Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10-Minute Morning Yoga for Shoulders, Hips & 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. Just 10 minutes to ground, energize, and step boldly into whatever your day holds. Hello friends, welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James and this is Max. Good boy, go to your place please. Come to ⁓ any comfortable seat. We're just gonna start with a little bit of a seated spinal warmup. So wrap those shoulder blades under, lift your heart. really high, so I'm not thinking about making a back bend. I'm pressing down in my sits bones, getting my chest nice and high and just thinking about that rotation of the shoulder blades under and then look up. Nice and easy, inhale. Exhale really deeply around the spine like cat. Go the other way. So I'm now internally rotating my shoulders, separating the shoulder blades, tucking the chin, still firm in the seat. Sit up tall, wrap everything under, lift the heart, get long, and then round. Let's add the arms. Take your arms into a T shape and then wrap everything under the elbows so the whole shoulder space is opening up. You're lifting up and then rotate down. One more time like that, inhale. Exhale round. Release your right hand to the floor and flip the left arm over. Really reach up and over. Feel the firmness of both its bones. Inhale. Exhale. Rise up through center, go the other way. This time, keep that right hand traveling over, release the right hand to the left thigh, sit up tall. Take the left hand behind you. Inhale, get taller. Exhale, maybe look back over that left shoulder. ⁓ my goodness. Keep the right hand as it is, float the left arm up and cross it over. I'm actively holding my knees and using that connection to create a bit of a shoulder stretch here. So I feel it all through the delt, I guess that space. And then as you sit up, I'm gonna eagle wrap my arms. You can take the backs of the hands together or you can take the palms together and really feel like you're suctioning together those elbow creases. And again, feel those shoulder blades wrapping under. I get taller first. And then maybe there's a little back bend as the fingertips start to travel back. Inhale, exhale, big fold forward round. Open the arms out wide. Rotate from the bicep, the whole shoulder, lift the heart. And then as you exhale, bring the left hand to the floor, reach the right arm up and over. Feel both sits bones firm. Use that left hand like you're dragging the floor behind you, look up underneath the right arm. Exhale. rise up through center, go the other way. Left arm reaches over, right hand grounds down, open up those left ribs. And then just keep that left arm spiraling down so that it captures the right knee. Take the left hand behind you, sit up tall. Inhale. Exhale, look back over your right shoulder. Inhale, get a bit taller. Exhale, turn the ribs. Keep the left hand as it is, float the right arm up, cross right over left. And again, I'm really going to try to grab my knees so I have some traction. So as I round my spine, it's active. I'm not just sort of, I'm stretching, but it's not like, ⁓ this is a sweet little stretch. Like it's really active, feels really good. And then as I sit up, eagle wrapping, the right is over the left, suction together those elbow creases. Think about the forearms being perpendicular to the floor, lifting way up and then you lean back. Inhale, exhale, take a fold forward. Rise up, the arms. Gather your hands to heart center. Come to all force. Setting up your quadruped, fingers spread wide, wrap those elbows under, pull the heart forward, tuck the toes for your cow. We're just gonna do one round here and then I'm gonna externally rotate the biceps as I round for this variation of cat. And then again, rotate. This is frankly, because my shoulders are a little tight this morning, so getting a little extra in for selfish reasons, inhale, back to your plank. Exhale, lower your knees, your chest and your chin. Baby Cobra, press the abdomen down, pull the heart forward, and then tuck the toes, hips high to sky, downward facing dog. Breathe, keep those elbows wrapping under, keep those hips pulling up and back. Feel a ⁓ tilt of the pelvis so that the front of the pelvic bone travels towards the navel, really lengthen the back body, inhaling. Exhale, see if you can go a little further into this backbend. Inhale. Exhale, the heart travels towards the knees. Step your right foot outside your right hand, release the left knee onto the mat, coming to a low lizard lunge. Pull the heart forward, and then take the right hand to the right thigh. Look up over the right shoulder. Maybe float the right arm. Maybe reach the right hand back, capture the left foot or ankle. And then if you have that, really sink the hips even more. So you have a nice quad stretch as well. Exhale, release all of that. Tuck the left toes, lift the left knee, and then walk yourself to your wide-legged forward fold. Nice flat back, bend the left knee. Bend the right knee. So I'm keeping both of my feet flat, and I'm focusing on the stretch of the inner thigh on the straight leg. Really feel that opening up, just trying to wake everything up on this Monday morning. Find your flat back. Bow a little more deeply, loop your peace fingers around your big toes. Try to make 90 degree angles with those elbows. Think about your head coming closer to the floor. Maybe it'll touch, maybe not. Feel a lifting up of the navel. Take a breath. And then release all of that. Walk your hands to frame the right foot. Come up to a warrior one. So the back heel is spiraled down. I'm wrapping the left shoulder blade under, squaring the heart forward. Then I'm reaching my heart forward, reaching my arms forward, bringing my hands down to frame that right foot. Step back to your plank, inhale. Exhale, lower knees. Chest and chin, elbows, brush the ribs. Inhale for your Cobra. Exhale for your Down Dog. Again, a little pause here. Feel the heart traveling back. I saw an old photo this weekend of, ⁓ Ian Gar, who is one of the pioneers of really our modern Asana practice. And his head is fully on the floor in this pose because his back was so mobile. I'm not really even close to that yet, but I like that mental image. Set the left foot outside the left hand, release the right knee down, coming to your lizard. Keep pulling the heart forward. and take your twist, rather, left hand to left thigh. Stay here or float the arm. Stay here or reach that left hand back, capture the right foot or ankle. Energize into the left foot, sink the right hip. Nice quad stretch, nice hip flexor opening. Let that go. Walk yourself to your wide-legged forward fold. Again, a little Skandasana flow, starting with the right knee. I'm gonna go a little deeper this time, so I lift the. ball mound of the straight leg and then I shift to the other hand in prayer, try to keep a nice proud chest. Once you've done both, come back to center. Walk yourself forward, rise up, Warrior I. The right heel is spiraled down. Left knee is deeply bent, inhale. Exhale, I reach forward to fold. Rather than thinking about rounding, and then step back to your plank, inhale. Exhale, knees chest and chin. Inhale, Cobra. Excel down the facing dog. This time, inhale, step forward to warrior one, step that right foot all the way up, rise up. Think about sending the heart forward, coming to warrior three. Press down into the big toe of the right foot. Step the left foot back, skatanasana, bend the left knee. Inhale, set the left hand beside the right foot, lower revolved lunge. Cartwheel that right hand down. Inhale, step back to plank. We're flowing now. Exhale, Chaturanga, or knees, chest. Up dog or cobra. Downward facing dog. Boldly step that left foot forward. Rise up, warrior one. Start to pull the heart forward. Energize into the big toe side of the left foot, warrior three. Big step back, Skandhasana. Right knee bends. Set the right hand beside the left foot, low revolved lunge. Then cartwheel that left hand down, step back, take your vinyasa. Whatever feels right to you is great. Release your knees down. Have a seat. taking this moment to set an intention for your day, to decide what of this practice you can carry forward and what you need to leave behind. The light that is in me bows to honors and is so grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.