Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Find Your Steady: Morning Yoga for Balance and Temperance
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: In just 10 minutes, we'll ground, open, energize, and be ready for whatever the day might throw our way. Hello friends, welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James. Be sure to practice till the end. We'll pull a card, set some intention for the day, and of course be sure to like, follow, subscribe, and do all the things on YouTube that make a YouTube community grow. Come to all, come to any comfortable seat. I'm gonna sit cross-legged in. Taking your hands, cup your knees, and then find your sit bones. Shift around until you feel firmly rooted in those two. They feel kind of flat, but anyway, pointy bones at the base of your pelvis. Grip your knees gently, pull forward. Use that contact with your knees to lift your heart as you push down in your seat. Look up. Inhale. Exhale round. So the opposite. I'm still keeping a little tension on those knees. So I have a nice active stretch, opening up the back body, and then inhale, lift your heart. Now bring your attention to your seat. As you exhale, you're shifting your weight to the back of your sit spons, wrapping the tailbone under. As you inhale, you're shifting your weight to the front, lifting your heart. And then you're finding that little pelvic tilt too. So now we'll exaggerate that. Carve out the belly round the spine. And then as you come forward, it is a anterior tilt of the pelvis. So you're sticking, sticking your butt out, as it were. And then go ahead and one more round, exhaling round the spine. To sit up tall, float your right arm overhead, and then take a twist to your left. So the right arm crosses over, left hand comes behind. Sit up tall, inhale, exhale, and come through center. Just go the other way. So twisting now to the right, left hand crosses over, right hand comes behind. Sit up tall, inhale, exhale, twist, and then come back to center. Sit back. With your feet on the floor and then start to lean back coming to your toes. I'm gonna reach my arms forward here, but you can keep your hands on the floor beside you if you'd like. And then maybe your feet float. Maybe you bring your shins parallel. Maybe you straighten your legs. Keep your heart lifted. So if you start to lift your legs and you feel your low back is rounding and you're losing the shape, I think it's better to stay up on your seat on your toes and have that nice long spine. Of course, I leave it to you. Inhale. Exhale, cross your shins, rock yourself forward. Coming to all fours, spread your fingers wide, step back, plank position. Inhale. Exhale. Downward facing doll. Paddle out your heels, shake out your hand. We started off with those seated cat cows essentially. So let's see if we can find some of that here. As you roll yourself forward to plank, think about that cat back. Inhale. And then exhale, send your hips up and back. Down dog, think about sending your heart back to your thighs. Inhale, roll forward. Exhale downward facing dog. Push the floor away. You can do the same exact thing with your knees on the mat. Rolling forward to a half plank if you'd like, supported plank, and then back to your down dog or child pose if that's better for you. Walk your feet forward to your hands. Bend your knees quite a lot. Just in. I'm rolling out my wrists as they come up. Give them a nice little wake-up. Put your arms overhead. Inhale. Exhale, fold. Inhale, lengthen, look forward. Exhale, step back to a plank. Inhale, pause. Exhale, lower your knees, your chest, and your chin. Inhale, cobra pose. Exhale, downward facing dog. Lift your right leg high this back. Bend the knee, stack the hips. Think about peeling that right hip open. I'm energizing in my right hand a lot. So my right fingertips are really pushing the floor forward as I lift my right knee higher. And now I'm gonna think about my right heel to my right glutton. Inhale. Exhale, step that right foot all the way between your hands if it doesn't make it. Just scoot it up. Warrior one. Ground the back heel down. Wrap the elbows under, wrap the shoulder blades under, look up. Now feel that right knee winding or the right pinky toe. Left thigh is wrapping externally, that opening out. So you have to really actively square your chest forward. Inhale. Exhale, take your hands behind you. I'm gonna hold opposite elbows or opposite forearms for right now. and then straighten the right leg. Lean your low ribs back, fold forward over your straight right leg, pure mid pose. Inhale. Exhale, soften your right knee. My thigh is on or my chest is on my thigh as I shift forward for Warrior 3, trying to keep this configuration behind my back. So warrior three, your body is parallel to the floor. You're internally rotating those thighs. Take a breath. Now you might need to let go with your hands here. I'm gonna try to turn this into a standing split. Bringing my chest back closer to my thighs. It takes a lot of concentration. Inhale, exhale, step the left foot back. If you need to let go of the hands for any of that, of course, do float the arms inhaling. Exhale. More year two. Inhale, straighten the right leg. Triangle. Left foot back, right arm forward, and eventually down. Look up at that left thumb. Keep leaning back. External rotation of the thighs now, so the thighs are wrapping out from each other. Nice stretch on the inner thigh of the right leg. Inhale. Exhale warrior two. Pause for your inhale and then take your vinyasa. Hands come down. Step the right foot back. You can take knees, chest, or chaturanga, cobra or up dog. And downward facing dog. Just breathe. Down dog split the left leg. As that left heel reaches up and back, bend the knee, peel the left hip open. Think about pointing the left hip bone to the side of your space. Now, energize the left fingertips. Pushing the left fingertips forward, lifting the left knee higher. Left heel wants to find the left glute. Inhale. Exhale. Left foot between the hands. If it doesn't make it, scoot it up. Come up. Warrior one. Back heel spirals down. Couple of breaths just to find your warrior one. Wrap that right shoulder blade under, pinky nice and active. Fingertips energized. Inhale. Exhale, taking the hands behind the back. Again, I'm gonna go for opposite forearms for now or opposite elbows. It's the kind of the feeling. Knit together those low ribs. Lean back, press back as you energize the ball of the left foot forward. Inhale. Exhale, fold forward over that straight left leg. Left big toe mound, still pushing the mat forward, a little tuck of the tailbone, but it's still a big hamstring stretch. Inhale, exhale. Start to bend the left knee. Look forward. Keep your chest broad. If you need to release the hands, you you certainly may. Instep of the left foot, internal rotation of the thighs now. Nice soft gaze drizdy. Breathe. Now a little challenge. Start to bring the right heel up. I'm thinking mostly, I think, about my feet. Left foot is pushing forward, right heel is lifting up. Inhale. Exhale, soften that left knee, step back, warrior one. Not easy. Float the arms. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, lengthen the left leg. Exhale, triangle pose. Up at your right thumb, maybe external rotation of the thighs. Inhale, exhale, pause for an inhale, exhale, hands down to the mat, stab the left foot back, inhale and plank, exhale, take your vinyasa, no rush, no place to be. Not yet, at least. Lift your heels, bend your knees, send your hips back, and then step or float forward. Inhaling, exhale, bow. Inhale, root to rise. Exhale, mountain pose. How do you do? So that transition from warrior three to standing split. Certainly have your hands on the floor or on blocks. Part of why we're doing it is that I've noticed lately in classes that a lot of people, their Warrior 3 and their standing split are kind of the same. And so it doesn't have to look that much different, but it should feel pretty different. the mental piece of it is very different. Feet on the floor. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, floats the arms. Exhale, fold. Inhale, lengthen, prepare. Make your way to down dog. Maybe you're floating back. Maybe you're stepping back. Maybe you're skipping the whole thing and just going right to down dog. Take a nice breath in your down dog. Inhale. Exhale. Down dogs put the right leg. Inhaling. Exhale, step the foot between the hands. Inhale, warrior one. Either those opposite elbows, or I'm gonna try to catch a secret prayer. I kind of swung my arms back. It makes it easier. Straighten the right leg, lean back. Inhale. Exhale, fold forward over your right leg. Inhale, bend the knee, look forward. Exhale, warrior three, release the hands if you need to. Inhale, exhale, standing split. Pause for an inhale. Exhale, warrior one, release the arms from behind you. Inhale here. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, lengthen the right leg. Exhale, triangle or half moon. If you'd like, maybe catch that left foot in your left hand. Inhale. Exhale, nice soft landing. Warrior two. Inhale. Exhale. Take your vinyasa. Upward facing. Downward facing dog. Breathe. Left side. Dent lift the left leg high to sky. Inhale. Exhale. Stuff the foot between the hands. Inhale, warrior one. Exhale, hands behind the back, whatever configuration serves you. Inhale, lengthen the left leg. Exhale, pyramid pose. Inhale, bend the left knee, look forward. Exhale, shift forward, warrior three. Inhale. I found that internal rotation of my thighs, so my left big toe feels really active. Oops, I'm wobbling a lot. Maybe you will too. Inhale. Exhale, big step back. Warrior one. Release the arms. Inhale here. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, lengthen the left leg. Exhale, triangle. Or half moon pose. Each of us as a side it's easier to balance on. So just listen to that. Do your best. Inhale. Exhale. We're all just out here doing our best. Inhale here. Exhale. Cartwheel the hands down, take your flow. One breath, one movement. Inhale, exhale, look forward, inhale, step or float. Top of mat. Exhale, bow. Inhale, rise up. Exhale. Mountain pose. I grabbed the cards while I was down there. You can come to lie on your back, have a seat, or whatever feels right. Let's see what comes up today. Mm-hmm. How about this one? Temperance. Answer the call of your soul. And the shape is seated spinal twist. Temperance. Answer the call of your soul. Does your soul want extremes? Does your soul, your deepest capital S self, look for, long for, strive for steadiness, evenness, living in truth? Does your soul want a roller coaster? Is your deepest calling to chaos? It seems unlikely. I don't know, maybe. But I believe. That that deepest self, that part of us which is eternal, is eternal and steady and temperate. Because that deepest self is not Your feelings. Feelings count. They are important. But that deepest self, the self that's here to learn the lessons of this incarnation or of this physical life. That self Is bigger. That's all. It just is. It holds the feelings the same way that a rainbow holds all of the colors of light. But when those colors all come together and are not split by the prism of the rainbow, they make a unified single color. They all come together and make white light. Your soul is that white light. It is the coming together of every spectrum of who you are. It is a purity from all of the feelings, all of the callings, all of creation. And it's walking around right now in your skin suit. And how lucky we are to have it. So, in terms of setting intention for today, the next time that you face a super crazy peak moment or a super crazy valley moment of any feeling, even joy, just take a second. Notice it. You don't have to change it. But the moment you start to observe the feeling, the moment you are dropped in and connected and present in that deepest self while the feelings are swirling around it. Maybe That's a meaningful practice. I'm gonna try it. Let me know how goes for you. The light that is in me bows to honors and is very grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste. Thank you. Thank you for spending this time, for spending this part of your day with me. Your time is valuable, and I'm grateful that you would share some of it here with me. Please take a moment to like, subscribe, comment, share. What else is there to do? All those things. And be sure to check out Hello Friends with James Donegan, which is available here on YouTube if that's where you're listening or wherever you happen to be finding this video. Have a great 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.