Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Wake Up & Get Moving | Morning Yoga for Shoulders & 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. James: The day is gonna start with you or without you. Wouldn't you like to be there for it? Try ten minutes of yoga. Hello friends, welcome to your daily flow, ten minute mornings yoga practice. My name is James. Be sure to practice till the end. We'll pull a card, we'll set some intention for the day. And of course, hit like and subscribe and let me hear from you. All right. Let's start on our backs today. You'll see my dog running in and out, by the way. He's in the middle of his breakfast, which is maybe something we'll do right after this, you and I. Anyway, ground down your feet. Take the heels of your palms and press them into those hip creases. So try to find a sense of using that traction to lengthen your spine. Breathe inhale. Exhale. Ground down in the heels, start to curl your spine off the mat. So really think about tilting the front of the pelvis in towards the navel. So you feel that lifting up and trying to find every single vertebra one at a time. Once you arrive at the top of your bridge pose, interlace your fingers. Walk your shoulder blades together. Firm the heels, soften the glutes just a little. Inhale. Exhale, roll yourself down the way you came. Try to articulate each vertebrae one at a time. Very nice. And then cocoon your knees to your forehead, forehead to your knees. Rock yourself to sit. I'm coming cross-legged. Interlace your fingers behind your back. Press down, lift your knuckles up so you feel a little shoulder stretch, and then wrap those around to your left side. Let that left elbow sweep back and then let your head fall to the left. So this is gonna be pretty. Deep stretch in that right shoulder in the right part of your neck. If it feels like it's too much, you can actually just tilt the other way. It's still really nice, but a little less intense. Here's Max. Hey, little boy. His neck is fine and then press down and just go to the other side. Wrap that right elbow back. Let your head fold the right. Breathe. And then let's let go of all of that. You can tell I woke up with a stiff neck. Alright, come to all fours. Set up your plank. So fingers spread wide, wrap your elbows under, step back to a plank. Make sure your shoulders are forward of your wrists. The reason it matters is and then that sets up your down dog. So come into your downward facing dog. Bend your knees, pull your hips back. You can walk out a little bit. Inhale. Exhale. Step your left foot outside your left hand. Step your right foot outside your right hand. That malasana squat. So it's early days. If your hips feel tight, you can keep your fingers on the floor and lift your heart like I'm doing. Or you can bring your hands to prayer. Take a breath. You feel good? You had your breakfast? Come all the way to stand. Flip the arms overhead. Press your palms together. Interlace your fingers. you can't see this. Keep your index fingers pointing up. Here's the church. Here's the steeple. Energize the heels. Take a lean to your right. Am I the only one? Look up underneath your left shoulder. Breathe into your left ribs. Inhale. Exhale. Max. And then go the other way. A real way to test your concentration is to have a cute dog doing cute things right behind you. And then roll the forward, hands to the mat. Lift your heart, look forward. Step back to your plank. Inhale. Exhale, lower your knees, your chest, and your chin. Cobra pose. Hips to heels, tuck your toes. So child's pose with toes tucked. Walk your hands back. Ground down. Sit up on those knees. Hands to your butt. Like you're sliding your hands into your jean pockets. Lift your heart. Find to stop right here. Find to go a little deeper. Hands can come to heels. You can keep the toes tucked or untucked. Let your head fall back if it feels good. Inhale. Exhale, walk yourself up. Hey Max. Max, Max, go to your place. Keep your hip. Go to your place. Place. Hey, stay there. Keep your hips up. Send your hands forward. Puppy pose. Perfect for the morning. Take a breath. Inhale. Exhale. Come back to your flank. Downward facing dog. Down dog split, the right leg. Step your right foot between your hands. Look forward. Come to your fingertips. Lift your heart. Now feel yourself centered on the instep of that right foot. Walk your hands forward. Press up warrior three. Feel free to have your hands on blocks here. Feel that internal rotation. Feel the strength of your standing leg. Maybe reach your arms forward. Inhale. Exhale, warrior one, big step back. Inhale, exhale, interlace your fingers low behind your back. Straighten your right leg, breathe into your chest. We are doing this to lengthen our spine and to feel those shoulders pulling back. So now when you come to humble warrior, bend the right knee, keep the length of your spine, look forward, fold forward, let your knuckles scrape the ceiling. That right hip can flare out just a little bit, but try to keep the foot firm and flat. Inhaling, exhaling, release the hands. Warrior one. Open out. Warrior two. Lift the ball of the right foot. Skandasana bend the left knee. Left hand beside the right foot. So look forward as you inhale. As you exhale, left hand comes all the way beside the right foot. Low revolve lunge. Look up. Maybe firm that left hand. Step back to a side plank. Lift the hips high. Inhale. Exhale. Right hand sweeps down. Take your vinyasa, knees, chest, or chaturanga, cobra or up dog. Downward facing dog. Inhale. Exhale. Down dog. Split the left leg. Energize that left heel. And then use the right foot. Push off the right foot to get the left foot forward. Tent your fingertips, lengthen your spine, look forward, ball mount at that left foot, shift forward, forward, forward. Let that right heel, let the right toes drag up. Instep of the left foot, strength of the left leg, engage. Inhale. Exhale, step back. Warrior one. Take a second. Feel your feet on the floor. Wrap that right shoulder blade under. Maybe look up. Inhale. Exhale, take your hands behind your back, interlace your fingers, maybe put the other thumb on top, and then straighten that left leg. Stretch through your front body. Inhale. Humble warrior. Forward, forward, forward, and round. Keep the left foot firm. Inhale. Exhale, release the hands, come up warrior one. Open out warrior two. Straighten the left leg, lift the ball of the left foot, float the arms. Inhale. Exhale. Skandhasana. Bend the right knee. Nice stretch in the left inner thigh. Right hand goes beside the left foot. So look forward as you inhale. Exhale. Low revolve lunge. Stay here if you'd like. Or take your side plank. I'm wrapping my elbow under. I'm stepping my left foot back. If you as you lift your hips up, you're trying to get the ball of the right foot onto the mat, which is not easy. Inhale. Exhale, brings the left hand down. But it's really, take your vinyasa. It is really when you do that side plank like that. Feels like a side bend, like we did standing a moment ago. Inhale here. Exhale, bend your knees. Inhale, step or float. Top of your mat. Exhale, bow. Press down, rise all the way up. Inhaling. Exhale. Melt in pose. We have just enough time to do that once more. Very flowy. It'll go quick. One breath, one movement. Inhale, floats the arms. Exhale, bow. Inhale, lengthen prepare. Exhale, chhaturanga. Inhale, upward facing Exhale, downward facing dog. Down dog split the right leg. Right foot between the hands. Look forward, shift forward, warrior three. Step back, warrior one. Inhale. Exhale. Interlace fingers behind you. Inhale, lengthen the right leg. Exhale, humble warrior. Inhale, warrior one. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, lengthen the right leg, lift the ball of the right foot. Exhale, skandasana. Look at your right foot as you inhale. Set your left hand beside it as you exhale, coming into side plank. Maybe you grab that right big toe on your way. Inhale, exhale, take your vinyasa. Down dog split the left leg, inhaling, exhale the foot between the hands. Look forward as you inhale, shift forward, warrior three as you exhale. Inhale, exhale, big step back, warrior one. Inhale, exhale, warrior two. Inhale, lengthen the left leg, float the ball of the left foot. Exhale, skandasana, bend the right knee. Look at your left foot as you inhale. Set your right hand beside it as you exhale. Side plane. Inhale. Exhale, take your flow. Child pose. Release your knees down. Send your hips back. Breathe. You can stay here. You can come to your back. You can sit. I'll pull a cart. The dog is very intrigued. What do you think? See what we get. This one. chair pose. fuel. Your body and mind are a product of how you care for them. Your body and your mind are a product of how you care for them, how you fuel them. A key part of the eight limbs of yoga is looking for ways to not harm. to not harm anything, to be in fact in a state of non-harming. I wrote a whole blog post about it. I'll link to it in the description. To be in a state of non-harming means that. You're aware of your words, you're aware of your actions, you're aware of all that you're putting out and all that you're taking in. I say this because if you're fueling yourself with harmful Talk with food that is a result of harm. then you're taking on some little bit of that. I'm not telling you you have to be a vegan. You can be. I am. And the reason I am is because I didn't want for my meal to harm another living being. I don't talk about it that much, actually. Believe it's a decision people have to reach on their own. But I did reach it because I felt like a hypocrite. Now, am I perfect? Absolutely not. Do I still use plastics, for example, that we know are harmful to the environment? A lot of people are much better about that than I am. Although I do my best, it's very difficult. So that's something I'm working on. So maybe as you step into your day, as you step into whatever lies ahead for you, just pause and reflect before you take that bite of food. If you are eating an animal product, thank the animal that sacrificed itself unwillingly so that you would have sustenance. The light that is in me bows to honors and is very grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste. Thank you so much for your time and for your practice. Please leave comments, ask questions, all the things. And this Sunday, if you're watching this in real time, October 4th, 2026 will be the first episode of my podcast where I interview Monique Rhodes, who's a happiness strategist. I'll put links to all the podcast stuff also. But if you haven't already, be sure to check it out. It'll be my premier episode, recorded it a week or two ago, and Monique is a really, really, really cool. Lady, so hopefully you'll join. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day. Namaste. James @ Daily Flow: 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.