Yoga in Practice

♪ (female speaker) Support for "Yoga in Practice" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina. ♪ ♪ Hi, welcome to "Yoga in Practice." My name is Stacey, and I will be your teacher. Close your eyes for a moment and enjoy your breath. The French word for heart, coeur, is the root for the English word, courage.

When we practice courageously and focus on expanding our hearts, we leave class less fearful and, hopefully, more loving. Physically, we experience this opening of our heart by aligning our shoulders and engaging our upper backs, which, together, expands the chest. In this class, we will concentrate on poses that integrate the upper body,

front and back

Plank, Yoga Push-up, and Cobra. Open your eyes and come to standing at the front of your mat. ♪ Joining us today, we have Sally and also Josh. You'll need two blocks for today's practice.

Coming to the front of the mat, place your feet hip distance between your hips, spread your toes, and ground. Lift up through the arms, inhale, raise your arms overhead, and stretch up fully, and as you exhale, float the arms down. Inhale; raise your arms. Exhale; release.

One more time, inhale; lift up, stretching fully up through the arms. Lengthen the sides of your body. Exhale, and lower the arms down. Keep your arms at your hips, and do slow shoulder rolls, feeling how this opens your chest, moves the arm bones, even feeling your shoulder blades.

On your next roll, keep your shoulders back gently. Inhale; sweep your arms up over your shoulders. Exhale; bend forward. Uttanasana, a Standing Forward Fold.

Inhale; lift to Ardha Uttanasana. Hold here and keep breathing, your foundation settled, feeling strong through your legs. In this pose, holding the chest forward from your hips to your shoulders, grow longer, and reach out through the top of your head. Slowly bend your knees into a squat and lift your arms forward.

Keep your arms like this if this is preferable to you, or to challenge yourself, hook your thumbs, draw your arms back into the socket, feeling your shoulder blades engage, and raise the arms up slowly, picking them up higher, feeling how you're working your upper back. Inhale; rise up to standing. Exhale; release the arms. Inhale; sweep the arms overhead.

Exhale; bend forward. Let's move with our breath. Inhale; lift halfway. Bend the knees to a squat.

Inhale; rise. Exhale; fold forward. Inhale; lift halfway. Squat, exhaling.

Inhale; rise. Exhale; bend forward. Inhale; lift halfway. Exhale, and squat.

Inhale; rise all the way up. Exhale; release the hands. Good. We're gonna do a shoulder opener.

Use a strap if you need to, especially if you're tighter across your chest or upper back. Bend forward, exhaling, and we're gonna sweep our hands around the back. Once you have your hands together, interlock the fingers tightly. Wiggle down the front of your legs to create length down your body.

Let the head of your arm bones, the shoulders, lift up onto your back. Stretching your arms over your head, from the front of your shoulders through your arms, stretch out long, your hips grounded, your feet rooted. Feel that the upper back is doing some work. Enjoy the breath, breathe across the chest, and stay strong and courageous in your legs.

Let that breath create an open-heartedness in your pose. Exhale, release your hands, and clear the strap if you used one. Keeping your hands on your mat, step back with your left leg into a lunge. Remembering what we've done previously, feel your leg strong, the foot straight, the knee over the ankle.

Lower down on your palms and notice your chest, your upper back. Use blocks if you need to. Come up onto the fingertips and hold here. I prefer this because it gives you more mobility across your shoulders, your upper back.

Keep your back leg strong. Inhale, step forward, and fold over your leg. Change legs, taking your right foot back. Take a long enough lunge to keep your left knee about the left heel, palms flat if you wish, coming up on the fingertips, or even using blocks.

Feel the length of your spine from your hips to your armpits, through the top of your head, and gently soften your upper back, allowing your shoulders to integrate fully. Downward Dog; step back. Press out through your Downward Dog. Remember your breath, the foundation, the hands staying grounded.

As you press out through your hands, integrate into your legs. Let's walk this Dog. Bend your right knee and get a deeper stretch through the left leg. Bend your left knee and stretch more deeply through the right leg.

Hips rising up, change one more time, bending your right knee and bending your left knee. Reach back with both of your legs, extending out. Inhale to Plank Pose, shoulders directly above your wrists. Make sure your your hips aren't sinking to the floor nor are they lifting up too high.

Be strong through your core. Push down through your hands, press your hands apart, and sweep your hands isometrically backward toward your toes. Lower your knees to the floor, Table Position. Take a breath and settle.

Inhale; lift your chin. Lift your tailbone; arch. Exhale; round. Inhale; look up.

Exhale; round. One more time, inhale. Look up. Exhale, rounding in.

Good. Table Position, and flatten your feet. Take your knees a bit wider and sit down with your hips, lowering to your heels, Child's Pose. Rest; bring your head to the mat.

Your arms can sweep alongside your legs, or keep them out in front of you. This is a nice resting pose. This practice will be more vigorous today, so if you need to rest, come down into Child's Pose, feeling a weightiness through the hips. Let the breath expand you.

Bow to yourself; look into your heart. Inhale; come up to kneeling. Take two blocks. If you don't have a block at home, find some other object, a book, even an old shoebox.

This is to show you what to do with your shoulders, so have a gap between the blocks so your head and neck fit. Put your hands behind the block so the fingertips touch the back edge, and lower down, bending your knees. Bring your chest down. First, let your shoulders rest on the blocks.

Feel how this disengages your back. Rest your head down. Keeping your shoulders on the block is not what we want, so lift your shoulders away from the block, even as your head remains on the floor. Your shoulders are as high as your elbows here.

Press down into the foundation of your hands, your fingertips, and gently pull your hands isometrically backward toward your hips. Feel more engagement in the back. Inhale, lift your head, and rise up slowly into Cobra Pose. Cobra doesn't need to be a very big pose.

It can stay low. On your exhale, roll back down, keeping your hands engaged. Inhale; lift back up. Without moving, open through the shoulders.

Enjoy your breath. Exhale; roll back down. Inhale. Rise up.

Exhale; roll down. One more time, inhale. Roll up. Push to Table Position.

Keep your blocks where they are. Bring your knees under your hips. Tuck your toes and lift into Downward Dog, stretching up and back through your hips. Hold your Downward Dog, enjoy your breath, and stretch up, up, up through your hips.

Inhale to Plank Pose. Lower your knees, shifting your shoulders over the blocks. Exhale, bend your elbows, and come down. Inhale; rise to Cobra Pose, lifting your shoulders.

Hold here and breathe, pressing down and backward with your hands. Move the front of your shoulders back and draw your shoulder blades into your chest. Come to Table Position. Downward Dog; exhale.

Inhale; Plank again. Lower your knees into a push-up. Keep your shoulders above the blocks. Inhale; Cobra Pose.

Downward Dog. Hold your Downward Dog; enjoy the breath. In this Downward Dog, not just the hands, but think about keeping the shoulders lifted, the arms rising up, and this length in the sides of your body, so stretch out. Look forward and step up to Forward Fold, right up to the front of your mat.

Clear your blocks. Take a breath, exhale, and fold. Soften your face, draw your shoulder blades up onto your back, and make your legs so strong. Fearlessly, with courage, push down.

Rise up to standing, lift your arms overhead, and exhale. Join your hands and lower them down to the heart. This is Anjali Mudra, a place where we make an offering. Release your arms.

Inhale; arms overhead. Exhale; Forward Fold. Inhale; half Forward Fold. Exhale; fold over again.

Step your left leg to a lunge. Step back to Downward Dog. Inhale; Plank Pose. Remember the blocks.

Lower your knees; exhale.

Chaturanga

Push-up Position. Inhale. Sweep forward to Cobra. Downward Dog.

Breathe. Keep your arms strong, your legs strong, your heart open. Inhale; sweep your right leg up behind you. Keep it straight and strong.

Exhale; step the foot between your hands. That's not always easy, getting your foot up with one step, so if it gets stuck, you may have to walk that foot forward a couple of times. Inhale; step forward, Uttanasana. Exhale; fold.

Inhale; lift halfway out, bringing your hands to your hips. Pushing your hips back, curl your shoulder blades onto your back and rise up to standing. Release your arms; pause. Inhale; arms overhead.

Exhale; bow forward. Inhale; lift halfway. Exhale and fold. Step your right foot back; left lunge.

Strong foundation, strong legs. Enjoy the breath. Step back; Downward Dog. Inhale; Plank.

Exhale; knees to your mat. Lower your chest. Inhale; Cobra Pose, Bhujangasana. Keep your legs strong, pressing down through your hands and opening the chest.

Downward Dog. Inhale; raise your left leg. Exhale; step forward. If you don't get the foot all the way forward, you can use your hand and walk it up.

Take a breath, settle, open through the heart and integrate your shoulders on your back. Inhale; step forward to Uttanasana, folding over. Lift halfway out, look up, and stretch your back. Bring your hands to your hips, drawing your shoulders up on your back.

Elongate your spine. Inhale; rise to standing. Exhale; pause. We're moving now into a Sun Salutation, a classic sequence of poses that's done with the breath in a flowing manner.

It brings your body into a full range of motion, increases your heart rate, and invigorates you. If you need to rest at any point, please do. Join your hands together at your heart. Take a breath.

Come back to the deeper purpose for your practice today. Exhale; release your arms. Inhale; lift overhead. Exhale; bend forward, Uttanasana.

Inhale. Lift halfway out. Exhale, and fold. Step back with your left leg.

Step back with your right leg; Plank. Lower your knees, Chaturanga. Inhale; Cobra. Exhale, Downward Dog, and hold.

Breathe. Inhale; raise your right leg. Exhale; step the right foot forward. Keep your back heel up if you wish, or you can turn your back heel down for a more traditional Warrior I.

Inhale; lift your torso; raise up. The back heel down gives you more groundedness but less mobility in your hips. With the back heel up, you have more balance in your hips but less balance overall. Exhale; bring your hands to the floor.

Downward Dog; step back. Inhale; hold. Inhale Plank Pose. Lower your knees and chest; Chaturanga.

Remember your shoulders, don't let them dip down, and sweep forward. Press through your hands firmly and fully. Exhale, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale; sweep your left leg high.

Exhale; step the left foot forward. Inhale; lift up. Back heel up or back heel down. Decide what feels best for you today.

Exhale; touch the floor. Downward Dog. Enjoy the breath. Please walk forward to the front of your mat.

Bowing over, pressing through your legs, inhale. Rise to standing, pick your arms up overhead, and fold the hands. Bring them down to Anjali Mudra. Come to your heart; pause.

Release your arms; close your eyes. Mountain Pose. Notice the heart rate. Stay with your breath and let it slow down.

Enjoy the breath. I invite you now to come to seated. You may need a blanket for these poses. If that's needed, take a blanket and fold it as much as you may need to.

Even two blankets is an option. Sitting up on a blanket, the benefit is, when you sit on some height, it keeps a better alignment in your pelvis and lower back, particularly if you're tighter in the back of your legs, your hip muscles, your back muscles, so use height if you need it. Stretch your right leg out in front of you. Take your left foot and walk it to the side so you have some room through the lower abdomen.

Look at your right foot. Keep it pointed up and strong. Draw up through your spine by holding onto this bent leg and extending. Enjoy the breath.

Twist to the right, putting your left arm on the inside of your knee, reaching your right hand behind you. Don't turn quickly; pause and make your legs superstrong. Rising up through your heart, feel that courage, that openness. Exhale; slowly turn to the right.

Let your head be the last thing that you turn. This pose is called Parivrtta Marichyasana, a nice pose, not too tight, and by twisting away from your leg, you get more freedom. Pressing down through your legs, feel sort of a back bend in this area of your shoulder, Remembering what you did with the blocks and Cobra Pose, turning, and extend up through the head. Stay with your breath and remember all the parts of your body working together cohesively.

Inhale; slowly turn back to center. Change legs. Extending your left foot, your left leg, pull up. I ask you to pull up to create a good foundation, the four corners of the pelvis and a gentle, natural curve in your lower spine.

Try not to slump over. If you are, sit up on some height. Let's move our right arm to the inside of the knee. Press the knee and the arm together so you have a bit of resistance.

Reaching around with your left hand, take a deep breath. Exhale; begin the rotation from the lower abdomen. Turn it through the spine and finally around. Keep the gaze of your eyes soft.

Enjoy the breath. Rotations are a nice way to enjoy the full pose, to enjoy the benefits of your practice, to let the heart rate slow down. With your inhale, slowly turn back to center. Stretch your legs out and shake your legs a couple of times.

Clear your blankets, and once you've cleared all your props, making you sure you don't have props distracting you, bend your knees, ground your feet, and holding on behind your legs, slowly roll down, keeping your core muscles engaged as you roll onto the floor. When you're all the way down, relax your arms beside your body. Take a deep breath, and settle. Keep both knees bent, take your right foot off the floor, and clasp your hands underneath the thigh.

Press forward into your hands here. As you can see, Sally is keeping her foot active, the spreading of the toes engaging the muscles. Remember that the shoulders just soften back. Feel that the collar bones are horizontal, wide, and open, opening the heart.

Keeping your leg pressing into your hands, raise the right foot to the ceiling. This can be hard if you're tight in the back of your legs. If you feel your back flatten in this pose, back off of it. Bend your knees slightly, but keep the length in your spine, the side of the body, the shoulders rolling back.

Yoga is not about overdoing. Yoga is about this connection, about honoring yourself, and feeling good and standing strong in who you are. Bend that knee; put the foot on the floor. Take a breath; second side.

Move to the left leg, clasping the fingers around your leg. Press the leg forward into your hands. Check the curvature in your lower back. The tendancy is it flattens, so drawing it up, keeping the length of your spine and broadening of your heart.

Inhale; slowly raise the leg. These guys are very open, very well practiced, so they tend to be more flexible than most people. If you need to keep your knee bent, that's absolutely fine. Open the shoulders; enjoy the breath.

Soften your inner gaze; enjoy your practice. Lower that foot to the mat. Draw both legs into your chest, wrapping your arms across your knees. This pose feels so good.

Rock side to side. Slow the rocking down until you're nice and still. Take your right leg, slide it out onto the floor. Left leg, slide it out onto the floor.

Join your legs together, hugging the ankles, the calves, the knees. Inhale, sweep your arms over your head, and stretch way back. This is called Extended Mountain Pose. Take a deep breath through the nose.

Breathe out through the mouth. Again, inhale. Exhale. Inhale one more time, and exhale.

Sweep your arms down beside your body. Shake your legs apart. Put your feet out wider than your hips, and turning your palms open, come back to what we've been working on, this rolling of your shoulders back. As you feel your shoulders rest back, close your eyes as well.

Stay in this pose as long as you're able. Allow your practice to assimilate. Enjoy; rest. I will close with a quote that reminds us to be courageous and to live in our hearts.

I love this quote... Thank you for joining us today. Namaste. ♪ CompuScripts Captioning ccaptioning.com ♪ ♪ ♪ (female speaker) Support for "Yoga in Practice" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.

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