1 00:00:00,761 --> 00:00:02,602 Hey, welcome to Yoga With Adriene. 2 00:00:02,602 --> 00:00:05,005 I'm Adriene and today we are going to learn 3 00:00:05,005 --> 00:00:07,641 one of my favorite poses, the Bridge pose, 4 00:00:07,641 --> 00:00:12,045 Setu Bandhasana, as part of our foundations of yoga series. 5 00:00:12,045 --> 00:00:15,716 So hop on the mat and let's learn Bridge. 6 00:00:15,716 --> 00:00:18,819 (upbeat music) 7 00:00:27,051 --> 00:00:30,564 Okay, so we're going to begin flat on our backs today. 8 00:00:30,564 --> 00:00:32,665 Letting the soles of the feet come to the mat 9 00:00:32,665 --> 00:00:35,335 and the knees point up towards the sky. 10 00:00:35,335 --> 00:00:37,404 Let's tuck our chins into our chests 11 00:00:37,404 --> 00:00:39,706 and lengthen through the back of our necks. 12 00:00:39,706 --> 00:00:42,910 And then maybe just take a second here to open the palms 13 00:00:42,910 --> 00:00:46,113 and breathe letting the back relax into the mat. 14 00:00:46,113 --> 00:00:49,316 (breathing loudly) 15 00:00:49,316 --> 00:00:51,118 Then I'll bring my awareness to my heels, 16 00:00:51,118 --> 00:00:54,354 I'm gonna draw my heels up towards my sit bones 17 00:00:54,354 --> 00:00:58,358 and keeping my knees in line with the hip points, 18 00:00:58,358 --> 00:00:59,927 I'll reach my finger tips down 19 00:00:59,927 --> 00:01:02,429 and kind of use this as a gauge here. 20 00:01:02,429 --> 00:01:04,063 So where my finger tips land 21 00:01:04,063 --> 00:01:06,300 is pretty much where the heels can be. 22 00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:09,369 Sometimes we bring them a little bit closer in yoga 23 00:01:09,369 --> 00:01:12,706 for a more deeper approach, 24 00:01:12,706 --> 00:01:14,841 more deeper opening in the front body. 25 00:01:14,841 --> 00:01:17,110 But I would recommend as a beginner 26 00:01:17,110 --> 00:01:20,414 using this little cheat here, finger tips to heels. 27 00:01:20,414 --> 00:01:21,348 All right. 28 00:01:21,348 --> 00:01:25,085 So, from here I'll press into all four corners of the feet, 29 00:01:25,085 --> 00:01:27,254 so I really wanna spread awareness 30 00:01:27,254 --> 00:01:28,922 through all four corners of my feet, 31 00:01:28,922 --> 00:01:30,324 particularly the inner arches. 32 00:01:30,324 --> 00:01:33,193 Sometimes we go, tend to let the knees widen, 33 00:01:33,193 --> 00:01:36,897 and go to the outer edges of the feet, that's the tendency. 34 00:01:36,897 --> 00:01:39,733 So I wanna keep my knees in line with my hips 35 00:01:39,733 --> 00:01:41,234 and my awareness spreading 36 00:01:41,234 --> 00:01:42,836 through all four corners of the feet, right? 37 00:01:42,836 --> 00:01:44,972 I wanna pay attention to my alignment, 38 00:01:44,972 --> 00:01:46,840 set up my pose just right. 39 00:01:48,108 --> 00:01:50,911 So from here, I'll press into my feet, 40 00:01:50,911 --> 00:01:53,146 take a nice deep breath in (inhaling loudly), 41 00:01:54,114 --> 00:01:56,917 and on the exhale, I'll scoop my tailbone up, 42 00:01:56,917 --> 00:02:00,420 drawing my navel down towards the mat, 43 00:02:00,420 --> 00:02:02,823 hugging the navel to the spine. 44 00:02:02,823 --> 00:02:04,491 I'll continue this journey, 45 00:02:04,491 --> 00:02:07,260 scooping the tailbone up, pressing into the feet. 46 00:02:07,260 --> 00:02:09,496 I begin to lift my hip points up, 47 00:02:09,496 --> 00:02:11,398 palms pressing flat into the mat 48 00:02:11,398 --> 00:02:13,500 for a little bit of support, 49 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:14,735 tailbone scooping up. 50 00:02:14,735 --> 00:02:16,470 You notice here I'm going nice and slow, 51 00:02:16,470 --> 00:02:18,238 traveling up the spine. 52 00:02:18,238 --> 00:02:20,407 Kind of getting a yummy massage here. 53 00:02:20,407 --> 00:02:21,408 (inhaling loudly) 54 00:02:21,408 --> 00:02:24,645 I continue lifting the hip points nice and slow. 55 00:02:24,645 --> 00:02:27,414 (inhaling loudly) Pressing into the spine (inhaling loudly). 56 00:02:27,414 --> 00:02:29,616 I can release my palms open here, 57 00:02:29,616 --> 00:02:30,484 (exhaling loudly) 58 00:02:30,484 --> 00:02:33,186 I can grab onto the outer edges of the mat, 59 00:02:33,186 --> 00:02:35,922 or I can just keep pressing all 10 fingerprints down strong. 60 00:02:35,922 --> 00:02:38,191 So there's a couple different options here (loud inhale). 61 00:02:38,191 --> 00:02:40,460 As I continue to lift the hips. 62 00:02:40,460 --> 00:02:41,862 (inhaling loudly) 63 00:02:41,862 --> 00:02:44,865 (exhaling loudly) Bridge pose. 64 00:02:44,865 --> 00:02:46,767 Neck is nice and long here. 65 00:02:46,767 --> 00:02:48,335 Again, the tendency is going to wanna come 66 00:02:48,335 --> 00:02:50,203 to those outer edges of the feet to support, 67 00:02:50,203 --> 00:02:52,139 but remember your alignment, stay stacked, 68 00:02:52,139 --> 00:02:55,075 working with integrity, toes pointing forward. 69 00:02:56,076 --> 00:02:59,946 Couple of action points and safety precautions. 70 00:02:59,946 --> 00:03:01,548 I'm not looking at you on purpose right now 71 00:03:01,548 --> 00:03:04,918 because I don't want to ever turn my neck, my head, 72 00:03:04,918 --> 00:03:06,119 to look at somebody else's mat 73 00:03:06,119 --> 00:03:09,556 or to look at you, my friends out there watching this now. 74 00:03:09,556 --> 00:03:11,525 I wanna keep the neck nice and long, 75 00:03:11,525 --> 00:03:14,361 not move it side to side, so we don't injure it. 76 00:03:14,361 --> 00:03:17,431 Keep it nice and happy and supported. 77 00:03:17,431 --> 00:03:19,599 This pose is tough, 78 00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:21,568 but I don't wanna create any tension in the neck 79 00:03:21,568 --> 00:03:24,638 or in the face or in the tush. 80 00:03:24,638 --> 00:03:27,674 There's a tendency to really squeeze the tushy here, 81 00:03:27,674 --> 00:03:29,076 I don't say tush or tushy, 82 00:03:29,076 --> 00:03:31,044 (chuckling) I don't know why I just said that. 83 00:03:31,044 --> 00:03:34,381 The bum, the buttocks, the glutes. 84 00:03:34,381 --> 00:03:35,315 Keep 'em soft. 85 00:03:35,315 --> 00:03:37,617 So that's the beauty of this posture, 86 00:03:37,617 --> 00:03:41,955 is marrying that strength, that activity, 87 00:03:41,955 --> 00:03:43,890 with a calm, with an ease. 88 00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:44,858 (inhaling loudly) 89 00:03:44,858 --> 00:03:48,128 Another action point, I wanna press my hips forward, 90 00:03:48,128 --> 00:03:51,198 really reaching my knees towards the front edge of the mat. 91 00:03:51,198 --> 00:03:53,633 So I'm not just lifting up towards the sky, 92 00:03:53,633 --> 00:03:56,269 but imagine scooping your tailbone 93 00:03:56,269 --> 00:03:58,505 to the backs of your knees or often, I tell my students, 94 00:03:58,505 --> 00:04:00,974 sit bones to the backs of the knees. 95 00:04:00,974 --> 00:04:02,476 So I'm lifting the hips, 96 00:04:02,476 --> 00:04:04,711 but I'm really thinking about drawing my sit bones 97 00:04:04,711 --> 00:04:07,247 to kiss the back of the knees there. 98 00:04:09,015 --> 00:04:10,884 We can take a couple breaths here. 99 00:04:10,884 --> 00:04:11,985 Perhaps you've already fallen out 100 00:04:11,985 --> 00:04:14,888 and you're like why is she still up there? (chuckling) 101 00:04:14,888 --> 00:04:17,089 But I encourage you on the journey down 102 00:04:17,089 --> 00:04:19,358 to move with the breath. 103 00:04:19,358 --> 00:04:21,060 I often go down on an exhale, 104 00:04:21,060 --> 00:04:24,297 but, as always, I encourage you to experiment 105 00:04:24,297 --> 00:04:26,733 with your breath, finding what feels good. 106 00:04:27,567 --> 00:04:28,835 I don't fall out of the pose, 107 00:04:28,835 --> 00:04:33,573 but rather I take this nice, slow journey down. 108 00:04:33,573 --> 00:04:35,742 Feels yummy on my spine here 109 00:04:35,742 --> 00:04:39,112 as I slowly release the hips, 110 00:04:39,112 --> 00:04:41,781 the pelvis, back down to the earth. 111 00:04:41,781 --> 00:04:43,450 Keeping my knees in line, 112 00:04:43,450 --> 00:04:47,687 now I can turn my head and smile at you. 113 00:04:47,687 --> 00:04:50,824 Okay, so, to go a little bit deeper in the pose, 114 00:04:50,824 --> 00:04:53,793 we're gonna go up one more time here. 115 00:04:53,793 --> 00:04:54,828 I'm gonna just show you one more thing 116 00:04:54,828 --> 00:04:55,996 to go a little bit deeper. 117 00:04:55,996 --> 00:04:57,097 I'll inhale, again, 118 00:04:57,097 --> 00:04:59,666 pressing into all four corners of the feet. 119 00:04:59,666 --> 00:05:02,702 Let this movement, rather than just hiking the hips up, 120 00:05:02,702 --> 00:05:05,038 let's enjoy this journey, right? 121 00:05:05,038 --> 00:05:08,909 You get a nice, solid back massage out of this, as well. 122 00:05:08,909 --> 00:05:10,310 But let it start from the tailbone, 123 00:05:10,310 --> 00:05:11,778 like we do in our Cat-Cow. 124 00:05:11,778 --> 00:05:14,748 It starts here, the movement starts here. 125 00:05:14,748 --> 00:05:16,249 I'll scoop the tailbone up, 126 00:05:16,249 --> 00:05:18,485 lower back becomes flush with the mat. 127 00:05:18,485 --> 00:05:20,320 And then I'm slowly gonna travel up my spine 128 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,623 as I lift up into my Bridge pose. 129 00:05:23,623 --> 00:05:24,958 And actually for this one, 130 00:05:24,958 --> 00:05:26,459 I'm gonna draw my heels a little bit closer, 131 00:05:26,459 --> 00:05:29,729 in case you wanna try that to go a little bit deeper. 132 00:05:29,729 --> 00:05:31,531 So heels draw in towards the sit bones, 133 00:05:31,531 --> 00:05:33,166 toes pointing forward. 134 00:05:33,166 --> 00:05:36,136 Knees up towards the sky and in line with the hips. 135 00:05:36,136 --> 00:05:37,237 Pressing into the palms 136 00:05:37,237 --> 00:05:38,572 or, again, sometimes it's nice 137 00:05:38,572 --> 00:05:41,908 to grab the outer edge of the mat for a little stability. 138 00:05:41,908 --> 00:05:44,444 Or if we're really going for the ease, the grace today, 139 00:05:44,444 --> 00:05:46,046 I'll go palms up. 140 00:05:46,046 --> 00:05:47,581 So you can experiment with that. 141 00:05:47,581 --> 00:05:50,050 Inhale (inhaling loudly) 142 00:05:50,050 --> 00:05:52,686 and on an exhale (exhaling loudly) 143 00:05:52,686 --> 00:05:54,221 scooping that tailbone up. 144 00:05:57,490 --> 00:05:58,892 Moving with your breath. 145 00:06:00,260 --> 00:06:01,895 We don't have to do this all in one breath, 146 00:06:01,895 --> 00:06:04,898 we can breath in and out nice and easy. 147 00:06:04,898 --> 00:06:08,001 Slowly lifting the hip points up, 148 00:06:08,001 --> 00:06:10,570 but thinking about drawing these sit bones 149 00:06:10,570 --> 00:06:11,871 to the backs of the knees. 150 00:06:11,871 --> 00:06:15,242 Knees really moving forward, energetically even. 151 00:06:15,242 --> 00:06:17,043 (inhaling loudly) 152 00:06:17,043 --> 00:06:19,312 Pressing into the inner arches of the feet, 153 00:06:19,312 --> 00:06:21,181 pressing into the ball joints of the big toe 154 00:06:21,181 --> 00:06:23,016 will really help you figure out 155 00:06:23,016 --> 00:06:24,584 what the hell (chuckles) I just meant 156 00:06:24,584 --> 00:06:27,254 by drawing your knees energetically forward. 157 00:06:27,254 --> 00:06:29,589 (chuckles) 158 00:06:29,589 --> 00:06:30,423 (humming) 159 00:06:30,423 --> 00:06:31,625 Now to go a little bit deeper, 160 00:06:31,625 --> 00:06:34,894 I'm gonna continue, nice, strong in the legs here, 161 00:06:34,894 --> 00:06:37,264 continue pressing into the inner arches of the feet. 162 00:06:37,264 --> 00:06:40,066 Continue to scoop my tailbone up toward the sky. 163 00:06:40,066 --> 00:06:43,270 But this time I can walk my shoulder blades in together, 164 00:06:43,270 --> 00:06:44,371 one at a time. 165 00:06:45,338 --> 00:06:48,508 And perhaps interlace the finger tips 166 00:06:48,508 --> 00:06:51,144 underneath my bridge. 167 00:06:51,144 --> 00:06:53,413 Walking the shoulder blades in 168 00:06:53,413 --> 00:06:56,316 and really stretching through the front body, 169 00:06:56,316 --> 00:06:58,418 neck is nice and long. 170 00:06:58,418 --> 00:07:01,021 I find that softness in my face here. 171 00:07:01,021 --> 00:07:03,757 (loud breathing) 172 00:07:04,858 --> 00:07:06,426 Can take a couple breaths here. 173 00:07:06,426 --> 00:07:08,695 Sometimes we can also use the thumbs here, 174 00:07:08,695 --> 00:07:10,096 the hands to support. 175 00:07:10,096 --> 00:07:10,964 Or if we have blocks, 176 00:07:10,964 --> 00:07:14,401 we can do a more restorative version of this posture. 177 00:07:14,401 --> 00:07:17,103 But this is a great heart opener here. 178 00:07:17,103 --> 00:07:19,372 I'm still really strong in my legs here. 179 00:07:19,372 --> 00:07:21,675 (inhaling loudly) Breathing into my belly, 180 00:07:21,675 --> 00:07:25,211 lifting those hip points up towards the backs of the knees. 181 00:07:25,211 --> 00:07:26,379 (inhaling loudly) 182 00:07:26,379 --> 00:07:28,548 (humming) 183 00:07:30,050 --> 00:07:31,651 To come out of this posture, 184 00:07:31,651 --> 00:07:33,653 I'll release the fingertips with grace 185 00:07:33,653 --> 00:07:34,487 (exhales loudly) 186 00:07:34,487 --> 00:07:39,392 and then let that be my cue to slowly release down. 187 00:07:41,094 --> 00:07:43,897 Walking down the spine nice and slow. 188 00:07:53,039 --> 00:07:55,241 And then pelvis releases. 189 00:07:56,109 --> 00:07:57,310 As a quick counter-pose, 190 00:07:57,310 --> 00:07:59,579 I'll hug my knees in towards my chest, 191 00:07:59,579 --> 00:08:01,614 wrap my arms around my shins, 192 00:08:01,614 --> 00:08:03,416 and just take a couple seconds here 193 00:08:03,416 --> 00:08:05,118 to rock a little back and forth. 194 00:08:05,118 --> 00:08:06,252 Careful you don't get too tense 195 00:08:06,252 --> 00:08:07,654 in the shoulders here as you do that. 196 00:08:07,654 --> 00:08:10,390 Remember, (loud inhale) to relax them down 197 00:08:10,390 --> 00:08:12,125 and away from the ears. 198 00:08:12,125 --> 00:08:13,526 We can do this a couple times, 199 00:08:13,526 --> 00:08:15,328 we can even draw a couple circles with the knees, 200 00:08:15,328 --> 00:08:17,364 just massaging the lower back. 201 00:08:17,364 --> 00:08:20,066 And then I can release the soles of my feet to the ground 202 00:08:20,066 --> 00:08:23,303 and sometimes it feels great to do it with a thud. 203 00:08:23,303 --> 00:08:24,237 (exhaling loudly) 204 00:08:24,237 --> 00:08:26,906 And then I'm here for another Bridge pose. 205 00:08:26,906 --> 00:08:27,741 (inhaling loudly) 206 00:08:27,741 --> 00:08:29,476 We can do this as many times as feels good 207 00:08:29,476 --> 00:08:31,544 or often we'll begin or end class 208 00:08:31,544 --> 00:08:34,714 with a couple different variations of this posture, 209 00:08:34,714 --> 00:08:37,283 which we'll do at a later date. 210 00:08:37,283 --> 00:08:39,419 (humming) 211 00:08:41,087 --> 00:08:46,092 Okie doke, so that was Bridge pose, super yummy posture. 212 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,929 I love bridge because it's active and relaxing, 213 00:08:49,929 --> 00:08:53,099 and so we can practice balancing those two. 214 00:08:53,099 --> 00:08:55,068 Also, really great for the ladies. 215 00:08:55,068 --> 00:08:55,902 (clicking tongue) 216 00:08:55,902 --> 00:08:58,304 Really therapeutic for the women, 217 00:08:58,304 --> 00:09:00,273 but really therapeutic for everyone. 218 00:09:00,273 --> 00:09:02,675 I'll list all the benefits on the blog, 219 00:09:02,675 --> 00:09:06,846 so visit the blog at poccox.com. 220 00:09:06,846 --> 00:09:09,916 Make sure you subscribe, leave comments, questions below. 221 00:09:09,916 --> 00:09:12,552 And enjoy your Bridge pose. 222 00:09:12,552 --> 00:09:14,821 Thank you and namaste. 223 00:09:14,821 --> 00:09:17,891 (upbeat indie music) 224 00:09:34,307 --> 00:09:37,610 A really awesome pose for the ladies. 225 00:09:37,610 --> 00:09:38,878 (clicking tongue) 226 00:09:38,878 --> 00:09:42,348 In terms of therapeutic relief for lady problems. 227 00:09:42,348 --> 00:09:44,818 Not problems, I can't say problems, dammit.