Yoga for meditation

Yoga for meditation

YOGA WITH SACHIN 

He welcome to Yoga With Sachin . I'm Sachin and today we havean awesome practice that's gonna help you just get that little boost to feel your best. So hop into something comfy and let's get started. (bright music) Alrighty my friends, welcome. Let's begin today's practice in a nice comfortable seat of your choice. So you can come into a crossed-legged seat, Sukhasana. You can even begin this first bit of pranayama on the edge of your couch. If you're feeling good maybe youjust went on a run or something, you want to sit in Virasana on your knees. Right-o. But after you make your decisionlet's lean right in to make today's practice as glorious andas efficient as possible so that we can get you feelin' your best. So when you've found your seat, sit up nice and tall. Bringing your attention and your awareness to the line that runs from your crown to the base of the spine, your tail. And just notice where you are,quite literally, today. Like are you kind of shifting forward? Is it really hard to sit up tall? Are you starting to notice the benefits of your daily practice kind of start to pay off here?Wink, wink.

 So just notice. I know when I first started practicing, it's hard for me to talk with my eyes closed, that it was really difficult forme to sit up tall in meditation. Now I feel much more at ease here. So wherever youare just lean in, notice. And then let's all close theeyes if we haven't already. Just soften through yourfingertips wherever you are and we're gonna inhale.Take a deep breath in. Fill all four sides of the torso with air. Really dropping that breath into your belly. And then exhale, let it out through the mouth as you relax your shoulders. Twice more just like that. Little deeper, little longerwith the breath each time. Here we go, big inhale, fill up. Nothing fancy, exhale,empty it out. And one more time, big inhale. Breath travels down as you breathe in. And then we flip the direction of the breath. It comes up as we exhale out through the mouth. Beautiful, bring the palms together at your heart. Bring your head toward your heart. Your chin towards your chest. Now with the eyes closed,set a little intention here. Something that's gonna help you feel your best. You can maybe complete the sentence, "I choose..." Fill in the blank. And start to breathe deep as youfeel this deep stretch in the back of the neck and the traps,the upper back body. Lower body's nice and heavy. Excellent. If you've landed on something,go ahead and repeat it. Consider it already done. Imagine it already so as youquietly repeat your intention. Just trust that whatever came up, (clicks tongue) it's the right thing. Okay, and then slowly let's release. We'll bring the head back up. Head over heart, heart over pelvis. If you're not in a cross-legged seat you can still do this next little ditty. Just catch up with us when you need to or go ahead and transition now. Alright, left hand's gonna reachall the way up towards the sky. And then exhale, bring it all the way down. Inhale, right fingertips reachall the way up towards the sky. Exhale, bring it all the way down. Now both arms. Fingertips are gonna go behind the ears as you reach all the way up. Big breath in. Stretching through all four sides of the torso. The front, the back, side to side, reach, reach, reach. And then on your exhale you'regonna send your right hand to your left knee for a twist.Seated twist here. Breathing down into the belly. Again, that directional breathas you breathe in and then think of the breath coming up and outthrough the nose as you exhale. Inhale to lift and lengthen. Grow a little bit taller in the spine. Exhale to twist just a little bit deeper. Maybe send your gaze gently past your left shoulder. Then for one more cycle ofbreath here 

Now both arms, fingertipsare gonna go behind the ears. Engage it through your core, your center, draw the navel in and up as youreach the fingertips all the way up towards the sky.Big breath, big stretch. And then exhale, nice, easy twist to your right. So left hand to comes to the right knee, right fingertips behind. And we want to try to maintainthat head over heart here. So if you're collapsing back here, let's see if we can work in time to bring the head over the heart, heart over the center. And if you feel like that's impossible, you might sit up on a blanket or a towel. Lift the hips up. Okay, we're breathing here. Keep the chest lifting. Notice where you might be gripping or holding. See if you can soften withevery exhale and sit up a little taller with every inhale. Again, find that directional breath. As you breathe down,belly expands. Relax the shoulders as you breathe out. 

Wgonna take our fingertipsforward and continue this forward motion, mertion, all the way to all fours. So find your Tabletop Position. Try to be meticulous right away. Wrists underneath the shouldersso you're stacking the bones. Knees right underneath the hip points. So not too wide, not too narrow. Then spread your fingers super wide like starfish. Upper arm bones rotate out, externally, away from your chest and theelbow creases shine forward. Then press firmly into the tops of the feet here, inhale in. Exhale, claw through the fingertips. Start to hug the low ribs up and in here. Again, still pressing into the tops of the feet. Beautiful, neck is nice and long. Gaze is straight down. So we have this nice, engagedactive Tabletop Position. We're gonna put it to thetest by curling the toes under, inhaling in, and exhaling,lifting the knees, letting them hover. You'll start to feel your low belly turn on. Upper arm bones still rotating out. We're breathing here. We're starting to find that shake, that prana, that sensation that reminds us oh, we are alive and well. We're here for three, two,knees kiss the earth on the one. Uncurl the toes, drop the belly,open the chest, Cow Pose. Breathe in, soften your gaze or close your eyes. Really feel what's going on in the spine today. Spinal column and then here we go, exhale, chin to chest. Same thing. Really paying attention to this sensation. Alright, then keep it flowing. With you breath, inhale, drop the belly. Exhale, round through. Inhale, drop the belly. Exhale, round through. Now keep it going on your own. And if you like you can start to veer off the railroad tracks a little bit. Finding what feels good.

 Checking in with different partsof the body based on where you are today or where you are in your practice. And you can always just stay within the structure. But I say like, especially ifyou're at home and like you're wearing whatever you want andyou're in the comfort of your own space I say get a little freaky. So you can start to check in with the shoulders.

 Check in with the side body. Awesome, then reel it backin to that Tabletop Position. Once again, we're gonna curl the toes under. We're gonna find our foundation. . You're pressing away from the yoga mat. Feeling this hollowing through the upper back body and this hollowing through the abdominal wall. You're here for three. Find a softness in the jaw, two. And on the one, release. This time we're gonna bring the big toes together, knees as wide as your mat. Inhale to drop the belly. Exhale, take it to the right,round through, come through Extended Child's Pose. Sigh it out a little bit here. Ah! And then keep the circle goingas you take it to the left and now come all the way forward once again. Now keep it going here. Beautiful circle. Opening up through the hips, the legs, the side body,the shoulder girdle, the neck. The palms, the forearms. Try to stay nice and awake. Brighten your toes, keep the toes pressing down into the earth. When you feel ready,reverse your circle. Reverse it. And then same thing here. You can kinda go a little freestyle here. If you find a little catch andyou want to work in the catch, go for it. If you find, oh man, this Extended Child's Pose just feels awesome. I'm gonna chill here whili keeps talking. . 

 So hips up. Alright, if the heart's melting down, let's take the palms and bring 'em together. Walk the elbows forward. Melt your heart a little more. Feel that stretch in the tricepand the shoulder as you take your little shark fin up andbehind the nape of the head, the neck, behind the head. And then if you're lifted here,if you're not back, let's take a couple moments hereto check in with the neck by bringing one ear to one shoulder and the other ear to the other shoulder. Fabulous.Take a big inhale in. Exhale, let's come all the way back up. You're gonna keep the knees wide. Big toes stay together. Left hand presses away from the earth.

 As you open up through the chest, you can imagine pulling a little bow and arrow. Why does it have to be little? Let's say pulling a big bowand arrow all the way across the chest as you reach up towards the sky. Again, integrate breath and movement, marry them togetheras you inhale, reach forward. Exhale, come all the way through. Thread the needle. Right fingertips underneaththe bridge of the left arm. Great, bring you right ear to the earth. Inhale in. Exhale out. Ground through the left palm. Inhale to reach for the sky. Exhale, thread the needle. One more time, inhale,reach for the sky. And exhale, twist. Take one cycle of breath here. Breathe into your belly. And then slowly release. Right hand comes to the earthand big inhale to reach the left fingertips to the sky. Try to keep the knees wide. As you exhale, thread the needle. Soft and easy. Take a cycle of breath here just on this first one. Feel it out. And then marrying the action to the breath, breath to the action. Inhale, left fingertips reach towards the sky. We open up through the chest. Exhale, thread the needle. Inhale, open. Big bow and arrow here.  - Howdy everyone. Welcome to Yoga With Adriene. I'm Adriene and today we havean awesome practice that's gonna help you just get thatlittle boost to feel your best. So hop into something comfy and let's get started. (bright music) Alrighty my friends, welcome. Let's begin today's practice in a nice comfortable seat of your choice. So you can come into a crossed-legged seat, Sukhasana. You can even begin this first bit of pranayama on the edge of your couch. If you're feeling good maybe youjust went on a run or something, you want to sit in Virasana on your knees. Right-o. But after you make your decisionlet's lean right in to make today's practice as glorious andas efficient as possible so that we can get you feelin' your best. So when you've found your seat, sit up nice and tall. Bringing your attention and your awareness to the line that runs from your crown to the base of the spine, your tail. And just notice where you are,quite literally, today. Like are you kind of shifting forward? Is it really hard to sit up tall? Are you starting to notice thebenefits of your daily practice kind of start to pay off here?Wink, wink. So just notice. I know when I first started practicing, it's hard for me to talk with my eyes closed, that it was really difficult forme to sit up tall in meditation. Now I feel much more at ease here.

 Exhale, as you take it over. Belly toward the top of your right thigh. If it doesn't come close,no worries. It's just that intention of kindof working towards something and not shying away. So breathe deep here,wherever you are. In time you might work to getthat head to knee pose that this shape is named after. Another option is to take thefold and bring it more into the left low back by sending your left hand over towards your right ankle. And then just so you get a little boost, a little energy, go aheadand soften your head. Let the weight of your head relax. Now take a couple solid breaths here. And then just notice where your thoughts go. Typically when we kind ofknow what a shape looks like, we've seen it on the magazine cover or whatever, just let that go. (chuckles) It ain't worth it, let it go.Focus on the sensation. Take this precious time for youand enjoy it and you're awesome and you're doing the work. Body's gonna be smiling after this. Alright, one more breath. Feel free to bend your rightknee as generous as you need. Be kind to that left hamstring. Cool and then slowly release. Nice, easy twist here as we takethe right hand to the left knee.

 Just gentle twist to the left. Alright, inhale, lift the chest. Breathe into your belly. And then exhale, release. Awesome. Okay, we're gonna do the same little ditty on the other side and then we're gonna close it out. You're doing great. Right heel comes in towards the center. Go and extend the left leg out long. If your leg's so tight,you're not alone here, that you're already kind ofstarting with a super bend, embrace it, keep it, love it. It's all good. Alright, so part of lookingand feeling your best is kind of rewiring our thoughts and ourlanguage around how we work with our bodies and how we see ourself so just be kind. Here we go.Plugging that left femur in. Shifting gears so we can find that active leg. And when you're ready, inhale,both fingertips behind the ears as you reach up. And then think up and over as we reach toward the left foot. And then feel freeto experiment here, right? Like you're not stuck. This isn't a photoshoot so breathe into your belly. See how this side is different from the other side. Notice when you get frustrated. Experiment. Eventually, taking time to relaxthe weight of the head over. And then this is it. We're almost done so listento the sound of your breath. Let it soothe you. Let your time spent on the mat fray any weary nerves or worries. Stretching' out,use your breath. And then when you're ready,we will release. Counter twist here.Left hand to the right knee. Inhale, lift your heart. 

Msjust a bit here. Breathe, breathe, breathe. Beautiful and then we'll release. It's spring time in Austin whenwe're shooting this and when it's coming out live so we're gonna end with a Cobbler's Pose or a butterfly, (chuckles) Baddha Konasana. So bring the soles of the feet together. We're gonna start with hands onthe ankles here just so you can really drop, drop down through again the femur, the thigh bone.  Take a big inhale in. And then exhale, try to keep that length. So we're not gonna round. You're gonna keep that length asyou bend your elbows and you're gonna send your gaze to kindof look in an imaginary pond. Just try to see your reflection. And I always joke, it's a badjoke but it's always like that moment in Zoolander when he'slike looking in the puddle and asking, "Who am I?" So give yourself that image.

 It's gonna keep the spine nice and long. But also just kind of reflectback to remind you even if it's in the silliest of ways that youknow this time is for you to be with yourself, to check in with yourself, take care of yourself. Alright, maybe send your heart a little bit forward. A little more forward for this last breath. Taking stock with the hips and then slowly release. 

 Exhale lots of love out. Thanks everyone. Let us know how this little ditty went for you in the comment section down below. Hope you're doing well. Share this blog with a friendwho you think might enjoy it. Heck, share it with an enemy too! The world needs more yoga.I love you guys. Thanks for sharing your time andyour energy with me and with all the amazing folks who showed up to practice today. Take good care. Namaste. (bright music)