Rise & Shine

Start the day mindfully as we ease into some energizing movement. We'll start the practice with three big breaths, followed by some supine postures (on the back). Then we'll progress to a table-top shape and to downward dog. Eventually, we'll make our way to standing, and close the practice with one final breath.

Transcript

Hey yogis,

This is Kilty.

Today's practice is intended for you to really rise and shine.

When we start the day mindfully and with purpose and intention,

There's this inner glow that we take with us throughout the day,

As compared to rolling out of bed,

Pouring the cup of coffee,

And dragging ourselves to wherever it is that we're headed.

So thanks for joining.

You won't need anything except for your yoga mat,

As well as a yoga block.

Those are always handy.

Let's start on the mat this morning by laying down on the back,

Which I'm sure is a nice sounding thing right now.

When you lay down on your back,

Bring the soles of your feet to the mat.

Feet are about hips width and knees are pointing up.

Angle your toes in slightly and allow your knees to rest on one another.

We call this constructive rest pose.

Take the arms either out to the sides in the shape of a T or to rest somewhere overhead behind you,

And make sure that your block is within reach.

Once you are laying down on your back,

Keep the eyes open since we don't want to fall back asleep,

And we'll start with three full cycles of breath.

Take a full inhale through the nose.

Separate the lips and sigh it out.

Again,

Even bigger.

Full inhale and a full exhale.

One more.

Full inhale through the nose.

Fill up.

Biggest inhale yet of the day,

And exhale release.

And before we get moving,

Allow for a moment to consider how you hope to move through this day.

Maybe you have a specific intention of being a little bit more patient.

Maybe it's having a little bit more self compassion.

Maybe it's you fill in the blank.

And then with that in mind,

You can use the postures today as a way to practice cultivating that one quality or that one characteristic.

So let's say that you are working to cultivate a little bit more patience in your life,

And you find that you can practice patience in a posture here that is really challenging for you.

When you step off of your mat and later in the day a sticky situation comes up where you might normally just explode and react,

Then you have that memory and that imprint and that practice of patience in your back pocket.

So take one more inhale through the nose and a full exhale out.

Keep the feet where they are.

However,

Point your toes towards the front of your mat so they're no longer angled inward.

Find your block and place the block on its thinnest setting in between your thighs.

Squeeze the block with your thighs.

This will force your leg muscles to stay active and engaged as you lift your hips up off the ground.

Keep your arms running alongside your body,

Palms flat on the mat.

Bridge pose.

Really think about pressing down into your heels,

Down into the mounds of your big toes,

And continuing to hug in towards the block.

As you drive down into your feet,

Feel the hips lift up and almost feel as if you're trying to push your heart overhead towards the back of the room.

Take one more inhale,

Maybe lift a little higher.

Exhale,

Lower the hips back down to the earth.

Let's take that again.

When you're ready,

Hips lift back up,

Bridge pose.

This time,

Instead of keeping your arms running alongside the body,

Interlace your fingers underneath you,

Rock left and right so that you can wiggle your elbows and shoulders a little closer together underneath you.

You'll feel a more broadening sensation across your chest,

Your collarbones.

Nice.

Continue to press down into the heels,

Press down into the mounds of your big toes.

Take three more rounds of breath as you hold bridge pose.

Almost there.

Take one more inhale,

Lift maybe just a little higher.

On exhale,

Release the arms,

Release the hips back down to the earth.

Let the block go off to the side,

And one more time,

Bridge pose,

This time without the block.

So when you're ready,

Press down into your feet,

Lift your hips up,

Interlace fingers underneath you in the same way that you did a moment ago,

And imagine that the block is still in between your thighs.

So you are still firmly hugging the inner thighs towards midline,

Although they are no longer touching anything.

Take one more inhale,

And on your exhale,

Lower the hips all the way back down to the mat.

Nicely done.

Allow your knees to hug in towards your chest,

Give the body just a little hug,

And then let's visit a happy baby.

So let your hands hook the outer edges of your feet,

Bring your elbows to the insides of your knees,

And if you imagine that you are trying to stamp your feet up on the ceiling,

Press your feet up into your hands,

And let your hands pull back down on your feet.

Feel your inner thighs start to hug towards the sides of your ribcage,

And ground down through your low back as well as through your shoulder blades.

Take the tiniest tuck of your chin so that you can feel the back of your neck get long,

And then three full cycles of breath.

Steady in through the nose,

Full exhale out as you pull down with the hands.

Again,

Full inhale,

Feel the low back rooting down,

Full exhale,

Allow the hips to soften.

Take one more inhale through the nose,

Full exhale out.

Release the feet,

Hug both knees in towards the chest,

And then allow your left leg to extend out on the mat in front of you,

Right knee is still in towards the chest,

And then taking a twist,

The right knee pulls over to the left as your right arm reaches out to the right.

Maybe even take your gaze to the right.

If this doesn't feel the most comfortable,

One option you can take is to scoot your hips a couple inches to the right before you twist to the left.

Take one full cycle of breath here.

And slowly come all the way back to center.

Let's switch sides.

Keep your left knee in towards your chest as your right leg extends out on the mat in front of you.

Maybe you choose to scoot your hips a couple inches to the left before you twist to the right.

Reach your left arm out to the side,

And so not only is there a twist happening for your spine,

But maybe even a little bit of an opening for your chest,

For the left shoulder.

Take a full inhale,

And a full exhale.

Listen,

A little different.

Instead of coming back to center,

Continue to roll over onto the right side of your body,

Gently press yourself up to the right.

Gently press yourself up to seated,

And then crawl yourself forward into a tabletop position.

Once you come up onto all fours,

See or feel that your shoulders are stacking over your wrist,

And your hips are stacking over your knees.

From this tabletop position,

Reach your left leg towards the back of the room.

So both hands are still on the mat,

Right knee is on the bat,

And left leg is reaching long behind you.

It's really tempting to let your left hip open up,

Meaning if you look at your left foot,

Sometimes the toes will want to angle outward.

Don't let that happen.

Feel that your toes are pointing straight down,

That you are pressing your heel towards the back of the room so the foot is facing up towards the mat,

And even feel that your inner left thigh is lifting up towards the sky.

Awesome.

Hold that there,

And now reach your right hand towards the front of the room.

So we've added a balance component in.

Continue to hug your low belly in,

So cinch in through the core.

Reach really long through your right fingertips towards the front of the room,

As well as through your left leg underneath you.

One more inhale,

Reach a little longer,

Get a little bigger,

And on your exhale,

Hug your left knee to your right elbow underneath you.

On your next inhale,

Reach the right arm out,

Left leg back,

And same thing,

Exhale,

Hug your right elbow to your left knee.

Last one,

Inhale,

Lengthen,

Reach out.

On your exhale,

Tap your right elbow to your left knee underneath you.

Inhale,

Reach long.

On your exhale,

Right hand goes back down to the mat.

Lower the left knee to the mat.

Nice.

We'll try the other side.

Stay where you are with the hands,

Reach your right leg towards the back of the room.

You can even take a peek underneath you to see that your right toes are pointing straight down,

And like you are trying to stamp your heel on the wall behind you.

Feel that your inner right thigh is lifting up towards the sky,

And your outer right hip is pulling down towards the ground.

When you're ready,

Left arm reaches forward,

Thumb facing up.

Pause here.

Pull the low belly in so you're not getting crunchy or dumping down into your low back.

Let your core support you.

Nice.

Take a big inhale,

Reach really long through left fingers,

Through right foot.

On exhale,

Tap your left elbow to your right knee underneath you,

Hug it in.

Inhale,

Reach it long,

Expand.

Exhale,

Hug it in,

Knee to elbow.

Last one,

Inhale,

Reach out,

Lift up.

Exhale,

Hug knee in towards elbow.

Inhale,

Lengthen,

Expand.

On exhale,

Left hand lowers,

Right knee lowers.

Nicely done.

When you're ready,

Tuck your toes,

And let's meet in downward facing dog.

Lift the knees up,

Lift the hips up.

If you are newer to downward facing dog,

Start off just by pedaling one knee out or one leg out at a time.

It's not the most intuitive shape,

That's for sure.

But as with anything,

Right,

The more you do it,

The more you practice,

The more familiar it gets,

The easier it gets.

As you start to settle in towards stillness,

If you haven't already,

Check to see again that your hands are about shoulders width.

Allow your fingers to spread wide,

And really try to root down through the base of your thumb and the base of your index finger.

It's really easy to want to roll to the outer edges,

The pinky side of the hand.

And then feet are also about hips width.

Take a generous bend in your knees.

Keep the bend in the knees as you push your hips as far back as you can.

In doing so,

Hopefully you feel a little bit more length in the sides of the body as well as your spine.

Keep that feeling of length and space as you start to restreighten through the legs.

The first focus,

The primary focus is to maintain length and space in your spine.

Secondary is to get the legs a little straighter.

If they don't go straight,

Not a big deal.

Wonderful.

Take one more inhale through the nose.

Stay here on the exhale.

On your inhale,

Let your weight shift forward into plank and upward push up.

On your exhale,

Take your gaze forward and as slowly as you can,

Lower yourself all the way down to your belly.

Let's come into cobra.

Keep your hands where they are.

Untuck your toes and inhale as you lift your chest up just slightly.

Imagine that you are pressing your hands down into the ground so much so that you're trying to drag your body along the ground towards the front of the room.

You can feel your elbows hugging in firmly right next to your rib cage.

The shoulders pull away from the ears so there's a lift of the chest.

Take one more inhale.

On your exhale,

Lower the chin back down.

Tuck your toes.

Press your hips back into downward facing dog.

Let's take that one more time.

From your downward facing dog,

Inhale as the weight shifts forward into plank.

On exhale,

Gaze goes forward as slowly and in,

Controlled as you can.

Lower all the way down to the belly.

Cobra.

Inhale,

Lift the chest,

Elbows hug in.

On your exhale,

Press the hips back.

Downward facing dog.

Nicely done.

Take a couple rounds of breath in downward facing dog and recognize that if these movements are new for you,

They are not easy.

I can remember my very first down dog and just thinking,

This is terrible.

Why would anyone do this?

But also trust that the more you do it,

The more familiar it gets.

So take one more inhale through the nose.

Full exhale out.

And when you're ready,

Step your feet up to meet your hands in a forward fold at the front of your mat.

Take your feet about hips width.

Allow for a gentle or generous bend in your knees so that you can feel your torso really folding over the thighs.

And then interlace your fingers behind your back and it's your choice to either rest your fists on your low back or take your fists up and overhead.

Either way,

Relax the neck,

Relax the jaw.

Take one more inhale.

Full exhale.

Keep your fingers interlaced behind you and slowly pull yourself all the way up to standing.

Once you get up to standing,

Release your fingers.

Inhale as the arms sweep up overhead.

Reach long through your ring fingers.

On exhale,

Hands come to the chest.

Again,

Inhale as your arms sweep high overhead,

Maybe even a little back bend.

Exhale,

Hands to the chest.

One more.

Inhale,

Arms rise,

Reach,

Reach,

Reach.

Get long in the sides of your body.

Exhale,

Hands come together in front of your heart.

Press the palms together.

And now let's combine that movement with our downward facing dog transitions from earlier for a full sun salutation.

We call that Surya Namaskar A.

Here we go.

Inhale as the arms sweep high overhead.

On your exhale,

Fold forward.

On your inhale,

Come halfway up with a flat back,

Fingertips to your shins.

Exhale,

Fold forward.

Planche your hands down and step back to plank.

Pause in your plank.

Take a full inhale.

Push the earth away.

Same as before,

On exhale,

Gaze goes forward.

Inhale,

Hands come up.

On your exhale,

Downward facing dog.

Tuck your toes,

Press your hips back.

Take a full inhale through the nose.

On your exhale,

Step or even lightly hop to the floor.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Fold forward.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Fold forward.

Take a full inhale through the nose.

On your exhale,

Step or even lightly hop to the front of your mat.

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Come halfway up.

Flat back.

Draw your shoulders away from your ears.

Exhale,

Fold forward.

On your inhale,

Reverse swan dive.

Rise all the way up to standing.

Arms sweep up overhead.

Exhale,

Hands to the chest.

Nicely done.

Take a full inhale through the nose.

Full exhale out.

As you stand here,

We will wrap up the practice.

Allow your feet to be hips width if they're not already.

Hands can release down by your sides,

Palms slightly face forward and fingertips reaching for the earth.

Really stand up tall as you lift through the heart.

And then either allow the eyes to close or if that doesn't feel appropriate or balance is iffy,

Then keep the eyes open but gaze soft.

And then bring your attention to the very tip of your tailbone.

Imagine that you are trying to center the tip of your tailbone just in between your ankles.

Notice that you are not still at all.

There's constant refinement,

Constant readjustment.

And that's exactly how we move through the day.

Constantly readjusting,

Realigning.

And so if we can practice the tools we need for living our life here on the mat,

Then this becomes an incredibly valuable practice.

So whether you are readjusting your posture or readjusting your mentality or what be it,

Thank you so so much for joining me on the mat,

Yogis.

Let's wrap up with one round of breath.

Take a full inhale through the nose and a full exhale out.

And I hope to see you again here very soon.

My name is Kilty and have a beautiful day.

Reviews

It was a brief but powerful, steady flow. Definitely what I was looking for to amp up my morning!

Solid gentle morning practice. Thank you for sharing!