Yoga Warm-Up Sun Salutation C

10 Minutes, Intensity 2, Complexity 1, Full Body, Lower Body, Endurance, Strength.
A gentler warm-up than Sun Salutation A and B, this will get you warmed up from head to toe while saving your shoulders. Learn the fundamentals of this classic yoga warm-up while getting your body ready for what comes next.

Transcript

Hi, This is Carrick. This practice is sun salutation C, Which is a much gentler sun salutation than A or B. So if you're wanting to save your shoulders and maybe not work as hard, But still get moving, Getting the body into a rhythm and into a flow, Sun salutation C can be an option. There are several different variations of sun salutation C. This is just the way that I do it. So if you, Like, Look it up somewhere else, You might get a very different sequence. But this is much gentler than A or B as intended. Okay. So let's start in downward facing dog. Turn to one side. Of the mat. And just test out your body. Spread your fingers wide, Spread your toes wide, Hands as wide as your outer shoulders, And feet about hip width apart. Here's the spacing that I like for Down Dog. If you shift forward into a perfect push-up position with your shoulders over your wrists, And you're on your toes or you have your heels over your toes, This is about the right spacing for a downward facing dog, Okay? So if I'm in, Yeah, So this is the spacing. You can adjust from here a little bit, Like if it feels better to walk your feet back, Because that gives you more space, Be my guest. If you wanna challenge your hamstrings more and walk your feet in a little bit, You can also do that. But this is just a starting point. I like to bend my knees so I can tip my pelvis forward as opposed to if I force myself to straighten my legs, My lower back rounds and tightens up. So I bend my knees, Release the low back, Tip the pelvis forward. All right, From here, Walk your feet into a forward bend. Feet about hip width apart throughout the sun salutations. Inhale to come up halfway. Exhale to fold. You're welcome to bend your knees. As I ask you to touch the floor, You might put your hands up on props if that feels better. So, You know, This is just a warm-up. It's not about It's not really about building strength or flexibility. It's just about getting the body warm. So please make yourself as comfortable as possible for this sequence, Okay? If you don't have blocks, No problem. Touch the ground with your fingertips. Bend your knees as much as you need to. Anyone can touch the ground with their knees bent, Okay? Not anyone, Most people can touch the ground with their knees bent. All right, Inhale, Reach your arms up over your head. Exhale, Draw your hands to your heart. So here's sun salutation C. Inhale, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Fold, Touch the ground. Inhale halfway forward. Exhale, Left leg back. Then both legs back. Push back to down dog. Shift forward to plank, Lower knees. Chest and chin to the ground. All right, So chest is on the ground, So you're not supporting your body weight in like a push-up or anything. And then to slide forward, Push your toes back. Draw your shoulders back and lift your chest. Exhale to down dog. And then Right leg forward, Lunge. Left leg forward for bend. Inhale, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Hamster heart. Let's do that again. Inhale, Sweep the arms overhead. Exhale, Fold, Touch the ground. Inhale, Left leg back to a lunge. Exhale both feet back to center. Dumb dog. Shift forward to plank, Lower knees. Chest and chin to the ground. Slide forward to Cobra. Exhale to down dog. Let's just go left leg forward again, Lunge. Both feet forward for bend. Inhale, Arms overhead. Exhale, Draw the hands to the heart. And then on the next round, I'll do the right side first. Both stepping back and stepping forward. So inhale, Reach the arms up. Exhale, Fold, Touch the ground. And how to lengthen. Exhale, Right foot back. Both feet back. She affords a plank. Knees down, Chest down, Chin down. Inhale to Cobra. Exhale to dog. So since I stepped back with the right, I'll step forward with the right. That means I'm doing the lunge on the other side. And then step both feet up. Inhale, Reach your arms up. Exhale, Hands to the heart. And I'll just alternate. So now on the second, The next round, I'll do left leg back first, And I'll also do left leg forward first. Okay, Inhale up. Exhaled out. Inhale, Left leg back, Lunge. You can pause in the lunge and just hold it for a second. And then both feet back, Down dog. Shefford's a plank. Knees. Chest, Chin to the ground, In that order. Inhale to Cobra. Excel's a dog. Left leg forward. And again, I can pause in the lens, Just hold it for a second. And then both feet up. Inhale, Arms up. Exhale, Hands to the heart. Inhale again. Exhale to fold. Right leg back. Both legs back. Shift forward plank. Chest, Chin to the ground. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Dog. Right leg forward. Both feet forward. Inhale, Arms up. Exhale, Hands to the heart. Again, Inhale. And exhale. Left leg back. Both legs back. Lower knees. Chest, Chin to the ground. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale down, Up. Left leg up, Lunge. Both feet up. Inhale, Arms overhead. Exhale, Hands to the heart. Okay, So now let's Modify just a little bit so we can make the sequence a little more challenging. You don't have to, But you could. All right, Inhale up. Excel fold. Inhale halfway up. Exhale, Plant the hands. Step the left foot back. And then I can reach my arms up for breath. Hands back down. Step back to down dog. Shift forwards a plank. Knees, Chest, Chin to the ground. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Down dog. Left leg up. Arms up. Hands down. We'll speed up. Inhale, Arms overhead. Exhale, Hands to the heart. Other side, Inhale. And exhale. Inhale. Right, Like back. Arms overhead. Hands to the ground. Damn dog. Shaford Plank, Knees bent. Just chin to the ground. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Down dog. Right leg forward. Arms go up overhead. Hence the ground. Step back. Wait, I got confused. All right, So then I'm stepping both feet up. Inhale, Lengthen. Excellent fold. Inhale, Arms up over the head. Exhale, Hands to the heart, Okay? Other options for modifications, Just in case you're interested in making it even a little more challenging, Inhale, Arms up. Exhale, Fold. Inhale, Left leg back lunge. All right, We can still add. The list. Hands to the ground. Step back plank. Now instead of lowering knees, Chest, Chin to the ground, We can add the chaturanga, Which is the bottom of the pushup. Elbows stay in, Elbows over the wrist, Shoulders lifted above the elbows. Inhale to Cobra. X out to down dog. Left leg forward. Arms overhead. Hence to the ground. Both feet up. In-house with the arms up. Exhale, Hands to the heart. Other side. Inhale. And exhale. Right leg back. Arms overhead. Hands to the ground, Step back, Plank. New low in Chaturanga. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Down dog. Right, Like up. Arms overhead. Hands to the ground. Step both feet up. In how rich your arms up. Exhale, Hands to the heart. You can do as many. Of the sun salutations as you want, And you can do that. Do a set number of sun salutations. You can do the sun salutations for a set period of time. And even that one, It's a. . . Little easier, Lighter sun salutation, But you can see how there's really easy ways to modify. You can add the lift, You can skip the knees, Chest, Chin going to the ground, And just lower to the bottom of the push-up. So you can. You can make the warmup as active or as. . . Easy as you want. That's on Citation C.