Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Explore Your Balance, Find Your Own Path | 10-Minute Morning Yoga
Transcript
- James @ Daily Flow: Hello friends. Thanks for downloading the audio version of today's 10 minute mornings practice. The YouTube video is linked in the show notes. And if you're staying with just the audio, don't worry about doing it right. Just move and breathe in a way that feels honest. That's enough. James: It only takes 10 minutes to arrive in your day with purpose, grounding, breath, and intention. Hello friends. Welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James. Be sure to practice till the end. We'll pull a card. We'll set some intention for the day. And of course, be sure to like, subscribe, and leave comments. I love hearing from you. Come to stand at the top of your mat. Grounding down into your feet, you might place a hand on your heart, one on your stomach, close your eyes just for a moment before we begin. Nice time to set a brief intention or make an offering. And today, because it is September eleventh and I live in New York City, my offering is to everyone who is affected by these events all those years ago... their survivors. Together we inhale and exhale inhale floats the arms. Exhale, interlace your fingers low behind your back. Inhale, lift up through those knuckles. Wrap around to the left side, wrap that left elbow back, and then let your head fall to the left. So you feel a stretch to the right side of your neck. You can look up. Down. And then press down. Wrap it around the other side. Wrap that right elbow back. Let your head fall to the right. So it's really deep on the left side. And then coming back, press down. This time with soft knees, hinge forward. Let those knuckles reach back and then eventually up, maybe even forward. Your shoulders might stop you at a certain point, and that's okay. Breathe into your back. Inhale. Exhale, release the hands down to the mat. Inhale, look forward, and then step your left foot back. Coming up to a high lunge. So you're in this runner's lunge now. I'm just gonna interlace my fingers on top of that right thigh. Energize back into the left heel. Like you're pushing the floor back actively, still a little bend in the left knee, maybe. And then I'm gonna flip my arms. You don't have to. Look up. Inhale. Exhale, straighten the right leg, fold forward over your straight right leg. Now I'm trying to get that back heel onto the mat for pyramid pose. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, bow. You can certainly hop that left foot in a little bit if you need or want to. Rebend the right knee. Walk along to a wide-legged forward fold. Nice long spine. Tuck that tailbone under and then fold with your tucked tailbone. Exhale. Like an ocean wave. Feel like you're unfurling your spine. Nice long back. Inhale, look forward. Exhale. Fold a little more deeply. Do that again. Inhale. Roll forward. It's kind of like a moving through a cat to a cow and then bow. Feel the outer edges of your feet, still that little tuck of the tailbone. I have a little bend in my knees, they don't have to be perfectly straight. And the hands catch the waist, rise up, pinching your shoulder blades together. Pivot that right foot to point forward, extend the arms, triangle pose. Left hit back, right arm forward, and eventually down. Trying to move in the plane of my legs and my hips. Inhaling. Exhale back to your warrior two and then cartwheel your hands down to frame the right foot and just step the left foot forward to meet. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, bow. Inhale, press down, rise up. Hands meet overhead. Exhale, mountain pose. We'll do the other side. Inhale, float the arms, stay tall, and then take the hands behind your back and interlace the fingers. Maybe put the other thumb on top, the one that just feels a little less natural. Press down, lift up, fold forward, soft knees. Open up the shoulders, lengthen the spine. Inhale, look forward, pull your heart forward. Exhale, fold a little more, release the hands to the mat. Again, find your flat back and now step the right foot back. So the left foot's between your hands, nice and grounded in that left heel. Come up, interlacing fingers maybe on top of the left thigh. Right knee is bent and it's actively pushing back into the ball of that right foot. Chest nice and proud. Maybe you float your arms, maybe not. Inhale. Exhale, straighten the left leg, send your heart forward and bow. Try to spiral the right heel down. You might hop it in a few inches. Lengthen, look forward, and then think about chin to shin as you bow. Still the little tuck of the tailbone. It's just a really deep hamstring stretch. If you need a little bend in the knee or your hands on blocks, that's just fine. Rebend the left knee and then walk along the right edge of your mat. Nice tuck of the tailbone. Pull the heart forward. Embow. And take our little undulation. So inhale, unfurl the spine forward. Exhale, lead with the heart as you follow more deeply. One more time. Inhale. Indexhale. Find your long spine. Now feel those legs engaged. Hands catch the waist. Rise up, pinching the shoulder blades together. Pivot the left foot to point forward. Extend the arms. Nice energy in those fingertips. Triangle pose. Right hip back, left arm forward, and eventually down. Look up at that right thumb. Feel that outward spiral of the left thigh. Nice stretch of the left inner thigh. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Pause for your inhale and then cartwheel hands down to frame the left foot as you exhale. Step the right foot forward to meet the left, nice long spine. Inhaling. Exhale, bow. Press down, rise up. Inhale. Exhale, interlace fingers low behind you. We're gonna flow a little bit. Inhale, lengthen the chest, open the shoulders, exhale, fold forward. Look forward, inhale. Exhale, release the hands and step the left foot back. Inhale, rise up, high lunge. So you can come back to that pyramid pose or standing split. Shift forward, maybe float the left foot. Think about the internal rotation of the thighs, squaring the hips. One inhale here. Exhale, warrior, two, big step back. Inhale, straighten the right leg. Exhale, triangle pose or half moon pose. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. This will be different. We're gonna put in our forward fold. Flying warrior parallel the feet. Wide legged forward fold. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, skandasana, bend the left knee. Try to ground in that left heel, lift up through the pelvic floor. Now you might not need to be as low here because we're gonna bring our hands to frame that right foot. So look at your right foot. Inhale, exhale, push off the left foot, hands frame the right. Inhale, steps the left foot forward, flat back. Exhale, bell. Inhale, press down, rise up. Exhale, interlace fingers behind your back. Maybe the weird thumb on top. Inhale, open the chest. Exhale, fold, knuckles squake the ceiling. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, release the hands and step the right foot back. Come up to that high lunge, inhaling. Either pyramid pose or standing split as you exhale. We'll take a breath here. Inhale. Exhale, big step back. Warrior two. Inhale, lengthens the left leg. Exhale, triangle or half moon. Yogi's choice. Inhale. Exhale, nice soft landing warrior two. Inhale, straighten the left leg, parallel the feet. Exhale, wide legged forward, fold. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, right knee bends, skandhasana. Try to ground in that right heel. Even if it means you're not as low as me. Lift up to the pelvic floor. Look at your left foot. Inhaling. Exhale, push off. Hands frame the left foot. Inhale, step the right foot forward, flat back. Exhale, back. Inhale, roots to rise. Exhale, interlace fingers low behind you. Dial it up just a little bit if you want to try. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, knuckles, scrape the ceiling as you fold. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, release the hands down, step to left foot back. Rise up, high, lunge, inhaling. Exhale, standing split. All right, now you have the option here. To step back and move through Warrior 2, or just peel yourself open to half moon pose. Energize down into the instep of the right foot. Maybe look up at your left thumb. Inhale. Whoa. Makes it harder. Exhale, skandasana. Step that left foot way back. Inhale here. Exhale, spring forward and step forward. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, bow. Press down, rise up, inhaling. Exhale, interlace fingers low behind you. Not easy. Inhale, open the heart. Exhale, bow. Inhale, lift the chest. Exhale, hands down, right foot back. Rise up, high lunge. Pyramid pose or standing split. Take a breath and then see if you can level this out and peel that right hip open. Opening up, inhale, exhale, bend the left knee, bend the right. Inhale here, exhale, push forward and step forward. It's a big one. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, bow, and just stay, separate your feet nice and wide. Come into a brief malasana squat. Press down in the heels. Feel that little hip stretch. And then... have a seat. How'd you do? That last one was a little tough for me too. Maybe it wasn't for you. I don't know. Just take a second here, feel your breath, and see what little inspiration or big inspiration we might find today. Plow pose on the card. Reflection. Self observation eases the journey of awakening. Self-observation eases the journey of awakening. It's really easy to think, well there's a right way to do everything. There is a way to get to a destination. I remember when I first moved to Atlanta where I went to graduate school. I was really excited the first time I knew an alternate route around a traffic snarl. Of course, there are lots out there. I'd lived there for several months and I I knew a different way. I didn't have to go the way that I'd been prescribed, that I'd been given when I first moved to the city on my way into school. There are lots of paths on this journey. It doesn't even mean that your beliefs have to be different from another's. Your path will be different because it's yours. Being present with yourself, recognizing, observing, reflecting on what works in your life, on what resonates with you, will make that journey much easier. It doesn't mean you can't still take it. It doesn't mean we're not all going to the same final destination, because spoiler alert, we are. But being present, knowing ourselves, our deepest selves. And doing the things that work and resonate for us rather than trying to move with the crowd in the traffic, in the traffic snarl. Maybe that alternate route. Your route that is different from mine. Will get us both to the same place. It'll make the journey a little easier. If you go your way. Let me know what think. The light that is in me bows to and honors the light that is in you. Now must they. I'm gonna be reflecting on that one a bit today. Thanks for spending this time. As always, be sure to like and share and subscribe, tell friends. It's how we build our community here, little by little, click by click, like by like, dot by dot. Have a great day. Thanks for spending this part of it with me. Namaste. James @ Daily Flow: a follow or review goes a long way. And of course, you're always welcome to practice live with me on YouTube, 8 a.m. weekdays.