Strength and Vitality

Hey there. Welcome to yoga anytime. My name is Robert, and this is what I'd like to call a full body workout type class. It's going to ask of you I think to show up and to maybe have to work a little bit, but embrace it, lean into it, and this is an opportunity. This is not anything you've got to do. So let's get going.

We're gonna start and downward dog, and that's where we'll align with our breath and everything. So Come on in. Join me downward dog. Alright. Hands about shoulder width. Feet kind of hip width or wider. And then just start to kind of get into that Without feeling rushed, right, we're not rushed here, but we are getting this started.

So feel it out. How's your breath? Invite in some very intentional, deliberate, fulfilling, breaths, inhale, and exhale. And, again, I'm gonna sort of lean to that intention today of just this is an opportunity. It's a gift. It's a blessing to be able to move and stretch and feel and challenge yourself. And you're right here right now embarking on that.

So if that resonates with you, lean into it yourself. And if you struggle, allow the struggle to be there. The struggle is real, as they say. Certain things And, you know, we'll come out on the other side with a big smile on our face and a little sweat possibly. Okay. So we're moving into plank now.

So come right on into plank. Risk elbow shoulders, stacked, strong, deliberate, braced through the core. Bring your hands a little bit closer together. This will help with this next little thing. And this is just to kinda light up the core and full body. What you're gonna do is kinda lean a little bit to that left hand, take the right hand, and tap the left shoulder.

Do the same left hand, right shoulder. Try to do this without swaying your hips side to side. And by doing that, by just thinking, don't sway my hips side to side. You're going to engage some nice little muscles in the legs and the core, and we're going side to side right now. We're tapping left and right.

Right to left for 33. 2. 2. 1. 1. Good job. Alright.

So already, we got a little heat going. Lean forward onto the toes. Breathe in. Breathe out. Lower yourself down. Perfect.

Take the hands out wide up onto the fingertips. Press the chest upward or lift the chest upward and maybe look over the left shoulder. Look over the right. And as you're looking over the right shoulder, drop the hips to the left, look over the left shoulder, drop the right hip. Take the gaze forward.

Come up and down. A couple times. I like to also, in in addition to painting the fingers, is pushing to the heels of the palms with the fingers pointing wide, and then you can roll those shoulders back. Just start to get into the low back, the mid back, the shoulders. So you're breathing in as you lift, you're breathing out as you lower. One more time.

Breathe in. Maybe stay lean a little bit. Rock a little side to side. Just kinda say hello to the back. Okay. Lower yourself down.

Bring the hands alongside your rib cage. Pull the shoulders back. Inhale for your cobra, maybe even updog lifting the knees hips. Now down dog, back to where we started. Walk the hands to the back of the mat.

All the way to the toes. Half lift. Slide the fingers up the shins toward the knees. Breathe in. Breathe out. Fold. In the right leg, bend the left. Link them the spine.

Twist open to the right. Breathe in. And breathe out. Bring it down. Breathe in. Left arm reaches up.

Twist to the left. Bring it down. Exhale. Inhale. Open up to the right. Exhale. Down. Inhale. Left.

Good. One more to the right. Breathe in. Open. Expand. Breathe out. Fold in. Open.

Expand to the left side. Breathe out. Come on to the fingertips. You know, about a foot out in front of your, your toes. Bend the knees.

Straight in the knees. Bend the knees or bend the legs. Straight in the legs. Just kinda bringing some attention to the knees. The ankles.

Perfect. He'll toe the feet out toward the edge of the mat. He'll stay on the mat. Upper portion of the feet off. So feet like 45 degrees drop down into squat. Malasana. Go ahead. A little left to right.

A little sway. Now, bring the arms out in front of you. Maybe palms up. Receiving the strength you'll need. No, it's not that big.

So look forward. Engage the core, pelvic floor. Breathe in. Breathe out all the way up to stand. Inhale. Lower yourself down. XL. We'll do 10.

Kinda juice up the legs a little bit. XL 3. Bring him out to to lower. Bring them down by your side to come up. 4. 5.

6. Perfect. 7. 8. 9.

Now, breathe in. Reach the arms overhead. Breathe out. Hands to heart, squat back down. Walk back out into downward facing dog. Take a deep breath in.

Let a big breath out. Walk your feet to the front of the mat. Inhale half lift. Exhale fold. Inhale rise up.

Good hands to heart. Exhale. Inhale. Reach up and back. Exhale forward fold. Inhale. Half lift. Exhale. Walk back to plank.

Lower yourself down halfway or all the way. Cobra up dog on the breath in. Breath out, down dog. Inhale plank, exhale dog pose reach back, touch the left calf shin or toes. Inhale plank.

Exhale. Left hand, right, leg, or foot. Inhale. Exhale. Exhale. Left to right.

Inhale plank. Exhale right to left. Inhale. Exhale. Left to right. One more each side.

Exhale right to left. Exhale left to right. Good. Plank pose. Breathe in. Breathe out lower.

Inhale backbend. Exhale dog pose. Land there. Take a breath or 2. Still warming up. Look forward to the front of the mat.

Breathe in. And as you breathe out, I like to come up onto the fingertips. Step the right foot, step the left foot forward fold exhale. Inhale half lift, exhale fold. Inhale rise up. Exhale hands to heart.

Inhale reach up and back. Exhale forward fold. Inhale half lift. Excel plank pose. Alright. We did these earlier.

Walk the hands a little closer together. This will assist. You can take your feet a little bit wider. Right hand, left shoulder. Left to right back and forth.

So at your own pace without leaning side to side. 33 2, 2, 1. 1. Okay. Pause and plank. Take a breath in. Gather yourself.

Read out. Shift the heels over to the left. You can stack or stagger the feet Sidoti plank. Another option would be to bring the left knee down or the right foot out in front. All good options.

I'll stagger back. Open up. Take a big breath in. Other Sidoti. Right hand down. Pivot over to the right.

You've got the options I gave you. Side plank. Hold. Inhale. Exhale. Plank.

Take a pause. Inhale. Exhale. Lower yourself down again. Inhale for upward. Perfect. Exhale. Downward.

Let's keep this work going. Come back into your plank pose. Come down to your forearms. Lift the hips a little bit. Right knee to right elbow or tricep. Left knee, left arm.

Right. Left. Right. Left. 2 more each side. 2, 2, 1, 1, back up onto plank downward dog. Deep breath in.

Big flushing breath out. Back up onto the fingertips. Inhale. Look forward. Exhale step.

Right. And left. Inhale half lift. Exhale fold. Inhale rise up and exhale.

Hands the heart. Perfect. Now take the arms out in front of you. He'll toe the feet out toward hip width, if they're not there already, keeping the arms out in front of you, bend the knees, sit back into chair pose. So you don't wanna tip the tailbone too far forward or up or tuck it too much, right? So maybe do a little groovy hit movement, finding some kind of neutral position and you'll find that neutral position when you feel those lower abdominals turn on. Keep the spine neutral, sit a little lower.

Arms can reach up overhead if you'd like. Feel the the work being done in the legs. Strong and stable. Now inhale reach up and open. Exhale forward fold.

Inhale half lift. Exhale plank pose. Lower. Inhale upward. Exhale downward. Inhale. The right leg lifts, bend it, open the hip.

Explore those several sensations you may have. Square off the hips. Breathe in. One time knee to elbow. Hold. Inhale, bring it high, exhale step it to the right thumb.

Organize your stance. Feed about hip width when you're ready. Rise up for high lunge. Hold for a moment. Working up a little heat.

Every once in a while, you might find yourself just as I am, getting a little bit out of breath. So Take the time to re center yourself. Check-in. Let's open up into an open arm twist. So the arms are going to open and expand out wide as you turn and twist possibly toward me Possibly we say hi.

Tip back a little bit. See what that feels like? Right hand to the back leg. Left arm with the palm facing back reaching up. Can't challenge the balance a little bit. Back to center and speaking of balance, warrior 3.

Hands rest at the heart. Find your gazing point that Drishti shorten your stance if you'd like to, or launch, focus, find a soft little bend in the right knee, and start to assemble the posture possibly to your liking where you lean forward, you lengthen your spine, the back leg extended, toes pointed possibly. Maybe even look forward a little bit. Bend the right knee. Step back into high lunge, but this time, we're gonna get into power lunge.

So lean the body forward without rounding, spine neutral. Body strong here. Fully committed opportunity, opportunity, gift, that sweat, that burn, and that possible, that right glute. I'm right I'm right there with you. Reach back up.

Breathe in. All the way. Take a little like a high lunge backbend. Then back to neutral. Bring the hands to your heart. Straighten the front leg and step up just a bit.

This is where you can use if you've got blocks, you can use some blocks, pyramid pose, put a soft little bend in the right knee, square the hips, lengthen the spine, and fold. I'll bring them in. I feel like the blocks are so helpful sometimes. Yeah. So I'm gonna put them on the medium. So a nice static pyramid pose. Straight leg pose, parsville, tenasana.

Move the left block in toward the right foot just a bit. You can keep the block on the right there. Now, lengthen come up onto the fingertips or the palm of the left hand, lengthen the spine, and now turn, keep pulling the right hip back, turn and twist to the right. So revolve triangle pose. Keep driving the left heel back. Perfect. Back over to center.

Now take the left block out in front. A little bit farther. Keep the block on the right there. Now, bending to that right leg a bit. Lean forward.

Lift the left leg high. Lengthen the spine. So we're evolved half moon now. Maybe the right hand can rest at the hip, and you turn your chest to the right, or the right arm can reach up. Keep that left leg super strong.

This is a super hard pose for me too. Big breath in. Bring it on down. Step all the way back. Keep the blocks where they are.

Take a pause. Take a breath in this long runner's lunge. Okay. We're gonna flirt with a little standing split. Keep the blocks here or adjust them, maybe a little bit farther forward, if you'd like. Lift off of that back leg. You can keep that back leg parallel with the floor.

I would invite you to really point through the left toes. If you wanna lose the blocks, bring the fingertips to the ground, or maybe even a balancing, bring the hands to your right ankle. And don't worry about how high or low your left leg is. And exhale the left foot down to meet the right. I personally am gonna move the blocks out of the way.

Forward fold. Beautiful. Spinal reset. We'll call it half lift. Bend the knees generously lengthen the spine and exhale fold. Walk back on the mat, maybe just a one full step.

Bring the feet together. Big toes to touch. Sit down into that lovely chair pose. Hands can go right out in front of you. Now take the hands into prayer.

I like to take my right hand to my right thigh. This gives me the ability to then pull the stomach muscles in hook the right elbow across that right thigh, but that left knee is gonna want to come forward. So make sure to pull it back. That helps to align the hips. Palms to the heart.

Breath expands contracts. Good. Slowly come out. You can go right into the other side. So left hand to left thigh. Breathe in. Get long in the spine. Breathe out. Pull the stomach in.

Reach that right elbow across. One side might be easier than the next. Pull the stomach muscles and belly in. Push the palms together and twist. Maintain breath.

Slowly up. Now he'll toe your feet out just a little bit, bend your knees, plant the palms, bring the knees to your triceps or elbows, and don't even think about it. Just lean right into your crow pose. Perfect. Going the feet back down, Malasana. Shake the arms out a little bit.

Feel free to take a little rotation to the right. Oh, little rotation to the left. Downward dog. Good job on all of that. If you were just kind of flirting with Crow, that's amazing. If you locked it in, That's amazing.

If you feel like you really wanna learn Crow, check out some tutorials on the site or work on it on your own. But wherever you were, Give yourself some cred. Lift the left leg up. Bend the knee. Open the hip.

Square the hips. Knee elbow plank. Inhale. Bring it back up. Exhale step it to the left thumb. Organize, feet, hip width, rise up, high crescent lunge.

Open arm twist to the left. So you kinda know by now, we're hitting the left side. So we have those. It's like strong leg postures. If you need to take a break, take a break, or bring a knee down.

Otherwise, let's stay with it and see what we can do together. Bring it back over to center. Hands to heart, warrior 3. And if your warrior 3 keeps you keep the back toes down. Great. Or they're just barely lifted.

That's fine. Find your warrior 3. Length in the back leg. Point through the toes. Lengthen that spine.

Fall out of it a little bit. Catch yourself. So a little sense of humor. Step back. Oh, power lunge. So that right foot is back.

Left leg bent 90 degrees. Lean the body forward. Reach the arms overhead. Breeze. Reach up and back.

Inhale. Maybe even cactus those arms a little bit. Hands to heart, straighten the front leg, pyramid pose. We'll bring those blocks back into play. If that was Interesting to you are helpful. Length in the spine.

Breathe in. Breathe out fold into your desired stretch. Focused on some big, flushing exhalations possibly, calming. Bring the right block little closer to the left foot. Remember your feet are pointing forward.

The hips level and align. Left hand to the hip. Start to turn the chest to the left. Gaze to the left, the left arm high. Revolve triangle.

Now we'll move into out of this and into revolved. Half moon. Left leg is definitely feeling it. I hope yours is feeling it as much as mine. Ah, left leg, her right leg extending back, lengthened the spine, left hand to the hip, Turn to the left.

Left arm reaching, reaching, reaching up. Oh my gosh. Turn twist. Left leg burning. Bring it down with control. Bring that right block back right foot back.

Runners lunge, maybe bend and straighten a few times to get out of that potential burn you may have on the left side. And when I say burn, that's like a good thing, right? The muscle is alive, putting in the work, standing split, lifting the right leg high, so right back into that left leg, potential burn. Fingertips to the ground are the blocks, right leg active, and right foot down to join the left. Inhale half lift.

Exale fold. Move the blocks off to the side. Round 2 of chair with the twist, so bring the feet back a bit Together, sit back into chair, ring the arms out in front of you, hands to heart, breathe in, or breathe out, left elbow across that right thigh, Just the knees to align. Pull the belly in. Press the palms together.

They'll try to really push the left elbow into that right knee to lift out of the pose. Open the chest. Breathe. Slowly back to center. Take a breath.

Inhale. And now exhale right elbow crosses left thigh. Pull all those muscles in in that midsection, palms together, twist, knees aligned, hips aligned, spine is healthy, pushing that right, that right arm into that left knee, open up. Oh, come back out. Palms down. You can take a forward fold to stretch the legs rest.

We're gonna flirt with that crow one more time, so you can take your feet out a little bit wider. Palms down to the ground as you bend your knees. Knees rest on the back of the arms. Above the elbows. Lean, look forward, lift one toe, or both sets of toes.

Hold. Oh, and squat again, Malasana. Oh, good job. Wow. So fun to be able to move through all these different shapes and feel all the different feels. So now downward dog, we'll reset for the spine. Breath, tabletop, cat cow, Inhale lengthen the spine, cow pose, exhale round into cat.

Inhale cow pose, Exale cat. Inhale cow. Exale cat. Good. Onto our back. So come to the seat, organize yourself, roll down with control, use all those strong belly muscles you have, lower down, take a pause.

Feels good to feel supported in the back body, bend the knees in, grab hold of either your shins, ankles, or outsides of your feet for happy baby. Just do what you can to keep the back of the head down. The spine and all of its little natural curves grounded. Hips open. Breadth is supportive.

And the language that you're using right now is supportive to your experience on the mat. Good. Bring the feet down. Take a pause with your hands on the chest, rib cage area. Let me take a breath. Lift the feet. Bend the knees, twist to the right.

You can do a single leg version. I've just been really loving the double lean twist to the right and left. So organize your upper back, your spine, If you feel like you can actually shift before you come into it, shift your hips over to the left and then twist. Ah, to the right. Maybe it feels nice to just keep the the head in that neutral position.

Give yourself space to breathe. Beautiful. With control, come back to center. And as you're coming back to center, shift your hips over to the right side of your mat and draw the knees over to the left. So the hips to the right, knees to the left, shoulder blades are kinda plugged into the mat.

Your right shoulder blade may come up a little bit higher, but that's okay. Left hand can assist that right leg coming down a little bit. And sometimes it's difficult to do in twist, but just as important, is when you're in a deep twist like now or some of the other poses we did, you still wanna work with that expansion on the inhale and that contraction, even like that little tightening of the low belly as you squeeze the last little bit of air out. It's kind of passive core work also. Good. Back out to center.

Align yourself on the mat. Bring the bottoms of the feet, right, to the mat, to the outside of the mat, and draw the knees toward one another. They may touch, they may not. The hands, reach them up and back behind you, bent or straight. So the hands, the arms, the elbows, shoulders, back, everything's grounded.

Just kinda take the knees gently from side to side. Just kinda rolling across the sacrum. A low sort of diamond shaped bone at the base of the spine, cooling down, inviting in longer exhalations as we prepared to rest. Now bring the bottoms of the feet together and do the opposite. The knees now out wide. And I like this gesture with the arms.

If your shoulders allow, it just feels like I've landed in the most comfortable. Like I'm at the beach. Found that sweet spot. Just enough sun. Relax.

If the sun's not too bright, you can have your eyes open, see the sky. Straight in the legs if you'd like. And organize yourself into your most personal, perfectly designed Shavasana resting pose. The exhale, the long deliberate drawn out exhale is the key to relaxing, to relieving anxiety, letting go. So give yourself a few long exhales.

Melt into your mat, to your floor. Please feel free to stay as long as you'd like. Rest is so good, so important, so needed. You can join me and then rest. You can sit at the front of the mat where we began.

Stick the arms up together. Big breath in as you do. And exhale the hands to that beautiful heart. Thank yourself for showing up 1st and foremost. Thank you. See you next time.