- Gallop a pace you
fiery footed steeds.

Welcome to Yoga With Adriene.

I'm Adriene and this is Benji
and we have a huge request.

Yoga for Equestrians,
for riders.

We're really stoked to provide
this video today after so many

requests but it's not just gonna
be great for equestrians or

horse riders, it's gonna
be great for everyone.

Whether you're fallen off the
wagon and maybe you want to get

back on the yoga horse or you're
just a human in modern day world

who could benefit
from some core connection,

some love for your lower
back, your legs and the psoas.

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

(gentle music)

Okay my friends,
let's begin on the ground today.

Take your time
getting down to the ground.

And when you get there just take
a deep breath in and acknowledge

that, ah, you've
selected this video,

you've done right by yourself

and the main goal for this

practice is to find
your way to feeling good,

whatever that is today.

So just an
acknowledgement of like,

"Okay, I'm doing this," as
you come down to the ground.

And you're gonna
bring your feet to the earth

and hug your elbows in.

Hands are gonna come up here and
we're gonna ground through the

feet and nice and
easy you're gonna inhale.

Just slowly ground through the
feet and peel the hips up high.

Torso slides between
the hands here just a bit.

And then on an exhale
you're gonna bring it down.

And again, inhale,
lifting the hips up,

grounding through the feet.

Massaging through
the upper back body

and exhaling.

Slowly lowering the hips down.

And then inhaling, lifting,

tailbone lifting hips

and exhaling all the way down.

Now this next one we're
gonna massage through the spine.

So you're going to inhale,
lift the hip points.

Reach the fingertips
all the way up and back.

Big stretch, shins
forward and then exhale.

You're gonna massage, massage,
massage the spine as you slowly

lower down, reaching
fingertips towards the sky.

Cool, let's do
that one more time

so you can really feel it out.

Inhale, ground through the feet.

Reach it up, lift it up.

Big breaths here.

And then on an exhale
slowly making your way down.

You should be able to feel your
spine pressing into the earth.

Should feel good and you can
reach the fingertips up a little

higher to exaggerate
this connection to the earth.

Should feel good.

And lower down.
Okay, let's do one more.

What the hey?
Reaching it up. (chuckles)

Taking a deep breath in.

And this is not about
a static motion, right?

This is kind of an
ongoing full body thing.

So really feel it out.

See if you can really feel

that compression
of the spine as you

slowly lower down,
fingertips reaching for the sky.

Awesome.
And then slowly release.

Cool, from here we're gonna
scoop the tailbone up so the

lower back is nice
and flush with the mat.

Then we'll
interlace the fingertips,

bring them behind the head and
start to immediately open up

through the shoulder girdle
(clicks tongue)

and through the chest.

Now you gotta bring the breath.
Breath control is key.

So big inhales
and long exhales here.

Breathing into your lungs.

Feeling the chest expand here.

And then you can, of course,
I invite this a lot so a lot of

you already know but in case
you're new to the community,

you can extend your thumbs here
and also use this moment to just

give yourself a little massage.

Press the thumbs firmly
into the base of the neck.

Top of the neck,
the base of the head, atlas.

Keep breathing,
stretching through the pecs.

And then reconnect
lower back to the earth.

It might have come
up just a bit so

again just like my friends

who are riders
we're having to multitask.

We're having to be mindful and
aware and activate more than one

thing at once so this
practice invites you to do that

as most of our yoga does.

So as you continue
to pin the elbows down,

breathe into all
four sides of the chest.

Big, big, big
breaths in and out.

Reconnect lower back to the mat.

Okay and then once you
have all of this set up,

you're gonna try to
maintain it and slowly,

one leg at a time,
lift the knees up high.

Shins parallel to the ceiling.

Welcome Benji everybody!

Welcome.

And then check in
with your low back again.

So be really mindful.

And then just test it out.

The knees might come really
forward here so you're going to

test it out by
drawing knees out just a bit.

And you'll know when you
kind of feel your core unwind,

so just find a nice
spot here to work today.

And then in time you'll be
able to get your knees right

underneath, excuse me, right
over your hip points and still

keep the low back down.

So just notice
where you are today.

We're gonna light up the core.

Inhale in, exhale, maintain all
of this beautiful action you've

created and lift the chin up.

Not in like a crunch
but up towards the ceiling.

Great, take a deep breath
here again wherever

you are in your breath cycle.

And a long breath out.

And as you breathe out,
re-establish navel to spine,

lower back to earth.

One more time, big inhale.

We're holding here, elbows wide.

And exhale, re-establish.

Low ribs hug in, we
scoop the tailbone up.

And one more time,
you're doing great.

Strong static hold here.

Neck is nice and long.
nhale in.

And exhale out.

Great, just lower the
head and the neck

but keep the knees lifted,
core still turned on, baby.

Whoa. (chuckles)

Okay, so option to keep the head
down if the low back is fussy

that might be a good
option for you or lifted.

We're gonna slowly just tap the
right toes down on the earth

and then bring it up.

Left toes down on the
earth and bring it back up.

Keep it going.

Nice, fancy trot here.

You can point the toes.
(chuckles)

Breathing deep.

We're lighting up now the full
length of the abdominal wall.

The neck is nice and long.

My elbows are starting to
come in so check your elbows,

nice and wide.
Breathing deep.

You're doing awesome.

Let's do two more
on each side, you got it.

Face is calm.

Breath is nice and full.

Awesome and then
after your cycle of two,

you're gonna slowly
lower the feet down.

You're gonna release the
hands, bring them to the belly.

Clockwise circle
here just to check in.

Ah, yes.

Beautiful, then from
here we're gonna lift

just the right leg up.

Cross the right ankle
over the top of the left thigh.

Take your right fingertips,
thread the needle here.

We're gonna lift off with the
left leg and we're gonna check

in, ah, with a reclined,
ooh yeah,

One-Legged Pigeon.
(laughs)

So be mindful here,
keep up with the breath.

You have to be responsible

for your body and
the best way to be

responsible for your body,
I believe with at home yoga,

is by prioritizing the breath.

So take a moment here to
activate through your feet

and

bring the lower
back back to the earth.

My feet are cold.

And then option here
to stay here or inhale in.

Exhale, peel the nose
up towards your right shin.

We're here for
a static hold, breathing.

Creating flexibility
in the spine.

Opening up through
the hip, low back.

Nice and then slowly release.

Check it out,
right foot's gonna continue

to cross over the left leg.

Beautiful and then nice and easy
you're gonna take your knees

over towards the
left side of your mat.

Hands are gonna rest on
your right side body, right rib.

Take a deep breath in here.

If you want to do
another variation with arms,

of course you're welcome to.

Breathing deep.

Awesome and then from your
core activate abdominal wall.

That's what brings you
all the way back to center

and we're gonna switch.

So left leg kicks up.

Just let the blood flow opposite
direction and then we'll cross

the left ankle over the right
and lift up off the right leg.

Thread the needle, activate
through the feet

and breathe.

Low back's connected.

Core is turned on even here.
(clicks tongue)

Breathing, breathing, breathin

gand then stay here if you're at

a nice place, if you've
met your appropriate edge,

stay here.

Otherwise, inhale in, exhale,
navel draws down to the spine

and we peel the nose
towards the left shin.

Stay soft in the neck here.

Soft in the face.

Shoulders grounding down.

Holding, breathing.

And then inhale in, scoop the
tailbone up and then exhale to

slowly release down.

Right foot comes to the earth.

We continue to cross over with
the left leg and Supine Twist.

So legs, knees
over to the right here.

Hands come to rest
gently on the left rib

and we breathe again.

Great, then inhale in.

Use your exhale to
connect to your center,

always moving from center.

Come back through and
we're gonna come on

to to our left side.

We're gonna press all the way up

and continue all the way
through on to all fours.

Spread the fingertips wide.

Come to Tabletop Position.

Inhale to drop the belly,
open the chest.

Exhale to round through,
chin to chest.

Continuing inhale,
drop the belly.

Exhale, rounding through.

Inhale to Tabletop Position.

Exhale, re-establish,
press in the yoga mat.

Draw your navel up.

Strong and connected
through your center.

Cool, then from here you're
gonna slowly kick the right foot

up and then we're gonna
continue all the way up

and around
creating a big circle.

So you're drawing a big
circle with the knee here.

One way.

And then once
you've establish one way,

take it in the
reverse direction.

Hey buddy. Benji, come here.
(mimics kisses)

And then bring it all the
way down and we'll switch.

Slowly kicking left foot up.

Connecting to the core
and then drawing a big circle.

There may be a tendency here for

the neck to kind
of drop off, guys.

Lengthen through your crown.

Create a full body experience.

Find that posture, that
connection from crown to tail.

For any equestrians out there
you know this is important and

in yoga we call it Dunda

or Shashuna, this midline.

After you've established
going in one circle direction,

go in the other direction.

Reconnect with your breath.

Yes, and then slowly lower down.

Take the knees super wide.

Toes in towards the middle.

Send the hips back,
reach it forward,

forward Extended Child's Pose.

Melt your heart down and
then bring the palms together

and up and overhead.

Walk the elbows,
yep, all the way out

and come into a variation

on Extended Child's Pose.

Find your breath here.

You can rotate the
wrists here if it feels good.

And then taking
a deep breath in.

Once again, using your exhale to
connect to your center and come

all the way up and through.

Walk the knees
underneath the chest.

Oh, no, underneath the hips.
(laughs)

And when you're ready,
curl the toes under and

peel the hips up high
for Downward Dog.

So in your Downward Dog,
especially for this first one,

especially for this first one...

Sorry guys, I'm a pro but I did
take an allergy medicine today.

So (laughs) you can kinda tell.

(laughs) See?

In your Downward Dog, you're in
Downward Dog right now going,

"Adriene, what the
hell are you saying?"

In your Downward Dog, my loves,

bend your knees,
basically. (laughs)

So I know we always
say that but really today,

especially on this first one,
bend your knees so we can start

to really feel
this through the hips,

through the low back.

And then reconnect
with your center.

Via the breath.

And then when
you're ready, inhale,

lift the right leg up high.

And exhale, bring
it all the way through.

Let your right knee
hover for just a second.

Lighting a little
fire in your core.

Sweet and then step the
right foot all the way up.

If you need to use your leg,
excuse me,

your arm to move
the leg, ooh, do it.

Then we'll get front knee over
front ankle and we'll walk the

left knee back just a bit.

So we're a little bit
exaggerating this today

in particular for
this practice so

that we can tap
into that beautiful

psoas muscle.

So again, just in case
you missed that action,

we're walking the knee back.

We're actively
walking the left knee back.

And then your
body's talking so listen.

Breathe deep.

If you've maybe cultivated a
little tension in the shoulders,

can you relax
the shoulders down?

If you notice that you're
gripping through your right toes

can you spread awareness
through your right foot?

Take one more breath here.

And then on an exhale you're
gonna press into the top of your

right foot and
imagine this being

the root of the posture.

So almost like, even though
you're foot's in the opposite

direction in a stirrup,

there's this connection
down as you lift up.

So instead of just lifting up
from your core or your hips,

you're pressing into
the left foot firmly.

And that's what lifts you up.

Great, and then hands can
come to the waistline here.

Or if it's feeling
okay in your practice today,

maybe take the
fingertips forward, up and back.

Allowing the hips, letting
the hips lean in to the posture

while still keeping that

connection to
your center, your core.

Take one more breath here.

Gently pull the
right hip crease back.

And then slowly,
slow release here.

So slow release as you melt your
heart towards your right knee

and fingertips to the earth.

Awesome.

From here you're gonna take your
right hand around to meet your

left and you're gonna open
up through your right leg

for a Lizard variation.

Breathe deep,
these are big stretches.

They require your full
attention and your full,

full conscious breath.

Breathe.

If you have an active practice
already and you think it would

feel good you can
curl the toes under,

lift that left knee and
reach the left heel back.

Otherwise, stay nice and low.

You're doing great,
you're doing great.

Okay, one little opening here.

One little vinyasa.

Press into the left hand.

Inhale, reach the
right fingertips up high.

Just reach for the sky.

You should feel big, big,
big psoas stretch here.

Keep the feet grounded and on
an exhale thread the needle.

Right fingertips
are gonna go through,

under the
bridge of the left arm.

They're gonna reach
towards your left toes.

Keep reaching, keep reaching.

We're not collapsing
into the posture here, guys.

You're pressing
away from your yoga mat.

Find the dynamics.

Use your breath.

Yes! And then release,
come back to Lizard,

inhale, look forward.

Exhale, walk it all the way
through back to your lunge.

Nice and slow.

Cool. Inhale again,
look forward.

Exhale, check it out from here,
you're gonna slowly shift back

just to Tabletop Position.

Tabletop, tabletop.

Reset on the Tabletop.

Feel it out.

And then curl the toes under,
send the hips up high,

Downward Facing Dog.

Same thing. Pedal it out here,
bend the knees.

Try to create a
full body experience.

Awareness from
the soles of your feet

all the way through
the fingerprints.

And then when you're ready,
here we go,

inhale, lift the
left leg up high.

Exhale, shift forward.

Knee hovers for just a moment.

Lighting a little candle
in the core. (chuckles)

Candle in the core.

Ooh, and then step the
left foot all the way up.

Take your time,
no rush, no rush.

And then lower
your right knee down.

And then same thing, check to
make sure front knee is over

front ankle and then walk,
actively walk,

that right knee back.
Ooh, yeah.

And breathe.

Remember the invitation
to find your way to good.

It's not just gonna, boom,
click in to place like,

"Ah, feel the burn.
Pain is gain."

No, that's really not the
approach here so you

gotta kind of enjoy the process,

feel it out,

gently walk that knee back.

Basically get into it, enjoy.
Have fun.

And then we'll establish that
connection of the right foot on

the ground, keep breathing.

It's definitely
going to change things up.

Find that connection
to your midline.

One nice active way to think
of that in terms of the core is

squeezing the
inner thighs together.

And then from there, you
might slowly begin to lift up.

Again, firmly pressing into
that right foot all the way.

Hands come to the waistline.

They can stay here.

Breathing, breathing, breathing.

Squeezing.

Or we'll send the fingertips
forward, up and back.

Keep breathing.

And this is a slow
dissolve so inhale in.

Slow on purpose.

Belly comes to the tops
of your left thigh first.

Heart towards your left knee.

We'll melt it
down nice and easy.

Ah, when you land take your left
hand over to meet the right.

Walk your left foot out.
A little Lizard variation.

Yes.

Breathe here,
breathe, breathe, breathe.

And then, of course, there's the
option to curl the toes under,

lift that back knee, reach that
right heel back, back, back.

Just an option.

Then nice, big open twist here.
Ready, right hand down.

Inhale, left fingertips
open up to the sky.

Breathe deep.

Focus is on the right psoas,

the front of
the right hip crease.

So you don't have
to reach super far.

And then here we go,
threading the needle.

Left fingertips dive down and
in under the bridge of the right

arm and they reach
towards your right toes.

Breathe. You should feel nice
big stretch in the upper back.

Remember to keep left foot
firmly planted on the earth.

Squeeze into the midline.

You're doing great.
Breathe deep.

Like I said, the muscles
we're targeting today,

river runs deep so you
gotta bring the breath.

But you're gonna feel great.

And doing this
regularly will change the game.

Awesome, slowly unravel.

Hands come back
to the earth, Lizard Pose.

Inhale to look forward.
Stick with me.

Exhale, (sighs) then
walk the left foot in.

Frame the left
foot with your hands.

Pause here.
Inhale, look forward.

Woo, we're meeting our edge
with the right hip crease,

right psoas and
then nice and easy,

you got to light up
a little fire in your core

here for this transition.

Come back through
to all fours. Guess what?

Bring the knees
together this time.

Paint the yoga mat and send
your forehead down,

Balasana. Child's Pose.

Just a cycle of
breath here so make it good.

Fabulous, from here press
into the tops of the feet,

tuck the chin and slowly
roll up through the spine.

If this is not okay in your
knees, guess what?

Side saddle.
(clicks tongue) 'Kay?

And if side saddle's not
good on your knees you can

just come to a comfortable seat.

Okay, here we are.

Inhale in.

Exhale to draw the
shoulder blades together

and down the back body.

Sweet. Then check it out.

From here you're gonna inhale,

send your
fingertips left to right.

Kind of like a Texas T.

That's on our breath in.

On an exhale, you're
gonna gather the energy in.

Bring your palms
together at the heart,

Namaste.

Sweet, then here we go,
tucking the chin,

reach behind the neck.

Inhale, reach the
fingertips up towards the sky

and then on an exhale,
float the fingertips down.

Oh yeah.

Twice more. Inhale.

Reaching the fingertips
out halfway, left to right.

Exhale, hands pressed
together at the heart.

With the breath, chin to chest.

Reach behind, inhale.
All the way up.

And exhale, all the way down
to the earth nice and slow.

Last time, here we go.
Inhale, halfway lift.

Arms left to right.

Exhale, palms come together and
if this is a little funky for

your brain, it's on
purpose so you're doing good.

Chin to chest,
reach behind the neck, inhale.

Rise up, lengthen
through the crown.

And exhale to float
it down all the way.

Beautiful.

Alright, take a
deep breath in here.

And you knew it
was coming, exhale,

horse-y lips out
through the mouth.

(mimics horse)

Again, inhale in.

Don't be shy, here we go.
Let something go.

(mimics horse)

And inhale in again.

(mimics horse)

Awesome, if you're
practicing with a pet,

yep, here he goes.

You can't see him but he's on
the other side of the camera.

Let's do one more, inhale in.

Exhale, horse-y lips. 
(mimics horse)

If you're practicing
with a pet or a child,

they're gonna love horse-y lips.

They also love
Kapalabhati breath.

They always come.

The joys of at home yoga.
Am I right?

Okay. From here,
let's get off the feet.

We're gonna come off the feet

and we're gonna come
right back to our backs.

Right where we started.

(chuckles) Okay.

From the back, you're gonna take
your feet up towards the sky

and if you're at a wall you can
actually bring your legs up to a

wall and take a moment here

to just let your legs
rest on the wall.

Hands come to the belly.

You're doing great.

Just letting the blood
flow opposite direction.

Letting the hip
sockets drop down and in.

Connecting to the core.

Low back flush with the mat.

Keep breathing,
you're doing awesome.

Alright, close your eyes,
take three more breaths here.

And you can bend your knees as
much as you need here even if

your legs are shaking,
breathe deep, it's all good.

Awesome, now if you're in a

more restorative
mood here, feel it out.

You're gonna stay put.

Either with your legs against
your imaginary wall

or your legs actually
at the wall.

And if you want to move to
the wall right now, you can.

Otherwise we're gonna
do one more round of core.

So you're going to inhale,

reach your fingertips towards
the sides of your feet.

And then exhale,
you're gonna lift

the chest up
towards the feet.

Inhale to lower.

Exhale to lift.

Inhale to lower.

Exhale to lift.

And you're
reaching to touch your toes.

You're moving with your breath.

You're not
crunching through the neck.

And each time you lift up you're
drawing the low belly and the

upper abdominals
in towards the middle.

Keep it going.

Find your breath.
Inhale to lower, exhale to lift.

Now on your next couple breaths,
take it over towards the outer

edge of your left foot.

Good, now to even it
out, yep, you guessed it,

take it over to outer
edge of your right foot.

Hi Benji and then now take the
arms up and behind you and then

all the way up on a
breath out to touch the toes.

Inhale, up and behind you.

Exhale, touch the toes.

Keep it going.

Three more.

One more.

Awesome, from here,
if you're at the wall,

bring your feet together
and slide them down the wall.

If you're not at the wall,

bring your feet together
and down to the earth.

Open the legs wide,
Supta Baddha Konasana.

Hands can come to the belly.

Give them a little, get the
belly muscles a little love.

Give the belly
muscles a little love.

Welcome, Benji.

You love horses.

We love horses.

We love horses 'cause
we're from Texas. Just kidding.

All stereotypes aside,
once you're a horse person,

I feel like you're
always a horse person.

Keep breathing here.

I remember when I was
in fifth grade I think.

Fifth grade honors,
just kidding. (chuckles)

I'm totally kidding

but I was in fifth grade
once and we were,

just allow gravity
to do the work here, guys.

Breathe deep.

We were writing books and
then we were like making books.

Like so you had
to make the cover, bind it.

Course you had to
do the hard work first.

Kinda like my real
life now writing my book.

It's like, "Can I just
(snaps) make the book?"

It's like, "No, you
gotta put some time in."

So I did mine
all on horses, naturally.

Extensive horse book.

I should actually
just publish this book now.

But I was able to
find this horse wallpaper

and I bound my book
in this horse-y wallpaper.

And that was a
comprehensive book on horses.

Somewhere, I gotta
has my mom where it is.

Everyone out there is like,
"Shut up, Adriene,"

but especially
(laughs) the equestrians.

They're like, "Shut up.

"You don't know
anything about horses." (laughs)

Okay, I'll take a quiet moment
and I'll allow you to do the

same by closing your eyes

and taking a couple more quiet

breaths here in
Supta Baddha Konasan.

This is our final shape.

And then when you're ready

begin to gently deepen
the breath one last time.

You can slowly use your hands to
bring the knees back to center.

And then, here we go,
you're gonna hug your

knees up towards your chest.

Give yourself one final big hug.

Lots of love for the low back.

If you don't have time to do
this whole video all the time,

just make sure
you get on the ground.

Get that low back nice
and flush with the mat.

Give yourself a big hug and
you can always take it away from

there but if you
can only do one thing,

you can get on your back,
you can do the first part of

this video and then
call it a night.

Okay?

When you're ready,
roll onto one side.

Press back up.

Or press up, rather.

Come into a little
meditation pose of your choice.

A little seated posture where
you can sit up nice and tall.

And then align head over heart,
heart over pelvis.

Find a beautiful connection
from the crown to the tail.

Lift the corners of
the mouth just a wee bit.

And bring the palms
together at your heart.

Gently bow your
head to your heart.

First, thank yourself
for taking this time

to check in with your body,
your breath,

to practice.

Love you so much.

Take another deep breath in.

And we'll bow all the way to the
earth feeling one last stretch

in our beautiful back body.

We'll quietly whisper,

Namaste.

(gentle music)