Beginner Yoga Class: 20 to 30 minutes

Hello everyone, I'm Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow, and today I'm going to take you through a beginner yoga class. Uh, don't know the exact time yet, somewhere between 15 or 20 minutes. That's been the request. You can easily start to get in a nice yoga practice even in a hectic, busy day. So also, Instagram is not allowing, uh, uploads at this moment of over 10 minutes, so I might need to split it into two parts. I'm also putting it on YouTube if that's easier for you to access. But yeah, we'll go through a beginner yoga class. So the only thing that you really need to know for this class is a basic sun salutation. So the kind of yoga I like to practice is a vinyasa style. So even when we're doing more beginner and more, uh, gentle style of yoga to start, I still like to have the vinyasas in between because it helps get your heart rate up a little and it starts to build some strength in your arms. So if you've never done yoga before or you're a super big beginner and you're not familiar with a classic sun salutation kind of vinyasa transition, go watch my video on that. It gives you plenty of modifications for wherever you are in your amount of strength. And then that way, when you go into this class, you'll see me doing kind of the classic with the push-up style vinyasa. But again, do what works for your body. Watch that video, pick a vinyasa style that works for you, and you'll just get to go along with it the same in between. And then whatever poses are added to the either side of that, because again, the vinyasa is the transition, then you'll You'll be good to go. So we'll go ahead and get started. So notice this is like a little bit longer mat, so for most people it's a little shorter. So you always want to step up to the top of your mat to begin, and we'll start by just taking your feet hip width apart, which is a little narrower than most people like to think. We all like to think we have these crazy hips, right? But you want to put like the right line up with the shoulders, so typically that's about 2 fists in between, uh, your feet, that kind of width. And then bend your knees and gently bend forward Take opposite hand, opposite elbow, and then hang your head. Shake it from side to side. Let go of any tension. Tune into your jaw in particular. That's one place that people hold a lot of tension. So maybe you can open your mouth for a minute. Ah, take a sigh out, and then let your head drip towards the floor. Bend your knees as much as you need to to get a good hand stretch in your hamstring. So if you're pretty tight your knees are going to be more bent. If you're super loose, maybe your legs are straight. Either way is fine. You're just looking to get that nice stretch in your hamstrings. So one thing you may need to do is rock your weight slightly more toward your toes, especially if you're more loose. That'll help you feel it a little bit more. And then on an inhale, you'll sweep your arms up to the sky, knees up. And then exhale, hands come together in front of your chest. So we'll just start here, warm up with a couple of those sun salutations I just mentioned. Inhale, sweep your arms up to the sky, gaze up. And exhale, fold it forward, knees bent as much as you need, hands towards the floor. Plant the hands, step it back, either do the modification or a low push-up. Inhale, upward facing dog. And exhale, downward facing dog. So you might find you need to adjust your feet shorter or longer depending on your strength. In your downward dog, or you can always rest in child's pose anytime during the practice that you need to. That's also covered in the first video. Heels, you'll notice mine do not touch the floor. Depends a lot on ankle strength and flexibility, and, you know, strength of your hamstrings, flexibility of your hamstrings. If you really want to touch the floor, you may walk your feet in. This, for some people, is a much more intense— too intense stretch, so So I don't mind having the heels hover a little bit off the ground. Then bring your gaze forward, step to the top of your mat. Inhale, halfway lift, flat back. Exhale, fold it down. Inhale, reach up to the sky, gaze up to your thumbs. Exhale, hands together in front of your heart. Close your eyes here for a moment. Take a couple of deep breaths, breathing always in and out through your nose as we go through the practice. And we'll begin again. Inhale, reach your hands up to the sky, gaze up. Exhale, forward fold, knees bent. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, lower down to push-up. Inhale, upward facing dog. And exhale, downward facing dog. Breathe in and out through your nose. Inhale, gaze forward. Exhale, step up to the top of your mat. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, reach it up to the sky. This time we'll continue from— 4 more. Exhale, fold it down. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, little push-up. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Breath in and out through your nose. Inhale, take your right leg up to the sky, and exhale, bring it forward in between your two hands. Stay here, runner's lunge, or you may bring your knee down to the ground, take the top of your foot out flat, whichever one works for you. You're looking to get a nice stretch in the front of your left hip. So the knee up is slightly a little bit more strength building, and knee to the ground lets you get a little bit deeper stretch. Keep your left hand planted to the ground, raise your right arm to the sky. Inhale. Exhale, bring both hands down to the mat, step back to downward facing dog. Inhale your left leg to the sky, and exhale, bring it forward between your hands. Same option here, right knee up or down. I like to have my fingertips on the ground, but you can put your hands flat if that works for you. A little bit deeper stretch, also depends on the length of your arms, so do what works here. And then plant your right hand. Inhale, reach the left arm up to the sky, get it up. Exhale, left hand goes down, step it back to downward facing dog. Inhale, look forward. Exhale, top of the mat. Inhale, halfway lift. Exhale, fold. Inhale, reach your arms up to the sky. Exhale, fold it forward. Bring your feet hip width apart. Opposite hand, opposite elbow, hang it down. Bend the knees, shake the head, look Release any tension. Breath in and out through your nose. Start to even out your breath if your heart rate, heart rate has started to go up a bit. Heel-toe your feet back together. Big toes touch, heels touch. Inhale, reach your hands up to the sky. Exhale, bend the knees, sit back for Utkatasana, chair pose. So just like you're sitting in a chair, feel the weight on your toes and your heels, kind of balance it out in the middle, and then sink a bit lower. Bring your shoulder blades together, keep your arms wide, spread your fingers, and then interlace your hands behind your back. Press your hands towards the back wall, chest forward, big stretch. Inhale here, exhale, fold it forward, bringing your arms off the back. So this will look a little bit different for everybody. They might be super low, they might be medium, they might be back further. Just looking for a nice stretch here through the shoulders. Let your head hang down, shake it side to side, and plant your hands on the mat. Step it back, push-up position. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Take your right leg to the sky and then step your right leg between your hands and get stable here. Ground into your feet. This time, on inhale, reach it up to the sky. Hey, you'll notice a little bit wobbly on the balance there. No big deal, just set your eyes, find your feet eventually, and then settle in for a nice lunge here. Bring your hands together in front of your heart. Twist just your chest to the side. This is one option here. If you'd like to go a little further, take your left elbow to your right knee and press. Gaze towards the ceiling. Release both hands down to your mat. Bring your left knee down, flatten out your foot, and then pause here in a lunge, stretching the left hip area. And then on your next exhale, straighten your right leg, let your foot come off the mat, walk your hands back towards your hips and find a hamstring stretch. Walk your hands forward to go around your right foot, press your left toes in the mat, bring your knee up, step it back to high plank, lower to a push-up. Inhale, upward facing dog. Exhale, downward facing dog. Take your left leg to the sky, step it forward up between your hands. Find your feet, get grounded. And then when you're stable, on an inhale, come up, reach your hands towards the sky. Press back through your right heel and press all four corners of your left foot into your mat. And bring your hands together in front of your heart, twist to your left. You're going a step further, take your right elbow down to the knee, press the hands to center. Also stay with just the hands twisted. Release your hands down to either side of your left foot. Right knee comes down, back foot flattens out. Find your runner's lunge. Starting to work with something we call drishti, is the gaze. You want to focus your eyes softly on a point in front of you. Breath in and out through your nose. And as you exhale, fold back. Let your left foot come off the mat. Walk your hands back and then find your drishti point, gazing toward your left knee. Deep breaths. You can also shut your eyes here if that's comfortable for you. If you feel very stable and balanced, walk your hands back up to either side of your left foot. Press your right toes in the mat, bring the right knee up, step back to high plank, lower to a push-up. Exhale. Inhale, Upward Dog. Exhale, Downward Facing Dog. Deep breaths in and out through your nose. Bring your knees to the mat, take your knees out wide to either edge of the mat and leave your toes together at the back, and then press back for Child's Pose. Bring the center of your forehead to the mat. Breathe deeply, bringing your focus and awareness to the space between your eyebrows. Third Eye Center is what we call it in yoga. And then your next inhale, come to all fours, hands and knees, shoulders and wrist Stack up, knees and hips stack up. Gaze is forward. And on an inhale, reach your right leg up, press back through your right heel. Set your gaze at a point on the floor about a foot in front of you, and then bend your knee, reach back, open up your hip. Do a couple circles, one direction with the knee and then the other direction with your knee. And then stretch your heel back towards the wall, straighten your right leg, and then bring it back down to your mat. Nice big inhale, exhale, and then inhale, left leg straight, and then your left knee, do a couple circles, open up the hip. Exhale, left knee back down to the mat. Spread your knees wide. Exhale it into Child's Pose. Walk your hands towards the front of your mat. Get on your fingertips like little spiders walking towards the front of your mat. Take your hands wide, so either edge of the mat with your fingertips, and then press your fingertips into the mat. Roll your shoulders back and spread through the shoulder blades. Really feel a push-pull stretch Pulling with your fingertips, pulling back the shoulder blades, broadening the upper back. Nice stretch here. And bring it back to center, all fours, and step it up to the top of your mat. Inhale, halfway lift, flat back. Exhale, fold. Inhale, reach your arms to the sky, and we'll prepare for a couple of balance poses. So really find your feet strongly into your mat. Press big toe mound, baby toe mound, both sides of your heels strongly down, and then come up onto your right toes. Inhale, reach your arms up and take your right arm under, left arm over. So this is one variation all wrapped up. This doesn't work for everybody, so you can also put either hand on opposite shoulder. And then take your right leg, wrap it around. So there's a couple options here. Toes can be on the floor. You can find more balance by putting your toes toward your calf. Or you can wrap it all the way up over your thigh, wrap your foot around the back of your leg. So if you're doing the eagle, this is eagle, Garudasana. If you're doing eagle arms, all wrapped up as tight as you can be. Set your gaze, find that point and steady it. Breath in and out through your nose. Inhale, reach up, unwind. Exhale, hands to heart. Find your feet again. Start to really ground, especially into your right foot. Now we're going to balance there. Big toe down, pinky toe down, both sides of your heel. And then bring it up onto the left toe. Find your leg position of choice. Inhale, arms up. Exhale, left arm goes under the right, whatever variation works for your body. And then set your gaze Breathe in and out through your nose. Just one or two more. And inhale, reach up and unwind. Exhale, hands to heart. Find your balance on your left foot. Again, same thing, really press down. We're going to do Tree Pose now. So some people like to even imagine that they have roots through their left foot, just going strongly into the ground. And then you can use your hand to help your foot. So you're either going to go toes is one option if you're feeling unsteady on balance. You can also have a chair or a wall nearby to help with balance. Next option is foot to your calf. Next option, you can use your right hand to help your right foot up into your thigh, and then hands come together in front of your heart. So with your left leg and your right foot, you're pressing them equally together. As much as your right foot is pressing into your thigh, press your left thigh into your right foot. Inhale, open your arms, find your gaze point, stretch up to the sky. Pull your shoulders down. You can do this nice little mudra with your fingers if you like, thumb to forefinger, thumb to forefinger, or just really whatever makes you happy. You can sway around, your tree, whatever. Okay, and then bring your hands to your heart. Let it go. Prepare for your other side. Ground into your right foot. Same options here, pick one that works for you. Find your hands together in front of your heart. Set your gaze, and then when you're ready, expand your branches. Pull your shoulders down your back, set your gaze, breathe deep in and out through the nose, really trying to expand your lungs. Get nice deep breaths, totally oxygenating your body. In yoga, if you start to dance, it's no big deal. We're just playing with balance, working on balance. You know, yoga practice is called a yoga practice for a reason, right? We're just practicing. And you're just being wherever you are that day. Some days I'm like super rooted, super steady. Other days, no balance at all. So wherever you are is fine. If you just fall out, it's pretty simple, you just get back in, right? So, okay, bring it back to center and we'll step it up to the top of the mat. Inhale, reach your arms, and exhale, fold forward. Inhale, lift halfway. Exhale, step back to high plank. So unless this is bad for your shoulders or arms, I want you to hold it here for a moment. So if you need to, come down to your knees, or you can lower all the way to the mat. It just depends on where you are in your strength today. Okay, so holding plank for just a couple breaths, really work to line up your wrists underneath your shoulders. And we'll exhale a slow push-up. Okay, again, wherever you are, your strength is holding, is what works for you. And then eventually lower all the way down to the mat. Rest here, couple deep breaths. Plant your hands next to your chest, bring your fingertips about in line with your shoulders, and then on an inhale, lift your head and chest from the floor. Gaze forward, press your feet and your hips into the mat. Okay, so even though you're pressing your feet, you're not trying to create tension in your back. So you're feeling loose here in the low back, but you should be feeling your muscles engaging towards the mid-back. Taking one more big inhale. Exhale, release. And we'll do that one more time. Inhale, gaze forward, press your feet down. As you're pressing the feet down, work to release any tension in the low back. Really working on just bringing those middle back muscles into play. And exhale, release. Press back to child's pose. Inhale, come up to all fours, and then just simply find a seat on your mat. So we'll start here, both feet flat on the ground. Yours might— you'll be facing the other way, probably still on your mat. And then place your right foot on top of your left thigh. So for some people, this is already a pretty big stretch. The further you lean back, the less stretch it'll be. So if that— if being up is too intense, you're leaning back more until you get to a place where you get a good stretch, but you're not, you know, you're not trying to die, you're just trying to get a good stretch. So if it's too intense, back away. If it's not intense enough, you're bringing your hands up and you're sitting up real straight, breathing deeply in and out through your nose. If that's not doing much for you, you can also stack Fire Logs. So you'll notice I just took my left foot, bring it over here. It's kind of like a similar to a cross-legged position, but your right foot is on top of your left thigh. If you're very open and loose in the hip area, that's— these are going to touch, you know, just depends on where you are. Like I said, any given day, any given point in your life, whether you've taught yoga you know, 20 classes a week in the heat, or you haven't taught any classes in the heat for a while, you're a little tighter, you know, even sitting at a desk every day. So all of those are factors, and you know, it's just work with what you have in your body. Where there's no judgment here, you're just accepting what is and getting a nice stretch. That's really the only point of yoga. Like, how it looks is just a picture, it's meaningless. Okay, all right, so let's switch it up. So this time you'll plant your right foot on the mat or the ground and take your left foot on top of your right thigh. So again, find the spot that works for you. You know, we can't change things overnight, we can just work towards. So be whatever works in your body right now and just know that, you know, things change, realities change, seasons change, priorities change, a million things, right? So It's all good. If you need more stretch, you're bringing the right leg down to the floor where— this is called like Fire Log Pose, so you're kind of stacking your legs like fire logs. Okay, breathe in, breathe out. Unwind your legs, squeeze your knees into your chest, big tight little ball, as tight as you can. And release. So I just did that today. Few— I'm going to go back to being this way. So come down flat on your mat, keeping your knees squeezed in tight, and then keep your right knee squeezed in. You're going to extend your left leg long and then take your right knee, bring it more over towards your right armpit. So your leg will kind of be a bit over to the side. I'm just pulling in here for a breath. And then taking the top of your knee to start to do some circles for the hip. So if you think about your hip socket, it's a ball joint, right? So you've got the head of your top of your thigh coming into the hip joint. And take the other way. And so you want to picture as you're rolling this ball and socket kind of joint, and you're looking to expand your movement into every part of that joint just to keep everything nice and lubricated. And then switch it up. Extend your right leg long, bring your left knee in, and then take it over to the side. Same thing, squeeze, and then start to do those circles. So you want to start out small and just have your awareness be at that joint and explore. Notice if there's any areas that are kind of sticky or stuck. You might need to start bringing some more synovial fluid into that area, and the way to do that is some gentle movement. So yoga is really great for that. The Arthritis Foundation actually, you know, they used to tell people years ago not to move. Now their recommendation is gentle movement, which means yoga is just right for that. Okay, bring it back to center and then hug both your knees in, big squeeze. And we'll do one final hip stretch, and it's very simple, similar to the one that we did on the floor. We'll take your right foot, cross it over your left thigh, and then take your right hand Take it in between the hole that your legs make and then clamp your hands behind the left thigh. And then again, this might be a big stretch already for you where you are right now, or if it's not, you can start to bring it closer in, pulling your left thigh in towards your body, always having a lot of awareness around the stretch. You're looking for a nice consistent stretch. You know, you need to always be careful when stretching where your muscles are attaching to the bone. Those are ligaments and tendons. Once those stretch, they really don't go back. You want to stretch your muscle muscle. So if you're noticing any tightness next to where things attach, you want to back away. If you need more, you can straighten your leg. If you need even more, you can start to bring your calf towards your face and pulling the right leg in more. And then if that's not enough, extend your left leg and then really pull your right thigh— or sorry, right, uh, calf and chin in towards your chest. That's way too intense for me these days. Maybe another day, maybe after we keep doing this for a couple months. Okay, and let's switch it up. Take your left foot over your right thigh. Again, this is— you're making a figure four with your legs. I'm going to take your left hand through the middle, clasp the right hand behind the right thigh, and then start to pull in. This is a nice pose that you can easily close your eyes because you're on the floor nice and stable. And then bring your awareness to the spot in between your eyebrows. Deep breaths in and out through your nose. Take a final couple deep breaths exploring that stretch. And then unwind, hug your knees into your chest, big tight squeeze. And then walk your feet out. So the last final resting pose is called shavasana, and it's simply lying on the floor. Which— it's one of the simplest things, but not necessarily easy. It can be difficult to really fully relax. So you want to have your feet— most people are comfortable, most comfortable with their feet kind of spread to the edges of the mat, heels towards the mat and toes flaring out. And then arms lay down by your side and pull your shoulder blades a little bit underneath your body. And then you're looking for a position that you can maintain theoretically for 30 minutes if you have time. You just want to really try to arrange your body in a way where it can melt into the floor. If this is not good for your back, bend your knees, place your feet flat on your mat towards either edge of your mat, and then let the knees fall in towards center. That'll release any pressure on the lower back. You also might want to scoot your hips up or down to find that right place where your back is supported and not tense. And then for the next few moments, let go of any control of your breath. Just bring your awareness to the space between your eyebrows. Close your eyes if they aren't already. You no longer really need to see what's happening on the video. Just listen to the sound of my voice. And as melted and as solid as you are into the floor and into your mat. Release everything another 50%, having the image that your muscles are just completely relaxed and pooling onto the floor. Now if you have extra time today, I'll still go through this and end, but you can remain laying on the floor in shavasana for as long as you would like. For those of you that have to move on to the rest of your day, I'll finish it up for you. So you'll just start to gently make some movements down with your body, wiggle your fingers and toes, and then maybe gently roll your head from side to side on your mat. And then slowly bring your knees into your chest, give yourself a nice squeeze. Squeeze. A gentle rock from side to side. And then find yourself laying on your right side, kind of like a little seed or a fetus, just all balled up and cozy. Just take a moment to pause there. Maybe if you have any intention that you'd like to set for the day or for the week, take a moment now to acknowledge that. And then press up to a simple seated position. We won't be here long, so could be legs crossed, could be legs straight, could be on your knees, whatever you can easily maintain for just about a minute. And then bring your hands together in front of your chest. Let your thumbs touch to the center of your breastbone. Press your right hand into your left, left hand to your right. Really feel totally connection and have the sensation there that you're creating balance. Equal forces from both the right and left side. And then bring your thumbs together at your forehead. And then on your next exhale, bow forward, maybe stretching all the way to the floor if that works for you, maybe stopping somewhere in between. Namaste. So all namaste means, and you know, this is more prevalent I think in the world today that people actually know this, but in case you don't, but it's just means the light in me honors the light in you. So it's kind of like greeting and an ending both to the yoga practice, just acknowledging that, hey, we're all on this path together, we're all working towards something better, and I want you all to— your light to just sparkle on. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed the class. I'll be doing this some more eventually. I'll be doing some more kind of quote-unquote advanced classes. Um, but not really advanced, maybe just longer, maybe just like a little bit more intense and strength building, that kind of thing. But really, any class that I do, I hope that you'll join because you can just do as much as you can do, right? And you can look and you can learn and you can start to hear, you know, different things that might resonate with you. So thanks again for joining, and I hope to see you again soon.