WEBVTT

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- Hey everyone, and 
welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

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I am Adriene and today we are
going to learn Plank Pose.

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Plank is very common in a lot
of active Hatha yoga classes

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and so today we're 
gonna break it down

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and learn the proper 
way to build strength

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and be happy in Plank. 
So hop on the mat.

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(upbeat music)

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Okay, so we're going 
to begin on all fours.

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Taking a second 
before we break down Plank

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to just kind of 
connect to this integration

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in the body that I feel 
like is so necessary in Plank

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so it's not just about strength.

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In fact, a lot 
of people think that

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they don't have the 
arm strength to do Plank

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and it's more than just these
babies it's from head to tail.

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So, we come to all fours.

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Wrists underneath the shoulders,

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knees directly 
underneath the hips.

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Just take a second 
here to press into the tops

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of the feet, and 
let the knees hover.

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And then just 
notice what happens here.

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Does the head hang low? Do we
collapse into the shoulders?

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What do you have to do to 
really come into your body,

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crown to the head, 
tip of the tailbone.

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Couple of action points here.

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I'm gonna press up 
and out of the palms.

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The tendency is gonna be to roll
to the outer edges of the hands.

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I wanna really focus on pressing
through the index finger

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and thumb and 
all this fleshy area.

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Fleshy area, hey-oh, in between.

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One, that's gonna alleviate any
undue pressure on the wrist.

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Two, it's gonna help me press
in, up and out of my arms

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so that I can create 
space in the shoulder blades,

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so not collapsing 
into the shoulders.

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So, before we go 
into the full posture,

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let's just practice 
that here on all fours.

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Maybe on an exhale, 
find your breath.

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Pressing in the tops of the
feet, let the knees hover.

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Couple of action points:

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pressing up and 
out of the palms,

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index finger and thumbs.

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Tops of the shoulder also roll
out and away from the ears.

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Check in with your belly.

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Drawing that navel 
up towards the spine.

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And then gaze is straight down

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so we're not crunching 
the back of the neck here.

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We're not forgetting 
about the head and neck.

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So remembering the 
neck as an extension,

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a natural 
extension of the spine.

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Pressing into the 
full area of the palm.

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Might begin to feel 
that warmth or that tremble.

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And then on an exhale,

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we're following your breath,
we release.

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Can take a second to just notice
the sensations in the body

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and let's send it up 
for Downward Facing Dog.

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Just how we'll head
into our Plank today,

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which is also how 
we head into Plank

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in most Hatha yoga classes.
Of course, no class is the same,

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and there's no 
right or wrong way, but,

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typically, we'll come into

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this from Downward Facing Dog.

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So from here, I'm gonna bring
my awareness to my hands.

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Again, Hasta Bandha, 
the hand-to-earth connection.

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Pressing into 
all 10 fingerprints,

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and the area between 
the index finger and thumb.

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Now, bring your 
awareness to your belly.

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Hug that navel up 
towards your spine

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as we rock forward, arms 
perpendicular to the earth.

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I'm gonna bring my 
shoulders right above my wrist.

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So I don't want 
them to go in front,

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I want them to 
stack right above.

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Ah, and here I am. Now, 
going through our checklist.

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Crown of the head 
is extending forward.

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Tops of the shoulders looping
out and away from the ears.

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I'm pressing up 
and out of the palms,

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seeing if I can really create
space between my shoulder

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blades here, so I'm not
collapsing into the bones here.

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Ooh, that's hard, but 
I'm pressing up and out.

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Now, sitbone-to-heel
connection. I'm really extending

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through my heels here,
tucking the pelvis.

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If you feel any 
pressure in your lower back,

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send that tail 
towards your heels,

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elongate in the lower back.

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Again, not collapsing 
but pressing up and out.

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Don't forget to breathe here.

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We tend to hold the breath here.

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No bueno, breathe.

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Nice and long in 
the back of the neck,

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extending the base of the skull

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towards the front of the mat.

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And on an exhale 
I can lower the knees.

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And send it back for a rest,
Extended Child's Pose.

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Feel free to turn the 
palms face up here and breathe.

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Can rock the hips a little,
gently side to side.

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And then we dive in 
for more. Variations.

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There's always tons 
and tons of variations.

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Hence, the word variation.

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But I just want to 
offer a couple here.

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We can do a half push up,
so in Plank

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we're at top of a push up here.

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I can lower the knees,
and make adjustments.

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Tucking my pelvis in, 
really sitching that navel

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towards the spine here. 
Shifting my heart forward.

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If you want to get 
shmancy on me you can

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cross the ankles here.
Whew, doesn't matter.

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What matters is that we're aware

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all the way through the 
toes as I tuck my pelvis,

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same thing here, tendency is
to collapse into the shoulders.

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I wanna press up and 
out of the shoulders here.

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Find that long, beautiful neck.

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Gaze is down in-between 
the index fingers.

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And here I'm getting 
the same benefits of Plank.

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I'm building that strength 
from the crown of the head

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to the tip of the tailbone,

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in the abdominal wall,
in the arms.

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But I'm doing it with 
good alignment, with integrity.

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Can start at Half Plank,
and then slowly

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build up to full Plank.

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For people with carpal tunnel,
or wrist issues,

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we can go on the elbows here,
so, same thing.

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Elbows directly above 
the shoulders, fingertips

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pointing forward, 
and come to Plank here.

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This is actually a little bit
harder. For me, I should say.

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Nice, straight line.

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Make sure you're not 
collapsing into those shoulders,

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particularly for those wrists.
Make sure we're pressing up

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and out, so we're taking all
that weight off the shoulders,

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which gets me off the wrists,
and we're also not taking

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the shoulders in front of the
wrists, make sure the bones

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are stacked, in your favor.

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To rest, we take it back,
Extended Child's Pose.

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Okey-doke, so 
that was Plank Pose.

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Plank is awesome because we
build strength in the front body

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and the back body 
at the same time. Yoga!

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Which means, one, we're
building strength in the body,

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but also we're aiming towards
healthier spinal support,

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so, better posture,

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and hopefully less back pain.

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Great for the abs, and tons
of benefits, which I'll list

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on the blog. So visit the blog,
yogawithadriene.com,

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If you haven't subscribed,
please do, subscribe

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to the channel, Like 
Yoga With Adriene on Facebook

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so you don't miss anything,
and I'll see you next time.

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Thank you. Namaste.

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(upbeat music)

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Also, I wanted to thank my
very special friend, Sam Webber,

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for giving me this tank top
that I wore today on the mat.

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Thank you Sam! Love you!