Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10-Min Morning Yoga Flow + Ujjayi Breathing for 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: 10 minutes, 10 minutes to ground, wake up, energize and flow into your day. Hello friends, welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James. Let's start a downward facing dog. Stepping back to plank position to set up the length and then hiking your hips up and back. ⁓ yeah, and be sure to flow all the way to the end as we'll practice some pranayama together again today. Bend your knees, pull your chest back towards your thighs. Feel the fingertips energized, pedal out your heels, shake out your head. Now it's first thing in the morning maybe, so you might need to keep your heels up off the floor, that's fine. They're still yearning for it, they don't have to touch it. and find a bit of a back bend. On your inhale, roll forward to plank. Feel like you're really over rounding your spine. Like really exaggerate that roll forward and then right back to down dog. Push the floor forward and away. Feel like you're gripping the mat with your fingertips as you roll forward. then hips high, downward dog. Roll forward, release the right knee to the floor. Float the left foot back, extend the right arm forward, inhale. Exhale, gather the knee to the elbow. Inhale, lengthen. Bend the left knee to the ceiling, swim the right hand back. See if it can catch. Now in class a lot, I see people really contorting to do that. If that's you, just keep your hand on the floor. And then press the heel back, send the head back, lift the heart. Inhale. Exhale, step that left foot back. Down Dog, split the right leg. Inhale, exhale, step the right foot outside the right hand, pausing here in lizard, pull your heart forward. You can lower the back knee if you want, or just keep it lifted. Not gonna stay here for long, just a nice little hip opener, and then walk yourself along the left edge of your mat and adjust so that your feet are in line with one another. Find your flat back, bow deeply. Again, same thing here, warming up, first thing in the morning. In my opinion, it's more important that your legs feel straight than that your bowel be deep. So feel the stretch, feel the sensation, but don't feel like you have to get your head to the floor first thing in the morning. But maybe you just let the weight of your body release some of your back body. Take your breath and then come back to your long spine, hands underneath the face, and then walk your feet forward or walk your hands forward. to frame that right foot. My back heel is still grounded. I'm coming up to a warrior one. So first thing in the morning, warrior one. Wrap that left shoulder blade under. Look forward. Inhale. Exhale, bring your hands down to frame the right foot. Step the right foot back, come to your plank again. Inhale. This time lower your knees, your chest and your chin. Cobra pose. Breathe. Notice does this down dog feel different than the last one? As your body starts to slowly warm up, what do you observe? On your inhale, roll forward, left knee to the floor. Keep those left toes tucked, extend the left arm forward, float the right foot back. Get long inhale. Exhale, knee to elbow. Inhale, lengthen. Flex the right foot up to the ceiling, swim that left hand back. See if it captures the foot. And again, if it doesn't. No ego, just set it down. Heel presses up and back. Heart goes forward, head also goes back. Make the head wants to reach for the foot. Inhale. Exhale, release, step back. Down dog, split the left leg. Feel that energy pulling you up and back. Nice stretch. And step the left foot outside the left hand. Pausing in your high lizard. Let the hips sink, but keep. Engage, there's a real balance to find here between being energized and engaged and also being ⁓ relaxed-ish, trying not to force anything, using right effort, as they say. So just feel like you're energizing the feet and allowing the body to open. And then walk yourself along the right edge of your mat, adjust your feet so they're more or less in line with each other. Find a flat back. deeply. I'm going to loop my peace fingers around my big toes and Yogi Tolog. Bend those elbows in half and see if maybe that helps me get the head a little closer to the floor. Maybe it'll touch. Maybe not. But whether it does or not, it's a very pleasant but intense-ish stretch. So I feel it all along the outsides of my calves. I feel it up into my hamstrings, of course, and I feel some release in my spine. Release all of that. Speaking of release, come to your flat back. Walk your hands forward, pivot that left foot to point forward, keep the right heel grounded, and then rise up to your warrior. Wrap the right shoulder blade under. Deep bend of the left knee. Feel the pinky edge of your right foot. Inhale. Exhale, hands come to frame the left foot. Step back to your plank on an inhale. Knees chest, chin on an exhale. Cobra pose. down or down. Inhale, lift the right leg high. Exhale, step the foot between the hands. Come up to that Warrior I straight away. Inhale. Exhale, Warrior II. Straighten the right leg. Triangle pose. Look up with that left hand. Inhale. Exhale, re-bend the right knee. And come back to Warrior I. Shift your weight forward quite a bit, Warrior III. Press down in the ball mound of the right foot. Engage both legs like that left leg is wanting to stand on the wall. Maybe reach the arms forward. Inhale, exhale, come up for a tree pose. Bring that left knee up with you. Takes concentration, which is the point. The leg presses into the foot, the foot presses into the leg. That left foot can be anywhere except the knee joint, so either above the knee or below it. Maybe you float your arms. Inhale. Exhale. And now switch to the left knee forward. Exhale, step back, Warrior I. Right hand to the waist, straighten the right leg, revolve triangle. Left arm forward. Long spine, long spine, long spine, and then the left hand crosses over. Then you can let the left ribs drop. Maybe you float the right arm. Drawing those shoulder blades together. This is all about the feet. Energize the feet. Feel free to keep that left hand higher up if you need. Take your breath. Back to your warrior one. Hands right in the right foot. Not easy. Step back, plank position, inhale. Either knees, chest, or chaturanga. Cobra or up dog Downward dog. Down dog, split the left leg. Feel that energy pulling you over and back, inhale. Exhale, step the left foot forward. Come up to your Warrior I. Nice and grounded. Inhale. Exhale, Warrior II. Straighten the left leg. Triangle pose. Look up, nice stretch on the inside of that left thigh. Inhale. Exhale, Warrior II. Inhale, Warrior I. I'm putting my attention on the ball mound of the left foot as I shift forward and press down. The right foot happens to float. Everything is square to the floor. Energy in all the limbs. Step back, or sorry, rise up, apologies. Rise up, find your tree. Take your time. Maybe handstand prayer. Remember, it's mostly about the left leg right now and the energy of the foot meeting the leg and the leg pushing right back. And if you want to float, you have all that nice, firm stability. Float the right knee forward, step it back, warrior one. Left hand to the waist, straighten the left leg, right arm forward, forward, forward, revolve, triangle. Drop the right ribs. Maybe lift the left hand, maybe. Shoulder blades draw together. Breathe. Release, warrior one. Make your way back to down dog. Step back, follow your breath. than once in down dog. Come and have a seat. I'm gonna take hero's pose. Breathe. Ujjayi breathing is a fundamental part of a vinyasa yoga practice, or an ashtanga yoga practice as well. It's created by feeling a hollowing at the base of the throat, often equated with the sound of fogging a mirror. So take an inhale through your nose, open mouth, exhale. you're fogging a mirror. Do that again. Inhale. Open mouth, exhale. feel it. So now find that sound and that sensation with the mouth closed. both the inhale and the exhale. Close your eyes. Continue breathing like this. The benefits of Ujjayi breathing are numerous. Purifies the air, regulates the temperature of the breath. But like everything in yoga, the outward expression of it, exactly what it sounds like, exactly what it looks like, is less important than your experience of it. It gives you an anchor for your concentration. So rather than just observe the breath, you experience the breath. It's really handy to do just as you're walking around. If you find yourself distracted in the day ⁓ or stressed or busy, giving yourself not just an awareness of the breathing, but a specific tool, a specific way to breathe can be really beneficial. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes. As always taking a pause to see our day folding before us. The light that is in me bows to honors and is so very grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.