Morning Stretch Yoga

Hi, I'm Chris Freytag. One of the best ways to start your day out is with a quick morning yoga stretch routine. Sometimes it helps to warm up the back, loosen up the shoulders, and help you mentally prepare for that busy day ahead. I'm gonna start in Child's Pose, one of my favorite poses. You're going to bring your glutes to your heels if you can, and this is a big stretch right here so just do what you can. Splay your knees on your mat or on the floor, and then drop your belly between your knees, reaching your fingertips out and dropping your forehead to the floor. You're gonna stretch here and you're gonna feel this stretch all the way through your sacrum if you've got your tailbone down, and all the way through your shoulders and your back. And just breathe deep about three or four times right here. In through the nose and out through the nose. Keep stretching, couple of big breaths. And we're gonna take our Child's Pose and move straight into Cobra. So you're just gonna pull forward and drop your hip flexors open to the mat, soften your elbows, see how it feels for you. Everybody's Cobra is gonna be a little different. Tops of your feet down on the mat. You're stretching your ankles. And then push back into your Child's Pose. Let's toggle between these two poses, just go back and forth, just open up through the front of the body, press back, do this one more time. Following your breath, take your time, stretch, and release. Coming on to all fours for Cat-Cow stretch, you're gonna get your hips over your knees and your shoulders over your wrists, and you're gonna round like a cat, look for your belly button, really exaggerate, and then take the crown of your head away from your tailbone. Do it again, all the way up, round, articulate through your vertebrae, and then release. We'll do it one more time. Big Cat stretch, deep breath, and then Cow. Awesome, and then we're gonna tuck our toes under if they aren't already and push your hips to the floor for Down-Facing Dog. Press your open armpits towards your thighs. Dig your heels towards the earth. Your feet are about 10 to 12 inches apart, palms pressing firmly into the mat, and just shake your head yes or no so you're relaxed through your neck. And breathe. Inhale and exhale, pushing those hips towards the sky. We're gonna pull forward into a high plank, strong through your core, shoulders over the wrists, and then push back into that Down Dog. Go ahead and toggle between these two poses, just breathing strong through your chest and shoulders. Press your heels down. One more time, inhale and exhale. Good, and then take your feet, walk them into your hands, all the way. And we're gonna come into our Forward Fold. Soften your knees if you feel it through your hamstring and just relax your head, neck, and shoulders. Hands to the floor or cup your elbows for Ragdoll Pose and just swing a little bit, come out of your sacrum right here. Nice, deep breath. Feel that stretch all the way through your hamstrings, glutes. With your abdominals nice and tight, release your arms and roll up one vertebrae at a time, stacking them on top of each other all the way up. Last thing to come up, head, neck, and shoulders. Take a big, deep breath up, inhale, easy backbend, breathe, exhale, bring those hands down at your sides, shoulders back, and you are ready to start your day.