Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10-Minute Morning Yoga for Twists and Balance
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: 10 minutes to wake up, energize, and step into our day together. Hello friends, welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James. Come to stand at the top of your mat, or maybe give yourself a little space up there at the top and then float your arms overhead. Interlace your fingers. Keep the index fingers pointing up towards your ceiling and let the biceps come alongside the ears. If they don't make it alongside the ears, it's okay, but just try to get as tall as you can, firm the feet. Then start to lift the heart and look up. A little bit of a back bend, let the fingers lead so my hands start to travel back and my head stays with my biceps. Knitting together the front rib. Inhale. Exhale. Now stand tall and fold forward like a big swan dive. Now lengthen the spine, exhale, fold and pause. Really think about lifting the kneecaps up. So firming the feet down and lifting up. So you're not just dangling, you're activating the lower body and then releasing some tension in the upper body. Inhale, exhale, press down, root to rise. Inhale. Exhale, mountain pose. Inhale, floats the arms again, interlace the fingers, keep the index fingers pointing to the ceiling. Start to find your back bend. Lifting the head does not go further than the arms can go. That helps keep the spine in a little bit better alignment, squeeze of the glutes. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, maybe go even a little bit further. And then rise up, separate the hands, fold forward. Inhale, long spine. Fold forward, sorry. Chair pose, bend the knees a lot. Tuck the tailbone and then float the arms. Wrap those shoulder blades under. Look up, inhale. And then twist to the left. Hook the right elbow to the outside of the left thigh by lengthening the spine and then wrapping the elbow around. Now if that's not happening, you can always put the outside of the hand on the knee. You might take your left hand to your belly and manually rotate and then look up. Knees stay square, tailbone stays tucked. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, release the twist. Exhale, bow forward. Step the left foot back. Release the left knee down and untuck the left toes. Energize the top of that left foot. Inhale. Exhale, the left hand to the mat, right arm to the ceiling. And then reach that right hand back. Maybe it captures the left foot. Take your breath. Release that hand comes to frame the right foot. Tuck the left toes, lift the left knee, down dog split the right leg. Now we're warming up here, so don't feel like it has to go high, but it should feel high. Internally rotate that right thigh. Lift the left knee cap, anchor the left heel. Inhale. Exhale, step the right foot outside the right hand, step the left foot outside the left hand. Come to your yogi squat. This variation of malasana. Inhale. Exhale, sit down the hands, lift the hips, heel toe the feet together. Bend in the, bow deeply, lift the knees and then bend the knees, chair pose. Inhale. Exhale, take the twist to the right. So again, think about lengthening through the left waist and then hooking the elbow outside or the forearm and then maybe right hand. Feel like you're lifting the belly. Manually rotate the ribs. Knees are connected. Look up over the right shoulder. Tuck the tailbone. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, release the twist. Exhale, bow forward. Flat back. Step the right foot back. Release the right knee down. Firm the top of the right foot. Float the arms. Inhale. Exhale the right hand down, left arm to the ceiling. Bend the right knee, reach back, see if you capture the right foot. Again, if you don't, don't even worry about it. Don't think about it twice. Inhale. Exhale, release that. Hands frame the left foot, tuck the right toes, lift the right knee. Down dog split the left leg. Internally rotate the left thigh. Everything is reaching the log. Inhale, exhale, left foot outside the left hand. A brief lizard. And then right foot outside the right hand, malasana. Float the arms first so you find your rooting. Feel that lifting up. If your heels come up off the floor, then don't go as low. Feel the length of the spine. Try to get the spine perpendicular to the mat. Take your breath. Set the hands on the floor. Lift the hips, heel, toe the feet together. Find a flat back, inhale. Exhale, bow deeply. We're gonna add on. Inhale, chair pose. Bend the knees, float the arms. Exhale, take your twist to the left. Look down and if you can, pick up the right foot and step the right foot way back. Revolved High Line. up over the left shoulder, inhale. Exhale. Inhale, release the twist. Exhale, bring hands to frame the left foot. Step that left foot back plank position, inhaling. Exhale, lower your knees, your chest and your chin. Cobra pose, press the abdomen down, pull the heart forward as you lengthen. And then tuck the toes downward dog. Down dog, split the right leg. Inhale. Exhale, step the foot between the hands this time. Spiral the left heel down, come up to your warrior one. Straighten the right leg. Send that left arm forward, forward. Revolve, triangle pose. Left hand comes down, right arm goes up. Firm the feet a lot. Energize the legs. Try to keep both feet flat and both legs straight. It's not easy. And then release the twist, step forward to your chair. Ah, speaking of not easy, wobble all you need to. Inhale, exhale, twist to the right. Energize the palms, lengthen the spine. Look down at your feet. Step the left foot way back. Revolve to high lung. Inhale. Exhale. And now release the twist. Exhale, hands come to friend the right foot. Step back to your plank on an inhale. Find your plank and then lower knees, chest and chin. facing dog. Down dog split the left leg. Exhale, set the foot between the hands. Rise up, warrior one. From the feet, straighten the left leg. Feel the instep of the left foot. Now reach that right arm forward as far as you can. with a long spine and then let the hand cross over. If you need, can hop the back foot in a few inches. You can also put something like a block underneath your right hand. Now wrap those shoulder blades together and look up, inhale. Exhale, big step forward, chair pose. Mountain pose. We're gonna flow that a bit more. I'm gonna add some balancing. We'll do two revolved half moons or you can stay in the triangle. Let's give it a shot. Feel your feet. Inhale to your chair. Exhale, twist to your left. Find the anchor in the big toe side of the left foot. Now start to pick up the right foot and lengthen, energize down into the strong left leg. Take your breath. Big step back to your warrior one. Chaturanga. Upward facing. Downward facing dog. If this feels like it's a little too much for first thing in the morning, just take out the balances. Down dog, split right leg. Right foot forward. Rise up, warrior one. Straighten the right leg. Revolved half mood on this side. Left arm forward. And down. Maybe the back foot floats. And then you sit in chair, chair. Inhale. Exhale, fold. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, bow. Chair pose, inhale. Twist to your right. Look down. Pick up the left foot, extend it back, energize into the instep of the right foot. Work the right leg straight. Took me a second to inhale. Now big step back, warrior one. Left foot steps back and spirals down, arms float. Exhale, hands to the mat. Inhale, take your vinyasa. Move through with your breath. Your breath will always be more important than my cue, so take your time. Almost there, down dog split left leg. Step the foot forward. Warrior one. Straighten the left leg. Right arm travels forward. You might come to revolve triangle. You might shift your weight more. Pick up the back foot. Revolve to half moon. Inhale. Exhale to your chair. Inhale. Exhale, fold. Flat back. Bow deeply. Roll yourself to stand one vertebra at a time. Mount and post. Not easy, but lots of twisting to wake up the metabolism, digestive system, get us activated, adrenal glands, all that stuff. Thank you for spending this time with me. As always, take a pause to reflect on your days unfolding before you and decide how you'll arrive, where you'll find balance. where you'll twist a little. The light that is in me bows to honors and is so, grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.