yoga tips
- what's up everyone? welcome to yoga with adrienne! i'm adrienne, and todaywe have some yoga tips. so, this is a questionthat comes up a lot, and i want to tackle it today. we're gonna get started right away. transitioning from downward dog to lunge. lunge, to downward dog,how ever can we do it? especially in a flow class, or a vinyasa
in a way that doesn't hurtout wrists and shoulders. let's play! so, the real answer to this question is that it just takes time, right? integrating the body. but we have to know the cuesand things to pay attention to in order to grow our practice in a way in which we can do that. so, that means, is we have tocreate a full body experience.
so we can't just go straight to the downward dog, here in my opinion. we need to start with a little cat-cow to open up through the front body, to open up through the back body. to begin this conversation with the hands which is super importantfor this conversation, for this question. and also with the feet.
take one more with your breath, inhaling, drop the belly to your mat. exhaling as you drawthe navel to the spine, tucking the tail. awesome! then curl your toes under, and send it up and backto downward-facing dog. same thing, pedal in out here. and consider the spacethat you're creating
in the side body. so you might shift the hipsa little, left to right. then send your awareness to your hands. now, notice if your handsare starting to come up here if you can press intoall ten knuckles firmly. in particular, the space between your index finger and thumb. draw the shoulder blades, in and together, down the back body.
create space betweenthe ears and shoulders. these are all super importantthings, as we work on getting that leg up and into our lunge, gracefully and swiftly. in time! great, then take onemore deep breath in here and this time bend your knees. take a big inhale in. and then exhale lower back to all fours.
if you need to take a quick rest, off the wrists, please do. and then we're gonna cometo all fours, once again. so, tapping into the core iskind of the biggest thing. when taking our leg all theway up, into the earth... excuse me, all the way up into the sky. and then all the way back into the earth. we have to activate the core. it's not just about swingingthat leg up, and in.
that's why we end up coming short and why we end up having to use our hand. which is totally fine. sometimes we'll do it ourwhole life, our whole practice. but what we want to do is engage the core as much as possible. so, to play with that... and again, no judgement,every body is different. so your solution to this problem,
or the answer to thisquestion is going to be a little bit different for everyone. but, let's just play and have some fun! that's the beauty of the home practice. we get the time and theopportunity to do this, together! so, we're gonna play with that by lighting that fire in you belly. lighting, kind of sparkingthat match in the center. we're gonna let this radiateand heat up a little bit.
so, don't give up, stickwith it, stick with me. we're going to go down on all fours. wrists underneath the shoulders. knees directly underneath the hips. first thing is first, pressaway from your yoga mat. in downward dog, there's a tendency to crash into the front body. so, we're going to practice here, already. pressing away from the earth.
finding this yielding sensation and then drawing theshoulders away from the ears. so, if you're collapsed here, this is an example of the negatory. see if you can press away. create space. neck nice and long. then stack knees directlyunderneath the hip points. press into the tops of the feet.
(easy listening music) inhale in. exhale, lift the knees, let them hover. inhale lower. see if you can maintainthe space in the shoulders. so, if you're here, andyou're trying to lift... i have no power there. it sucks, so badly. so, maintain the space youcreated here and lift the knees.
breathing out. lower as you breathe in. let's do two more. exhale, lift! it doesn't have to be a big lift. just nice and low. inhale with the bottom. exhale, draw the navel up, lift the knees! this time stay here.
notice that shake, that heat, that prana that starts to flow. and we feel like, ok... from the crown of the headto the tip of the tailbone, i'm alive and awake! and i'm pressing up andout of my foundation, cultivating all of thisenergy into my center, and gathering it up in my core to create a full body experience.
great, slowly release. curl the toes under, takea seat back, and rest. shake it off! maybe massage the wrists, rotateone way and then the other. and then we'll return to all fours. so that same integration ofthe center, the core energy is now what we're goingto bring our awareness to in downward-facing dog. so we'll come back to allfours, when you're ready.
send the hips up high. nice and long in the side body. now same thing that you did on all fours, press away from your yoga mat. so you can bend the kneesand literally look forward. press away. bend the knees as generouslyas you need to, here and then engage the belly. draw the navel up towards the spine.
great, from here, we'lllift the right leg up high. see if you can notice yourlower belly growing soft, here. and see if you can hug the lower ribs in and engage the belly. just like in hovering table. great, from here, bend theright knee and squeeze it in. we're back to that hoveringtable, as you hover. cultivate all this energy in the core. from here, send it back, three legged dog.
now, rather than thinking about stepping your right leg up and into your lunge... think about moving your center of gravity up towards the front of your mat. draw a big line, all the wayup and over with your center. so my center is moving, andmy leg is just following. following, following. and then i'll step up into it. i'm on the ball of my back foot.
this is as far as i, adrienne, made it. maybe you made it this far. just notice how far you made it. and then we'll lower the back knee, and come up off the wrists for a second. so, you may be like, i already knew that; to connect to my center. but it's that practice. it's actually slowing it downand actually thinking about,
what's moving here? am i trying to just task master? bring my right foot up? or can i lead with my center, i guess, is what i'm trying to say. can i cultivate this energy in the belly so that i'm actuallytaking my center forward and the leg just comes to follow. let's try on the other side.
plant the palms, step the right toes back, lift the hips, downward-facing dog. go through your checklist, foundation. that action, drawing theshoulders away from the ears, pressing away from the earth. then when you're ready,lift the leg up high. bring your awareness, cultivateenergy, to your center. this radiating ball of light, right here. navel to spine.
or maybe by the solarplexus, or just above. then squeeze the left knee, up and in. hover here. remember that hovering cat-cow. hoo-hoo-hoo! awakening full body! then take it all the way back up. then here we go! we're gonna imagine takingour center of gravity
all the way forward. think up and over. center is moving forward. center first, leg just comes to follow. and then i'll step it up. great. just notice where you made it today. smile, lower the back knee,and come off the wrists. so really paying attentionto the alignment,
kind of that actionand alignment marriage, so that you're creatinga full body experience. so that you're not just trying to sling one body part up to the frontof your mat for the lunge. but rather, moving as oneconnected part, right? so rather than all thesemoving parts, one moving part. ok, we'll plant the palms,curl the toes under, send it back one moretime, downward-facing dog. one thing that i think reallyhelps with this transition
for me, and this overall integration of core, to my limbs, and moving as one moving, breathing part are these downward dog to plank hurdles. now, these can be... you can take a break for a second. these can be tough ifyou're new to the practice because they're very strengthening, they do rely on upper body.
uhh.. body building! but i love them because,for that very same reason they're not just aboutbuilding strength in the arms. it's really about cultivating strength from the soles of your feet, all the way through the awareness of the crown. so, this is how it goes. we'll just do a couple. and then you can practice on your own.
we'll come to downward-facing dog. go through your checklist. find your breath. press away from your yoga mat. careful not to lock the elbows. a little soft buoyancy here, is helpful. and soften in the knees,speaking of buoyancy. find a little bounce here. come onto the toes, andlift the hips up high.
draw a line with your center,all the way up and over. as if it were climbingor jumping over a hurdle, soaring over a hurdle. then you might have towiden your alignment here, so you come into a nice plank. breathe in, then same thing. draw a line with your center. so imagine if i had a big flashlight, hanging from my navel,here, with a little bell.
you would see it travel up and over. don't worry about gettingthe heels down, here. worry about, am i moving from my center. up and over. great full body strengthener, to plank. then up and over, back. downward-facing dog. engage navel to spine. and back!
holy smokes, let's do one more. navel draws in and up. to plank. and in and up. draw a line back up and over the hurdle. great! take a deep breath in. deep breath out as you lower the knees. and shake it off!
so, that attention to detailin the action alignment... that creating space inthe downward-facing dog literally in the sidebody and the shoulders. finding that inner spiral in the thighs. you can go check out thefoundations of downward-facing dog to go a little more in depth, there. and, again, just thinking about if you can move from your center. moving from your center, so that
your center is actually moving first and then the leg comes to follow. your leg might not get all the way up when you're moving from your center. so you need to be whereyour body is, today. you need to be with yourbody, and be on your own team. and if that's the case,and it only comes to here and you're moving with your center. take your hand, gracefully,step the foot up.
yeah? cool! so, together we're working on transitions. we'll do more yoga tips, more transitions as the weeks grow long. free yoga videos every wednesday. i love it when people as questions. i love that we're having a conversation. you know, i always say thatthis channel is, what it is
because of the conversationthat we're having makes it special, makes it different, and it really inspires me,and hopefully inspires you to actually keep returning to your mat. to have an actual experience,instead of this whole... (inaudible whoosh noises) so, awesome work everyone. thanks for the questions. thanks for the conversation.
i'll see you next week! take good care. namaste.
in a way that doesn't hurtout wrists and shoulders. let's play! so, the real answer to this question is that it just takes time, right? integrating the body. but we have to know the cuesand things to pay attention to in order to grow our practice in a way in which we can do that. so, that means, is we have tocreate a full body experience.
so we can't just go straight to the downward dog, here in my opinion. we need to start with a little cat-cow to open up through the front body, to open up through the back body. to begin this conversation with the hands which is super importantfor this conversation, for this question. and also with the feet.
take one more with your breath, inhaling, drop the belly to your mat. exhaling as you drawthe navel to the spine, tucking the tail. awesome! then curl your toes under, and send it up and backto downward-facing dog. same thing, pedal in out here. and consider the spacethat you're creating
in the side body. so you might shift the hipsa little, left to right. then send your awareness to your hands. now, notice if your handsare starting to come up here if you can press intoall ten knuckles firmly. in particular, the space between your index finger and thumb. draw the shoulder blades, in and together, down the back body.
create space betweenthe ears and shoulders. these are all super importantthings, as we work on getting that leg up and into our lunge, gracefully and swiftly. in time! great, then take onemore deep breath in here and this time bend your knees. take a big inhale in. and then exhale lower back to all fours.
if you need to take a quick rest, off the wrists, please do. and then we're gonna cometo all fours, once again. so, tapping into the core iskind of the biggest thing. when taking our leg all theway up, into the earth... excuse me, all the way up into the sky. and then all the way back into the earth. we have to activate the core. it's not just about swingingthat leg up, and in.
that's why we end up coming short and why we end up having to use our hand. which is totally fine. sometimes we'll do it ourwhole life, our whole practice. but what we want to do is engage the core as much as possible. so, to play with that... and again, no judgement,every body is different. so your solution to this problem,
or the answer to thisquestion is going to be a little bit different for everyone. but, let's just play and have some fun! that's the beauty of the home practice. we get the time and theopportunity to do this, together! so, we're gonna play with that by lighting that fire in you belly. lighting, kind of sparkingthat match in the center. we're gonna let this radiateand heat up a little bit.
so, don't give up, stickwith it, stick with me. we're going to go down on all fours. wrists underneath the shoulders. knees directly underneath the hips. first thing is first, pressaway from your yoga mat. in downward dog, there's a tendency to crash into the front body. so, we're going to practice here, already. pressing away from the earth.
finding this yielding sensation and then drawing theshoulders away from the ears. so, if you're collapsed here, this is an example of the negatory. see if you can press away. create space. neck nice and long. then stack knees directlyunderneath the hip points. press into the tops of the feet.
(easy listening music) inhale in. exhale, lift the knees, let them hover. inhale lower. see if you can maintainthe space in the shoulders. so, if you're here, andyou're trying to lift... i have no power there. it sucks, so badly. so, maintain the space youcreated here and lift the knees.
breathing out. lower as you breathe in. let's do two more. exhale, lift! it doesn't have to be a big lift. just nice and low. inhale with the bottom. exhale, draw the navel up, lift the knees! this time stay here.
notice that shake, that heat, that prana that starts to flow. and we feel like, ok... from the crown of the headto the tip of the tailbone, i'm alive and awake! and i'm pressing up andout of my foundation, cultivating all of thisenergy into my center, and gathering it up in my core to create a full body experience.
great, slowly release. curl the toes under, takea seat back, and rest. shake it off! maybe massage the wrists, rotateone way and then the other. and then we'll return to all fours. so that same integration ofthe center, the core energy is now what we're goingto bring our awareness to in downward-facing dog. so we'll come back to allfours, when you're ready.
send the hips up high. nice and long in the side body. now same thing that you did on all fours, press away from your yoga mat. so you can bend the kneesand literally look forward. press away. bend the knees as generouslyas you need to, here and then engage the belly. draw the navel up towards the spine.
great, from here, we'lllift the right leg up high. see if you can notice yourlower belly growing soft, here. and see if you can hug the lower ribs in and engage the belly. just like in hovering table. great, from here, bend theright knee and squeeze it in. we're back to that hoveringtable, as you hover. cultivate all this energy in the core. from here, send it back, three legged dog.
now, rather than thinking about stepping your right leg up and into your lunge... think about moving your center of gravity up towards the front of your mat. draw a big line, all the wayup and over with your center. so my center is moving, andmy leg is just following. following, following. and then i'll step up into it. i'm on the ball of my back foot.
this is as far as i, adrienne, made it. maybe you made it this far. just notice how far you made it. and then we'll lower the back knee, and come up off the wrists for a second. so, you may be like, i already knew that; to connect to my center. but it's that practice. it's actually slowing it downand actually thinking about,
what's moving here? am i trying to just task master? bring my right foot up? or can i lead with my center, i guess, is what i'm trying to say. can i cultivate this energy in the belly so that i'm actuallytaking my center forward and the leg just comes to follow. let's try on the other side.
plant the palms, step the right toes back, lift the hips, downward-facing dog. go through your checklist, foundation. that action, drawing theshoulders away from the ears, pressing away from the earth. then when you're ready,lift the leg up high. bring your awareness, cultivateenergy, to your center. this radiating ball of light, right here. navel to spine.
or maybe by the solarplexus, or just above. then squeeze the left knee, up and in. hover here. remember that hovering cat-cow. hoo-hoo-hoo! awakening full body! then take it all the way back up. then here we go! we're gonna imagine takingour center of gravity
all the way forward. think up and over. center is moving forward. center first, leg just comes to follow. and then i'll step it up. great. just notice where you made it today. smile, lower the back knee,and come off the wrists. so really paying attentionto the alignment,
kind of that actionand alignment marriage, so that you're creatinga full body experience. so that you're not just trying to sling one body part up to the frontof your mat for the lunge. but rather, moving as oneconnected part, right? so rather than all thesemoving parts, one moving part. ok, we'll plant the palms,curl the toes under, send it back one moretime, downward-facing dog. one thing that i think reallyhelps with this transition
for me, and this overall integration of core, to my limbs, and moving as one moving, breathing part are these downward dog to plank hurdles. now, these can be... you can take a break for a second. these can be tough ifyou're new to the practice because they're very strengthening, they do rely on upper body.
uhh.. body building! but i love them because,for that very same reason they're not just aboutbuilding strength in the arms. it's really about cultivating strength from the soles of your feet, all the way through the awareness of the crown. so, this is how it goes. we'll just do a couple. and then you can practice on your own.
we'll come to downward-facing dog. go through your checklist. find your breath. press away from your yoga mat. careful not to lock the elbows. a little soft buoyancy here, is helpful. and soften in the knees,speaking of buoyancy. find a little bounce here. come onto the toes, andlift the hips up high.
draw a line with your center,all the way up and over. as if it were climbingor jumping over a hurdle, soaring over a hurdle. then you might have towiden your alignment here, so you come into a nice plank. breathe in, then same thing. draw a line with your center. so imagine if i had a big flashlight, hanging from my navel,here, with a little bell.
you would see it travel up and over. don't worry about gettingthe heels down, here. worry about, am i moving from my center. up and over. great full body strengthener, to plank. then up and over, back. downward-facing dog. engage navel to spine. and back!
holy smokes, let's do one more. navel draws in and up. to plank. and in and up. draw a line back up and over the hurdle. great! take a deep breath in. deep breath out as you lower the knees. and shake it off!
so, that attention to detailin the action alignment... that creating space inthe downward-facing dog literally in the sidebody and the shoulders. finding that inner spiral in the thighs. you can go check out thefoundations of downward-facing dog to go a little more in depth, there. and, again, just thinking about if you can move from your center. moving from your center, so that
your center is actually moving first and then the leg comes to follow. your leg might not get all the way up when you're moving from your center. so you need to be whereyour body is, today. you need to be with yourbody, and be on your own team. and if that's the case,and it only comes to here and you're moving with your center. take your hand, gracefully,step the foot up.
yeah? cool! so, together we're working on transitions. we'll do more yoga tips, more transitions as the weeks grow long. free yoga videos every wednesday. i love it when people as questions. i love that we're having a conversation. you know, i always say thatthis channel is, what it is
because of the conversationthat we're having makes it special, makes it different, and it really inspires me,and hopefully inspires you to actually keep returning to your mat. to have an actual experience,instead of this whole... (inaudible whoosh noises) so, awesome work everyone. thanks for the questions. thanks for the conversation.
i'll see you next week! take good care. namaste.
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