15-Minute Gentle Morning Yoga

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to Your Journey Yoga.

My name is Natalia and I'm here as your companion and your guide on your journey with yoga.

Today we have a gentle morning yoga flow.

This practice is beginner friendly and you don't need any props unless you want to have some with you.

Take a moment to find a good space to practice in,

Put on something comfy and I'll meet you on your mats.

We're going to begin today's practice in a tabletop position so go ahead and come on to all fours,

Stacking your joints.

Shoulders come over your wrists,

Hips come over your knees and just bring a little bit of awareness into your palms.

Really feel the earth and your mat underneath you.

Spread your fingertips nice and wide,

Giving yourself a wide base.

Decide if you'd like to press into the tops of the feet or tuck your toes.

Find a nice long line from your tailbone out through the crown of your head and from here begin to move through some cat cows.

So let your inhales drop your belly and bring your gaze forward and let your exhales round your spine and just move at your own pace here.

Start to familiarize yourself with your breath and see if you can connect it more deeply with your movement.

And as you're moving through your cat cows just feel your spine.

Notice how the spine is feeling this morning.

Notice if there are any parts of the spine that feel difficult to move or to communicate with.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing if that's present for you,

Just simply notice.

Maybe it can be a cue to move a little bit slower in this movement.

And if at any point you would like to find movement other than cat cow,

You could jump rope your spine,

You could stretch the side bodies,

Move your hips,

Whatever feels intuitive and good for you this morning.

We'll do two more rounds of breath,

Whatever movement you have chosen.

And after your second round of breath come back into a neutral spine.

We're going to bring the big toes to touch and the knees as wide as the mat,

Finding an extended child's pose.

So send your hips back towards your heels,

Keep your fingertips lengthening towards the top of your mat so your spine is nice and long.

As you arrive in your extended child's pose,

Notice if you're holding any tension in your hips.

Soften and open as much as you can in the hips,

In the low back,

And also allow your belly to be soft.

If you want to,

You can rock your forehead a little side to side against the earth,

Massaging out your third eye,

Your brow bone.

And take a couple of breaths here.

From here,

We're going to press into the palms,

Rise back up,

Keeping the legs as they are with the knees wide.

On an inhale,

We're going to extend the left arm off to the side,

And exhale,

Thread the left arm underneath the right,

Bringing the left shoulder and the left ear down to the mat.

Noticing the sensation of this twist in your upper back body.

Take two rounds of breath here.

We're going to press into the right palm,

Extend your left arm back to the left side,

And bring the left hand down to the mat,

And extend the right arm to the side,

Threading the right arm underneath the left,

Bringing the right shoulder and the ear down to the mat for your thread the needle pose.

Again,

Just observing the sensation of this twist in your upper back,

And taking a couple rounds of breath.

Begin to press into your left palm,

Extend the right arm back to the right side,

And plant the right palm down on the earth.

Bring your knees back underneath your hips,

Tuck your toes,

And lift your hips high and back into your downward-facing dog.

Now,

Since it's the morning,

I would recommend finding some gentle movement here,

Bending the knees,

Maybe moving the hips side to side.

If it feels good in the head and neck,

You could even play around with bringing your gaze underneath one arm and then under the other.

Use your movement to settle into this first down dog of practice,

Opening up more through the backs of your legs,

Getting strong in your shoulders.

And then begin to find stillness in your down dog,

And take a deep inhale in through the nose,

And a soothing exhale through your mouth.

Inhale,

Lift up onto your toes,

And tiptoe all the way up to the top of your mat.

And when you get there,

Settle into a ragdoll pose.

Since it's the morning,

I'll recommend finding a semi-wide stance with the feet,

And find a soft bend in your knees.

Fully relax the muscles of your neck,

And if you want to,

The arms can dangle down,

Or you can reach opposite hand for opposite elbow.

It might feel good to sway side to side,

Or forward and back.

Just breathe into the backs of your legs,

And if you're finding a sway,

Begin to make your way back to center.

If you took a bind with your arms,

Release them down.

On an inhale,

We'll lift halfway to a flat back,

And exhale forward fold.

Root down through your feet,

Bend your knees,

And one vertebrae at a time,

Begin to roll up to high mountain,

Urdhva Hastasana.

Arms reach up towards the sky.

Stay soft in your shoulders,

Soft in your face.

Take an inhale here,

Standing tall,

And as you exhale,

Fold forward.

Inhale to lift halfway.

As you exhale,

We're going to step the right foot back,

And lower the right knee down to the earth.

Keep your spine long,

Anchor into your front foot,

And rise up into a modified crescent.

Arms reach up high.

Take an inhale in here,

And as you exhale,

Bring your left hand to the left hip,

And bend over to the left side.

Right fingertips reach over to the left,

Nice and long through your right side body.

Slowly rise back up,

Both arms reach high,

And then bring your fingertips down to the mat.

Send your hips back into a half splits.

That right hip is going to be over your right knee.

Keep a soft bend in your left knee,

And flex your left toes up towards the sky.

Notice what the sensations are in the back of your left leg.

You might be feeling this in your hamstring,

And if so,

Breathe deep there.

In this pose,

You can have your spine nice and long,

Or it might feel good to round for your upper back,

And bring your forehead towards your knee.

We're going to take a couple more breaths here in this stretch,

And then on your next inhale,

We're going to lengthen the spine and look forward.

Roll through your front foot,

Lift your back knee,

And step it up to the top,

Finding a halfway lift.

And exhale,

Fold.

Root to rise,

Urdhva Hastasana.

Arms reach up to the sky,

And exhale,

Diving back down,

Forward fold.

Inhale to lift halfway,

And as you exhale,

Step your left foot back,

Lower the left knee down to the earth.

Find nice length in your spine,

Anchor into your front foot,

And rise up,

Modified crescent,

Arms reach high.

Take an inhale in here,

And as you exhale,

Bring your right hand to your right hip,

And bend over to the right side.

Reach those left fingertips over.

Start to rise back to center,

Arms reach high,

And fingertips come down to the mat,

Shifting the hips back into your half splits.

So the left hip crease is over your left knee,

Right knee is soft,

Toes are flexed,

And same thing on this side.

You can keep your spine long,

Or if it feels good to round,

You can round your upper back and bring the forehead towards your knee.

Notice if this leg feels any different.

Are the sensations the same?

Are they more intense or less intense?

Just start to familiarize yourself with the sensations of your body.

A couple more rounds of breath here.

And then on your next inhale,

We're going to lengthen the spine and look forward,

And roll through that front foot to low lunge.

Lift your back knee,

Step that back foot up to the top,

Finding your halfway lift,

Flat back.

Exhale,

Fold.

Root to rise,

Urdhva Hastasana,

Arms reach up high,

And exhale,

Dive forward,

Forward fold.

Find a halfway lift,

And as you exhale,

Plant your palms,

Step it back to downward facing dog.

If you want to walk it out again here,

You can.

Take a couple of breaths here.

And as you exhale,

Begin to lower your knees down to the earth,

Walk your hands forward just a tad,

And melt your head,

Heart,

And elbows down towards the mat for puppy pose.

So literally thinking about a puppy,

And how it stretches,

And it sends its tail up to the sky.

Let your forehead rest against the mat,

Or if it doesn't quite meet the earth,

You could also bring a block underneath your forehead here.

So you should be feeling an opening in the chest and in the shoulders.

Breathe deeply here.

Let's do one more round of breath,

And then begin to bring your hands closer to your shoulders,

Pressing through all fours.

Cross your ankles behind you,

And use your hands to roll back into a seat,

Finding Sukhasana,

Legs crossed.

In your seated position,

Take a moment to reach the arms up and overhead,

Nice long spine,

And as you exhale,

Take a twist to the left side,

Bringing the right hand to the left knee.

Maybe you gaze over your back shoulder.

Take a couple of breaths here,

And then return to center.

Reach your arms up high,

And find a gentle twist over to the right.

Maybe you gaze over your back shoulder.

A couple of breaths here,

And then come back to center,

Reaching your arms up and overhead,

And exhale,

Bring your hands down to heart center.

Start to bring your left ear over your left shoulder,

Stretching a little bit in the right side of the neck,

And then bring your chin to the chest,

And take your right ear over your right shoulder.

Bring the chin back to the chest.

Take one round of breath here,

And then you can begin to lift your head,

Bring your thumbs up to your brow,

Meeting your third eye.

Thank you so much for choosing to practice with me for this gentle morning yoga flow.

I'll see you in the next one.

Namaste.