Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Pivot Ready: 10-Minute Morning Yoga Twists
Transcript
- James @ Daily Flow: If this was helpful, 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. 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. In 10 minutes, you'll arrive awake, ready to face and pivot with whatever the day might throw at you. Hello friends. Welcome to this daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James. We're start seated today. Any comfortable seat, I'm gonna come to hero's pose. You know, almost every shape in our yoga practice is a twist, either an open twist or a closed twist, unless you're... in hero's pose or mountain pose or down dog where things are symmetrical, we're often in some kind of revolution. So how do we get in and out of those? Give your shoulders a nice shrug up, back and down. Let's start by just floating the hands overhead. Get nice and long, inhale. As you exhale, take the right hand to the floor beside you and reach those left fingertips up and over. Now use the right hand like you're dragging the floor or the mat behind you. So this is an open twist. My torso is twisting up to the ceiling. My heart wants to point up. I'm energizing those left ribs. Take a breath. Exhale. And then rise up through center. Cross the right hand over so it's on the left thigh. Take the left fingertips behind you. This is a closed twist because I'm twisting across my body. I'm using the traction of my hands to help steer my rib cage, lengthening up and out from my seat. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, float the arms up to the ceiling. Exhale, just swim the fingertips behind you. Tent the fingertips, lift the heart, look up. Take a breath. And then I'm gonna do the opposite, walk them forward, a little forward fold. back up to sit. We'll do the other side. Float the arms and then release the left fingertips over to the side. Really focus on lengthening the waist. So get up and out of that seat and then the left hand is dragging behind me drawing the shoulder blades together. So I'm in this nice open twist. Inhale. Exhale. As you inhale, rise up through center, take the left arm across, sweep the right arm behind, using that traction to help. It's doing a lot. It's helping to keep the left hip bone pointing forward so that the low back doesn't do any twisting. Inhale. Exhale. And then swim that left arm up and back, tempting the fingertips, nice little shoulder opener, as well as a back bend, lift the heart. And then crawl those hands forward. Make your way to all fours. So plant your hands, step the knees back. You might saw at your knees a little bit, get some circulation into them, especially if you were just sitting on them. Do both sides. And then coming back to your neutral, cow pose. You're using the mat to pull your heart forward through your biceps as you lift the tailbone, allowing the belly to drop and not forcing it down. And then exhale, untuck the toes deeply around the spine. My fingertips are pushing the mat forward. I find a little crunch moment. Open up the back body and come back to neutral. Float the right arm up to the ceiling. Again, I'm using the left hand to help give me some traction so I can twist the torso, but I'm also energizing down in my knees. So it's not just lifting my hand up. It's really dragging, using the mat for some leverage, and then thread the needle. So the right ear is gonna come down to the floor. If it doesn't make it to the floor, it doesn't have to. And then the left hand can go forward a little bit, or a lot. So we're back in a closed twist. Breathe into that right shoulder, inhale. Exhale. And then walk that left hand back. Float the right arm up. Bring the right hand back down. Let's do the other side. Left arm goes high. I'm energizing down in my knees to try to keep my hips level. I'm using that right hand. I'm energizing my fingertips. The left hip really wants to spill over. So I'm resisting that. Take your breath and then thread the needle. ⁓ And then walk the right hand forward if you'd like. A lot happening in the left shoulder that feels nice here. Breathe into that. And then come on, crawl the right hand back. Float the left arm up. Oh, and set the left hand down. My back needed that this morning. Step back to your plank position, top of a push-up. Actively wrap the elbows under. Spread your 10 fingers wide. Energize, inhale. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. Feel a little pedal out of the heels, hips nice and high, make that inverted V shape. And then walk your feet forward to meet your hands. Take a ragdoll, bend your knees quite a lot and hold opposite elbows. Sway your hips from side to side, let the weight of your arms and the weight of your head help create more space in your back. And then release that. Roll yourself to stand one vertebra at a time, head and shoulders come up last. Step your feet together. As you come to your mountain pose, rotate from the biceps, open the shoulders, open the palms. Take a nice inhale and exhale. Bring your hands to prayer and then send your prayer hands forward. Keep the right arm reaching directly forward. Open the left arm back. See if you can keep the hips square. So you're opening up like a book. Flip the right palm, reach it up and back. And then let's just cartwheel that down. Right hand comes down towards the floor, left hand follows for a forward fold. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, bow. Roots to rise, float the arms overhead. Mountain pose. Send your prayer hands directly forward. Keep the left arm traveling forward. Energize those left fingertips. Open the right arm back. I'm actively trying to rotate my right hip bone forward. And then flip the left palm, reach it up and back. And then let the left arm lead as I cartwheel down to a forward fold. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, bow. Inhale, root to rise. Exhale, mountain pose. Inhale, float the arms. This time just fold forward. Exhale. Find a long spine and then step the right foot back. Release the right knee down, untuck the right toes. Flip the arms overhead. Bring your prayer hands to heart center. Send the prayer hands forward. Open up that left arm and then sweep the right arm up and back. Maybe your left hand finds the right hamstring or the back of the right knee. Take your breath. Now cartwheel the right hand down to the floor, left arm high to sky. If you wanna dial it up, tuck the right toes and lift the right knee. Use the traction of the mat to help square the hips, level the hips, open the torso. And then sweep that left arm forward and down, step the right foot to meet the left. Flat back. deeply. Root to rise. Mountain pose. And now float the arms. Exhale, bow deeply. Find your long spine, step the left foot back, lower the left knee down, untuck the left toes. Coming to your crescent lunge, flow out the arms. Hands to prayer. Send your prayer hands forward. Open the right arm back. The right hand travels to the back of the left leg, the left arm goes up and back. Take your breath. And then cartwheel the left hand down to the floor, right arm high to sky. Tuck the left toes and lift the left knee. Legs are engaged, both feet are working, the left hand is working. I'm gonna swim that right arm forward as I step the left foot forward to meet the right. Find a flat back. deeply. Reverse your swan dive rise up. One more little piece we'll add on. Chair pose, bend the knees, float the arms. Bring those hands to prayer. So option one is to take our prayer hands forward and do what we've been doing. Option two is a prayer twist, hooking the right elbow outside the left thigh. Looking up over that left shoulder. Whatever you've chosen to do with your arms, look down at your feet. Just lift the heel of the right foot and step it back. Revolved high lunge. Again, the energy of the feet here is doing a lot of the work. Take a breath. No warrior two. Pivot yourself all the way. So I'm in a twist, this is an open twist. Flip the left palm, reach it up and back. Extended side angle pose. Left hand travels forward and eventually down. Right bicep alongside the ear. And then sweep the right hand down, step the right foot forward. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, bow. Reverse your swan dive. Mountain pose. Last round, chair pose. Hands come to prayer. Maybe it's the prayer twist with the elbow outside the thigh. If that's a little too much, keep the arms open. Take a breath here. Feet are energized so the knees are square. Pick up the heel of the left foot, step the left foot back, revolved high lunge. Lots of energy here. Take your breath and then untangle yourself, warrior two. Breathe, flip the right palm, reach it back. And then coming for that extended side angle pose, right arm goes forward as you deepen the right hip crease, left arm travels forward by the bicep, by the ear. Take your breath and then cartwheel that left hand down, step the left foot forward. flat back. Exhale, bow. Inhale, reverse your swan dive, rise up. Mountain Pose. Taking just a moment, as we always do, to reflect on the day that is 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 very grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.