The Yoga Flow Show Artwork
Season 3 - Episode 3

Sweet Wake Up

45 min - Practice
45 likes

Description

Lesley guides us in a sweet morning flow to warm and wake up the body from the inside out. Moving with our breath, we will quickly generate heat through a creative sequence of Surya Namaskars (Sun Salutations), standing and seated shapes, and backbends. This practice results in feeling refreshed.
What You'll Need: Mat, Block

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(waves lapping) So good morning. This is your wake-up flow. I like to practice in the morning. Someone once said to me that the morning time is the time of sweetness in the world, where the veils of the world are very thin, and I always thought that was really inspiring, so that's when I practice. It's also before my two- and my five-year-old wake up, so it's a good time to (laughs) to do your thing.

So we'll start our practice on all fours, and Cat and Cow stretches, so inhale, arch the back, press the heart forward, and as you exhale, round the back, let your head, your neck, your face release. Inhale arch, press the heart forward to start to connect to the breath. Exhale round, let the head, the neck release. Imagine that you're waking your body up from the inside out. So starting with the breath.

Let the breath fill any spaces that might feel a bit tight or sleepy. Inhaling, exhaling. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) From here, find a neutral spine, and then walk your hands back, we'll come toward a Gate Pose variation.

So you'll take your left leg straight out to the left side, and then reach the arms up alongside your ears. So lengthen through the sides of your torso, and I like to flex my foot with this one. Go up and over to the side. Then reach the arm up. Now right away you're gonna start to lift the pelvic floor, lift the lower belly.

Maybe it feels better for your neck to support underneath the crown of the head and find a little opening through the chest, inhaling. Exhaling, breathe into the sides of the body. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. Now use your belly, inhale, come all the way up.

Bring the left leg in and over to the other side. Take the right leg out, flex your foot, inhale, reach the arms up, and then exhale up, and over to the right. So get the sense of the left side drawing down as you spin the heart open. Again, maybe support the head, breathe. Inhaling.

Exhaling. Inhale, come all the way up, and then bring the knee in, bring the foot in. Inhale, reach your arms up. Then exhale, Child's Pose, just walk your hands out in front of you, the knees can go apart, get some length through the spine. You can let your head rest down to the floor or a block.

Breathe. Inhaling. (inhales deeply) Exhaling. (exhales deeply) Inhaling. Exhale.

Come up onto all fours, and we'll take something called a Teepee Twist. So, your feet go down to the ground, and then you're gonna take your left arm, wrap it around the right leg or both legs, right arm back behind you, and breathe. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) Just a couple of breaths.

Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. Then come forward, over to the other side, right arm wraps around, left arm back behind you, inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) Inhale, try to relax all the muscles of your face, and your tongue.

Exhale, and come forward. Place your hands behind you, so we'll set up for a Tabletop Pose. So fingers facing in, soles of the feet to the floor about hip distance apart. Then lift your hips up, try to lift the hips so high you can't see your knees. Now optional, you can keep your head here, or you can let your head drop back, and breathe.

Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale, say good morning to the shoulders. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale, lower your hips down, cross your ankles, you're gonna roll over your feet, find Downward-Facing Dog. And in this first Downward-Facing Dog, do whatever you need to do to get into your legs, into your breath, so maybe pedal out the feet, or putter the lips.

(lips putter) And then start to settle. Start to find some stillness. Inhaling. (inhales deeply) Exhaling. (exhales deeply) Inhaling.

(inhales deeply) Exhaling. (exhales deeply) Right away, just letting the mind rest in the breath. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) Now bend the knees, walk your feet forward.

And hang over the legs. Grab hold of your elbows with your hands, let the weight of the head and neck release down, you can soften your knees a little bit, and breathe. Inhaling. (inhales deeply) Exhaling. (exhales deeply) Then slowly just release your hands, soften your knees a bit and roll vertebra by vertebra up the spine, so head and neck are the last things to lift up.

Step to the front of your mat, big toes together, heels together. We'll get right into our Sun Salutations. So Surya Namaskara A. Inhale, reach your arms up, press your palms, gaze up. Exhale, you'll fold over the legs, let your head and neck release.

Bend your knees as you need to. Inhale, look up, exhale step into a Plank Pose, and slowly slower down, Chaturanga. Inhale, lift into Upward-Facing Dog. Exhale, roll back, Downward-Facing Dog, breathe here. Inhale.

(inhales deeply) Exhale one, take five breaths. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale two. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three.

(exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale four. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale five. Bend the knees, look forward, step or jump your feet forward.

Look up, lengthen your spine. Exhale, fold into your legs, let your head release. Inhale, come all the way up. Press your palms, gaze up toward the thumbs. Exhale, Tadasana, arms alongside your body.

Again, inhale, arms up. (inhales deeply) Exhale, fold into your legs. (exhales deeply) Inhale, look forward, now Chaturanga, step or jump back. Inhale, Upward-Facing Dog. Exhale, Downward-Facing Dog.

Breathe. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale one. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale two.

Let the count help you focus, quiet the mind. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale four.

(exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale five. Bend your knees, look forward, step or jump your feet forward. Look up, exhale fold. Inhale come all the way up.

(inhales deeply) Exhale arms alongside the body. (exhales deeply) Last time like this. Inhale, reach your arms up, gaze up toward your thumbs. Exhale, fold into your legs, let your head release. Inhale look forward, now try to keep your gaze forward, Chaturanga, don't look down.

Inhale Upward-Facing Dog. Exhale Downward-Facing Dog. Breathe. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale one.

(exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale two. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three. (exhales deeply) Inhale.

(inhales deeply) Exhale four. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale five. Now bend the knees, look forward. Step or jump your feet forward, lengthen your spine.

Exhale fold into your legs. Inhale come all the way up, gaze up at the thumbs. Exhale, Tadasana, gaze at the tip of your nose just to hold the energy in. A different variation. (laughing) Inhale, hook your thumbs, reach up, arch back.

Exhale, bend your knees, fold forward, interlace your fingers behind your back. Place your hands on the floor, step your right foot back, lunge, inhale. Exhale, left foot back, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, move forward into a Plank Pose. Exhale, Chaturanga.

Inhale, Upward-Facing. Exhale, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, move forward Plank Pose. Exhale, knees, chest, and chin to the floor. Inhale, slide into Cobra.

Exhale, Child's Pose. Press back, Downward-Facing Dog. The right foot forward. Exhale, take your left foot forward, fold into your legs. Inhale, hook your thumbs, reach up, arch back, arch back with straight legs, then exhale, bend the knees, fold forward, interlace your fingers behind your back.

Place your hands down, step your left foot back, lunge, inhale. Exhale the right foot back, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, Plank Pose. Exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale, Upward-Facing Dog.

Exhale, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, move forward, Plank Pose. Exhale, knees, chest, and chin. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Child's Pose.

Press back, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, step your left foot forward, look forward. Exhale, right foot to meet the left, fold into your legs. Inhale, hook your thumbs, reach up, arch back. Exhale, Tadasana.

Breathe. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply).

Exhale. (exhales deeply) 'Kay, so we'll do that one more time. Inhale, hook your thumbs, reach up, arch back. Exhale, bend the knees, fold forward, interlace your fingers behind your back. Hands down, step your right foot back, inhale, look forward.

Exhale, left food back, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, Plank Pose. Exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale, Upward-Facing. Exhale, Downward-Facing Dog.

Inhale, move forward, Plank Pose. Exhale, lower the knees, chest, and chin to the floor. Inhale, slide into Cobra. Exhale, Child's Pose. Downward-Facing Dog.

Inhale, step the right foot forward, lunge. Exhale, left foot forward to meet the right, fold. Inhale, hook your thumbs, reach up, arch back. Exhale, bend the knees, fold forward, interlace your fingers behind your back. Place your hands down, step your left foot back, inhale.

Exhale, right foot back, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, move forward, Plank Pose. Exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale up. Exhale back.

(exhales deeply) Inhale, Plank. Exhale, knees, chest, and chin. Inhale, Cobra. Exhale, Child's Pose. Downward-Facing Dog.

Inhale, left foot forward. Look forward. Exhale, right foot forward. Fold. (breathes deeply) Inhale, hook your thumbs, reach up, arch back.

Exhale, Tadasana. Starting to warm up. (laughs) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. Okay, Utkatasana, bend your knees. Reach the arms up.

Breathe for one. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale two. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three.

Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale four. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale five. Now place your hands down by your feet, then straighten your legs.

Inhale, look up. Exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale, lift, Upward-Facing. (inhales deeply) Exhale, Downward-Facing. Okay, Downward-Facing Dog.

Now inhale, step your right foot forward, lower the left heel down, reach up, Warrior 1, exhale, open out, Warrior 2. In this pose, really push down into the soles of your feet, and as you push down into your feet, get the sense of lifting up out of the ankles. Breathing deeply. You can gaze toward your front middle finger. Inhaling.

(inhales deeply) Exhaling. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. Now straighten your right leg, Triangle Pose. Turn your back foot in a little bit.

Inhale, reach forward. Exhale, take your pose. Right hand down, left arm reaches up. Inhale, five breaths. Exhale one.

(exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale two. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three. Inhale.

(inhales deeply) Exhale four. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale five. Look down, inhale, come all the way up to stand, exhale, you'll bend the front knee, Warrior 2. Now Extended Side Angle A.

This one had a hand on the outside of the foot, not the inside, so a hand can go to the block or the floor. Try to get even weight through both legs, and then stretch the left arm up over the ear. Push your right leg into your right arm, spin the heart open, breathe for one. Inhale. Exhale two.

Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale four, breathe into this big stretch through the whole side of the body. Exhale five.

Now left hand down on the inside of the right foot. You can take the block away. Right hand to the outside of the foot. Step your left foot in. Inhale look forward, exhale, fold into your legs.

This is also a good place to put the blocks under your hands if you need to. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) Let the weight of your head and your shoulders release. Let your face relax.

Inhaling. (inhales deeply) Exhaling. (breathes deeply) Inhale, look forward. Exhale, bend the front knee, step back, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, move forward, Plank Pose.

Exhale, Chaturanga. Inhale, Upward-Facing. Exhale, Downward-Facing Dog. Step your left foot forward, ground the right heel down, inhale, reach up, Warrior 1. Exhale, open out, Warrior 2.

Breathe here for a couple of breaths. Find that sense of grounding. Remember that right hip is slightly forward. Inhaling. (inhales deeply) Exhaling.

Now inhale, straight to the left leg, step your back foot in a little bit, turn the toes in, reach forward, and then down. Triangle Pose. Inhale, gaze up at your top thumb. Exhale one. Inhale.

(inhales deeply) Exhale two. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale four.

Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale five. Look down, inhale, come up, exhale, bend the front knee, Warrior 2. Okay again, block can go on the outside of the foot or hand to the floor. Push your left leg into your arm.

Spin the heart open, breathe, like one long line of energy from the outside of that right foot through the fingertips. Say that's two. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale three. Inhale.

(inhales deeply) Exhale four. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale five. Place your right hand down, then we'll take the block away. Step your back foot in a little bit.

Inhale, look up. Exhale, fold. (exhales deeply) Get the sense of pushing down into that left big toe joint, drawing the left hip up and back. And here you can just let the weight of the head release. (breathes deeply) Try to relax any tension you might have in your eyebrows, your jaw.

Inhale, look up. Exhale, bend the front knee. Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, move into your Plank Pose. Now modify these vinyasas if you need to, Chaturanga or you can do Knees Chest Chin.

Upward-Facing Dog, push the heart forward, exhale, Downward-Facing Dog, roll back. Inhale here. Exhale, bend the knees. Step or jump your feet all the way forward, lengthen your spine. Exhale, fold down.

Inhale, come all the way up, gaze up toward the thumbs, then exhale, Tadasana. 'Kay, from here we'll do a twist. So this is called Moonrise Twist. It's one of my favorites. So you'll hug your left knee into your chest, and really balance on your right leg.

You can take your right hand to the outside of your left knee, or the outside of your foot. Now if you have your hand on the outside of your knee, don't do this. (laughs) Just keep the knee bent, and let the weight of the leg drop into your hand. If you're holding the outside of your foot, then you can straighten the leg as much as possible. Now the biggest part of this pose is, you can bend this knee, right, but you can't bend that standing leg, because that puts too much on the lower back. So you wanna straighten the standing leg as much as you can and then bend this knee.

If you need to. Here's the Moonrise part. Inhale, reach the right arm up, and then exhale, open out. So it's like a little moon. (laughing) 'Kay.

Breathing, inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. Now we're gonna come forward, cross your wrists, so here I'll take my left wrist and bring it directly over my right wrist.

Inhale, stay here. If you're holding the knee, stay lifted with the chest. Everybody hug the knee into your chest, and place the foot down on the floor. So second side, you'll hug your right knee into your chest. It might feel totally different on this side.

So the key with the yoga practice is you wanna try to keep your breath the same, keep your breath steady. Inhale, reach the right arm up. Now exhale, still hold your knee, or straighten the leg as you open out, and breathe. Look at the beautiful blue ocean. Inhaling.

(inhales deeply) Exhaling. (exhales deeply) Good, come back, you're gonna cross the wrists. So this time, right wrist over the left, stay here with the leg straight, or knees bent, hug the knee in, then place your foot down on the floor. Mm, inhale. Tiptoe balance.

So you're gonna lift up onto the balls of your feet, squeeze your legs (laughing) together and up, and then you can move the ribs around a little bit from side to side, just to get a sense of length through the sides of your torso. And try to keep that sense of length through the sides of the torso, bring your hands to your heart. Inhale here. (inhales deeply) Exhale, very slowly, you're gonna come to sit on your heels. The knees can shift slightly forward.

Imagine there's like a string attached to the crown of your head, lifting you up. Breathe deeply, it's okay if the knees go forward a little bit to counterbalance. (breathes deeply) Focus the eyes on one point. So from here we'll come into Crow Pose. This one, take your knees apart, hands down to the floor.

We'll practice it first with the block if you have one. So if you're newer to the balance, the block can be very useful. Just using the block like a pedestal, step your feet right up onto the block, inner knees way up toward your armpits. Look forward, remember always, don't look down when you're trying to find this balance. Keep shifting the weight forward.

Don't even worry about taking your feet up off the block, just get used to this, the orientation. Maybe slowly you start to lift one foot, and the other, and the heart presses forward. Or you can practice this without the block. Hands to the floor, squeeze your arms and legs in. Maybe Chaturanga.

Don't look down. Inhale up. Exhale, roll back. So we'll all meet in Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, right leg up toward the ceiling.

Exhale, shoulders over the wrists, round the back, right knee toward your nose, pause. Inhale, stretch the right leg up. Exhale, right knee toward right upper arm, pause. Inhale, reach the right leg up. Exhale, cross the body, right knee toward the left.

Inhale, reach the leg up. (inhales deeply) Exhale, knee toward the nose. Step your foot forward. Inhale, reach the arms up, lift the torso, lengthen. (inhales deeply) Exhale, twist over to the right side.

So left elbow to the outside of the right knee or thigh. Try to press the palms together at the center of the chest. Remember, always an option to take the back knee down. Or lift. If you like other arm variations, go for it.

So you always wanna take the variation of the pose that supports your breath. Inhaling. (inhales deeply) Exhaling. Now place your hands down, lower the left knee to the floor, Anjaneyasn. Hook your thumbs, reach up, arch back.

And here you can move the ribs around a little. So upper arms in line with your ears. Open through the heart. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale.

(exhales deeply) Find some freedom in the pose. (breathes deeply) Then bring your hands to your heart, hands to the floor, tuck your back toes under, pause. And then step back, Downward-Facing Dog. Okay, left leg up toward the ceiling. Inhale.

(inhales deeply) Exhale, shoulders over the wrists, round the back, knee toward the nose. Inhale, left leg up. (inhales deeply) Exhale, left knee toward left upper arm. Inhale, left leg up. (inhales deeply) Exhale, cross your body.

(exhales deeply) Inhale, reach the left leg high. (inhales deeply) Exhale, knee toward the nose, and then step, lunge. Inhale, reach your arms up. (inhales deeply) Exhale, twist. (exhales deeply) So when you twist, really push down into that left big toe joint, think about drawing the right outer hip or left outer hip in.

(breathes deeply) Hands down, Anjaneyasn. Lower your back knee. You can scooch it back a little. And then hook your thumbs, reach up, arch. Open through the heart.

(breathes deeply) Good, hands to your heart, and lengthen. Then place your hands down, step back, Downward-Facing Dog. Inhale, Plank Pose. Exhale, knees, chest, chin. Inhale, Cobra.

(inhales deeply) You can lift the palms of your hands up off the floor. Try to lengthen the tailbone. Press open through the heart. Inhaling. (inhales deeply) Exhaling.

(exhales deeply) And then release all the way down. And bend the knees, reach back for the tops of your feet or your ankles with your hands for Bow. Exhale everything out, then inhale, push your feet into your hands, lift up. Breathe here for one, inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale, two.

Inhale, you can gaze at the tip of your nose. If you're gonna be traditional. Three. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Four.

Inhale (inhales deeply) Five, release all the way down. Make a pillow for your head with your arms and hands. You can rock your hips from side to side, releasing through the lower back. It's nice to have a little vigor in the morning, it can start your day in a good space, some good energy. All right, so you'll take your second Bow.

Exhale, and inhale lift. (breathes deeply) Try to balance between the ribs and the hips. Really push the legs into the hands. (breathes deeply) Release down. Maybe here you take a vinyasa.

Inhale up. (inhales deeply) Exhale, roll back. Okay, so Downward-Facing Dog, just breathe here. Let's move onto the back. So you come onto all fours, and you can cross the ankles and roll over your feet or bring your legs to the side and then sit down.

I'm gonna swing around so you guys can see me. And then lie all the way down on my back. 'Kay, Half Wheel Pose. Arms alongside the body. Exhale everything out.

Now inhale, lift your hips up toward the ceiling, interlace your fingers underneath you, wiggle from shoulder blade to shoulder blade, so you've got a lot of space in the chest. Keep pressing the heart up. (inhales deeply) Breathe. (breathes deeply) Imagine there's a gentle inner rotation of your upper thighs. So you're getting a sense of length as you open.

(breathes deeply) And then just release your hands, slowly roll all the way down. And maybe one hand to the heart, one hand to the belly. Inhale. (inhales deeply) Exhale. (exhales deeply) Okay, not too long for that resting.

(laughing) You take your arms alongside your body, you've got one more backbend. So this is called Tiptoe Fish. Inhale, you're gonna lift your hips up, very similar setup to that Half Wheel, and then take your hands apart. Lift up onto the balls of your feet, lock your feet together in back, so your hips are on your heels and the toes are tucked under. Now this can feel like a good place to just stay and work.

Try to find steady, even breath here. Try to keep the mind calm. Or we can move to the next stage, which is bending the elbows, place your hands by your ears, fingers facing shoulders, exhale, push your hands down into the floor, draw your knees toward the ground. If the knees are on the ground, maybe the head can come to the ground. And if both knees and head are on the ground, arms can stretch out.

This is the full pose, Tiptoe Fish. So the cool thing about this pose is no matter where you are along that process, you'll get a huge benefit, huge opening. So again you always wanna stop at the place where you're working, stop at the place where you find full breath. Inhale, lift the head. Exhale.

(exhales deeply) And then just let yourselves release, maybe feet go mat's distance apart. Letting go. (sighs) It's nice just to stay and feel the aftereffect of some of those nice big poses. And then just quietly taking the feet in, draw your knees into your chest, and just try to keep yourself calm and steady. You can move from side to side gently if that feels good.

(breathes deeply) Notice your shoulders. Try to keep 'em pretty relaxed. And then feet to the floor. Scooch your butt over to the right side. Now you can cross your top leg over your bottom leg or stack your knees, and we'll just take a twist.

So drop your knees to the left so we get that twist to the right. (breathes deeply) I always close my eyes here. It'd be kinda nice just to receive some of the benefits of those poses that you've been doing. Letting go. And then come up to the center, and over to the other side.

Scooch your butt over and then cross your knees or stack your legs. 'Kay, back up to the center. Hug your knees into your chest, letting the lower back release. Inhaling all the way up. And then I'm just gonna swing around.

Doo doo. Paschimottanasan. Pull the flesh of your seat straight back, flex your feet, and inhale, and exhale fold forward, so you can hold on wherever you hold on. If you have a belt, you can place the belt just above your heels and then hold on, or hold on to the legs. I hold the outsides of my feet and put my thumbs right underneath the big toe joint, and that helps me get the proper rotation here.

Push my thumbs forward as I pull my feet back. And then release. (breathes deeply) And that one more breath. (breathes deeply) Inhale, come all the way up. All right, Baddha Konasan, soles of the feet together, knees apart.

I push the soles of my feet in. Inhale, lift up through the center of the chest, and then exhale, elbows back, fold forward. Breathing deeply. Try to get the upper inner thighs to roll back and down. (breathes deeply) So in all of these poses, you don't wanna try to hard, but you don't wanna try to little, right?

So try to find that balance of effort and ease. Inhale, come all the way up. Okay, this one is called Blossoming Lotus. So, feet come apart, so they're about mat's distance apart. Toes turned out, so they're like little lotus petals, and then you're gonna grab hold of your ankles with your hands.

Now don't move your hands, but energetically, you'll start to draw the arm bones back and let the heart press forward. This can be a good place to stay and work. Breathe into the inner thighs, into the groins. Or we can move toward a twist. So if you're twisting, you'll take your right arm underneath your right leg, and you reach the left arm up toward the ceiling.

Try to stay open through the chest. Stay there, or, top arm can go behind the back, you can reach for the inner thigh. Or maybe bind behind your back. So if you're binding, the right hand will reach toward that left wrist. You can push the left hand down and spin the heart open.

So again, whatever variation you have, you breathe. You might wanna stay there with the arm straight. 'Kay, we'll release. So come back. Everybody come to the center, grab your ankles, inhale, lift the chest.

And then exhale, over to the other side. Reach the arms up. Maybe stay here, again with arms straight, or, arms behind the back, reaching toward that bind. It can go here, or push the hand down. Good.

Then straighten the arms. Grab hold of your ankles. Good, push back. Now here's the balance. Heels together, toes apart, gonna reach the arms underneath, pointer finger and thumb touch, so you're in your Low Lotus.

And then release that down. Feet together, lift the chest, and exhale, just a little release. Come all the way up. Right, Upavistha Konasana. So legs apart, so similarly we're gonna have the upper inner thighs rolling back and down, feet are flexed, so you wanna try to keep the thighs rolling back and down as we start to go forward.

So avoid collapsing the whole thing forward. So flexing the feet can somehow, sometimes help us with that control. And then again, stop at the place where you're working, so if you start to lose your breath, it just simply means that you've gone too far, okay? So find the place that feels right for you. Inhaling.

(inhales deeply) Exhaling. (breathes deeply) Good, inhale, come all the way up. 'Kay, we'll do one side stretch and then we'll move toward our Shavasana. It's good for the morning, right, to do a little something? All right, so take your right leg and bring it back, so the right heel comes toward the hip.

And a little twist first. Inhale. (inhales deeply) And then exhale, you're gonna try to keep pressing that right sits bone, right thigh bone, down toward the ground. Left arm on the inside of your left leg, and reach the right arm up over the ear. Now you might wanna support behind your head.

Play with the posing energy here, so this side of the body moves down toward the ground, and that's gonna give you that length. As you reach the right arm up, maybe you hold your foot. Maybe you hold your head. Spin the heart open, keep using the lower belly to control that opening. (breathes deeply) Inhale, come up.

And then stretch the leg straight. And we'll do the other side. So left leg draws in. Okay, so open the leg out, and twist. And then up and over.

So you can hold the foot, or the head. Get that sense of grounding. (breathes deeply) Inhale, come up. And then stretch the leg out. Shake your legs out a little bit.

Let's come forward, and we'll end as we started, with this Tabletop Pose, feet down, lift your hips up. Optional let your head drop back. No fast breath here, just see if you can let it be pretty soft, pretty steady. Then lower your hips down to the ground. The well-deserved Shavasana.

Arms alongside the body. (breathes deeply) Letting go. (breathes deeply) Then very slowly start to deepen your breath. Wiggle the fingers and the toes. (inhales deeply) And reach your arms up alongside your ears and stretch and lengthen, inhaling.

(inhales deeply) Roll over onto your right side. And very gently make your way up to a seated position, just closing your eyes. And sometimes when you come to sit up, thoughts of what's gonna happen during the day or e-mails you didn't write back, or what you did yesterday but shouldn't've done, all these kind of thoughts can start to come in. See if you can just give yourself a moment to stay steady. Stay still, so that when you transition back out there, you do it with the same qualities that you brought to your practice.

So qualities of receptivity, and ease. And hands to your heart. Namaste.

Comments

Grace C
1 person likes this.
Thank you Lesley for this fun and energetic morning sequence. I loved starting my day with this flow.
Toni B
2 people like this.
Thank you for your beautiful energy. I loved this practice. I also love your yoga pants!! What brand are they?

Toni xx
Lesley Desaulniers
Thank you, Grace! I am so happy that you enjoyed the practice.
xoxo
Lesley Desaulniers
Hi Toni -
Thank you for the beautiful comment! We have more Season 3 videos coming up this week!

Pants: www.omshanticlothing.com

xoxo, Lesley
Fay P
2 people like this.
I too enjoyed the class......, and wanna know the brand name of the yoga leggings!
Holly M
2 people like this.
Namaste, Lesley xo Thank you for this lovely sequence. So nice to hear your voice leading us through the poses.
Lisa B
2 people like this.
What a great flow to start the day. Thank you Lesley!❤️
Elliotte S
2 people like this.
That was such a wonderful way to start my day - thank you so much Lesley!
Lesley Desaulniers
Thank you, Elliotte! xoxo
Julie W
2 people like this.
Love this beautiful morning practice.
Perfect way to start the day!
Thank you Lesley
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