Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Lengthen First, Then Twist | 10-Minute Morning Yoga
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: Just 10 minutes to energize, ground, and step into our day together with intention. Hello friends, welcome to your Daily Flow 10-Minute Mornings practice. My name is James, and be sure to practice all the way to the end because we'll draw a card and set our intention together. Come to sit. Come into a cross-legged seat. Start with your left shin in front of your right. and then peel the flesh of your glutes away so you feel your sits bones firmly rooted. Cupping your hands around your knees, press down in that seat and lengthen your spine. Gently press the shoulders down. So back bending, lift your heart, pull it forward. In a way, I think it's kind of a misnomer, because yes, you're bending your back. But we get into back bends by lengthening. So really thinking about making the low back long and then lifting the heart and lifting the chin. So it doesn't look like necessarily some huge thing, but you feel that. feel that in my upper back. And then round your spine deeply. I'm gonna let my elbows go a little bit wide and sort of. Press down on my knees just a little bit for some traction. Opening up in the space between the shoulder blades. Press down, lift and lengthen, inhale. Exhale round. One more time, inhale. Exhale. float your hands overhead. and then take the right hand to the floor beside you. Reach those left fingertips over and feel like you're using the right hand both to push into the floor and to drag it behind you, opening up the heart, opening up the left ribs. Inhale. Exhale, then take a side bend over to the left. Left hand comes down, right fingertips reach over. Breathe. Look up underneath the right arm. Keep both sits bones firmly rooted. Inhale. Exhale, and then pick up that left knee. So you're stepping the left foot on the floor and just give that knee a hug with the right elbow. Look over behind you. Inhale. Exhale. Coming back to center. Extend the left leg. The sole of the right foot is inside the left thigh. Float the arms. Send your heart forward for Janasarasa. We're not gonna be here for very long. Just getting into that hamstring a little bit. Take your breath. Now swim the right hand behind you. Float the left arm up. Press down on the right shin. Lift the hips and think about pointing the heart more or less straight to the ceiling. and reaching the left hand for the floor behind you. Get long, inhale. Exhale, lower down. Take your fingertips beside you, float into a boat pose. Inhale. Exhale, recross your legs. Now the right shin is in front. Sit up nice and tall. Adjust your glutes so you feel your seat and then float your arms. Inhale. Exhale, the left hand comes over to the side. Reach those right fingertips over. Look underneath the right arm. Inhale. Exhale, then rise up, twist over to the right. Look up underneath the left arm. Inhale. Exhale, pick up the right foot, step it flat on the floor, and then wrap the left elbow around the right thigh. Look back behind you. Inhale. Exhale, use the traction of that elbow into the knee to pull the heart a little further into the twist. And then coming back to center, extend the right leg. Soul of the left foot inside the left thigh, float the arms. Heart goes forward, forward, forward, forward. Where the hands land, not important. Lengthening is. I think a lot of times people look to yoga to relieve low back stuff. And then they set about to contort themselves into shapes that contort their low backs. Take the left hand behind you, root down, come into your stargazer. Try to get the ball of the right foot and then open the heart more towards the ceiling. The right hand is reaching behind. And one of the ways they do that is by twisting in the low back and by back bending in the low back instead of lengthening the low back. Come into your boat, lean back, can take your fingertips, you can hold the thighs. Take your breath, and then cross your shins, rock yourself forward, come to your quadruped. Little cat and cow, inhale. Exhale round. Extend the left leg back and then bring the left knee to the left tricep. Look over your left shoulder. Extend it back and then sweep it across behind you. Look over your right shoulder. So the left leg is long. I'm opening up those left ribs just like I did seated. And then pick that up. Knee to elbow. Feel the abdominals and the obliques. Extend. Sweep it across. Look over the right shoulder. One more time. I'll it up. So you have a back and a crotch. Lengthen again, tuck the right toes, lift the right knee down, dog. Split the left leg goes up. Breathing here, inhale. Exhale, step the left foot between the hands, release the right knee down, bring the left hand onto the left thigh, take a twist. Look up over the left shoulder. Exhaling. Come to your crescent lunge, anjaneyasana. Float the arms, hook the thumbs. Press down, lengthen, lift, and then start to send those fingertips back. Firm the feet, especially the top of the right foot, which often goes neglected, and we just sort of sit into that right knee. Inhale. Exhale, bring the hands down to frame the left foot. Tuck the right toes, step the left foot back, plank position, inhaling. Exhale, knees, chest and chin. co-propose. Come forward to your plank, lower the right knee down. Or lower both knees down, rather. Extend the right leg back. Inhale. Exhale, bring the right knee close to the right tricep, as close as you can get it, nice and high. And feel the stretch in the left ribs and the engagement in the right obliques. and extend the foot back and cross it over, look over your left shoulder. So really doing what we can to get into the right side body here. Pick up the right foot, bring the right elbow to the right knee, extend back, get long, look over the left shoulder. One more time, yoga legs threes as we know. Stand it back, cross it over. Pick it up, tuck the left toes, lift the left knee, down dog split, the right leg goes up. Inhale, exhale, step the right foot all the way through, lower the left knee down on top of the left toes. Right hand to the right thigh, traction that heart open again, lengthen first always. Inhale, that's got a little crack, I don't know if all heard that. Exhale, and then release the twist, come to your crescent lunge. Remember. energy in the top of the left foot as well as the four corners of the right. Grab those shoulder blades under, lift up. I'm gonna hook my thumb and then let those fingertips carry me up and out of the shape. Take your breath. Hands come to frame the right foot, tuck the left toe, step back, plank position, inhale. Exhale, knees just in. Cobra pose, inhale. Downward dog, exhale. Lots of cracking this morning in my body. And then come forward to your flank. Extend the left leg back. Left knee, left tricep. Left leg back. Sweep it across. Step it back. Tuck the right toes, down dog split. Step the left foot forward, high lunge, rise up. Prayer twist. Take your breath, release the twist. Fold forward over your straight left leg, energize the left leg, and then step that left foot back. ⁓ Tataranga, up dog, downward dog. Come forward to all fours. Extend the right leg back. All right, knee right tricep. Extend it back, sweep it across. Flow the right leg, tuck the left toes, down dog, slip the right leg. Step the right foot forward. Rise up, high lunge. Lengthen, lead with that left arm as you twist. Lengthen first, twist second. Take your breath. Release the twist, straighten the right leg, fold forward for your pyramid. Get into that right hamstring and then re-bend the knee, step it back. Take your vinyasa. downward facing dog. and come back to your seat. So these cards are made by an artist named Anthony Salerno. This is not a paid promotion. Just don't want to steal. Give other folks credit. So as we set our intention for the day. Outposes the shape. Reflection. Self-observation eases the journey of awakening. Self-observation. eases the journey of awakening. How can you direct your attention inward today? The world will be chaotic. That's guaranteed. It always has been. That's why we've always needed yoga for millennia. So as you take this breath, as you choose to place your attention on this breath in this moment. gather your hands to your heart. When today can you pause to go inside? When today can you choose the ease of your breath over the chaos of whatever's around? The light that is in me bows to who honors and is so grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.