Wake Up Flow

Wake Up Flow is a gentle, uplifting yoga practice designed to help you transition smoothly into the day. Through mindful stretches, flowing movement, and intentional breath, you’ll gradually awaken the body, increase circulation, and shake off morning stiffness.

Transcript

Hello everybody! Today we're going to be doing a wake-up flow, Just to mobilize and wake up the whole body. Let's get started in a seated position. You can cross your legs in any way that works for you. Kneeling, Cross-legged, Lotus pose if you can. You can rest your hands on your knees, Softening the shoulders, Closing the eyes, Getting settled into the space. For the first few rounds of breath, Start to tune into your body, Noticing any areas of tension that may feel tight. Maybe there's a part of your body that you're tensing or clenching. See if you can bring awareness to it, And then use the breath to soften, Use the time to soften the body, The muscles. Softening the shoulders away from the ears, Allowing the spine to be nice, Long, And tall. Take three more rounds of breath here, Making these breaths even longer, Even deeper. Softening the belly, Using the breath to soften the body before we start. On your last exhale, Tuck the chin into your chest, Feel the stretch at the back of your neck, Softening the shoulders away from the ears. Slowly come back to center, And then opening the eyes. From here, Keep the shoulders down, Tilt the right ear towards the right shoulder, So we get a left side neck stretch. Breathing deeply here, Chest facing forward, Head facing forward. Return to center, And then switch, Left ear, Left shoulder. Feeling the nice stretch in the right side of your neck. And back to center, Right side again, Right ear to right shoulder. Now this time, Let's bring the chin towards the right shoulder, So you're getting a stretch at the back part of your neck. Breathing deeply here. Coming back to center, And then switch, Left ear, Left shoulder. Now drawing the chin towards the left shoulder. This may feel quite tight for some of you, So just go to where you can. The muscles of the neck are pretty sensitive, So go gentle, Go easy on these. Slowly return, And then come back to center. From here, Tilt the chin upwards, Feeling the opening in the throat, In the chest, In the front body. Dropping the head back to wherever feels comfortable for you. And come back to center. Interlace the fingers, Push the palms forward. Take the arms over your head, And draw a big circle. Arms by your side. Two more like this, Interlace. Push the arms forward, Arms up, And draw a big circle. One more, Arms forward, Arms up, Big circle, And release. Roll the shoulders back, And shoulders forward. Okay, Let's come into all fours. So hands shoulder-width apart, Knees are hip-width apart. From here, Find a neutral spine, So crown of the head facing forward. Sit bones, So the butt bones here are pointing towards the back of your room. Spine is nice and long. From here, Inhale to arch the back. Your sit bones will now tilt up towards the ceiling, Coming into your cow pose. Chest forward. Exhale to round. Pushing the upper back up towards the ceiling as you soften the front body. Inhale to arch, Pushing your chest forward to activate the upper back. And exhale to round, Tucking the chin into your chest. Upper back pushing up towards the ceiling. Two more like this. Inhale, And exhale, Round. Very nice. Last one, Inhale, And exhale, Rounding in. From here, Come to find a neutral spine. Let's take the left hand under the right hand. Send the left ear to the floor for your thread the needle pose. If it feels okay for you, You can straighten the right hand and walk the right fingertips towards the left side for your side stretch. Think about rotating your chest towards the ceiling, Looking up towards the ceiling. Nice long breaths here. Slowly come back to center. Place the right hand on the floor. Bring the left arm up and over. So we're coming into your twist. And release, Left hand back to the floor. Let's take two rounds of cat-cow. Inhale to arch, And exhale to round. One more like this. Inhaling to arch, And exhaling to round. Good, And exhale to round. Come in to find a neutral spine. Take the right hand underneath the left, Right ear to the mat. Find your position first. Now, If it suits you, You can take the left hand out in front of you, And then walk the fingertips towards the right side. Breathing deeply into the side body, Into the back body. See if you can rotate the chest towards the left to open it a little bit more. Nice deep breaths here. Slowly coming back to center. Left hand to the floor, Pushing yourself back up. Two rounds of cat-cow. Inhale to arch, And exhale to round. One last one. Inhale to arch, Good, Exhale to round. Now, We've come to find a neutral spine. Coming into puppy pose. From here, Keep the knees where they are. Let's walk the hands forward as far as you can. Sending the chest towards the floor, Crawling the fingertips forward, Keeping the elbows lifted if you can. Now, Think about sliding your chest forward, Chin forward, And gripping the upper back muscle, Sending the shoulders towards the floor. So, This is a chest stretch, Upper back opener, Shoulder opener. If chin on the floor is too much for you, You can tuck the chin to your chest, Forehead to the floor. A few more rounds of breath here. Very slowly, Push yourself back up. And then, Place your hands on the floor, Tuck your toes, Pushing back into your upstretch position or your downward dog. Let's bring the feet together. And from here, I want you to come up high on your tiptoes, Keeping the legs as straight as you can. Come up high onto your tiptoes. Now, From here, Bend the right knee, Lower your left heel to the floor. You should feel a stretch at the back of the left lower leg, The calf muscle. Coming back to your tiptoes, High heels, And switch. Bend the left knee, Right heel to the floor. Back to tiptoes and switch. Tiptoes and switch. Good. High heels and switch. Back to center, Switch. Center, Switch. Few more rounds. Center, Switch. Center, Switch. So, Every time you switch, Keep going, You're coming back to your upstretch. So, Upstretch is almost the same as downward dog. Downward dog is just a yoga term. Upstretch is a Pilates term. Keep on moving. We're trying to mobilize the calf muscle. So, The muscle at the lower part of your leg. Go for another five. Good. Three. Pushing the heel down as much as you can. Two. And one. Okay. Now, Stay in your tiptoe position. Now, Both feet, Can you ground them towards the floor? Both feet come up. Both heels down. Three more. Up and lower. Last two. Up and lower. Last one. Up. Good. And lower. Very nice. Upstretch. Take the right leg up towards the ceiling. Bend the knee. Open up the hip. Step the right foot outside the right hand. We're going to come into a low lizard lunge. So, Keep the back thigh lifting up. And take the elbows to the floor if you can. From here, You can rock side to side. Forward and backwards. Hands back to the floor. Stepping back. Upstretch. Left leg up to the ceiling. Bend the knee. Open the hip. Step the left foot forward outside the left hand. Back thigh stays off the floor. If you want to, You can bring your elbows to the floor. Forearms to the floor. Rocking forwards and backwards. Right and left. If it's too early for you to come on to your elbows, You can stay on your hands and do the same thing here. Okay, Coming back to your hands. Stepping back. Upstretch. Step the right foot forward in between the hands. Take the back knee to the floor. And come up into your lunge position. Hands to your hips. Now, From here, Can we shift the body forward? You should feel a stretch in the front thigh. Now, Left hand to the floor. Pick up the left toes. Swing the right hand back and catch the heel. So, You might have to sink the hips a bit lower. Bring the knee a bit more forward to be able to catch the heel. Now, Turn the chest towards the right. As you draw the heel closer towards your hips. Slowly release. Both hands to the floor. Stepping back. Upstretch. Step the left foot forward in between the hands. Back knee to the floor. Coming into your lunge. We'll get the position first. So, Squaring the pelvis, The hips. Move the left knee forward. You should feel a stretch in the front thigh. Keeping this. Right hand to the floor. Pick up the back toes. Swing the left hand back and catch. Turn the chest. Turn the chest towards the left. Draw the heel closer towards your hips. Slowly come back to center. Hands to the floor. Step back. Downward dog or upstretch. Knees to the floor. Child's pose. So, Hips to your heels. Walk the hands forward. Bow forward. Slowly come all the way up. Sitting in a kneeling position. Let's take both arms up. Inhale. And exhale. Release. Inhale. Exhale. The last one. Inhale. And exhale. Okay, That is it for today. Thank you for joining me on the mat.