Day 20 - Heart Practice - 30 Days of Yoga

Hey, guys. Welcome to 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene. I'm Adriene. And today is day 20,

20/20 vision. I can see clearly now. But it's actually raining here today, so that doesn't work. Okay. Get into something comfy and let's get started. Well my friends, today we're going to begin an extended child's pose. So get comfy on your mat. I'm wearing my comfy pants today, just proof that you don't need your fancy yoga pants to continue this 30-day experience. It's also nice and rainy here in Austin again today. So let's start with a nice, comfy extended child's pose. Take a second to get settled


in on your own, and fix any last little things that need to be fixed, so that you can really drop into your practice here today. Come into this beautiful shape of surrender. Bring your forehead to the mat, if it reaches. And then let's take a deep, juicy full breath in, really filling the back body with air. On your exhale, smile. Release your heart to the earth. And let go of the day thus far. Or maybe setting the intentions for the day ahead. We'll take a couple of private moments

here to connect to an intention, and to deepen the breath. Beautifully you might repeat your intention here. Slowly rocking the head. Gently massaging the forehead here. And then we'll confirm the intention with a deep breath in. Consider it already done, already so. Take a big breath in, and a long breath out. Great. On your next breath in, spread your palms wide. Send your shoulder girdle towards the left. Press on the tops of your feet and inhale. We rise up and come forward. On an exhale, circle

around and back through that extended child's pose again. Yummy. And we're going to keep moving here. The hands might adjust. And you can reverse your circle, checking in with any sore spots. A little drop Cat-Cow here to massage the body, wake it up. And get settled in today here on your mat. Keep it going. Move with your breath. And then when you feel satisfied, we'll come up to tabletop position. Curl the toes under, and send it on up to a nice, soft, playful

downward dog. So resist the urge to just shoot up into the shape and then get stuck. Loosen up. Explore new avenues. And keep breathing here. Just stick with it. You got it. Now we'll take a nice slow walk up towards the front edge. When you arrive, you know what to do; grabbing the elbows, maybe shaking the head a little yes and no, definitely committing to the breath practice here as we grow. The sound of the rain is so nice here. It's so nice. I'll release the hands. And inhale.

Lift up to flat back position. Today, I'm going to send the fingertips left to right, and draw them back. So coming into kind of a flying V with the arms here. I'm just taking a second to make sure I'm not walking in the knees, drawing the navel up, and making sure that my neck is a beautiful extension of the spine. One more breath here, inflate, and then exhale, forward fold. Inhale. Tuck the chin into the chest, and roll it up. As you come into mountain pose, rest into all corners of the feet as you open your heart,

and lift and lengthen up through the crown of the head. And we'll send the fingertips left to right here in mountain pose. So just like yesterday, we're going to take a second here to just kind of wipe the counter and open up through the chest, stretching those muscles, drawing the shoulder blades apart and then together. Keep breathing deep. And inhale. Bring them in line with the shoulders. And on an exhale, palms come together again at the heart. Chin to chest, just like we did yesterday. Reaching

behind, the palms come behind. And inhale. Reach it all the way up. Ad this time, exhale forward fold, sending the fingertips away, bend the knees. Here we go. Inhale. Lift up halfway. And exhale, soften and release back down. Inhale and send the fingertips left to right and reach all the way up, full body stretch and full big, big, big breath. And exhale, hands to your heart. Awesome. Here we go again. Same thing. Inhale, sending the fingertips left to right. Take up space. Create space. Fill the body with

air. On an exhale, palms come together and move with your breath. Chin to chest, reach behind, inhale. Moving with your breath, reach it up. Exhale, diving forward. Follow your exhale. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, bow. Repeat the same thing as before. Inhale and reach it all the way up, spread your fingertips this time and stretch. Then exhale. Return. Namaste to your heart. And one more time, just like that. Inhale, sending it out. Exhale,

reeling it in. Chin to chest, reach behind, inhale, sending it up, maybe looking up. And then exhale, diving forward. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, bow. Bend your knees, clench your palms, and step the toes back. Take a second here. Paddle it out. And then lowering down all the way onto the belly. Inhale, press in your foundation, then lift up, baby cobra. Exhale, forward head kisses

the mat. Inhale, lift up, baby cobra. So listen to your body. Pay attention to the details here. Pulling the elbows back, and not muscling too high up here, but keeping it soft and easy, really getting into all those tiny little places, those intrinsic muscles coming along for the ride. The forehead kisses the mat. Exhale. And one more time, just a little baby cobra here, a little back bend, but making sure that we're really engaging the full body, strengthening the back here by not muscling into the palms too much. And then we'll release.

Curl the toes under and press the back up to that plank or half plank. Deep breath in, and a long breath out. That's awesome work, my friends. Send it up and back, downward facing dog. Work it out. Find your breath again. We'll walk the two big toes together here, and drop the left heel down strong, really stretching through that left calf. We inhale, and lift the right leg up high. So you want to keep the hips leveled here. I can really lift my right leg up high and

I'm sure you can, too. But see if you can dial the right toes down. And we're going to build strength slowly, and your leg might be here. And slowly in time and with practice, we'll begin to incrementally find that lift. So find where you're at today. Notice that the body is starting to tremble. Hug everything in towards the midline and square your shoulders, building strength with the support of the breath. One more breath. Then we'll bend that right knee and squeeze it in and up towards

the heart. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. And then from here, nice and easy, careful not to slam your right foot down too hard. See if you can stay in control, particularly in your center as you step your right foot up. Great. Pivot on the back foot. The hands come to the waistline here. And we loop the shoulders forward up and back to come up. Nice, strong Warrior I foundation here. You might walk the right foot out. Make sure you're not on a tightrope. We need a really strong foundation

here, because we're going to go into the vinyasa in our arms today. So pulling the right hip crease back, lengthening the tailbone, making sure my bones are stacked. As I inhale, reach the arms up. Strong back leg here. Maybe find a slight back bend, and maybe not. Then exhale, we release. Pivot on the back foot, come back to your lunge. And we're going to take a vinyasa. So sliding the right toes back, you might lower onto the knees and come up to that cobra,

or we'll shift the weight forward, coming on the big toes. Hug the elbows into the side body and slowly lower down, chaturanga, to upward facing dog. So we have lots of options, of course. Just a reminder, stay kind to yourself. Together, full meet, and outward facing dog. Walk the two big toes together, my friends. Anchor down through the right heel this time. So if your heels don't touch the ground in dog, for one, who cares? No worries. But if you're kind of thinking about that lately, this is

a great place to really begin to connect that sit bone is your connection. Anchoring that right heel down, stretching those tight muscles, of course, without walking the knee. Staying buoyant as you inhale with the left leg up high. Again, we're leveling the hips, drawing those left toes down. Press into the earth. Remember, your right heel is a nice strong anchor here. Inhale in, exhale. Bend the left knee, squeezing it up in and towards your heart. Then draw your nose towards your knee, deep breath.

And then we'll step it up and into our lunge. Pivot on the back foot, hands come to the waistline. Keep that front knee bent as you loop your shoulders forward, up and back. Then we find a nice, strong Warrior I on the opposite side. Keep breathing deep. There's always so much to play with. So resist the urge. Just feel like, what's next? I got that back leg going, and I got my glutes going, and I'm lifting up through the front body, grounding through the back body. Inhale, reach your arms up.

Full body stretch here, full body experience, maybe a slight back bend, maybe not. Maybe we're new to the practice and we keep even the hands on the waistline. We're just connecting mind, body, and breath here. Inhale. Exhale. Pivot on the back foot and release back down to your lunge. Find a vinyasa here, your version. It could be knees to the ground and to cobra. Deep breath in. Use your exhale to travel back to downward facing dog. Awesome. From down dog, we're going to bend

the knees generously, and slowly carve a line with the nose, look up. With a nice little bounce here, I might float my feet up towards the top, or go for a walk. Take a deep breath in, exhale, make your way up there. Together we'll meet in forward fold, where I'm noticing I have a hell of a bruise on the top of my foot. Dang. Inhale. Lift to flat back. Lengthen through the spine. And exhale, forward fold. Awesome. Inhale with fingertips left to right. Inhale. Reach it all the way up. And exhale, hands

together at your heart. Take a second to just notice how you feel, notice your breath. Remember that the practice is here to help guide you back to you, connecting. So just noticing how you feel here. Notice your breath is just gold for me, I think. We'll continue to explore by finding soft knees again. And here we go. We'll hit the refresh button. Inhale, sending your fingertips out left to right. This is that "Titanic" moment, this is "Birdman" or whatever. Whatever image works for you - "Incredible Hulk," ballerina, or

just your own awesome self here. We're opening the chest, taking up space. And we'll take one more breath in here, and use the exhale to draw the palms together at your heart once again. Chin to chest, stretching through the back of the neck. Reach behind and inhale. Plug into the earth as you reach up high. Act, feel, forward fold. Inhale, halfway lift, exhale, bow. Step or hop the feet back to plank or half plank. Move through a vinyasa

that suits your mood today, hugging the elbows in and lifting up to cobra or up dog. Keep it soft. And use your exhale to guide you back to downward facing dog. When you arrive once again, we'll bring the two big toes together. Anchor through the left heel and inhale. Slide the right leg up high. So engage the muscles as you slide the leg up. Don't just let that poor hip socket do all the hoisting. So we really engage, keeping the right toes down. Deep breath in. And on an exhale, bend the right knee, hug

it in towards your heart. Carve a line with your nose towards your knee, and then step it up into your lunge. Pivot on the back foot. Hands come to the waistline. And we loop the shoulders forward up and back, strong Warrior I length. Cool. So sync it nice and low here. And we're going to connect the two, connect this Warrior I to our vinyasa with the arms. So we pull the right hip crease back. We sink deep into that front knee. We're strong through the outers, that back leg. And then I keep my

heart open, shoulders relaxed. As I inhale, send the fingertips out left to right. Full breath here, squeezing the inner thighs towards the midline for stability and support. On an exhale, draw your palms together at your heart. Press into the ball joint of that front big toe with your sternum to your thumbs. Then we'll reach behind, chin to chest. Strong legs here, my friends, as we inhale. Rise up Warrior I. And exhale, float it down. Pivot on the back foot, and we release. Take your

vinyasa, the same thing as before. Choose your own adventure. Breathe as you move. Then to downward facing dog, where we drop the right heel in. Inhale, slide the left leg up high. Stay connected. Bend the left knee. Shift your weight forward. Hug it in. Draw your nose to your knee, press away from your yoga mat with your palms. Then we'll step it up into our lunge. I'll pivot on the back foot. Hands come to the waistline. Use your thumbs to remind you to tuck your pelvis as loop your shoulders, and open your heart,

and rise up. So we find that strong connectivity in that back leg, just like in our three-legged dog. I bend my front knee. I find my foundation. Then I stay engaged to my strong foundation. As I inhale, send the fingertips out left to right. Exhale, hands together at the heart. Shin to chest, reach behind. Inhale all the way up to Warrior I. And exhale, pivoting on the back foot, we float it down. Awesome. The last time, vinyasa. Shifting your weight

forward or lowering your knees, find what feels good here. Work with your breath. And together we'll meet in downward facing dog. Awesome work, my friends. Take a deep breath in through the nose. And this time, a long exhale out through the mouth. Then bending the knees generously again, we'll take a deep breath in. On an exhale, float up towards the front, if you're feeling adventurous, or go for a slow walk. And together we'll end in a forward fold.

This time, take a couple of breaths here to explore. A couple of options. You can bring the palms underneath the soles of the feet using the toes to massage the wrist. It feels really great. You can interlace the fingertips behind the calves. Bend the elbows left to right. Begin to deepen this Uttanasana. Maybe interlacing the fingertips, bringing them to the base of the neck, or hanging like a rag doll. Wherever you are, take one more full breath in, and use your exhale to release. Inhale

and lift up halfway. Exhale, bow. Inhale, reach it all the way up, fingertips spread, and exhale to your heart. Last time, here we go. Soft knees, inhale. Send the fingertips left to right. Exhale, palms together at the heart. Inhale, reach behind, send it all the way up. Crawl up through the spine and stretch, stretch, stretch. And then exhale. Enjoy this move as we release forward fold. It's so nice. Inhale, halfway lift. And exhale, soften and release back down.

Great. And from here, we're going to plant the palms. Slide the toes back, come into your downward facing dog. Take a deep breath in. And on an exhale, slow descend of the knees back down. We're going to walk the fingertips up to meet the tops of the thighs. And it's up to you if you want this kind of yoga for the feet moment. You can stay on the feet like so. If that is not comfortable for you today, you can stay lifted, tops of the feet pressing into the earth, and we tuck the pelvis in.

Option three, which is just a little bit more advanced. And I want you to be really mindful. If you're new to the practice, just be really careful on your knees. Option three would be to come into a Virasana, a hero pose. You can bring a block between the ankles, or you can just send your booty down in there. And bring the fleshy part of the calf to the side. So we are coming into a hero variation essentially. So we might be here, sitting up nice and tall, pressing in on the tops of the feet. We might be on a block or a book. Guys, if you wanting

to grow Virasana, this is a great place to be. Or again, we can just come simply to the toes or here. Okay. Plenty of options. You know I just want to take care of everybody. Okay. So I'm going to go ahead and use this block and come into a little supported hero. So wherever you are, you don't have to feel stuck in one. You can mix and match. We're going to come to that beautiful open heart. And we're going to move with the breath here, really challenging ourselves, letting the breath, again, fuel the movement. As we

inhale, send the fingertips out left to right. Exhale, hands together at the heart. Chin to chest, reach behind, inhale, lift up. Exhale, keep the heart lifted as you float the fingertips down. We're going to do this three more times, just moving with the breath. Here we go. Chin to chest. And you might connect to that Ujjayi breath here, that ocean sound. Chin to chest, reach behind. And last time. Here we go. Smoothing out all the hard edges. After your final exhale here, just let the fingertips rest gently at your sides, or palms

gently on the tops of the thighs. Close your eyes and find stillness. Notice how the deep breathing and the synchronicity can change your mood. Just notice how you feel. Then we'll bat the eyelashes open. Really nice, everyone. If you feel like you're in a calm state of meditation, you might stay there longer instead of transitioning here. So just, again, offering up a little play time. Otherwise, we're going to transition slowly to our buttocks. You might take a forward fold here if your legs need a stretch out, or you might come

straight to flat back. I really like telling people what to do, but what I'm trying to do here with the 30-day home practice is really encourage you, and invite you to really listen to your body, and empower you to do this on your own as well. So right now, you could be meditating in hero pose for the rest of your practice. You might be stretching your legs out. Or you might be here hugging your knees into your chest, closing your eyes and asking your

body what do I need next? I'm going to slide my hands to the inner arches, coming into a little stirrup posture here, or happy baby. Really pressing the soles of my feet up towards the sky. And then gently, finding a little opposition as I draw my shoulders down. Breathe here, breathe into the hips. This should feel amazing in the spine, and the chest, and the shoulders. Lengthen the tailbone down. And you might even close your eyes here. Breathing deeply into the hip creases.

Even massaging your heels with your thumbs. Close your eyes. Trust the moment. Wherever you are, breathe deep. And you can play here. You might straighten the legs, one and then the other. You might transition into a twist. And you might draw a couple of circles with the knees, one way and then the other. Choreograph your own dance here. Be really mindful. L-isten to your body. Keep it soft and easy. And then together, we'll meet in Supta Baddha Konasana.

So I like to offer suggestions. And I really love it when you break the rules, you know, like, "Oh, I loved hero. I'm going to stay there, and meditate, and pause the video now. Peace, Adriene." Or we can stick together, you know. Each day is different. So maybe you're in Supta Baddha Konasana with me or inclined cobbler's pose. Hands are going to rest gently on the belly here. And I'm just letting a little bit of gravity do the work here, a little yen practice to finish today, and letting the soles of the feet kiss

together. You might pillow the head with a blanket or a towel. We begin to soften the breath. You can slide the legs out to Shavasan here, opening through the arms. Or I'm going to stay here a little bit longer today. I'm relaxing the weight of my body completely and fully into the mat. Thank you for sharing your commitment to your practice with me. I believe it truly is an awesome act of self love. So good work, everyone. Tomorrow we turn 21. Yay! We're going to get

drunk in Cat-Cow, drunk in love. I'll see you then. Take good care of yourself. Namaste.
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