gonna get deeper this side. Maybe you take that right arm to the ceiling. Maybe you push through the outside of that left arm. The left palm is facing the ceiling. Exhale the right hand down, Pick the left hand up, Put it down as well. Bring that leg in, Tuck both toes this time and sit back. Gentle plant to stretch. Close your eyes and let your head rest on your hands while you're getting a gentle stretch in your feet. If it's too intense, You lean forward so your hips are off your feet. Otherwise, You sit back. Breathe here. And the invitation for your practice today is to consider adaptability. Not just. . . Flexibility in the positions but flexibility in How you mate challenge. So as you're greeted with the challenge pose like you are right now, You're probably pretty uncomfortable. Rather than resisting, Can you have curiosity? Can you take an inch forward rather than stopping? And find a way to adapt. Rather than resist. Coming forward now. Beautiful. Flatten out your feet and sit back just as a little counter-stretch. Making your way into Downward Facing Dog now. Pushing through your hands to create a straight line from your wrists to your hips. Knees can be soft here. Take a deep inhale through your nose. As you exhale, Look forward, Walk your feet towards your hands, Forward fold, Release your neck. Inhale halfway, Come up onto your fingertips, Knees can be bent here, Your back is straight. Exhale release it down forward fold with bent knees root down to rise reaching high to the ceiling high salute exhale, Hinging at the hip, Folding all the way back down as arms float down. Inhale, Halfway flat back, Stay here. Place the right hand under your face, Making a triangle with your feet and your hand. Bend the right knee. Inhale, Lift the left hand high. Twist. You might feel this in your in your back or your IT band of the left leg. Exhale the left hand down, Bend the left knee. Inhale the right hand high, Twist. Exhale, Both hands down, Release your head. Inhale, Halfway fingertips. Exhale, Plant your hands, Step back to plank. Lower halfway, Chaturanga. Lower all the way down, Tops of your feet on the mat. Inhale, Lift your chest. Cobra or Baby Cobra. Pull your chest forward as you're isometrically pulling your hands back. Shoulders are away from your ears here. Push back through your hands, Tuck your toes, Downward facing dog. Inhale, Your right leg high, Bend the knee and stack the hips. Exhale, Step that foot through between your hands, Lower your back knee. Low lunge, Hands to your thigh or to the sky. Exhale, Take your hips back, Fold over that front leg. Inhale, Walking your hands forward either side of your front foot. Tuck the back toes. Lift the back knee. Runner's lunge. Keep the left hand on the mat, Inhale the right hand high, Revolved, Side angle. Swoop that hand forward and rise, Crescent. So now notice here. If your knee is really bent. And for a Crescent, You want to push through your back toes and drive the weight forward just a little bit. And maybe your back leg is a little bit straight. And drive the weight into that front foot as you lift the back foot up, One-legged mountain. Welcome in the wobbles, It's not meant to be perfect. How do you adapt when you're wobbling? Keep your knees soft. And allow your foot to catch the weight. Take that leg back into Crescent. Exhale your hands to the mat. Step it back to plank. Exhale, Halfway chaturanga. Inhale this time, Up dog or cobra. Shoulders are back. Chest is wide. If you're in up dog, Make sure your shoulders are not forward, But they're back. Downward facing dog. And how the left leg high bend the knee stack. Exhale, Step that foot forward between your hands, Lower your back knee, Low lunge, Hands to your thigh or to the ceiling. Exhale, Take your hips back, Front toes go to the ceiling. You don't have to fold forward, You could stay upright if this feels too tight. Your front leg can stay bent. Always making adjustments is part of being adaptable. How do you adapt to any pose to make it work for you? Walking your hands forward. Right hand touches the mat inside of your front foot. Tuck your back toes. Lift the back knee as you lift that left hand high. Revolved side angle. You want to feel this most likely in the outer left hip. Maybe a little bit in your shoulder. You can keep the back knee on the ground if you like. Exhale, Take that hand down, Engage your Bandhas gently and rise into Crescent. Transfer the weight to the front foot so come on the toes of your back foot and lift the back leg one-legged mountain it's a long way to come be gentle with yourself coming back into Crescent now. Exhale the hands down to the mat. Step back to plank position. Exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale, Up dog or cobra, Shoulders are back, Chest is wide. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Adding on now, Inhale the right leg high, Bend the knee, Stack the hips. Exhale, Step that foot through between your hands, Lower your back knee, Lower lung. Hands to the ceiling maybe to get a deeper stretch in that silhouette. Exhale, Take your hips back, Choice to fold forward, Your toes face the ceiling. Walking your hands forward. Option to keep your bottom back knee on the ground or lift it. Left hand on the mat inside of your front foot. Twist as you lift your right arm to the ground. Not to the ground, To the ceiling. Coming forward now and lifting both arms to the ceiling, Crescent. Transfer the weight to the front foot, One-legged mountain. Few breaths here. From here, We're going to step into Peaceful Warrior. So you're going to bend the standing leg a little bit. Shoot that left leg back as far as you can on the mat. And then turn the heel in, Windmill starting with your left hand, Reach it forward for the front of the rim, Reach it to the ceiling, Reach it back and then the front arm follows. You can bend that left elbow, Palm faces behind you. Or you can reach the left hand down the leg, You decide. Exhale, Forearm to thigh. Reach that left arm overhead. Extended side angle. Push to the outside edge of the left foot. When mill the left hand to the mat, Lift the back heel off the ground, Revolve side angle once again. Exhale that right hand down to the outside of your front foot. Step back to plank. You can come straight into down dog if you want, Otherwise exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale. Up Dog or Cobra. Exhale, Downward facing dog. Other side now, Inhale the left leg high, Bend the knee, Stack the heel. Exhale, Step that foot through between your hands, Lower your back knee, Low lunge, Hands to your thigh or to the sky. Exhale, Take your hips back. Maybe you fold forward, Maybe you don't. How do you adapt it for you? Walking your hands forward, Right hand goes on the inside of the front foot. Lift the left hand as you lift the back knee is a choice. Knee can stay on the ground. Coming into Crescent now, Sweeping both hands forward as you gently and slowly rise. Transfer the weight to the front foot, Lift the back foot, One-legged mountain. Welcome in those wobbles. That's how you get your balance work. Step it into Peaceful Warrior. So bend the standing leg, Shoot that foot back as far as you can. As you bring the heel in, The right hand reaches the front of the room, The ceiling, And then back as you windmill the hands backward, Peaceful Warrior. Forearm to thigh, Back hand reaches overhead, Extended side angle, Push through the outside edge of the back foot. From here, That lifted hand goes down onto the ground as you turn and square off your hips. Lift the left hand, Revolve to side angle. Exhale that hand down to the outside of the front foot. Step back to plank. Take a moment here. Notice if you're resisting. Make adaptions that work for you, That you're still being challenged. You could lower your knees here if you like. Exhale, Halfway Chaturanga. Inhale, Up dog or cobra. Exhale downward facing dog. Okay, We're adding on. Here we go. Inhale the right leg high, Bend the knee, Stack the hip. Exhale, Step it through between your hands. Lower your back knee. Inhale, Low lunge. Maybe lift your chest a little higher to get a deeper stretch in that psoas. Exhale, Take your hips back, Fold over that front leg to whatever degree works for you. Walking your hands forward, Taking your hips forward, Left hand on the ground inside of the front foot. Option to lift the back knee as you lift the right hand, Revolved side angle. Rising crescent. Lifting the back leg, One-legged mountain. A few breaths here. Peaceful warrior. When mill your arms back, Front knee stays bent, Back leg is straight. You want to feel expansion in those front ribs. So try and breathe laterally into those intercostal muscles. Exhale, Take that forearm to the thigh, Back hand sweeps overhead. Extended side angle. Take the left hand to the mat as you lift the back heel, Lift the right hand, Revolved side angle. Exhale the hand down, Run as lunge. Step back to plank. Flow through your vinyasa, Exhale chaturanga. Inhale, Up dog. Or Cobra. Exhale, Downward facing dog. So make adjustments, Again, Gentle reminders to make the poses work for you in any given moment. And that moment might be different to the last time you did it, And that is adaptability. Not resisting, Not forcing, But finding ways to improve and move with gentleness. Other side, Inhale the left leg high, Bend the knees, Stack the hips. Exhale, Step that foot through between your hands, Lower your back knee and rise, Low lunge. Exhale, Take your hips back, Maybe you fold forward. Taking the hands forward, Right hand on the ground inside of your front foot. Maybe you lift the back knee as you come into revolved side angle. Exhale that left hand down and lift both arms, Crescent. Weight transfers to the front foot, Lift the back leg, One-legged mount in a few breaths here. And this practice of being adaptable in our poses on the mat. Helps us to bring that adaptability into life. When we meet challenge, How do we adapt? Can we have curiosity rather than resistance? Peaceful warrior, Taking that foot back as far as you can, Windmill the arms behind you. Forearm to thigh, Backhand sweeps overhead, Extended side angle. Arm that is high goes down inside of your front foot, Lift the back heel, Root through that right hand, So push down and that's what gives you that length to lift that left arm high and look to the ceiling. Exhale the hand down to the outside of the front foot. Step back to plank. Exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale. Up dog or cobra a few breaths here if you like. Shoulders away from your ears, Chest proud, Deep breath. Tucking your toes downward facing dog. Take a deep inhale. Exhale, Bend your knees and walk your hands back to your feet so you're squatting at the back of your mat. And. . . So how do you adapt this to make it work for you? You may have to be a lot higher. You may have to keep your chest lifted. You may want blocks under your hips or behind your ankles if your dorsiflexion is the one that's tight. None of them are wrong. You're just adaptions. And this practice of adapting is a beautiful practice because. . . It helps us to let go of that all or nothing thinking. So this is similar to that stretch we did at the front for your feet. So play with to what degree it works for you. Lean back a little bit and work on bringing the heels toward the mat, Not to the point where it hurts. You don't want to overstretch the Achilles. Coming up. Okay now we're going to come into molasses. You're going to turn your knees and your feet out externally. If molassena is. Too much for your hips, You can bring a block underneath. If you can get the knee flexion and the hip flexion but you don't have the dorsiflexion yet, Then double up your mat or put a towel under your ankles. You don't want to have too much pressure on the Achilles here, Again. If you're flat-footed and you're all the way down in your molasses, Then I invite you to go a little deeper by bringing your hands into prayer. So if your elbows are forward of your knees, You're going to pull them back. If your elbows are lower, You're going to pull them up. So they go to the inside of your knees. And then bring your thumbs to your heart, And that invites your knees out a little wider, And try to lengthen your spine. Close your eyes. This is a releasing pose. So as you breathe in, Can you breathe down to your perineum? And release it. Beautiful, And then just bringing, Don't roll back from that position, Bring your knees and toes forward and come down. Okay, Great job. So we're going to come into cobbler pose. Soles of your feet together, Knees butterfly out to the side. It can be a good idea to double your mat up so your hips are slightly elevated here. What you don't want to do is sit back on the sacrum. You want to keep a straight back and not slouch in this external rotation. And then as you're rooting down, You're almost tilting your pelvis forward a little through the bottom of your sits bones. Root down a little and then rise up through the top of your head. And from there, If you would like to fold forward, Fold forward. A few breaths here. We're in the Yin portion of the practice now, So we're slowing things down. So allow your body to adapt to that. Maybe you lengthen your breath a little bit, It goes a little deeper. Maybe you have time to check in and notice if you're holding tension anywhere in your shoulders. In your face. Taking the right leg out to the side, Keep that left foot tucked into your inner thigh. Reaching overhead toward that straight leg. And this same rotation we've been doing all day, If it feels good, You can rotate up a little. It's very tricky to do in this pose, So listen to your body. If you want to. Face down a little, It moves to your back body to that quadratus lumborum a little bit. And coming up through centre and gently switching sides. Reaching over that straight leg now, Play with the direction of your torso if you like. It's your practice. I am just your guide. If it feels good, You can turn a little bit to face the leg and it gets into that lower back. And coming back up through center, Making your way onto your back now for a spinal twist. Straightening out your left leg. Keep your right knee bent, Take your right knee across your body to your right arm out to the side, Palm faces the ceiling. Now can you take that right knee so far across your body, Maybe to the ground, That your right shoulder is off the ground. And then bend your right elbow. Palm faces the ceiling like you're waving at the ceiling and then do a snow angel with that right arm. So you're moving the arm from the shoulder joint And therefore, You're not only getting the benefits of this spinal twist, But you're also getting to open up that chest and shoulder. But again, Adapting. If you have a shoulder injury, You might not want to do this part. You might want to put a block under the hand if it's too intense. You could put a block under the knee. That doesn't mean you're failing. That means you're adapting. You're being nimble and flexible with your ideas. And coming back through centre and switching signs. Maybe you do a snow angel with that left arm. And coming back through center, Left knee stays bent, Right ankle goes in front of your left knee, Clasp behind your left thigh or put a block under the left foot or place your left foot on a wall. And do it this way. We're going to be here for. About a minute. Opportunity to take a deep inhale. And exhale slowly out your mouth, Feel your shoulders soften. Definitely. On all fronts appears that life is getting more crazy lately. So this skill of adapting to what life is bringing you. Is invaluable. Because change is happening constantly. And we have to adapt. If you hold on to an idea. The past of what you wanted or what you thought it was meant to be. You're not living in the now moment. And maybe. . . Life is bringing you something better than you even imagined for yourself, But we just don't see it yet. If your leg is on the wall, The best way is to straighten the supporting leg and slide the foot off, But you can switch sides however you like now. Sometimes when we hold rigidly to a dream or something we thought we needed or wanted, We miss all these wonderful opportunities. That are right in front of us. Is there some part of your life that you can be? Less resistant to, Maybe bring in some curiosity instead. Straightening the supporting leg, Sliding that foot off. Pulling your knees in and gently rocking side to side, Releasing your back. And I'm going to just talk you through the opening minute of a savasana, But of course you can stay in this savasana as long as you want, And I highly recommend you stay in it for a lot longer. Take a deep inhale through your nose. Exhale, Gentle sigh at your mouth. Feel the muscles in your face soften. Feel your arms and hands get heavy. And relax. Notice as you inhale your stomach gently expands. And as you exhale, It softens. And you are built to be adaptable. You have all the tools to do that. Using curiosity instead of resistance. Using your breath to breathe through challenge. And being open to possibility. And of course, You can stay as long as you want. And thank you as always for practicing with me. Namaste.