Hey everyone. 
Welcome to Yoga With Adriene,

I'm Adriene and this is Benji

and today we have an 
awesome yoga for connection.

So this is a slow 
and low to the ground,

breath practice that's going on
provide you the opportunity to

circle back to connecting to
yourself when you're in need and

of course that will help you
in turn connect to others.

So hop into something 
comfy and let's get started.

(upbeat music)

Okay my friends,
let's begin today lying down.

Yes!

Come on down to the ground.

Allow your head to rest.

So if you have a ponytail or if
there's something going on you

want to move it so your head
can come to rest on the ground.

Then tuck your chin slightly

so you can find length
in the back of the neck.

And you're gonna 
bring your hands,

bring 'em to your belly.

And you're gonna bring 
your feet as wide as the mat.

And then you're gonna 
allow the knees to fall in,

the outer edges the 
feet might come off the mat,

and that way you can 
rest through the lower body.

You can soften through the bowl
the pelvis and then with the

hands resting 
gently on the belly

you can begin to slowly relax

through the torso,
through the arms,

the elbows, and the shoulders.

And then, hopefully by now
you're getting settled in

and when you're ready, 
relaxing through the chest,

the heart space.

Relaxing through the neck

and the head and finally,

if you're not there yet,
through the face,

closing your eyelids,
trusting me.

Thank you for being here,
for showing up.

Trusting yourself.

Thank yourself for being here,
for showing up.

And now, with the eyes closed

and the body 
positioned for relaxation.

So we're not going to 
assume that it's a switch,

right, that you 
can flip on and off.

'Cause we know that 
that's not the case.

So,

setting the body 
up for a release,

for a softening.

Eyes closed allowing the sound
of my voice to guide you here.

Nothing to do and nowhere to go.

Trust that this 
time is valuable.

And then

as you're ready and I'm
willing to bet that most people

out there have 
already begun to do this

through their natural 
instincts and intuition,

start to gently 
deepen the breath.

So your body will tell 
you what you need here.

It might be

a big inhalation 
and a big exhale.

It might be at last a long

overdue sigh

or it could be that

we're a little bit, 
for whatever reason,

removed from that depth of
breath and we just ease into it.

Just nice and easy starting 
to deepen and extend

the breath in
and the breath out.

Again, with the eyes closed

continue to allow your body the

opportunity to relax 
and for your foundation,

that which is 
touching the earth here,

to feel supported 
and connected to

mama earth, the ground.

Imagine the earth rising 
up to meet your foundation,

feeling that support 
as you continue to

explore your breath.

Now as you're ready, slowly
bring your awareness or your

attention to your 
hands on the belly,

the lower belly, the diaphragm.

Depending on what time of day
it is that you're practicing,

if you have had a big meal today
or if you're just feeling kind

of bloated or any's sort of
palpable energy in the belly

you might actually place one 
hand on top of the other and

start to draw slow

and kind clockwise circles.

If you're relishing 
in this stillness,

your body is actually 
loving this moment of pause

go ahead and take that.

So both are kind, 
loving actions that encourage

a connection and a reset and

you're just gonna 
choose whichever one

feels more awesome for you.

So the circle or the stillness

or if you're like 
me a little bit of both.

Now as you begin to bring 
awareness to your hands

or to your belly, 
to the diaphragm,

yep, you guessed it, 
we're going to invite

a deeper breath in, 
more conscious breath.

Inhaling in through the nose, 
feeling the belly rise.

And then pausing at 
the top for two beats.

You'll count one, two

and then exhale, release 
and let go of everything.

Belly softens, naval drops 
down towards the spine.

So, I'll explain that 
a couple more times

'til you catch your rhythm.

Hands still are 
moving in the circle.

Be sure to relax your shoulders,
relax your elbows.

Make sure you're 
not clenching in the feet.

It's a big inhale, 
here we go, through the nose.

Inhale to full capacity

and at that top point
you're gonna retain the breath,

full belly, full of air 
and you're gonna count one,

two and then slow 
and controlled exhale.

And that's your rhythm.

Slow and controlled exhale to
release, naval draws down to the

earth and then as you're ready
big inhale to fill the lower

belly, the diaphragm expands.

We inhale to our highest point,

belly full and count one,

two and then soften.

Slow and controlled exhale,
you'll feel the warmth of your

hands as the belly,

naval drops down.

Alright, I'll explain one more
time then you'll take it away.

So we inhale in 
deeply through the nose,

filling the diaphragm,
that belly, with air.

Your hands will rise.

Once you get to 
the top of your exhale,

you'll lovingly count one beat,
then two beats and then with

slow control awareness 
we're gonna exhale

but it's nice and easy.
So it's not just emptying.

A slow descend of the 
naval down to the earth.

Now, close your eyes if they are
not still closed and play with

this little rhythm, 
this dance of the breath.

Here we go.

(light piano music)

You're doing great,

just bring your 
attention back to the breath.

Do one more cycle.

Great, and then however 
that went just nod to that.

Say thank you to 
yourself for practicing

a little breath control.

You're gonna allow 
the knees to come apart.

Now, we're gonna walk the 
soles of the feet together,

allow the knees 
to fall out wide.

And now you're gonna 
bring the hands to the rib cage.

So we're just bringing 'em from
the belly up to the rib cage and

then up to the, 
no, just kidding.

So hands are gonna 
come on to the belly.

You're gonna start to 
experience a nice opening,

yes, through the hips.

Ah, I'm sore so I'm feeling,
feeling it today.

Alright, check in 
with the neck again.

Just make sure it's nice
and long and then here we go,

back to the 
rhythm of our breath.

Inhale, send that 
directional breath down,

down, down to the 
base of the spine.

Feel the belly, expand.

This time use the warmth of your
hands on your rib cage to feel

that expansion or to try.

And then exhale you can even use
a gentle push of the hands to

feel that rib cage, 
particularly the lower ribs,

get real heavy.

Inhale, feel the expansion.

Exhale, a soft easy contraction.

Keep it going.

Course nice opening 
through the hips continues,

breathing deep.

Now keep the rhythm of breath
going as you have it here or,

once again, add the 
breath retention at the top.

You'll count two beats 
and then slow controlled exhale

as you breathe out.

Close your eyes if you feel
brave just to help bring that

attention and that 
awareness inward.

We'll do one more here.

Just start to notice 
how the quality of

your energy is changing.

Maybe your

nervous system's
having a response to your slow

and controlled breath patterns.

Just pay attention.

And then gently 
bat the eyelashes open.

You're gonna take 
your fingertips to the

outer edges of your legs.

Just allow them to help
guide the knees back together.

Press up off the balls to your
feet and your toes and you're

gonna hug the 
knees into the chest.

Interlace the fingertips,
squeeze knees up

towards the chest or heart.

Scoop the tailbone 
up towards the sky.

And if it feels good,
if it feels right,

you might rock 
gently side to side.

Small movement, big movement,
find what feels good.

Continue to breathe nice 
full conscious breaths here.

So the practice today

really reminding 
us if you get one

thing out of this video, just a
reminder that whenever you feel

disconnected from yourself

or if you feel 
that impossibility of

connecting to others like
nobody's noticing you or the

whole world is against you these
inevitable thoughts and feelings

that will come into our journey.

If anything remember that you
have the power to close your

eyes, maybe get on 
the ground if you can,

but you don't always have to,
but to return to your breath for

that connection 
that you're seeking.

So we often kind of look for
all these quick fixes but really

breath practice above 
all practices is just a great

reminder that we have the
power to connect to find that

connection right here,
right within.

Via the breath.

Squeeze the 
knees into your chest.

Relax the shoulders 
down to the earth.

Again, imagine your yoga mat or
the earth rising up to meet your

back body, nice 
and supported here.

Bring some energy into the feet

by flexing the soles of the feet.

Maybe spreading the toes,
those yogi toes.

Alright, now with 
your breath, big inhale.

Feel the belly, 
the ribs expand

and then exhale.
Naval pulls in.

Again, big inhale.

Feel the breath travel down.

And exhale, naval draws in and
maybe the knees are out here and

you can just imagine your hands
on your belly or your rib cage.

You don't necessarily have to
feel the tops your legs on your

belly so just work with your
beautiful body here today

and train your mind to 
keep circling back to that

connection with your breath.

Alright, now all together,
here we go another big

inhale in through the nose.

Now this time naval draws in, we
scoop the tailbone up and as you

exhale, we're gonna peel,
head, neck and shoulders up.

You can grab the outer 
edges of the feet if you like

or stay here and

yes, you guessed it, breathe.

This is your test.

Sometimes it's not a 
big pretzel-y position.

Feel the length between each
vertebra as you squeeze the

tailbone up and 
draw the naval down.

Then open up through your chest.

Find a softness in the face.

And this is where we breathe
full loving breaths and try to

find a sense of grace 
within this contraction,

within this tight position.

How do you find a sense 
of ease when you're

put in a tight position?

Can you remember to stay

connected to your breath?

Yourself? Your spirit?

Relax through the throat.

Take one more 
cycle of breath here,

close your eyes.

Taste a bit of vulnerability as
you squeeze and lift and try to

maintain that 
fullness of breath.

Nice and then on an 
exhale release everything.

Bring the feet to the ground,
you're gonna turn to one side

any side and you're gonna
slowly press all the way up.

Nice work, best you can
let's keep this party going by

breathing nice 
full deep breaths.

Keep breathing as you transition
all the way to all fours.

When you get there, 
find your Tabletop Position.

Press away from the earth.

Feel that connection.

Nice fullness of breath, 
breathing into the belly.

And then release the floodgates,
connect breath and body with the

simple Cat-Cow so 
you're gonna drop the belly.

Tailbone goes up, we open the
chest inhale to look forward.

And then come on 
now rinse it out.

Cleansing breath as you
exhale, round through the spine.

Chin to chest.

Now close your eyes as you
continue this movement inhaling

to drop the belly 
and open the heart

and exhale the press 
in your foundation.

Round through, chin to chest.

Keep it going.

On your next inhale, come to a
nice neutral spine and we're

gonna slowly 
extend the right leg out,

find the stretch of the full
leg and then nice and easy just

step it all the way 
into a nice low lounge.

Front knee over front ankle,
you're gonna swim the fingertips

behind and here's our big heart
opener as you press into the

right heel, press 
into the back foot.

Slowly lift the heart and chest
and find that fullness of breath

here as we 
stretch through the pecs,

tailbone lengthens down.

We squeeze and hug 
everything into the midline.

Spiraling back to 
your center, your core.

Full, deep breaths.

Lean in, stick with me.

Stick with your practice.

Connect.

Good, gently release.

Stick with the sound 
of your breath as the

hands come back to the earth.

And you're gonna slowly walk the
right foot all the way gently

over to the left 
side of your mat.

Keep the toes active in 
both feet and we come into a

One-Legged Pigeon here.

So inhale, open the chest again.

If this stretch is too deep
for you today at this point,

well maybe it's 
first thing in the morning,

you're gonna bring 
your right heel in.

And then we breathe deep here
if you want to find soft easy

movement here that feels good
you might consider looking past

one shoulder and then the other.

Again, keep energy in all toes.

Then press 
fingertips into the earth,

lift the chest.

Option here to bring the
palms together at heart center,

Namaste, your body will tell
you that's not for you today.

You may need the 
support of the ground.

Then everyone release 
come back to all fours.

Listening to the 
sound of your breath.

All the way through, 
through every transition.

Then we'll extend 
the left toes out.

Find a little stretch here in
the calf, the Achilles.

Keep length through 
the neck, awareness through

all four sides of the torso.

And then bring it all 
the way up as you're ready,

nice low lunge.

Find your foundation here.

Feel that connection,
that support.

And you'll interlace 
the fingertips behind.

Press into the 
front foot firmly.

So find your foundation and then
press into the back foot firmly.

Interlace, draw the 
knuckles down and away.

And squeeze.

Inner thighs 
come into the midline.

Naval draws in and up.

Find that support from within,
open the chest.

And breathe.

If you have been 
distracted up until now,

it's understandable.

So use this moment 
here in this shape,

this posture to 
listen to the sound.

To really listen to 
the sound of your breath.

You'll know if you're 
holding your breath here.

Great, take one 
more cycle of breath.

Then slowly release, 
fingertips come to the earth.

We're gonna walk 
the left foot over towards

the right side of the mat.

And slowly come 
closer to the earth.

If this stretch is 
too deep for you here,

draw the left heel in, 
press into the back foot firmly,

lift the chest.

Breathe deep. 
Send breath down to your guts.

That deep listening point.
A wonderful place of connect.

Stay here, if it feels right
hands come together

at the heart center 
for one breath.

Inhale deeply, and exhale
to relax the shoulders down.

Beautiful, now everyone
bring the palms to the ground.

Find your support system,
connect to your core as you come

all the way back to all fours.

Inhale to drop the belly.

Exhale to round 
through the spine.

Inhale to drop the belly,
close your eyes, listen.

Exhale to round 
through the spine.

Inhale, Tabletop Position.

Nice neutral spine,

elbows come right 
where the hands are.

Palms pressed 
firmly into the mat.

Curl the toes under.

Finishing with a 
Dolphin Pose today.

Just an inversion.

You're gonna press into all
10 fingerprints or all of your

fingerprints, excuse me,
and then here you go.

From your center, 
lift the hips up high.

Coming into your 
private little love cave.

If this is not 
great for your shoulders,

then give it a 
Downward Facing Dog,

you can lift up.

So we're in Downward Dog here.

I'm definitely coming into my
own private little of cave with

this talk today 
or we're in Dolphin

and we're gonna pedal it out.

Bringing the head 
below the heart space

here for your inversion.

Draw the shoulders 
away from the ears,

breathe deep.

Connect.

Our ability and our willingness
to connect to ourselves,

depicts and informs,

is our ability and willingness 
to connect to others.

So like you love yourself, one
more big inhale in and then use

your exhale to slowly 
bring the knees back down.

Bring the knees together,
really together,

or take them nice and 
wide so listen to your body

for Child's Pose.

Now, draw your attention inward

one last time here on 
the mat in your practice.

Slow down your breath.

And notice how you feel.

Notice the 
quality of your breath.

Notice the soft 
easy ebb and flow,

the movement that your breath
creates in your physical body

and then last, but not least,

crack a little smile.
A little inner smile here.

Find a tiny moment of joy for
the sheer fact that aha we do

have the tools

and everything we 
need to feel connection.

To feel that connection

that sometimes goes missing.

Then stay here if you want.

One minute, two minute,
three minutes,

four minutes, 
five minutes, ten minutes

or gently press into 
your foundation.

Tuck the chin, 
and we'll roll it up.

Wow. Feel that flush of energy.

We'll draw the hands 
together at the heart.

Hold onto that connection, 
this connection to our self

and to one another.

Just think about 
how many hundreds,

maybe thousands of people
who are practicing with you,

with me, with us.

And the next time 
you feel disconnected

or alone or 
just out of alignment,

return to this practice.

Thank you so much.

Let me know how 
it goes down below.

Hope you have 
a great rest of the day.

Namaste.

(upbeat music)