Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10-Minute Morning Yoga for a Stiff Low Back & Tight Hips
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: Before the coffee has a chance to kick in, the email inbox has a chance to overflow, and your mind has a chance to go a little crazy. Let's take ten minutes to ground and breathe and move together. 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 together for the day. And of course, like and subscribe before you have to head out that door. Come on to your back. Anytime I start, we start here, it's probably because my low back feels stiff, which sometimes in the morning it does. So that's a dead giveaway. Press your heels of your palms into the hip creases. So feet are firmly rooted, and I feel a little energy in my feet. So my thighs are pressing back into my hands, and then my hands press into my thighs. Nice traction, opening up to the low back. Feels really good. Inhale. Exhale. Let's make a figure four. Cross the right ankle at the left knee and then thread the needle. Interlace fingers around that left hamstring and then press the right elbow into the right inner thigh. As you pull the left leg closer, press the right hip open. So a lot of times when we feel low back stuff or back stuff in general, it's actually a lot at the hips and even the hamstrings, actually. Hamstrings have a lot to do with it. So we're gonna open up all that stuff this morning. And then set that left foot down, switch sides, plant the right foot, figure four, and then left elbow, left inner thigh, and just breathe. Remember the Right knee into that left ankle is just a lever. So you're pulling on it, but it's resisting with the left elbow that makes the stretch. So breathe into that. Inhale. Exhale. Feels really good. So there's one more inhale. Exhale from your feet down onto the floor so that your ankles are about under your knees and then curl your spine up one vertebra at a time. I feel those sticky spots today. And when you arrive at the top, from the feet, see if you can soften the glutes and then lift the hips higher by energizing the feet, which recruits the quads and the glutes. Breathe into your chest. Inhale. Exhale, lower down the way you came. Give your knees a hug into your chest. Really, really round your back. Really, really feel that core engage. And as you engage your core, it takes some pressure off the low back as well. Rock and roll along the length of your spine, a couple of times. And I'm using my legs to get a little momentum here. You can come all the way up. And then come to all fours. However, you need to get there is fine. Ten fingers spread wide. Pull your heart forward. Inhale, cow pose. Tuck your toes. Exhale for cat. Do that again, inhale length then. Exhale realm. One more time, you know, yoga likes threes. Inhale. Cow. Exhale. Big scary cat. tap that tailbone. Round, round, round, round, round, round, round. And then come back to your neutral. Step back to your plank position, top of a push-up. Inhaling. Exhale. Lower your knees. Send your hips back to your heels. Keep the toes tucked. Really round your spine, but keep the palms planted. And then Roll forward to plank, lift the knees. And then your downward facing dog. Adjust your feet a little if you need to. Bend your knees quite a bit. Pull your heart back towards your thighs. So you feel like your back body, or I feel like my back body, is a sort of a plate. And everything is moving towards the mat in front of me in that plate. And then I'm tucking the tailbone under and energizing the legs so that the low back. Really everything south of the ribs is trying to move up and back. As much length as you can make. And then turn your drizdi, your a your eyes, your gaze up towards your navel. Lift your right leg high to sky. Inhale. Exhale, step the right foot outside the right hand. Step the left foot outside the left hand, coming to a malas in a squat. Now, if your hips are really tight. This might be tough, so you might need to be up a little higher than I am, or put something underneath your bum like a yoga block. Energize your palms together, press down in the heels, lift up through the pelvic floor. Inhale. Exhale, plant your hands down, lift your hips high to sky. With your feet still nice and wide, hold opposite elbows, sway your hips from side to side, a little ragdoll pause here. And then release the elbows, roll yourself up to stand one vertebrae at a time. Head and shoulders come up last. Step your feet together for a mountain pose. Float your arms overhead. Inhale. Exhale, big bow forward, lead with your heart. Lengthen your spine. And then fold deeply. Again, I'm gonna bend my knees quite a bit here so I can feel my chest connecting to my thighs. And that's you want that connection. And you want that connection actually in all of your four folds. So keep that connection as you lift up to the kneecaps and press down through the heels. Keeping the tailbone tucked. So you feel like a circle of motion here. Kneecaps are traveling up, tailbone is traveling down. And that tailbone press traveling down presses into the heels more. Relax the neck. Breathe into your back body. Inhale. Exhale. Bend the right, bend the knees rather a lot, and then come into a chair. Float the arms up by your ears. So chair is just down, Doc. So feel that lengthening of the waist. Look up between your hands. Inhale. Exhale. Bring your hands down to the floor. Inhale, lift your chest. Look forward. Exhale, bow deeply, press down through your feet, reverse wandive, rise all the way up and mountain pose. So getting that spine articulated little by little. We're going to add on a little bit here. So float the arms overhead, bow forward, exhale, inhale, lengthen, exhale, fold, inhale, sit into that chair. Exhale, fold down. Lift your chest again. This time step back to a plank position, top of a push-up. Exhale, lower knees, chest and chin. Cobra pose. Use the strength of the back more than the hands. And then tuck the toes downward dog. Hips high to sky. Breathe here, inhaling. Exhaling, inhale, right leg high. This time step the foot between the hands. If it doesn't quite make it, grab the ankle, bring it up, and then come up to a high lunge. So I'm keeping the ball of my or the heel of my left foot lifted and then energizing into the ball of that foot. Wrap the shoulder blades under maybe hands to prayer overhead. I can feel that lengthening of the back body. So even as I press into the ball of the left foot, even as I bend the right knee more, I'm lifting up from the shoulder blades. Inhale. Exhale. Look forward. We're going to come to a figure four chair. So anchor in that right foot. Shift your weight and then cross the left ankle at the right knee. So we did this on the back just a little while ago. Feel that a nice opening in the outside of the thigh. Press down in the right foot, lift the left left knee, and then set the left foot down. Mountain pose. Inhale, float the arms. Exhale, bow. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, fold. Inhale, chair. Exhale, bow. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, step back. Find your plank. Inhale, pause. Exhale, knees gesture. Inhale, cobra. Exhale, downwards facing dog. Down dog, split the left leg. Inhale. Exhale, big step forward. Grab the ankle. Bring it up if it doesn't make it. Then rise up to your high lunge. Firm into the ball mound of the right foot. Energize forward. Your energy is traveling forward. And then maybe hands to prayer. Maybe find a deeper back pen by lifting up through their pelvic floor. Inhale. Exhale. Now look forward. Shift forward. Weight comes more into the left foot. Oops, rise up with that right knee. Make your figure four, right ankle, left knee, just like pigeon. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, rise up, float the right knee. Mountain pose. Take a breath. You can stay standing or have a seat and we'll pull our cart. I got some juices flowing in a good way for me. I feel my left side opening up a little. That's all it is. A little bit at a time. Let's just see a little inspiration for our closing today. Unconscious. The pose is in wide straddle split. The mindful actions of the higher path lead to contentment. The mindful actions of the higher path lead to contentment. We talk about contentment a lot, Santosha, that sense of being fully accepting and embracing of where you are, even if it's not where you think or where you want to be going. What mindful action from that place of contentment can you take today? Just one. I have to think about mine. Because it's not that we can manufacture that contentment out of thin air. We have to practice that contentment. We have to practice being happy and grounded and present in everything that the moment holds. And yoga teaches, and I believe, that when we come into that space, we are more open, more receptive. More at peace. Let me know how it goes for you. I'll do the same. The light that is in me bows to honors and is very grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste. As always, thank you for spending this 10 minutes with me. Please take a moment, hit like, hit subscribe, leave comments. I love hearing from you. And let me know if there's anything special you want to work on or any body stuff that's going on that that maybe your yoga practice could help with. I'm here for it. Have a great day. Thank you 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.