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Morning Yoga for Hips, Hamstrings, and Balance · Ten-Minute Mornings

• 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: 10 minutes to ground, reset, energize, and prepare for the day. Hello friends, welcome to your Daily Flow 10-Minute Mornings practice. My name is James, and this is Max. Recording, please. Come to sit with your legs extended out in front of you. Staff pose. Peel the fleshy part of your glutes away from your sits bones, flex your feet. Anchor your palms underneath your shoulders and then rotate your shoulders back, wrapping those elbows under. Engage your legs and flex your feet. Now if your hamstrings are really super tight, you might sit up on a cushion or a blanket or something like that. but feel the length of your spine and I'm actively pressing down into my fingertips and seeing if I can make it even longer. Nice deep inhale and exhale. float your right arm overhead. And then start to extend just the right arm forward and stop where you feel like you need to round. So we're just looking for where you start to feel a stretch. And then I'm gonna let the arm come down, but I'm not gonna fold any further forward, let it cross over that left leg and look over behind my back. So this is a spinal twist, yes, but I feel it all up my left leg, which is what we're going for. Wrap the right shoulder blade under. Look back. Exhale. Come back up. So I'm keeping my left arm floated, anchoring my right palm so I'm nice and long. I go forward, forward, forward until my spine feels like it would need to round to go any further forward. And then I'm just taking the arm down. Right hand goes behind. So now I have a little bit of traction. Continuing to lengthen and lift up from that seat. Inhale. Exhale, look back over the right shoulder. and then come back up just full to upright. Step your right foot about hip width apart. So I have some space here. And float just the right arm this time. Reach the right arm forward. And then this time you can round a little bit. I'm going for the left big toe. If you don't have to, you can stop at the shin. The left hand is behind me, so it's helping to keep my spine long. but there's a little rounding this time, which you can probably see in there. Exhale. Come back in, step the left foot over the right thigh. Right foot over the left thigh, apologies. Ground down, nice and long. I'm just gonna wrap my left elbow around my right knee, take the right arm behind me. Now this is really just mostly spine, but there's a little bit of action traveling up that right leg as well. Take a breath. And then come back to center. Let that right knee fall out and step the left foot in. Just get the left foot flat on the floor. Hands under the shoulders. Again, I'm thinking really about sitting up tall and then that creates the stretch in the right outer thigh. If you find yourself rounding into your low back, then suddenly you lose that stretch. So do whatever kind of negotiating you need to to feel that outer thigh. Inhale. Exhale. And release all of that. We'll do the other side. Step the left foot in. We're waking up the legs a little bit this morning. Float the left arm. And then think about threading the left shoulder inside the left thigh. Left hand is reaching for the right foot, but it may not actually reach. Right hand I'm taking behind. So I have some, ⁓ a little bit of help in going forward and up, rather than slouching down. Left foot is firm. Inhale. Exhale. Starting a little slowly this morning. We all need some of those days. And then come back into center. Let's set up the seated spinal twist. Step the left foot over the right leg. Float the arms. And then wrap the right elbow around the left thigh. hand goes behind. That feels really nice. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, exhale, then come back to center, make your figure four, step the right foot in, hands grounded underneath the shoulder, lift the heart. Waking up those abductors, the ⁓ IT band, that whole network travels on the outside of the thigh. Take your breath. And then go ahead and lean back, cross your shins and just roll over to all fours. One round of cat and cow. Inhale, lengthen the spine. Exhale, deeply round. and then step back to your down dog. Take a breath. Let's just meet in the middle of the mat. So walk your feet in about halfway, walk your hands in about halfway. Take a rag doll here, hold opposite elbow, sway out the hips. Opening up the back body again a little bit more and then release that and roll yourself up to stand one vertebra at a time. I'm gonna come to face the long edge of the mat. Step feet out nice and wide. Float the arms overhead. Take our goddess squat. So these are, really like these for waking up all of ⁓ that chain on the outside of the leg. And then come up, pivot the right toes to point forward. Take the arms wide and take a triangle pose. So feel the left hip travel back, right arm goes forward. Look up at the left hand, keep that right hip wrapping under. Look up, inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale, Warrior II. We'll take that Flying Warrior, rotate the right toes in, and then rotate the left toes back. Open out the arms to their airplane or their T shape. Right hip back, left arm forward for Triangle. Look up. Left thigh is rotating counterclockwise. I'm actively thinking about leaning back, wrapping the left hip under. Feels really good. Nice again, nice leg stretch. Exhale. Warrior two. Flying warrior. Let's take that goddess squat again. We're gonna add on. It's gonna get a little bit more intense, but listen to your body do what you need. So we're gonna start here in a warrior two and then a warrior one. Shift your weight forward, come to stand, bring the left knee up with you. cross the left knee over the right for Eagle. Now, Eagle can be intense. So maybe you're able to get the foot wrapped around like I am. Maybe it's not. Maybe you're in a figure four chair. And because the left elbow is on top, we wrap the left elbow underneath. I'm gonna start off holding my opposite shoulder. Thinking about getting my knees closer to my, or my elbows closer to my knees. And then maybe you wrap the arms as well. Take your breath. Root down, rise up. Step the left foot back, Warrior I. Open out, Warrior II. Straighten the right leg. Inhale. Exhale, Warrior II. Flying Warrior. And then we pivot for Warrior II facing the back or the left. There's no back really, I guess. Warrior I. Shift forward, rise up. Find your balance. Cross right knee over left. Wrap everything together nice and tight. And then the right is on top, so right elbow goes on bottom. I'm gonna start by holding opposite shoulders. And then Eagle Wrapping. Breathe. Everything is suctioning to the midline. Rise up. Step back, Warrior I. Open out, Warrior II. Straighten the left leg. Triangle pose. Exhale. Back to warrior two. Rise up, adjust the feet, goddess squat. We'll do all of that flow here. Inhale, rise up. Exhale, warrior two to the right. Inhale, warrior one. Exhale, come to stand, bring the left knee up. Left knee over right, left elbow under, eagle. Rise up, step back. Warrior two. straighten the right leg, triangle or half moon, yogi's choice. Take your breath. Big step back, warrior two. Flow through to your pivot, warrior two to the left. Warrior one, inhale, exhale, rise up, float that right knee, cross right over left, wrap right elbow under left, take a breath. Stand tall. Step back, Warrior I. Exhale, Warrior II. Inhale, energize that left leg, either Triangle Pose or Half Moon Pose. Take your breath. Big step back. Rise up. One last Goddess Squat. Come to stand. Mountain Pose. Take a breath, feel your feet on the floor, observe your breath rate, your temperature, your heart rate, and take this pause to reflect before you step off the mat and into the day, setting intention for how you choose to arrive in the spaces where you find yourself. The light that is in me bows to honors and is so, grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.