by Alia Khan
This gentle full body flow begins on the back, moves through table pose, and ends in child's pose. Whether you need a way to ease your body into the day, a break from sitting at your desk, or a calming pre-bedtime practice, this flow will feel great!
Transcript
Making your way onto your back, Hug your knees into your chest. Try to keep the tailbone uncurled so the low back is long as you draw the knees towards the forehead. And then bringing one hand to each kneecap, Or you can wrap the arms around the shins. Just start to make gentle circles with the knees in one direction. Careful not to cross the feet or the shins here, We want to keep the legs nice and even. So making three gentle circles in one direction. And once you finish that third circle, Go ahead and switch directions with the knees. Three nice big circles, Feel the low back stretching out, The hips starting to warm up. And then as you finish out that third circle, Come to stillness at center. Bring one hand to each kneecap and start to move the knees in circles in opposite directions. So moving the knees away from each other and then back towards each other. Three circles this way, Really getting into those ball and socket joints. And as you finish that third one, Just switch directions with these circles. So you're still moving the knees away from each other, But just switching up directions, Warming up through the hips and the low back. And then finishing out that third circle, Go ahead and hug the knees right back in. And then gently let your knees fall over to your right. Careful to make sure the backs of the shoulders stay sealed to the mat. Let the gaze fall away from the knees. The right hand can come to the top of the knees and press down gently. Left arm can extend out perpendicular or can bend into a cactus shape at 90 degrees. Inhale, Just find a little more length between the ribs. And exhale, Melt a little deeper into your twist. Make sure the knees are drawn all the way up to hip level, So the body is in an L shape. One more nice big inhale. And exhale it out. Draw your belly button in and up to engage your core. And then use your core muscles to lift your knees up to center. Hugging them in to reset. And then let the knees fall over to the left. The gaze falls to the right. Left hand comes to the top of the knees, Gently pressing down. Right arm can extend out or bend at 90 degrees. Inhale, Nice long spine. Big exhale, Melt into your twist. Two more breaths. Inhale. Exhale it out. One more inhale. And exhale. Engage your core. Bring your knees up to center. And hug them in. Bring the hands to the backs of the thighs. Curl your forehead up towards your knees and feel your belly engage. Start to rock front to back along the spine. Enjoying the massage along the backbones. Rocking up to your sits bones and then rocking back. So take a few more rounds at your own pace. Gaining momentum each time. And on this next round, Rock your way up to your comfortable seat. Make your way to your table pose in the center of your mat. Wrists line up under shoulders. Knees line up under hips. Peek between your thighs. Make sure you can't see your feet here. You want your shins nice and parallel. Now in your neutral table, Your entire body is active. Your belly button is drawing in and up so your core is lifting gently. Crown of the head is reaching forward like you're trying to touch the front of the room. Back of the neck is long. Iron out all of the wrinkles. From here, We'll come into a few rounds of Cat-Cow. So inhale, Drop the belly. Lift the gaze. Lift the tailbone and relax the shoulders away from the ears. Exhale, Drop the gaze. Press into palms. Actively arch the spine up to the sky. Inhale, Drop the belly. Lift the gaze. Lift the tail. Relax the shoulders. Exhale, Drop the gaze. Press into palms. Press your belly button all the way up through the ribs. Inhale, Drop the belly. Lift the gaze. Lift the tail. Relax those shoulders. Exhale, Drop the gaze. Press into palms. Arch the spine. Actively stretch it up to the sky. Inhale, Back to your neutral table. Belly draws in. Crown of the head reaches forward. Exhale here. Inhale to your neutral table. Belly drawing in. Crown of the head reaching forward. Exhale, Child's Pose. Open the knees to the outer edges of the mat. Bring the big toes to touch. Sink the hips back and reach the fingertips forward. Inhale, Widen the hands just a little bit more than the shoulders. Exhale, Sink the hips back towards the heels. Inhale, Relax the tops of the shoulders away from the ears. Exhale, Melt the heart towards the floor. One more nice big inhale. Big open mouth. Exhale it out. Inhale, Walk your hands over to the right, Creating a curve in your spine. Exhale, Lay left hand on top of right, Deepening the stretch in the left side body. Inhale, Find a little more space between the ribs. Maybe reach the fingertips out a little further. Exhale, Sink the hips back. Reach the arms over. One more inhale. Exhale a little bit deeper. Inhale, Walk the hands through center over to the left. Exhale, Lay right hand on top of left. Inhale, Find a little more space between the ribs. Exhale, Melt a little deeper, Whatever that means for your body. One more big inhale. Find some more length in the spine. Exhale, Melt the hips back towards the heels. Inhale, The hands back to center. And exhale, Child's pose.
