Lessons

Lesson Info

Core Balance

Hey, guys, it's Kristin McGee. Welcome to my powerhouse yoga plan, and now we're going to focus on our core in balance postures. So that's some standing postures and arm balances and also some inversions. So let's get started, Theo. So let's start at the front of the mat. Nice tell. Comfortable seat. Might one who rock a little side to side. Pull a buttock flashback. Anchor yourself on your sits bones. Find that nice plug in a socket, rooting down into the energy of the earth and then, like that pilot light at the base, the spine engaged. The pelvic floor muscles feel that flame start to flicker and rise. And as we keep tapping into our core power and the energy from way down deep, it enables us to soften from up above, find the organic energy and try and release some of that muscular energy. Use your breath breathing through the nose to Philip, the lower back, the kidney region. Sides of the waist exhale and allow yourself to grow taller. Inhale and exhale. Gently open the eyes in hel...

l. Float the arms up, lace the hands, press the heels and hands up to the ceiling and create a little altar above your head. Placed something on that alter that you want to bring into your life, then is you. Bend your elbows, you Kentucky, your chin, slightly forward. Keep your ribs drawing down and narrowing and then extend the arms up and try and fight for it. Really Draw the abs together the ribs in it. As the hands press the elbows lengthen in hell. Bend, exhale. Extend shoulders meltdown away from the years bellybutton draws to spine in hell. Bend, exhale, extend. Float the back rubs up off the hips in hell. Bend, Exhale, extend one more inhale exhale. Stay here and start around a cappella body. Inhale a breath and begin x x x x Keep pumping. Start to really engage the abdominals. Keep bringing the chest back in space shoulders over the hips. Move forward over the sits bones, bouncier off the underside of the brain. Pull the belly button of the spine. 10 more x x x x x x x x x and exhale. Empty all the air out and how to fill up Float the chest up, Drop the chin down, retained the breath when you can no longer hold the breath. Lift the chin, release the locks. Exhale the arms down and place the hands behind you. Extend your legs out in front of you for a tabletop, press the feet into the floor and bridge the hips up. Tailbone scoops under belly button to spine. Heart center opens deep full breath in and deep, full breath out. Now make sure your hands air wide enough because we're going to scoop the hips up and back underneath us. Really use those lower abdominals and then press the hips up. And how the scoop exhale toe lift in hell. Scoop and hover. Don't touch the bomb to the floor and lift and scoop and lift one more time and scoop and lift opening through the chest. Excellent. Now dropped the bomb down. Take hold of your shins. We're gonna rock a little forward and back on the spine just warming up the spy. And this is little rolling like a ball that we do in Pallotti's often and held back Exhale balance. And now I want you to go a little bit more vigorous with your rocks and not use your hands and lift your bum so rock back and lift back and lift Now see if you can rock back and maybe shoot one leg out. Shoot the other leg out who have fun with it back and forth One side is so much easier for me than the other. Now this time we're just gonna rock all the way up to stand and fold over the legs Shake of the head and neck Flubber The lips hand Let everything go Walk your feet together Big toes touch heels together Scoop out the abs around yourself Up to stand Circle the shoulders up, down and back Standing at the front of the map We're gonna bend the knees, Hook the thumb's reach forward up and back Tuck the tailbone under Draw the abdominals in and up, Open through the upper back Exhale, Come all the way over the legs, hands, two feet and how Lunge the right leg back. Drop the knee, Hook the thumbs, Open the chest. Exhale hollow out the abs. Try not to drag your left foot on the sticky Matt as you go back to Downward Dog in hell. Role to plank Accel over knees, chest chin, Inhale slide to baby cobra and here scoop the abs in and up. Exhale Press back downward facing dog deep breath in and deep breath out. Lift your sits bones up. Curl your tailbone under. Engage the front bottom ribs. Draw the belly button of the spine, breathe and and breathe out in hell. The right foot lunges forward. Drop the left knee. Cook the thumbs, open the chest. Exhale the left foot meets the right fold into the legs, then the knees. Hook the thumb's reach forward up and back. Exhale, come all the way over the legs, hands to the feet and how left leg back. Drop the knee, hook the thumbs lift and open. Exhale right foot back downward dog and scoop the abs to step the foot back in hell to plank. Keep narrowing the ribs. Exhale lower knees, chest chin in health through a baby cobra. Excel back to downward facing dog. Deep breath in and deep breath out. Inhale exhale. Lift the shoulders away from the ears. Draw the scapula down the back in him. Exhale, inhale. Exhale in how the left foot forward right knee drops. Thumbs hook, heart opens. Exhale the right foot forward. Fold into the legs. Inhale bend the knees took the thumb's reach forward up and back. Exhale. Come over the legs, hands to the feet in how the right leg goes back. Drop the knee, Hook the thumbs. Open the chest. XL pic the left it up downward facing dog Rule two. Plank. Lower down. Slide through and press back. Breathe in and breathe out in hell, Right foot lunges Forward left knee drops. Cook the thumbs. Lift the chest, open the heart. Exhale left foot forward, fold into the legs. Ben Knees took thumb's. Reach up him back and exhale. Come all the way over the legs, hands to the feet and how the left leg goes back. Lower the knee, Hook the thumbs, lift the chest. Excel the right leg downward facing dog in hell out to plank. Exhale. Lower down in how lift up and exhale. Press back, breathe in and breathe out in hell. Left foot forward, right knee drops. Hook the thumbs. Open the chest. Exhale right foot forward. Fold into the legs in hell Bend the knees took the thumb's reach forward up and back one more time. Come all the way over the legs, Hands to the feet in hell, right leg back. Lower the knee. Hook the thumbs lifting open the chest. Exhale left leg back, downward facing dog well forward and lower and lift and press deep. Full breath in and deep. Full breath out. Keep lifting the fronts of the ankles. Lower the heels towards the floor. Lift above the knee caps. Hall about the lower abs. Engage the pelvic floor muscles. Step the right foot forward. Lower the left knee down. Hook the thumbs. Open the chest. Stay here. A few breaths. Use your core to float your back rubs up off your hips. Press the left pinky toe side of the foot down tailbone under belly button. This fine shoulders soft can catch your left wrist. Pull to the right. So here you have to use your obliques in your core to study yourself the hip. Stay forward facing. Maybe spin your chest a little to the left. Now bring your hands back up palm's face each other. Tuck your left toes and then lift up into a lunge. Scoop out the lower abs tailbone under front hip rooms, lifting deep full breath in, and then hinge forward and head out to warrior. Three take your arms long, like a shotgun. Maybe gaze forward. Use your core. Use your breath as you bring your left foot next to your right. Just took your thumbs. Open the chest and then come all the way over the legs. Left leg back. Lower the knee. Hook the thumbs. Open the chest, right leg back downward facing dog world to plank passed through knees, chest chin. Slide through to a baby cobra. Press back to downward dog and breathe. Press the big toe mounds down. Spread the toes. Listen to the breath in how left it Lunges forward, right knee drops. Cook the thumbs, Open the chest, float the back rubs up off the hips. Breathe through the nose. Catch your right wrist pulled to the left. Spin your chest to the right, but keep turning your right hip. More to the left. Come through center. Narrow the ribs. Belly button. The spine took under the back toes. And if that back me into a lunge, high lunge arms lift. Take a deep breath in and then launch out to warrior. Three. Come up to stand hooking the thumbs, opening the chest and then bring the arms directly above you. Catch your left wrist pulled to the right. One more time. Get that nice big stretch in the waist. Come center, catch right, risk pool left, come back to center and then sit into an imaginary chair. Katarzyna. How about the AB's lengthen Alberta wrist? Breathe through the nose. Inhale, exhale, inhale. Exhale swan dive forward hands two feet. Forehead to shin inhale. Look forward in Lengthen Excel stepper. Hop your feet back. Lower down chatter Rhonda or stick with knees. Gestion in Hell. Upward dog, Pull the belly button of the spine. Lift the front of the thighs. Exhale downward dog. Lunge the right foot forward. Turn the left heel down. This is like your crescent lunge. Float the arms up, press the palms, look to the fingers and exhale. Lower down, chattering. Go in. How? Lift and exhale. Press left foot forward, right heel drops. Think of painting forward and up. Lift back bend. Exhale lower in how lift and exhale. Stay breathing. Breathe out, Breathe in. Breathe out. Inhale exhale. Step up forward in how lengthen, Exhale, fold. Then the knees come in tow. Awkward chair, straighten and released and again inhale gutka, Tesana, Exhale forward fold Inhale lengthen out Exhale stepper Hot back Lower down in jalape dog exhale down dog Right foot to warrior one. Lift the arms, Press the palms This time open a warrior two drawn The lower abs role The need of the right Cut Will your hands down step back and lower and lift and press left foot forward Right hill drops arms Come up Bore your one Exhale to to inhale the hands down Exhale Step back Lower in how Lift and exhale Stay breathing Breathe out Press to the big toe mounds breathing Breathe out in him then exhale stepper Hop forward In Hellas you lengthen ex elegy Fold Then the knees lift the arms Would Katarzyna straightened and released one more time Inhale awkward chair Exhale forward Fold in how Lengthen out Keep looking forward As you step or hop in Jalape Exhale back right foot to warrior one Float the arms up Exhale to to in hell Reverse cut Will the hands down Step back and lower and lift and press left the warrior one Use the entire breath Exhale to two Beautiful Inhale Reverse it Court Will the hands down step back to lower and lift and stay. Shake it out over the Libs. Wag the tail. Pull the shoulders up, away from the ears. Breathe through the nose teat. Full inhale and deep full. Exhale bottom of the exhale step perhaps forward in how lengthen Excel, Fold, then the knees. Katarzyna, straighten and release. Take your arms out to the side foot, the right arm under the left. Press the palms. Float the left leg over the right. Find your core strength. Here, draw the belly button of the spine. Start to sink the hips. Now scoop in those lower abs and see if you can come forward from that egalite. Focus. Listen to the breath. Breathe through the nose and then place your right hand at the corner edge of your mat and unwind the left leg into half Moon. Flex that foot strong. Maybe you want to take hold of left foot and Bo open the knee. Release the foot. Release the hand. Fold over the legs that the head and neck go bend the knees come back through Batasuna. Straighten and release. Float the arms out this time. Left arm under right palms Press right leg over left. Squeeze the inner thighs feel had the inner thighs connect to the pelvic floor. And as you squeeze the inner thighs, you can engage the pelvic floor muscles, which then hollow out the lower abs which helped float the back, rubs up and over and then find that eagle eyed focus and that core power that strength that concentration from within. And the more we can kind of hone in and find our midline, the easier it is to branch out and feel confident as we open up, flex the right foot. Maybe you want to bow the knee and open up through the chest and breathe and bring the right foot next to the left, fold into the legs. Look forward. Flat back stepper Hot back. Lower down. Lift up and press back. Now float the right leg into the air. Dog split. Try and stay parallel with the hips. Tuck the knee up to the nose, extend the leg back in hell Me to nose exhale up in back in hell Me to nose exhale up them back. Step your right foot through the warrior one. Turn the back hill down. Lift the arms up, then exhale to Warrior two stay here for a moment. Drop that out of left hip and then draw your belly button to your spine. Really hollow out those lower abs. Sink a little deeper, stretch to the fingers. Drop the shoulders down, away from the ears, straighten out the right leg, hinge to your right. Reach as far as you can and then coming to side triangle. So maybe you want to catch the big toe yogi toe lock. Or place your hand on a block or up a little higher on your foot portion. Gaze up to the left fingers, breathe through the nose. Keep lengthening both sides of the waist deep full breath in and deep full breath out in how to stand. Exhale Warrior to again inhale reverse it and then come into an extended side angles. You could place the way. Hand inside the foot left arm up and overhead if you'd like. Anchor that outer left foot firmly. Or maybe you want to work a bind here. Open through the left shoulder, the hips, the back, the waste. Keep plugging down the right big toe mound as you open any more to the right. Keep pressing the outer left foot down as you lift the inner left arch and then bring your hands around inside your right foot, walk your right foot more to the right and float your elbows down on the floor on the inside for lizard lunge. You can keep the knee lifted, were dropped, the left knee down for a few breaths. Listen to the breath, soften the shoulders. Keep hollowing out the lower abs. Now flex under your left. Who's lift your left knee? Keep your forms down on the ground and take your right foot back to meet your left foot so you're in a form plank scooping the abs. Draw the ribs together. Keep pressing the thumb and forefingers down. Try not to tuck under your tailbone. Find a neutral spine here and then draw in your abdominals. It's much harder and hold here. See if we can do a minute. Crowded had reaching forward heels, reaching back, narrowing the front ribs, tightening a seatbelt from hip room to hip rim. 10 more seconds. Now push into a forearm dog and get that nice stretch in the shoulders. Here. Keep tipping your sits bones up and then again gather in the front ribs hollow at the core. Engage the powerhouse. See if you can straighten both arms at the same time. Back into your downward facing dog Float the right leg left leg in the air. Dogs split. Keep the hips parallel to the floor. Took the left knee to the nose and extend up in back in hell. Need knows. Exhale up and back in hell. Need to nose exhale up them back Step your left foot forward. Turn your right hill down in How the arms up or you're one Exhale to To adjust your stances you need to keep your hips level Draw the back grabs up away from the hips Suck in the lower abdominals Think of that nice scoop and then the back rubs floating up. Keep drying in the Buddha belly Straighten out your left leg hinge to your left, Rolling that in her left side of the sky As you go slowly over into the pose Look up to the top fingers breathe through the nose. Maybe you catch toe lock As long as you can keep both sides of the waist long We can always bring your hand up a little higher place your hand on the block. If you need, listen to the breath, then inhale up to stand. Exhale Warrior two. I mean, how reverse it and come into an extended side angle. Hand drops inside, right arm over. Or you could work on a bind here if you'd like opening up the shoulders, the waste the back, using the court to spend the chest to the sky. Lengthen behind the neck. Breathe through the nose and then both hands inside the foot. Turn the right hill up and lower the forearms down for lizard. So either keep the back leg up or you can drop the back knee down and hang out here. A few breaths. Shoulder soft. Listen to the breath. Keep the farms down. Bring your left leg back to meet your right leg so you're back in that forum plank and then hike your hips up to forearm dog. So think of hugging the midline again with everything bringing your elbows towards each other. Try extending just your right leg in the air in your forearm dog and maybe hopping the left foot up a few times and then you can try the left leg in the air and then rest down into a child's pose. So working on your for imbalance in the center of the room and just those little leg lifts are really going to strengthen the core. One side's usually easier than the other. If you're at home, you can always take a strap and loop it around your upper arms, and that helps stabilize everything as you come into the balance. So give that a go a few times and work on really finding your core in your for imbalance, scooping out those lower abs. Even if you don't come up, you can always just work on the lift. Now interlace your hands, make a little fist with your hands. Imagine you have a tennis ball between that little area and your head is not going to collapse into the Palm's. The head is going to rest in between the two wrist joints, right, so you want to be using mostly the farms in your head stand, and then you place the crown of the head in between that area. Now to start with, come into a form dog with the hands clasped and just do some dolphins in hell. Come forward, chin and front of fists. Exhale. Press back. So even if you don't attempt your head stand, you can just continue doing these dolphins. These Yogi push ups right will do 10 together. This is four abs in and up and five. And I used to do right in my early days of practice. 6 2025 of these a day seven until that upper area was really strong. Eight. Nine, that secondary powerhouse that I was talking about, the shoulders drying up, away from the heirs. 10. And then from here, walk your feet in. Find that same area between the wrist crown of the head on the floor. And maybe you just practice getting comfortable with the head on the floor, keeping the elbows pressing on, keeping the shoulders lifting up. Maybe you want to start working on lifting one foot at a time. Feel your belly button pulled your spine. Maybe you can bring both news up like a little egg shape. If you can get this position, this is all core. Once you have your egg shape, you can start to lift your legs up into shares. Lassana into your head stand lock down the elbows draw the belly button of the spine, lengthen the tailbone up to the ceiling, use your toes to reach up to the sky. So if I push into my elbows, my head can come off the floor. So my weight is on my elbows, just like four imbalance, not on the crown of my head. Once it gets out of the crown of the head, it's too much on the neck. So once you get really comfortable with your head stands, you can come back into that nice forum position. Take the head on the floor and start to work your abdominals here by lifting both legs straight up at the same time and maybe both legs down. And maybe you don't take the legs all the way down, maybe just halfway down and lift back up. Now, if you're not at this stage yet, you can continue doing your dolphins or continue working your egg shapes. And again, it's a lot about the scapula, the secondary powerhouse, the shoulder blades drawing up away from the ears as you scoop up the lower abs and work the lower abdominals. So great work. Try as many of those is you want to rest in child's pose for a second. Feels nice and child supposed to flip the palms up to the ceiling. Give the shoulders a break me and then come into your downward facing dog step or hop your feet to your hands. Look out to a flat back and separate your feet. Hip width catch. Hold your big toes, look to a flat back and fold into the legs. But I had a neck go, especially after headstand trying. Let the neck just soften and lengthen out of the back and breathe. So now we find our core on our feet. Take hold of your left waste. Scoop your abdominals in and up and like lizard, the elbow stays on the inside of the knee. See if you can come up to stand with the foot in the hand. Stand nice and tall. Shoulders down the back belly button of the spine. Extend the leg out. Open the leg to the right. Try and lift it high. Take your left arm to the left. Let go the leg to the side, use your core and then fold that leg in a tree. Find your core balance here in tree and try not to tuck under. Find the natural curves of the spine, float the back, rubs up off the hips and the narrow the front ribs and bring your hands to prayer. Breathe and find a place to focus. Turn your knee forward, lace your hands underneath the file it if I get heavy in the hands and then just extend the leg and bend the knee. So this is like standing abdominal work extending bend, extending bend. Extend and stay. Float the arms up and use your quads. You're so as your lower abs hip flexors to lift that leg higher and higher and higher and then bend the knee, catch the foot and move into a dancer pose. Open to the chest. Breathe through the nose. Keep your core strong. You can come right back into half moon like we were before with that bony. Maybe look up past the shoulder. That's when it gets tricky, right? And then just released the foot down to the floor full there with legs. Let it all go left side left. Big toe, Yogi, toe lock. Squeeze the waste. Come up to stand foot in the hand. Stand nice and tall and pull in the lower abdominals. Extend the lake forward. Pull the shoulder blade back in space. Open the leg left, maybe look right. Extend the arm right. Extend the leg, hold hold, hold. Used the core and then place the left foot in tree dry in the lower abdominals. Lift out the lower back, bring the hands to prayer and then think of hugging the midline, narrowing the ribs, drying the seat belt around the hip rims floating the back rubs off of the hips, softening the shoulders. Turn the knee forward, laced the hands under the thigh. Let the shoulders drop flex, extend inhale point and then exhale. And how extend exhaling bend and how extend. It's really been nice work. Extended. Stay. Lift the leg higher and then bend that knee in. Took the tail under. Keep the abdominals engaged here in dancer. Not Azizi, right, especially in the back. Men's and then carefully make your way down in the half moon where we were before finding that balance stability and then just released the left foot next to the right fold over the legs, scooping the abs round yourself up to stand. Keep the feet together. Big toes touching hills together. Start to rise up to the balls of the feet. Hands out in front of you. Zipped the belly button to the spine. See if you can hover on your toes. Is you lower and then open your knees to the sides. Get your hips and nice and high. Now think of your armpit like admit like a baseball mitt. And think of the knees like the ball. You want to shove the ball into the mitt toe lift into crow, and you're using your lower abdominals to float the toes up, just like the egg shape that we did in headstand rate. So similar position could always work crow into tripod headstand, even just dropping the head forward and then release for a second. Fold over the legs that your head and neck go look forward. Try one more scooping the abs. Push the knees forward into the armpits, follow it out. This time, Lower your feet to the outsides of your mat and come into a squat. Pushed the elbows against needs to open up the heart. Draw the belly button of the spine. Take your right arm in front of your right shin. Extend the left arm open to a twist. Take that left arm behind you slide the right arm through just like the bind. We dio in extended side angle and then straighten out the legs. Walk the feet to hip with and parallel the feet. Another AB challenged up onto your left foot, keeping the right leg in the hands. See if you can come into bird of Paradise. Once you've come up right, stand tall and then try and extend that right leg again and open up through the chest. Hollow out the abs too slowly. Lower down. Come back into your squad. Nice work. Left arm in front, right arm opens. Try the bind. Straighten out the legs and walk your feet hip width apart. Now stand on your right foot. Maybe start by gazing at the floor and then let the gays lift up. Aziz, you stand and then try and lengthen out the leg and then slowly come back down. Really nice. Stay in that squat because we're gonna try TD Batasuna, so this can require some open risks. You might need to put your hands on blocks. You want your hands to stay forward facing she first, we're gonna do Boo GP Dossena, where you cross one ankle over the other and then squeeze the legs around the arms and try and stretch the legs forward. So that's a nice little core balance right there as well. Now, if you let go the legs TD Boston is the firefly and the feet lengthen out and you scooping your abs and then eventually you can just have a seat. Nice cirque. Keep holding your right leg. Let's cradle it for a second and then take your leg and fling it over your shoulder like you're wearing the leg. Place your hands down on the floor and lift here, so that's really gonna train your core, scooping out the abs in the beginning. If you can't get the whole body of it wants, lift your foot lift. Your bum can kind of go back and forth, right? Think of that very first thing we did in the beginning, the tabletop into the lifted seat, and now we'll try a crook's posts. If you cross your left ankle over your right, you can shoot your legs out the sides and squeeze and work the abdominals and look forward and breathe and then come back around and take a nice little stretch breaking. Encompass right hand out to the side. Extend the right leg up. Look underneath the left shoulder, come back around, released the foot, fold forward over the left leg and then come on up and we're going to switch sides right foot forward. And first you just work on kind of cradling the left leg and sitting tall, lifting out the lower back and then fling the leg over your shoulder like you're wearing a purser backpack, hands pressed down and then scooping the abs to lift. And just practice this position as much as you can to get that lower abdominal lift. And then the right foot can cross over the left, and you can shoot the legs out to the side and coming to a cracks pose. So as you squeeze the inner thighs together, you engage the pelvic floor muscles again and fire up the court. And now we're going to compass. So you take your right hand over top outside of the left foot, left, hand out to the left and then stretch on. Lift the trust open and breathe and then let the Lego fold the foot in like a tree pose, but fold over the right thigh and then bring you right back to meet your left foot. What we're gonna do is another little Pallotti's move. You take your hands up underneath, you clap your feet three times. It's called the Seal you rock backing Clap three times. Rock up, clap, clap, clap right back. Clap, clap, clap, rock up, clap, clap, clap back and up. Now just extend the legs out to boat. Keep your legs in the air, lower your upper body down the roll over the feet can go forward slightly. Use your abdominals and then float your legs up overhead. Lengthen out of your lower back, open your feet hip width and slowly grow down through your spine. Legs forward. Closed the feet, scooped the abs and lift up and over and open and lower and close one more up, over and open and lower. Now stay open. Come up in over this, call the roll over and then close and then lower. Feels really nice on the back and then open pelvic floor lower abs. Back of the arms up and over and clothes and lower and open last one up over and clothes and lower and come forward with the legs again. Used the abs this time come all the way up, over and into plow lace your hands shrugged your shoulders up toward your ears. Hello, about the lower abs. Try lifting both legs up at the same time. Place the hands up near the shoulder blades. How about the lower abdominals? Breathe through the nose and then try bringing the soles of the feet together. Knees apart and see if you can rest your knees on your hands. Maybe extend the legs up in a full candlestick and then bring the hands back and lower the legs down. Really nice that the feet relax. Overhead can slowly roll down through the spine. Let your legs come all the way forward. Adjust herself on the map. Pressed down into your elbows. Float the crown of head under the floor coming into fish. Press your palms together. Lift your legs. Release a legs least the back of the head and neck. Release the body into the floor. Closed the eyes, but the feet drop open to the sides of the floor. come up to support you. Let everything melt. Can we go fingers, single toes Start out the arms, roll to one side, curl up into a little ball and then make your way to sit Eyes closed, hands resting on the knees Find that inner lift that inter flight the flying that blocks the ribs lifting Moula Banda Woody una banda Shoulder soft. Watch the breath and then make loosest of the hands. Place them in your belly about forward to steal your practicing. And now must a thank you so much for joining me, and I hope to see you soon.