Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Steady Ground: A 10-Minute Morning Yoga Practice
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 be steady, grounded, and ready for whatever the day or the week hold in store. Hello, friends. Welcome to this daily flow 10-minute mornings practice. My name is James. Come to stand at the top of your mat. Plant your feet about hip-width distance apart. Feel nice and firmly rooted, lift your toes, feel the anchor down through the feet as you activate down. know, yoga teachers use words like rooting or anchoring or steadying a lot. And ⁓ what that really means is just where are you energizing? Where are you putting your attention? So in this case, I'm really putting it into my feet, pressing down actively. You might not see much on the outside, but my legs are working. I feel my feet on the floor. Place one hand on your heart and one on your stomach. Just close your eyes. As you inhale, trace the breath as it rises from the low belly through the spine, out the crown of the head. As you exhale, feel it traveling in the opposite direction. Inhale, feel it rise. Exhale, feel it reverse direction. Now imagine in your mind's eye that the breath is starting at your heels. Inhale, draw it up. Draw that energy up through your body, up through your torso, out the crown of the head. Pause, exhale, feel yourself pulling in the energy from above down through your body. It's an image, sure, but something you can anchor to, I hope. Something I can anchor to. Fold your hands overhead this time as you inhale. Still imagining that rising down or rising up from the mat. As you exhale, fold forward, feel yourself drawing the energy from above. Use your arms to bring you down to the floor. Inhale, hands to the shins. Exhale, fold. And then staying connected to your feet, reverse your swan dive, rise up, inhale, drawing energy up. Exhale, pulling energy to your heart. Yoga is just moving energy around. So let's do that again. Inhale, float the arms, feel yourself drawing energy up like you're using your arms. I just pictured Mickey Mouse in Fantasia. Exhale, big fold forwards, pushing the air down. Inhale, hands to shins. Exhale, bow. Inhale, feel yourself rising up, drawing your energy up your body. Exhale, fold forward. We'll move on this time. Inhale for your flat back. Exhale, step the left foot back and noodle your right foot off to the side a little bit, coming to a nice high lizard lunge. Feel firmly rooted in both feet and then pull your heart forward as you inhale. Exhale, lower the left knee to the mat. Untuck the left toes. Bring your right hand to the right thigh. Look up over the right shoulder for your twist. Still feeling that left hand wrap under, anchoring firmly into the mat. I'm gonna float the right arm up over my head or up towards the ceiling and then reach it back. This might be where you stop or you might bend the left knee and see if the left foot arrives in the right hand. Don't try to contort your body just to hold the foot. But if it feels good, feel that little quad stretch and then release all of that. Tuck the left toes, lift the left knee, walk yourself to your wide legged forward fold. So you're facing the left edge of your mat. Long spine, inhale. Bow deeply, exhale. Again, feel that firm rooting in your feet. Feel the opening through the legs. I'm actively lifting the arches of my feet and I feel that travel of the legs. Now stay rooted, rise up. Maybe float the arms up. Let's find a warrior two. We're gonna pivot the right heel in, float the arms forward. Wrapping that right thigh under, energizing the fingertips, inhale. Exhale, inhale straightens the right leg. Exhale for triangle. So feel the length of the stride. You're really taking up space and again, energized down into the feet. So that activates the legs. Physiologically, that does very specific things. Mentally, it does. Very specific things. They might be a little different in your experience. Pardon me. Take your breath. You're coming down to that low crescent lunge. So pivot yourself to face forward. Lift the back heel and then lower the left knee down. Untuck the left toes. Inhale. Exhale, bring your hands to frame that right foot. Tuck the left toes, lift the left knee, and then step the left foot forward to meet the right. Forward fold. Inhale, long spine, hands to shins. Exhale, bow. Press down, rise up, inhale. Exhale, mountain pose. Again, separate your feet about as wide as your hips for now. ⁓ Feel that grounding down. The reason that I'm having us both start with our feet a little further apart is just to give a wider base to start. So there's something a little more tangible and firm to anchor ourselves. And there's nothing wrong with practicing this way if it feels good in your body. Inhale, float the arms, draw the energy up. Exhale, push down as you fold. long spine, step that right foot back and then noodle your left heel over to the side, your left foot over to the side so you can come to this nice high lizard to start. Left foot is actively pressing down, ball of the right foot actively pressing down, pulling my heart forward. And then keep thinking about pulling your heart forward as you lower the right knee. Untuck the right toes. I'm bringing my left hand to my left thigh to start. And just see how it feels. Let this twist sort of start to open up. And then the left arm goes to the ceiling, maybe. And then swim the left arm back. Look back at that left hand. And maybe bend the right knee and just see if the right foot arrives in the left hand. Again, if you have to do a lot of contorting to do it, which I see in class a lot, just don't. Exhale, release all of that. Tuck those right toes, lift the right knee, and then walk yourself along the right side of your mat. So I have to adjust my feet a little so that they're now in line with one another. Inhale for a flat back. Exhale, draw the heart forward as you bow. And then engage through the legs. Feel the outer edges of your feet. It's a nice stretch. Rise up with a flat back. Maybe flip the arms overhead. And then rotate that left heel in, Warrior II. Left thigh wrapping under, nice long stride. If the left knee is not as bent, that's okay, but try to make the length of the stride, take up space. Now straighten the left leg, feel the feet anchored down, activating the legs, left arm forward, right hip back. When I can go no further forward, then the left hand comes down. Right arm up to the ceiling. Breathe. Nice little stretch in the inner thigh of the left leg. I feel the activation in both feet. And it's that activation, it's that connection that's gonna let me come down to my low crescent. So keep anchored in the feet, pivot your heart forward, release the right knee down, untuck the right toes. Yeah, energizing the feet. Feel the lifting up from the pelvic floor. Then bring your hands to frame that left foot. Tuck the right toes, lift the right knee, and then step the right foot forward to meet the left. Find a flat back. Bow deeply. Reverse your swan dive rise up. Mountain pose. So I'm gonna start with my feet together this time. You're more than welcome to keep them separate if that feels better in your body. Anchor the feet. Inhale, draw the energy up. Exhale, bow. And now for a long spine. It's time to step the right foot back, come to a high lunge, and then rise up to a warrior one. Left knee deeply bent, inhale. Exhale, Warrior II. Inhale, rise up, rotate the heels in. Exhale, goddess squat. Inhale, stand up, warrior two. Exhale. Inhale, straightens the front leg. Exhale, triangle pose. pivot forward, keep the back knee lifted, high lunge. And then feel the energy of the grounding down of that left foot, actively press down in the left foot, step the right foot forward to meet forward fold. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, step the left foot back, runner's lunge. Rise up, Warrior I. Inhale, exhale, Warrior II. Inhale, flying Warrior, rotate both heels to point in. Exhale, cactus the elbows, deep squat. Inhale, reorganize for your warrior two. Inhale, straighten the right leg. Exhale, triangle pose. And then keeping that firm grounding, we're coming to high lunge. Pivot yourself to point forward, lift the back heel. And then shift the weight forward, step the left foot to meet the right. Forward fold. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, bow. Reverse your swan dive, rise up, inhale. Mountain pose. Exhale. Trust this rooting. And as you see your day and your week unfolding before you, know that if you anchor yourself to what you can trust, actively, deliberately, physically, things get a lot steadier around you too. The light that is in me bows to honors and is so grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.