Movement Play
Twists, Core, Hips, Balance
This mini-flow explores a range of twists, lunges, and balancing shapes. A great addition to add to any practice, you can move through this flow slowly to build heat, or quickly to experience it as a dance!
Twisted Reverse Crescent (Parivrtta Viparita Anjaneyasana)
Starting in your high lunge, with your left foot forward and your right foot back, bring a 90-degree bend into the left knee and press into the ball of your right foot. Sink and square your hips to the front of your mat. Bring your hands up to the sky, biceps by the arms, and then drop your left fingers down to your right thigh, and extend your right fingers up to the sky, twisting through the mid-body. Gaze can be up or down.
Revolved Side Lunge (Parivrtta Skandasana)
Keep the twist in the mid-body, begin to lower the torso and right hand down. Right hand plants on the inside of the left foot, coming into a low lunge in the legs. From here, rotate both of your toes to face the left-side of your yoga mat. You will be on the outside edges of both feet. Press firmly into your right hand and allow your hips to sink down. Reach your left arm back and gaze back.
Press firmly down through the right hand and outside edge of the right foot. Engage your core and begin to lift your hips. As you do this, you will begin to lift your left foot and rotate your hips up to the sky. Drop your left toes back, on the outside edge of the right-side of your yoga mat. Spin your chest up to the sky and allow your left arm to reach past the crown of your head.
Wild Thing (Camatkarasana)
Side Plank (Vasisthasana)
Pressing again into your right hand and right foot, engage your core to bring your left foot to stack onto of your right foot for side plank. Your hips will stack one on top of the other, and your left arm will reach up to the sky from the shoulder socket. You might choose to hover your left foot directly over your right thigh, with left knee bent.
Twisted Reverse Low Lunge
From your side plank, carefully begin to step your left foot forward to the top of your yoga mat. Peel your right heel off of the mat and find low lunge in the legs. Drop the right knee down to your yoga mat. Extend your right fingers up to the sky and left fingers reach for the right thigh, again finding a twist in the mid-body.
Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)
Using the core, release the twist from the mid-body and begin to lift the hips. Rotate your right foot onto the mat, with sole of the foot pressing down and knife-edge of the foot parallel with the back of the yoga mat. Bring a 90 degree bend to the left knee and open your hips and chest to the right-side of the yoga mat. Gaze over your left middle finger.
Side Lunge (Skandasana)
Straighten your left leg and bend your right knee, dropping your hips down towards your right heel. Press into the heel of your left foot and allow your left toes to flex back. Engage the core to avoid sinking too deeply into the hips. Keep your spine long and bring your hands to heart center.
Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)
Using your core strength, shift your weight forward and re-bend into your left knee, straightening your right leg and planting the foot. Coming back into your warrior II stance as a transition.
Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana)
Gaze forward in front of your left foot. Then, reach your left fingertips to the spot of your gaze, while you slowly lift your right foot off of the mat. Stack your right hip over the left hip and stack your shoulders, reaching your right arm to the sky. Your torso and right leg should be parallel to the mat. Flex through the back foot.
Bound Half Moon (Baddha Ardha Chandrasana)
You have the option to stay in your half moon, or, root down into your standing leg and left fingertips. Bend the right knee and kick the heel in towards the seat. Reach back with your right hand to grab the top of the foot. Kick foot into the hand and press your chest forward, finding a backbend.
