hey yogis welcome to class my name is flo thank you so much for joining me for this beginner practice today i’m honored to guide you through this 30 minute vinyasa flow very beginner focused and we will focus more on stretching out the hips outer hips as well as inner thighs and combine all of that into a full body practice all you need is your mat if you have any blocks or books available grab those too also grab a belt or a strap if you have that at home you can just use a belt that you usually use to for your regular pants that works perfectly fine otherwise a yoga strap or anything else in that shape is perfect let’s begin in a seated position in with crossed legs doesn’t matter which leg is forward or which leg is back we will do both sides and we’ll start nice and easy with this cross-legged seat you walk the hands forward and you fold forwardso for you you might be on the hands staying somewhere like this and that’s perfectly fine just walk the hands as far forward as possible so that you can comfortably stay here in this cross-legged forward fold round your back a little more if you want tuck the chin to the chest especially if it’s early in the morning this might feel good to lengthen the entire back side of your upper body all the way up to the neck and to the headthis is one of the few poses that i used to do every single day when i just started doing some kind of stretching stretches every day because i had sciatica and lower back problems this is one of the ones that really helped me to get rid of that pain if you are in that situation with sciatica or lower back pain then check out that video that i did specifically for you it might help you breathe in and out through the noselet’s walk the hands back release let’s switch sides try to not use your hands as you bring the other leg forward the other leg back and you fold forward again walk the hands forward to whatever degree is accessible and possible for you and relax around your backlet’s take three more breathsstart to find that rhythm of your breath that you think you can maintain throughout this practice it’s really the most important thing to be in any kind of pose or shape and focus on the breath in and out through the nosevery good slowly releasei will rotate on my mat but maybe you are already in position let’s come into our tabletop come on to all foursstay on the toes keep the arms straight start to send the hips back move the shoulders forward as far as possible keep the arms straight so that you feel the wrists we’re just warming up the wrists for a couple of repetitions here and then walk forward and back very good keep the arms straight now make circles around the wrists doesn’t matter which direction you’re doing we will do both let’s do two more full circles so important to warm up the wrists first thing before you start to put any weight on the hands switch directionskeep the arms straight breathe into the wrist feel the wristsvery good sit on the heels try to stay on the toes you’re stretching out the feet and the toes more shake out the hands if that’s uncomfortable for the toes and the feet again might be a sign that you should be doing it more most of the shoes we wear nowadays are pretty tight for the toes and for the for the feet they don’t really allow much movement unless you’re wearing barefoot shoes and so that’s a really nice one to stretch out the toes and the feet and get some of that mobility range of motion and strength back into the feet let’s take two more breaths i don’t want to talk to you too much by staying on the toes very good bring the hands down tabletop stay on your toes push the ground away so you’re really pushing into the palms the upper body lifts up stay on the toes lift your knees up off the ground just half an inch or so keep pressing into the palms push the ground away keep breathing we’re here for 5 4 you’re doing great 3 2 and 1 send the hips up and back keep the knees bent for your first downward facing dog readjust here so that the hands are as wide apart as the shoulders press into the palms use your fingertips to grip into the ground push the ground away move the chest towards the thighs sand the hips up and back keep your breath going nice and slow through the nose keep the knees bent because you want to focus on opening the shoulders but if you feel like you could straighten your legs more at the same time keep the shoulders nice and open and that nice long line from the wrists all the way up to the hips then go ahead and straighten your legs more but since it’s a beginner focused video most of you watching want to keep the knees bent your body will open up over time and it’s not about the heels to the ground the legs straight no one cares about any of that focus on the breath into the nose out through the nose very good keep pushing the ground away especially if that gets challenging for the shoulders keep pushing stay with the breath you’re pushing through something challenging just like in real life right that’s what we’re learning here on the mat things might sometimes get challenging but guess what if you leave the mat in real life things also get challenging especially these days and you learn on the mat that by pushing through it staying with the breath staying present you can make it through it it will all be good in the end let’s lift the heels bend the knees walk the feet forward between the hands take a deep breath in lift up halfway hands to the shins long spine exhale forward fold and down very good keep the leg straight inhale lift up halfway let’s do two more length note to the spine exhale fold very good one more inhale lift up halfway hands to the shins exhale forward fold bend your knees roll up through the spine to standing nice and slow engage your glutes the arms reach up exhale forward fold and down very good take a deep breath in lift up halfway exhale step the left foot back low lunge set your left knee down reach both arms up sand the hips forward and down engage your left glute draw the right heel back push the left knee forward draw the navel in towards the spine reach through the arms upwards let’s do three more breaths here make sure you can see that right big toe inside the right knee so that the right thigh is tracking the same direction as the right foot release the hands down half splits straighten the right leg heel toe the right foot forward if you want to so that the left hip is over the left knee use those blocks if the ground is too far away or stay on the fingertips flex the right foot take a deep breath in length now through the spine exhale fold forward and down you’re moving with the breath inhale lengthen through the spine exhale fold forward and down very good let’s do two morevery good re-bend the right knee heel toe the right foot forward runner’s lunge place both hands around the right foot press into your palms bring the right leg up and back for three-legged dog press into your palms just like in downward facing dog use your right fingertips you’re reaching up and back through the right heel both legs especially the right leg is as straight as possible the left leg could be bent straight now to the right leg very good now bend the right knee point the right foot and open stack your hips we’re trying to stack the right hip over the left at the same time lower the right shoulder more down so keep to keep both shoulders leveled press into your palms feel the fingertips focus on the breath nice and slow in and out through the nose very good now come high into your left toes take a deep breath in on your exhale shift forward shoulders over the wrists bring the right knee to your right elbow hold it there push the ground away don’t just hang out here push push push keep breathing you’re doing great flex the right foot step the foot outside the right hand for lizard lunge very good keep both hands inside the right foot and then just start to move the hips around forward and backmaybe in a circleand switch directions of that circle now some of you might feel very open here you can start to bend your arms or come onto the forearms i’ll just stay with you here on the hands move around feel the breath feel the different parts of the of the pose of the stretchand stop that movement just hang out here a little bit more aesthetic the body is still moving because you’re still breathingare we good now let’s all come onto the hands again release that left knee down to the ground now that’s the time where you want to reach and grab that strap or that belt start to bend the left knee put that belt into your right hand you can do so you have kind of like a loop and then you can hook that belt around the left footespecially if you cannot reach the foot with your right hand otherwise if you can reach and grab the foot with your right hand and no need to use a belt if you grab the foot then you grab the pinky toe sides you externally rotate the right arm engage your left glute sand the hips forward and down keep pressing into your left palms you’re still pushing the ground away to keep the left shoulder safe now you have that foot either with the belt or with your hand you extend the left foot away from you so you feel a pull on the right shoulder you also feel the the left thigh and the left quad contract because it’s working to do the extension in the leg stay there and breathe i relax the left quad now you’re stretching the left thigh by pulling the foot towards the hip be careful here it’s easy to go too deep too fast so take your time if the instep the inside of your right foot wants to lift up because the right knee is going more to the right side that’s perfectly fine let that happen very good let’s take two more three let’s take three more breaths here nice and slow through the nosetake your time to release both hands down to the ground inside the right foot the left toes come back to the ground lift your left knee up back to lizard lunge step the right foot back plank pose push the ground away tuck your tailbone engage the core now set the knees down of course if you have to but do your best to keep pushing into the palms keep the knees lifted yes we’re working a little bit here we’re just holding our own body weight on the hands and on the feet although it’s a beginner class you might be working a little bit but it’s still very accessible for everyone if you have two arms and two legs of course let’s shift forward come higher to the toes then set the knees down start to bend the arms we’re coming all the way down to the ground keep the elbows in all the way down very good untuck the toes bring the feet wide apart slide the hands forward cobra pose press into your palms lift the chest up squeeze the shoulder blades together and lower back down let’s do two more lift up press into your palms shoulders down and away from the ears lower back down last one lift up engage your glutes flex your butt cheeks press into your palms fold for 5 4 3 2 and 1 release very good check out the hips left and rightpresent your palms child’s pose send the hips to the heelsshift forward move through tabletop come onto the toes to downward facing dog very goodif your heart is already beating a lot and you have difficulty breathing set the knees back down pause the video come back to a child’s pose take a break you are always in control of how much you want to do let’s lift the heels up come high into the toes walk the feet forward between the hands let’s do the other side inhale lift up halfway exhale forward fold bend your knees roll up to standing the arms reach up exhale forward fold and down inhale lift up halfway exhale step the right foot back for low lunge set the right knee down reach both arms up sand your hips forward and down pull the left heel back push the right knee forward engage your right glute draw the navel in keep the core the belly active reach through the arms upwards very good breathe most important you’re still breathing take two more nice and slow breaths in and out through the nose sometimes you get so caught up with all of that stuff in the body that we forget focusing on the breath so come back to it release the hands down half splits straighten your left legvery good hands down flex the left foot take a deep breath in lengthen out through the spine exhale fold forward and down with the chest and the head over the left chin stay for several more breathsfocus on the sensation in the body that you create by coming into this shape which is most likely in the back side of your left leg your left hamstring if you feel it there it’s great add the breath to it it wouldn’t be yoga without the breath it’s just some kind of stretching poseuse that breath to arrive more in this present momentarrive in what really is currently going on and not the story that your mind is trying to tell you in the future or the pastre-bend the left knee wonderful job runner’s lunge both hands are framing the left foot press into your palms first push the ground away three-legged dog the left leg lifts up and back reach up and back through the left heel the left foot is flexed as if you’re standing on the wall behind you press into your palms to push the ground away use those fingertips to grip into the mat to take control over your wrists again maybe the right leg the standing leg is a little bit bent it’s perfectly fine bend your left leg point the left toes open stack the hips usually when you do this one the left shoulder wants to lift up but you are actively moving the left shoulder down to keep both shoulders leveled hold it here two more breathscome high into your right toes on the exhale left knee to the left elbow hold it there push the ground awaystep the foot outside the left hand lizard lunge take a moment to arrive set everything upmove the hips forward and back keep the breath goingmake some circles with the hips if you want come on to the forearms of course i’m gonna stay here on the hands todayjust see how it feels when you move around there’s no reason to hold still in any of these poses unless it’s your intention for the practice and your focus of the practice to move as little as possible but i always like to move around if it’s a normal practice without that specialintentionvery good come back onto the hands if you came onto the forearms let’s bring that right knee down to the ground keep pressing with your right palm into the mat so that you keep the shoulder nice and strong and active and you’re just like dumping all the weight into the shoulder this is no good over time use that belt again reach for that belt or that strap i don’t have one today but i encourage you to grab one bend your right leg use your left hand to reach for that foot now if the foot is too far away you can’t reach it take that belt it’s perfectly fine to take that belt use it use the props and the tools that you have if you can grab it then you want to grab the pinky toe sideso now that you have the foot with the belt or without extend the leg away from you so you feel a pull on the right shoulder yep left shoulder you’re activating the right quad the right thigh very good engage your right butt cheek send the hips forward and down if the left knee opens up to the left let the inside of the left foot lift up it’s all good now relax the right quad pull that foot the right foot towards your hips send the hips more forward and down engage your right glute more there’s a lot going on in this pose to take it easy nice and slow no need to force or push anything you’re doing a stretch for the right thigh you’re also kind of working the right shoulder you are doing a back bend a twist there’s a lot going on let’s take two more breaths you’re doing greatand release very good both hands inside the left foot back to lizard lunge lift the right knee up plank pose step the left foot back knees up or down in that plank you decide let’s hold for three more breaths so if this is challenging set the knees down if that’s still challenging keep pushing power through itkeep breathing very good now let’s all shift forward come high into the toes set the knees down or not you decide bend your arms low all the way down to the ground keep the elbows in beautiful drop all the way onto the belly i’ll scoot back a little bit but you can stay where you are extend the arms out to the sides untuck the toes bring the feet wider apart the thumbs are pointing down lift your hands up off the ground now engage your glutes lift your chest up off the mat as well lower back down let’s do four more lift up inhale exhale lower inhale lift lower last two lift lower last lift hold it here squeeze the butt cheeks squeeze the shoulder blades together press the feet the hips into the ground lift your hands higher up hold for 5 keep breathing 4 3 2 and 1 release everything down shake out the hips left and rightbeautiful job you’re doing great come back to the breath come back to the breath if you’re breathing fast right now if the heart is beating breathe nice and slow into the nose out through the nose it’s all good if you want to take a break pause the video stay hereif you would like to continue let’s push back to child’s poseand then to downward facing dogvery good push the ground away lift your heels walk the head walk the feet forward between the handslift up halfway lengthen hands to the shins exhale forward fold bend your knees roll up to standing deep breath in the arms reach chair pose exhale bend the knees reach your arms uppull the belly in draw the navel to the spine reach out through the arms the legs are already working i’m sure you feel it so reach your hands up higher up pull the belly in bend your knees more we’re just squatting a little bit here sitting down into this comfortable chair it’s comfy right i knew it very good last deep breath in on your exhale bend your knees squat all the way down maybe the heels lift up very good set the hips down beautiful bring the feet down to the ground wider apart than the hips now the hands go behind you the fingertips are pointing towards your hips we’re setting up for reverse tabletop pressing to the palms press into the feet lift your hips up and so for you this might be like this this is as high as you can lift that’s perfectly fine we’re all just doing our best there’s no competition it doesn’t matter how it looks what i’m doing what you’re doing stop comparing yourself to to other people it really doesn’t make make any sense it doesn’t help you to grow in your life so do your best as long as you know for yourself you’re doing your best that’s great that’s really incredible lift your hips higher up squeeze the butt cheeks and hold it wherever it’s comfortable for you now some people want to tilt the head back and some like me like to keep it upright like i’m doing it right now but if you want to tilt the head back and let it hang backwards and it’s okay for your neck then go ahead and do that do what feels good or you start to feel the shoulders most likely it’s all good keep pressing into the palms into the heels shift the shoulders shift the hips forward keep the hands as they are set the hips down very good so now we’re all here hips on the ground keep the hands there take a deep breath in lift the chest up exhale bend your arms send the elbows back very nice so we’re targeting the front side of your shoulders i hope you can feel it but not too much be careful with this one you don’t want to push anything here and go too deep it can get very deep very fast and you want to avoid going there just a sensation in the shoulders that’s all you want to feel then you breathe in and out to the nose nice and slow slow it down you’re doing great let the heart the heart rate the heartbeat come down slow it down relaxvery good let’s release reach both arms forward slowly come onto your backlet’s take happy baby here so you bend the knees lift the feet up off the ground two options here you can grab behind the knees and then pull those knees into the armpits or if you feel like it you can grab the outside edges of the feetand do the same bring the knees closer to the armpits close your eyesfeel the air coming in focus on that breath let’s take three more breathsvery good release the feet back down to the ground keep the legs bent for half shavasana cross your right ankle over your left thigh now you see that triangle you create here with the right leg you use your right hand to reach through grab behind the left leg or grab the left shin once you have that grip pull those legs towards you release the head down look to your right foot make sure it’s flexed that means the right toes are pointing towards the right kneei like to flex both feet just to create a good habit to always flex the feet in any kind of hip openers very good three more breaths breathe into the outer right hipthat’s the part we’re targeting in this poseand release both feet down very good feel the difference in your body right side left side and let’s finish up at the left side cross the left ankle over the the right thigh see that triangle again reach that left arm through grab behind the leg the right leg or the right chin flex both feet pull those legs towards your chest relax your head down to the ground five breaths your totalmake sure there’s no sensation in the knee especially the left knee on this side otherwise back off a little bit no pain no gain doesn’t help in yoga it will only cause you more pain and a lot of us come to this practice to heal but then they apply this gym mentality of pushing hard and forcing it and you know no pain no gain and this might be helpful a little bit to push through challenging stuff when you work on strength but with max with flexibility like this really no good gentle is better when it comes to flexibilityespecially if you feel any pain and you want to back off we got both feet down to the ground bring the heels close to your hips press into the heels lift your hips up bridge pose just to finish up with something symmetrical keep a gap between the chin and the chest to keep the neck safe press into those heels engage your glutes feel the activation there keep the breath going nice and slowlet’s hold for 5 4 3 2 and 1 release the hips down very good bring the knees together keep the feet as they are relax here close your eyesstart to relax your body more no need to hold on to any tensionnow let’s bring the salt of the feet together open the knees up wide out to the sides for supta baddha konasana if that’s uncomfortable or too much for the the inner thighs the groin in terms of a stretching sensation then extend the legs forward coming to regular shavasana on the legs straight to feet wide apart otherwise stay here with me palm facing upwards close your eyes if they are not alreadyfeel the sensation in your body try to relax into it let go relax it’s all goodshift your awareness to the sensation of the breath the air coming in and out through the nosethis whole thing on the back is basically a meditation on your backso i invite you to continue focusing on the breath observe the breath how the air is coming in and out through the nosefeel free to stay here for the next two three minutes maybe even five minutes maybe ten make this a longer meditation on thebackbe proud of yourself for doing this class doing this video with me today keep up the good work relaxnamaste