– Hi everyone! Welcome to Yoga with Adriene. I’m Adriene, that’s Benji, and today we have an awesome video that is gonna guide you to work with your arms and your abdominal wall. But above and beyond all that we’re gonna focus on our attitude today, wrapping it up into one big beautiful yoga bow so that you feel really good when you step up off your mat and into the rest of your day.
Hop into something comfy and let’s get started. (bright music) Alright pals, let’s begin today’s awesome practice on our backs. Yay. Come on down to the ground. Thanks for selecting this video. Thanks for sharing your time and your energy and your journey with me and Benji and with all the beautiful people practicing with us around the globe. When you come on down to the ground take a deep breath in and as you exhale go ahead and hug your knees into your chest and kind of scoop the tailbone up actively so you can start to feel your low back get nice and flush with the mat. So in my mind I agreed to do this video and really focus not just on creating strength in the abdominal wall and sculpting the arms, because there’s nothing wrong with that, I think that’s awesome.
But I wanted to make sure we also bring an awareness to just the attitude that exists around working with the body and notice I say “with the body” and not “on the body.” And yoga provides us just such an awesome opportunity to go inward and kind of work inward as we’re getting our workout. So just a little food for thought as we work today. I am gonna kind of kick your butt a little so let’s start with a nice easy breezy warm up. You’re gonna hug the knees into the chest. Don’t fret. Take a deep breath in. As you exhale go ahead and let your neck get nice and long here and you can close your eyes and just allow the sound of my voice to guide you here in the beginning. Take a deep breath in again and this time as you exhale relax your shoulders down. And then nice and slow drag your hands to your kneecaps and we’re just going to take the knees around in some gentle circles. So create a nice circular motion here.
Again, eyes can be closed, shoulders relaxed. And we’re gonna start to breathe a little deeper. Oh creaky old floor here coming out to say hello. And again, this is an opportunity for you to yes build strength in your core. And yes, we’ll tone some of the muscles of the arms but it’s yoga so it’s an opportunity to unite and hug up to your inner self. Outer and inner holding hands working together. If you haven’t already, reverse your circle of the knees and if you find a place that feels really good to just rock back and forth go ahead and do that. Again, using this moment to connect with your breath. And, you know, allow anything that I’m saying to resonate if does and if it doesn’t, don’t worry. You’re not doing anything wrong. Just embracing the physical practice is fine too. Just notice and remember you have a chance here to just gain awareness of the approach, your attitude. Because I like to say you know what’s the point of having a great body if you’re still looking in the mirror and you don’t know who you’re seeing or you don’t love who you’re looking at.
Okay, I think I said everything I need to say now let’s rock and roll literally. You’re gonna slide your hands to the backs of your thighs. And we’re going to rock and roll up and down the length of the spine. You can go easy. Nice and slow on yourself here in the beginning. Be kind. You can have a sense of humor if you’re not quite getting all the way up and need to use your hands, use your hands.
So we’re massaging up and down the length of the spine here. We’re also using this as an opportunity to continue to deepen the breath. Sorry buddy. And then check it out. The next time you rock up you’re going to rock all the way up into a little ball position. So give it a try. If you don’t get there in the first try, no prob. And say you’re in a little squat at the top of your mat. You’re gonna slowly tuck your chin and we’re going to roll up to this little toe stand here right away engaging our core. So the fingertips may stay on the earth. You might have two blocks here where you might begin to work to bring the hands together at the heart. Amazing. Okay, beautiful. If you are not finding it today, trust me, with practice you’ll be able to grow this. We’re lifting up from the pelvic floor. We’re stretching through the fascia of the feet. We’re relaxing the shoulders down. And we’re remembering the third A today, attitude.
How valuable and how important is your attitude when things get tough or seem impossible? Take a deep breath in wherever you are. Okay, and then let it go. If you have a dog in front of you, go ahead and pet them. Just seems wrong not to and if not you can pet an imaginary dog. (chuckles) Okay, here we go. Forward Fold. Grounding down through the heels. Take your time. Start to peddle it out. Wake up through the backs of the legs. Just letting the blood flow to the head here as you relax the weight of the head and the neck down. Okay, then we’re gonna go back down into the squat nice and slow. Beautiful. Ah, Benji’s so cute. Then use your fingertips to slowly come onto your bum.
And then you’re just going to keep your feet on the ground here as you slide your bum to the center of the mat. Great, hands can come behind the thighs here. Loop the shoulders lift your heart. Nice and slow we’ll begin to lift the shins parallel to the ceiling as you lean back just a bit. Beautiful. If you can maybe fingertips reach forward but it’s okay to work in stages. Right, be in the now, be present with where you are today. Hands can stay behind the thighs or reaching the fingertips forward. Great, inhale in, lift the chest. Exhale, send the right toes, right foot out long as you straighten through the right leg.
We’re starting to wake up through the abdominal wall here’s so you might feel a little shaking. Keep in mind how powerful your attitude here can be. Smile, lift your heart a little more, inhale in. Exhale, bend the right knee. Reset with a big breath. And then on the next exhale left toes point, left leg straightens out. We breathe here keeping the chest lifted chin slightly lifted perhaps breathing in and out. One more time. Breathe in and out. Great, bend the left knee, check it out. Inhale in. Exhale, we’re gonna rock all the way through to our nice squat again. You can use your hands, it’s all good. Gorgeous. Then we’re gonna slowly tuck the chin. Keep the fingertips on the earth if you need to. Otherwise in time we bring the palms together. Namaste at the heart. A little toe stand here. I’m working to engage my center here. And then I’m also just noticing if you’re not quite getting here, if you’re getting frustrated how can we soften our approach the way we look at it, the lens, the attitude to just stay curious and playful.
Okay, one more breath. Awesome stretch for the foot, of course, here. Gonna be so good for your Downward Dogs and your Planks. Let’s release. (sighs) When you’re ready, drop the heels. Uttanasana, Forward Fold. If you’re not at the top of your mat here, go ahead and step to the top. And just take a couple more breaths, feet together or hip width apart. You can shake the head a little yes, a little no. Get a nice long stretch in the back body. Continue to wake up the muscles of the legs.
And relax any stress or tension in the shoulders and the neck. Okay, one more time pet Benji. And here we go. We’re gonna roll up nice and slow. Let this be like a moving meditation, this roll up to Mountain. Here we go. Then actively press down into the earth with all four corners of the feet and find that lift up through the front body. Balance it out with that grounding through the back body as you come up into your beautiful Mountain Pose, Tadasana. So we’re always trying to kind of balance the Sun and the Moon energy in yoga and I could go off on that of course but just whatever that makes you think of, keep that in mind throughout this practice.
So when things get challenging, how can you find that kind of soft Moon energy? Whether it’s like softening your brow or changing your approach, your attitude. And then same thing in these kind of more simpler shapes. How can you bring more action, more activity, engaging in these more subtle postures? Bringing that Solar energy to this kind of Moon posture. Anyway, okay, you get the gist. So find the balance. Then we’ll really walk off the mat feeling good. And whenever you’re ready we’ll inhale reach the fingertips all the way up towards the sky. You can start nice and slow spreading the fingertips, continuing to ground down through the feet. And then up here we’re going to interlace the fingertips to like a steeple grip so your index finger’s pointing forward. Alright, check in with your body. For my body I have to really work to lengthen my tailbone down and hug my low ribs in. Then I imagine really bringing my low belly, the lower abdominal wall and the upper abs in towards center. So there’s this kind of action that we’re going to play with of drawing everything in towards that like third chakra which is awesome because it’s like you’re Beyoncé chakra.
So it’s a win-win here. And talk about (chuckles) attitude. Inhale. On your next exhale, let’s practice drawing it in by sending the hands in line with the heart. You’re also getting a great stretch through the upper back body here. Elbow creases are up towards the sky and I’m working to engage my core here. I’m not creating tension. I’m not clenching my buttocks but I’m working to, again, just bring some energy in towards that third chakra. That’s the place of confidence to self-love that kind of “I am, I can” vibe. Okay, inhale reach for the skies. Take your steeple grip up. If the shoulders are tight, actively relax shoulder blades down the back body. And then on the exhale hands come in and we create a little connection in the stomach. Hands in line with the heart. Now on the last one we’ve got the arms, we’ve got the abs like what kind of attitude do you want to bring to it? What kind of focus do you want to take out past your fingertips? So here we go.
Inhale, reach up. And exhale, hands in line with heart. Good, inhale to reach up towards the sky. Exhale, give the arms a break as you release. Rain it down all the way into a Forward Fold. Fabulous, inhale, halfway lift, your version. Find length. Exhale, plant the palms, step the feet back, Plank Pose. Now you’re gonna walk the wrists right underneath the shoulders and then take the hands a little bit wide. And then align your toes with your hip points here as you reach, reach, reach the heels back.
Start to turn on through the quads. Of course, core is turned on here and then we’ll bend the elbows and lift up. As you straighten them, lift your heart space up between your shoulder blades. We’re here for three. We’re here for two and then we’re going to lower the knees on the one. So now we’re in a half plank. Breathing deep. Creating length in the neck. And we’re here for three. We’re here for two. And we’re here for one. Now press back up to Plank, you got this. We’re here for three. We’re here for two. Welcoming that heat. We’re here for one. Then lower the knees, Half Plank for three, two, one. Come all the way down to your belly. Hi buddy. Drag the hands in line with the rib cage. Start to stretch out through the pecs, the chest as you squeeze the elbows into the side body.
Then use your foundation, press into the earth to rise up, lift your heart, Bhujangasana. Big inhale, feel that stretch in the belly. And then exhale to release, soften. Curl the toes under, inhale in. Exhale, press up to Plank, a strong one and then take it to Downward Facing Dog, hips high and back. Bend the knees. Start to really pedal it out. Try to find a stretch to your side body here. Nice and long. Great. Then inhale, lift the right leg up high. Exhale, squeeze it forward. Upper body’s in Plank, where we just were. Right knee really hugs up towards the chest. Right heel really hugs up towards the right glute. We’re here for three. Breathe deep, two. On the one, take it back up, Downward Facing Dog. Gorgeous, slowly lower the right foot down.
Take it to the second side. Claw through the fingertips. No pressure in the wrists. Inhale, left leg up high. Exhale. Cinching in through center. Squeeze and lift. Left knee up towards the heart. Left heel up towards the glute. We’re here for three. You’re doing awesome. Press away from your yoga mat. Two, one, kick it back. Three-Legged Dog. Lift the left leg up high and then very gently lower it down with control. Good, bend the knees. Bring your belly towards the tops of your thighs. Nice stretch here as you tick-tock the hips a little left to right. And then inhale, come back to center. Carve a line with your nose to look forward. And on an exhale, make your way to the top of the mat. You can baby step, you can ragdoll, you can hop, float.
Then when you’re ready inhale, halfway lift, your version. Create length in the neck. Exhale to soften and fold everything down. Inhale, spread the fingertips. Root to rise here. Reach for the sky. Big stretch so big, big breath. Big beach ball up and overhead. And then exhale, hands come together and right back down to the heart. Take a nice cleansing breath here in. And empty it out. (audibly exhales) Beautiful. Interlace the fingertips, find that steeple grip once again. Inhale, reach for the sky. Big stretch. This time, check it out, we’re gonna softly bend the knees. On the exhale, hands come in line with the heart as we lift the left foot and step it all the way back into a nice high lunge. So work with your body. If this is too much in the high lunge today, just lower the left knee to the earth and work here. It’s awesome. Okie doke. So we’re squeezing the inner thighs to the midline. We’re turning on the core. We’re keeping the shoulders down. So biceps up towards the sky. Beautiful. Breathing deep here. All stretched out through that foot so you’re pressing through your left pinky toe.
Front knee over front ankle. Try to really focus on the sensation versus the shape. So we want to get our alignment right but we want to work with the muscles where they are now. Again, just trying to find that balance. Here we go, inhale. You’re gonna straighten, really straighten the back leg. Reach the fingertips, steeple grip, up towards the sky. Exhale, bend your back knee find that same connection to your center as you bring the hands in line with the heart. Peek at me if you need to on these first few. Inhale, we reach up straighten the back leg. Exhale, draw it in. Long exhale here, I’m talking so I can’t really demo but it should feel like a real good emptying out of the breath.
Inhale, reach up. Exhale hug the low ribs back and in. Turn on the abdominal wall, bend your back knee. Inhale, reach it up. Exhale, hug it in. Good, one more time, inhale reach it. Exhale hug it in. From here back knee’s bent. You’re gonna use it to step forward. Here we go. One, two, nice and easy back to Mountain Pose.
We’re gonna go right in to the second side so inhale, reach the fingertips up high. Exhale, hug the low ribs in, hands come in line with the heart as you lift the right foot. With control step it back nice high lunge. Find your foundation here first. Squeeze the inner thighs together. Find that balance of energy. Upward body lifting up. Back body grounding down. Arms are getting tired here so breathe. Soften. And then here we go, inhale. Reach for the sky, straighten the back leg. Exhale, hug the low ribs in. Bend the back knee. Round it through, really connect through that low belly too. Inhale, reach it up. Exhale, empty it out. Inhale, reach it up. Exhale, hands in line with the heart. You can always keep the back leg straight if it’s too much to bend the knee here today. Keep it going. Welcoming that heat. Creating a full body experience. Awesome, do one more and the next time your hands are in line with the heart, pause there. Back knee’s bent.
Find that connection, lift up from the pelvic floor and from your center, hop that back foot all the way up to meet the front. Excuse me, buddy. Excuse me. Inhale, reach for the sky. Hallelujah, exhale. Bend the elbows, release the arms. Yay. Take it all the way down. Take a restful breath here. You’ve got it. Inhale in. Empty it out, nice cleansing exhale. Inhale to halfway lift. Exhale to soften and fold. Alright, hang with me. Plant the palms, step your feet back, Plank Pose. So now from here on you can work in Half Plank. I think it’s good to work in Half Plank so you can really start to turn on the muscles in your abdominal wall and not overdo it.
It’s good to work in stages. So it’s okay to lower the knees. We’re here. We’re doing a nice static hold. We’re breathing and there’s gonna come a point where you want to give up and your attitude’s gonna want to really kick into another gear so just decide what gear that’s gonna be. I’ll count us down. We’re here for ten. Oh my gosh, Adriene, nine. Eight, reach the heels back. Seven, six, baratta through the neck, five. Four, three, Downward Dog on the one. Yes, you did it. Awesome.
Bend the knees. You’re doing great. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Alright, from your Downward Dog we’re gonna draw the low belly in. We’re going to hug the navel to the spine and we’re slowly gonna roll through the spine all the way back to Plank. I know. Then take it back up and send it all the way to Downward Dog. Now find a little flow here. Catch a wave with your breath. Getting really articulate through the spine. Clawing through the fingertips. Building strength in the arms.
And the whole torso. Strong back. Strong core. So you can work nice and slow here or you can start to pick up the pace. You got it. When you roll forward remember those shoulders are right over the wrists. Meet your appropriate edge here. You’re doing great. Awesome. Then we’ll do one more. The next time you’re in Downward Facing Dog take a deep breath in here and exhale, bend the knees. Look forward, make your way to the top. Awesome. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale to soften and fold. You’re gonna walk your hands underneath your feet here, your toes just to give a little relief for their wrists here. And you can bring your hands all the way underneath your foot. Bring your toes to your wrists and wiggle your toes. Just take a restful breath here. Mhmmm. Very nice. And then slowly release. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Root to rise here. Inhale, reach for the sky. Big stretch, big breath. Exhale, hands to heart. Inhale lots of love in. Relax your shoulders as you breathe out. Maybe you let it go through the mouth. Let it go out through the mouth, yeah.
Okay, soft knees. Here we go, steeple grip. Inhale, reach for the sky. Exhale, hands to heart step the right foot back. Inhale, reach for the sky here. Check it out, exhale. You’re gonna slowly send your steeple grip forward. Keep your back foot on the ground for now. Hugging the low ribs. Arms are engaged. I’m really lifting my triceps up towards my ears. Now you can stay here. Inhale in or exhale, we begin to lift off the back leg. What? Hold onto your focus, your Drishti. Dial your left pinky toes down to the ground. Soft bend in the standing leg. I’m actively reaching up through my right hip crease. Inhale in, exhale, slow and steady with control bring the left toes back to the ground. Inhale, lift your heart up towards the sky. Exhale, hands in line with the heart. Bend your back knee and we’ll hop it back up to the front. Good, inhale reach for the sky. Stick with me, exhale, engage your center as you bring your hands in line with the heart and we step the right toes back.
Big inhale to lift the index fingers up high. Big stretch. Full body experience. Exhale. You’re gonna slowly take it forward, tilt forward. Back toes stay on the earth here to start. Lean into it. You got it. Breathe deep. Try to really hug those triceps up towards your ears. Stay here. Continue with deep breathing or take it one step further by perhaps experimenting with lifting the right leg up high. Hug the low ribs in. Draw your navel in and up. Dial the right toes down.
Lift the left hip crease up high. Breathe deep. You got it. Inhale in. Exhale with control. Slow and steady, bring the right toes back to the earth. Inhale, lift your heart. (chuckles) Sounded Irish. Lift your heart. Exhale, hands in line with the chest. Bring the back foot up. Okay, stick with me here. We got this. We got this. Okay, bring a little space between the heels, send your hips back. Arms are talking to me. If this is too much for your shoulders you can release the steeple grip now and take the fingertips forward.
Utkatasan. Tuck, lengthen the tailbone, rather, down, hug the lower ribs in. Inhale in. Exhale, release everything, hallelujah, let it go. Inhale, halfway lift, your version. Exhale, Plank Pose. Take your time. Beautiful, from here you’re going to hug the right knee up into the chest then kick it out. Hug the left knee up into the chest, then kick it out. Now bring your right knee towards your right elbow.
Squeeze it up and in. And then kick it out and then hug your left knee up towards your left elbow. Squeeze it in. And then kick it out. One more, you got this. Right knee to left elbow. Squeeze it in. Kick it out. Now cross it over one last time. Left knee to right elbow. Squeeze it in. Kick it back out. Downward Facing Dog or Child’s Pose. You did a great job. Take a deep breath in. Way to hang with it. Give you your thinking mind a break. Let your body kind of get the love and meet the challenge. Basically no toxic thoughts. Be sweet. Be curious. Be kind. Alright, if you’re in Child’s Pose go ahead and meet us in Downward Facing Dog. Okay, last bit. You got this. Claw through the fingertips. We’re going to tick-tock the hips to the right. You’re gonna come onto the outer edge of your right foot. Inner arch of your left foot.
From here we’re gonna press away from the yoga mat with the right hand and lift the left fingertips up towards the sky. Side plank. If you have it in ya, you can take the left arch of the left foot stack it over the right foot or maybe lift it up high. You can also take a full Vasisthasana by lifting the hips creating a little rainbow in the spine and bringing the left fingertips all the way forward. Breathe deep here. Meet your appropriate edge. This is it. Inhale in. Lift the hips up a little higher. And then exhale, back to Plank. If you need to take a little break in-between, it’s all good. Actually why not? Let’s all take a little break. Come onto the knees. Bring the hands together and then dial your fingers, that’s what those are called, down just for a sec here. Get a little stretch for the wrists. Okay, last bit. We got this. Here we go. Back to Plank. Downward Facing Dog. Find your foundation first. Reconnect with your breath. We’re almost done here. You’re doing awesome.
Alright, cue Kesha, tick-tock to the left. You’re gonna bring the outer edge of the left foot to the earth, inner arch of the right foot to the earth. Then as you start to straighten out, remember we’re working with good alignment here so shoulder, elbow and left wrist all in a nice straight line as I slowly send my right fingertips up towards the sky. Lift the hips up you can stay here or we can stack the feet.
Or we can lift the top leg. Maybe option in time to take the right fingertips all the way up and overhead, lifting the hips. Breathing, breathing, breathing. Awesome, with control slowly come out of the pose. Come to Plank. We’re gonna go all the way down to the belly. We’re gonna inhale, lift up Cobra. And release. Alright, last plank. We got this. Curl the toes under. Move with your breath as you press up. Final Plank. Nice work. Downward Facing Dog. Last Downward Dog. Nice work. Keep breathing here.
When you’re ready, bend your knees, carve a line with your nose to look forward and then make your way to the top. Feet together, really together. Then we’re going to slowly bend the knees. Come right back into that ball that we’ve been in here. You can modify as needed here, of course, always. And then for those who want, it’s optional, of course, always optional. This is your body, your life, your practice so ultimately you’re the one in charge for your own responsible and in charge of your own happiness. Maybe we try one last time our toe stand. Engaging the full abdominal wall. Using all of the tools we know about our energetic practice lifting and grounding. Balancing that Sun and Moon energy. Awesome and then we’ll slowly release. We’re going to bring the bum back down. We’re going to repeat basically, come back to that seated position. Hands come behind the thighs. Loop the shoulders. Lean back, way back. Lift the shins.
Inhale in. Exhale, maybe you send the fingertips out. Maybe you straighten the right leg. Maybe straighten the left leg. Maybe straighten both legs, lift the arms up towards the sky. Let’s see what happens. Inhale in. Exhale and then slowly release. Come on down to your back. Straighten the legs. If you want you can do a nice slow roll with that steeple grip. Alright, awesome work. Let’s cool it down. So when you get here in your own time you can get centered on the mat, hug your knees up to your chest.
We’re just gonna rinse it out by taking the legs to one side, any side and then (stutters) looking in the opposite direction. So a little reclined twist. Breathing deep. And then when you’re ready, rock through center. Get that nice yummy massage on the low back. And we’ll take it to the other side. Taking your gaze in the opposite direction of your legs. And then we’ll come back to center. And you can either rock and roll up and down the length of your spine to sit in a little meditation or hang out or you can extend the leg that long for a little Shavasana.
Do take a second to just be with your breath. Let the nutrients of your practice kind of settle in. And remember how valuable it is to check your attitude when you’re working with your body. Right? Let’s work with our bodies, not on them. Let’s honor them and love them. And accept them and all their beautiful glory. Alright, let me know how it went for you in the comments section down below. Feel free to share this video. Subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already. I love you guys. Way to give it your best shot. I’ll see you next time. Namaste. (bright music) .
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