Yoga For Flexibility | 16 Minute Practice | Yoga With Adriene

– What’s up everyone and
welcome to Yoga with Adriene. I am Adriene and today we have
yoga for flexibility practice. A lot of times people think they
have to go to class for longperiods of time in a really
sweaty environment and slamtheir bodies into poses to gain
flexibility and that is one wayof doing it and it does workbut another way
is by slowly edgingaway at creating space mindfully
so this is a practice you canbookmark and you can do with
other practices most of it’sfloor work to help you slowly
but surely create space andbecome more flexible. Hop into something
comfy and let’s get started. Alright, let’s begin
seated today. Come on down to the ground,
sit up nice and tall. We’re gonna start
with a little movementfor the head and the neck. So take a second to get settled
in but when you’re ready,you’re going to begin by
drawing small circles with nose. So go ahead and
establish one wayand as you start todraw your circles,
begin to becomea little more
aware of your breath. And then reverse your circle. Take it the other way. I’m joined today by mywonderful assistant, Benji. Alright, take one
more cycle of breath here. Just creating a little space
in the neck and the shoulders. And then when
you feel satisfied,bring it back to center and
we’re just gonna come intoalignment here for a moment. Find stillness, head over heart,
heart over pelvis. Maybe lean back
a bit or sit up tall. Just be aware of this line of
the spine that carries you. And then take a moment here,
I invite you to close your eyesand just notice
how you feel today. What your energy’s like. Because at the very least you’re
gonna get a great stretch today. Something you can repeatregularly to
increase flexibility. But going a bit further, you
have an opportunity to alsopractice flexibility in mind. Balancing the energy so
you can go with the flow,be flexible. Alright?Hmmm?Open. With the eyes closed, take
one more moment here in yourmeditation posture to
just be still and to notice,observe. Nice, now we’ll bat the
eyelashes open and we’re gonnastart by taking the left hand
and we’re just gonna take it allthe way over towards right side
of the body and use the righthand to guide it a
little further into the stretch. Most of us have come across
this stretch in gym class. The yogic version keeps
an awareness up throughthe spine, heart lifted.
Take a deep breath in. If you want to go a little more,
turn your gaze toward the leftside of your yoga mat,
toward your shoulder. One more breath here, inhale. Exhale to release and switch. Lifting up through
the sternum, the heart. Continuing to add that layer
of breath and then if you like,you can look past
your right shoulder. Beautiful, come back to center. Right hand’s gonna
come to left elbow. Then you’re gonna
guide it up and over. Little Vogue moment here. You can take the left
hand to the back body. Sit up nice and tall,
big stretch, big breath. And then release. Left hand to the right elbow,bring it up and over, Vogue. And then big breath,
big stretch. Big opening
through that rotator cuff,lifting the chest,
awesome and then release. Beautiful, hands are
gonna come to the knees here. We’re just gonna inhale, smooth
the heart forward and thenexhale round it through. You’re gonna get a
booty massage here. We’re gonna start to wake up
through the hip socketsbut also a little spinal flex. Think Cat-Cow here so inhale,
come forward,and exhale, round and back. Also, really
great for digestion. We’re gonna reverse the circle. Inhale, come forward. And exhale, around and back. Inhale, come forward
and exhale, round and back. Awesome, sit up nice and tall. Now you’re gonna turn on your
mat if you’re not already thereso that you can
send your legs out long. Great, then bend the knees just
a bit inhale to reach for thesky and exhale
to send it forward,Paschimottanasana
with bent knees. Round through the spine,
close your eyes. Stay open here, present with the
sensation and then in time youcan work to straighten the legs. Nice, long, smooth,
deep breaths. Alright, so good for the legs,
the lower back. Take a deep breath in. As you breathe in, feel the
skin of your back stretch. Let it be that connected. Yes and then breathe out. Let’s do one
more for the kidneys. Big, conscious inhale. Feel it. And release,
awesome work. Slowly begin to roll it back up
and we’re gonna comeall the way to our backs. Yay!So we’re gonna use the
support of the earth here. So come onto your back and right
away you’re gonna hug the kneesup into the chest and give
yourself a great big hug andfeel your lower back
nice and flush with the mat. Feel the glutes stretch. You might rock a
little side to side. Tuck the chin,
continue to breathe nice,long, smooth, deep breaths. Great, then you’re
gonna hung the right knee inand slowly send
the left leg out. So one knee in, one knee out. One leg up. Then release the left heel to
the earth if you haven’t alreadyand you’re gonna press
into your left thigh bone. In fact, go ahead and bring yourleft hand to the top
of your left hip crease. And then we’re gonna
squeeze the right kneeall the way up and in. Now, take a nice,
steady, breaths here. Cycles of breath
in and out, in and out. Might close your eyes. Beautiful, then slide your hands
now to interlace the fingersbehind your right thigh. Then you’re gonna inhale,
extend the right leg up high. Exhale, bend the right knee. Just bring it to
a nice right angle. Keep it going, inhale to extend. Flex your toes towards
your face and then exhale,bend at the knee. Inhale to extend
and exhale, bend. Now it’s okay if you’re not
able to extend all the way. Just come to your edge,
moving with your breath. Great, and on this last round
we’re gonna point the left toesand then we’re gonna
point the right toes. We’re just gonna do one
more with the toes pointed. Awesome work, now from here
we’re gonna bend the left knee,we’re gonna
cross the right ankleover the top of the left thigh. Then you’re gonna interlace
the fingertips behind the lefthamstring this time and we
come to thread the needle here. If you want to find some
soft, easy movement herethat feels awesome, you can. And if you want to extendthe left leg up
high here, you can. Breathe deep,
squeeze your legs in towardsyour heart, your chest. Just really take
this time for you. Enjoy. Feel supported by the earth. We’ll slowly release
the left foot to the ground. You’re gonna unravel andthen you’re gonna
send the right leg out allthe way and then squeeze the
left knee up towards your chest. Now, take your
right hand bring itto the top of
your right hip crease. You’ll find
your foundation here. Nice and firm in the right
thigh bone down to the earth,flex your right toes. Great, then squeeze left
knee up towards the chest. Pause here,
just playing with your breath. Nice, easy inhales in, long
exhales as you breathe out. Try not to isolate
just the area thatyou feel is being stretched. See if you can close
your eyes and seethe body as one moving part. Great, now
interlace the fingertipsbehind the left thigh.
We got it. Inhale, left leg extends. Exhale, bending the knee. Nice right angle or what
feels like a right angle. Inhale, lift it up. Find your extension. And exhale to bend. Moving with your breath, inhale. Lift and lengthen
and exhale to bend. If you feel, if you’re quite
flexible and you feel like thisisn’t enough, close your eyes
and really pay attention to thesubtle body actions here as
you move with your breath. Great, do one more,
inhale to find your extension. And then exhale, release
we’re gonna bend the right knee. Cross the left ankle over the
top of the right thigh and thenthread the needle,
interlace, squeeze andlift up towards
the chest, the heart. Of course you can extend that
leg here if you like bringingmore spaciousness into the
hamstring or stick with hipstretch by squeezing,
squeezing in towards the chest. Breathe deep. Beautiful, take one more inhaleand then we’ll slowly unravel. Alright, left leg goes out,
right leg hugs in. You’re gonna take
your hand bring it to theouter edge of your right foot. Left hand comes to the
front of the hip crease. Again, we do a
half Stirrup Posture hereor a half Happy Baby. Now, you’re gonna
pull the right knee down,stay firm in
that left thigh bone. Breathe deep here. Tuck the chin just slightly,
then return to that consciouscycle of breath here. Nice, easy breath. Right hamstring’s
getting some sunshine. Mmmm.
Opening up through that hip,staying connected
through that core. Finding that
core stability always. Sweet, then slowly
you’re gonna release that. You’re gonna guide your right
knee all the way in and thenover towards the left
side for a Supine Twist. Take a deep breath in here. And a long breath out. Then bring it
back up through center. Send the right leg out. We’ll balance it
out on the other side. Here we go,
hug the left knee in. Then you’re gonna take
your left hand bring it tothe outer edge
of your left foot. Right hand comes to
the top of the thigh boneand here we go, check out. Stirrup Posture on this side. So many of us, you know the
right and left side of the bodyare not the same. We don’t use them
the same way, the sameduration so just notice howthey’re different
and tend to it. Stay present with your breath. Great posture to go ahead and
continue with our theme of justreleasing,
letting go this month. Clearing the path. Alright, slowly release,
moving mindfully,hug you left knee into the chest
and then continue to guide itall the way over
into your Supine Twist. Close your eyes. Inhale lots of love in. And exhale, lots of love out. Awesome, slowly
come back to center. You’re gonna let both
legs lay out long now. Inhale, reach the
fingertips all the way up. Nice full body stretch here. Then you’re gonna point
the toes and you’re gonnabring the hands into a fist. And we’re gonna squeeze,
squeeze, squeeze everything. Engage your thighs,
engage your core,take a deep breath in. And then release
the hands and arms. Bring them down,
release the toes and ankles. Let everything softenand be jelly-like. Close your eyes hereand just take a
moment in Shavasana,the Corpse Pose
to relax everything. To open your heart,
open your mind and reset. Let your breath
just be soft and easy. And we just take a quiet
moment here to surrender. It’s one way we can
increase our flexibility,move with more easeby taking a moment
to surrender to the big picture. Remembering and understandingthat surrender is important. That we cannot
control everything. We do not control everything. Stay here if you
like or if you’re ready,we’ll bring the palms together. Bring the thumbs
up to the third eye,wiggle the toes, lift the
corners of your mouth slightly. Start to wag your tail a
little bit on the ground. Take a deep breath in and as you
exhale nice cleansing breathout through the mouth. Beautiful. The light in me
recognizes the light in you. Thank you so much for sharing
your time and your practice withme and with everyone around the
world practicing here together. I’ll see you next time. Namaste.