Invest in Yourself

Hey there. Welcome to yoga anytime. My name is Robert, and this is a vinyasa core style class. This may ask a little extra effort from you, which you will reap all of the benefits from. I like to think of this as like a centered strength kind of class and offering. So without further ado, let's start at the front of the mat We'll start with some sun salutations to warm the body up and get kind of connected.

So take your time, roll your mat out. I have one block that we may use. So it's kind of an optional thing. Take your time to grab whatever you need to get your practice going. Come to the front of the mat, bring your feet about hip width and just kind of begin to lift toes and wander around the bottoms of your feet, starting to feel that connection to ground, to earth, to floor.

Take a few nice deep breaths. The intention that I'll offer you is to invest in yourself. Invest in yourself this practice today, this morning, this evening, wherever you are. Take the arms up as you breathe in. Nice generous breath in.

Reach up, look up, press the palms together, and exhale the hands to the heart. Let the arms come down, inhale open out and wide. Breath in. Exhale hands to heart. Kind of sealing the intention every time, invest in myself.

Invest in myself. Let the arms come back down. Breathe in. Take it all in. This time take it all the way down, forward fold. Inhale half lift, exhale fold, Now, wander just to, like, loosely in the forward fold. This might be the first one of the day, so bend and straighten, kinda like you wouldn't downward dog, those natural movements from side to side, that's involving the hip.

So the first sun salutation We'll take our time to just kind of lubricate the body. Walk back into downward dog. Feed hip width or wider. You can bring them closer if you'd like. It's up to you. But again, that organic based on feeling, based on how your body responds, downward dog moves.

We call him downward dog moves. Peddling one leg straight, one leg bent. Spreading your fingers nice and wide, plugging into all of those pads and surfaces of the hand to feel connected, grounded. Plank pose, breath in, Okay. Hover here for a moment. Maybe send your hips from side to side.

Good. Starting to feel a little tension or good stress in the shoulders and upper core. Bring the knees down for this one. Bend the elbows, exhale all the way down. Point the toes back.

Gentle little cobra here to start, up and down, maybe two or three times. Pull the shoulders back, elbows back toward the side body, breathe in. Cobra, breathe out, release. Breathe in Robert. Again, kind of assessing back now. How's your back?

Okay. This time, cobra, into dog pose, curl the toes under, press, lift up and back. Land. Now, tip toe, the feet forward to the front of the mat. Find your forward fold, exhaling. Inhale half lift.

Yeah. Exhale fold. Inhale, bend the knees, rise up, reach up, and exhale, hands to heart, invest in myself, put the time in. Okay. Let the arms come back down. Breathe in. Reach up, stretch up, exhale forward fold.

Body feels a little different by now. Half lift breath in. Breath out downward dog. Inhale plank, knees or not, exhale lower, point the toes back, cobra, inhale, curl the toes downward facing dog, land, breathe, feel. Okay. Walk it forward to the front of the mat, tiptoe, big steps, little steps, half lift, breath in.

And fold exhale. Let it all go. Open the knees rise up. Breathe in. Breathe out, hands to heart.

Let the arms come back down by the Sidoti, palms open, inhale reach out and up, and exhale forward fold once again. Inhale half lift. Walk back into downward dog. Breathe in here. Breathe out. Move into plank.

Bring the right knee to the right elbow. Let's say toward the elbow or higher. Step back into downward dog inhale, exhale left knee, left elbow, left arm, downward dog inhale, exhale right. Good, down dog inhale, exhale left. Down dog inhale, exhale right.

And left. One more right, and one more left. Downward dog, generous breath in, breath out. Bring the knees down. Curle the toes and press up into this tall kneeling position. Now, curl the toes, lean back, tuck the tailbone a bit, lean back. So you've got neutral pelvis.

And as far as you can go safely, right? Lean right here, like about a quarter of the way back, halfway back. You should feel some good tension in the thighs. Now take the left arm, reach up as high as you can, and turn the body to the right just a bit. Hello? Right hand toward the right heel. Push the left hip forward. Good. And now kind of come out of it a bit and switch sides. So now the right arm reaches left hand toward the left heel lean back a bit.

Good. And then switch, left arm high, right hand back. Perfect. Again, so this is nice for kind of opening, stretching the front of the body, but also starting to add a little stabilization and strength to the thighs. Quads, but one more to the left as you reach up, one more to the right. Perfect. Table top. Now in tabletop, toes stay curled, knees lift, neutral spine. So try not to tuck the tailbone too much or let the tailbone draw too high. So feel that midsection muscle area working.

Take the feet out toward the edge of the mat, walk the hands back, keep the knees where they are, like as far as height goes, walk back into a squat. Nice. And then walk back into the knee lifted tabletop position. You can even walk your toes a little bit farther forward like you're trying to tap the knees to the elbows walk them back, push back into squat again. Really nice. One more time.

So walk into that tabletop with the knees lifted. Tip toe, the feet forward, so the knees might tap the elbows. Good. Just another way to kinda like keep the core engaged and work on that stability through the arms, walk back into the squat. Nestle in there a little bit. Take the left hand down toward the mat, left arm to the inside of the left arm or left leg, and reach the right arm high.

Breath in. Good. Right hand down. Left arm high. Breathe in. Perfect.

Breathe out. Pause in Malasana. Sort of wander around the hips a little bit. One more breath, breathe in, try to lengthen that spine a bit, then breathe out, walk back into that tabletop. That familiar friend of ours, Bring the knees down. Good, cat cow, inhale cow pose, exhale cat. Inhale to a neutral spine, stable centered core.

Take the left leg back toes down for now. I'm gonna move up on the mat just a tiny bit. Alright. Now push that left heel back, extend the right arm with the thumb facing up. Now feel free to lift the left leg. Try not to arch the back too much with this one.

Keep the belly muscles engaged, neutral spine. Inhale to extend, pointed left toes back. Exhale, knee draws in, and the right elbow draws in. Inhale, extend, and exhale. Inhale, extend, and exhale one more time. Exale, hug it in, hug it in, hug it in. Now extend all the way out.

Bring the right hand down. The left toes down. Stay in this shape and bring the right arm high. Breat in. Open up. Bring the right hand down, almost like you're working into a threading of the needle, and then inhale, bring it back up.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Bring it down. Breathe in. Open up. Breathe out down and in. One more time.

Breathe in. Open up. Breathe out down and in. Good back to center. Now bring the left foot down to the mat, slide the right foot open. My back is to you. I apologize.

We'll meet again soon on the other side, but bring the left arm high. Nice little side plank here, but let's go for a stretchy side plank. Slide the left foot back behind the right and reach that left arm overhead like you would like an extended side angle pose. Now, from the outer edge of the left foot, all the way through the left fingertips, get long, get long and open. Super nice. Now, bring it back into tabletop, good, lift the knees, take the feet out toward the edge of the mat, walk yourself back into squat, look forward, arms forward, rise up. Good.

Inhale, lower down, exhale up. Inhale, exhale. So 10 times three, four, Five, try to keep the spine as sort of neutral as you can. Six, keeping the chest upright. Seven, eight, nine, 10 drop back down into squat, walk into plank pose, hold your plank. We're gonna go five taps on each side. So like a mountain climber. So One time right, one time left, two right, two left, three right, three left, four right, four left, five, five, bonus six, bonus six, bonus seven, bonus seven, bonus eight, eight, nine, nine, 10, 10 downward dog.

Good job. So I initially said five, but I figured why not add a couple more in. We're investing. I took a little risk there. Maybe it'll pay off in the end. Deep breathe in.

Big breath out. Good, plank, into table. Try the other side. So toes are curled or flat. That's a personal preference for this one.

Extend the right leg back, extend the left arm from facing up. Option, right leg lifting or keeping it down, neutral spine, core stable, point through those right toes, exhale, elbow, and knee draw in. Inhale extend, exhale two of five. Inhale extend, exhale three. Exale four.

XL five. Now fully extend out. Bring the left hand down. Keep the right foot long back behind you. Now inhale the left arm high. Twist.

XL thread it under a bit five times. Inhale up. Exhale under. Inhale up. Exale under. I think that's four.

Inhale up. XL under five. Inhale up. Bring that left hand down. Now slide the left foot over a bit for balance. Right foot over as well with the heel down.

This is where I said, I'd meet you again. Here we are. So left hand elbow shoulder stacked pretty well. Slide the right foot back even more and take the right arm high. Good.

Now add that stretch. So right palm facing down, extend it, overhead, slide that right foot back even more, then push through the right foot and push and pull through the right hand and arm. Open up breath in. Good. Exit back to table. Lift the knees, take the feet wide, hold, walk back into your squat, open those toes a little bit to accommodate to sit the hips, Good. Now look forward.

Arms forward. Push through the heels and rise. Good. So we go with the arms out as we lower, down by the sides as we lift. There's one of 10. Good. Two.

Three. And when you come up, try to get really engaged in all of the muscles. Four. Five. Six. Doing great. Seven. Eight, nine, 10, squat back down mountain climbers, then we'll switch things up. Walk back out into your plank.

Feel free to bring the knees down for this. We'll do 10, on each side. So one, one, two, two, three, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 10 downward dog. Ah, get that heart rate up a little bit. Feel the sweat coming. Good body's warming.

Walk forward to the front of the mat. Inhale half lift and fold exhale. Rise up inhale, and exhale hands to heart. Okay. Let's continue. Bring the arms down out and up as you breathe in.

Breathe out forward fold. Breathe in, half lift. Breathe out, walk back into plank, our friend, plank. Lower down halfway if you've got that. All the way if you prefer updog or cobra, breath in, breath out downward dog.

Lift your right leg up, inhale, exhale step it through toward the thumb, inhale high lunge. Power lunge. That means the body leans forward about 45 degrees and what that does is that it sort of well, it asks of you to engage your core, which is what we're looking for. It brings a little more strengthen to that front leg. Push long through the back leg.

It's also really nice in extending the spine, so you're not here bound up in your back. There we go. Enough of that. Hands to heart. Now we're gonna step tall, bringing the left knee. Hi. So a nice little balance pose. Okay. Hands to heart for now.

Find your balance. Warrior three. Put a little bend in that right knee. Extend the left leg back, point through the toes of the left foot, hands can rest at the heart or out wide. Step back into that power lunge, Feel your power for a moment. Nice. Hands to heart, come to stand one more time.

Bring that left knee high, high, high, warrior three fly even higher here. So good. Good. Step back. High lunge, breath in, breath out plank pose. Pause in plank.

Tip the heels to the left side plank. Reach the right arm high. Side plank on the right arm, heels to the right. Open up that big wing on the left. Use those core muscles, those fancy core muscles on the right side, those obliques, back into plank, breath in, breath out lower to your level, inhale for your backbend, and downward dog.

Take a breath, gather yourself. Left leg lifts inhale. The left foot steps up toward that left thumb. As a general kind of position there, right? High lunge, into that power lunge, start to find that focus needed for the balance coming up So hands to heart, bend that back leg, shoot up to stand. Super nice.

Warrior three. Get extended in long in that back leg and in the spine, arms wide, if you'd like. Five. Power lunge, step back with grace, reach the arms up with intention, engage, focus, balance, fly. Warrior three. Step back. Power for a Robert.

Inhale high, exhale plank. Side plank on the left arm, peel it open, open up. Good. Sidoti plank on the right. Feel it open, open up. Perfect.

Lower yourself to plank. Breathe in. Lower all the way down. Point your toes back. Engage the legs.

Push the tops of your feet down hard into the mat. Lift the hands up off of the mat. Pull your elbows back, opening the shoulders and chest a bit, lift up for a gentle cobra. Keep pushing the feet down, engaging those legs. Nothing to see forward or up, so keep the head in line with the spine.

Inhale, reach the arms forward. Lower yourself down. Exhale, lift the chest, lift the arms, and then pull the elbows back towards your seat. Inhale, reach forward and down. Exhale lift.

Inhale and exhale. Get that back body strength, back body core. Number five, exhale. Going to 10. Six.

Good. Seven. Eight. And nine, and ten, bring the hands down to the mat, lift up a little bit more, lean the left tip over to the left, look over the right shoulder. Hey, lift the head over to the left Sidoti, drop the right hip. Super nice. Now, all the way back up into that kneeling position, This time, the toes are pointed back, not curled, unless you need that or prefer that.

Drop the tailbone down, squeeze the glutes, engage the core, lean back. When you start to feel like, okay, that's enough for me. Take the right or left arm high and bring the right hand down toward the right foot or the mat, not push the hips up and reach up. Breath in. Breath out. Stay stable and strong here.

Left hand down, right arm reaching. So it's like a version of camel pose, but we're adding little less backbend and more strength and stability, which I prefer. And it's been incredible for my leg strength and knee health over the years. Now, come at center, little ones back and forth for about five. So lower and lift.

Lower and lift. Go down to your desired level. Could just be sitting right here and you can flirt with Campbell if you prefer or reach up and just stay right here. We'll get two more though. Good.

Down dog, kind of a reset here. Good job on those. If they're new to you, try to bring them into your practice a little bit more. They are extremely valuable. Take the feet out toward the edge of the mat.

We're gonna walk back into Malasana, so bend those knees, drop on down. And then when you're ready, come down to sit. And from that sitting position, take the hands back behind you, bring the feet out about as wide as the mat, and just a nice little release. Slash combo stretch, windshield wiper, left and right a few times. As you drop the knees to the left, pull the right, shoulder back, open up that side. And when you're coming from side to side, you almost have to like lift your butt up a little bit to recenter.

Otherwise, you will wander around the mat. That's okay to wander. Okay. Back to center. Maybe bring yourself to the center of the mat. Your feet stay about hip hip or wider distance.

Bring the left arm and the right arm out in front of you. Sit up nice and tall. This is like the midway point in between right and left sides. So the right hand comes back behind you. Point your fingers back. Make sure your shoulder is good.

Press bring the heels back in a little bit and press up and reach back. So crab reach. That's how I learned it. Lower down. Back to that center point.

So core engaged. Switch left hand back, right arm reaching up and back. Do three on each side. Inhale up for two. Two.

Last one on the right arm, left arm reaching, little backbend. Perfect. Up Two center, bring the feet a little closer together, grab hold of the hamstrings, behind the legs there, lean back while keeping the chest open and the spine neutral. Lift the feet up off the mat. There's your boat pose.

If you'd like to straighten the legs a little bit more, release the hands, go for that. Here's where I'm not going to do it now because I'm already in the pose, but if you'd like to stop and put a block in between your thighs, That's definitely a good way to keep the legs nice and honest. If you're not, maybe flex the feet or point the toes. Maybe even straighten those legs, reach, boat for five. For four. For three. Keep those quads engaged. Two.

And one. Feed down. Bring the feet to the front of the mat. Lower, nice and slow, hug the knees in, rock a little side to side. Okay. So this can be One of a few ways. Reach the arms overhead.

Keep the legs bent for now. Lift the shoulders and reach toward like you're trying to touch your ankles. Okay? So that would be a nice way to begin. Just that. We call them sort of like hugs.

If you want to extend your legs up or straight out and return, that's an option also. 10 times you choose two. Three, four. Point those toes, keep those legs engaged. Six, seven.

Eight, good work, nine, ten, pause, feet down on the mat. Now this one's kinda nice. You take your hands behind your head, mindful of your neck, right? No pulling or yanking on the neck. Now lift the knees, bring the feet together and the knees wide like you would for bound angle pose. Now on the exhale, try to lift the low back up off of the mat and bring the knees and elbows toward one another. 10.

Nine. Eight. Good. Seven. Six, keep going. So you get the uppers, the middles, the lowers. We'll call that four.

Three. Two. Hold, hold, hold, and relax. Good feet below the knees, arms alongside the body, press up for a complimentary bridge pose. Super nice. Now you stretch the abdominals a bit after kind of shortening and contracting them, and also the same with your hip flexors, bringing the shoulders toward one another, the shoulder blades, You can clasp your hands underneath you, if you'd like, if that adds a little extra value.

If that doesn't, and it brings discomfort to your neck, release them and place your hands on your waistline. Keep the breath active. Starting to wind down. Now undo the shoulders, the shoulder blades, connect to the middle of the back, lift the heels and lower slowly down. Good.

Extend the left leg out, hug the right leg in, but actually, maybe in reverse order, shift the hips over to the left or to the right a little bit. Now extend the left leg, hug the right leg in, twist to the left. Reach the right arm out. There we go. You can keep the right leg bent or feel free to straighten it. Soften the right shoulder. And shoulder blade toward the ground.

Full yet relaxed in the breath as we're moving toward Shavasana shortly. You've invested with some of the hard work, so good job. Bend the right leg pull it in toward the body to roll out gently to center. Perfect. Now shift your hips over to the left side of the mat, straighten the right leg, bend the left leg, Now guide that left knee across the body toward the right side. As you're doing that, you're finding that space and ground through the upper back and shoulders.

Soften the eyes and facial muscles and know that, well, I think you've done enough for now. Unless you're super excited and you want to rewind and do it again from the top, which would be cool. Okay. Slowly back out, so bring the knee in first This is just a nice way to exit for the low back. Good. Send to yourself on the mat.

Take the feet out wide, draw the knees in toward one another. This one for me feels nice in the sacrum, creates a little space there in those little joints, the Sidoti joint. You can tip a little side to side like you're massaging that precious base of the spine. Palms facing up, starting to receive the messages from the relaxing angels. God's, it's okay. You can relax now.

Stretch the legs out, make yourself a nice cozy little resting bed for yourself. Let's take a full breath in together. So inhale now, hold it and even take a sip of a breath more, like, breathe in, create a lot of like tension. Squeeze the fist, squeeze the muscles in the legs, and then exhale, release everything. All the muscles, all the breath, all the effort, Allow the breath to soften your intention to soften everything relax for now.

Please feel free to relax and rest as long as you'd like or join me seated. Sit up nice and tall. If you're joining, you can close your eyes if you'd like. Just wanna say I acknowledge your effort. I see you even though I can't really see you.

I see you. And I feel it because I just did it myself and I know how rewarding that can be to show up and fully invest and give back to this amazing body. So we'll end with that. Just super grateful blessed for the body, for the breath, for the practice, Namaste. I'll see you next time.

Have a beautiful day, night.