Strong Vinyasa Flow

Hey there, welcome to Strong Vinyasa. We're going to work on strength and we're going to move and flow. We're going to do this right here, right now. Come to the front of your mat and we'll begin. All right, so feet about hip width, nice and grounded, preparing for your practice.

Take a few deep breaths. Breathe in. Breathe out. Let that exhale really kind of settle you and set you. One more time.

This time with the arms overhead, breathe in. Breathe out, hands to your heart. The arms come down. Breathe in again, arms overhead. Exhale forward fold, soft bend in the knees all the way down.

Inhale half lift. Exhale walk back into downward dog. Exhale plank. Exhale lower down, halfway. Inhale upward dog.

Take your time to wander through this pose for a few moments. Rolling the shoulders back, chest forward. Use your core belly muscles to take you up and back into downward dog land. See if we can move with, you know, honoring the length of our breath from posture to posture. So if I move too fast or too slow, you might have to adjust, but we'll do our best together here.

Look to the front of the mat and start that little tiptoe slow walk journey up to the front of the mat. Half lift, inhale, exhale fold. Exhale rise all the way up, sweeping the arms out wide and tall. Exhale hands to heart. We'll build on that.

Inhale arms out and up. Exhale forward fold. Inhale half lift. Exhale plank. Take your time to walk back into plank and lower down.

Upward dog inhale. Downward dog exhale. I'm going to start with our left leg. So lift the left leg up, breathe in, exhale, step it through to the front of the mat. Good.

Place the right heel down, warrior one, breathe in, rise up, hold for a few moments. Work on pointing the right toes, kind of forward, take a nice spacious stance. Arms rise overhead. Breathe in as you breathe out, place the hands down onto the mat, move back into your plank pose and lower down. Upward dog inhale.

Downward dog exhale. Lift your right leg up, breathe in. Step the right foot forward, warrior one. Inhalation takes you up, up, up and away. Pause, refine.

Inhale, lift a little bit more, exhale, hands to the mat, plank pose, lower down. Upward dog breathe in. Upward dog breathe out, set it for a moment. Maybe you can, you know, we're going to flow and move, but we can do it with a nice pace, not feeling like we have to rush to the next posture. Look to the front of the mat, inhale, exhale, step the right foot all the way through, pause, breathe in, exhale, left foot through, forward fold.

Inhale half lift, fold, exhale, rise up, inhale, exhale, hands to heart. Inhale arms out and up, exhale, forward fold. Inhale half lift, exhale, plank pose, lower. Inhale upward and exhale downward. Inhale the left leg up, exhale, step it through, warrior one, on the breath in.

Warrior two, step that right foot back, take a few moments to kind of wiggle in, ground, arms extend nice and long. Maybe the palms rise up, roll the shoulders back, straighten and bend that front leg a couple of times. Maybe the knee needs that kind of attention. Set it, reverse warrior, reach up, up, up and away. Call it peaceful, call it reverse.

Start to straighten the front leg, triangle pose, reach long through the left side, straighten but don't lock the front leg, bring the left fingertips down toward the shin or the calf. Rise up with the right arm, really set and get those feet nice and strong down into the mat, good. Bend that left leg a little bit, take the reverse, breathe in, breathe out, bring it all the way back down, plank pose, nice, lower, upward inhale and downward exhale. Lift the right leg up, breathe in, warrior one, inhalation, rise for warrior one. Warrior two, step back a little bit, get a little more distance between the feet, get your alignment set, roll the shoulders back, engage the core and maybe bend and straighten that front leg, reverse warrior, reach up and back, inhale and begin to straighten out the front leg, shorten your stance if you'd like, reach long through the right side, fingertips to the shin, let's say, right, or find your depth and then peel the left arm high, get those long lines with triangle pose.

The left side of the chest is kind of spinning open while maintaining strength through the legs. Bend the right leg a little bit, reverse, inhale and exhale, the arms all the way back down, move back through your plank pose, lower down, upward inhale, downward exhale, good job, settle it out for a moment. Look forward, inhale, exhale, step the left foot through, inhale, exhale, right foot through, forward fold, inhale, half lift, fold, exhale, rise up, breathe in, breathe out, hands to heart, let's keep building on this, inhale, arms out and up, exhale, forward fold, half lift, breath in, plank pose, breath out, lower, continue with that breath out, inhale, upward, nice, exhale, downward, left leg lifts, breathe in, exhale, warrior one, inhale to take you up, up, up, up, up, exhale, warrior two, inhale, reverse, exhale, triangle pose, hold here for a few moments, take the moment in, take the breath, extended side angle, bend the left arm, maybe rest the left forearm on the left thigh for a moment, see what that feels like. Make sure you create space between the left shoulder and the ear, right arm rises high, add a little core stability by taking the left arm out in front of you, like you're holding a tray and that might just force you to engage a little bit more through the mid section. Good back, reverse warrior into half moon, so reach up and back, take your right hand on your right hip, shorten your stance just a little bit and then find your target and launch off, take a few moments to find your balance and stability and begin to kick that right heel out as far and strong as you can and maybe those left fingertips hover down to the ground or a block or you hover, right arm high, beautiful, revolved half moon.

So now we're going to kind of bring the right fingertips down, square off the hips, drive through that right leg, lengthen the spine and begin to turn now open to the left, left arm rising, beautiful, good, left hand back down, kind of squaring things off, step back into high lunge, rise up, good job, high lunge, clasp the hands, spin the back heel down, open up the shoulders and chest, humble warrior on the exhalation. You can rest your left shoulder on the top of the left thigh or drop down as far as your body will allow, rise back up, perfect, warrior one. All you do is make that little adjustment with the back foot, reach the arms up high, inhale and exhale, transition through plank, through chaturanga, upward dog inhale and downward dog exhale. Well done, right leg lifts, inhale, exhale, step it through, back heel down, warrior one, we've been here before, warrior two. Inhale reverse warrior and exhale into chikonasana, triangle, expansive and open while feeling grounded, extended side angle, rest the forearm on the right thigh, left arm can rise high while you take maybe for a little core that right arm out in front of you like you're holding a big tray, right?

This just forces you to work a little bit more honestly in the pose. Okay, reverse warrior, breathe in. Half moon as you breathe out. Sound effects. Okay, so set it up.

I like to get my balance first, then start to extend the left leg here, finding a good soft right leg, then the fingertips can draw down to the ground, steady, relaxed gaze, real playful balance, you know, we can take super serious and creates more tension. See if you can relax while still doing the work. Left hand toward the ground or on the ground, squaring the hips, revolved half moon, right arm reaching, turn that chest open, haze there. Right hand down, high lunge as a setup. So high lunge, rise, sweep the arms back behind you, clasp them.

Back heel down. So it's sort of like a warrior two stance. Breathe in, open yourself up, breathe out, draw downward. Let the arms come all the way down, and we'll flirt with some skandhasana, a little side lunge action. So you want to may let's start with a wide forward fold, then from the wide forward fold, turn the feet out.

Sorry, my. Well, there you go. Now I see you. Okay, turn your toes open, bend into the right leg, maybe keep the heel down for this one, and then bend into the left leg, heel down, just flirting with the space and the inner groin there, then maybe bend a little deeper and lift the heel if you'd like, get a little creative with with the two sides, wide forward fold, maybe kind of kick the heels out a little bit toes in, flat back, inhale, and then exhale, come on down, hands, grab hold of the outer edges of your feet, strong, flexible legs will work on here. Flat back rotation now so come up high on the left fingertips, lengthen out through the spine and turn open into a twist to the right.

Good job. Right hand down, keep the spine long, strong core, rotate to the left. Bring the left hand down and then bend the knees, hands on the thighs, heel to your feet a little closer. I'm actually going to come up and reset so that I can face you so it's not super awkward. So here you are, right?

It's kind of goddess prep, horse stance prep, hands on the thighs, start with drawing the right shoulder forward, look over the left shoulder, left shoulder forward, look over the right shoulder and then back to center, set the seat back and down, pelvis neutral, knees wide, arms like cactus, nice, pull the arms back to get that back action engaged. Okay, now on your exhale, straighten the legs and draw the arms down alongside the body. Inhale back into those cactus arms, sit low, start to feel the muscles working and exhale back on up. We'll do about three or four more. Breathe in lower, set the pose, breathe out up top, little squeeze, inhale lower and exhale two more, inhale, you could do 20 more if you'd like, exhale.

One more time, sit, pause, slowly to rise, turn the left foot forward, right foot forward warrior one as a transition, breathe in, reach up, breathe out hands, let's meet in plank pose, hold plank for a few moments here as we decide whether you're going to put your knees down for a very effective push up or knees up for a very effective push up. It's your call, we're going to do five, so you're going to inhale as you lower, exhale as you press up, so here we go, breathe in lower down, breathe out, press up, breathe in lower down, breathe out, press up, inhale and exhale, inhale, exhale, breathe in, breathe out, I think that was five but let's do one more just to make sure, downward dog, exhale, good work, plank pose, now use that strength to lower yourself all the way down nice and slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, nicely done. Locust pose, reach the arms back, palms facing down, lift the chest, push your hips down into the mat and then lift the chest, so push down to lift, lift, lift, interlace your hands possibly if that adds a little value, if not keep them separate, good, back body strength, so important, reach the knuckles toward the heels, lift, lift the legs a little bit, soften the chin down and relax, stack your palms, forehead on the top hand, feel the breath, heart pumping a little bit, bow pose, let's see what that feels like, so reach back, grab hold of the right ankle or the foot, left ankle or the foot, first kind of get the good hold that you prefer, I like to really flex my feet quite a bit, okay, now pull the shoulders up and back and already that might feel like enough for you, right, you can even lift the knees a little bit or a lot and that's going and then push the feet and the legs into the hands and that'll lift you up, I'm not looking for like a circus bow pose but something that really gets you kind of fired up and strong in the back and open in the front, so let's breathe here for five, four, three, two, slowly release, stack the hands, rest the forehead, again shield wiper the knees, the legs side to side, loosen up any tension in the back, staying with the theme of the back bend, come through cobra pose, lift up, inhale, exhale table, in between, right, we're going to do a little camel coming up but we're going to cat cow once or twice, reset the back, one more time, inhale cow pose, exhale cat, let's get a little core love, core stability, so what I want you to do is curl the toes, lift the knees up like two inches, okay, now from here what you're going to do is stay, if this is enough or tap your right hand on the left forearm and when you do that you're going to have to really fire up that right leg and left arm without moving too much and swaying, now left hand right forearm, nice and quiet right, side to side, left hand to right forearm, right hand to left forearm, legs are working, arms, shoulders, core, one more and one more, downward dog, that's nice, if you felt it all over your body you were doing it correct, knees down, lift on up, keep the back toes curled for now, that camel play, right, so it's going to include some reaching, what I want you to do is squeeze the booty a little bit and that will set the pelvis into neutral, right, get out of your low back, now reach the left arm high, palm facing back, reach back, let your body actually come back a little bit, touch the ground, nice, switch sides, reach up and back, one of my favorite favorite things to do every day now, reach up and back, good, one more with the right arm as you reach the left hand back, boom nice, pause, reach the right hand to the right heel, left hand to the left heel, push the hips forward, pull up on the heels, camel pose, this is a little too much, I'll come out of it and show you maybe take the hands to the low back, pull the elbows toward one another, chest open and a little more stable and strong for you there or grab hold of those heels and go, go, go, pull up, pull up, pull up, beautiful, lower, sit down on the heels for a moment, feel the exiting sensations, you're doing great, feel so good to move, move and kind of like test your body, see what its, you know, boundaries and thresholds are but in a safe way, paying attention, all right, downward dog, we're gonna do a little crouching dog into squat, so bend the knees quite a bit like you're gonna bring them down, push your seat back, round out the back, then step the right foot to the right pinky, left foot left pinky, squat down, wander through that space, sit down onto your seat and what we're gonna do is roll around or roll down to your low back, we're not gonna roll around but we might, you might feel like now that you've landed on your back, you wanna just roll around, okay, bridge pose, so we stay with the theme of extension and back bending, feet below the knees, press the hips high and walk up onto your shoulder blades, sort of like a shelf there, right, you can bend your arms like a robot would maybe, fingers alive, drive into the upper arm bones and the shoulders to drive yourself up a little bit more, undo the shoulder blades, you can feel the center of your back and roll it down nice and slow, pause, feel the after sensations, after pose sensations we'll call them, two choices, bridge again or wheel pose, I'll demo wheel here, if you know it's not for you go ahead and start to build your bridge pose, we're gonna take the right hand back by the shoulder there, fingertips pointing to the shoulder, same with the left, alright, so find that kind of like position where the hands really do feel grounded there, elbows drawn toward one another, then lift up, lift the hips up and rest gently on the top of your head as a momentary reset, position the pelvis, press now into the arms, I like to lift the heels, this releases tension in the low back for me, but it still gives me that big opening, so you explore heels up, maybe heels down, breathe for three, good, two, slowly down, best part of the pose is right there, well one of the best, okay you're gonna bring your feet wide, keep your arms overhead if they are, windshield wiper your knees a little side to side, this might help in releasing any potential build up of low back pressure or tension, over to the right with your legs and take your right ankle on top of your left thigh, this will add a little weight, which will increase that stretch through the left hip and then reach the left arm high up and back behind you, try it on the other side, it's almost like a counter pose in a way, left ankle over the right thigh, a little extra weight there, then reach long through the right arm, really nice, go back to center, take your right leg, you can cross it over as far as you'd like, kind of like an eagle wrap, slide your hips over to the right, arms out wide and we'll take a spinal twist, this might feel it like a nice closing pose, ground the right shoulder, gaze up or over the right shoulder, slowly up, back to center with the hips and the low back, cross it opposite sides, cross the left leg over as much as you can, slide the hips to the left, breathe in, breathe out, knees over to the right, keep the gaze up, possibly look to the left but definitely spread the upper back nice and wide so it feels grounded from shoulder to shoulder, good, nice and slowly up, back to center, give yourself a hug, knees draw in, maybe even make a nice tight ball, forehead toward the knees, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and bring the feet down, bottoms of the feet together, recline bound angle here, take a few moments together to rest and close this practice out nicely, you can rest your arms with the palms facing up or down alongside your body, lift the head, tuck the chin and begin to release, you know, whatever that means for you, release, let go, soften, let go, let go, always welcome to stay, relax as long as you'd like, let's take a little stroll onto the right side of our body, bend the knees, rest your head on your right arm, pause there, push yourself up to sit, nice, good job, I want to acknowledge that, I see you there working hard, let's take the arms up, close together, breathe in, take it all in, breathe out, namaste, have a beautiful day.