by Laia Bové
Join me for this 20-minute yoga flow to help you open your body, release accumulated tension, and feel more energized. You won't need any props other than a yoga mat or sturdy surface, and I will offer different options throughout so that you can adapt the practice to what you need today. Come as you are.
Transcript
Hello, I'm Laia. Welcome to this yoga flow to help you open up the body and get your energy moving. We're going to start in a comfortable seated position on your yoga mat. So bring the hands to rest on your lap or the knees and let your shoulders relax down and away from the ears as you soften your gaze or close your eyes. Take a deep inhalation through the nose. And out through the nose or the mouth. Allowing yourself to arrive and settle. Inhale to expand into the body. Exhale, Soften into the moment, Observing how you feel. One more, Inhale and let it go. Feel free to allow the eyes to remain closed or open them. Inhale, Begin to reach your arms out and up. Unite the palms overhead. And on the exhalation draw your palms together in front of the heart. Inhale, Open up through the arms, Stretch to the fingertips. Exhale, Take your left hand down, Reach your right arm straight up at first, Reaching and expanding through the right side of the body. And on the exhalation gently bend the left elbow and reach over with the right arm. Relax the right shoulder. Breathe in Breathe out. Inhale, Come back through center, Extend the arms out to the sides. Exhale this time, Right hand down, Left arm up. Extend and reach through the top arm, Breathe in. And as you breathe out, Bend the right elbow a bit and lean toward the right. Notice if your left sitting bone is lifting up, Draw it down toward the earth. Inhale, Come back through center, Reach both arms up, Interlace your fingers. Exhale, Bring the hands in front of you. Your elbows can remain apart or come together. And now move your wrists either in circles or circle eights a couple of times one way. And then a couple of times the other. Release your hands and bring yourself toward a tabletop position, Hands and knees. And take a moment here to find a little bit of movement. So that may mean circles. That may mean a few cat cows. Perhaps you gently move your hips side to side, Whatever you need. Let yourself observe how the energy is moving and create space. Through the breath, Through gentle movement, Breathing. Breathe out. Pause the movement at the center, Tuck your toes under and send your hips back toward the heels. Allow the hands to stay on the floor and the forehead to lower, But it doesn't have to come down to the floor. And maybe you remain still if the sensation is sufficient on your feet. Or maybe you move a little side to side, But not much. Inhale. And exhale. If you're moving side to side, Stop the movement, Shift forward, Point your toes back. Now start to bring the backs of the hands to the floor, Fingertips facing toward the knees, And you could do one hand at a time. A few breaths. Or perhaps you do both wrists at the same time. Stay still and move a little back and forth. If you're doing one hand at a time, Switch. If you're doing both, Stay. One more breath, Inhale. And exhale. Bring your wrists back to a neutral position, Hands underneath your shoulders, Inhale. Exhale, This time keeping your toes tucked, Come toward the heels but bring your big toes together and separate your knees a little bit. You can extend the arms forward and let the forehead float or find the floor, Or maybe you make a pillow with your hands. Breathe in. Breathe out. Extend the arms forward if they're not already there and press yourself up. Allow the big toes to remain connected and the knees to remain wide. And as you inhale, Shift your hips forward and down, Lift your chest, Open up through the front body. And on the exhalation, Return toward child's pose. Now this time, Thread your right arm under the left, And you could take the forehead down or you could take your right ear down. Breathe in. Breathe out. Lift yourself up, Extend your right arm forward. Inhale again, Press yourself forward, Roll through the knees, Over toward the thighs, Lift your chest, Open up. Exhale, Bring your hips back and this time thread your left arm under the right. Either forehead toward the ground as you extend your right arm forward or left ear to the floor. Breathe. In through the nose out through the nose or the mouth. Lift your head up. Extend your right arm forward, Press yourself up, And this time bring your knees in line with your hips. Bring your hands about a hand print forward, Tuck your toes under, Inhale. Exhale, Send your hips up and back for downward facing dog. Inhale here. Exhale to soften, Bend both knees and elongate through the spine a little bit more. Bring the belly toward the thighs, Inhale. Exhale, Keeping that shape, Simply extend your left heel just a little bit toward the earth. Bend both knees again, Breathe in, Lengthen through the spine. Breathe out, Simply extend your right leg just a little bit. Inhale, Bend both knees, Gaze forward, Come to your tippy toes. Exhale, Take as many steps as you'd like to get toward the top of the mat. Feet parallel to one another, Fingertips to the floor, To the shins or to the thighs. Inhale, Find length through the back of the legs and through the spine. Exhale, Bend the knees deeply until you can allow the upper body to relax over the legs. Let your head hang heavy. Maybe sway a bit side to side, Maybe remain still, Breathe in. Breathe out. Press evenly through both feet. Inhale, Begin to rise. Strength through the legs, Through the core, Reach your arms out and up, Gaze up. Halmsey and I are overhead. Exhale, Fold forward as you draw your hands through the midline and all the way back down toward the shins or the floor. Let your head hang heavy. Inhale, Lengthen through your spine. Exhale, Fold. Rise back up, Inhale, Arms to the sides and all the way up. Extend and reach. Exhale, Hands together in front of the heart and then bring your hands to your hips, Ground into your right foot. And on your inhalation, Lift your left heel. Maybe stay here. Or float your toes for a moment in front of you. Exhale, Lower your left foot down. Shift the weight toward the left foot this time, And on your inhalation, Lift your right heel, Stay there, Or lift your toes. Notice what it's like to float and balance. Exhale lower the foot back down parallel to one another Release the hands next to you. Inhale, Reach your arms overhead. Exhale, Fold forward. Inhale, Lengthen through the spine. Now ground into your right foot. Fingertips could go a little bit forward and start to slide your left toes back. Maybe they graze the floor, Maybe they start to float and your left leg could become a little bit more parallel to the floor. Exhale, Left leg next to the right, Bend the knees enough to fold and relax. Inhale again, Lengthen through the spine, Now ground onto the left foot. Ground through the fingertips and start to slide your right toes back. Maybe they graze the ground and eventually they could stay on the back of the mat or they could float, Float, Float. Bringing your right leg as parallel to the floor as feels okay for you. Breathe in. Breathe out, Right leg next to the left, Fold forward. Inhale, Rise, Stretch up. XL fold. Plan your hands on the floor this time. Inhale to lengthen a bit. Exhale, Step both feet back to a plank. Knees can stay lifted or lower. Engage your core, Breathe in. Breathe out, Slowly lower down. Elbows graze the sides of the body. Point your toes back, Hands underneath your shoulders. Inhale, Lift your chest for cobra. Exhale, Lower down. One more inhale press up to cobra Exhale this time, Bring your hips back, Tuck your toes, Send your hips up and back for downward dog. Inhale deeply. Exhale completely. You can stay in downward dog or come to tabletop. Absolutely your choice. One's not better than the other. Inhale, Reach your right leg behind you. Point your toes down to the earth. Exhale, Draw your right knee to the chest and perhaps with the help of your right hand, You take your right foot between the hands. Maybe it stays there or it steps there by itself. Left knee could be on the floor or it could be lifted. It's up to you. And then on the inhalation, Start to lift your chest, Lift your arms all the way out and up. Face your palms forward. Exhale, Let your arms melt down, Down to the sides. And eventually face your palms outward, Lifting the chest, Breathe in. Breathe out, Frame your right leg with your hands, Right leg meets left. You could stay in tabletop or find downward dog, Breathe in. Breathe out. From whatever shape you chose. Inhale, Take your left leg behind you. Exhale, Draw your left knee to the chest, Eventually left foot between your hands. Take your time to get there. Find the stability of your lunge. Right knee can be down or up. Stay here or on your inhalation, Sweep your arms up, Face your palms forward. Lift your chest, Open up the front body, Engage the back. Exhale, Let your arms melt down to the sides, Down, Down, Down. Eventually the palms face outward. Find some more expansion here, Breathe in. Breathe out, Frame your left leg with your hand. Tuck your right toes under, Lift your right knee if the knee is down to the floor. Breathe in. Breathe out, Take one step forward or several. Right foot meets left, Top of the mat. Inhale, Flat back. Exhale, Fold over the legs, Let your head relax. Maybe sway a little side to side. Refined stillness. Breathe in. Breathe out. Press through the feet, Rise up, Inhale. Exhale, Bend your knees, Send your hips back and sweep your arms by your hips, Chair pose. Bring the hands to the hips, Ground into your right foot, Lift your left heel. Stay here or ground into your right leg, Lift your left toes, Inhale. Exhale, Start to bring your chest parallel to the floor. And as you do that, Extend your left leg behind you. Maybe the knees come next to each other first, And then you begin to extend your left leg back parallel to the floor. Perhaps you find support on a wall or blocks or your fingertips perhaps come forward toward the floor, But try to keep the length in the spine. Breathe in. Breathe out, Bend your standing leg, Left toes to the floor, Maybe left knee to the floor, Your choice. Inhale rise up lift your arms up Exhale, Let your arms melt again, Open up, Lift your chest, Breathe in. Breathe out, Hands to the floor, Frame your right foot, Step your left foot forward. Inhale lift halfway, Flat back. XL fold. Bend the knees. Bring your hands to your hips and lift your chest enough to find chair pose. This time ground into your left leg, Lift your right heel. Eventually, Maybe you extend your left leg and your right foot floats in front. Breathe in Breathe out, Begin to lower the chest. Parallel toward the floor. As you begin to extend your right leg behind you, Toes point down to the earth. Find your balance, Lose it, Find it again. Whatever happens here, Let yourself be playful. Inhale. Exhale step your right toes as far back as you want to take them, Perhaps your right knee comes down Inhale, Sweep your arms up, Forward and up. Exhale, Let your arms melt open. Down, Down, Down. Frame your left foot with your hand, Step your left foot back to meet the right for plank or knee plank breathing. Breathe out, Lower down knees, Chest, Chin, Or controlled Chaturanga. Inhale, Lift your chest, Point your toes back, Open up. Exhale, Downward facing dog, Hips up and back. Breathe in. Lego. One more, Inhale. Exhale, Lower your knees down to the floor. You can keep your toes tucked or you can point them back. Now start to bring your right hand to your right heel, Lean back. And on your inhalation, Sweep your left arm over. And open up. Into this variation of camel pose. Keep your gaze down to the right, Maybe to the side, Maybe up, It's up to you, Breathe in. Breathe out slowly, Come back down, Hips come back. Left hand to your left heel, Inhale, Right arm up, Hips forward. And again, Your gaze can go toward the left. To this side or up. Breathe in. Breathe out slowly, Bring yourself down. Point your toes back, Sit on your heels, And start to bring your arms behind you. You could catch one wrist here and then take a few breaths, Shoulders down and back, And then switch. Or if you rather, Interlace your hands behind you, Bring the heels of the hands toward one another and extend through the arms. Lift your chest, Breathe in. Breathe out. If you want it to take a little bit of an inversion, Start to shift your weight forward and bring the top of your head. So you really have to almost look toward your belly button. To the floor. And your fists can stay close to your hips or you can start to extend and lift the arms. And again, None of these poses are better than the other. Just choose what works for you. One more breath, Wherever you are, Inhale. Exhale. Release the arms wherever you are. Unravel. Big toes to touch, Knees a little bit wider than your hips. Find whatever child's pose variation works for you and breathe. Notice what you notice. Observe how your energy is moving through you and also around you. One more breath, Inhale. And exhale. Start to lift yourself up. Come down onto one hip and then bring yourself to your back. Take a moment to hug your knees toward the chest. Maybe just sway a little side to side. Something I like to do to move my energy is extend the legs up and the arms up and maybe you do circles with the wrists and the ankles. Or maybe you were shaped. And as you shake, Keep your breath steady. Or as you move, Breathe in. Breathe out. Slow down the movement, Hug your knees into the chest. Inhale. And on the exhalation, Bring your toes down to the floor, Press your hips off the floor, And then move them a little to the right. And eventually allow your knees to drop toward the left. You could stagger the legs, You could stack them. So whatever feels good for you. Ground down into the right shoulder and maybe look a little to the right. Let yourself open up to the right lung. The right side of the chest. Come back to center and the next inhale. Now shift your hips a little to the left, Breathe in. And as you breathe out, Allow the knees to go to the right. Maybe you stagger or stack the legs. Ground into the left shoulder and perhaps take the gaze a little to the left. And breathe. One more breath here. Return to center. And now you can choose. For the last few moments of the practice, Maybe you choose to lie down and stay lying down. Maybe bring yourself to a seated position. Just consider, Would you like to feel more energized? If so, Sit. If you want to feel a little bit more relaxed and softened, Perhaps lie down. But either way, Just give yourself a couple moments to get comfortable. To settle. Just giving yourself permission to relax. Let go, Just for a few moments. Before you move into the rest of your day. Giving yourself space to integrate the movement, The breath, The awareness. Welcoming yourself again after the practice. If you have extra time, I invite you to perhaps pause the video and stay here for another three to five minutes. Otherwise, Take one more breath in stillness, Deep into the lungs. Sight Out! And at your own pace start to bring movement back into the body. Fingertips. The hands, The neck, The toes. Maybe stretch out, Maybe yawn. And eventually bring yourself to a seat if you're not already there. And you can let your hands rest on your lap or your knees, Or maybe you bring one hand over your chest, One hand over your belly. Noticing your heartbeat. The ebb and flow of the breath. And becoming as aware as you can. Of how you feel. Just so that you can carry it into the rest of your day, So that you can carry yourself into the rest of your day. With more awareness. With more self-love, With more compassion. Inhale deep breath expanding to the belly, The rib cage, The chest. Take another sip of breath. Inside out. And repeat within or out loud, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. And once you feel complete, Release the hands. And open your eyes. I hope that you have enjoyed this yoga flow, That you feel more energized and more aware of your body and more open, And that you have a beautiful rest of your day. I'll see you in the next practice. Take care.
