Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10-Minute Morning Yoga for Strength, Focus, and Better Foundations
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: In 10 minutes, we'll wake up, move our bodies, energize our souls, and get ready to dive into the day. Hello, friends. Welcome. Excuse me. Welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James. Come to stand at the back of your mat. Standing into mountain pose, step your feet together if it's comfortable or hip width if that's okay, if that feels better. Give your shoulders a nice shrug up and back. Take a moment, feel your feet on the floor. Firm your feet down, and as you do that, feel how you have to use your legs to do that. You have to engage your legs in order to feel your feet. I think that's gonna pay off for us in our greater yoga practice. Together, we take a deep inhale, and exhale. And now float your hands overhead. Exhale, take a nice bow forward. Lead with your heart. Long spine, hands to shins, and bow deeply. Staying engaged through the feet, press down, rise up, reverse, swan dive, inhale. Exhale, gather your hands to heart center. We'll do that again. Inhale, floats the arms. Exhale, big bow forward. Inhale, long spine. Exhale, fold. Roots to rise, inhale. Mountain pose, exhale. We'll add on, inhale floats the arm. Exhale bow. This time walk yourself forward to a plank. Pause here, set up your plank, inhale. Exhale, Chaturanga, all the way to the floor. You can lower your knees first if you'd like. And then pressing down in the abdomen, lift your head, lift your legs, lift your hands. Feel the pressing down of your abdomen. And then lower down, tuck your toes, send your hips to your heels. And then roll yourself forward to plank. And downward facing dog. Little pedal out of your heels, shake out your head and feel. whatever it is that you most easily connect with in Down Dog. Put your attention there and then walk your hands back to your feet. Find a flat back. Fold deeply. Roots to rise. melt and pose. We'll add on to that in how it the arms. Excel Bell. And now walk it out to plank. Pause for an exhale. Pause for an inhale. Exhale, Chitturanga to the floor. This time I'm going to travel my arms back as I come to my Locust Pose. Lower down, plant the palms right by the low ribs, tuck the toes and the hips to the heels. Come forward to plank. Now down dog split the right leg. Really feel that right heel reaching up and rotate the right foot so the right pinky toe points down or maybe even in a little bit. So there's an internal rotation of the right quadriceps. Inhale, exhale, step the foot between the hands. Come up to. Feeling energy in the feet. Remember, if you energize the feet, that means you're using your legs. We like that. And then maybe sink a little deeper. Inhale. Exhale, bring your hands to frame that right foot. Lengthen the right leg for pyramid. Hop the left foot in a little bit if you need to. See if you can get both feet flat. Inhale. Exhale, re bend the right knee. I'm going to keep my right hand just as it is and peel my chest open to come into extended side angle pose. Feel like you're wrapping that right shoulder blade under. Now, if your spine is super round in order to have your hand on the floor, put your hand on a block or put your elbow on your thigh. You know. Exhale, triangle pose, energize into the big toe mound of the right foot lengthen the leg. Feel that stretch in the inner thigh. Take a breath. and then re bend the right knee. Hands come to frame the right foot, step the right foot back. Inhale, exhale, lower knees, chest and chin. Inhale, Cobra pose. Exhale, downward facing dog. And then down dog split the left leg. Again, internal rotation of the left thigh here. Feel that left pinky toe pointing straight down. Energize the fingertips. Inhale, exhale, step the foot. all the way through and rise up. When you do those step throughs, you have to use the non-moving leg more than the moving one. And of course, your abdominals energize into the feet. And as you energize, see if that lets you deepen your expression of the posture. Take your breath. And start to send the heart forward as you straighten the left leg. Hands come down to floor to blocks and then hop the right foot in enough that you can ground it firmly. Inhale, exhale. Take your breath. Now keep the left hand as it is. Re-bend that left knee. Right foot is angled 45 degrees. Right hand to heart. Peel your chest up and open. Then extend those right fingertips forward, lengthening the right waist. Deepening the experiences of the shape. Take your breath. And then energize through the left leg. Straighten the left leg. Triangle pose. you look up at your. Exhale as you re-bend that left knee. Hands come to frame the left foot. Step back for your Plank. Maybe Chaturanga, maybe Knees Chest. Up Dog or Cobra. Downward Facing Dog. Walk your hands back to meet your feet. Hands to shins, inhale. Exhale, fold. Reverse your Swandive Rise up. Mountain Pose. As usual, none of these poses is particularly advanced, but putting them together in this way might be unexpected. just remember the shapes are tools for concentration, nothing else. Feel your feet on the floor and let that energize your legs. Inhale, floats the arms. Exhale, big bow forward. Inhale, walk out to plank. Exhale, Chaturanga to the mat. Maybe this time, bow pose, bend the knees, hands capture the feet or the ankle. Lower down, plant the hands, tuck the toes, hips to heels. Forward to plank. Down dog, split the right leg. Step through runner's lunge. Rise up, high lunge. Move through pyramid pose, hands come down. Extended side angle pose. Now I'm gonna loop my right piece fingers around my right big toe. So as I come into triangle pose, I'm a little deeper in the fold of that hip crease. The right knee is traveling up towards the right hip. Inhale. Exhale, re-bend that right knee, both hands come to frame. ⁓ Take a vinyasa, or skip it if rather. Never a requirement. Down dog, split the left leg. ⁓ Step it through high lunge. Inhale pyramid pause. Exhale. Bend the left knee. Extended side angle pause. Maybe yogi toe lock. Left piece fingers, left big toe. So that as you energize the left leg, you're a little deeper in your triangle. If it's too much, you're right. If you have to round your spine to do it, don't look up. Exhale, reap in the left knee, both hands frame the left foot. Take your vinyasa, maybe three point Chaturanga. Downward facing dog. Walk your feet, walk your hands back to your feet. Flat back. Bow deeply. Root to rise. Mountain post. Pausing as we always do. Taking this moment to reflect on the day as we see it unfolding before us. How will you arrive? How will you treat others? How will you treat yourself? The light that is in me bows to honors and is extraordinarily grateful for the light that is in you. When I'm in that space in me and you are in that space in you, we are one. Namaste.