Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10 Minute Yoga for Hip Opening & Spinal Twists
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: If your hips, low back, or spine feel tight, well, this is the practice for you. Hello friends, welcome to your daily flow 10-minute mornings practice. My name is James, and of course, be sure to practice till the end because we'll pull a card together and set some intention for the day. Come to your back. Setting up like you would for a bridge pose. The ankles are under the knees. Firm the feet. And just press down into the feet. Don't come up into bridge just yet. Wrap your shoulder blades under and feel how when you energize the feet, it helps to lengthen the low back, which is what we're looking for. And then take the heels of your palms into the hip creases and apply a gentle even pressure. Opening up through the waist, through the back body. And do whatever you need to do here. You can kinda shift around, find where you can feel a little opening wherever it might be tight. Inhale. Exhale, feel your back spread across the mat. Do that again. Inhale, feel expansion. I'm softening my hands. Exhale press in deep and ⁓ One more time. Inhale. Exhale. Then release all of that. Grounding down, curl yourself up into a bridge pose. Really see if you can take your time and peel your spine up off the mat. Especially if you have any tightness in the muscles surrounding the spine. It's gonna be a little sticky coming up, so take your time. And then when you arrive at the top, give your glutes an extra little squeeze and then roll down the way you came. Really see if you can find every single vertebra. And I tend to have a little bit of middle back tightness. So as I roll through this space, I can feel a little skipping almost. So I take a little extra time there. And then the very last thing to come down is the tailbone. Make a figure four across the right ankle at the left knee. And then just like we did before, heels of the palms right at the top of the thighs. A little even pressure. Inhale, soften. Exhale deepen. And then thread the needle. The right hand goes through that little keyhole, interlacing fingers around the left hamstring, right elbow pressing the right thigh out. Inhale. And exhale. Then keeping the feet floated, I'm just gonna step the right foot on the floor take coming into a twist. I'm trying to keep my left knee more or less in line with the left glute and then turn your head to the right. Trying to press down into that right foot if I put my left hand on my right knee and get a little deeper in the twist, a little traction. Both shoulder blades on the mat. Inhale. Exhale. And then come back to center. Untangle the legs. Give a little crunch. So my knees in tabletop. Press the low back down. Lift the heart towards the knees. Inhale. Exhale lower. Press down in the feet. Curl the spine off the mat one vertebrae at a time. Come to your bridge. Peel it up. Inhaling. And then exhale lower down the way you came. Again, really feel those little sticky spots, feel those tight spots and give them extra time and attention. That's all they need. Your figure four, left ankle, right knee, heels of the palms, right at the tops of the thighs. Inhale, exhale, apply a gentle even pressure into both legs. Feel the lengthening of the back body. And then release all of that. Pick up that right foot, left hand threads the needle. So I'm holding the right hamstring, left elbow, pressing the left inner thigh. Remember the event of this stretch is opening up the left abductor muscles, those outer thighs. So use this little bit of leverage you have with the right thigh to open the left one. Inhale. Exhale. Release that, but keep the right knee sort of in that tabletop, and then let the left foot fall over to the side. To a nice twist. Turn your head to the left. And again, I'm gonna take my right hand on top of my left knee. So that gives me a little bit of extra leverage to deepen the twist. Looking over to the left, firming the left foot into the floor. Right knee is more or less in line with the right glute. Inhale, exhale, and then release all of that. Come back to center. Knees to tabletop, lift into your crunch, reaching your fingertips forward. This time I'm gonna straighten my legs 45 degrees. Wrap the shoulder blades under, lift the heart. And then rock yourself all the way up. Cross your shins. Come to all fours. That's a big one. That's a lot. And reorganize. Little cat and cow inhale. Exhale round. Untuck the toes. Inhale, tuck the toes. Really think about lengthening. Exhale, round, untuck the toes. Spreading your fing fingers wide, a slight turnout, shift your shoulders forward of your wrist, wrap your elbows under, step back to a plank. I'm having my feet together for now. Feel everything engaged. Inhale. Exhale, release just the right knee onto the floor. Inhale, extend the right arm forward, the left foot back. Exhale, knee to elbow. Inhale, lengthen. This will be a little different. Set the right hand down. Set the ball of the left foot down and then down dog split. The right leg goes up. Internally rotate the right thigh. Feel like you're really squeezing the right leg straight, flexing that right foot. Inhale. Exhale, step the right foot between your hands, and then release the left knee onto the mat. Untuck the left toes, right hand on the right thigh. Nice twist here. Anytime you twist, remember, lengthen. Then spiral. So feel the length of the spine and then wrap that left shoulder blade under, look up over the right shoulder. Maybe sink the hips a little more. Maybe flip the right arm to the ceiling. That makes it a little deeper. Maybe reach the right hand back, capture the left foot. Take an inhale. And an exhale. Release all of that. Planting the palms, step back to your plank, inhale. This time take a vinyasa, lower knees, chest and chin. Cobra pose, lengthen, use the abdominal. So it's not just a stretch, but use the core to help lift the back and then tuck the toes downward dog. Step your feet together. Roll forward to plank. Release the left knee down onto the mat. Extend the left arm forward, float the right foot back, inhale. Exhale, knee to elbow. Inhale, lengthen, set the left hand down, set the ball of the right foot down, down dog, split the left leg. Again, big internal rotation of that left thigh, big squeeze of the left thigh, left heel pulling you up and back. It's a nice stretch. Inhale. Exhale, step the left foot all the way between the hands. Release the right knee down and unduck the right toes. Get long. Pull your heart forward to sink the hips. So it's not just dropping the butt, it's lengthening the spine. Right hand on the floor, left hand to the left thigh. Look up over that left shoulder. So the left hand is gently pressing that left thigh forward and helping to anchor down, just like we did on the C in the supine twist. The right hand is dragging the floor to the right. Look up. Lengthen and go deeper. Now maybe the left hand goes to the ceiling. That already adds a level of intensity that I really feel. And then I reach the left hand back, bend the right knee, just see if it happens to be able to catch without much fuss. Take your breath, inhaling. Exhale, release all of that. Step back to your plank, inhaling. Exhale, knees, just in chin. Inhale, cobra. Exhale downward facing dog. Straight away down dog, split the right leg, step the right foot forward. High lunge. Back heel stays lifted. T-shaped twist in the left arm forward, the right arm back. Now take the left hand to the floor. Keep that right hand reaching up. Try to keep the length here. Inhale. Exhale, the right hand sweeps down. Inhale, step back to plank. Chattaranga or knees just. Cobra. Downward facing dog. Down dog split the left leg. Step it forward. High lunge. That airplane twist, right arm forward, left arm back. So we're doing this to feel the rising up, the length of the spine. So then keep that length as the right hand comes down. Left arm to the ceiling. If it doesn't make it to the floor, just don't do it. Stay upright. Inhale. Exhale, the left hand sweeps down. Inhale the plank. Exhale, take your last vinyasa. Now we're done. Release the knees. Child's pose or a comfortable seat while I grab a As we s end our practice, allow your eyes to close. I'll give the cards a little shuffle. This yoga oracle deck by a guy named Anthony Salerno. It's been hitting the nail on the head the last few days. So as we take this pause together, checking in with the breath, observing any changes in the body, and asking for a simple intention. Freedom make a habit of empowerment. The shape on the card is Anjanaasana a crescent lunge. freedom. Make a habit of empowerment. Course. The natural inclination is that we are empowering ourselves. But how do you do that? I think you do it by empowering others. If everyone is not free, then no one is. So what can you do today to empower someone else? What can you do today to recognize in someone else their power? their freedom, the life force, the prana, the love that connects you to one another. Let me know. The light that is in me bows to honors and is so grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste. As always, thank you so much for spending this bit of time with me whenever you happen to find it. Please leave a comment, like, subscribe, hit that bell icon so you'll know we go live. I go live here pretty much every weekday morning at 8 a.m. And I would love for you to join as we continue to build our community together.