10-Minute Yoga Routine for Vinyasa and Flow
Your traditional yoga flow postures, but with extra fitness flair.

Vinyasa yoga is one of the most popular forms of yoga. It’s also called simply “flow” yoga because an emphasis is placed on transitions between poses—one flows into the next. Proper vinyasa yoga synchronizes the breaths with the poses. Specifically, you inhale during upward movements, and exhale during downward movements.
Although it depends on the instructor, vinyasa yoga tends to be a little faster paced than other types of yoga. Because of this, it adds a touch of cardio to yoga, in addition to the usual flexibility and muscle strength. (Yoga for weight loss? Yesss.)
One common sequence in vinyasa yoga is called sun salutations. These are a series of consecutive poses that flow from one to the next and repeat several times. For higher intensity, sun salutations can be done at a faster pace for great cardio.
In this episode of Flow, yoga instructor Elise Joan uses traditional vinyasa yoga poses to build stronger muscles and greater flexibility.
This yoga series for flow uses the following poses:
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Sun Salutes (Salutations)
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Plank
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Cobra
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Happy Puppy
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Downward Facing Dog
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Downward Facing Dog Split
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Warrior 1
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Warrior 2
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Reverse Warrior
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Extended Side Angle
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Triangle
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Wide Leg Forward Fold
Want more yoga? Try this soothing yoga routine before bed and help your body fall asleep faster.
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Hi, I'm Elise Joan, and
I'm here with HealthiNation.
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Today's beginning level flow is
going to enliven your heart and
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your body to some of our more
traditional yoga movements.
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This will help prepare you for flow.
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So I'm gonna guide you through
a pretty traditional yoga series, but
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add on some of my dancing fitness flair.
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So as soon as you're ready, take a deep
breath and get ready to be challenged.
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We'll begin together on
the front of the mat.
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So we're gonna start
with a sun salutation,
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a traditional yoga movement, but
I'm gonna add some fun to it.
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We're gonna inhale, reach up.
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On the exhale, fold forward,
soften the knees, drop the head.
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We're gonna add a little fitness flair
to this sun salute, so we're gonna drop
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the hips a little like chair pose,
but we're gonna keep the forward fold.
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Press the palms forward,
draw the hips back, get low in those legs.
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And then on the inhale,
a big heart-opening reach skyward.
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And we'll move through our first vinyasa.
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Diving forward, knees may soften a bit
as you build hamstring flexibility.
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Inhale, find your flat back where the
spine is long and the heart pulls forward.
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Soften the knees and step back to plank.
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So if you're feeling strong,
full plank is welcome.
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But for beginners,
I advise coming down to the knees for
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an additional point of support.
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Engage that core, and with the strong
arms triceps and shoulders,
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lower all the way to the belly.
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Uncurl the toes, and with the palms
lightly planted, just lift and
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lengthen through the spine,
low cobra pose.
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On the exhale press to the knees and
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instead of traditional child's pose
were gonna take a happy puppy pose,
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where the arms reach forward, and
the hips draw back as you drop the chest.
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It should feel like
a nice shoulder stretch.
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Also gives us some low
back flexibility and
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carries us right into
a powerful downward facing dog.
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Let's take the right leg up,
lifting that strong leg from the seat.
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On the exhale we're gonna
take the knee into the nose,
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round the back like cat stretch and
then step the foot between the thumb.
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And it may take you a couple of steps
to get that foot forward, that's okay.
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The flexibility in
the hips come with time.
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So spin the back heel down.
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First step is always to enliven that
core and reach tall through the spine.
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This is a traditional Warrior 1.
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I again like to add a little
bit of extra something, so
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we're gonna add a little twist.
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Bring the hands to the heart
It's just one breath,
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bring your hand outside the thigh and
exhale reach the opposite arm back.
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Come through center and
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that's just a nice spinal rotation
to keep mobility in our spine.
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Lift up, channel that inner warrior,
hands down.
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And we're gonna step right
back to downward facing dog.
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And remember, if you're a little
tight in the hamstrings,
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no worries, just keep those knees soft.
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The length is important in the low back.
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The hamstring length comes with time and
practice.
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Take the other side, lift the left leg up.
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On the exhale,
bring the knee to the nose and
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we get this nice cat stretch
where we activate the belly.
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We round the spine and we broaden that
space between the shoulder blades.
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Step the foot forward,
it may take a couple tries.
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Pivot the back heel down and
on the inhale lift up, Warrior 1.
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If you're new to warrior one the idea
is to try to keep the hips square to
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the front of the mat.
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So this front hip draws back and
the other hip reaches forward.
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Bring the hands to prayer,
let's go ahead and add that spinal twist.
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Hand outside the thigh.
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The first step of any twist,
core engagement and
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length through the spine as we reach back,
nice deep twist.
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So a full rotation of that torso,
bring it to center, reach it up.
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Anything you need to conquer in your
life off the mat, we channel that here.
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We're gonna come through
a vinyasa this time.
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Step it back to plank,
lower to the knees, strengthen the core.
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Knees, chest, chin.
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Lifting up to cobra.
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Cobra's not to be underestimated.
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It's a lot of strength in the middle back.
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Let's try that happy puppy pose,
where reach the hips back, and
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melt the chest toward the mat.
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A really nice stretch for the shoulders.
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So those of us that sit at computers,
or put our phone to our ear, or
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drive a lot, this is a counter stretch for
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all of those daily activities that
can tighten our neck and shoulders.
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Downward facing dog.
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Take an exhale, so
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this is one of my favorite poses and as a
beginner it's a pose you'll come to love.
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You'll view it as your home base.
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So any time anything I do is a little too
challenging or requires too much heat.
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Find your way back to down dog and
breathe.
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Lets lift the heels, bend the knees,
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look between the palms, and
just start to make your way there.
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Right, the journey to the front of the mat
is just like the journey in life, right?
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One step at a time.
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Inhale, lets lift through a flat back,
soften the knees and
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around all the way up to stand.
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A little back massage there, couple
shoulder rolls to loosen up the back.
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Hands to the heart, and
let's take a big wide step out on our mat.
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So if you were to open the arms, you
want the heels approximately underneath
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the elbows, or somewhere between
the shoulder joint and the elbow.
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But it depends on your flexibility.
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So be forgiving of yourself,
and keep coming to the mat.
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Hands to the hips.
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This next sequence,
you'll find in a lot of yoga classes.
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It's a variation on
a dancing warrior sequence.
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So let's start off with our right leg.
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You're gonna pivot those
toes to the right.
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We're gonna set up for Warrior 2.
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Open the arms and
add a lung to the front leg.
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Now you can always adjust your stance.
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So if your knee comes in front of
the ankle, we call it hyperflexion and
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it puts pressure on the knee.
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So we don't want that.
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If that's the case,
you heal toe that foot a little bit wider,
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engage the core, and
open the heart in warrior two.
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Let's take a couple of shoulder rolls
here because the next basic sequence
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is going to require a little bit of
shoulder flexibility and that takes time.
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So this is our warrior two.
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We're gonna turn it into a reverse
warrior by flipping that front palm,
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engaging the belly and
finding some space across the side waist.
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So when you start your right arm may
reach barely above the shoulder.
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But as you continue to practice
with me here at HealthiNation,
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you'll be able to find a little extra
space and a little deeper reach.
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One breath at a time,
one practice at a time.
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One inhale here.
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Let's come back to Warrior 2.
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We're gonna move to a pose,
called side angle.
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We're gonna place the right
forearm on the thigh, and
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again the left arm will likely,
simply reach the skyward.
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But I designed these flows for
you to come back to again and again.
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So as you practice, you can try
the added extension of the arm and
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the side angle refers to the angle
that begins at that left heel.
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Moves through the left hip and
reaches to the left fingertips.
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And then let's keep the length
in the side waist but
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bring it to triangle pose by
straightening that front leg.
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Now just like we talked
about hyperflextion.
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When we have a straight leg,
if we pop this knee lock, it's not good.
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We call it hyperextension.
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So keep that knee soft, and
maybe turn your gaze upward to match
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the trajectory of the heart,
which is also upward.
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Bring it up to stand.
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Pivot the toes inward and
we'll try that same sequence on side two.
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So we're gonna open it up We're
gonna set up for warrior 2.
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And remember, you're not a tree so
you're not rooted into the ground, so
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you can always adjust
the width of your feet.
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So if your knee is extending in
front of the ankle, hyperflexion.
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Bring it back and widen your stance.
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Strong core, open heart, warrior two.
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Take a couple shoulder rolls again.
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I just feel like any excuse to
relax the neck and the shoulders.
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They hold a lot of tension
in their everyday lives.
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So fire up the core.
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Enjoy this warrior two.
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We're gonna flip it to
reverse warrior left palm up.
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Reach and lengthen and
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again the distance of your arm
depends on your shoulder flexibility.
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So go with your level.
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Bring it back to warrior two and
now a side angle pose.
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We're gonna take that left forearm
to the front of the thigh and
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the right arm skyward.
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You wanna make sure your shoulder tops
are guiding away from the ears so
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that we don't hunch up the neck.
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It's all about length and space in yoga.
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And if you have a lot of it,
you can reach that top arm forward.
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Core still strong.
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We reach through that side angle,
and then let's turn it into
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triangle simply by straightening
without locking that front leg.
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Same trajectory of the heart.
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Abs are in, heart is upward,
arm is lifted,
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and then the final variation would
be to shift your gaze upward.
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One more breath here,
use that strong core to bring it up,
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turn the toes in, hands to the hips.
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So we got a little bit of fun fitness
flair on a traditional series.
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Let's take one more little
twist with wide Legs.
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Knees soft,
we just hinge forward from the hips.
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Your finger tips may not reach the mat,
you can set up blocks or books or
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anything you need.
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Or you can fold a little deeper and
we'll move it to a twist here.
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Let's place the right hand down,
and take the left hand to the hip.
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And as you pull the chest forward
you just turn the torso open so
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you get a nice bit of spinal rotation.
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If you have the space in the shoulder
you're welcome to add that arm, but
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that can be a lot, so
take it one step at a time.
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Bring it through center.
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Again, we wanna lengthen the spine and
switch sides.
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Right hand to the hip, and
just a little turn of the torso.
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If it's enough, great.
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If you wanna try reaching the arm,
feel free.
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Take one more exhale.
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Bring both hands to the hips.
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I'm using the core,
lift your chest skyward.
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Start to heel toe the feet in,
maybe shake everything out.
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I hope you feel great about yourself, for
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moving through those fun variations on
a traditional dancing warrior sequence.
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This flow should enliven you, so
I hope you're feeling invigorated, and
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I hope you're feeling a little
more able to connect the postures
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to the movement of your breath.
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I'll see you right back here
on the mat with HealthiNation.
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[MUSIC]