Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Loosen Up: A 10-Minute Morning Yoga Flow for Neck, Back & Shoulders
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. 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. James: My neck, my back, and also my shoulder, and also another part of my back. Hello, friends. Welcome to your daily flow 10-minute mornings practice. If you're awake, but maybe you would rather not be. I think you've come to the right place. And of course, practice till the end. We'll pull a card, we'll set some intention and grounding for the day together. And hit like and subscribe on your way out. All right, that's it. That's the admin. Come to stand at the top if you're Matt. Step your feet together. Give your shoulders a nice shrug up. Back. Inhale, float your arms overhead. Exhale, bring your prayer to heart center. Do that again. Sweep the arms wide and out. Look up. Inhale. Exhale, pull your prayer down. One more time. Inhale, float the arms. As time as you exhale, interlace the fingers on their way down. Flip that inside out, press the palms forward, drop the shoulders around the spine. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, float the interlaced fingers to the ceiling. And find a little bit of a back bend. Firm the feet. Feel like you're lifting up and out from that base. And then as you come up to center, take a side bend to your right heel of the left palm reaches up and over. See if you can't wrap the right shoulder blade under. Inhale. Exhale. Feels really good. Rise up, go the other way. Heel of the right palm is pressing up and over. Wrap the left shoulder blade under. Look underneath the right arm. Feel that opening in the right ribs. Inhale. Exhale. Rising up, separate the hands and big fold forward like a swan dive. Bring your hands to your shins. Let's step the right foot back and lower the right knee down. Untuck the right toes. And as always, maybe cushion it up or just give it a little lift so you set it down lightly. Interlace fingers on top of the left thigh. I'm gently pressing the left thigh forward in a way as I press into the top of the right foot as well. Look up, inhale. As you exhale, bring your hands back down to frame that ⁓ left foot, tuck the right toes, and then step the left foot back plank position. Inhale. Exhale, knee's gesture. Inhale, cobra pose. Exhale, downward facing dog. Easy, easy. Pedal out the heels, shake out the head. When we come to familiar shapes, it's a really nice time to check in to see how this feels different than maybe it did yesterday or whenever the last time you did a down dog was. Down dog split the right leg. Inhale and then step the right foot all the way between the hands. High lunge this time. Interlacing fingers on top of the right thigh. Energize a little bit. Into that left quadricep. Then left knee is still soft, but there's engagement. And then push into the ball of the left foot. See if that carries you a little deeper. Maybe float the arms. Inhale. Exhale. Hands come to frame the right foot and step the left foot forward. Bow. Find a nice long spine. And see if you can't peel your belly onto your thighs as you fold. Reverse your swan dive rise up. Hands to heart center. Inhale, floats the arms, make a big circle. Exhale, bow. When you make those big circles, it's still nice lubrication into the joints. We like that. Find your flat back. Step the left foot back, lower the left knee down, untuck the left toes. Give that left knee a little lift or a little cushion. Interlace fingers on top of the right thigh. Gently pressing the thigh forward in a way and start to actively energize that right heel as well as the top of the left foot. Wrap the shoulder blades under. Take a breath. And then bring hands down to frame that right foot. Tuck the left toe as it step the right foot back. Inhale. Exhale, knees, chest and chin. Go both. I think. Pausing here, maybe pedal out the heels, shake out the head, see how things are feeling. Lots of length in the back body. And keep the knees as bent as you need to, especially first thing in the morning. And then when you're ready, down dog split the left leg. Inhale. Exhale, step that left foot all the way forward. Come up to your high lot. Again, I'm just gonna start off interlacing fingers on top of the thigh. There's a little lift of the right quadricep, but still a softness in the knee and an energy in the back of the ball of the back foot. Then maybe float the arms. Inhale. Exhale, hands come to frame the left foot. Step the right foot forward to meet. Find your flat back, maybe hands to shins. And bow deeply peel the belly into the thighs. Press down, rise up, inhale. Exhale. Mountain pose. Things feeling a little better now. Inhale, float the arms. Excel bell. Inhale long spine. Step the right foot back, lower the right knee down. Untuck the right toes, float the arms, inhaling. Exhale, hands come to frame the left foot. Tuck the right toes, step back to your plank position, inhaling. Maybe knees, chest, maybe chattaranga. Roll over the toes for your upward dog or cobra. And then downward facing dog. Stay nice and long. We're gonna add on a little bit. Down dog, split the right leg, step the right foot forward, come up to a high lunge. Inhale. Exhale. Warrior two. Let that left heel ⁓ spiral down. Pinky edges of both feet. Nice deep end in the right knee. Energy in the fingertips. You're not reaching forward. You're not reaching back. You're reaching forward and back. Energized. Feel that right palm travel up and back. Now try to make your right arm long. I see a lot of floppy arms in this shape. So energize up and back. And that just like we did in the our standing side bends in the warm-up. And then bend the right knee a little more. It's a nice stretch in the right side body. Now keep all of this good length in your right side body, send the right arm forward. Forward and then maybe it comes down to the mat, or maybe you put your elbow on your thigh. That's fine. Left bicep by the left ear. This one is also not floppy, it's straight. You're energizing. Inhale. Exhale. Bring the left hand down. Peel up that right heel and float the right arm to the ceiling. So now you're in a ⁓ lower. Set it down. Step the left foot forward to meet the right. Bow deeply. Find your flat back. Bow again. Reverse your swan dive, rise up. And then right away. Bow forward on an exhale. Find your long spine. Step the left foot back. Lower the left knee down. Unduct the left toes. Crescent lunge. Hands come down to frame the right foot. Inhale back to plank. Exhale, take your vinyasa, let those elbows brush your ribs. Lengthen your spine. You don't have to give your squeeze your glutes or anything. And then your downward facing dog. Take a breath. We'll add on on this side. Down dog split. Left leg inhale. Exhale, step it forward. Rise up to your high lunge. Use your feet. And then open out to your warrior two. Adjust a little bit if you need to. Left heo, bisex, archive, right foot. Even energy in the fingertips. Flip that left palm, swim it back. Open those left ribs. Pause here. Energy in the left fingertips, left knee traveling forward. Feel that opening in the left ribs as you inhale. Keep the space, keep the space. Reach forward, forward, forward. Hand falls where it falls. Look underneath the right arm. Inhale. Exhale. Brings the right hand down. Let that right heel peel up. And then left arm to the ceiling. Nice lunge twist. Inhale. Exhale, bring the left hand down. Step the right foot forward. Look forward. Inhale. Exhale. Bow. Root to rise. Inhaling. Mountain Pose. Simple shapes, simple flow, lots of movement. You may stay standing or come to a comfortable seat. This is fast becoming my favorite part of our time together. A little inspiration, a little looking for something outside of ourselves to help ground the day. I'm gonna take this one. We've had this recently. Healing. The shape is down, dog. Resolve the past to free the present. In fact, I think we had it at the end of last week, just a few days ago. So there's medicine in it, that means there's deeper work to do. There's always deeper work to do. Resolve the past to free the present. If you are tied to something, if you are moored to something, if you are anchored to something old, then nothing gets new. What can you let go of right now, today? What can you find in this moment to move forward? To be present here and now with yourself, your friends, your colleagues, your loved ones. The light that is in me bows to honors and is very grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste. Thank you as always for spending this time. Please take a moment to ask questions, leave comments, let me hear from you, send emails, all the things, and of course, like, subscribe, bell icons, and so on. Have a wonderful day. Thank you for spending this part of it with me. Namaste.