Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10-Minute Morning Yoga to Clear Your Mind & Find Focus
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: Well the day is gonna start with you or without you. Wouldn't you rather be f be there for it? Hello friends. Welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. I'm James and this is Max. We'll be joining us the next couple of days. Be sure to practice till the end. We'll pull the card, we'll set some intention for the day. And be sure to hit like and subscribe and leave comments and do all that stuff. Come to your back. What do you do? Okay, well this will be fun. Press down through your feet and lift your hips. What do you think, button? Coming to a bridge post. I knew we wouldn't last long. Interlace your fingers, walk your shoulder blades together, firm your feet, but soften your glutes. Inhale. Exhale, roll yourself down, feel one vertebra at a time. Really press down, take your time. Feel those sticky spots. We're gonna do that again. Press down, lift the hips. Interlace fingers. Again, really walk your shoulder blades together. Feel like your knuckles are pressing towards the front of your space. And then as you relax your glutes, as you energize the feet, you feel the quads have to take over. You can get a better stretch through the front body, which is the point. Inhale. Exhale, roll yourself down. Try to find that one vertebra at a time. Tongue the tailbone. you feel those sticky spots. You slow down. Cocoon your knees into your forehead. Actively round your spine to counter the back bend. Breathe into your back. Inhale. Exhale, rock yourself all the way up to sit. Extend your legs out in front of you. Flex your feet, float your arms. So the feet are flexed, they're active, but they're not squeezed or anything. Just lengthen first, ground down in your seat, and then send your heart forward and forward and forward. Little micro bend in the knees. Lift the heart, look forward, inhale, exhale, bow. And come up to sit. Take your hands behind you with your palms facing forward. Plant your feet flat. Lift your hips. Table top. Keep the chin tucked. Or let that fall back. Your choice. Inhale. Exhale lower down the way you came. And then cross your shins. Rock forward. Step back to your plank. Hi, dog. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, lower your knees, your chest, and your chin. Cobra pose, press down in your belly, pull your heart forward. And then downward facing dog. Send your hips high to sky. Pause here. Pedal out the heels. Shake out your head. And breathe. Walk your feet forward to meet your hands. Bend your knees quite a lot. Hold opposite elbows. Sway your hips from side to side. Feel that release in your back body. Inhaling. Exhale, release those elbows. Roll yourself to stand one vertebrae at a time. Head and shoulders come up last. Mountain pose. Step your feet together. Give your shoulders a nice shrug up. You now float the arms. Exhale, interlace fingers low behind your back. Press down to those knuckles, lift the heart, and then as you fold forward, let those knuckles scrape the ceiling. Keep a tuck of the tailbone. Thigh can thighs and chest connect. Maybe you feel those knuckles going a little further. No strain though. Inhale. Exhale, release that, come to your chair pose. And then take a twist. you can hook the left elbow outside the right thigh or I'm gonna do left forearm. And then keep a nice long spine. Hook up over the right shoulder. Inhale. Exhale, release the twist, and bow forward. Step your left foot back. Ground down that left heel, warrior one. Wrap the right shoulder blade under. Look up. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, straighten the right leg. Triangle pose. Left it back, right arm forward, forward, and eventually down. Sometimes our egos want to get hands to floors and things, but we screw up the alignment to do it. So just let it be where it wants to be. Wrap that right thigh externally. Feel that stretch in the right inner thigh. Feels really nice. Inhale. Exhale. Rebend that right knee, warrior two, and then set your left hand down beside your right foot. Low revolved lunge. Look up at the right hand. Inhale. Exhale, brings the right hand down. Step the left foot forward to meet the right. Lengthen your spine and fold. Sit into your chair pose. Inhale. Exhale, interlace fingers behind you. Open your heart and fold. Knuckles scrape the ceiling. Release the interlaced fingers, float the arms. Inhale. Exhale, bell. Lengthen and then step your right foot back. So runner's lunge, spiral that right heel down, come up to your warrior one. Wrap the right shoulder blade under. Feel the pinky edges of your feet. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, straightens the left leg. Triangle pose, right hip back, left arm forward and forward, and eventually down. Lean back. Feel the wrapping under that left hip. Exhale, warrior two. Cartwheel the right hand down to the mat. You can peel up the right heel, left arm to the ceiling. Inhale. Exhale, brings the left hand down. Step the right foot forward. Lengthen your spine. Inhale. Bow deeply. Exhale. Press down through your feet. Roots to rise. Inhaling. Exhale. Mountain pose. We have time to do one more round. Very flowy. Maybe I'll add a balance or two. Inhale, sit into your chair. I just realized I failed to twist to the left. So let's twist to the left before we do anything else. Just so we've done both sides. And take the forearm to the knee. Inhale. Exhale now release that twist and twist to the right. Here we go. I'm gonna bring elbow outside the thigh this time. Make sure your knees are even. Energize your palms. Shift your weight more to your right foot. Step your left foot back. Revolved high lunge. Release the twist. Warrior one. Back heel spirals down. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, straighten the right leg. Triangle or half moon. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, cartwheel the left hand down beside the right foot. Right arm high to sky. Look up. Inhale. Exhale, the right hand comes down. Inhale, step the left foot forward. Find a long spine. Exhale, bell. Inhale, chair pose. And then twist to your left. Bow outside of the thigh. Check out the knees. Be sure the knees are even. Now with control, shift your weight to the left foot, step the right foot way back. Not easy. Take your breath and then come to your warrior one. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, lengthen the left leg. Triangle or half moon pose. Inhale. Exhale, nice soft landing, warrior two, control it. Cartwheel the right hand down beside the left foot, left arm high to sky, nice stretch, inhale. Exhale, set the left hand down. Inhale, step the right foot forward, look forward. Exhale, bow. Sit into your chair. Mountain pose. How'd you do? Let's grab those cards. See what inspiration comes up for us this morning. I was feeling really scattered this morning. So I'm very grateful for this time. Let's see. Enlightenment. When the fluctuations of the mind are stilled, we experience a moment of samadhi. We've talked a bit about that here before. Samadhi is the eighth of the eight limbs of Yoga of Patanjali. It is. that moment or that state in which the mind is completely free of thought and you have complete mastery over the fluctuations of the mind as Patanjali calls them. So What can you do right now for a breath, for a millisecond, to still the fluctuations of your mind? We're given lots of techniques, single-pointed focus on something external, focus on something internal like the breath, the pranayama. Where you are right now, you're either listening or watching. Find something in front of you. A pencil, something on your desk, something on your sofa. And notice something about it very small. The color of the eraser, a little divot in that metal band that wraps around. Give that little microscopic almost detail your focus. And as you breathe, for five breaths. Just notice that thing. I'll count the breath. Inhale one. Exhale. Inhale two, maintain your focus. Exhale. Inhale three. Exhale. In hell for Exhale. Inhale five. Exhale. The idea is that by putting all of your attention on something very specific and very small and very finite, that the mind is able to be cleared of other thoughts. The fluctuations stop and you are choosing where to place your focus. And then ideally, you're able to release all thought at all. I've had moments of it. I have yet to live in this state. So that's all we're looking for is a moment, a breath. Let me know how it goes. The light that is in me bows to and honors the light that is in you. Namaste. Thank you as always for spending this time. Ask questions, leave comments, hit like, subscribe, and be sure to check back every morning. Usually about eight AM. I've been having to start a little early lately because of other commitments, but I'll be here every day and every weekday and the videos forever because it's YouTube. So come looking. Have a great day. Thanks for spending this part of it with me. Not must day. 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.