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Day 20: Mobility & Movement

mobility is one of the first things that we lose as we get older. And I spent eight years being a paramedic, and in that time I saw a lot of young people that were very old because they weren't able to move. No matter where we are in our life, we're getting older. You know, everybody is aging, whether you're 20 or 60 your aging, and you could either age in a healthy way where you're in your eighties and your nineties and you're able to get up and out of bed off the ground. There's nothing worse than being 56 years old and falling out of bed and not being able to get up. One. The nice things about yoga's It focuses so much on the ability to move, to stay healthy through the knees, theatricals of joints and all that stuff. So one of the things that I have always always worked a lot with, with all my private clients and my students, is being able to get up and off the ground without using your hands. I think this is is an essential part of life, of movement, of being, so this class is rea...

lly designed around just being able to get up and down, you know, to move, find mobility in the hips, the low back, the ankles. If you're already some of this pretty mobile, that's great. I think this cost will still help you out in some ways. And if you're like most of us that spend most of time in a chair, this is probably one of the most essential classes that you could ever take. Because with this you're gonna prolong your life. You're gonna prolong, uh, the quality of your life way into your elder years. Let's come into a yogi squat. So this post for most of us is really difficult. I want you to squat down like this. Now, if you're like most people, unless you you actually have some natural flexibility or you've moved a lot this pose is it gonna be very easy for you? So one of the things you could dio is always roll up the mat and place it on anything. The heels like this toe elevate the heels, or the second thing that you could do is take a block and sit underneath the But like this, it was actually 1/3 thing you could do to, which is to grab on to, like, a kettle bell or a strap or something heavy that you could hold on to a railing and sit down. And we're gonna hold this pose for just one minute, you know, and one minute right now, it's going to seem like a long time for you. We've already started time, so don't worry. My you're probably going to feel it in the ankles and in the shins and maybe in the hips. Well, there's a couple different things that are going on to the flexibility that matter in this post. One of them is the ankle flexibility, so it's important for us to have enough collection ankles, toe lean, the weight forward. Otherwise, we're going to feel like we're gonna fall backwards. The other one's a quad flexibility, And this is really important, because if we have tight quads than all the pressure comes to the knees. And now we're more prone to need terrors or knee injuries or anything like that. If you have any of that stuff Ah, you know, this pose is really gonna help you. The other one is tight hips. You know, and that's gonna be able to be able to get the hips down. And the last one is, you know, a tight lower back. So working into this position for a minute to two minutes toe 30 minutes, you know, it's gonna be something that you want to dio. And it's been about a minute now, and I'm sure you guys are probably dying. And if you're not, that's great. You know, practices pose more, Come on to the knees. I want you to curl the toes under so that we're sitting back onto the heels. Now, I know from just working with a lot of students that this could be an excruciating pose for a lot of us because we don't have the flexibility in the feet. Ah, when I teach you in classes or anything like that, I start off with with these 1st 3 poses that we're gonna dio because even though it's not in, it's something that we don't ever stretching. We don't ever work into. If this is too much for you, take the hands forward like this, start to come off of it, and then eventually gradually work your way back. So you could sit back onto the heels when you could sit on the heels. Good. When you come back like this, if this works for you could always bring the knees for two. Stretch out even more, and this is really going to open up the bottom of the feet and the toes. And when we have a flexible feet, mobility is easier. Now. If the feet or died, which they might be straight in the toes come back, start to stretch out the in steps, the ankles in the opposite way, the more flexible that our ankles are, the better were are were often everything. I mean, we spend all our time walking and moving. So if you're walking down stairs or let's say step off a curb and he stepped sideways on it and you roll your ankle. If you have flexible ankles, you're gonna be fine. You're gonna walk right off and it's gonna be nothing. You know, I'm gonna think about it. But if your ankles air tight and you don't have mobility through him, you step off the curb, your spring, your ankle, you tear something, you know you're going to be off of it and it's just gonna set you back. So really take the time, Not just in this video, but, you know, just to do these 1st 3 poses, you know, at least once or twice a day and increase the time when you're done, we're gonna come back into Milosevic. If you need to put the butt onto a block like this, especially if you're having difficulty in this pose, it's OK. Don't you know? Don't worry about it. Take the right hand to the right knee. We're gonna open up as you open up. I want you to feel stretched to the inner groin. Is working into this hip mobility. Pull it back. Open it up. Lifted in in step of the foot. So you coming on to the outer edge pressing the away. Bring it back for two. Open it. Three. Open it for five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Switch sides open nine a seven, six, five for three to one goods. Lift the butt up. Moves a block off to the side. Take the feet about knees, distance away. Reach the arms up, Sink the butt down. Come into chair pose. I'm gonna take the belly over the top of the thighs and pulled the shins back. Reach the but back as far as it goes, Reaching arms forward as far as it goes. Try to take the thighs parallel to the ground. Now, without lifting the heels up off the mat. Lower the butt down as low as you can go. If you could go all the way down, that's awesome. If it only goes to hear, you know that's as far as it goes. Lift the backup for five. Come back down, lift the butt up for four. Come back down. If you have any kind of knee injury, anything like that. You know this hurts. Maybe you skip it. Maybe work just a little bit into it. Three. To always be intelligent with your body. Last one. Plant the hands ford fold. Stretch out through the hamstrings, maybe soft. Bend in the knees. Relax the arms down. Maybe it feels good to sway side aside or shake the head. Yes and no. Bend the knees again. Pull the shins back. Reach the arms. Ford. Sink the butt down as low as it goes. Starts to look up. Lift about up for five. Really, should feel some activation in the quads. Four. Three. Try not to separate the belly and the tops of the thighs, too. Last one straightened the legs fold forward and has slowly roll up. Come up to a stand. No, I want to bring a chair. Are the stool thing back into it? And no, it's only there if you need it, but try not to use it, and you'd be surprised. You know how much your body could move in. How much you can do when he actually challenge it were to come back into this chair post. Reach the arms. Ford. Not even really serious here. Lift the heels up. Now, If you need to use the stool, you could use the stool, but we're going to squat down nice and slow and bring the knees down to the map. Lift the knees up. Take him back down. Use the core so the core is pulling the legs up right. We're just finding the balance needs down Now. If you can bring the hands of the heart will pull it up. We'll go for five more. Five four, three to one. Untucked the toast. Sit back on the heels nice little stretch the quad. Especially after doing all that quad stuff. Just working into the mobility of the toes of the feet in the balance, using the core t bring ourselves up and down. Finding this balance is slow control of movement. I like to do these things, like times just to really work into these reps, you know? But we're going to start just trying to find the movement at first. Come back, Kroll. Atos Under now, this might be too much for you, you know. Do it. You can use a use a story chair for balance. You need two hands to the heart. Hands or thighs. Lift the knees up. Find the balance lower down. Control the core four, three to one. Good. Sit the butt down. Now I talked a little bit about just being able to get up and down off the off the but now there's many ways to do that without the hands, you know, get creative. Plant the feet like this. That's probably one of the harder ways to do it. Likes wide reach forward. Cross the ankles, stand up or take one shin across the front and stand up like this. Well, we're gonna work into that last one. Uh, now, if you don't have the mobility to work through it or work or work towards it, a nice thing to do is to use a strap for assistance. Right? And you could take a strap. And what's really strongly to do is anchored around something stable. If you don't have anything stable that you could anchor it through, you could always take the strap and put it around the door handle on the outside and then close the door and lock it that way. You have this solid anchor point. I want to just use this little thing right here. Place it out, have my strap here. Hopefully doesn't move too much on me. It's not the strongest anchor, but it will be okay. So you sit down onto the but straps there only if you need it. Try not to use it across the right shin across the front of the mat. Now we're just gonna take the butt up off the ground and come upon to the shins five times. Use a strap on Lee. If it only if you need it there. Rock Ford pulled the butt up for five. Sink it down. Reach forward. Four down, three down. You could use a strap to to pull yourself up. Down. Last one down. Switch the legs and we're not going to use this drop on this side or use it if you need it, you know? Reaching arms. Ford, pull it up for five. Sit now. Four. Lift three to one. Good. Sit the butt down. Switch legs. This time, we're going to try to take it all the way up. Reach the arms, Ford, Stand up, up, and then back down for five. Four, three to one other side. Gonna sit down for five again. Use a strap if you need it. Four three to one. It's sit down onto the but take the soles of the feet together. Reach the arms forward Now we're gonna work up. I'm gonna give you two options. I'm gonna show the cross legged version. But if you feel really open to the hips, you could do feet together and we're going to stand up with it or cross the ankles again. You could always use a strap here if you can't seem to get yourself up with the ankles. Cross right shin in front. Stand up. Five. Sink it back down. Four really involves the whole body to move through this. Three to one across the ankles the other way. Election in front. Sink the butt down. Stand up five for three to one. Good. Turn sideways on the map. Straddle legs. Take a deep inhale. Reach the arms up. Exhale full for inhale. Lengthen up halfway. Exhale full down side squad over to the left side. Turn the right toes up. This is called scan Dossena. Take it down as low as you go without the hell lifting. Right? So maybe that's Onley to hear, and that's fine. You know, if we keep practicing, eventually gets lower and lower and lower until we open up the flexibility in the ankle and into the inner hip to take it all the way. Now plant the hands up to center, move it over towards the right side, just as low as a but can go without the hell coming down off to center, over to the left, for one, right to right. Three right for right. Five. Now gaze down at the right foot. Plant the hands come up into a lizard lunch. Take it back. Maybe without the hands. Planet to three, four five. Hands back to center. Scan Dawson A down to the right side. Keep the hands, Ford. Five back. Four back three to one. Could come back to the center. Hang down the middle. Walk the hands over to the right. Lower the right. Knee down. Come down onto the elbows. Nice little stretch, if you want. It feels really nice for me to open my right. Me up to the outer wall could even bend back. Been the left leg. Reach back with the right hand. Grab the top the ankle, Then work the top of the thigh down into the mat. Open the chest up. Hold this for 10. Nine. Eight. Sink down a little bit deeper. Six five, four, three. The quad stretch really feels good to one. Plant the hands. Step forward into Allison. A sink the butt down. Lift the chest up. Plant the hands. Step the right leg back. Lower the right knee down. Let the left knee open up to the out outside while he come down on the form or stay on the hand. Ben back, then the left right foot Grab it with the left hand. And if you can't reach the foot, you know, use your straps that that's what they're therefore wrap it around the ankle, grab ahold of the straps or at least getting some stretch through the quad. Open up the knee, sag the right hip down. Pull the hell and towards the but for nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three to one. Release the foot. Step forward, Milosevics. See the But now, come on to the but take the legs nice and wide as wide as they can go. Roll the inner thighs up. Point the toes back, lift the chest up, walk forward with the arms, maybe come down onto the forms and again, like you just want to soften into the posts often in the stretch. Don't pull yourself too deep. Maybe we're here. I know a lot of us is. You know, we're probably right here, and this is this is pain. Uh, I used to wrestle for ah, the all Marine team way back when and even though it's like wrestling and us practicing flexibility and all that all the time, I, uh I still only about here? And I remember there was a guy on the team and he could lay his chest down on the ground. And, you know, just I thought that was the most amazing thing in the world. And even though it's only 2021 years old at the time, I never thought I'd be there. And here I am 34. I'm more flexible than I've ever been in my life. So you really can improve your mobility and your flexibility as you get older. And I feel younger now than I did when I was, you know, an all star wrestler. Eso. I don't think that age has a factor into it As we get older. It does get harder to work towards those things. But it doesn't mean that it's impossible. Ready? Come back up, bring the feet to the front, press into the heels, come down onto the back, drawling news in straight in the left leg. Guide the right knee over. Maybe, if you want. If you grab the leg and straighten it into a nice little twist or whatever feels nice need Ben doesn't really matter. Just a last little twist to even out the body and kind of reset into the spine back to center. It's which it out to the other side. Maybe grab the foot, come back to center, hug the knees and give him a little squeeze. Take a deep inhale. Open the mouth. Exhale lacy arms out. Close the eyes as we enter into Shiva Sena. Spend a few minutes in Shiva Sena, you know, take your time to rest and recover from the practice. It's that's what it's there for, You know, we never give the body enough time to recover. So so it's built into every practice, every yoga practice, cause we know that it's important. Mobility is is ah, hardwood. And for some people that really struggle for it could be really demoralizing. And I know that if you don't practice it, you're never gonna get better. If you don't use it, you're gonna lose it. And if you do try, you're going to gain it. And really out of all things when you develop mobility is when you're gonna feel younger and better, the backs going to stop hurting. You're gonna be able to move, you know, play with your kids when your grandkids, your great grandkids. You know, these air important things doesn't matter what stage were in life. I can't stress enough the importance of being able to just move in your body and feel that connection. Thank you so much for allowing me to share my practice with you. Love and gratitude Low cost Some Estacao looking above 12 male beans Be happy and free home. Shonte! Shonte! Shonte Not my state!