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Lesson Info

Day 23: Toned Legs

get into our legs today, it's going to be pretty quad insensitive. But so much more than just strengthening. Our legs were going to do a lot of mobility and really take care of the knees and the ankles and stretch things that you wouldn't really think of, like the top of the feet, your Achilles tendons. A lot of flexibility is needed there for these movements, and I doubt any of us really pay vat close attention in our daily life or take time to stretch out on our own. So we're going to be stretching and strengthening at the same time. With this dynamic movement, let's have something. Let's come up into mill asana, sometimes called Yogi squat or sumo squat and started the top of your map with your feet hip width apart. Close out heels in. We're gonna have a nice squat here, so ideally, you want your hips as close to the floor as you can and your toes pointing out the same direction as your knees, keeping your knees nice and safe. If this is way too much and you feel yourself lifting up...

onto your tippy toes, grab a block two blocks a pillow. Whatever you have at your house, that's convenient for you just to take some of the weight off. But I challenge you not to build it up so high that it takes the work out because we do want to work. If you can sit in this comfortably, that's fantastic. It's gonna be a little easier for you. Um, but once we start sitting it for a longer period of time, that's when we start to get into the ankles. The top of the foot, the mobility here. So before we add on, I just want you to relax. Let's take your knees wide, soften your shoulders slumped down. Start to round the back body. You can crawl your hands out and just sort of melt. Helps to close your eyes. Maybe even set an intention for your practice. Why did you come onto the mats? Why did you take this plan today? Halfway through, you might be asking yourself why, for a whole nother reason. Like what did I get myself into? It's all good. Scroll. Back up. Take your hands to your heart. Now we're gonna start to sit up nice and tall. I like to use my elbows as you can see into my inner calves or inside of my knee here just to apply a little bit of pressure and start to open deeper into the hips. Now, as I am opening my knees, I'm trying to sit up and bring my shoulders above my hips to the best of my ability. We're going to start to move here in just a moment, but when we move, be really focused on Onley, moving from your heels. So right now our heels are in our toes, air out. We're gonna be lifting and lowering, just moving the heels so the heels are going to come in. So this squat, the heels are going to come back to a forward full. So before we get into the dynamic movement, Sigur fingertips down gently lift your hips and knees the heels back. Relax. Soften melts little sway side to side. We'll start to open the hamstrings. A gentle bending Your knee is absolutely fine and probably going to be necessary for most of us. If you have really mobile hamstrings, really open hamstrings. Of course, you can straighten your legs coming up to your fingertips. Your fingertips are going to stay down. Your heart's going to stay lifted. We're gonna pivot the toes in lifting the chest, pivot the toes out, straightening your legs or keeping a gentle Ben. But I'm really going to keep my heart up the whole time. So as I'm lifting and lowering, I'm pivoting. But I'm not necessarily coming into a forward fold. I'm more coming into Ah, flat back position. If your hamstrings are open, you can even keep your tailbone lifted. Like I'm doing is just gonna add a little more stretch to the back of your legs. Gun. Let's go. Last five, three to one, we're gonna add on left arm up. Switch it out, Writer. Right hand down. Let's take the left arm back and forward. Starting to feel it in your quads a little bit. Switch out the arms. It's kind of opening the chest. Let's do it without the hands forward. We go for five, four, three to one forward full. Shake it up. Doing good. Step your left foot back. Lower your knee down. Stay on the left hand. Take your left heel all the way into your glutes. Reach back for the top of the foot Little quad stretch here. This isn't accessibly of a strap. A towel that will work just fine. Coming back will step back into Armel Osuna. I'm going to switch it up. I'm going to keep my left toes pivoting out because I'm going to singing my hips forward, right heel to my glute Mm, That's come back, Alesana. Deep breath in forward. Full shake out the legs. He'll tell them your feet. Hip distance apart. Deep breath in will lengthen halfway up with an exhale plant your hands stepping right back into plank pose. If you've done my other plans her videos, we can. We've already gone over Plank. Time to go Verplank again Right now around the back Biceps spiral for triceps Wrapping hug. Beth, squeeze your forms until you engage your pecs. Live from the core. Let's bring it back into the legs. Were gonna inhale Trotta Wronger. Press back now, This time, really work the talk of your tailbone. Pull, pull. Pull your hips up to your ribs, haul out the core, hover five for over. Exaggerate the till and talk of your tailbone. Three to one. Let's your for charter Wrong. A press back tuck five four, three to one last time. Nice plank. Looking forward to that charter on the regular Your quotes. Prasit back. Little tuck Here last life four three to and one. Straighten your legs first, downward facing gaze at the hands. Maybe a little movement here in your hips. I always take a minute to feel my way. I'll feel how my body's feeling today and then settle back into your down dog. Let's bring our feet together. Gays between your hands, Soft bend in your knees. Walk or little baby hop floated up. We'll come into a forward fold here from your forward. Fold Traditional chair toes together. Little space between your heels. Sit up through the body. Don't you worry about the arms just yet. Little till in your pelvic bowl. Rib cage down core. Nice and tight. We'll come onto your tippy toes. Find the bounce like a little deeper into the niece. Hands to your hips. Let's open the knees and close. When we close, squeeze the inner thighs. Open release Squeeze open Squeeze. Now, as squeeze, we're gonna add that tiny bit of a tuck so you're starting to work into your hamstrings. It's a lot of interior and hamstring squeeze squeeze. Who hurt the mountains by squeeze and tuck three to one. Let's lower the heels. Lift lower lift, lower lift, lower lift and slowly sink the hips. Who a crack in my knees? Stick without mobility, so we're sitting on our heels. Can you set up a little higher through your chest, Taking your knees directly out from the hips? Reach your arms forward, ground the heels, but try to keep your hips up off the map. Now it's a transfer of bounds. Not a whole lot going on a lot of flexibility in the angle. Extend your left leg forward, flex the foot, place it back hips stay up the whole time. If we can. Right foot forward. Relax it up nice and tall and will step in one more each side. Laugh like for last leg back last time, right leg for it and right leg back. Nice rock up without their hands onto the toes. Find your core a little lift of your frontal hit points, and I send slow staying on our tippy toes. Can we lift our hips off our heels and come back into our tippy toe? chair post. Slowly, really get Let's open. Squeeze open as we squeeze we tuck. nine, eight, seven six Well, three to and one Staying on the toes again. Let's slowly sink above our heels and the same set the knees down, keeping your toes stock come onto standing at the top of your knees. Hips. These are hip width apart. Toes are the same distance as your knees. Toes are tucked. You take your hands to your heart and nice and slow tuck your tailbone under lots of corn. Everything right? I could essentially call any video core because that's how much I want you to be aware of your center. Just gonna lean back and for lean back keeping your tailbone tucked. We're not back. Bend me leam. If you're adding on arms for heart, stays up, gay stays up and it's lean, lean, lean, lean, lean and back. Keeping this shallow sea shape through the front body. I'm back one more time. Can we leave? Hold for five, four, three to one. Pull it up. Awesome, guys, right hand to your right heel. Let's sink the hips down. Sweep your left arm up thise forward a little easy stretch here. Half camel, so nothing too heavy Sync your hips down, Switch it up. Left hands of the left heel Sweep your right arm up Little half camel Second sight Seeing the hips down sick, our knees together toes are tucked We're gonna sit the hips on the heels and try just with again a little bit of mobility. Can we slowly lift our knees and then ground the heels, keeping your hips up? Lean the weight back, knees up. Stay on the toes, heels down on Let's try one more time with the left leg forward Flax, The toes stopping back. Good. Right leg forward. Let's flax the toes stepping back one more time. Each side left leg reach and flex hip. Stay off Last time. Right leg re tree treats and flex hip. Stay up. Nice forward. Full stretch it, Um, Sink your toes together and come into share posts. So I want your right foot to stay. We're gonna be stepping out into a wide chair, stopping back and forth. Your right foot is going to stay and you're left. What's going to do all the work on the first side and then we'll change that out. It's a little tuck here. We're gonna come back to our wide chair. I'm gonna float it back. Crescent lunch Extra lunge, squat Step forward. Lift the heels tiptoe So we'll come wide share Lunge the back me tiptoes Get the heels high Why chair back, knee lunges Tiptoe Lift you again. Why Chair? Whoa! Krasselt, Lunge the back me tipped Swell More time Take it, White Crescent London We're going to stay in crescent this time around, so lengthen your stance If you need extra little tuck off the back toe of the back. Me Pull your hips up to your ribs. Rib cage down. Maybe your hand. Stay at your heart. It's just lift the front heel. Lower arms could be up. Hands can be at your hips. Hands could be at your heart. Sometimes it's good. Bring a little awareness touching your core touching your hips will go five, four, three to one. Use your hands Step through the pistol. Stop back. Good step through pistol. Step back one more time. Stephanou Pistol Step back. Warrior two. Address your stance. Lengthen it up. It's come nice and deep into your front leg back at the height of your neath. And then again, our little pulses lift lower lift, lower lift, lower burn and five, four, three Hang in there to and when we're gonna come right into scan Dawson side squat, doing your best to keep the hell down. This is like 1/2 mil Ossana the half Yogi squat. Open your chest. Take a minute. Find your breath trying to keep your hips open, your chest open goes forward at the right toes and nice and slow were going to come across and lift up into Arctic Chandra's and 1/2 moon post. Find your balance. Flex the top foot. Maybe using a block whore your fingertips. Can you lift the toes? Her Lift the heel. Lift the toes of Jassem Lift lift. Let's take it. Five, four, three to and last one. Flow to you Back goddess pause heels in toes out. You have a wall at your back length and little tilt of your pelvic bowl. Little lift of your chest. Let's sink down nice and deep. Maybe even shorten your stance to really get into the hips. If we're feeling nice and life, find your breath, it's come on a bowl of tippy toes and law feeling the legs. Shake lift and lift and law just go right five, four, three to and what good left five, four, three to one. Both heels. Five four, three to one holds in the hips. Straighten your legs. Toes pivot in full for mm. Relax a head and neck. Shake it out. Sagan in how lengthen halfway. Come back into our skin. Dossena excites squad into the left heel in hell. Open your arms. It acts hill. Lift back up. Warrior two straight in the back legs. Bend into the front right knee. Second, inhale. Reverse your warrior. Exhale, cartwheel your hands down to the mat with your high lunch that's ground into your bottom right hand. Come on to the outer edge of your left foot and this time, sweep the right leg back. Stack your feet. Bush's Dawson. It's a little different way of getting into it a little more oblique. Take a deep breath and lift the hips. Exhale lower inha lift. Exhale lower deep breath in deep breath for five, four, three to. And this last one we're going to come all the way down onto our outer hip onto are right, forearm. Nice. You're gonna take the bottom lake top, left me at the ceiling, plant the lesson slightly. Stack the hips and keep your left hand in front for a little bit of support. Here, you're gonna flex the bottom foot in lift. Lift, lift, lift. Five, four, three to one. We're going to keep the lift circle. Circle back to the inner thigh, circling with the toes. 10 nine, eight seventh six five four, three to 1 10 Lift nine eight seven, 65 four, three to one. Relaxed the bottom leg. Keep yourself supported. Here. Soft bend in the bottom. Me, we're gonna create this. Same shapes were supporting ourselves on the right form. Left fingertips. Both knees are bent. I'm gonna touch my toes together. Lift the knees, touch the heels. So just a little bit like this. If we're adding on, we can hover the foot. Sony's toes, knees, toes, chorus staying engaged slightly. We'll go nine, eight Seventh six, five, four, three to one. We're going to keep the shape Flex your foot. Push it back. Push 10 ninth eight seventh 65 four, three to one. Back to the toes flex. I mean point Mees Knees 10 nine, eight Seventh six, five, four, three to one Nice. You guys stack the toes. Come to a straight arm Deep breath in left hand to the hips. Lift, lift lift from the bottom. Hip up. Dobashi, Take the left knee into your chest on step forward Now we're right here in our high lunch. A big step forward Toes together, Sink into your hips Coming back to our chair Poth Little tilt of your pelvic bowl hands are gonna be out your heart. It's going to be the left foot Staying stable the right leg doing all the work this time with a deep breath in Let's step into our wide share Lunge the back right Me little tip toe wide Share back lunge, tiptoe. Take it, wife. Take it back! Take it up! Good Last rough, guys. Wide chair, Lunge the back Me tiptoe We're going to step it wife, Step it back. Plant the hands pistol through hip Stay up pistol back to more these air Tough pistol through. If you are building, you can start to get lighter in the fingertips and maybe not use them at all warrior to. I'm gonna do a little jump switch just for my camera angles. You stay at the front of your mountain. It's come up adjuster. Stance as needed. Little bend, Soften the back. Hip down. Tilt the tail Bull Sigur! Hands to hurt. Lift, lift, Lift. He'll up. He'll now can you keep the right heel soft. So doing five, four, three to one. Let's take it into scanned Asan sitting above are right. He'll deep breath in. Open your chest with your left arm And as we float into our half moon, maybe you prepare your block. Try to keep your chest open and your hips open. We're gonna come up slowly. If you need a little lift, plant the hands and come all the way up. Trust yourself. Roll your top open, flex through the back, right heel. Keep your fingertips on them out for mounts. If that becomes easy, of course, hover the hand. Let's start. Just lift lower lift, lower lift. Go for five, four, three to last. Little lift all the way back. Warrior two straight into our goddess pose. Take your heels a little closer. Line it up. Can you see your big toes. Can you tell your pelvic bull and take it down deep? Maybe we shorten the stands even more because this is our second Saif and we're really getting warm into our hips. Lift through the chest ribs. Titan Core titans Anywhere you want with the hands. Try to keep the hard up. Let's take it up. UH, three to one. Just the left. 10 nine eight 76 five four three to one till they're right. Last 10 nine. A 76 five four three to one last five. Little push for three to one. Hold the heels up, up straight in the legs. Golden. Who? Let's take it to our high lunch. Left foot is forward fingertips. You're going to plant the left hand outer edge of the right foot with a lot of oblique sweeping the last leg back. Vash East asana and then we'll stack the toes. Stock your hips firm up your bottom leg. Let's take a deep breath in will lift and lower big lift and lowers. nine, eight, seven six Last five three to and one hips all the way down. Come on to your left forearm, Right foot's going to step in front, so I'm rolling my hips down instead of rolling them back, your knees going to be falling a little inward. That's okay. Fingertips are going to support you. Flex the back foot, just little lifts back to your inner thigh to give yourself a moment to cool down, to come back to your breath and to start slowing your heart rate down high prefer active rest such as this. So instead of just coming to child, switch your muscle groups. Give yourself a rest. Rest the quads, but keep the hill. Keep the heat building and stay in your body. Last five four, three to one. Keep the lift circle toast forward. 10th ninth eight seven. Notice if you're collapsing the shoulder. Six. Last five, four, three to and one relaxed the bottom lake. Tiny bends in both knees so again we can start keeping your toes and your heels touching, or we can hover the leg entirely. I'm gonna hover my leg today so we'll start here with a pointed toe, knees and toes, opening and closing. It's a lot of outer hip as well. Go for nine eight seven six five four three to, and one could flex the foot. Push, push, push, push. 10th nine eight seven six five, four three to one point the toe last 10 ninth. Eight seventh. Six. Try to keep engagement on the right hip. Five. Always squeezing three to on one straight in your legs. Let's come up to your bottom left hand shoulder above your risk fingertips facing for spiral the bicep in and lived from the left half. It's take your right leg up, bend the knee and will step forward. Step to the front of your mouth and I'll crawl to the front of my Let's one more time. Come down on our knees and I encourage you if you have a block or a pillow or something, If your knees ball there, you in any way. Skip this, but start supported your heels who are gonna be hip width apart. You're gonna place a block, maybe a blanket or pillow between them if you don't need. And you've done this before, skipper. But it's a really nice quad stretch. You can start right here trying to keep your inner thighs engaged. They start display out, crawl back up if you're taking it further, it's come down to our forearms. Same idea, as always, a little tuck of your pelvic bowl when we talk the tailbone under increasing the stretch on the top of my quads. And that's exactly what you want right now, this is still not enough. Of course. Take it even further down. If you went too far, back off, your knees are way more important than a stretch, So don't ever compromise your body for oppose. Come out of it. You can always repeat the lizard stretch with a backheel in love. That one, this feels good will stay here and breathe for five and slowly, slowly will start to come back up, never rushing it. He's up to your forearms, first to your hands and then all the way back up to hands and knees. Let's just give a little stretch out over right foot and our left. Keep the stretches up. I say this every time, but I know I don't give you guys a cool down, and it's actually something that when I teach in my class, I give really long, cold ounce because I believe inflexibility, and they believe that it's equal to strength. So I encourage you. Teoh up your stretches. Take a shove. Also not take care of yourself and your body will take care of you. Thank you, yogis.