Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / 10-Minute Vinyasa Flow for Balance, Strength & Focus
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. 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 root, rise, and flow into whatever the day and the week and the weekend hold. Hello friends. Welcome to your daily flow 10 minute mornings practice. My name is James, and on Fridays we flow. What that means is less emphasis on the nuance and the little micro adjustments that yoga teachers love. and just flowing, breathing, and linking our breath and our movement, which is the hallmark of vinyasa yoga. So come to stand at the top of your mat. Join your big toes together if that feels comfortable in your body. Give your shoulders a nice shrug up and back and down. Float the hands overhead, inhale. Exhale, gather your heads to prayer heart center. Send that prayer directly forward. and then open the left arm up. Try to keep the hips square as you reach the left arm back. Float the right arm up, left arm down and back. Nice stretch. And then cartwheel both hands to the floor. Big fold forward, just bow. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, bow deeply. Inhale, rise up, reverse your swan dive. Exhale, gather your prayer hands to heart center. Send the prayer forward, open up to the right. So as I'm doing this, I'm trying to keep the right hip traveling forward, so I'm just turning the spine, specifically the ribs. Left arm goes up, right arm goes down and back. And then cartwheel down. Nice long flow forward bow. Inhale, flat back. Exhale, bow deeply. Reverse your swan dive rise up. Come to your mountain pose. Shift your weight into your right foot and pick up your left. So that may mean that it stays very low or you keep the ball of the floor on the mat. That may mean it comes up nice and high. Send your prayer hands forward. Send the left arm back. Now maybe the right hand captures the outside of the left thigh. Look forward to find balance. Look back to challenge it. Inhale. We're gonna step that left foot back, big, long stride, high lunge. Exhale to a warrior two. Flip the right palm, reach it up and back. Inhale. Exhale, cartwheel both hands to frame that right foot. Let's come to pyramid pose, lengthen the right leg. Now it's early days, so that hamstring's still a little bit tight. I'm not going all the way straight, but I'm working towards it. Inhale. Exhale, re-bend the right knee. Come up to a warrior one, and then interlace fingers low behind you. Energize, open up the chest, inhale. Exhale, pull your heart forward as you bow. Humble warrior. Inhale, Warrior One. Skandhasana, bend the left knee deeply. Now again, deeply is gonna be different if you're still warming up, which we are, so just finding a little stretch in the right inner thigh. And come back to your Warrior Two. Step the left foot forward to meet the right. Chair Pose. Inhale. Exhale, rise up. Mountain pose. Shift your weight to your left foot. Pick up the right. Hands in prayer. Send the left arm forward and the right arm back. And then take the left hand to the outside of the right thigh. Again, look forward to help with balance. Look back to challenge it. Take a breath. And then a big step back to your high lunge. Open out to a warrior two. Peaceful warrior. Cartwheel hands to frame that left foot. Pyramid pose. Energize into the big toe mound of the left foot. Feel like you're pushing the mat forward and pulling the left hip back, plugging the left femur into the hip socket. Take your breath and come up for your warrior one. Inhale, exhale interlace fingers behind you. Draw the shoulder blades together, lift the heart. Humble warrior, pull the chest forward and bow. Inhale, Warrior I. Exhale, Skandhasana, straighten that left leg, bend the right knee. Feel that stretch in the left inner thigh. I actually have my right elbow on my right thigh. I'm not going very low at all. And then look forward, Warrior II. Step forward, Chair Pose. Inhale. Exhale, Mountain Pose. Let's add on. Float the right foot, hands to prayer. Sorry, float the left foot, balance on the right. Now the right hand is coming to the outside of the left thigh, or maybe the outside of the left foot. We're not super warm yet, so maybe you straighten it like a little bit, maybe more. Take a breath, inhale. Exhale, big step back, straight to Warrior I. Interlace fingers behind you. Open the heart. Warrior. Rise up warrior one. Skandhasana. forward to your warrior two. This time straighten the right leg. Inhale. Triangle pose. Exhale. Look up at the left hand, wrap that right thigh under. Take a breath and then step forward to your chair. Root down, stand tall. Shift weight to the left foot, float the right one. We're floating now. Hands can stay in prayer. Left hand to the outside of the right thigh or the outside of the right foot. You're using the strength of the right leg to pick it up. Strength of the left leg to ensure balance. Take your breath. Warrior I. Interlace fingers low behind. Open the heart, inhale. Exhale, bow. Rise up, come back to your skandhasana. Come to a warrior two. Straighten the left leg. Triangle pose. Right hip back. Left arm. that left thigh wrapping under, lean back, inhale, exhale, big step forward chair pose. Mountain Pose. One more round. I'll dial it up a little bit, a little more time balancing. Of course, if it feels like too much, you have the intermediate steps. Root the right foot, get the left knee nice and high. Use the strength of the left leg to bring it up. Maybe capture the outside of that foot. Now we're gonna turn this into Half Moon Pose. Send the left leg back and the right hand down. Open up, inhale. Big step back, warrior one, exhale. Interlace fingers low behind. Open the heart. This time as you pull your heart forward. Humble warrior if you'd like or warrior three with that hand bind behind you. Take your breath. Big step back, skandhasana, release the bind, bend the left knee. I'm gonna put my left hand beside my right foot. So take a breath. Spring forward, left hand beside the right foot, side plank. Vasi Stasana, inhale. Exhale, steps the right foot all the way forward. And then left foot forward, chair pose. Come to stand, mountain pose. Hands to prayer, weight to the left foot. Pick up the right one, use the strength of the right leg to get it high. Then the left hand doesn't have so far to travel if it's capturing the outside of the foot. Take your breath. And then the next stop is half moon pose. So look down. That will help ground. I'm much more wobbly on this side, but that's why we do it. Take your breath and then big step back for warrior one. Interlace fingers low behind. Open the heart. Humble warrior. Shift forward, warrior three. Energize down into the big toe side of the left foot. Float the right one. Release that bind, big step back, skandhasan. When you're ready, right hand lands beside the left foot. Step the left foot back, side plank. Lift the hips nice and high. And with the hips lifted high, you can more easily step the left foot forward. Step the right foot forward, chair pose. Inhale, close the arms. Exhale, just bow forward. Pause here, separate your feet about as wide as your hips, hold opposite elbows. Release your back body, soften your breath. and then roll yourself to stand. them both. That was a lot. It was a lot quickly. but got some blood flowing, got our breath flowing, and hopefully connected our minds a little bit more to our bodies and to our deeper selves. Pausing as we always do to reflect on the day as it unfolds. Set intention, be deliberate in how you arrive in the spaces where you find yourself, and I'll do the same. the light that is in me bows to honors and is so grateful for the light that is in you. Namaste.