Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Morning Yoga for Energy & Focus: Move Slowly to Wake Up Quickly
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: 10 minutes of yoga to help boost your energy, ground your focus, and prepare you for whatever the day might hold. Hello, friends, welcome to your daily flow 10-minute mornings practice. My name is James. Practice till the end. We'll pull a card, we'll set some intention together for the day. And of course, be sure to like and subscribe so that we can build our community together. Let's come to all fours. It's little early for me this morning. This is earlier than usual. If you're watching live, inhale, find a cow pose. So I need the energy. And if I help you find the energy, maybe I'll find it too. Just moving through cats and cows here. Let's wake up the spine little by little. One more time. Many years ago, I was in a production of a musical, and the woman helping me do a quick costume change said, maybe the only way to do something fast is to do it slow. So we're gonna move slowly in order to wake up quickly, give us legs a little saw out, that left leg stepping back. Feel a stretch in the Achilles and then the calf, and then extend your right arm forward, float that left foot back. Get nice and long. Inhale. Exhale, bring the knee to the elbow. Feel a bit of core engagement. Inhale, lengthen. Now set the right hand down. Flip the left arm up. Nice supported side plank. Supported half moment, really. Maybe roll out that left wrist. Inhale. Exhale, bring the left hand down. Step the left foot back. Down dog split the right leg. Inhale. Exhale, tap the knee to your nose. Inhale, down dog split. Exhale. The right foot outside the right hand, release the left knee down, pull the heart forward, get nice and long. Float the right arm up. Maybe reach the right hand back and capture that left foot. And if you have that and it feels good, really let that left hip sink. See if a nice stretch. Look up, inhale. Exhale, release that. Set the right hand down, tuck the left toes, and then walk yourself out to that wide-legged forward fold. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale. Bow, keep a little tuck of the tailbone down so there's no stress or strain in my knees. Obviously, have a little bend in them. Do that again. Look forward, inhale. Fold, exhale. Exhale, round, ground, ground through the outer edges of your feet, feel your core engage, rise up with a long spine, and then pivot yourself to a warrior two. Inhale, straighten the right leg, lift the ball of the right foot, parallel your feet. Exhale, rotate the left leg, warrior two to the back. Inhale, flying warrior, exhale, warrior two to the front. Take a breath and then cartwheel those hands down. Step your right foot back to plank. Inhale. Exhale. Lower knees, chest and chin. Ashnaga named kar. Then pull the heart forward. Send your hips to your heels, brief child's pose. Come forward to plank and back to down dog. Wrap your elbows under, energize your fingertips. Maybe look up at your navel. Inhale. Exhale. Come forward to plank this time. Lower the left knee down onto the mat. Saw that right leg a little bit. A little opening in the Achilles and in the calf, even the sole of the foot as I roll my foot around. Float the right foot back, extend the left arm forward, get nice and long inhale. Exhale, need to elbow, feel your core engage. Inhale, lengthen. Set the left hand down, float the right arm up, supported half loompoint. Exhale, bring the right hand down, step the right foot back, down dog split to the left leg. Inhale here. Exhale, really try to connect your knee to your nose. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, step that left foot. Outside the left hand, pull so I have my back is rounded here. I want to draw my shoulder plates together, pull my heart forward, release the right knee down, untuck the right toes. So find that length. And then the left hand to the left thigh, or maybe the ceiling, or maybe reach back and capture the right foot. And if you have the foot, allow the hips to sink, get the heel a little closer to the glute. Inhale. Exhale. Release that, set the left hand down, tuck the right toes, wide legged forward, full, walk along the right edge of your mat. Again, that little tuck of the tailbone, lengthen the spine, inhale. Exhale, bow. I'm feeling a lift in the arches of my feet. Inhale, look forward, lengthen and exhale, round, feel like you're leading with your heart. Time, inhale. Exhale. Lengthen, engage your legs, rise up long spine, pivot that left foot, warrior two to the front. Pinky edges of the feet active, external rotation of the thighs. Inhale, flying warrior, parallel the left foot. Exhale, warrior two to the back of your space. One more time. Inhale, rise, parallel the left, right foot. Exhale, pivot the left. Inhale here. Exhale, take your vinyasa, step that left foot back. You can take chattaranga if you'd like. Upper dog if you like. Or cobra. That goes right to down dog this time. Breathe here. And then walk your feet forward to your hands. Pausing. Maybe hold opposite elbows just for a moment. Feel the weight. Inhale. Exhale, release the elbows, roll yourself up to stand one vertebra at a time. As you arrive in your mountain pose, step your feet together. Give those wrists another little rollout. Feels nice. Take a breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, float the arms. Exhale, bow forward. Inhale, look forward. Make your way to down dog, step, or float through your vinyasa. You can always skip it if you'd rather. But if our goal is energizing, this little bit of movement goes a long way. Down dog split the right leg. Inhale. Exhale, knee to nose once. Inhale, down dog split. Exhale, step the foot all the way through. Rise up, warrior one. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Flying warrior, parallel the right foot. Exhale, warrior two to the back of your space. Reverse warrior, flip that left palm. Open the left ribs. Inhale. Exhale, cartwheel the right hand down all the way to the mat. Ground down in that right hand and then step the left foot back to a side plank. Now if you'd like, you can lower the right knee down for supported side plank. Take a breath. Now float the left foot. Step it back. I'm going to use my hand to help. And then pivot to that skandasana. Firmly rooted in the left heel if you can. Look forward, inhale. Warrior two. Exhale. Inhale, straighten the right leg. Triangle or half moon if you'd like. We just warmed up for this. You can do it. And if you want to, you can reach back and hold the left foot with the left hand. If you'd like. You can float the right thumb to your heart. two exhale car we have both hands down take your flow Remember the breath is more important than the movement. Always let the breath lead and allow yourself to your attention inward. The way forward, come up, warrior one, inhale, exhale, warrior two. Flying warrior, parallel the left foot, warrior two to the right. Peaceful warrior foot the right palm. Carwheel the left hand all the way down to the mat. Ground down in that left palm. Step the right foot back, side plank, lift the hips nice and high. Take a breath. Next inhale, float the right foot up and step it back. Use your hand to help if you need to. Pivot yourself to skandasana. Grounding down, lifting up through that pelvic floor. Look forward. Inhale. Warrior two. Exhale, adjust your feet as you need to. Straighten your left leg on an inhale. Triangle pose if you'd like. Half moon pose if you're feeling ready. Remember, it's not some crazy athletic thing. You're just shifting your weight. And then once you feel grounded on the instep of that left foot, maybe you reach back and capture the right foot in your right hand. If it's a strain, don't do it. Keep looking down, keep that focus, maybe left thumb to the heart. Inhale, exhale, warrior two, nice and controlled. Cartwheel the hands down, take your flow. Look forward, step or float, inhaling. Exhale, bow. Inhale, rise up. Mountain Poss. You can stay standing, you can have a seat. Let's pull a card together, see what inspiration we can find to ground our day even further. Feeling my heart rate a little higher, my temperature a little higher, a little more energy flowing. Let's see. Well that one just fell out. So let's do that one. The position is plank. Training. Settle the fluctuations of the mind with practice and detachment. This is really relevant, I think, in asana practice and physical yoga practice. If you were here yesterday, talked a little bit about ceasing the fluctuations of the mind to enter into that samadhi state. In this practice, in our physical yoga practice, we use our body as a tool to concentrate the mind. When we do challenging things on the mat, not just because it's a nice stretch and it it makes us stronger and develops balance, which is important and useful, it does those things. But the reason, primary anchor supporting reason. Is because in order to stand on one foot, to hold your other foot, to bring your thumb to your heart, you have to clear the mind. You have to calmly breathe. You have practiced Look at the word. Fluctuations of mind with practice. Then the detachment comes in when you realize that it doesn't matter if you fall out of it. It doesn't matter if you wobble around, which I talk about all the time. The point is that you're focusing your breath and your mind in the present moment. Anytime I'm teaching in real life or here. Anytime I'm teaching and I demonstrate a balanced posture, if I am not Really breathing and grounded. If I'm worried about how the class is doing, which is my job to do, but if I'm thinking more about them and less about my own grounding, I fall right out, just like everybody else. So at least when I demonstrate, I have to be a little selfish in that moment. I have to put my focus on my own instep of my own foot, on my own drizdi, on my own breath. Or I fall and I make a joke about it. So what a nice practice for us to try today. In a moment when you may feel like you have other responsibilities, when you do have other responsibilities, if you're at your job or with your family or with your significant other, or just out in the world. And something has to be done. And it is your responsibility truly to do that thing. Unless you take a moment just to center and breathe. and put your attention on your present experience, you will not be of service to others. You may want to be, but truly, truly coming from your deepest place of service, which I think is the point of all this. Let me what you think. I'd love to hear from you. The light that is in me bows to an honors and is very grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste. Thank you as always for spending this time. Take a moment, like, subscribe, hit bell icons, share, comment, tell a friend, tell a thousand friends. It makes a difference as our community slowly expands in a way that I think is meaningful to me at least. Wonderful day. Thanks for spending this part of it with me. Go get him. 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.