Day 1 – Invite | BREATH – A 30 Day Yoga Journey
A 30 Day Yoga Journey
Hello everyone, welcome to Breath, your 30 day yoga journey. I’m Adriene your yoga teacher/yogi, and i’m am so glad you are here. It is Day 1, setting the tone for the whole beautiful story, Invite. Let’s get started. Hello my darling friends. Welcome. Let’s begin our Day 1 practice in a nice comfortable seat. And if you can, sit up on a little blanket, or towel, or a block if you have one, maybe inviting the hips to be a little bit higher than the knees. Thank you so much for being here for this yoga practice. We will complete various yoga poses and breathing techniques. As you’re ready, sit up nice and tall. And when you’re ready, just tuck your chin slightly to invite a lengthening in the back of the neck. We’re gonna start nice and slow here for the beginner, so just take a moment to land. Growing tall in the spine. And right away, begin to notice if you’re holding or clenching in any areas of the body. Maybe the toes, the fingers, the jaw, the shoulders, around the neck, in the trapezius muscles perhaps. Maybe even in the glutes or the hip area, feeling a holding or a clenching. Just begin to notice if you’re holding or clenching in any area, and of course, just by bringing our attention to that, we might invite a softening. We may not be able to hit the relax button, but we’re slowly inviting our awareness inward. And responding to the things that we notice, the things that we find. Then if you feel comfortable, this is the beginning of a long and beautiful journey, so take your time with everything, but if you feel comfortable, close your eyes here. And from a very real place of love, and care, and friendship, I know that sounds a little cheesy, but I mean it, from a very real place, from my heart we’ll say, I invite us to bring our attention to the breath. And if this first day feels like, “Oh, when are we gonna get moving,” just remember the the me of our whole journey here. And if you were able to watch the welcome video experience, the welcome video, keep in mind this idea of a slow burn.
Inviting yourself to slip into the role of the observer. When we tend to move fast, or add too many things to the pot, it becomes a little bit harder to reside in that role of the observer. So just observing the breath as it is, you may have already felt inspired to take a deeper breath, or a more conscious breath, and if so, that’s wonderful. Follow that urge. Just a couple more quiet moments here. Simply inviting yourself to notice the breath. Inviting yourself to slip into the role of the observer. And if you did not close your eyes for this intro, this tuning in, that’s totally great, that’s wonderful, no problem, but maybe I’ll invite you to just soften your gaze. Maybe you send your gaze, your focus, down past your nose. Inviting the intention inwards. So tending to your inner world here. Today’s practice, all about listening. So we’re slowing it down. And we’ll take Benji’s cue, he just let out a big, long, audible exhale, and we’ll start to breathe together. The beginning of this journey’s a special one because this is a theme that I think can really connect us as people, whether you are into that or not, or whether you signed up for this journey seeking that or not, it inevitably will connect us, so let’s kick it off here officially with a deep inhale in together through the nose, breathe in, nice and easy. And for now exhale out the nose or mouth, whatever feels good. And again, big inhale in through the nostrils. And exhale out through the nose or mouth, you choose. And one more deep breath in. And long breath out. Beautiful. Bring the palms together, drop the head down towards the hands. Draw your chin actively in towards the chest, and remain nice and tall from the base of the spine, all the way up to the base of the neck here. So the core is already working here a little bit, believe it or not. The palms are gently pressing together. We’re starting to feel this stretch in the back of the neck, the traps as we draw the shoulders down, we can feel that maybe a little more.
Notice where you’re holding or clenching and invite a softening to happen around those areas. Perhaps wrinkling the forehead or the brow, softening through the jaw. And we’ll take one more breath here, hands in prayer, head bowed. Inhale in. And exhale to slowly release. Lift the head, lift the chin. You can open the eyes here. So today’s practice is nice and slow, setting the tone for our journey. It will pick up with speed. You will have days where you feel the burn, but please be patient with yourself, and please be patient with me in this program as we take necessary steps to invite a deeper listening in, alright, with our Day 1 Invite practice. So we’ll bring the finger tips out here, left to right, sit up nice and tall. And nice and slow, inhale, sweep the fingertips all the way up through this halfway point, in line with the shoulders, and then all the way up towards the sky as you breathe in. And then exhale, try to use the full exhale to float the fingertips down. So right away, we’re synchronizing breath and movement. Inhale to lift it up nice and slow. And exhale to float it down. So that’s the vinyasa here in the warmup.
Yoga for Beginners: A Complete Guide to get Started • Yoga Basics
You can close your eyes or invite that soft gaze down past your nose as we inhale to lift up. And exhale to float it down. Now, I invite you to find nuance, whatever that means to you. It will be individual. It will be unique to every body and energy level arriving here today. Inhaling to sweep the arms up. And exhaling to float them down. So the arms may be getting a little tired if you’re new to the practice. Stick with it, you got this. Inhale, reach it up. Exhale, float it down. Let’s do these last two together. So here we go, nice and slow, big inhale. Fingertips reach all the way up. And slow exhale, fingertips gently float down, maybe fingertips kiss the earth at the bottom. Last one, inhale. All the way up. And exhale to float it down. From here, bring the palms face up on the knees or thighs. Just take a second here to listen to the sound of your breath. Again, today’s all about just inviting that listening in, and if it feels challenging, or difficult, or like you’re ready for some Chaturangas, I totally get it. But we’re gonna try to train ourselves to focus on the breath. Focus our awareness on the breath. Good, and then after a little observation moment, a moment of stillness, we’ll come forward onto all fours, nice and easy. If it feels right to pad the knees, you can use your bath towel, or your blanket to create a little extra cushion for the knees here. We’re gonna come to Tabletop Position, aligning the wrists underneath the shoulders, the knees right underneath the hip points. So not too wide, not too narrow. Feeling as though you’re creating a nice strong base for yourself. So we work to create a nice foundation, the asana, building from the ground up.
On this journey, same thing with the breath. Building a really strong foundation with the awareness of breath so that as we start to layer on breath technique and other fun stuff, we’ve already started a life long romance, new flavor to the relationship with the breath. Okay, I’m gonna stop talking about that, and let’s do some spinal flexion. Here we go, drop the belly. Inhale, open the chest. Look forward. Nice and slow, exhale, navel draws up. We press into the palms, press through the tops of the feet, crown of the head drops down. Arching the back. Moving slow with purpose. So intentionally moving slower here. Inhale, drop the belly. And exhale. Hug those low ribs up, up, up. Feel the skin in the back stretch. Press into the fingerprints. And one more slow one. Inhale, drop the belly. See if you can find nuance, invite an awareness of nuance in. Whatever that means to you. Exhaling. Arching the back, drawing the navel up, pressing into the tops of the feet and the palms. Excellent, now you can begin to speed it up a little bit. Maybe find what feels good, moving with your breath. Inhaling to drop the belly. Exhaling to round through the spine. You can find a rhythm here that feels good. But see if you can follow your breath. Marrying the action, or the movement, to the breath. Marrying the breath to the action. Alright, from here come back to a nice neutral spine, Tabletop Position. We’re gonna curl the toes under. We’re gonna walk the hands back. Sits bones, hips go back, and we’re gonna stretch through the fascia of the foot here. So keep the hands on the ground here to start, especially if this is new, like your dogs are going to be speaking to you. Take a breath or two here, and then if it feels right, you can walk the hands all the way up to the hip creases. You might even take your hands, and get that pinky toe on the ground if it’s not there. Sit up nice and tall. If you take the hands off the ground, lift up from the pelvic floor. Start to find that midline even here. Let’s take one more deep breath in. Long breath out. And then come forward back onto all fours. We will uncurl the toes. And from here we’re gonna take the right hand, we’re gonna turn it around clockwise, so that the fingertips are facing towards my right knee. Use your left hand for a little stability here, and nice and slow, we’re gonna move in a circular direction. So you can think about moving your chest, or your core, your heart center, or your solar plexus in a circle. And you’re gonna try to keep all of your fingerprints on the ground for this. And this can be very small. Especially if you have a lot of tightness in the wrists and the forearms.
We have a whole lot of yoga ahead of us, so let’s prepare for greatness. All right, turn the circle around if you haven’t already and invite your awareness back to your breath. All right, let’s release that and come back to the table position. We now ground ourselves through the right hand. We take the left fingers and turn them towards the body. Breathe here and press into the fingerprints. Again we use the right hand to support this movement or this therapy in the left arm. And then nice and slow, gently and lightly, without pressing, move in a circular direction. Pay attention to your neck as you do this. Notice that I don’t drop the neck, but always remember that the neck extends through the spine. Reverse the circle, nice and easy. This way might feel a little different too. Think of all the time we spend holding our phones and computers and even playing instruments. It’s so lovely, especially if you want to get more into yoga. It’s a good thing to spend some time with the hands, wrists, and forearms and connect that to the midline and the spine. So it’s good to get into the habit of not collapsing in the neck. All right, let’s let go of the baby. Let’s walk with the knees as wide as the yoga mat. The big toes touch, the hips go back. Crawl with your fingertips towards the front of the mat. Breathe in as deeply as you have never done before today. And as you exhale, let your heart meltdown to the floor, forehead to the earth. Take three deep breaths into the extended child’s pose. This is good form to invite your awareness to your breath and see if you can breathe widely. What does this mean, Adriene? Find a sideways breath. One that feels like it fills your lungs and expands your chest. And then slowly press into the tops of your feet. Return to the tabletop position. We have plenty of time to play with the lateral breath here, so you don’t need to worry about whether you’re doing it right or not here.
We now move forward a little with the palms from the tabletop position. The upper arm bones rotate outwards. We keep the knuckles and the fingerprints on the floor as we roll the toes down, take a deep breath in here. And with the exhale, we lift the hips, nice and slow, and back, nice and slow, Downward Facing Dog. Keep your hands firmly on the ground as you bend your knees, one at a time. Wake up the feet again, stretch the fascia of the foot, the Achilles tendon, the ankle, of course, the calves, and the back of the knees. Invite the hamstrings to stretch a little. Hm. External rotation in the shoulders.
Nice, solid, and stable shoulders here. We did it. From here, we hug the lower ribs a little bit to feel the core muscles activate. So we push the lower ribs in a little bit. This triggers the center of the body. Then we stretch both legs. Don’t make sure that the heels touch the floor. Make sure you don’t hold or clasp the head or neck. We are here for three, breathe deeply. Two, and on one, we slowly bend both knees and take baby steps slowly, slowly, to the top of the mat. When you arrive, put your feet hip-width apart, so you have a little bit of space between the arches of your feet, and then bend both knees to relax the weight of your head, relax your shoulders. Relax your elbows, your hands, and let your jaw soften.
Now bring your awareness to the soles of your feet. To the way, your feet are directly connected to the yoga mat or the floor. And see if you can exaggerate a little bit the connection across the four corners of the feet. So the ball joint of the big toe, the ball joint of the little toe, and the two back corners of the heels. Tape them down. Then see what happens when you start to lift energetically, just a little awareness of the arches of your feet. And then let that energy continue up through the inner ankle, the inner calf, the inside of the legs, the inner thigh. And then let this energy continue to roll upwards and let it inspire you to slowly move into standing like a rag doll.
Now, as you slowly stack the head over the heart and the heart over the pelvis, bring your attention back to the four corners of the feet, press those four corners down, and use that image to draw energy up from the earth. Again, it’s just an invitation, just an offer. To see what you can find. All right, here we go, take a deep breath, Mountain Pose. Take a big gulp of air. We immediately feel this sense of lifting and grounding, which we will discuss later, but we invite these two opposing energies into consciousness.
When you are ready, inhale and stretch your fingertips to the sky. Inhale deeply, extend widely. Exhale, bend the knees, wiggle the fingertips. Let them slide back into a forward bend. Excellent. Take a second to breathe into your belly. Breathe in and see if you can feel a deep breath into your stomach. And while you’re playing with some deep belly breaths here, you could rock back and forth a little and clasp the opposite elbow with your other hand. You might shake your head a little yes, a little no. You might have found a remote connection with the four corners of the feet and enjoy just working on the breath here in the stillness. Make sure the head is nice and heavy. After about three breaths, we let go of the arms when they are folded. And we let the hands slide up as we inhale, past the shins, past the kneecaps, to the tops of the thighs. Then we send the crown of the head forward. Pull the elbows inwards and backward. Pull the shoulders away from the ears. Lengthen the spine as if you were in the tabletop position. This creates a nice long line from the crown of your head to your tail. Good, then inhale, pull the shoulder blades together.
One more breath here. And then exhale, let it all slide down, let it all go, and that was a grand experiment. Beautiful, root upwards, Grounding through the feet. Back the way we came. Inhale, send the fingertips forward, up, and back. This time maybe stand a little higher, open the chest. And exhale, we’ll go right back down. So move the fingertips, forward fold. Bend the head. Good, inhale. Push the hands up to the tops of the thighs. Pull the elbows in and back like little grasshopper legs. Find length in the neck. And as you exhale, soften and fold. Bring everything back inside. Good, let the root rise here. Inhale, reach for the sky, spread the fingertips, open the chest, lift the heart. And exhale, dip back in. Fold forward. This time inhale, slide the palms down to the shins. Stay rooted in all four corners of the feet. Inhale, find length in the neck, nice flat back position, or work towards it. Good, and exhale, let go. Good, inhale. Reach out to the sky, take a deep breath. And exhale, forward fold, all the way down—this time with the fingertips on the mat, just a different variation. Keep your fingertips on the mat as you inhale, look forward. Be careful not to strain your neck. I’ve got a great Benji look here. I’m not complaining. And then exhale, forward fold. All right, the last one, inhale, stretch up. Big breath, big stretch, fills the lungs. And exhale, let it rain down, forward fold, with soft fingers maybe here. Good, inhale, half lift, look, your choice. You can choose where to put your palms. I’m just going to invite you to move with your breath as we come to this part in the future and find an ideal length from the crown to the end. Release it; if you haven’t already, forward fold. All right, we’re going to bring the fingertips slowly onto the mat. We’re going to send the left toes back, but you can move nice and slow here. There’s no need to rush these transitions. Take your time and always move mindfully. Simplify wherever you can. So, the left toes are back, and the back knee is raised here as we bring the left heel to the back edge of the mat. Good, then notice if you fall on your fingertips. See if there’s anything you can do to take the weight off the fingertips, maybe tightening the hamstrings, the glutes, the core of the body, possibly pushing the inner thighs into the center of the mat so that you can release a little bit from the fingertips. Nice, now inhale, draw a line with your nose, look forward, kind of open your chest forward. You’re doing that well. If you’re already shaking here, you’re not alone. I promise you that. Take a deep breath. And then exhale, lower your left knee to the mat. Come up onto the top of the left foot. Beautifully, and on the next inhale, ground all four corners of the right foot as you swing the fingertips forward, up, and back. Be careful not to shift all your weight onto the front hip. Pull the right hip flexion back and find your center. Find some engagement in the center of your body, even if it’s intense, deep, deep down there. (Thumb back, little fingers forward. As you breathe in, you can draw a line up with your nose and look at the ceiling or the sky. And then exhale, soften your fingertips, bend your elbows. Bring it back to your nice deep lunge. You’re doing that well. Inhale to look forward. Benji look for me, and then exhale, pull the right hip flexion back as you send the hip back, keep the right foot nicely flexed.
So whether you’ve been in this runner’s stretch before, or not, see if you can really give a nice deep bend to that right knee, and then find an inhale to look forward. And an exhale to bow the head in towards the heart. So again, maybe in the past, you’ve kept a nice lock knee here. See if you can bend it pretty generously. Pull the right hip crease back, inhale, look forward. And exhale, draw the chin into the chest. Good, one more time. Inhale, look forward. Careful to not crash on the fingertips here. Exhale, chin to chest. Good, then inhale the roll all the way through. Left hand comes to the mat. Right thumb comes to the right hip crease. Now use that thumb to pull the right hip crease back. Right knee is over the right ankle. Good, then maybe from here we send the right fingertips all the way up towards the sky. And you can keep the back knee lowered, or maybe from here, following our breath, we curl the toes under and lift that left knee up. Squeeze the inner thighs towards the mid line. You might find more rotation here, as you slowly breathe in and out. Finding a sweet rotation in the rib cage, in the spine. Maybe eventually turning your gaze all the way up towards the sky. Good, inhale. Fill it up, nice big wide breath. And then use the exhale to soften, and bring it all back down. Alright, here we go. Plant the palms, step the right toes back for Plank Pose. So we’re pressing into the knuckles, we’re pressing into the space between the index finger and thumb. We’re clawing through the fingertips. Basically the hand to earth connection here is strong. We’re reaching the heels back. And then we can bring it onto the knees here if we want, and maybe even lifting the toes, crossing the ankles for fun. So you’re in a Plank with the knees lifted, or you’re in a Half Plank with the knees on the ground here. I highly recommend lowering the knees if you are new to the practice or building stability, in addition to strength. Alright, we’re here for three, two, one. Everyone lower all the way to the belly. Take a deep breath in. Ooh, there’s a little heat there. Long breath out. Walk the hands inline with the rib cage. Press the tops of the feet, the pubic bone into the earth, press into your hands and slowly inhale, Baby Cobra. Oh man, this is the best Benji view ever. Exhale, forehead kisses the mat. Two more like that, strong foundation here. Inhale, lift it up. Maybe a little higher. And exhale, forehead kisses mat. Last one, squeeze those elbows into the rib cage. Use your foundation, inhale, we rise up.
Building strong back, nice and mindfully. And exhale to release, gorgeous. Curl the toes under. Option here to press up to all fours. Tabletop Position, or press up to Plank. Once you’ve made your choice, take a deep breath in, nice wide lateral breath, and use the exhale to send the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Great, inhale in through the nose here. And exhale out through the mouth. Now seal the lips, in through the nostrils. And out through the nostrils. Beautiful. One more time, big inhale in through the nose. And out through the nose. Beautiful, bend the knees. Inhale to look forward. Exhale, you’re gonna repeat the baby steps like we did before, or you can take two steps, a little bit of a ragdoll, or four steps, or if you want to start to integrate a hop, we’ll meet at the top of the mat. Feet together, really together. Take your time though, there’s no rush. And when you get there, follow that inhale, lift up to a nice flatback position, your version. Nice long neck, and then exhale to soften and fold, let everything go. Beautiful. Fingertips on the earth, we slowly, don’t rush it here, step the right toes back. Front knee over front ankle. Right heel reaches back as we slowly carve a line with the nose forward, opening up through the chest. Mmm, and opening up through those front neck muscles, and throat. Alright, really taking the time to breathe deep here. Moving nice and slow. Inhale in. And on an exhale, slowly lower the right knee to the earth. Flip onto the top of the right foot. Let this be part of the root of this posture. So really strong connection with that right foot. Can even give it a little tap if you like. Squeeze the inner thighs towards the midline, engage the muscles of the thighs, the glutes. It can feel sometimes as though you’re pulling the left foot back, and dragging the right knee forward. And then from a place of connect, we’ll inhale, reach the fingertips forward, up, and back. Crescent Lunge, lifting the heart up towards the sky. Maybe following your breath. Again, letting the breath lead you here, best you can. Maybe following the breath, and sending the gaze all the way up towards the ceiling, towards the sky. And then when you’re ready, follow an exhale. So inhale in big. Follow the exhale all the way down. Fingertips comeback to the earth, and we’ll pull the left hip crease back this time. Really flexing the left toes towards the face, so towards your forehead. Then bring a generous bend into that left knee, super generous, and you can find, since you’ve already done this on the other side, you can find kind of a soft gaze here, or even close your eyes, and notice what giving that generous bend does. Find the sensation and get curious about the musculature here as you breathe. And inhale in here to look forward. Exhaling to draw the chin into the chest. Inhaling to look forward. And exhaling to round it in. Great, inhale slowly roll through the left foot. And we’ll send the right hand to the earth. Left thumb to the left hip crease, pull it back, so find your nice alignment, and so this left shin is stacked. We’re gonna use this throughout the whole journey. And we start to spiral, big twist in the spine. Spiral the heart up, maybe the gaze up. I’m pressing away from my yoga mat with my right hand, I’m not clenching my left toes. I’m breathing, the neck is nice and long. Maybe I send left fingertips up towards the sky. Ooh, opening up through the chest, scapula, side body. And maybe I curl the right toes under, inhale in. Exhale, lifting the back knee up. Tuck the chin slightly. Stay positive, stay present, stay one. Just building a really beautiful foundation with integrity. Good, inhale. Big, wide breath. And exhale to bring it all the way down. Ooh, awesome! Plant the palms, here we go, step it back. So we are in a Plank, and you know, the thing is we’re never really holding in a Plank or Half Plank because we’re breathing, we’re letting the breath move us. So top of the Plank here, heels are reaching back. Whether the knees are lowered or lifted we’re all working to keep the neck nice and long. Tugging the shoulders away from the ears. Maybe sending your gaze out just a little bit in front. We’re here for three. Breathe deep, hug the low ribs in. Two, and one. Slowly lower all the way to the belly. Inhale in, let out a sigh if you need to. Bring the hands inline with the rib cage. Hug the elbows in. Just one Bhujangasana here. Inhale to open the heart. Look forward, soften your gaze. Maybe coming a little bit higher. And then using your exhale to follow the breath down. Lovely, from here, curl the toes under nice and easy, keep it nice and low. We’re gonna come to all fours, Tabletop Position. Then we’ll cross one ankle over the other, and we’ll use the hands to guide us all the way back through to a nice cross-legged seat. When you get there, interlace your fingertips. Then you’re gonna press the palms forward, up and back, big breath in. Exhale, release it down. We’re gonna flip the palms so they’re facing you. Then you’re gonna take one thumb to the center of the palm, and you’re just gonna give it a little massage. Little self massage. This is something you can do at nighttime, as you’re going on this journey. You’re gonna be on your hands a little bit more maybe even than normal. Be patient with your wrists and the hands. They will adapt. We’ll be mindful, everyone’s different of course.
Okay, let’s switch. Opposite thumb to opposite palm. But yeah, you’re gonna be feeling some things, so try not to give up. Try to stick with it. I’ll give some modifications too, for people who do want to tend to some fussy wrists but this is a great move that I wanted to share with you on Day 1 so that you could do it on your own, in the shower, the bath, with some soap. Hey-yo! First hey-yo of the journey. Excuse me, but in all seriousness, this is a great thing to do with a little lotion, or a little soap, washing your hands, keeping ’em clean. Seems relevant, or maybe, yeah, in bed. You guys know what I’m saying. Okay, this is great. So after a little self massage, let’s take one more breath to press the palms forward, lift it up and back, and see if you can really feel the rib cage expand here as you breathe in. Those back ribs expanding and softening as you breathe out. Good, then we’ll just release this, release it all, and come on down to the ground. We are almost done with this beautiful Day 1 practice. Hi Benji. Alright, if you have a blanket or a towel, keep it handy. We’re gonna bring it underneath the backs of the knees, optional, of course, in a moment, but come on down to the ground. When you get there, bend the knees, walk the heels close up towards the bum. Plant the palms on the earth, root through all four corners of the feet. And here we go, a little Bridge Pose. Lifting the hips up high, nice and slow as you’re ready. This isn’t gonna be a huge Bridge Pose, so just a little one here to start. We’ll grow this throughout the journey. Lifting the hip points up. Think about your shins moving forward. And maybe we interlace the fingertips, draw the shoulder blades together. If it doesn’t feel right for your body, let’s go ahead and hold off on that. Breathing deep here. And the last action is to lift the chest toward the chin. And then lift the chin up towards the sky. So chest to chin, chin to sky, take a deep breath in. And on the exhale, follow the breath all the way down. Beautiful, walk the feet together, open the knees wide. Bring your hands to rest on the belly here. Close your eyes, and invite your awareness to your belly. Feel the warmth of your hands on the belly. Let gravity do the work here in this final hip opener. So thighs are nice and heavy. Tuck the chin, lengthen through the back of the neck, and take a deep breath in, fill the belly. So feel the hands maybe even rise and fall as you exhale. We’ll definitely be getting into more belly breathing, more diaphragmatic breath work. But for now, just give it a couple little passes, feeling the belly rise, perhaps as you breathe in. And fall as you breathe out. And then bringing the fingertips to the outer edge of the legs, outer edges of the legs, hug the knees into the chest. Wrap the arms around the shins, and give yourself a big hug here. Rock a little side to side. Massaging the low back. Stretching through the glutes. Relax your shoulders. Soften through your jaw. And then slowly let the feet come to the earth with a little thud. And if that felt good, you can do it a couple more times. And then we’ll extend one leg, and then the other, and allow the hands to rest gently at our sides. Relaxing the weight of the body fully now into the earth for the final posture, the Corpse Pose. Take a second to maybe lick your lips. I know it’s silly, but lick the lips and then intentionally relax the tongue in the base of the mouth. Close your eyes and soften the skin of the forehead. And I invite you to just take a quick moment here to see what happens when you invite yourself to let go. Easier said than done, I know, but that’s why we’re here to practice. Can you give yourself even just a moment?
The invitation to do absolutely nothing. Let your breath return to just a natural rhythm, natural flow. Letting go of any areas where you might beholding or clenching. Inviting the body, the mind and your spirit or your heart, for a second here to just be in existence. Now gently invite your awareness back to your breath. And notice how you feel about that. Embarking on a journey for yourself, where on Day 1 the entire premise is an invitation. I can’t wait to see where it goes. As you continue to gently deepen the breath, invite a little energy, a little movement back to the fingertips and toes. Then the ankles and the wrists. And then we’ll lift one knee up, and then the other. Turn onto one side, a little fetal position moment. Hold me. (laughs) Just kidding, and then press all the way up to a nice seat. Bring the hands together at the heart space. Just a quiet moment herewith the palms in prayer to say thank you. First to yourself for showing up here. Saying yes to this journey. And then just a little nod to one another. Thank you so much for joining me, and sharing this connection with so many people around the world. I hope that it is a fun and meaningful story that you write in the next 30 days. I’ll be here to guide you and it is my honor and pleasure. So on that note, one final big inhale in together. And exhale together. We bow the head to the heart. And there’s an invitation here to whisper. Namaste. Thanks everyone. I’ll see you tomorrow. (bright upbeat piano music).
Yoga For Beginners: Basics, Fundamentals & Tips
When you’re ready, inhale, reach the fingertips up towards the sky. Big breath in, big stretch. Exhale, bend the knees, wiggle the fingertips. Go ahead and float it all the way back down into that Forward Fold. Excellent. Take a second here to breathe into your belly. So inhale, see if you can feel a deep breath into the belly. And as you play here with a couple deep belly breaths, you might rock a little side to side, clasping opposite elbow with the opposite hand. You might shake the head a little yes, a little no. You might have found a little connection with four corners of the feet, and you might be enjoying instead just working on the breath here in stillness. Making sure the head is nice and heavy. After about three breaths here, we’ll release the arms if they’re clasped. And we’re gonna slide the hands on an inhale all the way up past the shins, past the knee caps, to the tops of the thighs. Then we’ll send the crown of the head forward. Tug the elbows in and back. Draw the shoulders away from the ears. Find length in the spine, as if you were in that Tabletop Position. So there’s a nice long line from the crown to the tail. Good, then inhale, draw the shoulder blades together. One more breath here. And then exhale, slide it all down, let it all go, and that was a great experiment. Beautiful, root to rise here. Ground through the feet. Back up the way we came. Inhale, send the fingertips forward, up, and back. This time you might stand a little taller, open the chest. And exhale, we’re gonna go right back down in it. So wiggle the fingertips, Forward Fold. Bowing the head. Good, inhale. Slide the hands all the way up to the tops of the thighs. Pull the elbows in and back like little grasshopper legs. Find length in the neck. And on an exhale, soften and fold. Bring everything back in. Good, root to rise here. Inhale, reach for the sky, spread the fingertips, open the chest, lift your heart. And exhale, diving back in. Forward Fold. This time, inhale, slide the palms just to the shins. Stay rooted through all four corners of the feet. Inhale, find length in the neck, nice flat back position or working toward it. Good, and exhale, let it go. Good, inhale. Reach for the sky, big breath in. And exhale, Forward Fold, all the way down. This time fingertips on the mat, just another variation. Keep the fingertips on the mat as you inhale, look forward. Careful not to crunch the back of the neck here. I have a great Benji view here. Not complaining. And then exhale, Forward Fold. Alright, last one, inhale, reach all the way up. Big breath, big stretch, fill the lungs. And exhale, rain it down, Forward Fold. Soft fingers maybe here. Good, inhale, halfway lift, check it out, your choice. You get to decide where you put the palms. I’m gonna just invite you to move with your breath when we come to this part in the future, and find nice length from the crown to the tail. So release it if you haven’t already, Forward Fold. Alright, we’re gonna slowly bring the fingertips to the mat. We’re gonna send the left toes back, but you can move nice and slow here. There’s no reason to super rush through these transitions. In fact, take your time, always really mindfully moving. Kind of simplifying where we can, always. So left toes are back, back knee is lifted here as we reach the left heel towards the back edge of the mat. Good, then notice if you’re crashing down on your fingertips. See if there is anything, there may not be, but see if there’s anything you can do to take some weight off your fingertips by maybe engaging the muscles of the thigh, the glutes, the core, maybe squeezing the inner thighs to the center of the mat, so that you can come off the fingertips just a bit. Beautiful, now inhale, carve a line with your nose look forward, kind of open the chest towards the front of your mat. You’re doing great. If you’re shaking here already you’re not alone. I promise you. Take a deep breath in. And then exhale, lower the left knee to the mat. Come on to the top of that left foot. Beautiful, and on your next breath in, ground through all four corners of your right foot as you sweep the fingertips forward, up, and back. Now careful not to dump all of your weight into that front hip. Pull the right hip crease back and find your center. Find a little bit of core engagement, even if it’s way deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down in there. (chuckles) Thumbs back, pinkies forward. Inhale, you might carve a line with your nose up to look up towards the ceiling or the sky. And then exhale, soften the fingertips, bend the elbows. Bring it all the way backdown to your nice low lunge. You’re doing great. Inhale to look forward. Benji view for me, and then exhale, pull the right hip crease back as you send the hips back, keeping this right foot nice and flexed.
So whether you’ve been in this runner’s stretch before, or not, see if you can really give a nice deep bend to that right knee, and then find an inhale to look forward. And an exhale to bow the head in towards the heart. So again, maybe in the past, you’ve kept a nice lock knee here. See if you can bend it pretty generously. Pull the right hip crease back, inhale, look forward. And exhale, draw the chin into the chest. Good, one more time. Inhale, look forward. Careful to not crash on the fingertips here. Exhale, chin to chest. Good, then inhale the roll all the way through. Left hand comes to the mat. Right thumb comes to the right hip crease. Now use that thumb to pull the right hip crease back. Right knee is over the right ankle. Good, then maybe from here we send the right fingertips all the way up towards the sky. And you can keep the back knee lowered, or maybe from here, following our breath, we curl the toes under and lift that left knee up. Squeeze the inner thighs towards the mid line. You might find more rotation here, as you slowly breathe in and out. Finding a sweet rotation in the rib cage, in the spine. Maybe eventually turning your gaze all the way up towards the sky. Good, inhale. Fill it up, nice big wide breath. And then use the exhale to soften, and bring it all back down. Alright, here we go. Plant the palms, step the right toes back for Plank Pose. So we’re pressing into the knuckles, we’re pressing into the space between the index finger and thumb. We’re clawing through the fingertips. Basically the hand to earth connection here is strong. We’re reaching the heels back. And then we can bring it onto the knees here if we want, and maybe even lifting the toes, crossing the ankles for fun. So you’re in a Plank with the knees lifted, or you’re in a Half Plank with the knees on the ground here. I highly recommend lowering the knees if you are new to the practice or building stability, in addition to strength. Alright, we’re here for three, two, one. Everyone lower all the way to the belly. Take a deep breath in. Ooh, there’s a little heat there. Long breath out. Walk the hands inline with the rib cage. Press the tops of the feet, the pubic bone into the earth, press into your hands and slowly inhale, Baby Cobra. Oh man, this is the best Benji view ever. Exhale, forehead kisses the mat. Two more like that, strong foundation here. Inhale, lift it up. Maybe a little higher. And exhale, forehead kisses mat. Last one, squeeze those elbows into the rib cage. Use your foundation, inhale, we rise up.
Yoga For Complete Beginners
Building strong back, nice and mindfully. And exhale to release, gorgeous. Curl the toes under. Option here to press up to all fours. Tabletop Position, or press up to Plank. Once you’ve made your choice, take a deep breath in, nice wide lateral breath, and use the exhale to send the hips up high and back, Downward Facing Dog. Great, inhale in through the nose here. And exhale out through the mouth. Now seal the lips, in through the nostrils. And out through the nostrils. Beautiful. One more time, big inhale in through the nose. And out through the nose. Beautiful, bend the knees. Inhale to look forward. Exhale, you’re gonna repeat the baby steps like we did before, or you can take two steps, a little bit of a ragdoll, or four steps, or if you want to start to integrate a hop, we’ll meet at the top of the mat. Feet together, really together. Take your time though, there’s no rush. And when you get there, follow that inhale, lift up to a nice flatback position, your version. Nice long neck, and then exhale to soften and fold, let everything go. Beautiful. Fingertips on the earth, we slowly, don’t rush it here, step the right toes back. Front knee over front ankle. Right heel reaches back as we slowly carve a line with the nose forward, opening up through the chest. Mmm, and opening up through those front neck muscles, and throat. Alright, really taking the time to breathe deep here. Moving nice and slow. Inhale in. And on an exhale, slowly lower the right knee to the earth. Flip onto the top of the right foot. Let this be part of the root of this posture. So really strong connection with that right foot. Can even give it a little tap if you like. Squeeze the inner thighs towards the midline, engage the muscles of the thighs, the glutes. It can feel sometimes as though you’re pulling the left foot back, and dragging the right knee forward. And then from a place of connect, we’ll inhale, reach the fingertips forward, up, and back. Crescent Lunge, lifting the heart up towards the sky. Maybe following your breath. Again, letting the breath lead you here, best you can. Maybe following the breath, and sending the gaze all the way up towards the ceiling, towards the sky. And then when you’re ready, follow an exhale. So inhale in big. Follow the exhale all the way down. Fingertips comeback to the earth, and we’ll pull the left hip crease back this time. Really flexing the left toes towards the face, so towards your forehead. Then bring a generous bend into that left knee, super generous, and you can find, since you’ve already done this on the other side, you can find kind of a soft gaze here, or even close your eyes, and notice what giving that generous bend does. Find the sensation and get curious about the musculature here as you breathe. And inhale in here to look forward. Exhaling to draw the chin into the chest. Inhaling to look forward. And exhaling to round it in. Great, inhale slowly roll through the left foot. And we’ll send the right hand to the earth. Left thumb to the left hip crease, pull it back, so find your nice alignment, and so this left shin is stacked. We’re gonna use this throughout the whole journey. And we start to spiral, big twist in the spine. Spiral the heart up, maybe the gaze up. I’m pressing away from my yoga mat with my right hand, I’m not clenching my left toes. I’m breathing, the neck is nice and long. 
Maybe I send left fingertips up towards the sky. Ooh, opening up through the chest, scapula, side body. And maybe I curl the right toes under, inhale in. Exhale, lifting the back knee up. Tuck the chin slightly. Stay positive, stay present, stay one. Just building a really beautiful foundation with integrity. Good, inhale. Big, wide breath. And exhale to bring it all the way down. Ooh, awesome! Plant the palms, here we go, step it back. So we are in a Plank, and you know, the thing is we’re never really holding in a Plank or Half Plank because we’re breathing, we’re letting the breath move us. So top of the Plank here, heels are reaching back. Whether the knees are lowered or lifted we’re all working to keep the neck nice and long. Tugging the shoulders away from the ears. Maybe sending your gaze out just a little bit in front. We’re here for three. Breathe deep, hug the low ribs in. Two, and one. Slowly lower all the way to the belly. Inhale in, let out a sigh if you need to. Bring the hands inline with the rib cage. Hug the elbows in. Just one Bhujangasana here. Inhale to open the heart. Look forward, soften your gaze. Maybe coming a little bit higher. And then using your exhale to follow the breath down. Lovely, from here, curl the toes under nice and easy, keep it nice and low. We’re gonna come to all fours, Tabletop Position. Then we’ll cross one ankle over the other, and we’ll use the hands to guide us all the way back through to a nice cross-legged seat. When you get there, interlace your fingertips. Then you’re gonna press the palms forward, up and back, big breath in. Exhale, release it down. We’re gonna flip the palms so they’re facing you. Then you’re gonna take one thumb to the center of the palm, and you’re just gonna give it a little massage. Little self massage. This is something you can do at nighttime, as you’re going on this journey. You’re gonna be on your hands a little bit more maybe even than normal. Be patient with your wrists and the hands. They will adapt. We’ll be mindful, everyone’s different of course.
Okay, let’s switch. Opposite thumb to opposite palm. But yeah, you’re gonna be feeling some things, so try not to give up. Try to stick with it. I’ll give some modifications too, for people who do want to tend to some fussy wrists but this is a great move that I wanted to share with you on Day 1 so that you could do it on your own, in the shower, the bath, with some soap. Hey-yo! First hey-yo of the journey. Excuse me, but in all seriousness, this is a great thing to do with a little lotion, or a little soap, washing your hands, keeping ’em clean. Seems relevant, or maybe, yeah, in bed. (laughs) You guys know what I’m saying. Okay, this is great. So after a little self massage, let’s take one more breath to press the palms forward, lift it up and back, and see if you can really feel the rib cage expand here as you breathe in. Those back ribs expanding and softening as you breathe out. Good, then we’ll just release this, release it all, and come on down to the ground. We are almost done with this beautiful Day 1 practice. Hi Benji. Alright, if you have a blanket or a towel, keep it handy. We’re gonna bring it underneath the backs of the knees, optional, of course, in a moment, but come on down to the ground. When you get there, bend the knees, walk the heels close up towards the bum. Plant the palms on the earth, root through all four corners of the feet. And here we go, a little Bridge Pose. Lifting the hips up high, nice and slow as you’re ready. This isn’t gonna be a huge Bridge Pose, so just a little one here to start. We’ll grow this throughout the journey. Lifting the hip points up. Think about your shins moving forward. And maybe we interlace the fingertips, draw the shoulder blades together. If it doesn’t feel right for your body, let’s go ahead and hold off on that. Breathing deep here. And the last action is to lift the chest toward the chin. And then lift the chin up towards the sky. So chest to chin, chin to sky, take a deep breath in. And on the exhale, follow the breath all the way down. Beautiful, walk the feet together, open the knees wide. Bring your hands to rest on the belly here. Close your eyes, and invite your awareness to your belly. Feel the warmth of your hands on the belly. Let gravity do the work here in this final hip opener. So thighs are nice and heavy. Tuck the chin, lengthen through the back of the neck, and take a deep breath in, fill the belly. So feel the hands maybe even rise and fall as you exhale. We’ll definitely be getting into more belly breathing, more diaphragmatic breath work. But for now, just give it a couple little passes, feeling the belly rise, perhaps as you breathe in. And fall as you breathe out. And then bringing the fingertips to the outer edge of the legs, outer edges of the legs, hug the knees into the chest. Wrap the arms around the shins, and give yourself a big hug here. Rock a little side to side. Massaging the low back. Stretching through the glutes. Relax your shoulders. Soften through your jaw. And then slowly let the feet come to the earth with a little thud. And if that felt good, you can do it a couple more times. And then we’ll extend one leg, and then the other, and allow the hands to rest gently at our sides. Relaxing the weight of the body fully now into the earth for the final posture, the Corpse Pose. Take a second to maybe lick your lips. I know it’s silly, but lick the lips and then intentionally relax the tongue in the base of the mouth. Close your eyes and soften the skin of the forehead. And I invite you to just take a quick moment here to see what happens when you invite yourself to let go. Easier said than done, I know, but that’s why we’re here to practice. Can you give yourself even just a moment?
The invitation to do absolutely nothing. Let your breath return to just a natural rhythm, natural flow. Letting go of any areas where you might beholding or clenching. Inviting the body, the mind and your spirit or your heart, for a second here to just be in existence. Now gently invite your awareness back to your breath. And notice how you feel about that. Embarking on a journey for yourself, where on Day 1 the entire premise is an invitation. I can’t wait to see where it goes. As you continue to gently deepen the breath, invite a little energy, a little movement back to the fingertips and toes. Then the ankles and the wrists. And then we’ll lift one knee up, and then the other. Turn onto one side, a little fetal position moment. Hold me. (laughs) Just kidding, and then press all the way up to a nice seat. Bring the hands together at the heart space. Just a quiet moment herewith the palms in prayer to say thank you. First to yourself for showing up here. Saying yes to this journey. And then just a little nod to one another. Thank you so much for joining me, and sharing this connection with so many people around the world. I hope that it is a fun and meaningful story that you write in the next 30 days. I’ll be here to guide you and it is my honor and pleasure. So on that note, one final big inhale in together. And exhale together. We bow the head to the heart. And there’s an invitation here to whisper. Namaste. Thanks everyone. I’ll see you tomorrow. (bright upbeat piano music).
