Latest / Ten-Minute Mornings / Morning Yoga for Balance & Leg Strength: Make a Habit of Empowerment
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: Some days you gotta take your own do-over. Hello friends, welcome to your Daily Flow 10 Minute Mornings Yoga Practice. My name is James. This is Max. And if you were here yesterday, my sound didn't work. So I apologize for that. I don't ever know until it's actually done how exactly things go. So Thanks for your patience. Anyway, be sure to practice till the end. We'll pull a card, set some intention, and of course, like and subscribe and do all that good stuff. Come to any comfortable seat. I'm gonna sit cross legged. Start with little seated cat and cow. Gripping my knees, pressing down through the sit bones, lift up, inhale, exhale, round the spine, really separate the shoulder blades, and I'm opening my elbows out, making more space in my back. And then rolling forward on my sit bones, lifting up, inhale. Exhale. One more time. Inhale. It's okay if you only watch the dog. I would do. Exhale around. Coming back to your neutral spine, plant your feet on the floor and then plant your hands under your shoulders, lift your hips up. You can keep your chin tucked, or let your head fall back. We're doing a little shoulder opening and a little core activation and a little back bend. It's a nice pose. Maybe your head falls back, but only if your neck says it's okay. Inhale. Exhale, release your hips all the way down to the mat. Pick up your feet for a boat pose. You can keep your hands on the floor, you can grip the backs of your knees, you can reach forward. But notice if your low back stops starts rounding, and if it does, just set your toes down and get that chest nice and proud. One more breath. Cross your ankles, hug everything in, maybe grab the outer edges of your feet, shift forward, step back to a downward facing dog. And then walk your feet forward to your hands. Separate your feet. Bend your knees a lot. Hold opposite elbows. Sway your hips from side to side. A little ragdoll. Breathe into your back body. Head heavy. And then release those elbows. Roll yourself to stand one vertebrae at a time. Head and shoulders come up last. Step your feet together. So we're gonna do a little bit actually of the sequence that. We did yesterday. I did yesterday. in part 'cause I liked it, in part because I mentioned I have a little bit of a shoulder not exactly injury, just a little a little strain, I guess. so this is a nice one if you don't like chaturangas, if you want to skip some push up y things. or if your wrists bother you. You can come back to this one. Feel your feet firm on the floor, give your shoulders a nice roll up, back. Inhale, float your arms overhead. Exhale, fold forward, lead with your heart. Inhale, lengthen. Exhale, bow. And we're gonna come to chair pose. Bend your knees, float your arms. Nice and long through the waist. Look up between your hands. And then shift your weight to your right foot. Pick up your left heel. Press down in the instep of the right foot. Come all the way up. Bring the left knee up with you. And then find a tree pose. Open that knee out to the side. Plant your foot somewhere along the inside of the right leg. You can have the ball of the foot on the floor if you'd like. Just make sure the foot's not putting pressure on the knee. And then keep it opening out. Keep a sense of a little stretch in the inside of the left thigh. Hands can be in prayer or you can float them overhead. Inhale. Exhale. Float your left knee forward. We're coming to warrior three. Find a point of focus out on the floor in front of you. Keep everything engaged. See if you can get your body to feel like it's parallel to the floor. Doesn't have to actually be, but that's how it feels. You're rotating that left pinky toe down to the floor. Inhale. Exhale, big step back. Warrior one. Wrap the left shoulder blade under, feel the pinky edges of your feet. Look up. Exhale. Inhale, straighten your right leg. Exhale, pyramid pose, send your heart forward. Keep a little tuck of the tailbone. And then if you need to, you can rest your hands lightly on the right shin. You can bring your hands down to the floor or to yoga blocks. I don't use blocks in these videos only because I don't want to assume that you have them. But if you do, by all means, go grab them. Inhale. Exhale, rebend that right knee. Cartwheel all the way up to warrior two. Right toes point forward, right heel bisects the arch of the left foot, which is sort of pigeon-toed. Nice deep bend in the right knee. Energize the pinky edge of the left foot. Inhale, rise up, lift the ball of the right foot. We're gonna come back to that same warrior two. Exhale, re-bend the knee. Get a little deeper if you can. Twice more. Inhale, rise up, float the arms. Exhale, feel like your hands are pushing the air down. One more time. Inhale. Exhale. This time when you come up, parallel your feet. Fold forward. Lead with your heart. And then maybe your piece fingers grab your big toes. If they feel too far away, then don't worry about it. You can have your hands on the floor. If you do have your big toes, they're gently pulling your toes forward, bringing your head closer to the mat. Remember that little tuck of the tailbone. Inhale. Exhale. Walking. Release any binds, walk your hands under your face. Plant your left hand under, right hand to the sacrum, twist to the right. I'm using my right hand to level my hips, because that left hip wants to drop. So I'm really trying to level them actively so that only my ribs are doing any twisting. And then maybe you float that arm up. Exhale, release the twist, and then bend the left knee deeply for skandhasana. Make sure that left heel stays grounded. Shift your weight back. Right toes can point to the ceiling. A little stretch in the right inner thigh. Inhale. Now push off that left foot. Warrior two. Straighten the right leg. Triangle pose. Left hip back, right arm forward, forward, forward, and at some point it comes down. Leaning back, opening up the inside of that right thigh again. Inhale. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, warrior one. Now we're coming right to chair pose. So shift your weight to the right foot. Step the left foot forward to meet it. Look up between your hands. Inhale. Exhale. Shift your weight to your left foot. Pick up your right heel and push down that left foot. Bring the left knee all the way up. And then grab that ankle, plant your tree. Again, the foot can be anywhere as long as it's not in the knee joint, including having the ball of the foot on the floor with the heel at the ankle. Now actively open that right leg out. Hands can be in prayer. They can float overhead. Take a breath. Float your right knee forward. Now find your point of focus out on the floor. Start to send that right heel back as you come into your warrior three. Internal rotation of the thighs here. Right pinky toe straight to the floor. Instep of the left foot is your balance. Inhale. Exhale, warrior one. Big step back. Wrap the right shoulder blade under. Feel the pinky edges of your feet active. exhale. Inhale, lengthen the left leg. Send your heart forward, forward, still a little tuck of that tailbone, so you're not hyperextending the hamstrings. Don't feel like your hands have to get to the floor. You can rest them lightly on your shin. Just don't put pressure on your shin. Again, take care of your knees. Inhale. As you exhale, rebend the left knee and cartwheel yourself open to warrior two. Feel the pinky edges of your feet. That little External rotation of the left thigh. Take a breath. We'll do our little strengthening. Inhale, lift the ball of the left foot as you float the arms. Exhale, re-bend the left knee, push the air down. Twice more. Inhale. Exhale. One more time. Inhale. Exhale. This time come all the way up, parallel the left foot. Exhale, fold forward. This time I'm going to interlace my fingers behind my back. Let my knuckles scrape the ceiling. You can keep a tuck of the tailbone, and again your hands can be wherever they want to be. Hello. Inhale. Exhale, release the hands. And as you inhale, walk your hands forward. Try to find a long spine. Plant your right hand. And then left hand, I'm bringing it to my low back. And then twisting to the left. You have to engage your legs here to keep those hips nice and stable. And then maybe you lift the left arm. Inhale. Exhale, release that. Start to shift your weight to the right foot. Skandasana. Look forward as you inhale. Push off that right foot, warrior two as you exhale. Warrior one. Shift your weight, step forward, chair pose. Stand up, mountain pose. We have a couple of minutes, so we're gonna flow that through one time. It's actually very short, and I'll of course add some progressions to keep it nice and active. A little energy to send you into your day. Inhale to your chair. Exhale, shift your weight to your right foot. Inhale, come up, bring the left leg up with you. Find your tree. Take a breath. Inhale. Exhale, inhale, float the left foot forward. Exhale, warrior three. Stay for an inhale. Exhale, warrior one. Inhale, straighten the right leg. Exhale, pyramid pose. Inhale, exhale, warrior two. One repetition. Inhale, lift the ball of the right foot. Exhale, push down. Inhale, rise up parallel feet. Exhale, fold forward. Inhale, lengthen your spine, float the right arm up, exhale, go into your twist. Inhale, exhale, skandasana, bend the left knee. Now, option here to come all the way to half moon pose. Stay grounded in that right heel, shift your weight, stay low, and then once your weight is over your right foot, come into your half moon. Or you can go to triangle if you'd like. Inhale. Now from wherever you are. Bend that right knee, bring the left foot forward, chair pose. Take a breath. Shift your weight to the left foot. Rise up, bring the right knee. Find your tree pose. Inhale. Exhale, inhale, float the right knee. Exhale, warrior three. Inhale, exhale, warrior one. Inhale, lengthen the left leg. Exhale, fold forward over it. Inhale, warrior one. Exhale, warrior two. Inhale, lift the heel lift, lift the ball of the left foot. Exhale, re-bend the knee deeply. Inhale, rise up parallel the feet. Exhale, wide legged forward, fold. Inhale, walk your right hand under your face, float the left arm up, exhale, go into your twist. Release that twist as you inhale, bend the right knee. Skandasana. Exhale. Looking forward as you inhale. Shift forward. I like to stay low. So now I feel my weight in the instep of my left foot. So floating the right foot. Moon pose, Ardha Chandrasana . Inhale. Exhale, chair pose. Hi puppy. Look up. Stand tall. Mountain pose. How'd you do? You can either come to sit or take a little shavasana. Or just stay wherever you are. So what are you gonna pull? What are we gonna pull? Crescent lunge is the shape. Freedom. Make a habit of empowerment. We've had this card several times. And the thing that still resonates with me today is making a habit. A habit of empowerment. How can we empower others to be their best? That's what I try to do here and in my classes. Fairly recently, someone who takes a class with me, a hit class, not a yoga class, said, you really care that we have a good workout? And I said, No, I don't. I really care that you have a good experience. That you feel strong, that there are no injuries, that you leave here knowing that you did the thing that you came to do. So maybe today, especially if it's a difficult situation, but even if it's not, if you go into a meeting, into an interaction, into coffee with your friend, maybe. Consider what their experience is, what they have come to do, have they come to connect with you? Have they come because something is bothering them in the workplace? Have they come because they just have to get this meeting checked off their list? And how can you help them feel empowered to take the action they need to take? to leave knowing that they've done what they came to do. If we look for it, if we seek it out, even if it's not successful, that person That reflection of us that the universe has put in our way. will know that they are cared for on a cellular level. And is that all any of us wants? Well I care for you. And I'm very grateful for you and for the light that is within you. Namaste. Thank you so much for your time. Hopefully the sound worked today. We'll see. I'm about to find out. Exciting. but thank you for being here. Thank you for continuing to show up. And of course, be sure to like, subscribe, share, leave comments. And Let me know how your practice is going. And my podcast, Hello Friends, with James Donegan. Episode one has been out. Episode two comes out this Sunday. An interview with my friend, composer and musician Maddie Powell. I think she has a lot, a lot to offer. 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.