Slow Flow Vinyasa

This 30-minute Slow Flow Vinyasa practice is designed to help you build strength and conscious engagement, and bring the body and mind into alignment. This flow includes multiple hip opening poses like Wide-Legged Fold, Lizard Lunge, and Malasana. Each pose is held for a few breaths to find alignment and focus. This flow is great to practice in the morning or mid-day when you need a little bit of energy.

It is an honor and a pleasure to be here with you. Let's begin.

Background Music: Bursts of Brightness by Chill Cole, Infinite Dreamer by Chill Cole, and Himalayas by Chill Cole || All Available on Epidemic Sound

Transcript

Hi friends,

Welcome back to Your Journey Yoga.

Today we have a slow flow vinyasa practice to help you build strength,

Focus on foundation,

Find flow,

And bring the body and mind into alignment.

Feel free to grab yoga blocks if you'd like to have them for your practice.

I'll see you on your mats.

Let's begin.

We're going to begin today's practice either seated in Sukhasana with the legs crossed or on the knees.

Take a moment to get situated on your mat and as you do,

Ground down through your sits bones and lengthen up through each vertebra of the spine,

Lengthening through the back of your neck and all the way out through the crown of your head.

Allow the muscles of your face to soften.

Unclench your jaw.

Let your shoulders be relaxed and allow your belly to be in its most natural state.

Let it be moved by your inhales and your exhales and with your eyes closed,

Just begin to ground into all of the elements of now.

Observing the elements of the space you are in.

Noticing what you can hear,

What you can feel,

Anything you can smell.

Taking it all in and allowing whatever is present to be present.

You may begin to deepen your breathing by taking longer inhales and slower exhales or if an ujjayi breath is supportive for your practice,

You can start to cultivate that now.

Take a moment to check in with the body,

Notice how it feels and also check in with how your energy,

Your mental state is feeling today as well.

Tuning into your energy and holding space for whatever it is that's present.

Take a deep inhale through your nose and a soft exhale.

On your next inhale,

We're going to reach the arms up towards the sky.

Exhale cactus and open your heart.

Inhale your arms reach up high.

Exhale take a twist to the left.

Inhale your arms back through center and take a twist over to the right.

Inhale back to center,

Arms reach high and exhale bring your hands down to heart center.

Take a deep inhale in here and an exhale and then we're going to make our way on to all fours.

Finding our tabletop position,

Bringing your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees.

Decide if you'd like to press into the tops of your feet or tuck your back toes under.

Take a moment to spread your fingers nice and wide.

Take pressure out of your hands and wrists by lifting through the back body and draw the crown of your head and your tailbone in opposite directions.

On an inhale,

Drop your belly gaze comes forward,

Cow pose.

Exhale,

Press the earth away from you,

Round through your back for cat.

Inhale,

Drop your belly.

Exhale to round.

Inhale,

Drop the belly.

Exhale to round.

Come back to a neutral spine.

We're going to bump the hips to the left and bring your gaze over your right shoulder to look back at your right foot.

And then slowly move through center,

Bring your gaze over your left shoulder,

Look back at your left foot.

Bring it back to center,

Neutral tabletop.

On an inhale,

Tuck your back toes,

Root through your palms and lift your hips high and back for downward facing dog.

You might use a little bit of soft,

Easy movement to settle into this pose.

Softening and opening through the feet,

Stretching through the backs of your legs.

You can also play with your gaze,

Bringing your eyes underneath one armpit and then under the other.

And then begin to settle into stillness in your downward facing dog.

Taking a deep inhale in and an exhale out.

Inhale,

Come up onto your toes and begin to tiptoe your way all the way up to the top of your mat and settle into a ragdoll pose when you get there.

Feet could be about hips distance apart or if you want to give yourself more space,

You can bring the feet a bit wider.

Option to bring opposite hand to opposite elbow and maybe even find a sway.

Whatever it is that you do here,

Fully relax through the muscles of your neck,

Letting gravity take over the crown of your head.

Find a few rounds of deep,

Slow breaths here.

If you found a sway,

Begin to come back to stillness and if you took a bind,

Go ahead and release your arms.

On an inhale,

We'll lift halfway flat back and exhale fold.

Root down through your feet,

Bend your knees and one vertebrae at a time begin to roll all the way up to Tadasana.

Hands are down at your sides.

With your eyes softened or closed,

Bring your awareness down to your feet and decide where they feel the most supportive,

Whether that's hips distance or a little bit closer together.

Once you find the stance in your feet,

See if you can bring awareness into the top inner corner of both of your feet and then the top outer corner,

The lower outer corner and the lower inner corner.

Rooting down through all four corners of both of your feet,

Think about lifting up through your arches without engaging your toes.

Finding your Pada Bandha,

Your foot lock,

Letting this bring you a sense of grounding and engagement.

From here,

Begin to lift your kneecaps by engaging your quads,

Draw your tailbone down towards the earth and then lengthen all the way up through the crown of your head and allow your shoulders to relax and be heavy.

Take a deep inhale in here and use your exhale to ground.

Maintain this engagement as you inhale to reach your arms up and overhead and exhale take a gentle bend to the left side.

Inhale back to center and take a gentle bend to the right.

Inhale to center,

Arms high.

Exhale,

Cactus,

Open your heart.

Inhale,

Reach your arms high and find a soft bend in your knees as you fold forward.

Inhale to lift halfway and exhale to plant your palms,

Step back to your plank and slowly lower all the way down to the belly using the knees if you'd like to.

Bring your hands in line with your ribcage,

Press your pelvis and the tops of the feet into the earth and stay light on your hands as you inhale up to a baby cobra and exhale crest back down.

Bring your hands underneath your shoulders,

Tuck your toes and engage your core as you lift up to your plank and then send your hips back to downward-facing dog.

You might find some soft easy movement here,

Taking a deep inhale and an exhale.

Inhale in and let it go.

Come into stillness if you were finding movement.

Find one more inhale and a grounding exhale.

Inhale,

Come up onto your toes and exhale,

Make your way to the top.

Inhale to lift halfway,

Exhale forward fold.

Root to rise,

Urdhva histasana,

Arms reach high and exhale,

Hands to heart center.

Inhale in here,

Exhale tadasana.

Urdhva histasana,

Arms reach high,

Exhale forward fold.

Inhale halfway lift,

Exhale to plant the palms,

Step it back to plank and this time maybe you take a cobra or maybe you find a chaturanga.

We will meet in downward-facing dog.

Follow your breath there.

When you get to down dog,

Take a deep inhale and a soft exhale.

Right foot grounds down to the earth as you inhale to reach your left leg high.

Lengthen out through the sole of your left foot and think about leveling out your hips.

Inhale in,

Exhale slowly shift it forward to a low lunge.

We're going to keep the back knee lifted.

Take a moment to bring your left knee directly over your left ankle.

Lengthen out from the crown of your head all the way out through your right heel and get nice and light on your fingertips.

Take a deep inhale here and as you exhale plant your right palm down and reach your left arm up towards the sky finding a lunge twist.

Inhale in,

Exhale out.

Inhale lengthen through your fingertips and exhale bring your left hand back down.

Take a moment to bring awareness to your stance.

Get nice and strong in your legs,

Engage your core and keep your spine nice and long as you rise up to a crescent lunge.

When you get to your crescent,

Take a moment to connect with your center and your focus.

Relax your shoulders and see if you can evenly distribute your weight and strength into both of your legs.

That might mean that you come up a little bit higher onto the ball of your back foot or bend a little bit more deeply into your front knee or perhaps you simply engage and drop everything more into your center line.

Stay soft in your face,

Soft in your shoulders.

Inhale here and as you exhale blossom open into a warrior two.

You might widen your stance just a little bit here and when you arrive actively push into the edge of your back foot.

Engage that back leg and then maybe you bend a little bit more deeply into your front knee as long as the knee isn't going past your front ankle.

Make sure you can still see your big toe.

Check in with your arms,

Make sure they are level and engaged and take an inhale in.

Exhale to ground.

Inhale reverse your warrior and exhale cartwheel your arms down to the inside of your left foot and walk the hands over to the right for prasarita,

Wide-legged fold.

Turn your toes in slightly as you press into the edges of your feet.

Bring your right hand underneath your face and inhale to reach your left arm high.

Exhale close it back down.

Bring the left hand under the face and reach your right arm high and then close it back down.

Both hands under the face.

Inhale to lift halfway and exhale walk your hands back to your low lunge at the front of the mat.

Step your back foot up to the top finding a halfway lift and exhale fold.

Root to rise,

Urdhva hrsthasana.

Reach your arms up high and exhale hands to heart center.

Inhaling here,

Exhale tadasana.

Urdhva hrsthasana,

Arms reach high and exhale forward fold.

Inhale to lift halfway and exhale plant your palms,

Step it back and move with your breath to downward facing dog.

When you get to down dog,

Take a deep cleansing inhale and a soft grounding exhale.

Anchor down through your left foot and reach your right leg high.

Lengthen out through the sole of your right foot and think about leveling your hips.

Inhale deeply here and slowly shift it forward to your low lunge,

Stepping the right foot through.

Keep your back knee lifted.

Take a moment to bring that right knee directly over the right ankle.

Lengthen from the crown of your head all the way out through the left heel.

Get light on your fingertips and inhale in,

Exhale out.

Plant your left palm and reach your right arm up towards the sky finding your twist on this side.

Inhale deeply and exhale completely.

Inhale to lengthen and exhale bring that right hand back down.

Check in with the stance of your feet and your legs.

Begin to get strong in the muscles of your legs.

Engage your core and find that nice long spine as you rise up crescent lunge.

Same check-ins here.

Find your focus,

Connect with your center and see if you can evenly distribute your weight and strength between both of your legs.

Notice if it feels different on this side and adjust accordingly.

Soften through your face,

Soften through your shoulders.

Inhale in here and exhale out.

Inhale in and open up to your warrior two.

Actively pressing into the edge of your back foot,

Engage through that back leg.

Maybe you bend a little bit more into your front knee and then check in with your arms.

Get them level and engaged.

Inhale in here and exhale to ground.

Inhale to reverse your warrior and exhale cartwheel your hands to the inside of your right foot walking it over to the left for a second set of wide-legged full.

This time we'll be here for a few rounds of breath and just find whatever feels good for you here.

Maybe that stillness,

Maybe it's those twists or maybe you even grab a block and bring it underneath your hands or your forehead.

Take a moment to connect with your breath and just notice how the body feels.

One more inhale and exhale.

Whatever variation you have found.

And then come back to center in your prasarita.

Hands come under the face.

Inhale to lift halfway and exhale.

Walk your hands back towards the front,

Stepping your back foot up to the top,

Finding a halfway lift and a fold.

Urdhva Hastasana,

Arms reach high.

Exhale,

Hands to heart center.

Inhaling here.

Exhale Tadasana.

Urdhva Hastasana,

Arms reach high.

Exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale to lift halfway and exhale.

Plant your palms.

Follow your breath to downward facing dog.

When you get to down dog,

Take a deep refreshing inhale and a cleansing exhale.

Root down through your right foot.

Left leg reaches high.

Shift it forward to your low lunge.

Take a moment to build your foundation from the ground up.

When you feel ready,

Begin to rise up to your crescent.

Arms reach high.

Inhale in your crescent lunge.

Exhale to bring your hands down to heart center.

Very slowly begin to revolve to the left,

Hooking your right elbow to the outside of your left thigh.

Continue lengthening your spine,

Drawing the crown of your head forward and check in with your back leg.

Make sure that knee is lifted and that leg is strong and supporting you.

Deep inhale as you are and an exhale out.

Move slowly as you rise back up to your crescent lunge and open up to your warrior two.

Find your foundational awareness here and when you do,

Inhale deeply and exhale completely.

Inhale to reverse your warrior.

Exhale,

Cartwheel your hands down to the inside of your left foot,

Bringing the left foot to the edge of the mat and finding your lizard lunge.

Back knee is lifted and strong.

Find some length forward and back and see if you can evenly distribute your weight in both of your hands.

From there,

Maybe you find you can get a little bit lighter in your hands by engaging through the legs and thinking about lifting up and off of the ground.

Take an inhale as you are and an exhale.

One more inhale and let it go.

From here,

Step your right foot to the outside of your right hand for malasana or yogic squat.

Feet are about mat's distance here.

Toes are turning off just slightly.

Pressing into both of your feet,

Draw your tailbone down towards the earth as you lengthen up through the crown and the back of your neck.

Press your elbows into your thighs and take three rounds of breath here.

After your third breath,

Bring your fingertips down to the earth and begin to toe-heel your feet in a little bit closer as you straighten your legs and find a forward fold.

Inhale to lift halfway and exhale fold a little deeper.

Root to rise,

Urdhva hastasana,

Arms reach high and exhale hands to heart center.

Inhale here,

Exhale tadasana.

Urdhva hastasana,

Arms reach high,

Exhale forward fold.

Halfway lift and then plant your palms and follow your breath to downward facing dog.

When you get to down dog,

Take an inhale in and an exhale out.

Root down through your left foot and reach your right leg high.

Shift it forward to your low lunge.

Again,

Take some time here to build your foundation from the ground up and when you feel ready,

Begin to rise up to crescent lunge,

Arms reach high.

Find your center,

Your focus and your engagement here.

Inhale in and then exhale,

Bring your hands down to heart center.

Very slowly begin to revolve over to the right,

Hooking your left elbow to the outside of your right thigh,

Keeping your spine nice and long,

Nice and strong as well through your back leg.

Lift that knee.

Take an inhale as you are and exhale out.

Move slowly as you rise back through center,

Arms reach high and open up to your warrior two.

Find your alignment and engagement here.

Inhale in and exhale out.

Inhale to reverse your warrior and exhale to cartwheel down to that lizard lunge on this side,

Bringing the hands to the inside of your right foot.

Right foot comes to the edge of the mat.

Lengthen from your crown out through the heel of your left foot.

See if you can evenly distribute your weight and strength in both hands and then perhaps you can get even a little bit lighter in your hands and wrists by engaging through your legs and lifting up and out of your hands.

Deep inhale here and exhale out.

One more inhale and let it go.

This time stepping the left foot to the outside of your left hand for a second set of malasana.

Again,

Toes turn out just slightly.

Press evenly into both of your feet.

Think about lengthening your spine and take three rounds of breath here.

On your last exhale,

Bring your fingertips to the earth.

Begin to straighten your legs and toe heel the feet in.

Inhale to lift halfway.

Exhale,

Fold a little deeper.

Root to rise,

Herb the histasana,

Arms reach high.

Exhale,

Hands to heart.

Inhale here,

Exhale to dasana.

Herb the histasana,

Arms reach high and exhale to fold.

Inhale to lift halfway and exhale to plant your palms.

Follow your breath to downward facing dog.

When you get to down dog,

Take an inhale and let it go.

Inhale in and this time as you exhale,

Begin to lower into an extended child's pose.

Big toes touch,

Knees are wide.

Slowly inch your fingertips towards the top of your mat as you allow your hips to settle in the opposite direction towards your heels.

Let the belly be soft.

Forehead is connected with the earth or maybe to a block.

Just take a moment to ground.

Connecting with your breath,

Connecting with the earth and extending some gratitude for everything that your body was able to do for you in this practice.

Even if some moments felt challenging,

You still made it through.

A couple more rounds of breath here in this extended child's pose.

And then when you're ready,

You can begin to press into your hands,

Slowly rising through a tabletop and making your way into a seat with your legs crossed.

When you get to your seat,

You can close your eyes or soften your gaze.

And inhale to reach your arms up high.

And exhale,

Hands come down to heart center,

Anjali Mudra.

You might take a slight tuck of your chin here,

Finding a reverent bow.

Offering some gratitude for our practice,

This time we could spend together.

Thank you so much for joining me on your mat and I look forward to joining you next time.

Namaste.

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