Yoga For Weight Loss | Healthy Energy Flow | Yoga With Adriene
– Hey everyone,
welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene and
this is Benji and today on the Yoga For
Weight Loss series, we're connecting
to the entire body and promoting a
healthy flow of prana or energy that runs
up and down the spine. So this is a really
mindful and conscious way of getting strong
and lean and tone so that you can feel good
because when you feel good, you look good. Let's get started. (upbeat music) Alright my darling friends, let's begin in a nice
comfortable seat of your choice.
Get down nice and low and as you just
slowly start to arrive here for your practice
find what feels good in the hands, in the
shoulders, in the neck. Trust yourself,
trust the video, trust me, your humble guide. And close your eyes. Just take a quiet
moment here to take stock. Notice how you feel. The invitation today is to really just
move with the breath and to consider perhaps this idea that the
breath is your spirit.
Now before you
turn the video off, just hang with me and ask, what if the
breath was your spirit. Could we perhaps
reconnect to that notion. And so, just meditate on that, think about that
as you slowly gently start to deepen the
breath, maybe connect to a more audible breath. What if your breath
were your spirit after all. When you stop breathing,
what happens? So when we say move
with your breath today, it's not just the vinyasa,
but it really is moving from a place of connect,
moving with your spirit. The idea is that if
we become more practiced and more conscious of
breath as spirit on the mat, we'll be able to tap into
that a little bit off the mat using the breath
as we move through life, but also being conscious
in the way that we speak to one another and share. So hopefully by now you've
taken a couple deep breaths in and out through the
nose or through the mouth.
You're sitting up nice and tall. You're gonna draw
the hands to the heart and as you're ready, just gently
bow the head to the hands, the head to the heart. And feel that great
stretch in the back of the neck and again, ask
yourself, what if your breath were to be
regarded as your spirit because again,
after all, what happens when you stop breathing. So just play with
that today, if you want, you can also just ditch it. But an opportunity,
a little invitation to move with your breath
as if it were your spirit. Would you cut it short,
would you ignore it, or would you keep coming on back to try to figure out
what it is, who it is, how it feels? Let your spirit guide the way. We'll slowly lift the head. We're gonna come to all fours, take your time,
tabletop position. Wrists underneath the shoulders, knees directly
underneath the hip points, press away from your
yoga mat and lengthen through the crown of the head. Inhale, drop the
belly as you're ready.
Open the chest, Cow Pose. And with your breath
exhale, rounding through, chin to chest, really
lifting up your heart space. Inhale, drop the belly. Listen to the sound of your
breath as you open your heart and exhale fully chin to chest. Front body lifts
up to the back body. One more time inhale, Cow Pose. Press away from your
yoga mat, create space, and exhale rounding through. Chin to chest, crown to
the earth, create space. Awesome, inhale, come to center, bump the hips to the left, turn to look past
your right shoulder. Inhale, exhale to center,
bump the hips to the right. Turn to look past
your left shoulder. Inhale, exhale back to center. Beautiful, we're gonna
curl the toes under here. Keep pressing out of your hands so your not collapsing
into your wrists here. So you're really
lifting up through the chest. Okay, curl your
toes under, inhale in. On an exhale lift the
knees and let them hover.
We're tugging the hands back
and we're tugging the toes forward to light a
little fire, a little agni in the belly. Tuck the chin slightly, gaze
down, neck is nice and long. We're here for five, four, count faster Adriene,
three, two, and one. Lift the hips up and back,
Downward Facing Dog. Now find a little
movement here that feels good. You can peddle it
out through the legs. Listen to the
sound of your breath. Nice and loose in the
head, the neck, rather. And then you're
gonna take the soft, slow, conscious
movement all the way up to the top, baby
steps, walking through to a Forward Fold. When you get there,
bend the knees generously and continue to listen
to the sound of your breath, your spirit.
The goal of today's
practice is to really get a healthy flow of
energy or prana moving throughout the body. So it's more
than a stretch here. Blood is flowing to the head. And with each and every breath,
we're bringing fresh oxygen. And then when you're ready, we'll begin to slowly roll it up and press into your feet so much that that's what sends you
rolling up through the spine. So energetically
you're feeling your feet, just really press
away from the ground and there's a little
resistance just yielding as your rise up strong. Lots of awareness now
from the soles of the feet, up through the head. And you can just
take a couple moments here to find what
feels good in the neck, be mindful, maybe the shoulders.
Just take a
couple moments to be you, scratch your face,
fix your pants, whatever you need. And then I'll meet you, the
hands together at the heart, Anjali mudra. And right away, we've been
practicing this a lot lately on the channel, but
just decide what feels good, really active arms
today or soft arms. And there's just
a thoughtfulness, you make a choice,
you really commit. And each time you
come up after your flow you can reconnect
and mix and match. But, just making sure you're
not going into that autopilot. Then reconnect with your breath. We'll take an inhale in and this time as you exhale SH
sound out through the mouth.
Give it a try. Empty, empty,
empty everything out. So much so that your next inhale
is just naturally buoyant. Inhale and exhale, sigh it out. We'll do that
little cycle again, big inhale in through the nose. Exhale SH sound empty it out. (shhhing sound) Empty, empty, empty,
empty, empty, empty, empty, everything out empty. So much so that your next inhale
is just naturally buoyant, almost a passive inhale. And then sigh it out. (sighs) Awesome, on your next
inhale, reach for the sky. Spread your fingertips, really
feel your feet on the earth, big stretch here and
then exhale rain it down, Forward Fold. With the breath,
inhale, halfway lift. Find length. Just take a couple
moments here to check in with the shape today. So extension through the crown, really reaching the
tailbone towards the back edge. You wanna create a nice long
line from the crown to the tail so we're not collapsing,
but lifting the front body up to meet the back body.
Think of a figure
seven and then break free of that shape and just find
little soft movement here. You'll take one more breath, maybe find more
length in the neck and then use an exhale to fold. Inhale, reach for
the sky, big breath. And exhale, hands
to heart, namaste. Soft knees,
inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, forward
fold, all the way down, soft bend in the knees. Big inhale lifts you up halfway. Find that length in the
neck and then exhale, fold. Beautiful, inhale
reach for the sky. Big stretch, really
maximize the stretch, stretch, stretch,
stretch, and then exhale hands to heart. Without looking
keep the chin lifted, you're gonna
bring the feet together. So, place you eyes on
the soles of your feet. Wacky, and then
here we go, inhale, reach for the sky,
feet are together. Exhale, Forward Fold, bend the
knees as much as you need. Inhale with the
breath halfway lift exhale with the
breath Forward Fold. Bend the knees,
fingertips come to the mat. You're gonna step
the right toes back and lower the right
knee onto the earth. Walk it back if
you need a little more then everyone
loop the shoulders, become light on the fingertips,
and inhale look forward.
Exhale, peel the left toes up, pull back through the
left hip, crease half splits or Ardha Hanuman and
you can walk your fingertips right underneath
your shoulders here or to intensify the
stretch you'll walk it inline with your left heel. Walk them in line
with your left heel. Inhale to look
forward and then exhale draw the chin towards the
chest, nose towards the navel. Rolling through your left foot, inhale come
forward, then exhale, we're gonna plant the
palms, lift the back leg and step it back to plank pose. Inhale, press away
from your yoga mat, peddle it out if you need to. Find what feels good. Remember that
length in the neck and then on a big exhale
send it up and back Downward Facing Dog. Deep breath in. Long breath out. Baby steps to the top again
rolling through the whole foot stretching through the
achilles, meet your back at the Forward Fold,
feet together, really together. Big inhale lifts you
up halfway, your version. Exhale to soften and fold. Beautiful, this time
step the left toes back. Nice and slow
mindful movement here. Lower the left knee. Loop the shoulders, inhale,
grow light on the fingertips, open your chest.
So you're finding
a little activation through the upper back
body here so you can open up through the collarbones,
the chest, the pecs, your heart. Then take one
more big inhale here and exhale soften, slowly
draw your chin to your chest. Flex your right
toes toward your face. Pull back through
the right hip crease, Ardha Hanuman, half split. And inhale look forward, open. Exhale, chin to chest,
soften inward. Rolling through your right foot, inhale come back to
that nice low lunge. Open the heart,
the chest forward. Deep breath in and
then exhale plant the palms, lift the back knee,
step the right toes back.
And this time
we're gonna come to plank nice and strong and
then when you feel like you have your foundation,
you're gonna turn onto the right edge, excuse me, yeah the edge of your right foot And slowly bend the elbows and
just dip the right hips down, feeling that side body stretch,
inhale come back to center, nice and slow and mindful,
come to the outer edge of the left foot. And we're gonna bend the
elbows, dip the left hips down. And you'll come back to center. Right hips down and one more time left side. Just starting to warm up the
muscles of the upper body, the core, left
hips down, stretch.
Back to center, inhale plank. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. You rock, beautiful,
take a nice deep breath in here. And then use your
exhale to really empty it out. Gorgeous, inhale look forward, repeat the baby steps from
before or you can hop to the top or just ragdoll all the way up
Forward Fold, feet together. Big inhale lifts you
up half way, find length. Exhale to fold. Inhale, root to rise here,
reach for the sky spread your fingertips,
heard over heart, heart over pelvis and
exhale hands together. Anjali Mudra at the
heart, deep breath in. Long breath out,
relax your shoulders. Great, inhale,
reach for the sky. Exhale, all the way down you go. Listen to your
breath, your spirit. Inhale, half way lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale step the right toes back. Exhale lower the right knee. Keep breathing here as you
become light on the fingertips. Then when you're
ready, half splits.
Left hip crease
pulls you back, left toes towards the face,
inhale to look forward, exhale to soften inward. Roll through that left foot. This time lift the
back knee, nice low lunge. Inhale, open the chest. And now exhale, plant the palms. Step it back, Plank Pose. Inhale rock forward on the toes. Lift your heart space really up between your shoulders blades. We're not collapsed in
the other upper back body. You're gonna slowly look
forward and bend the elbows and lower all the
way down to the belly.
Press in to the
tops of the feet, keep the elbows
sucking into the side body tuck your chin into
your chest and slowly roll up Baby Cobra, inhale. Exhale, release, two
more times like that. Think of it as one
continuous movement. We inhale rise up,
it never really stops, it just crests like
a wave and falls down. And one more time with your
breath, keep it going, inhale.
And exhale. Great, curl the tones
under, lift the kneecaps, tone the quads. Inhale, press up
into your power Plank Pose and then exhale
Downward Facing Dog, nice work, Deep breath in, long breath out. Make your way to the top. Ragdoll, maybe a hop,
maybe the baby steps, feet together, really together. Inhale, halfway lift,
exhale fold. Bend the knees,
fingertips come to the mat. Step the left toes back,
lower the left knee, loop the shoulders inhale,
open the chest, get nice and light
on the fingertips here, best you can. And then when you're ready
pull that right hip crease back flex your right
toes towards your face. Inhale to look forward,
exhale to soften inward. Rolling through that right foot, lift the back knee up,
inhale, open the chest, let your fingertips go light. Nice low lunge, strong back leg and then when you're
ready plant the palms, step it back, belly
to cobra or chaturanga to up dog. So you'll move nice and slow
and make sure you're breathing the whole time.
Keep the elbows,
sucking into the side body. Sugging and open
your heart on an inhale, cobra or up dog
and then use an exhale to make your way to down dog. Deep breath in,
exhale let it go. Make your way to
the top, take your time. Feet together, really together. Inhale lifts you up
half way, find length. Exhale to fold. Inhale, reach to the sky,
stretch, energy in the fingertips, and exhale hands to heart. Beautiful, soft
bend in the knees here, inhale reach for the sky. Big beach ball up
and over head here. Stay connected to your
abdominals as you slowly take that big beach
ball over towards the right.
Bump the hips to the
left, inhale to center and exhale take the
ball over to the left. Bump the hips to the right. Beautiful, inhale to
center and then exhale Forward Fold, all the way down. Inhale half way lift,
exhale to fold. This time bend both knees,
plant the palms and step both feet
back straight to Plank. Here we go, coming onto the
outer edge of the right foot bend the elbows,
lengthen neck here. So remember you're
yoga practice union of the whole body
is one, mind and body. So we're not moving
disjointed parts here, but one moving part. So stay mindful,
dipping the right hips down and then going
to the other side, dipping the left hips down.
So keep awareness in
the neck and mindfulness in the shoulders. One more time on
each side, you got this. Building that upper body
strength, that core strength while stretching the side body. Beautiful, then take a
vinyasa here if you like. It can be belly to
Cobra or chaturanga to up dog. And we'll meet in
Downward Facing Dog. Hips up high, take a deep
breath in and empty it out. When you get there,
take a deep breath in and really empty it out. Beautiful, walk
the toys together and inhale,
lift the right leg up high, exhale knee to nose,
think Cat Pose rounding through. Inhale lift it up,
exhale knee to nose. One more time inhale lift it up Three-legged Dog
and exhale knee to nose.
This time step it all
the way up and through. Lower the back knee,
inhale, Crescent Lunge, reach the fingertips forward,
up and back. And exhale all the way down. Half splits, Ardha Hanuman,
pull the right hip crease back. Flex your right
toes toward your face. Inhale to look forward. Exhale to soften inward. Then from here, you're
gonna curl the left toes under you're gonna roll
through that front foot. Then we're gonna
pivot on the back foot and we're gonna
open up Warrior Two. Take your time. Nice wide stance,
get down nice and low. Warrior Two. Deep breath in, use
your exhale to really align head over heart,
heart over pelvis. You might be
reaching a little bit forward, see if you can
use your inner mirror to draw this straight
line up and down the spine.
Great then inhale. We're gonna send the
right fingertips forward up and back, Peaceful Warrior. And then exhale to
Extended Side Angle. Right elbow on the
top of the right thigh. And you're gonna move
back and forth from there a couple times on your own. See if you can really
sync up with your breath. The lower body stays strong, stable, sthira. So front knee stays bent. And then the next
time you're in reverse, straiten the
front leg, find length and then exhale, we're gonna
come into a Triangle Pose. So bump the hips back, reach
the right fingertips forward and slowly, right
fingertips are gonna come to the right calf
area, I just spit. And then I'm gonna
open up through my chest and the left
fingertips to the sky and I'm really
connecting to my core here, super strong, the crown of
the head lengthening forward.
Take one more breath. Then exhale, left hand's
gonna come all the way down. We're gonna bend that front
knee, pivot on the back foot and you come back
to your nice low lunge. Inhale in, smile,
exhale plant the palms step it back to plank. You can go straight to down
dog or take a little vinyasa. So we use the vinyasa
to sink up with the breath, your spirit, to
create a little heat. So your vinyasa can always
just be straight to down dog. Connecting with your
breath, creating a little heat. In your down dog
take a deep breath in and exhale out
through the mouth. Walk the feet together,
anchor through the right heel and inhale, lift
the leg up high now, exhale knee to nose,
naval draws up.
Inhale, Three-legged Dog,
claw into the fingertips. Come out of the wrists
and then exhale knee to nose. Cat Pose. One more time,
inhale, build strength and exhale, knee to nose. Step it all the way
up and in, great work. And lower the right knee,
Crescent Lunge. Sweep the fingertips
forward, up and back. So lift up from the
pelvic floor a little. Connect to your core. Big beach ball up
and over head, inhale. And exhale to rain it down. Pull the left hip crease back,
half splits, Ardha Hanuman. Inhale, open the chest,
find length, maybe look forward and
then exhale soften inward. So belly is engaged here,
navel's drawing in and up. Now curl the right
toes under, nice and slow. We're gonna roll
through that front foot back toes are curled
under, I'm gonna pivot on the back foot. I'm gonna find
nice strong footing and then when I'm ready open
up Warrior Two nice and slow.
Nice strong lower body, soft
and easy on the upper body. So take a couple
moments to get organized, lengthen tailbone down,
align head over heart, heart over pelvis. So we're moving the energy that
runs up and down the spine, the Shoshana, center channel. And then when you're ready
we'll flip the left palm over, keep that front
knee bent best you can. Nice and low we're gonna draw
a big rainbow up and over. Inhale in, exhale, stay
connected to your middle, your core, Extended Side Angle and you're just gonna do a
couple of these on your own, moving with your breath. Back and forth, again
front knee stays bent, lower body strong and stable. And really moving
from your center here. And the next time
you're in reverse, go ahead and straighten
through that front leg, feel this stretch, then Cobra
or upward dog here, reach and then we're
gonna bump the hips back, reach the
left fingertips forward and find our Triangle Pose on the other side.
So you just
cultivated all this great energy in the center of the
body, maintain that here. Don't drop it for the pose, but maybe stay lifted,
maybe even just work here with one hand
right on your center to remind you to
collect that energy inward and
upward, Udiana Bunda. Shoulder blades wrap
around, maybe we take the right fingertips up,
lengthen through the crown. Breath deep here, make sure
you're not holding your breath, why would you
hold your spirit back, let your spirit flow
naturally, support you in challenging times,
in loving times. Inhale in, exhale right
fingertips are gonna come down.
Nice and slow we
bend that front knee, we pivot on the back foot. And nice low lunge here,
inhale open the chest, smile. Exhale, plant the
palms, step it back. Belly to cobra or
chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog. I'll meet you in
down dog, hips up high, heart back towards the toes. Inhale, lift up
from the hip creases. Lift, lift, lift and exhale empty everything out. Good, inhale in
again, bend the knees and exhale slow
descend of the knees with control all the way down. Walk the knees together. Come on to the tops of the feet. You're gonna send your
fingertips all the way back for Balasana, Child's Pose. Or if this posture
is not cozy for you, you can just
sit up nice and tall in a little
comfortable seat of your choice. And wherever you
land, close your eyes and reconnect to the
sound of your breath.
See if you can just
sit, be present in this role of the observer just
noticing whatever it is that you're feeling. And that's not
just physically so, I love yoga practice 'cause
it's a little opportunity to let your emotional intelligence, your body intelligence, have like a head
seat at the table. So you give your thinking mind
a break and you just observe. And on your next inhale take the deepest
breath you've taken all day. And use the exhale
to slowly transition, you'll open the eyes. We're just gonna shift
nice and slow to the back. Like you love yourself,
all the way down, oh yeah. So, even in the transitions,
we get to practice focusing on quality of movement. Do that more on the mat, you're gonna do
that more off the mat.
Alright, we're gonna come to
the back with the knees up and the feet on the ground. And then
interlace the fingertips, bring them behind the
head, elbows nice and wide. And create a little
hammock for the neck here, so tuck the chin into the
chest and pull the hands back just a bit so you're
tucking the chin to the chest.
If you're a little
tight in the shoulders, this should feel good. Really anchor the
elbows down to the earth. And then send your gaze straight
up towards your third eye, but more practically
think up towards the ceiling and then two feet back. So we found the
length of the neck, but then we're
taking our focus up and back and you're gonna maintain that
as you scoop the tailbone up, anchor the navel
down so your center really driving down
to the core of the earth, here engaging, yes the core. And then lift your knees
up and try to maintain that so that your lower back is
super flush with the yoga mat and your gaze is
still up and back with the neck nice and long.
I like to extend my thumbs here, just as a little added support. You're gonna inhale in,
exhale scoop the tailbone up and straighten the legs. They don't have to
become super straight. So just the sensation
of bringing the tailbone up and then exhale,
slowly lift the chin, the chest, the
shoulders all the way up, but keep your gaze up. Inhale lower, exhale lift. And as you lift,
you're lifting the toes up, scooping the tailbone
up and really squeezing the abdominal wall.
Inhale lower, exhale lift, inhale lower, exhale lift. Keep it going. Gaze up and back,
lifting the tail and you can use your mind's eye to really see that diamond
shape in the abdominal wall squeezing as you exhale,
lengthening as you inhale. Keep it going. Try to keep the elbows wide. Hug the low ribs in,
toning the muscles of the abdominal wall here, strengthening the back body so you can be nice
and strong and healthy. Up and down through the spine. Keep it going, you got this.
I'll do three more. Last one. And then release, soles
of the feet come together, knees go wide, so now
your arms and your legs are mirroring each other and you're gonna allow
your lower back to come up now so the opposite
should feel really good. Snuggle your shoulder blades
underneath your heart space. Take a deep breath in. Exhale. Great, reach the fingertips now, so you're gonna release the
fingers and reach them now between the legs and
you're gonna open the palms, inhale in,
exhale, baby pulses up. So if you feel
any tension at all, try bringing your toes towards
the front edge of your mat. If you're fine
there, stay lifted. So now we're going
into the upper abdominals. Gonna still keep a little bit of length in
the back of the neck even though we're not looking
up, we're looking forward.
So lot's of awareness
in the neck and shoulders. We're pulsing
here, you got this. Keep breathing, breathe. And then check it out, stay
here, keep your heart lifted, right knee's gonna
come over to meet the left and we pulse here
getting into the obliques, you got this, nice
and long in the neck. Thumbs up, you got this. And now over through center
and to the right, last one. Take a mudra
here, rock and roll. You got it, don't give up. Awesome, and
then back to center, interlace the fingertips,
catch your head and release
everything down, beautiful. Inhale in, exhale out. Great, bring both knees
in, press up off the toes.
Scoop the tailbone
up and release the arms for a great big hug, squeeze
the knees into the chest. Great work everyone, so nice. Thank you so much
for sharing your time and your energy with me and the
Yoga With Adriene community. I know your time is
valuable and it's so nice that we have each other to
keep each other accountable and present,
healthy, happy, strong. Happy Baby Pose, grab
the outer edges of the feet. Send the soles of the
feet high up towards the sky. Lengthen tailbone towards
the front edge of your mat, anchor down through the
shoulders, through the legs, and smile, life is good. On an exhale, when
you're ready, release everything to Shavasana. If there's anything
here you're craving, a little Reclined Twist,
a Plow Pose, anything at all,
go ahead and take it. Listen to your body. We're gonna make sure
that we come to this last shape before we rock
up and off the mat and into the rest of
your day or your evening. And this is just an
opportunity to really practice balance, the action of allowing for balance,
a natural equilibrium, the rise and the fall.
So we just did all this action and we end by a
total just surrender. And this can be a
surrender to a big picture, a surrender to something
that's out of your control. Could be surrender
to a bigger spirit. Close your eyes
and as you're ready just soften everything,
let your body grow heavy. And then take a deep
breath in through the nose and sigh it out
as you breath out. Bring the palms together and
up to the third eye, sweet. Thanks again, awesome practice. I'll see you next time. Questions, comments,
conversation down below. I got your back,
thanks for having mine. Take good care, namaste. (upbeat music).
