Daily Core Stability

Hey there, welcome to Yoga Anytime. My name is Robert. This class I'm super excited to share with you. It's a whole combination of all the things I like to do on a daily basis. They involve core work, stability, flow, it builds your energy. So let's get started, alright? So I'm gonna turn this way. You do you, but I just want you to be able to kind of connect and see. We're gonna start with the hands back behind you, fingers pointed back, maybe start even with just like what does it feel like to open up the shoulders and the chest. Feet can go kind of wide, maybe as wide as the mat, and then we'll start by, I'll bring my knees to you first, the hips rotate like a windshield wiper to the right. So okay, feel that in your hips, maybe your back, and we roam to the other side. Now keep in mind as we do this a few times, you're gonna travel around on your mat a little bit, so just make the adjustment every time, bring yourself back to center. This is just the beginning. So as we're just beginning, I encourage you to like locate your breath. Locate and become mindful of your breath as it draws in through the nose and out through the nose as often as possible, but sometimes it feels good to let that breath fall out of the mouth. Okay, good. So now let's go over to the right. Lift and lean your body over the inner right thigh. So this might feel a little like pigeon to you. Okay, outer hip, the other side, up to center, over to the other side, get that stretch, that opening, and then lift the torso and lean. And so you're leaning the body over the inner left thigh, and then as always, I'll always encourage you to wander, to explore, and feel. Let's go one more time over to the right, because what it is really, this whole practice, right, it's like a communication, a dialogue over to the left, involves listening, a little respect, and then the dialogue is between you and your body. Okay, let's try it without the hands, also start to employ a little more core. So start where we started, maybe the arms out in front of you, hips over to the, or knees over to the right, boom, hello, press back up using your leg strength and core strength, and then we float to the other side, pigeon, nice, back on up, back to center, you can do that as long as you'd like. Now we'll go with that pigeon theme just a little bit more, bring your feet back to hip width, with your fingertips pointed back, or with the fingertips pointed forward, it's really up, it's up to you. Let's press the hips up into a reverse tabletop, so ground through the heels, big toe mound, press the hips up, and as you're pressing the hips up, you may have to kind of like figure out how to really open up the shoulders, and let the head open up a little bit, or the throat, and then lower back down, breathe in, breathe out, push back up, so it's a little combo of a stretch in the shoulders, and maybe some leg strength, press up, open up, and bring it down. Now maintain this position, bring the arms out in front of you, lean back, now bring the right hand back behind you, left arm stays forward, but then twist to the right, use your belly muscles to deepen that, then bring it back to center, inhale, exhale to the left, good, inhale center, maybe just do a little tap as you reach back, you're inhaling center, exhaling twist, inhaling center, exhaling twist, inhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, one more to the left, super good, now bring the hands back to back behind you, fingertips pointing back, bring the feet in a little closer, take the left ankle over the right knee, flex the left ankle, drop the seat back down, push the chest toward the shin and ankle, going for that pigeon stretch, really keep that left foot like flexed to protect the knee, and then just take a little like movement, right, just a little movement side to side, kind of like the windshield wiper you did, it's just maybe a little different, okay, we're gonna exit by lifting the hips, we just did that, but with this figure four position, bring the left foot back down, take the right foot over the left knee, drop back down safely, flex that right foot, protect your knee, and again walk the chest toward the shin toward the ankle, rotate to the right, rotate a little bit to the left, okay, back to center, let's exit the same way we did on the other side, so lift the hips, right foot back down, seat stays down now, now take the hands and roll the roll the wrists just a little bit, the thumbs, right, take the hands alongside like out from your hips, you'll have to personalize this, lean back, lift the feet, now shoot the legs forward, you can cross an ankle, just keep the legs really engaged, just a little tummy work here, exhale, knees draw in, so inhale out, exhale, tuck in, two of ten, I'm gonna lean back just a little bit more, inhale, exhale, exhale, good, exhale, exhale, I'm gonna call that six, seven, eight, good, nine, and ten, okay, back to this position here, feet down, hands back behind you, the next part of this is a little crab reach, take the left arm out in front of you, ground the right hand, pack that right shoulder in, lift the hips high, reach the left arm up and back behind you, you can even look down if you'd like, I can give you a little thumbs up, right here, good, press the hips, so this is like nice to open up the hips after what we just did, good, lower down, oh stay steady in the core, switch it up, right hand forward, left hand back, pack that left shoulder in, press the hips up, maybe exaggerate that right hip as you reach the right arm back, gaze down possibly, gaze up with control, bring it back down, oh nice, okay those little tucks again, lean back, use your hands, bring the knees in, inhale extend out, exhale, exhale, exhale, beautiful, four, five, keep your legs really super strong and engaged, maybe point the toes or flex the feet, I lost count, let's call it one, I'm just kidding, eight, nine, ten, good, you're definitely gonna be feeling that in your quads and hip flexors, super normal, it's good to strengthen them as well as stretch, which we're gonna do now, crab reach, reach the left arm up and back, breathe in, breathe out, lower down, switch sides, left hand down, right arm reaching up and back, press the hips high, high, high, good, lower down, okay, hands to support for now, either on the ground or to the hamstrings, boat pose, so I'm gonna do this boat pose with legs bent because we're gonna add a little twist to it, you could even cross your legs if you'd like, take the hands maybe together, index finger long, cross the thumbs, arms out, stay here or point the fingers down toward the left and over toward the right, to the left and to the right, kind of messes with the balance a little bit too which is kind of cool to play with that focus, a little brain work while you're doing your core work, perfect, two, two, one, one, boat pose, undo the toes, undo the legs if you cross them, good, arms reach out, legs strong, probably feeling in the legs, I get it, I get it, I get it, cross the legs, fold over onto the tabletop, cat cow, hands below the shoulders, wrists, elbows, inhale, cow pose, exhale, cat, inhale, cow pose, exhale, cat, really pull those stomach muscles up and in toward the back body as you round out your spine, one more time, breathe in, breathe out, table, now push back into child's, knees wide, knees hip width up to you, okay, stretch those arms out as far as they'll go, inhale table, keeping the hands where they are, drop the hips, now you might feel that relief, that stretch or lengthening through the hips where you were just working with the boat pose and things like that, lower down, scorpion, left arm, push into the right as you sweep the right hand back behind or right foot back behind you, my bad, switch sides, slide the right hand over, left foot back behind you, open up the chest, the shoulders, biceps, or bicep, back to center, cobra, inhale, all the way back to table, curl the toes, kneeling pose, so tall kneeling, I'll move to the center, that matters to be centered, okay, this is a cool little move, we're gonna take the camel reach that I typically do, so take the left arm up, right hand back, but then the transition is toes curled or not, sit down into kneeling and then press back up, right arm reaching up, left hand reaching back to the left heel, good, we do a couple of these, great for the knees, left arm reaching up, right hand reaching back, breathe in as you expand up, lower down, inhale up, right arm up, good, exhale down, let's do one more on both sides, press up, get that kind of extension, a little bit of a backbend, oh bring it down, one more time, up, make sure you're breathing and exhale down, sit for one moment, take a deep breath in and exhale everything out, perfect, dog pose, curl the toes, plant the palms, all fingers grounded, all the pads, you know the drill, walk it out, how's your breath, so we're still kind of marching, walking, pressing one heel down at a time to get that length in the calves and hamstrings, good, just continuing to march it out, pedal it out, lift your right leg up, bend it, keep the shoulders relatively square as you begin to, as if you were gonna try to bring that right foot back behind you to the ground, just explore that like hip open sensation, you can kind of come in and out a couple times, like you're gonna draw the right knee down toward the ground and then maybe up and open, good, now square off the hips three times, right knee in the direction of your right elbow, maybe even on the inside, now pull that right knee up as high as you can, point your right toes or flex that right foot, now back up high, inhale, exhale, brace the abs, pelvic floor, all those places, lift that right knee a little higher, good, inhale high, same thing, but we'll keep it there, so knee draws into your spot, embrace the tension, you want to get stronger, here you are getting stronger, here you are, it's a little uncomfortable, that's all good, see where your right hand is, where your right pinky, step your right foot to your right pinky, now walk that right foot in toward like right center mat, high lunge, arms can reach up overhead, maybe turn the pinkies toward one another, this tends to open the shoulders a little bit in my experience, softly bend the back knee, draw the tailbone down, pubic bone up, then you can start to maybe flirt with that left leg straightening, now turn to the right, open the arms as wide as you can while maintaining this really powerful strong lunge you're in, maybe even turn the palms upright, rolling the shoulders down, keep the midsection engaged, breath flowing, one of my favorite little sensations, hope you enjoy it, left hand reaches up, right hand reaches back toward the left leg, left arm reaches up just a little bit more, so you have this potential feeling of like stability, strength, and like stretchiness, beautiful, now back to the twist, back to center, hands behind the head, without rounding your back at all, lead with your heart, your chest, so that your torso is about 45 degrees, pull the elbows back to engage the back muscles, keep the tummy muscles strong, right leg is probably feeling it, tension, muscles, time under tension, building strength and stamina, that's why you're here, okay, now breathe in, extend the arms out nice and long, breathe out, hands to the mat, step back into that three-legged dog, just to kind of get a little stretch and relief, right foot back down to the ground, find your dog pose, breathe in plank pose, breathe out chaturanga, lower down about halfway, upward dog, breathe in, breathe out, downward dog, before we do the left side, you're gonna come back into your plank pose, inhale, exhale, lower down, five, four, three, two, one, one, good, you can always use your knees for those, so if you felt like you kind of crumbled on the way down there, pause the video, revisit, go back, reboot, put your knees down and find a way to do it where you feel like that was a success, scorpion one more time, left arm expands out, roll over, right foot back behind the left leg, okay, let's roll over to the right side, so extend the right arm out, bend the left leg, left foot back behind the right leg, grab the stretch, exit back, good, throw the tailbone back, push the hips down into the mat, reach the arms back, locust pose, so a little back strength here, roll the shoulders back, draw the shoulder blades toward one another, you can press the tops of the feet down into the mat so much that your knees lift, hold lifting, soften the neck, drop the chin down just a bit, keep the lift here as you bring the hands into Cobra position, now maybe use those arms just a little bit to lift back up a little bit more into up dog with the knees down, tabletop, downward dog, make your adjustments, there's no rush to get anywhere here, lift the left leg up, bend it just as we did the other side, see what it feels like, open the hip, come in and out, right, inhale, square the hips, left knee toward the ground, exhale, lift up and open, three times, you know you're about to work here, so left leg straight up and back, plank pose, knee to that left elbow, inside preferably, pull it up a little bit higher, good, inhale, extend up, three legged dog, exhale, inhale, beautiful, exhale, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, locate your left pinky and step the left foot, walk the left foot over a little bit toward left center of the mat, softly bend the right leg, high lunge, make your necessary apparel adjustments, good, ring the arms up overhead, pinkies draw toward one another, a little bigger bend in the right knee, tailbone draws down, you can, it's almost like you're doing cat cow but with your pelvis, right, pubic bone lifts, tailbone drops, big stretch, right side, now twist, open arm twist, pull the arms wide, keep those belly muscles nice and engaged, now maybe right arm up, palm facing back, left hand to your right hamstring area, if you can reach there, reach and expand, extend that right arm up, keep the breath open and spacious, back to the twist, back to center, hands behind the head, lean the body forward, little rocket power lunge, this would be rocket, right, but we're gonna take the hands behind the head, pull the elbows back, like you're pulling the shoulder blades together, you're breathing and holding and maybe like kind of bouncing a little bit, you can go down a little bit more if you'd like, inhale, extend the arms out, exhale, you're gonna lift all the way up and I'm gonna face you and say hello, wide forward fold, alright, so you take those feet nice and wide, breathe in, look up, reach up, exhale, straight legs with a soft little bend, forward fold, might take a wider stance, it might be a little more narrow, you could put your hands up on blocks if you'd like, okay, so familiarize yourself with this hamstring stretch, walk your hands over toward the left, push the hips back, keep those feet evenly grounded, walk your hands over to the right, good, now back to center, now frog pose, we're gonna open up the hips, we're gonna stay about five breaths, so bring the left knee down, right knee down, okay, knees pretty wide, wider than your hips, you can bring your big toes to touch or bring your feet, your ankles in line with your knees with your toes pointed out, now you may need a blanket for the knees or ankles but here, see how I'm kind of perched up, maybe rock a little bit, just sort of like, oh my god, what, why am I doing this, but it can be extremely beneficial to get into the hips but if you've got to be kind of patient with this, if you can bring your forearms down that might feel nice, palms facing up, breath may exaggerate and elongate your exhalation, you can bring your arms out a little bit more if you'd like, chest down, kind of like a frog and puppy pose combo, let's take a couple more moments here, I think this pose deserves that kind of time and attention, it's almost like the pose is like third on the important list, like what becomes most valuable over time is just that sweet, quiet, spaciousness you feel in postures, right, the time with yourself, so let's reverse it, right, slowly back up onto the forearms, ooh, lean forward away from the deep stretch and draw the big toes to touch, now you're in like a really wide child's pose, that might even be, bring your knees a little closer, sort of like slowly exiting, right, okay, you can lean all the way up, okay, come to your seat, stretch the right leg out, this is a little three-part action I like, right foot super engaged, right leg very engaged, left foot into the right inner thigh, okay, now take your arms up as you breathe in, breathe out, lean your body, try to keep your chest up maybe for this, lean your body forward, okay, there's that stretch, there's the little push back, listen, breathe into it, relax the hands down onto your shin, your ankle, your foot, you can also grab a strap, spend a couple breaths here, it's that exhale, I promise you, the exhale opens, it releases, it communicates like safe, this is safe, one more breath here, breathe in, let's make it a really long exhale, okay, breathe in, kind of move yourself up and away, now take an angle position with that right foot or right leg and turn your body to the left a little bit and then reach the right fingers to the big toe if you can, right, again, you can use a strap and get set up for that or just bring the hand to the shin or calf, keeping the chest open, reach the left arm high, palm facing the foot or downward, as you exhale, start to get that lateral side body stretch, again it's the breath that's going to assist you, you might inhale up and out, exhale reach, if you're extremely tight here and you don't want your arm lingering, you can take your hand behind your head and lead more with your elbow, I like to drop the shoulder actually just a bit, you reach, gives you just a little bit more and I can actually touch and get that really big stretch through the entire left side, okay, now all the way up and back, left hand back behind you, ground your right foot, push your left knee into the mat and then press up, reach the right hand back and bring her down and we'll switch sides, left leg out, right foot to the inner left thigh, inhale, reach up, exhale, lean into it, just like we did on the other side, take your time with the breath, you've moved around in your body, you strengthened, you sort of engaged and now it might be nice to sort of stretch and release, good, come back up, angle the left leg, right foot again in to the thigh, open up, right shoulder, reach the left hand to the left big toe, right arm high, inhale, reach, boom, yes, there's this big, potentially for me anyway, right side all the way from the low back, okay, reverse it, right hand down, again left foot, right knee, press and so what you're looking for is this this hip on the left to extend, to be in that extension and lower down, I mean this just up and down a few times is awesome also, so you can play with that, now we're a little warmed up in the legs, let's take a wide forward fold, so take your feet as wide as they'll go, as legs as wide as they'll go, this has never been my favorite but it's becoming, feet active, legs strong, good positive attitude because who cares how far down you go, right, listen to your body, inhale, exhale, lean, long exhalations, curiosity, open mind, easy, cycling in and out as I've mentioned before is a real plus for me personally, so you inhale out, exhale lean, you can grab hold of your toes, you can reach, more side bending, lift back up, more hip action, bound angle, bottom to the feet together, grab hold of the feet or the ankles, lift the chest, inhale and exhale lean, let's do three in and out, so inhale, curl up, extend, exhale lean, inhale and exhale, rise on back up, I'm gonna switch my position on the mat, you might do the same thing, use those core muscles you have to lower down, feet below the knees, robot arms, right, fingertips up, press through your heels and the points of your elbows to lift your hips, to lift lift lift the chest, walking your shoulder blades underneath you toward one another and the hands can just rest on the belly, plant your feet evenly, open up and extend through the quads and hip flexors, open up the heart, right, heart space, like maybe that's what you wander through the rest of your day or week is with that big wide open playful beginner's mind heart, kind, full of gratitude, stoked to be alive, slowly lower down, upper back, mid back, low back, bottom to the feet together, palms facing up, arms wide from the body, take a deep breath, exhale everything away, this is your reward, a little bit of rest and straighten your legs all the way up, calm relaxed breaths, allow the extended exhale to take you, just to take you into this place of contentment and relaxation. As always, you can stay as long as you'd like, or you can start to wake the body up, moving through the fingers, the toes, you bend the knees, roll the ankles, roll to your right side, rest your head on your right arm there, knees bent and press up to sit, we meet again my friend, all right, take the arms overhead, breathe in and let's close with the hands at the chest, at the heart, namaste.