Core Galore

Namaste friends, welcome to your practice. Let's get into some wrist stretches to start off. So we'll go ahead and take the right hand out and just pull back your fingers, just right hand straight out, pull back your fingers and kind of spread wide through your fingers here and then maybe even come over to the thumb for a moment and just even into the base of the palm, kind of push in and just stretch back. Take a full deep breath there and flip your palm the other direction. So now the fingers are pointing down, grab the back of the hand and just pull back.

Keep your fingers wide, just kind of getting into every angle in the wrist joint and feel a tall spine here as you do this. You may be slumping through your shoulders and then go ahead and release that and just circle your right wrist around one direction and the other. Awesome, and then switching to the other side. So just flex your left palm, fingers up, pull back your fingers and kind of even into the base of the palm, maybe get over by the thumb, just kind of keep pulling back. Keep your spine tall here and draw your navel in towards your spine so you even feel a little more length in your lower back.

Feel your breath, move the other direction, just point the fingers down, pull back through your hand, push back. Keep breathing into your ribs, so feel the expansion of your breath. Start to release, circle the wrist around one way and then the other. Then take the arms wide out to the sides and make little fists here and take your thumbs on top and like you're pouring out tea from your hands in both directions, you're offering tea to your friends here, okay, and then just push down through your palms. Feel that stretch, deep, full breath.

And then release, go ahead and come onto your hands and knees now. We'll do a few wrist stretches right here. So the point of this is really just to kind of open up the wrist joint, massage it, start to circle around the fingertips with your shoulders. We'll be doing some arm balance later and just a fair amount of plank, so it's really nice to give your wrist this love in the beginning. And then move your hands back.

You might do one at a time, you might do both and just feel this stretch maybe moving slightly forward and back. Really spread wide through your palms so you get every angle of the wrist joint, finger spread. And then just connect to your breath again and come back so your wrists are right under your shoulders, your knees are right under your hips. Arch your spine as you inhale, chest forward. As you exhale, round your spine, belly in.

And inhale, reach your heart forward, cow pose, exhale, round into cats. One more like that, inhale, reach your chest forward. And as you exhale, round back. Nice, go ahead and come to a neutral spine. Really spread wide through your palms again, root down, especially into your finger pad, so that's going to get a little less pressure out of the wrist joint.

Back your toes, lift your knees about two to three inches off the floor. All right, here's our core. Here's why we're here today. So hug your belly in and even kind of round your back slightly, push the floor away from you strong, straight arms. Take about three breaths here.

Knees just hover. Soften your face. And slowly lift your hips up and back for downward facing dog. Just pause there, maybe pedal out your feet a few times. And then lower back onto your knees.

Reach your right leg back, straight back, and reach your left arm forward. Your palm faces in towards your body, so the thumb is up. And just find your core here, right in the center of your being, and imagine your left shoulder and your right hip coming towards each other, so everything hugs in. Then imagine your right hand, the one that's on the floor, and your left knee hugging towards each other, so everything hugs the center line of the body. Take an inhale.

As you exhale, elbow and knee together, round your back. Inhale, reach back out. Exhale, bring it in and round. Inhale, reach back out. Exhale, bring it in.

Inhale, reach back out. Exhale, bring it in. Inhale, reach back out. Five more. Stay with your breath.

You're welcome to do this just with the knee as well, so if you feel like you need to maybe take a break or you have lower energy at the moment, just do it with the knee, but keep rounding your spine. Last two. Strong right arm, spread through your right fingers, and gently release. Other side, left leg up, belly in, reach through your right arm, thumb up, and then really spread wide through your left palm again, and feel, again, the left hand that's touching the floor of your right knee, hug them towards each other. Hug your right shoulder into your back and your left hip into the hip socket, breathe, take an inhale, and exhale, elbow and knee together.

Inhale, reach back out. Exhale, bring it in. Inhale out. Exhale in. Inhale out.

Exhale in. Really round your spine. Inhale out. Last five, again, maybe just doing this with the knees, an option. Last three, two, and one.

Hands and knees on the floor. Go ahead and come back to downward facing dog. Attach your hips up and back. One more breath here, nice. Now gently walk your hands back to your toes here at the back of the mat, and just hang over your legs here.

Give your wrists a break. Again, maybe circle them around like you did when we were seated. You might interlace for a moment at your lower back, just feel a gentle stretch in your shoulders and your chest. Let your head relax. And then go ahead and come up a little, grab your block for this part.

We're going to take it between the inner thighs at the narrow level so that your feet are about hip distance apart with the block right in between the inner thighs. And then crawl yourself back to downward facing dog. Keep the block where it is and really squeeze it. Now try to push your block behind you like it'll shoot out of your legs behind you, but don't actually shoot it. And squeeze, draw your belly in, inhale, start to round forward into plank.

Pause, firm your belly. Now try to shoot your block up towards the ceiling and just feel that buoyancy in your hips. Your belly is super engaged. Feel your hands and toes suck towards each other. That's your core.

Take one more full deep breath here. And then shift back to downward facing dog. So let's do that dynamic. Inhale, start to round forward into plank, squeeze your block and exhale back downward dog. Inhale into plank.

Really spread wide through your palms and exhale back downward dog. Two more, inhale, come into plank. Exhale, down dog. Inhale, plank. Exhale, downward dog.

Go ahead and take your block out from your legs, place it off to the side of your mat and walk or lightly hop your feet to your hands. Inhale for a half lift. Exhale as you fold. Step your right foot to the back of the mat so you're in a lunge. Come high to your fingertips and reach your chest forward.

Inhale, exhale and just round, dome your upper back. Inhale, chest forward. And exhale, round, really lift your belly away from your thigh. Inhale, chest forward. And exhale, round.

Now pause here with this rounding, keep your belly engaged and start to come halfway up airplane arms alongside your body. Gaze slightly forward and down. Keep your belly lifting away from your left thigh, strong legs, try to suck your legs towards each other. Couple more breaths here. And then lower your right hand down to the floor, your left arm up for a twist.

Let the twist initiate from your core so as you exhale, the belly draws in and you spin your left ribcage towards the ceiling more. Take one more breath. And then look down, root through your left foot, start to come up into a twisted crescent so you're reaching your arms out in both directions and you can gaze towards the side, you can gaze forward or you could even start to maybe play with the gaze back. Stay with your breath, belly in, tailbone down, suck your legs towards each other. Now inhale to crescent, take your arms up and exhale back into your twist, sweep your left arm back.

Inhale back up to crescent, belly in, exhale sweep the left arm back. Inhale back to crescent. One more, sweep your arm back. Inhale to crescent and exhale hands to the floor. Optional vinyasa, inhale to plank, firm your belly, lower down, exhale.

Inhale for cobra or upward dog, exhale downward dog. Take a full deep breath and either walk or hop feet to hands. Inhale halfway lift and exhale fold. Suck your left foot back, high lunge, come to your fingers. Inhale heart forward, exhale round and dome your back, suck your belly in.

Inhale heart forward, exhale round. One more inhale, exhale round and hold, belly in, start to come up halfway like you're going to take off on a sprint here. Feet through your fingers, heart forward, shoulders back, keep your belly in, breathe, smile, suck your legs towards each other and lower, left hand down, right arm up. Try to reach your right fingers towards the ceiling, back out of the pose a little, suck your belly in as you twist the right ribs towards the ceiling. One more breath here.

Look down for stability, root through your right foot, come up into your open twist. Feel your right rib cage move back, maybe gaze back for an extra challenge. Inhale both arms up full crescent, exhale open twist. Inhale full crescent, exhale open twist. Inhale crescent, exhale open twist.

Inhale crescent, exhale hands down. Inhale plank, firm your belly and lower, exhale. Inhale cobra or up dog and downward dog, exhale. Full breath in, full breath out. Walk or float, feet to hands, half lift, inhale, exhale fold.

Take your feet a little bit wider apart, grab your block. Come into chair pose, bend your knees and squeeze your block between your inner thighs again. Yay. Alright, lengthen through your arms here, now feel like you could push the block down and behind you. So down and behind you, try to squeeze and push it, you might even push it down, feel that action in your inner thighs.

Hug your belly in, working, okay. Hands to heart here, take an inhale, as you exhale twist towards the left, don't let your right elbow cross over, okay? So just let it hover, breathe, inhale back to center. Exhale twist to the right, just let the left elbow hover, use your core here, another breath. And now dynamic, inhale to center, exhale twist to the left, inhale center, exhale twist to the right, inhale center, one more, to the right, to the left, inhale center, exhale to the right.

Inhale chair, reach your arms up and then straighten your legs, keep your block where it is and just urge the hasta asana here. Reach through your fingers, squeeze your block, belly in, lift as tall as you can, feel the energy, lengthen your whole body. Take one more breath, bring your hands to your heart, gently move your block, don't throw it, off to the side, bring your toes together. Inhale chair, but just for a breath, fold forward, exhale, inhale halfway lift, step or float chaturanga, inhale upward dog or cobra, exhale downward dog, lift your right leg back as you inhale, bring your knee to your chest as you exhale, use your belly, inhale right leg back, exhale knee to chest. One more back, inhale, exhale knee to chest, look forward, round your back as much as you can, step your foot through, spin the left heel down and come into warrior two.

Straighten your right leg, reach forward and down, come to triangle pose. So maybe you hold triangle here, feel the space in your heart, hug your legs towards each other, press the back of your right hand into your calf muscle, feel a gentle twist through your ribs, you can stay or sweep the left arm over, palm faces towards the floor. Maybe lift your right arm up as well, core engages, strong legs holding for five, four, walk your right knee, three, smile, two, one, stack your arms, look down, bend the right knee, artichandrasana, left hand to hip, maybe you grab your block if you need it, right fingers forward, lift your left leg into the air, you can raise your left arm up, you could bend your back knee, take chapasana, a nice stretch for your belly from all that core offer your heart forward. One more breath, step back slowly all the way to warrior two, take an inhale, exhale hands down, optional vinyasa, belly in, inhale cobra upward dog, downward facing dog, left leg back, inhale, exhale knee to chest, inhale back, exhale round, inhale back, exhale knee to chest, really round, puff up, push your hands into the earth, look forward, step your foot through, warrior two, inhale come up, straighten your left leg, reach forward and down triangle pose, breathe into your heart, spin the right ribs up, push the left hand, the back of the left hand into your left calf muscle, stay here or sweep the right arm over the ear, palm faces down, engage your legs and your belly, lift your left arm up, imagine you're holding something between your palms, maybe something you're reaching for, something you're trying to manifest in your life, that sometimes keeps you here, keep reaching, keep breathing, hold, strong legs, don't lock your left knee, last two, stack your arms, look down, artichandrasana, bend the left knee, right hand to hip perhaps, lift your right leg in the air, whatever you did on the first side, root through your left foot, soft face, slow and controlled, step back, warrior two, deep breath in, exhale hands down, optional vinyasa, belly in, full breath in, full breath out, again full breath in, full breath out, one more, deep inhale, long exhale, float or walk feet to hands, half lift, inhale, exhale fold, inhale chair, twist to the left, palms in prayer, this time wrap the right elbow all the way over, spin the heart open, one more breath, keep your hands in prayer, inhale through center, exhale other side, ring out, belly in, away from your thighs, and come back to chair, inhale here, fold forward, exhale, take a deep breath in, halfway up, inhale optional float back, step back, chaturanga, inhale cobra upward dog, downward dog exhale, right leg back inhale, this time knee to your right tricep, hold, do your best here, lower your right knee towards your right wrist like an elevator going down, keep it hovering off the floor, bring your right knee towards your left wrist and then lift that elevator back up towards your left tricep, this is really fun, smile over to the right, one more, down to the wrist, over to the left wrist, back up, center, step forward, where you're one, spin the left heel down, arms forward and up, lift through your heart, maybe the palms come together here, stretch long through your side body, so feel like the ribcage could lift away from your hips, belly in tailbone down, bring your hands to your heart, shift forward halfway down, find that hover, keep your belly engaged, switch to the ball of your left foot and lift off warrior three, let this stem from your core, just like we did when we did balancing cat, hug everything towards the center of your being, flex your left foot strongly like you could stamp your left foot in the back wall, reach through your heart, maybe the arms come forward, last two breaths, nice, hands back to heart, slowly step back, warrior one, straighten your right leg, walk your back foot in and then start to hinge halfway down, pause, so a parsvottanasana here, maybe you keep it active, your arms come forward, maybe your fingers come to the floor or your shin, okay, breathe, you're welcome to stay here, you might even feel at this point you just want to surrender forward and make it a little more passive, otherwise finding a revolved triangle pose, you might want to block, you're welcome to grab it, place it on the outside of your right foot, left hand comes to the block, sweep the right arm up, feel your hips even, you might even take your right hand to your hips and try to feel your low back flat and even as best you can, take one more breath, lower down, hands release, move your block off to the side, optional vinyasa or just step back to down dog, find your breath, left leg back inhale, knee to left tricep, hold and breathe, root through your palms, push the floor away from you, slowly lower knee towards your left wrist, it hovers off the floor, over to the right wrist, back up towards your right tricep, over to the left, down, soften your face, keep breathing over to the right, back up, knee to chest, step forward, warrior one, spin the right heel down, I just do that to make warrior one seem easy, maybe the palms come together, lift through your heart, lengthen the side body, belly in, tailbone down, just feel this pose, feel your vibration, root through your feet, bring your hands to your heart, slowly, hinge forward, pivot to the ball of your right foot, lift off warrior three, I was joking that my outfit is like superman, so here we are, superman, arms forward perhaps, maybe literally superman, one arm forward, keep breathing, you've got to make it fun because it's hard work, one more breath, and then hands back to prayer at your heart, slowly step back towards warrior one stance, straighten your left leg, walk your back foot in, about a foot or two, hinge at your hips, parjvottanasana variation pyramid, maybe the arms reach forward, maybe you start to take your fingers to the floor, feel this in your left hamstring, maybe you take revolved triangle, right hand to the block, left arm reaches up, expand, keep reaching through your heart, one more breath, and lower, left hand down, walk off to the side, step back either to down dog, if you want one final vinyasa, go for that option, stay with your breath, close your eyes, take a deep inhale, horse breath, flutter your lips, deep breath in, horse breath, let it go, one more, deep breath in, and let it go, alright, walk or float, feet to hands, half lift inhale, fold, exhale, and from here just lift up about halfway, wiggle your feet, a little wider apart, sit your hips down into malasana, and draw your belly in here, tailbone down, it may feel great to just stay here right now, otherwise our final heated pose, bhakasana, crow, strongly lift your belly in, lift your hips, hands about shoulder distance apart, your knees come to your outer upper arms, and then as you come up, bring your feet in, one at a time, lift your belly, dome your back, gaze forward, breathe, see if you can hold for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lower your feet back down, malasana, deep breath in, long breath out, and just slowly lower your hips onto the mat, roll onto your back. So coming into a restorative bridge, it should feel so yummy right now, your feet are about hip distance apart, knees bent, slide your block, either at lowest level, middle level, or even highest level if you feel pretty open, it's up to you, I usually like the middle level, shoulders away from your ears, arms out to the side, palms up, and breathe.

And of course if you're feeling just more dynamic energy now, feel free to take a wheel pose or anything else that serves you, but it might feel nice to just drop into the block and into the earth, really feeling yourself slow down, let your inhales and exhales get longer. See if you can soften more in your face, and then slowly start to come out, move your block, lower down one vertebra at a time, bring your knees in for happy baby, grab the outsides of your feet, take a few breaths here, maybe rock side to side, maybe move your head side to side, breathe into your hips and your back, and bring your knees back together, and just for fun, engage your core and lift your shoulders, your chest, your chin up, take a full inhale, squeeze everything tight, feel your power, feel your strength, feel everything work, and then slowly release and let it all go, arms out, legs out, rest. You're welcome to stay here longer if you need to, otherwise just start to bend your knees, roll to the right side, press yourself to seated, bring your palms together in prayer, close your eyes, just take a moment to receive the benefits of your practice, with all this strength and power that you have created through your core center, may you just feel vibrant and alive for the rest of your day, smile, namaste.