Yoga Medicine For Mamas

(wave gently crashing) Hi, welcome. We're here with Kristen and Yohanna. We're gonna be doing a yoga flow that's revitalizing and energizing. And you may notice that, if you tuned in before, Ushe is not with us today 'cause she may be in the process of giving birth; (laughs) so, good vibes to Oshe if she is; (laughs) and if not right now, then soon. But we're all in our third trimesters.

And this particular sequence is designed to give us energy and in those moments when we're feeling kind of fatigued and maybe are going through mood fluctuations. So it involves a lot of breath work and visualizations. If you like to skip the visualizations and just go into the body, that's perfectly fine. I find them helpful in yoga right now and in the birthing process. (chuckling) So we'll use them today. So we're actually gonna start in standing.

Our feet are gonna be a little wider than hip-distance apart. And we're gonna start in mountain pose, so just palms facing open. Palms facing out. Nice long spine. Feeling your tailbone grounding towards the earth.

Your head extending towards the sky. Shoulders nice and wide, heart nice and open, and we're just gonna close our eyes for a few breaths. Coming into the breath. Just noticing how it is right now, how it is for you today. Just scanning the body really quickly, seeing how the body feels right now.

Now we're gonna start to lengthen the breath out a little bit, inhaling through the throat. Expanding through the diaphragm as you inhale. Exhaling also through the throat. Making that sound of the big ocean wave, coming in, out of the body, energizing you as it enters. It'll be giving you a sense of relaxation and expansion as it exits.

Noticing the little pauses in between the inhalation and the exhalation. Now just bring your awareness to your feet. Notice them grounding into the earth. You might imagine that you're standing on a mountaintop; beautiful majestic mountain that's providing you with support and stability below. And the sun is bright above, giving you energy.

Nice cool breath moving through our bodies, purifying them. We're gonna try to stay with the breath throughout the entire practice. If it slips away from you at any time, feel free to come into a resting pose or just come in to stillness, and come back into movement when you're ready, when you can reconnect with the breath. It's gonna be the most important part of our practice. The movement is gonna follow the breath through every asana, every posture.

So now let's just gently start to open our eyes, if your eyes are closed, and we're gonna link the movement with the breath, just inhaling, expanding the arms up, reaching, glancing up at the hands. And exhale, floating the arms open, and then down, and all the way in front of the heart. And again, inhaling, reaching, extending through the body, exhaling, and then releasing the arms down and to the heart. Two more, just with the rhythm of your own breath. Good.

And when you get to the heart, just take a nice pause here, inhaling and exhaling. We're gonna start to get our circulation going a little bit more going into chair pose, so sinking way back onto the heels and reaching up through the hands, scooping up that good mountain air. Exhale, pressing into standing. Hands come back to the heart. Drawing that energy into the body.

And inhale, sitting back a little deeper if you can. Exhale, pressing your way into standing, feeling the heart and lungs expand. And inhale, feeling the strength of your legs. Exhale, back into standing. One more time.

Inhale. This time we're gonna stay here just for a couple of breaths if you can, lengthening out through the spine, feeling the muscles around your spine supporting you, feeling grounded through the legs and the feet, keeping that breath flowing. Just one more cycle of breath here. And on your next inhale, come back into standing. Exhale, good.

Hands to the heart. Beautiful. And now we're gonna go into warrior. So just bringing one leg in front. I like, at this point in my pregnancy, to make sure that my hips, my feet are about hips-width apart, as opposed to heel to arch, just to take any pressure off of the ligaments that might be happening right now.

We're gonna do again, sinking into that front leg, knee right over the ankle. Warrior I. Just getting situated here. Lifting off of the hips. Lifting that waist nice and long.

Beautiful. Shoulder blades down the back, hands reaching. Breathing deep. Good. Inhale, extend out.

And exhale, we're just gonna float forward, lengthening the spine out, lifting the sternum, and letting the arms just come back like wings. Just acknowledging the belly, saying hi to the baby if you want. Inhale, pressing your way back into Warrior I. And exhale, floating forward, letting the breath move through your entire body, keeping the sternum open and lifted. Back into Warrior I.

And exhale, floating forward, following the breath. Inhale. Good, and just hold here for a breath. Good, sink into it a little bit more if you can. Lift off the hips.

And then we come in our back toes just like crescent. Bend the knee as much as you to to get yourself stable. Inhale fully. And exhale, you're gonna glide forward, testing your balance. Good.

Now we're gonna do some body rolls. Just inhaling, reaching. Exhale, release your hands to your knees, bend the knees, and just roll the spine up, vertebrae by vertebrae. And just one more deep inhalation. Exhale, sink into the legs.

Release the spine, the crown of the head towards the earth, and roll it up, vertebrae by vertebrae. Good. And second side. So other leg in front, hip-distance with the feet. Sinking into that front leg.

Coming into the strength of your warrior. Just feeling that knee right on top of the ankle, grounding through the outer edge of the back foot, distributing the weight evenly if you can through both legs. Feeling the strength below and the length up above. And inhale, lengthen out the spine a little bit more. Exhale, float it forward.

Arms come way back like wings, sternum lifts. Long spine. Inhale back up into Warrior I. Nice and strong. And exhale, floating forward.

Seeing your belly, lifting the heart. Inhale. Exhale. Then reach and lengthen out that spine. Last time, inhaling.

And holding it here for a breath, sinking in a little bit deeper if you can, if it feels good to you. And then come on the back toes, crescent. Bend the knee as much as you need to. Inhale. Fill the lungs.

Exhale. Just glide forward, testing your balance coming back into standing. Hands to the heart. Good. Taking a nice cycle of breath here, feeling your heart pumping a little bit more maybe.

Good, we're gonna take it back into chair pose. So feet are a little wider than your hips if you need to. If you're in your first trimester, obviously this doesn't concern you. (laughing) For us, we'll have our feet nice and wide, just to make room for belly. And here we go. Inhale.

This time we're gonna scoop it up. On the exhale we're gonna do the same thing we did with the arms: they're gonna come back behind the hips, really engaging those triceps, lifting the sternum. And then inhale, press your way into standing. Exhale, hands to the heart. Inhale, scooping up that good air and sinking back into the heels, reaching, long spine.

Exhale, hands float by the sides. Inhale, pressing into standing. Exhale, hands to the heart. Again, inhale, sinking back, warming up those legs. Exhale, float the arms down and back.

This time, if you want, you can press all the way up onto the toes. Good. Sometimes we fall out of it, hands come to the heart. That's OK. Beautiful.

And inhale, sinking back onto those heels. Stretching that spine. Good, exhale, float the arms down. Lift the sternum and the heart. Widen the shoulders.

Again, come into standing if you want to test your balance. Come up onto the toes and just hold it for a couple of breaths. Beautiful. Feeling connected down below; feeling the support of the earth below you. Reaching up to the beautiful sun above.

And then just sink down, hands come to the heart. Taking a nice resting breath here. Good. Body should be feeling a little bit more invigorated. Now we're just gonna step back into our Warrior I.

Reaching, bending into your strength. And now open and expand into Warrior II. Yes, and lift the belly, lift the waist nice and long. Hips off of the pelvis. And inhale, feel the breath, feel the lungs.

On your exhale, you can just bring your elbow down to your knee, top arm up and over. And inhale back into Warrior II. Exhale, again, same thing. Just opening through the heart, expanding through the shoulders. If you can, look up at the sky.

And inhale. And again. Good. Back into Warrior II. Good, hold it here for a breath.

Inhale, start to straighten that front leg. Good, take a nice deep reach out away from your torso and just let the fingertips fall wherever they may. They might need a block. That's perfectly fine. Just rotating the ribs open, the heart up to the sky.

Breathing deep, expanding through all your limbs. Feeling the breath touch every part of your body, including baby. Sometimes it helps to lift the forehead a little higher than the chin to take pressure off the neck. Good. On your next inhalation, come back into Warrior II, just sinking into that front leg.

Good. Warrior I. Inhale, come onto those back toes, crescent. Exhale, glide forward. Good.

Just to release the tension in the spine, again, this time we're gonna roll the shoulders open and we're just gonna open through the heart and bend through the knees, release down, and roll it up, vertebrae by vertebrae. If you're in your first trimester, again, you can go all the way down. For us, second and third, we're just gonna go half way down right now, releasing the crown, keeping the knees nice and soft and then straightening 'em as you come back up. Beautiful. And we're gonna go into our Warrior II, starting with Warrior I, on the other side.

Bending that front leg, grounding through both feet, distributing your weight, expanding that waist. Inhale deeply. Exhale, open, expand. Beautiful. Looking over that front arm, keeping your focus.

And inhale,. Fill the lungs. Exhale. Elbow to knee or fingertips to a block. And inhale back into Warrior II.

Exhale. Coming back down. Inhale back up. Just easing our way into the poses, using the breath. Back down.

And back up into Warrior II. This time, inhale, straighten that front leg. Exhale, reach the front arm out and away from the torso as far as you can as you tilt it forward and just let the bottom fingertips fall wherever is comfortable for you. Maybe it's in front of your ankle, behind your ankle, or on a block. Expanding through the heart; expanding through the shoulders.

Breathing deep. Keeping that Ujjayi breath if you can. Feeling it caress every part of your body. Listening to your body, if you ever need to come out of a pose early, feel free. By all means, always listen.

And inhale back into Warrior II. Exhale, just get situated here, get your focus. Good, inhale, Warrior I. Arms come up. Good, come onto those back toes.

Crescent. Bend that knee as much as you need to, and then just glide forward. And inhale, resting breath. Exhale. Good, now we're gonna take a nice wide, actually I'll put this here, wide stance.

Toes are slightly pigeon-toed. Heels are going out. Beautiful. Inhale, lift the sternum, and just look at your heart for a moment. Good, exhale, hands come to the heart.

And inhale again, keeping that sternum lifted, looking to that heart. Exhale, you're gonna bend your knees slightly, and just flat back until your fingers release down underneath your shoulders. If you need to use a block, you can just be a little higher coming here. But right now we have our knees bent so we take the pressure out of our lower backs. Good, and inhale.

Lengthen out though the spine in the crown of the head. Draw your shoulders back and away from your ears. Exhale, fold a little bit deeper. Again, inhale, lengthening out. Exhale.

And inhale. And again, use your block if you need support. Exhale. This time on the inhale you're gonna open your arms like wings, bend the knees a little bit more, and then come all the way up into standing. Beautiful.

Hands to the heart. Nice resting breath here. Beautiful, ladies. Now your toes are gonna go out, and we're gonna work our way gradually into our squats. Inhale into the heart space.

Exhale. Extend your crown of your head towards the sky as you lower your pelvis towards the earth. Good. Inhale, open the arms, palms up, and adjust your receptivity. And exhale, float one arm over, opening the ribs; the other elbow to the knee; bottom elbow to bottom knee.

Inhale back through the center. Exhale, other side. Two more times each way, feeling that good mountain air flowing through you, giving you energy. And again. Good, and back to the center, keeping your palms nice and open, spread open through that heart and chest.

Beautiful. And press your way back into standing. Hands to the heart. Toes are gonna come forward. Again, we're just gonna do a little gentle shoulder-opener.

So inhale again, lift the sternum, lift to your heart, and exhale, bring your hands behind you. Either interlace the fingers, if that feels good to you, or take the elbows, or reverse prayer. Whatever feels best. We just wanna avoid arching the lower back. So we're gonna tuck the sacrum and tailbone slightly as we lift the heart up: gentle little upper-back bend.

You can either keep it here if that's enough for you, or you can come through flat-back on the exhale and come into a forward fold. Again, if you're in your second or third trimester, you might wanna bend your knees here, just to take pressure off that lower back and really allow your pelvis to just relax into it. Drawing your shoulders back and away from your ears. Keeping the breath fluid and deep. Good, on the next inhalation we're gonna come up through flat-back, keeping our shoulders open.

And exhale, just release the arms. Good. And now we are gonna work our way into a full squat. So if you need, you can squat down onto a block, onto a pillow, or just go into a full squat if your body's ready for it. This is very useful for us.

And we're gonna inhale, arms up. Good, drawing all that good mountain air into the body. Exhale, start to sink down as you extend out through the spine, lifting. When you get into your squat, just get comfortable there, find your elbows on the inside of your knees to help keep it nice and open. Good, see if you can elongate the spine and open the heart.

And just breathe into that pelvis. Breathe into those hips. Extend the spine with every inhalation and exhalation. Good. Now we're gonna interlace the fingers, bringing our index fingers together.

On an inhale, we're gonna press into the feet and come back into standing. Good, exhale, hands float to the heart. We're gonna do that one again. Inhale, reaching. Exhale, sinking down towards the earth.

Hands to the heart. Good, head is expanding, spine's expanding up towards the spine, feeling the opposition in the body, and just breathe as the hips come open. If you feel like this is too much for you, sometimes it's good to put a blanket under the heels if there's any tension in your Achilles tendons and if the block isn't helping enough. Keep that breath deep and energizing. Coming in through the throat.

Good. Release the hands down towards the earth. Press those fingertips together, index fingers. We're gonna press into our feet, draw up the strength from Mother Earth, coming all the way back into standing. And beautiful, nice, ladies.

Hands to the heart. And again, inhale, reaching up. Exhale, releasing into our squat. Good. And we're gonna stay here for a few breaths.

We're gonna work on some kegels. So just contracting the pelvic floor, that whole entire region, contracting it in as you inhale, and then exhale, just softening it gently and slowly. Inhale, contracting. Exhale, softening. Inhale, now see if you can feel the contraction move through the entire body: into baby, into the heart, out through the crown.

Exhale, releasing. Good, slowly inhale, contracting. And exhale, releasing. This time release the hands down to the earth. We're gonna work our way back into seated so you can put one hand behind you if you need to, or you can just lower the pelvis down.

We're gonna draw, actually we're gonna send both legs out as much as comfortable for you. They can be as narrow a V as you need. Just doing some hip openers. It also might be helpful for you, Kristen, to sit on a blanket, just to take a little bit of the pressure off of the hips. Good.

Flex the feet. Get that energy moving so you can connect all the muscles to the earth below you. Extend out through the spine. Good, inhale, arms are gonna come up, palms open. Exhale.

Just release one hand down; wherever it falls, it can fall on your knee, your calf, your ankle, or your toes, or the floor if you're really feeling flexible. But be careful because you do have relaxinin running through your body and making everything a little bit more flexible, so just don't go beyond your comfort level. Couple of breaths here, opening those hips, opening the heart up to the sky. Good. Now we're just gonna rotate the heart down towards the earth, just touching the fingertips wherever they land.

And you're gonna walk your way, finger by finger, hand by hand, to the other side, still keeping the muscles of your legs active, and then you're gonna take and rotate your ribs and your heart up towards the sky again. Good. And just releasing any tension in your hips. Giving that nourishing breath inside, flowing through your entire body, through all your limbs. Good.

Last breath here. And then start to rotate the shoulders, ribs, and heart down to the earth. Walk your hands out in front of you. If you're feeling tight, can be helpful to have a block right here; and it can also help you lengthen out your spine. Good.

And if you feel like you need to go a little deeper, you can start to fold those elbows, relaxing the face, just coming into a hip opener that's comfortable for you. Extending out through the spine, keeping it long, keeping the face soft, breath fluid. Good. And on the next inhale, extend out through the spine, looking out in front of you. New perspective.

Good, and walking the hands back up towards the body. And now we're just gonna fold the legs, bend the legs, bringing the feet together. Again, if it feels like it's too much on your knees, then you can just hold 'em right here, lengthen out through your spine; if not, then we're just gonna do a little butterfly, feeling really grounded through the sits bones, and we're just gonna let our knees flutter like little butterfly wings. And see if you can feel all this good energy that you just cultivated move from the base of your spine, through your hips, through your pelvis, into your belly, into baby. Good, and feeling it rise up into the solar plexus, into the heart center, into your throat, all the way up the neck, the face, and into the crown of the head.

Good, and then just start to slow your flutter down a little bit. And we're gonna inhale. Arms are gonna reach back up to the sky, just touching the sun. Exhale, the fingertips are gonna float behind us, landing behind your sits bones. And we're just gonna do a gentle little upper-back bend: just lifting the heart up towards the sky, breathing into that space.

If you can, release your neck back a little bit. Exhale. One more breath, inhale. If you need to support your knees, you can do the same upper-back bend with your knees right here. Good.

On your next exhale, come back into neutral. Just walk the hands forward ever so slightly, just to release the lower back, a little counter-stretch, maybe saying hi to your belly, keeping your sternum lifted, feeling the opening happening in your pelvis and your hips. And just walk your way back into seated, bringing one foot in front of the other, we're gonna start to close our practice now. Just getting really comfortable, if you need to come onto your blanket. Just be here for a couple of more minutes.

And feel free. And closing our eyes. Just checking in with your body now, seeing how it feels after all the breath work and the warriors and the folding of the spine, releasing tension. Letting your breath be nice and natural now, soft, fluid. And now, if you'd like, just bring yourself back onto that mountaintop where we started, feeling completely supported by it, feeling the strength and the magic of the mountain range, enjoying having this perspective from up above, feeling that sun beaming through your entire body, radiating through your belly, through your heart space, and that nice mountain breeze blowing, waking up your skin, invigorating every organ, every muscle, every ligament, every tendon.

Good. And now let's just bring our hands to our hearts. Whenever you're ready, just gently start to open your eyes, keeping them soft, bowing down. And saying thank you to your body for this experience and this journey that we're on. Namaste to both of you and to all of you.