Hello my friends, and welcome to Yoga With Adrienne.
I am Adrienne, and today we have a sequence for the digestive
tract.
It's a quick and yummy sequence to get the digestion happy and healthy.
So let's hop on the mats and get moving.
Okay, so we're going to begin with a nice comfortable cross-legged
position, like the cross roll up the spine here to begin; just kind of
checking in with the breath, maybe tagging a little bit away in the elbows
and the shoulders down as we find that lift and that length, in the heart
and up through the crown of the head finding a little opposition here
before we begin.
We'll take the palms to the knees and moving with the breath I'm going to
keep my and on an inhale I'm going to move in a circle
coming forward, bringing the heart forward.
And on an exhale, chin to chest, navel towards the spine, I'll come
around in back.
Inhaling coming forward, moving in a circle and exhale around
then back, follow your breath.
Again, keep the rooted down strong so we can really begin to target the belly here, the
abdominal wall, getting a little bit of the winter itch here, and we'll have
a sequence on that coming up soon.
And moving with the breath, inhaling as I come forward, I'm using the palms
on the knees to get the most out of the movement here.
Go ahead and reverse your circle inhaling as we come forward, heart,
literally in my case; coming forward on the inhale and then chin
to the chest as we exhale back.
A couple more here; you can close your eyes and begin to work with the
shoulders and elbows here, just kind of warming up the body.
You might imagine one of those old fashioned coffee
grinders here, really using the navel to carve the circle around and around,
warming up the body and moving with the breath.
Okay, awesome; come back up to that head over heart,
heart over pelvis, take a deep breath in and exhale
out through the mouth.
Awesome.
Take the right palm, bring it to the left knee, left fingertips swim all the way around
and behind so I'm not just leaning back into my twist, but I'm keeping
this length of the thing there, that length; keeping that length in the spine, keeping
that length up through the crown of the head and
bringing the left fingertips behind the tail.
So I'll turn to this just for one second so you can see this.
So again, rather than leaning back here, which is going
to be kind of an easy tendency, see if you can keep the spine stacked.
So it might mean that you don't go all the way back into big fancy-schmancy
twist, but again focusing on the experience here as we breathe
low into the belly.
Each exhale might be an opportunity to go a little
bit deeper into your twist, but just play around here and know that this
takes time and of course be free with the breath.
Take a deep breath and lift up through the heart.
On your exhales gently meld it back through center and we'll take
it to the other side.
This time left palm to the right knee, right fingertips
behind.
Inhale, roll it up nice and tall, not leaning back into that
lower back, but lengthening tailbone down and lifting the heart up.
Shoulders maybe loop forward up and back in, and check it out on the other side,
moving with the breath.
As you inhale breath into that lower belly.
Deep breath in, lift and lengthen and exhale and meld it gently back to center.
Okay, let's take the palms and dive forward onto all fours.
Here I go, coming onto all fours here, wrists underneath
the shoulders and knees directly underneath the hip point.
Take a second here to press up and out at the palms and just find a little integrity
here, maybe work it out at the neck for a couple of breaths.
And then cat cow moving with a nice awareness here today in cat cal from
the navel.
So again, not just sinking into the bones but maybe seeing if
we can take this cat cal today from the navel or the space between the navel
and the spine.
The inhaling heart comes forward, tail goes up towards the sky and pressing
up and on my palms here again not collapsing into the bones.
And then from my navel or from the space between the navel
and the spine, back in the chest, navel draws up, tailbone curls under,
exhale here.
So you can bring a little more awareness to the
belly, inhale, drooping the shoulders a long belly here, opening the heart
forward.
And on exhale, curling the tailbone under, the navel draws up, the
tailbone under, navel draws up, bringing navel up towards the spine as the
crown of the head releases.
Let's do one more cycle.
Inhale, heart comes forward, long beautiful neck and exhale, releasing
opposite direction, pressing the tops of the feet, pressing the
palms here, to get the most out of your, infusing each movement with a breath.
Okay, curl the toes under.
I'm going to walk the fingertips forward just a
little bit.
And from my navel lift it up to now we're facing down.
Peddle the feet here, move with your breath.
Then I'll drop the left heel, slide the right leg all the way up; nothing tense
here, just a nice conscious easy transition as I step my right foot all
the way up into my runner's lunge.
Take a second here to find integrity, walk that right foot out so
you're not on a tight rope.
Breathe, finding a little self expression, a
little movement here.
Now I'm going to wring it out, twist it out, [inaudible 00:06:30].
With left fingertips in line with the arch of the
right foot, or you might plant the palm firmly.
Or if you have a little block or look you can bring the
earth up to you by pressing into that this way.
The most important thing is wanting to find this length in the spine,
so if runner's lunge is still kind of a new pose for you, you might lower
that back knee here so that when we move into our twist you can find that
length in the spine.
So with the knee lowered I'll go ahead and go into my first twist here.
I'm reaching my right fingertips up.
I'm keeping my front big toe rooted down, the ball joint of that front big toe rooted
down as I open up into my twist.
Shoulder blades glide down the back.
Notice how I'm not collapsing in the neck here, but I'm keeping it nice
and long.
Great.
If you're feeling adventurous when you go to step firmly we'll lift that
back knee and breathe here in the twist, really spiking back through that
left heel, keeping that lift in the heart, nice long smooth deep breaths
here.
Notice I'm wiggling my right fingertips, just finding a little
movement to stay present.
And then on an exhale I'll slowly flow it back to
my runner's lunge.
All right, take a deep breath in here, and on an exhale I'll plant the
palm, step back to plank or half plank, and yoga choice here, you can take
a rest in child's pose, or shifting your weight forward, practice your
[inaudible 00:07:56].
Inhaling, lifting up to cobra, or upward facing dog.
Again, yogis choice here.
You can just take a breath and extend a child's pose.
And together we'll meet back downward-facing dog.
Peddle it out here for a long breath cycle.
And now we're going to step the left foot up on your runner's lunge, on the
opposite side.
So this seems like kind of a simple pose, but if you haven't
already, check out this pose in the foundations of yoga series.
There's so much more than meets the eye in this beautiful
posture that's so beneficial and very common in a public class.
Okay, taking a right palm or right fingertips now in line with the left
arch of the foot, finding that length as I inhale, open up through the left
wing.
I'm peeling my left hip crease back, and oh, I'm showing off my
birthday leggings here.
Good choice [inaudible 00:08:52].
And then I'm spiking that right heel towards the back wall.
Again we could always lower the knee here so that we could begin to find
space, especially if you're feeling like you have a little bit of a turtle
shell and your upper back is really tight.
Try to lower that knee so you can practice the twist here,
being present, nice full deep breaths.
Make sure you take a couple inhales into the lower belly here as you extend through
the crown of the head.
Remember, right ear lobe is lifting up; the neck is an extension of the
spine.
One more breath here.
It can be up with the fingertips, looking straight ahead
or straight down.
There's no right or wrong, just your experience.
And on an exhale we meld to back.
And the same thing here, extended back, extended child's pose, or step it back and [vinyasa],
coming to plank, finding your version of the vinyasa today.
Maybe it's just a little [chatter] of the practice.
It doesn't matter what really we do, but how we do it, creating
an experience in the body with the breath.
Great!
I thought I was much over this cold, but it turns out I've still got a
little gunk in there.
Okay, pressing up with our palms, we come to all
fours.
I'm just going to take a second here to loop the shoulders and
inhale one more cat cal.
Exhale, navel towards the spine, chin to chest, really press up and out of the palms here.
Sweet.
And then I'm going to cross the ankles, and I'm going to slowly being
mindful of my legs, use the fingertips to transition all the way back to
[inaudible 00:10:26].
Pray, send the feet out long, pressing the heels,
firm the tops of the thighs down and then inhale, reaching all the way up.
Nothing fancy here, just a nice easy forward folded loop to relieve the
lower back and also again massage that lower abdomen.
And come forward, hands can rest gently on the thighs, on the
shins, on the calves.
Maybe you can grab the ankles here, awesome; maybe the
outer edge of the feet, even the big toes.
So find where you fall naturally today, and then breathe deep into the
lower belly.
Breathe into the lower back and go ahead and let the weight of
your head release over here for one full breath cycle.
Then gently releasing, pulling the left knee all the way
up, keeping the right foot out.
I'm going to hug that left knee in, keeping about a fists-worth of
space here between the arch of that left foot and my right inner thigh.
Moving into a twist, again keep the top of that right thigh firm here, and
hugging right elbow to left knee.
I'm going to inhale, sit up nice and tall, and the same thing as before when I
did my twist, fingertips are going to come behind and I'm going to be careful
not to lean back in, but keep my pelvis tilting forward.
Sometimes sitting up on a block or blanket here is nice for this twist if you're still
working on creating that space in the back, in the spine.
So sit up nice and tall, deep breath in here, pressing into that right
heel, asnd on an exhale journeying into the twist.
Now if you're just holding here, see if you can connect back
to your breath.
Another variation here of course is to take the outer edge of
that right arm to the outer edge of that left knee, and then use this
here to kind of find a little more leg, a little more space.
Anything goes, find what feels good, be present with the breath.
Lower belly going along for the ride here, one more deep breath in and out.
And then I'll release it back to center and switch through.
Left leg out, right foot in, about a fist width distance
apart, so not flush against that thigh, but I have lots of space.
And then journeying into the twist on the other side, same thing, finding your breath,
firm in the top of that left thigh bone, left foot, nice and bright, flexed;
deep breath in, and on an exhale, journey into your twist.
Now, take the outer edge of that elbow to the right knee, choose your own
variation today.
Move with your breath, hearts lifting, lower belly going
along for the ride here.
Then on an exhale we meld it back to center.
Awesome.
Shake out the legs, wiggle your fingertips and toes and come to
flat back position.
Cool.
Tuck the chin to the chest and make sure your neck is nice and long here.
Extend both legs out, take a deep breath in, inhale, long belly here as we
let it all stretch.
And then exhale, hug the right knee into the chest.
Make sure you start with your right knee for this pose, hugging into that
lower abdomen, and you can point and flex the foot here, breathe, keeping
this leg nice and firm.
Inhale and keep the shoulders relaxed down as you
exhale, slowly peel, nose up towards the knee, forehead up towards the
knee; keeping the shoulders relaxed here.
Skin of the face relaxes, jaw relaxed, breathe, squeezing that right knee
as I press through that left heel, finding that opposition.
And then exhale, release down, and switch-a- roo.
Right leg out, left knee in, take a deep breath in, and on an exhale we
lift it up nose to knee.
Full body experience here, release, squeezing that
left knee up towards the chin or the heart.
Crown of the head is reaching towards the right toes, so we're not crunching
anything here but keeping lots of space.
On an exhale gently release it back down, and we're going to finish it off
with just a couple of rocks side to side and a reclined twist.
So you can rock here as long as you like, rocking to
the right side, then drawing in the navel down when we come to the left.
You might stay here for many, many breaths or you might practice just rocking
a little back and forth, getting that lower belly nice and massaged, relieving
the back of any tension.
And when you feel satisfied you can keep up with
this twist for as long as you like, and maybe rock to one side instead for
five or ten breaths and then rock to the other, five, ten restorative breaths
there.
And then whenever you feel satisfied make sure you take a couple
of seconds to just be in gratitude and notice the sensations of the
body here and [shivawsenaw 00:15:43].
[Okey doakie], so happy healthy digestive sequence.
this is a great sequence to do over and over again.
You know, one practice with it would be great, two is even better.
But to do it on an ongoing basis would be awesome and I think then you might actually
really get a grasp on the benefits of yoga practice in the internal
organs; so not just our good looks, but also kind of working from the inside
out, if that makes any sense at all.
Yoga, working from the inside out; the happier we are on the
inside the more beautiful we are on the outside.
That sounds pretty brilliant if you ask me.
Okay, love you guys.
This is a website, Yoga With Adrienne.com.
If you have questions, comments there or below, and yeah, I
hope you have a good time.
Let me know how it goes.
Happy digestive tract trails to you, so we say.