- Hello, everyone.

Welcome to BREATH,
your 30 day yoga journey.

It's Day 23,

Dedicate.

Let's get started.

(bright upbeat piano music)

Alright, let's begin 
today's practice in a nice,

comfortable seat of your choice.

Come on down to the ground,
take your time

and allow the hands to
rest wherever they may.

So tops of the knees, thighs

maybe resting 
one palm gently placed

over the other in your lap.

You can even grab
onto the shins here.

Sit up on your blanket

or block or towel if you like.

Relax your shoulders.

And as you're ready
and as you're comfortable,

close your eyes, or if
that's not comfortable for you,

send your gaze gently
down past your nose.

And here we are again.

An opportunity, a moment,

out of the day,

in which we can

dedicate some time

and attention and energy,

to finding conscious breath.

And for me, finding your
breath is finding yourself.

So you can allow that mantra

in or you can
stick with the mantra

find what feels good.

Just giving yourself 
this time to search

for conscious breath.

Time to deepen

your relationship with yourself.

Draw your hands
together at the heart.

If you haven't already,
begin to elongate your inhales.

Elongate your exhales.

And if it's challenging today,

or maybe it has
been in other days,

use today's theme,

or there's an
invitation of course,

to use today's theme

to think about devoting yourself

to having a more meaningful
relationship with your breath.

Let that be your
motivation for showing up,

for when we 
deepen a relationship

with our breath or
with ourselves, right,

that influences
our relationships

or the quality of relationships,
possibility with others.

One might even
consider that it equips us

with the energy and the
grace, whatever it is

we need, to show up for
others and serve others.

So it's a two-parter today,

really devoting yourself,
committing to

really giving
yourself to this practice.

Right, dedicating yourself.

But also, and I love
to do this in my practice

and we do this
often in public classes

and live classes

which I hope we get
to return to someday.

But there's another option here

to dedicate your
practice to someone.

So we're gonna spend just
a quiet moment or two here

considering those two things,

a little food for
thought or contemplation,

this idea of what it
means to dedicate yourself,

really give yourself 
over to a practice, right,

or a project.

And then also this opportunity,

each time we come to the mat,

come to practice,

come to hands in prayer,

come to Downward Dog,

come to our appropriate edge.

Can we also send

some energy awareness, love

to someone else.

A loved one, a neighbor,

someone who might
need a little extra love,

energy, attention.

Maybe you've
never met them before,

maybe it's a cause.

So we build that love
and awareness within,

dedicate to that so
that we can equip ourselves

to do that for others.

They don't stay in
your bubble of awareness,

it expands.

Okay.

Bow the head to the heart.

Inhale in deeply here,

see if you can find
that nice wide breath,

whatever that means to you,

this big lateral breath
that we've been working on.

And then another one again,
big wide breath here.

And then slowly release,

palms can come to the knees.

This is what I was
going to say before is

if it is difficult (laughs)
to come and show up,

remember this is a practice.
It's a training.

So it's not always gonna be easy
but we can choose to dedicate

or devote
ourself to the training,

to the practice and
to learning from it.

So just a reminder,

come as you are.
Palms to the knees,

we're gonna move in
a circular direction.

Inhaling, smoothing the
chest, the heart forward.

Exhale, chin to chest.
Really round through the spine.

Exaggerate this movement.

And then continuing,
inhale to come forward.

And exhale, around and back.

Try to keep the glutes 
and your sits bones,

those two little pushpins, 
grounding down

as you move in one direction

and then reverse your circle

when you're ready 
in the other direction.

If you've lost the
layer of your breath,

just come back
dedicating your attention

to your breathing.

'Cause that's what this 
is all about. Right? Okay.

So allow this circular
movement that you have

going on right here to get
smaller and smaller and smaller.

Have fun with it.
Gets tinier and tinier.

You can close your eyes 
if you want to use

the creative mind
to just kind of imagine

this center drawing a circle

and it gets smaller and smaller,

it becomes like saucer size,

and then it
becomes like quarter size,

I was going to say a
silver dollar. (laughs)

Bye Benji, check you later.

And then it becomes like
a little tiny dime size.

And then it becomes
just a little pinny pin pin.

And now you can
feel this connection,

hopefully, to your
center or aim for that.

Head over heart,
heart over pelvis.

Now drop the chin to the chest

and then slowly 
take your left ear

over your left shoulder.

Bring the right
fingertips to the earth.

And then slowly, we're
just gonna walk the fingertips

back in space.
Just nice and easy.

You don't have to
go too hard here.

So just feel it out.

And of course, breathing here.

Hips nice and heavy.

Lower body, heavy and relaxed

and you should be
feeling a nice opening

through the front
front side of the throat,

the right side of
the neck and the traps.

Breathe.

Press into your right pinky,

draw your right
shoulder blade in to open up

more through the
right chest, right pec.

And notice if you've
collapsed a little bit

in the torso,
maybe the side waist.

See if you can sit
up a little bit taller,

perhaps by lifting your
heart up towards the sky.

Take one more breath
to embody this fully.

Beautiful, then exhale,

bring the head over heart, 
heart over pelvis,

bring the right
hand to the left knee,

left fingertips come behind.

Inhale to lift and lengthen.

Exhale to twist.

So on the inhale
we find extension

and on the exhale we
hug the low ribs in

and we soften the gaze
or the eyes here to see,

you know, 
if we're getting mobile

in all parts of the spine
as we grow this twist practice

or are we just kind of working 
the same part of the spine.

So see all parts of the spine.

And if you're like, "Girl,

"I'm no idea what
you're talking about,"

♫ just breathe. ♫

It's a little Faith Hill for you.

Faith Hill? Yeah.

Okay, bring it back to center.

Drop the chin to the chest.

Slow and steady right
ear over right shoulder.

And if you're like,

"Man, I'm not getting
anything out of this,"

slow it down, close
your eyes, bring your breath

and you will find
your heart's desire.

Ooh man.

So I'm feeling this,

These muscles that 
also go right up into

the back of the head.

Notice where you might 
be holding or clenching.

Relax your shoulders,
toes, fingers.

When you're ready, left hand,

left fingertips, come to the earth.

And then we'll walk them back.

Breathe.

So the breath is going down

and we're trying
to really expand

the rib cage as we breathe in.

So we're getting that
breathe down, down, down

into the bottom.

And pressing
into the pinky here,

drawing the shoulder blade in,

seeing if you can find a
little more space there.

Staying here for a reason.

Breathe.

Ooh, yeah.

And then slowly release, 
head over heart.

Left hand to right knee,
right fingertips behind.

Inhale to lift and lengthen.

So you want to
think of the spine

as one nice long stick or staff.

We call this the Dunda,
Sanskrit for stick or staff

from the crown to the tail.

So if that's that
line of the spine

is curving or collapsing,

let's see if we can
sit up a little taller

on something.

Maybe we come out of the twist

and start to work
a bit smaller here.

So not just twisting in the
low back or the upper back,

the neck, the cervical spine.

Looking past the shoulder

but really trying to
feel our way through

the mid back,
the thoracic spine as well.

Okay. Slowly,
let's bring it back to center.

Take a deep breath in,

squeeze the
shoulders up to the ears.

And then exhale,
take them back and down.

Again inhale, squeeze them
all the way up towards the ears.

Exhale, take it back and down.

And one more time with
the sound of your breath.

Yes, all right.

All the way now
forward on to all fours.

Couple rounds of
Cat-Cow with your breath.

You know what to do.

Again, here you
can start to really,

uncover another layer by
considering the mid back

and the malleability
of the mid back.

And then when
you're ready, take it

to Downward Facing
Dog with kindness,

with ease, nice and slow,
softening hard edges here.

No need to hurl yourself up,

no need to jerk
yourself around here.

No. (laughs)

And slowly, nice and easy
making your way up to the top.

You can criss-cross step.

You can hop.
You can rag doll.

You can grapevine. 
Do-Si-Doe.

I'll meet you at the top.

I'm going feet hip width apart.

You can decide just
nice conscious footing

with your nice conscious breath.

Let's take a second 
here to breathe

and find some soft,
easy movement.

Whether it's a sway

or shaking of the head.

Maybe licking the lips,

moving the tongue
around in the mouth.

Maybe you are like,
you know what?

Dedicating this time to myself,

has been challenging

but it's also been one of
the more beautiful things.

And so maybe you just kind of
get out of your own way today

and find what feels good.

And then take the
same little flavor

that you're working
up here in your pot. (laughs)

Oh, good one, Adriene.

And let's continue to develop it

as we roll all the
way up to Mountain.

So try to find something new.

Maybe it's just 
slowing it down, way down.

And try to enjoy 
your breath here.

Feeling your
weight evenly distribute

through all four
corners of the feet.

This is all about 
awareness, right?

Dedicating yourself
to finding your breath

and finding yourself is
the dance of awareness, right?

So keep feeling your
way through these gestures.

Inhale, reach for the sky.

Exhale, bend the knees,

wiggle the fingertips,
take it down.

Inhale, halfway lift.

Exhale to soften and fold.

Now, as you step back into Plank
think about the theme today,

dedicating this time to oneself,

to finding oneself

but it's also a
certain kind of devotion.

You bring a certain kind
of attitude and spirit to it

that maybe you can apply

in asanas like the Plank Pose.

Okay, take a deep breath in.

Inhale to look forward,

shift forward, and then
slowly lower onto your belly.

Press into the
tops of the feet,

inhale to lift up, Cobra.

Exhale to soften and release.

Nice and easy,
curl the toes under.

Press up to Plank or all fours,
deep breath in.

And deep breath out
as you send the hips

up high and back,
Downward Facing Dog.

Benji's also laying down,
good timing buddy.

Welcome back.
Here we go.

Inhale, lift the
right leg up high. (laughs)

Exhale, step it forward.

Benji just let out a big sigh.

Pull the right hip crease back.

Back knee can lower to
the ground or stay lifted,

your choice. Squeeze the
inner thighs together.

Inhale, reach for the sky.
Big breath, big stretch.

Good. From here we're
gonna bend the elbows,

open the chest, lift up,

lift your chest all the way up.

Then inhale, reach for the
sky back through that lunge

and all the way back down.

Good. Inhale, 
right fingertips lift you up.

Big breath, big twist.

And exhale, 
right hand comes down.

Little quick pet for Benji

and then step the
right foot back, Plank Pose.

Inhale to look forward,
shift forward.

Exhale to slowly lower 
all the way down.

Send the fingertips 
off your mat,

now here draw the
shoulder blades together.

Nice and easy.

Press into the tops of the feet.

Inhale, open the chest,
lift your heart up.

Cobra, just play.

Exhale, slowly release.

Hands come back
underneath the shoulders,

curl the toes
under with your inhale,

press up to all fours or Plank.

Strong connection in the hands.

Exhale, Downward Facing Dog.

Anchor the right heel,

inhale, lift the
left leg up high.

Exhale, step it all the way up.

Your choice, 
back knee lowered or lifted.

Nice and easy.
Be kind to yourself.

Inhale, sweep the arms
all the way up and overhead.

Squeeze the 
inner thighs together.

Feel that lift
from the pelvic floor.

Find that energetic support,
it's there.

Hug the low ribs in, inhale,
reach a little higher.

Exhale, bend the elbows, squeeze
the shoulder blades together,

lift the chest high.

Good. Inhale, 
reach for the sky again.

And exhale all
the way back down.

Right hand to the earth,

inhale, left fingertips 
to the sky.

Big breath, big twist.

And then slowly exhale,

bring the left hand down.

Step the left toes
back lower onto your knees.

Walk the knees together,
really together.

So we're gonna spread
the fingertips wide here.

And pinkies are
kind of on the edge here

and we're gonna
shift our weight forward

so that we feel
this nice long line

from the crown to the tail.

So you're
essentially in a Half Plank

or half push-up.

Now instead of elbows
squeezing in towards the center

we're gonna allow the
elbows to go left to right.

Alright, listen carefully.
So we're gonna inhale,

bend the elbows left to right.

Exhale, press back up.

Inhale, bend the
elbows left to right.

Exhale, press back up.

One more, you got it.

Gaze straight down,
nice long neck.

Bending the elbows as you inhale

and exhale press
back up, beautiful.

From here, walk the knees 
back underneath the hip points,

curl the toes under and peel
your tail all the way back up.

Bend the knees.

Walk the hands
now back to the toes.

So you're enough
standing Forward Fold

at the back of your mat.

Three breaths here.

And when you're ready,

you slowly roll
it up nice and easy.

Listening to the
sound of your breath.

Dedicating yourself

to your heart's song.

Yes.

I love the poetry of yoga.

Alright, any soft, 
easy movement here,

that feels awesome,
go ahead and take it.

Maybe repeating some
of the neck movement

from before or the
shoulder movement from before.

Then you can stay at
the back of your mat,

I'm just gonna step
to the center for camera

but you can stay at
the back edge of your mat.

You're gonna look forward,

slowly, bring the feet 
together, really together.

And nice and easy,
nothing fancy,

we're gonna shift the
weight to the left foot,

you can bring the
left hand to the waistline

or even onto a
piece of furniture

to help you balance here.

I'm gonna reach my right hand,

just to grab my
right shin or ankle.

And then I'm gonna
squeeze my right knee in

for a nice big
quad stretch here.

You can slide the hand also
to the top of the right foot.

So this will just
depend on your anatomy,

how long your legs and arms are.

You can just play here.

Wanting to get a nice
big stretch in the quad.

Practicing our balance,

our focus.

And I love contemplation
on devotion and dedication

because it really is
about returning, right?

You fall off, (laughs)
you mess up, you slip,

you fall down,
you come back, right?

I'm not saying you
mess up if you fall down

I'm just saying in life,
these things happen.

And at the very least you
get an awesome quad stretch.

You're getting a
great stretch through

the front of that hip crease,
into the psoas.

So last little bit here.

If you've fallen off,
try to come back,

even if you need to use
something to balance you,

the booty might be
sticking out a little bit here,

your pelvis.

We're gonna see what happens,

if we find this lift up
through the front body,

lengthening the
tailbone down, tucking it in.

You can feel your
glutes turned on.

We're here for three, 
two, and on the one

with control best you can,

release it and switch.

So find your lift,
find your Mountain Pose first

then shift to the right side,

spreading awareness
through your right foot.

Then we'll bend the left knee

and find this on the other side.

So you're gonna squeeze
your left knee into center.

We're hugging into the midline.

It's a whole 
body experience, right?

It's a total body show.

It's not a show,

but you know,
everyone's a cast member.

Okay. (chuckles) I'll stop.

Breathing deep here.

Lengthening tailbone down.

You can hold on
to that focal point.

So I've been
balancing on one leg

and talking on
one leg for a while now.

If you're like, 
"I'll never be able to do this,"

you can and you will.

You may take some
interesting creative choices

to maintain that,

but dedicate yourself to
kind of sticking with it,

making it your own.

Everyone, lift your heart,

lift your chest, 
lift from the front body,

ground through the back body.

Deep breath in.

And slow and with control,

release the left foot
back down to the earth.

Awesome. Inhale to 
reach up towards the sky.

Exhale, Forward Fold 
all the way down.

Walk the hand slowly,
bend the knees.

Walk the hands
slowly out to Plank

or in my case to Benji's nose.

Boop, first ever boop on camera.

Alright, inhale.
Look forward,

shift forward on the toes.

And exhale lower all
the way to the belly.

Inhale, Cobra.

And exhale to release.

Beautiful, press up on all fours.

Walk the knees together, 
really together

and then send your hips back.

Draw your fingertips
back towards your feet.

Child's Pose, Balasana.

If this is not your jam,
go ahead and flip onto your back

and hug your
knees into your chest.

And I'll meet you
there in a second.

If you are in 
Balasana, Child's Pose

soften through your belly,

use your breath 
as a tool to do that.

Relax your shoulders,

again you use your
breath as a tool to do that.

And here's a good place
whether your head is down

or you're on your back
to close your eyes and

consider sending some energy.

Some of your focus,

your devotion to your practice,

this love that you're nurturing,

send it to someone or something,

just send it out.

Maybe you're missing 
someone right now.

Maybe there's
someone in your life

who could use a
little extra love,

whether they're in
the process of healing

or understanding.

And then nice and easy,

you can keep the
gaze kind of soft here.

As we slowly come up,

we're gonna meet our
friends on their backs.

Benji's already
nice and relaxed.

You're gonna come onto 
your backs (kisses Benji)

and hug the knees 
into the chest.

And then send the elbows out,

fingertips towards
the back, cactus arms

and allow the knees to
rock to the right side.

Close your eyes here,

breathe in.

Feel the lungs, fill up,
feel the ribcage expand.

And then slowly
it back to center.

And take it to the other side.

Again, close your eyes,
feel your breath.

What a gift to have
this time to dedicate

energy, awareness,
attention to the breath

and inward toward oneself.

And slowly bring 
it back to center.

Even if you only capture that

for a moment's time on the mat.

Take any movement
here that feels good

that you might need
before we close out.

You can open the eyes and
take in your surroundings

or you can close your eyes.

You can massage the low back.

Maybe there's another
pose in your practice

that we haven't done yet

or you want to come to a bridge

or a Reclined Cobbler.

When you're ready,

extend the legs out long.

Let your arms rest gently

at your side.

Inhale lots of love in.

And then as you exhale,
lots of love out,

relax the weight of your body
completely into the earth

as we begin the last beat
of our ritual here today.

Shavasana.

A surrender, a letting go.

I admire you so
much for showing up,

dedicating time and energy,

mind, body and
soul to this practice.

It's a real honor
to share it with you.

Thank you.

Take one more
cycle of breath here

to embody exquisite stillness.
Just do your best.

And if time allows, you can

stay here a bit longer,

relishing in this stillness.

Otherwise bring
the palms together,

thumbs up to third eye.

Inhale deeply.

And exhale completely.

Thank you for your
dedication and your devotion

to this beautiful
practice that we share,

and that we
continue to show up for

everyday.

See you tomorrow.

Namaste.

(bright upbeat piano music)