Yoga with Adriene

**The most valuable part of a centering practice is the courageous act of showing up.** This series may look like a lot of core strengthening exercises, moves for a healthy spine, good lymphatic flow, releasing tension and decreasing chronic pain. But, it is truly about learning and knowing who you are. And perhaps you will never know the power of this 30 days of centering with me, unless that is you show up. Happy day 1! Check it off on your calendar when complete and I will see you again tomorrow!

In this practice we embrace a key element to the centering practice. How to listen is such an important part of this journey both on and off the mat. When you wake up each day, when you arrive on the mat, what are you lending your ear to? When we tune in to what brings us life on the yoga mat, we start to notice this spill into other areas of our life. It becomes not just about what is capturing our attention, and what (or who) is the loudest. But rather it becomes about what serves you and what feels right for your mind and body.

Today’s practice offers up the following question: Where do I want to create a meaningful shift in my life? This series is a good workout - but it is not to be experienced only as a workout series. Remember, it is designed like a good book. One page, or practice, leads you to the next.

In this session we continue to build the juicy foundation of a centering yoga practice that promotes whole body mental health. If it is all connected, tend to the root. This video is designed to help balance the energy center that supports you in feeling home in your own body. This grounding practice nurtures the foundation that will carry you to new places.

My practice has shown me and continues to teach me all the ways in which I can absorb my own care for myself. And my journey in neuroscience has helped me to back up all the reasons why hugging your self matters. Meditate on this as you move today. High fives all around! Seriously. We are doing this! For some, today’s theme may seem a little cheeky. But have you ever stopped to ponder the power of what it is like to feel your own embrace?

Day six is spicy, it’s shorter, and it is one of my favorite moments in this journey. Yoga is poetry. And what many perceive as “core work” is in reality a deep layer of the centering journey. One that really highlights the questions: Where am I moving from? Where do my gestures come from? **Why do these questions matter!?**

The thing about integrating flow into your practice is you really get right back to the very foundation which is allowing the breath to fuel the action. Begin to be disciplined about this on the mat and watch the myriad of ways in which your breath will show up to serve and guide you off the mat. Hop into something comfy and let’s flow. Today’s offering is all about brain, body, and spirit connection.

A day to soften, find stillness, and keep up with the practice of using your breath to tell your brain that it is okay to shift gears. Bring some props if you like! A pillow, a blanket or two. This practice reminds you that these moments on the mat, however they may look and feel each day, are for you to be with YOU. This session has a lot of gems in it, so get cozy, *notice how you feel today* and let them wash over you.

Your Day 9 practice is a heart centering practice. The journey progresses as we continue to add fresh vocabulary to our asana (physical poses) and breath, as well as go deeper into the philosophy of yoga. In this session we consider the mat and our daily practice as a safe place to merge the conscious with the unconscious. This yoga practice is one that invites you to move from the energy center of the heart.

Yes, this is an energizing sequence. No, you don’t have to have the energy to do it. That is precisely the most beautiful thing about true yoga. The practice will show you how to shift your energy. Trust me, all you have to do is show up and listen. This is the way I like to guide all of my yoga offerings. Both for myself and for others. This is the practice of listening and responding your way back to center. Consider this practice a check in with the energetic body. Only 18 minutes, you got this. Thank you for letting me be your guide.

This 24 minute session is yummy and will fly by. I understand that it is difficult to get motivated to the mat each day. And that some days are way harder than others to carve out the proper time to practice. I acknowledge all of this and yet - this journey is about making a good habit of centering the whole body and the whole spirit for mental health. It works when you show up. Let’s get started!!!

In this 21 min practice we immerse ourselves in the art of tempo. We offer up space for ourselves to be seen, to feel and to work-it-out. See what happens when you slow it down. This session and the week of classes to come offer a great opportunity to practice returning to the role of the observer. Remember the hardest part is showing up. You can and you will!

One of the biggest practices that my relationship with yoga has shined such a light on is the practice of learning and embodying trust. I believe it is at this point in the 30 day journey where it is valuable to shine a little light on how powerful our relationship with trust is. And perhaps maybe take a little stock in a safe space to do so. Are you able to relax your shoulders, your drive to accomplish, your habit of self judgment today - and trust the process more? Today we will play with some fun breathwork and for the rest of the journey you will see practices that average 20 min in length - with shorter practices in the coming days to support you in keeping up this good work, a new habit perhaps that will serve you for the rest of your days.

Let’s stretch it out! The body, wherever it needs. The mind that will not want to show up. Come to the mat today for a wonderful stretchy sequence that reminds you why you started this journey in the first place. Stretch the possibilities as we near the halfway mark!

In my 9 years of guiding this style of yoga series, I have learned that Day 15 marks the perfect moment in the journey to practice checking in which allows us to evoke a very helpful and real mind-body reset. Through breathwork and movement technique we remain loyal to the process, in a sincere effort to live in the present. Oh my is the next week of this journey fun! Don’t miss it. Today will set you up nicely, but remember… You have to show up!

You are worthy of loving kindness. Especially your own. Today’s practice is a love note in action. Our Day 16 session asks us to move however we need to be moved and to remember that the more loving kindness we can implement during this time on the mat with ourselves, the more we will notice it start to trickle out into our relationships and the world. You may make some new discoveries today and in the coming week. Pay attention to your self talk. And remember - I am genuinely here for you, in your corner.

These practices are designed to help you learn and experience the way in which everything is connected. While this practice targets the shoulders, chest, neck and upper back body - continue to see the body as one moving part. Research has proven that daily movement can be powerful medicine for anxiety and depression. We have the science to back up the myriad of benefits of mindful breath work, especially when practiced with consistency. And, I have said it before but I will share again that strength training with less pain and more joy has provided me with a relationship with my body that I never ever thought possible. Remember, this is a come as you are situation. Get out of your head and into your body, let’s move!

Ground in your gaze. This practice allows us to reconnect and balance our mental, physical and emotional energy states through a training of the gaze. I have learned first hand that training your gaze to serve your nervous system so that you feel that the world is working for you instead of against you - is one of the amazing benefits of regular yoga practice. What are you choosing to give your focus to? Remember, where attention goes, energy flows.

Using your time on the mat to tap into your intuitive and creative side is medicine for the mind, the body and most certainly the soul. I am honored to be your guide. This practice invites you into a safe space to practice, play and nurture a deep listening to your creative expression. Learn to do this on the mat and you will learn how to dance with life off the mat. It is not about perfection, it is about keeping all possibilities open!

This 17 minute low to-the ground practice is a perfectly timed restorative session. It is short, it is so very sweet and it offers a chance for you to ease in and out of practice no matter how your day or your life is going on right now. Bring a blanket and or a pillow to the mat today if you have them. No worries if not.

Today is about celebrating the physical, mental and emotional conditioning you have cultivated and experienced thus far. By now you may have noticed the ways in which some of the poses are starting to feel different. There are days where your body is tired. Those days will exist and it is on those days we ask the mind to focus and be strong. On other days you will notice poses that were once unstable and shall we say humbling - are now sturdier, engaged with a greater sense of ease. The body feels stronger. The strength may also come from having the courage to know when to rest. This is when our emotional state takes priority and is considered. It is important to remember the strength comes from showing up. Not from any one singular approach but from a commitment to cultivate a regular or daily practice of centering.

Each time I invite you to align your attention to the present moment, I am aiming to show you that you are indeed an adaptable creature. On the mat we move, we shift, we make adjustments. So it goes with life. The more we learn to trust ourselves, the more pathways we open up to move through life in alignment with our true self. If you are feeling a little lost, don’t worry, I got your back. Just make it your plan to align with what is. Play with what feels good today (not yesterday) and use the vocabulary we have learned thus far. Every time you show up on the mat makes an impact, big or small.

This is a shorter practice that invites you to connect to courage on the mat. Through my yoga I have learned how to make courage a daily practice. This feels like utmost importance for me and the way I want to show up for myself, my community and the world. This session builds strength throughout the backside of the body, as well as tones and strengthens the abdomen. It’s also practices like these that are designed to support you in not just surviving, but to support you in the belief of yourself. Remember this is a come as you are situation. No need to have the energy or be in the mood. Get to the mat and together we will move through it.

Notice what emotions have been stirring within you lately. We come to the mat, we learn the poses, we remember the breath. As we start moving our bodies in new ways we notice a stirring. We are curious, we explore. As we stir things up on the mat, we create new pathways that can lead to new habits. Keep coming back to the breath. Hear it. Listen. Feel it. For it will guide you to make the most incredible discoveries.

It’s Day 25! A practice that celebrates the power of love. What does it look like to do things with love? What does it feel like? This session is a schooling in loving awareness. Each cycle of breath is, “ I love you.” This is not a practice to give up on. You mustn’t! The journey continues. Only 5 days more after this! Dive back in. The practice is love. Love is the practice.

The connection that may occur in these last five days will be special and truly unique to you. Don’t forget, showing up for yourself in this way does have an impact. Big or small, the impact it has on your health and happiness is transformational. We will ask some questions today to support you in your contemplation on your journey. So come along dear one, as we move from unconscious breathing patterns to conscious ones. This is a session to connect to your heart’s song.

Yin represents softness. It embodies a contemplative energy, one that is nurturing sensitive, quiet, slow and introverted. This may be the most valuable practice of your journey. For it is not always the hardest, fastest, strongest practice that pays off. Today we invite slow, we welcome smooth and we remember the power of ease with each calm nourishing breath. Let’s tap into what home feels like? This is the home stretch!!

In this session, I celebrate you for arriving at the mat with the courage to be who you are and to come with whatever you are carrying. Find the freedom in the form and remember, the invitation here is for you to fully be you. As we near the end I would like to take a moment to thank you for your trust. It is not something I take for granted. Secondly, I want to lift you up and send you my utter respect and love because you are doing this. Whether you do this in 30 days for 365 - it does not matter. What matters is that you make the commitment to find your center.

Today is the second to final practice of this journey, and it is all about pleasure! My advice to you is this, “don’t decide where it ends.” Whatever that means to you, take it to the mat! **I want to give you the heads up that tomorrow we will be meeting as usual, but you can expect something new. You can expect a fresh opportunity to let your practice be a true culmination that is emblematic of what I feel yoga is all about - and why it is the most wonderful tool for a meaningful life of centered living. In other words, expect tomorrow’s final practice to be different!

Here we are, at the end of the journey. For our final CENTER session - I invite you to practice alongside me, and thousands of others in the same moment in a new way. What does that mean? It means, you won’t follow my verbal instruction today, nor should you feel the need to match my moves. *You are the leader today. I am your friend practicing at my own pace alongside. This session is different - and yet, in my mind, the perfect way to seal our journey. Use the vocabulary you have to show up, to shift, to root, to flow and find a big hug. Use this session to listen, to rinse, unwind, stretch, be kind. Enjoy the opportunity to connect to your heart, your corazón. Find your gaze, cultivate play, explore and restore! And with pleasure, find freedom, melt, move and align with what matters most. The goal of this session is not for our practice to match - but for us to celebrate our connectedness through our individuality and truth. Set the intention to return to center.