Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Find Your Balance & Focus | Morning Yoga + Reflection
Transcript
- James @ Daily Flow: Hello friends, welcome to this audio version of today's 10 minute morning's practice. The video's link is in the show notes, but if you're staying here, just move and breathe in a way that feels honest. Don't worry about perfection. Just showing up is enough. 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: 10 minutes of morning yoga, of anytime yoga, to activate, reset, energize, and deepen your concentration for whatever the day might hold. Hello friends, welcome to your daily flow 10-minute mornings practice. My name is James. Let's come to our backs. Planting your feet flat on the floor. Think about your ankles and your heels being right under your knees. And then wrap your shoulder blades under and curl your spine up. Find a little tilt of the tailbone up and curl your spine up into bridge. See if you can feel one vertebrae at a time. There is no hurry. And then once you arrive at the top. Pause, interlace your fingers, walk your shoulder blades together. So shift from side to side until you feel everything together. Firm the feet, soften the glutes, breathe into the chest. Inhale. Exhale, lower down. See if you can find one vertebra at a time. Again. Press it all down. Cocoon in your knees to your forehead, your forehead to your knees. Really round your spine. Inhale. And then start to rock and roll along the length of your spine. These don't have to be very big. But see if you can't build a little momentum until you come all the way up to sit. Planting your feet flat on the floor, planting your hands under your shoulders. Come up into your reverse table. Lift your heart such as a different back bend. And then as you lower down, Cross your shins, rock yourself forward Setting up in your quadruped, wrap your elbows under, take a little cow pose, pull your heart forward, and a cat round your spine. So we're moving pretty much right off the bat to another round of cow and cat. Linking our breath and movement, trying to wake up, get started. It's Monday morning if you're with me live, but of course, It's you too. So it'll be here forever. So whenever you're here, I'm glad you're here. Step back to your plank. Shoulders just a little forward of your wrists. Find a tuck of your toes. Energize your legs. Inhale. Exhale. Right to down dog. Pausing here, pedal out your heels, shake out your hand. And then walk your feet forward to your hands. Separate your feet about hip width apart. Hold opposite elbows, sway from side to side. And then release that, roll yourself to stand. Stepping your feet together. Mountain pose. Give your shoulders a shrug up and back and down. Firm your feet. Activate the feet. Anytime you're connected with the mat, that gets energy. So press down and then feel how that engages through your quads. And then as you do that, you can lift up through the crown of the head, lengthen the spine. Inhale here. Exhale. Inhale, floats the arms overhead. Exhale, bow forward, lead with your heart. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, bow, just stay here. Press down, root to rise, hands meet overhead. Inhale. Exhale. Hands to your heart or to your side. Again, inhale, float the arms. Exhale, fold. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, bow. Root to rise. Inhale. Mount and pose. Exhale. We'll move on now. Inhale, flip the arms. Exhale, fold forward. So this is really opening up my shoulders a little bit. My shoulders tend to be tight, especially first thing in the morning. So that's why we did all that. So that my shoulders can feel more open. Maybe yours do too. Come into your crescent lunge, lower that left knee down, untuck the left toes. Interlace fingers on top of the right thigh. And then let that energy press forward. Peel your belly up and back. Then press down to the top of the left foot. Remember anytime you're in contact with the mat. Inhale. Coming into a half split. So straighten the right leg and send your hips back. Now maybe you are able to get your left sitz bone onto your left heel. Maybe you hold your right foot. It's a nice stretch through that right hamstring. If that feels like it's not available to you, you can be more upright. you don't have to fold forward. You can also have your hands up on blocks. Inhale here regardless. And then as you exhale, shift yourself forward, tack your fingertips, lift your back knee, and then see if you can come into a warrior three. Energize into this in step of that right foot. I'm gonna reach my arms forward. Inhale, then exhale, step back, warrior one. Find the pinky side of that left foot like it's trying to slice off the mat, and then wrap your left shoulder blade under to square your heart. Right hand to the waist, straighten your right leg. Send your left arm forward, forward, forward, forward, forward. When you can go no further forward, bring it down, maybe onto a block on the pinky side of your right foot. That doesn't make it. You can bring it just the back of the hand to the outside of the shin. And then let your left ribs drop. Revolve triangle pose. Energize the feet. You can also shorten your stands a bit, hopping that left foot in a little if you need it. Inhale. Exhale. Back to your warrior one. Rebend that right knee. And then bring your hands down to frame the right foot. Take a vinyasa. Step that right foot back. Inhaling. Exhale. I'm going to take knees, chest, and gin. Cobra pose. Downward facing dog. And a little petal out of your heels, shake out your head. Inhale, exhale, bend your knees and look forward. Inhale, step or float to the top of your mat. Exhale, bow. Press down, rise up. Inhale. Exhale. Not imposing. We'll do that on the other side. Inhale, float the arms. Exhale, fold. Inhale, lengthen, step the right foot back, release the right knee down and untuck those right toes. Sink the hips, interlace fingers on top of the left thigh. So pressing down the top of the right foot into the heel of the left one, peel the belly up and away from that thigh. Wrap your shoulder blades under. Inhale. Exhale, send your hips back for half split. If you can, grab that left foot. In your left hand. And if you can't, don't worry about it. Either way, you're folding forward, maybe you're feeling a stretch in the left hamstring, which is what matters. Try to center yourself, try to level your hips. Inhale. Exhale. Walk your hands forward. Shift your weight to the instep of that left foot. So now as I keep going forward and squeeze my left leg straight, warrior three feels inevitable. Extend your arms maybe. Inhale. Exhale. Big step back. Warrior one. Adjust your feet if they need it. Thighs are rotating externally. Right shoulder blade wraps under. Look up. Inhale. Exhale, the left hand to the waist. Inhale, straighten the left leg. Now send that right arm forward. Forward. Forward. Forward. Come down when you can't go any further. Forward. Hob that back foot in little if you need to. Let the right ribs drop. Let the right hip drop. Feet are still working. Left arm might go to the ceiling. Inhale. Exhale, re-bend the left knee, warrior one. And then take your vinyasa. Step the left foot back. Maybe knees, chest, maybe chaturanga. Cobra or updog. Downward facing dog. Inhale, exhale, bend the knees, look forward. Inhale, step or float to the top of your mat. Exhale, bow, root to rise, inhale, mountain pose, exhale. We're gonna flow all of that. And that transition from a half split. We'll go into a revolved half moon pose straight away. So if that feels unavailable, you can take your warrior three, warrior one, revolved triangle again. It'll take you a little longer to do that. That's okay. We don't have to be in perfect unison. Feel your feet on the floor and your breath in your body. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, floats the arms. Exhale, fold forward. Inhale, lengthen. Step the left foot back and release the left knee down. Crescent lunges, you inhale. Exhale for your half split. Straighten the right leg. Now I'm gonna see if I can take my left hand to the outside of my right foot. Now as I start to shift forward, rebending that right knee, my left hand is on the pinky side of my right foot. So as I come up, I'm in revolved half moon pose. Inhale. Exhale, warrior one. Big step back. How'd you do? Inhale here. Make your way to down dog. So while I'm doing this, maybe you're moving through those other shapes. You're taking your warrior one, you're taking your warrior three, you're taking your revolved triangle, and you're making your way to down dog. Inhale. Exhale, look forward. Inhale, step or float. Exhale, bow. Inhale, root to rise. Exhale, melt in pose. One more time. Inhale, flice the arms. Exhale, bow forward. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, the right foot back and the right knee down. Inhale, crescent lunge. Exhale for your half split. I'm gonna see if my right hand can find the outside edge of my left foot. Now as I shift forward and I look forward, I'm already in my twist. So I can press down and rise up. Revolved half moon. Inhale. Exhale. Warrior one. Big step back. Inhale. Take your vinyasa. Once and down, dog. Inhale. Exhale. Bend the knees. Inhale, step more float to the top of your mat. Exhale, bow. Inhale, root down, rise up. Exhale. Mountain pose. How'd you do? Great. You did great. You can sit, you can take a brief shavasana. I'm gonna grab the cards. So as you take a pause here before the day begins, you might ask yourself. What do I need? What am I looking for? What will this card help me figure out? Let's see. Well, I was asking you to reflect. The card is reflection. the pose is plow pose on the card. Self-observation eases the journey of awakening. We've talked a lot on here, you and I, about that journey, that path. All roads lead to Rome. If you're on a path of truth, capital T of course, then we're all heading to the same place, more or less. I think we're all heading to the same place, period. If we're seeking, if we're reflecting. And that reflection allows us to drop in, to check in, to be present with ourselves on that road. It's not about meeting external obligation. It's not about doing the things that I think you should do or that some authority figure tells you you should do. Or certainly not a thousands-year-old book tells you you should do. Those things are great and can be inspiration, but ultimately, the only way we move down that road, down that path, is to go inside and to be present with ourselves. That's the ultimate barometer of whether the thing that you're labeling as truth is true. You are your only real teacher. I am my only real teacher. I have lots of amazing teachers telling me lots of amazing stuff, but until I'm able to reflect, integrate, embody those teachings, no real change can possibly happen. Let me know how it goes for you. The light that is in me bows to honors, and I hope reflects the light that is in you. Namaste. Thank you as always for this time, for your practice, for your presence. Whenever you happen to find us here, please be sure to like, subscribe, share, follow, do all the things so that we can continue to grow our community together. And if you haven't already, check out my podcast, Hello Friends with James Donegan. It's on YouTube and to every podcast app. You can watch it on video, on Apple as well, if you prefer that. This week excuse me, this most recent episode is with my friend, composer and musician Madipao. So she's a she's an interesting, really cool woman. So I hope you enjoy it. 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.