Standing up straight.
Feet wider than hip width apart.
Facing forward.
We're going to begin by warming up the spine.
Bend your knees.
And place your hands on the lower thighs.
Straighten one leg.
And then the other.
Doing our elephant walk.
Warming up through the hamstrings.
Pelvis and lower back.
And now.
.
.
Add some twisting into the movement.
When you have a straight leg.
Look towards that side up to the ceiling.
Putting the spine through some gentle rotation.
And now we can also move the hips from side to side.
Like you're wagging your tail.
And we can add in head movement here.
As the hips go to the right.
Move the head to the right.
Curling the spine into a C shape.
And then changing sides.
And feeling how that stretches through the sides of the ribs.
This is actually the warm-up I do every day.
Before I work out at the gym.
The spine is the most important part of the body.
To warm up.
Because all of the nerves that exit the spine go on to supply all of the muscles in your body.
And now bring your hips to stillness.
And very gently start to circle the head.
And change directions.
Come back to your center.
And carefully roll the spine up to standing.
We're going to Send a wave.
Down through the spine.
For this first one,
Watch my movement and I will guide you through each of the steps.
Restart with the head.
Diving the head down.
Curling the spine all the way forward.
And then to Come up to standing,
We start with the head again.
And we look up.
And the spine arches and follows the head.
Try it with me,
Chin to chest.
Diving the head down.
Rounding the spine forward.
And then chin comes up.
And body follows.
And continue here.
Every movement dictated by the head.
And the body follows along nice and smoothly.
And imagine.
Each very breath.
Moving one by one.
Opening up.
The spaces in between the bones.
Allowing the nerve supply.
To exit.
And supply all of your muscles and organs.
And let the arms drop down nice and heavy,
Stretching through the shoulders.
And as your brain and body gets used to this wave,
Sat to enjoy this movement.
Deep breath.
You can sigh them out.
And last one.
Come back to your center.
And now it's time to awaken your sleeping dragon.
Bend the knees.
As you inhale,
Bring the arms all the way up.
Palms together.
Exhale,
Bring them down to the belly.
Inhale,
Arms up.
Palms together.
Exhale,
Bring them down.
And again.
Last time,
Inhale,
Arms up.
Palms together.
Exhale,
Bring them down.
Hands at the belly.
Keeping the eyes closed here.
And take this time to imagine your dragon.
What color is it?
Is it a long sky dragon?
Or is it more of a muscular thing?
Land-based dragon.
Once you have an image of your dragon.
We're going to awaken it.
Gently open your eyes.
Imagine your hands.
Are the heads of your dragon.
Start.
To swim in a figure eight.
Moving from side to side.
Bending the Knees.
You can widen the feet.
And explore this movement.
Through the lower chakras and levels.
The heads of your dragon,
Which is your hands.
Always goes first.
Follow it with your eyes.
And then let your entire body flow along with it.
You can lift up the feet if that feels good.
Just play.
Maybe a dragon wants to twist behind you.
Sending that spine into rotation.
Or maybe it just wants to do.
Small.
Little figure eight.
And now standing up a bit straighter.
And exploring this mid-range movement.
Imagining a dragon swimming.
Dotting in and out of the ocean.
We can lift the legs.
Going as fast or slow as you like.
Following the head of your dragon with your hands.
Your eyes,
Sorry.
Twisting coiling And now up into the sky.
Working through the spine and the shoulders.
And all the way right up shooting up into the heavens.
And we're going to stretch here.
Arms and hands tall,
Spine straight.
And on the exhale bring your dragon all the way back down.
And we're going to start again.
Drawing these figure eights.
Nice and low.
And feeling the urge to move faster this time.
Warming the spine and really feeling.
Feeling that heat.
How the joints are looser.
And then bring your dragon up.
To the top of the ocean.
Feel that playfulness starting to come out.
And then bring him up into the sky.
Him or her?
Getting faster and smaller.
Reaching the heavens here.
And nice and still,
Stretching.
And on the exhale,
All the way back down.
Bending the knee.
And this time as we begin.
Can start moving around the room.
Walking around in a circle.
Exploring the different levels.
Like a dance?
And then bring it up.
Through the mid-levels.
And then again all the way up.
Into the heavens.
Waving through the spine.
And then becoming still.
One final stretch and feel how much more limber your body is now.
And exhale,
Release the hand.
Let your dragon go.
Let the hands drift down to the sides.
And breathing here.
Feeling the changes that have occurred in your body.
The heat.
That's running up your spine.
The warmth flowing down the legs and down the arms.
And while you're here,
Let your body guide any more movements that need to come forth.
Because now you've awakened the dragon.
Your body probably wants to move a little bit more.
And use this time to stretch.
Through the fascia.
Free form movement.
Which is something a lot of people are not comfortable with.
Which is why doing practices like this dragon practice can give you a great starting point.
Something to focus on.
So you become more comfortable.
With moving your body.
Deep inhale.
And exhale.
Side out.
Bring your hands to your chest.
In preposition.
And thank your body for moving today.
And thank you so much.
For practicing with me.
