I'm Adriene. Today on the "Yoga for Weight Loss" series, we are going to strengthen and lengthen the body in a little vinyasa flow practice. I'm calling this, "Yoga Flow for Love" or "Love Yoga Flow." It's really just because, right? Self-love. Mainly, my point is, who said a workout has to be harsh and unloving? Let's see if we can marry our breath and our body together in a way that feels good, but also gets our muscles nice and toned and trim and strong. Right? Building that lean muscle mass in the most loving way. Let's get started. (rhythmic guitar music) - Okay, today we're going to begin in a nice comfortable seat.
And we're just going to take a minute to check in with our breath, because we're going to use our breath to move through the practice today. And especially when we title a video "Yoga for Weight Loss," we want to make sure we're starting with integrity, and that we're working from a place of connectivity and listening to the body. So, we could start this asana at the head of our mat, but we're definitely gonna take a second here before we get moving, to check in with the breath. So, we're not gonna be here long, so I'm just telling you all that, I guess, to invite you to dive in, commit to your breath in a new way. And we're just gonna start, nothing fancy, by closing the eyes, and inhaling in deeply as you squeeze the shoulders up to the ears. And then exhaling, drawing the shoulders, elbows away. Finding length in the neck. Inhale. Sit up nice and tall. Squeeze the shoulders up towards the ears. Full breath in, all the way to the top, and then use your exhale to draw the shoulders, the elbows down. And one more time, just like that. Inhale. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. And exhale, drawing the shoulders, elbows down, down, down. Now close your eyes here, and play with your breath.
So if you're familiar with ujjayi, you might begin to connect to that audible breath here. But really, we just want to get the juices flowing here. Get our mind to anchor on the sound of the breath. If it feels good to maybe teeter totter the head a little, left to right, or maybe draw a couple circles with the nose, do that. Then on your next inhale, draw the palms together at your heart. Lift your sternum up to your thumbs, and actively press the palms together here, elbows out, left to right. Another deep, conscious breath in. Then we use the exhale out to bring us to all fours. When you arrive, begin to move in your cat-cow. But take this awareness of the breath with you, my friends, as you spread the palms. And drop the belly down to the earth as you inhale, and drawing the navel up to the spine as you exhale. Let the breath fuel the movement.
Careful not to rush here. Awesome. Then begin to find a little movement here that feels good, maybe shaking the hips a little left to right, maybe drawing circles with the hips. Continue with your breath. If you catch yourself holding your breath here, then just notice that and then come back. Cool. And then after a little movement here, we'll make the journey to downward facing dog, by curling the toes under. Maybe walking the palms slightly forward, drawing the shoulders away from the ears, and then lifting the hips up high. Find your breath again here. Bending the knees. Melting the heart back. Stretching through the backs of the legs. Stretching the feet. Pressing into all ten knuckles strong here. Should start to settle in here with the breath, start to feel good. Letting go of the day thus far, perhaps. Allowing yourself to let go of any to-do lists or anything that you have to do after practice. Give yourself this time on your mat to really focus on your breath, connect to yourself. We're gonna take it to a nice slow walk up towards the front edge of your mat. Take your time getting there. And we'll meet in a forward fold, toes pointing forward, knees bent as generously as you like. Take a couple moments here with your breath. Maybe shifting your weight on your feet, front to back, side to side, really spreading awareness through all four corners of the soles of your feet. Maybe shaking the head a little, yes and no. Clasping the elbows like I am here feels right for me. Take one more deep breath here, wherever you are. And we'll slowly begin to roll it up. Loop the shoulders, press into your feet, and find that lift up through the heart. Lengthen all the way up through the crown of the head. And close your eyes here, and take a couple smooth breaths here in mountain pose. Inhaling lots of love in, and exhaling lots of love out. Then inhale. Reach the fingertips up high towards the sky. And exhale. Draw your shoulder blades together. See if you can create more space between your shoulders and your elbows here. Spread the fingertips super wide, and again nice, long, smooth deep breaths here. Careful not to lock the knees.
You might find a soft bend. Notice if the tailbone is spilling out here. See if you can allow the tailbone to grow heavy, maybe tuck the pelvis here. Last, but not least. I know your arms might be getting tired, especially if you're new to the practice. Stick with it. We're gonna hug just the lower ribs in, just a hair here. Drawing energy in from the arches of the feet. Take one more deep breath in here. You got it. Then exhale. Palms come together, as we bend our knees generously, and take it all the way down. Awesome. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, bow. Inhale, reach it all the way up, spread the fingertips. Press into all four corners of the feet, and then exhale, hands to heart. All right, let's flow. Soft knees. Move with your breath. Inhale. Reach it up. Draw the shoulders down, open your heart. Exhale. Down you go. Bend the knees. Inhale. Nice flat back position here. Extend through the crown. Exhale. Forward fold. Great. Plant the palms here and step the feet back to plank. Take your time getting there on this first one. Press away from your yoga mat. You can always lower the knees here. Or I'm finding a little stretch by bending the knees back and forth, back and forth. Then slowly, we'll lower down, hugging the elbows into the side body. Gaze is forward here, as I lower all the way to the belly. Loop the shoulders. Press into the tops of the feet, and inhale. Cobra. Exhale, release. Curl the toes under, and make your way to downward-facing dog. Inhale, lots of love in. Exhale, lots of love out. Melt your heart towards your toes. Hug the lower ribs in. One more breath. Inhale. And exhale. Great. Anchor through the left heel. Inhale, lift the right leg up high. Rotate the right ankle one way and then the other. Make sure you're not dumping all your weight into your left shoulder. Square the shoulders here. Then we'll squeeze the right knee all the way up and in towards your heart. See if you can touch your nose to your knee. Great. Then step the right foot all the way up into your lunge. Lower the back knee. Find a nice, juicy stretch here.
Lifting up through the heart, looping the shoulders. Press into the top of the back foot. Breathe deep. Awesome. Then curl the back toes under. Lift the back knee. Plant the palms, and step the right toes back to plank. Again, feel free to lower onto the knees here for a half-plank at any time. Inhale in. Exhale. Lower all the way to the belly. Inhale in. Cobra. Exhale. Release. Awesome. Curl your toes under. Make your way to downward-facing dog. Big breath in. Big breath out. Great. This time anchor through the right heel. Inhale. Lift the left leg up high. Deep breath in here. Rotate the left ankle. Go through your checklist. Play with the shoulders here.
Make sure you're not holding in the head, the neck. Then we'll begin to bend the left knee. Squeeze it up and in towards the heart. Try to touch your nose to your knee. And then step your left foot up into your lunge. Lower the back knee. Press into the top of the back foot. Breathe deeply here as you open your heart. So careful not to collapse, but always creating a full-body experience here, especially when we begin to move a little faster in the flow. So, full-body awareness. Using the breath to expand that awareness, with every breath, with every move. Let it grow. Turn the back toes under. Lift the back knee. Plant the palms. Step the left toes back. This time you might lower chaturanga to upward-facing dog, or you can repeat the belly to cobra. Moving with the breath as you inhale. Open your heart. And exhale to down dog. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Go for a nice slow walk again, or bend the knees generously. Look forward. Inhale in. On an exhale, hop to the top. Forward fold. Great. Inhale. Halfway lift. Nice flat back. Exhale, bow. Inhale. Sweep the fingertips all the way up and overhead. And exhale, hands to heart. Soft knees. Inhale and reach it up. Spread your fingertips. Exhale, down through the midline. Forward fold.
Inhale. Nice flat back position here. Move with your breath. Exhale takes you down. Inhale. Plant the palms. Step or hop it back to plank. Move through your vinyasa here, hugging the elbows into the side body. Lifting to cobra or up dog. Exhaling to downward-facing dog. Moving the breath. Inhale. LIft the right leg up high. Exhale. Squeeze nose to knee. Step the right foot up into your lunge. Lower the back knee. And this time, inhale, reach the fingertips forward, up and back. Crescent moon. Squeezing the inner thighs to the midline, pressing into the top of that back foot. Super strong here. Keep breathing. Draw the shoulders away from the ears. Spread the fingertips. Great. Inhale in. Look up. Exhale. Take the palms together. We're gonna dial the heart over towards the right side of the mat. Squeeze the right knee in towards the midline, and we'll find a little twist here. Pressing the palms together to find length through the crown. Nice, long, smooth, deep breaths here. You got it. And then slowly, we'll release. Come back to your low lunge. Lift the back knee. Plant the palms. Step the right toes back, and move through your flow. Lowering all the way down to the belly. Cobra or upward-facing dog. Together we'll meet downward dog. Drop the right heel. Inhale. Lift the left leg up high. Find your strength as you squeeze the knee in. Nose to knee. Then we'll step the left foot up. Lower the right knee down. Take your time. And loop the shoulders. Find that lift in the heart. And when you're ready, crescent moon.
Reaching the fingertips forward, up, and back. Hugging the inner thighs to the midline. Stick with your breath. Inhale in. Draw the palms together. Exhale. Pull the left hip crease back. Begin to dial your heart towards the left side of your mat. Press the palms together. Aim to bring the palms to the center of your sternum. And find that length through the crown of the head. Breathing deeply here. So good for the body. Inhale in. Exhale. Gently release. Come back to your low lunge. Lift the back knee. Plant the palms. Move through a vinyasa here. This time we'll take a little moment in extended child's pose. So move through your heart-opener. And then exhale. Knees nice and wide. Forehead comes to the mat. We take a break. If you don't want to do this here, if you prefer to rest in downward-facing dog, send the hips up high. We'll meet you there in just a moment. Stay connected to your breath. Shift your focus to the sensations in the body. Great. Then activate through the arms. So nice active arms here. As we draw the navel up to the spine, walk the knees back underneath the hips. Then plant the palms, curl the toes under, and stand it on up back in downward-facing dog. Bend the knees generously. Look forward. Inhale in. Exhale. Hop to the top. Or you can repeat the slow walk. Inhale. Flat back position. Exhale. Soften and bow. Inhale. Sweep the arms all the way up. And exhale. Hands to heart. Awesome. Stick with it.
Soft knees. Inhale. Reach it up. Move with your breath. Exhale. Forward fold. Inhale. Halfway lift, your version. Long, beautiful neck here. And then exhale. Take it down. Plant the palms. This time maybe hop the feet back to plank. Inhale. Slowly lower down. Upward dog or cobra. Exhale to down dog. Drop the left heel. Lift the right leg up high. Inhale in. Exhale. Squeeze nose to knee. Connect to your strength. Then step the right foot up into your lunge. Lower the left knee down. Inhale. Sweep the arms up and overhead. Crescent moon. Inhale. Draw the palms together. Exhale. Slowly taking it over to your right. Nice twist here. Press the palms together. Try to draw your thumbs over towards your heart. Your heart over towards your thumbs. So nice juicy twist here. Then huge transition here. We got this though. Strong foundation as you squeeze the inner thighs in. Curl the left toes under. See if you can lift the back knee. Keep breathing. Nice length through the neck and the crown. This is an option, so you can always pass on the options, save it for another day, by keeping the back knee lowered. If it's lifted, spike that left heel towards the back edge of your mat. Take one more deep breath in here. And exhale. Release everything.
Awesome, guys. Plant the palms. Step the right toes back, and move through your vinyasa. Move with your breath. Listen to your body. And we'll meet downward dog. Same thing on the other side. Drop the right heel. Inhale. Lift the left leg up high. Exhale. Connect to your strength. Nose to knee. And step the left foot up. Lower the right knee. Crescent moon. As you inhale, reach the fingertips forward, up, and back. Strong in the back leg. Inhale. Draw the palms together. Exhale. Take it over into your twist. Palms pressed together. We try to draw the heart to the thumbs, the thumbs to the heart. Big, big breaths here. Hold on to a focus drishti here as you curl the back toes under, and lift the back knee up high. Welcome that heat, that tapas, that transformational energy. Take one more breath. And then exhale. Release back. Awesome. Plant the palms. Step the left toes back. Move through your vinyasa. Great. From downward dog, bend the knees generously. Look up. Walk, step, float, jump, dance to the top. Inhale. Halfway lift, your version. Exhale. Soften and bow. Bend the knees. Inhale. Sweep the arms all the way up and overhead. And exhale. Anjali mudra at the heart. Pause for a breath cycle or two here. Notice how you feel. You might take a sip of water here. You might wipe the sweat off your brow. Fix your, or maybe you're just here, (laughs) like a good yogi. Just kidding. We're all good yogis. And here we go. Reconnect to your breath. Find soft knees, and inhale. Sweep the arms all the way up and overhead. Exhale. Waterfall it down. Inhale. Halfway lift. Exhale. Bow. Step or hop it back to plank. Then slowly lower down. Inhale. Chaturanga to upward-facing dog or cobra. Exhale. Downward-facing dog. Keep exploring through the neck, the head, the shoulders. No yoga robots here. Drop the left heel. Lift the right leg up high. Deep breath in. Exhale. Squeeze nose to knee. Connect to your core power, your strength. Then step the right foot up. Lower the back knee, once again. Crescent moon as we inhale. Reach it up. Exhale. Right into the twist. Maybe curl the back toes under as you inhale. Lift it up. Big breath in here. Big breath out. Another big transition here. Draw your navel to your spine. Drop the fingertips down, as you release the twist. Come to a nice, high lunge. Reach the fingertips up. Squeeze the inner thighs together. Pull the right hip crease back. One more breath here. You got it. Then exhale. Bend the elbows. Rain it down. Hallelujah. Plant the palms. Take a vinyasa. Stick with it guys. We're almost done here.
Moving with your breath. Moving right onto the other side. We'll lift the left leg high. Right heel anchors down as you breathe in. Three-legged dog. Exhale. Nose to knee. Rounding the spine. Then step the left foot up. Lower the right knee down. Find your alignment. Slowly, reaching all the way up. So we don't want it to become frantic here, even though the tempo is swift. Exhale. Move into your twist. So, nice controlled movement, is what I'm trying to say. Curl the toes under. Lift the back knee. Breathe in. Breathe out. Then squeeze the inner thighs in the midline. Drop the fingertips down to come up, and inhale. Rise up strong. Super duper strong here. Woo! High lunge. Bend the right knee, so you can tuck that pelvis underneath you, just like we did earlier in mountain. Inhale. Full-body experience here. Exhale. Bend the elbows. Rain it down. Take a vinyasa. Plant the palms. Move with your breath. And then take a rest. Child's pose. This time, knees together, fingertips behind you. Rest your forehead on the earth. Take a quick break. Shoulders rounding forward. Awesome. Press into the tops of the feet. Slowly roll it up. Maybe take a second here to roll through the wrists, if that feels good. And then we'll dive back forward to all fours. Curl the toes under, and send it up. Down dog. Drop the left heel. Lift the right leg up high. Step it all the way up into your lunge. Find warrior one as you pivot on the back foot. Reach the fingertips up high. Inhale in. Widen my stance. Exhale. Warrior two. Pull the pinkies back. Inhale. Lift your heart. Then nice and slow, I'm gonna bring the right elbow to the top of the right thigh. Drop the left fingertips down to come up, and we come into an extended side angle here. So remember that extension you had in your twist here. Lengthen. If you wanna release the fingertips down, maybe play with a nice, wide T-shape here in the arms, you can. Big, big breaths. Awesome. Then power through the legs. Come all the way back to your warrior two. Turn the right toes in, left toes out. Come to warrior one. Face the back of your mat. Inhale. Reach it up. Full breaths here. Strong warrior. Inhale in. Exhale takes you back to warrior two. Pull the pinkies back again. Lengthen through the crown of the head. And then on an exhale, tilting forward, finding an extended side angle on this side here. Left elbow on the top of the left thigh. Careful not to collapse your weight here. So nice and long. Find that integrity, from the crown of the head to the tip of the tailbone, as you open up long.
Pressing into the outer edge of that right foot. Again, we can open up here, here, here. Lots of variations. Yoga works! My energy is going here! So we'll harness that power, the power of the energy with the breath. Wherever you are, take one more breath here. Then strong through the legs, come back to that warrior two. Then we'll straighten the left leg, turn the left toes in, and reach the arms all the way up. Maintain nice, flat back here. Hug the lower ribs in. Send it forward. Arms are gonna reach forward. Tail is gonna reach back. Take your gaze off the video for a moment here, and take it down. Tuck the chin into the chest. Strong here, building strength, guys. Plug in the shoulders. Pull them back. One more deep breath in here. Press it to the knife edge of the foot, the outer edges of the feet. And then gently release. Awesome. Wide-legged forward fold. Lots of options here. You can stay on the knuckles, on the fingertips, the palms. To go deeper, we'll walk the hands in line with the arches of the feet. You might not do this today but another day. If you are able to walk the hands in line with the arches of the feet, keep that integrity with the shoulder girdle. Hug the elbow in line with the side body, and see if you can maintain a right angle here. Squeezing the arms together. Eventually, you might be able to bring the crown of the head to the earth. And if headstand is in your practice, you know that this is a great place to invert. Wherever you are, take one more nice, long, smooth, deep breath. And then we'll release. Slowly coming out. Drawing the palms underneath the shoulders. And then we're gonna find soft knees as we heel-toe, heel-toe the feet underneath the hips and lower the center on down.
Awesome work, everyone. Take a second here to maybe stretch the feet out. And then we'll come to a nice yogic squat. Grounding our energy here. Pressing the elbows into the legs. Squeezing the legs into the elbows, as you lift sternum to thumb. Press in to all four corners of the feet. And whenever I come into this shape, I just... can't help but think of just... my roots. I know it sounds cheesy, and now I'm putting it on the internet. But it seems like a pose where you connect to your roots. Literally, right? There are cultures that eat in this shape, give birth in this shape. Lots of other things in this shape, right? So we just get low. We get so used to sitting on the toilet, sitting in chairs, these robotic things. Really breathe into the outer edges of the hips. Lengthen through the crown of the head. Close your eyes. Make sure you're not clenching your jaw. And inhale lots of love in. Exhale lots of love out. And interlace the fingertips. Stick with me, ya'll. Press the palms forward and out. Press into the outer edges of the feet. So there's a tendency the knees are gonna want to come in here. Squeezing, pressing the legs out. Drawing the tailbone down. Finding length through the heart and the crown of the head. Lots of hard work here. Full body integration. Draw the shoulders away from the ears. One more deep breath in. Lean back into it. And then exhale. Release everything. Awesome. Use your hands to guide you onto your back. Take a second to extend your legs out long, stretching through the fronts of the hip creases here. So we've compressed them, and now we're stretching them. And then when you're ready, scoop the tailbone up, and we'll hug the knees. In towards the chest.
Give yourself a little hug here. Rock gently, side to side. Cool. Then we'll release the soles of the feet to the ground. Knees are gonna still point up towards the sky here. I'm gonna scoot my tailbone under so that my lower back becomes super yummy flush with the mat. Interlace the fingertips. Bring them behind the head. Keep the elbows super wide here. You can extend the thumbs, create a little hammock, a little comfort zone for your neck here. Sometimes it's nice to even give yourself a little massage. Great. Moving with the breath, just like we did in the vinyasa. Notice that the lower back has started to come up here? Scoot the tailbone up. Nail the navel to the spine. Here we go. Inhale in. Exhale. Keep the gaze up towards the sky. As you lift your heart. Elbows stay nice and wide. Again, gaze is staying up, maybe even slightly back.
Avoid this crunch here. Hover here. Squeeze the knees together energetically. Press into all four corners of the feet. Elbows extending left to right. And then slowly release down. Awesome. Inhale in again here. Navel to spine. Exhale, lift. Inhale, lower. Exhale, lift. Keep it going. Hug the lower ribs in. Navel down towards the spine. Tailbone up towards the sky. So super flush on the lower back body. So we're really finding this awesome compression in the abdominal wall, without crunching the neck. Careful not to rush it. Keep it nice and slow, in control with your breath. Inhale, lower. Exhale, lift. Gaze is up and back. Chin is lifting up towards the sky. We're gonna do five more. Two more. And last one. Awesome. Gently release. Take the hands to the belly. Give yourself a little pet here. And we'll open the knees out wide for a nice, restorative posture to end. Here we go supta baddha konasana. Tailbone now lengthens toward the front edge of the mat. We let gravity do the work here. Take a second to breathe in deeply here, and let the arms rest gently at your sides. Letting it all go. Ride this wave for as long as time allows here. So you may stay here for two minutes. Five minutes. Maybe you slide the legs out long for a more traditional savasana. Or I invite you to ask yourself what else you might need here. This is where the true yoga comes from, I feel like, where we really unite. So if you're feeling like you could go for a supine twist, maybe you come here. Maybe you take a bridge pose or a nice back bend.
If you're new to the practice, you can comb through the "Foundations of Yoga" videos that we have, to expand your tool belt, so that you can really play in this moment, asking yourself, "What do I need?" and "How am I going to listen to my body and take care of that?" So I have lots of options here. I'm gonna stop telling you what to do and just suggest that you ask yourself, "What do I need and what am I going to do to fulfill that in the body?" Maybe it's a happy baby pose. Maybe it's just rolling around on the ground with your dog or your cat or your child. (laughs) Maybe you're practicing with a loved one right now, and you can grab their hand. That's always sweet. And if you don't have one, don't worry. Maybe bring your hands into a nice mudra, index finger to thumb. So I'm gonna stop talking here, and just bid you a farewell, by saying namaste. Beautiful practice. Don't decide where it ends. Take your yoga up off the mat and into the rest of your day. Take care.
