Shadowing Practice: 20 minute yoga for beginners 1.1 start yoga here QL0X46Kc - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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What's up everyone?
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Welcome to Yoga with Adriene.
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I'm Adriene.
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Benji sleeps to my right.
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Today we have a 20 minute practice perfect for the beginner.
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So come with an open mind, bring a little blanket if you have one, hop into something comfy, and let's get started.
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All right, welcome.
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Let's begin at the top of our mat standing today.
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So we'll head on up to the top of the mat.
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Pick a side, any side.
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And when you get there, bring your awareness to your feet.
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So we're gonna step the feet hip width apart.
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And you can take your hands into fists and bring them to the hip points here, just like this.
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And from your hip points here, like two headlights in the front of the hips here, front body, you can imagine them, you can even bend your knees to do this,
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tracing down to your knees and then knees to your ankles.
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So we wanna bring the heels right underneath the hip points in this first posture, Mountain Pose Tadasana.
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Then you can relax the arms gently at your sides and notice what's happening with your toes.
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So maybe the toes are turned out here.
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That's your pattern.
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Maybe they're slightly turned in.
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That's a pattern.
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Maybe one is turned out while the other one's straight ahead.
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And there's, you know, just loving awareness here.
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There's no judgment.
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No right or wrong.
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Just use this practice to heighten the awareness of your patterns.
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So that starts usually with the feet from the ground up in these standing postures.
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So just take a look down and I'm gonna point, I'm gonna try to point my toes forward.
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Then after you've played with that, just notice where you're carrying your weight and your feet forward, back, side, in.
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And we're gonna try to lift our toes and just spread awareness through all four corners of our feet.
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Spreading the weight evenly through the ball of the big joint, excuse me, the big toe ball joint,
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the pinky toe ball joint, and then the back two corners of the heel.
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Then start to press down into the earth and away, as if you were trying to tear your yoga mat right down the middle.
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And notice how this starts to engage your legs.
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Lift your kneecaps up a bit, feel your quadriceps, these big thigh muscles tone,
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And then slowly bend your elbows and bring your hands to your waist.
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We're coming into this like superhero posture, the superhero version of Mountain Pose.
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And it really does work.
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A number on your brain makes you feel more embodied, at least for me.
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Helps me to stand up tall here.
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You might notice that you just very naturally start to lift up through your chest a little more.
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And we can honor the natural curvature of the spine here, but just be aware of what is going on in your pelvis.
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Maybe lengthening your tailbone down just a bit to feel some support in the low back.
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Alright, now drop the fingertips down.
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Send them forward, up and back for a big full body stretch, Volcano Pose.
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Send energy up and out through the fingertips.
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keep the grounding of the feet, strong legs, like a little kitty cat pushing a ball of yarn.
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So keep the neck integrated throughout this whole practice.
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Press that ball of yarn forward with your nose to look up.
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So if you're like, what, Adrian?
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We're wanting to create slow, steady, integrated movements rather than just, okay, now look up at your hands
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and maybe crunch the back of your neck we wanna do a slow lift of the gaze up.
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And then let's just let everything go by bending the knees, wiggling the fingertips, and taking it slowly into a forward fold with bent knees.
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I'm gonna give Benji the dog a little pet because he's right here,
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and I'm going to invite all of us to take a deep breath in and a long breath out.
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And as you exhale, relax the weight of your head and gently shake the head a little no, and yes, back and forth.
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Knees are bent here.
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That awareness that we gained in the feet, all four corners of the feet still at play here.
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And then lastly, we'll grab the opposite elbow with your opposite hand and just take three slow breaths here.
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You can find stillness and allow the breath to move you or you can softly sway a little left to right.
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Nice, then release the arms, keep grounding through the feet, bring the hands back up to the waistline, press into all four corners of the feet, really press into the heels,
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ball joint in the big toe, ball joint in the pinky toe, as you slowly come up with bent knees,
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rising back up to that super mountain pose.
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And this time, see if you can pull the elbows back just a little bit in space.
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Shoulder blades coming together, and maybe you can imagine them melting down towards your heels.
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So we're back in our Power Pose.
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Take a deep breath in.
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Exhale to release the hands, Mountain Pose.
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Inhale to Volcano, reach the fingertips.
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Lots of energy up towards the sky.
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And exhale, bend the knees, wiggle the fingertips.
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and float it all the way down back to that Standing Forward Fold.
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Knees nice and bent here.
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Deepen your breath.
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Feel that stretch in the low back and relax the weight of the head.
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Good, one more deep breath in here.
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And this time as you exhale, bend the knees more, bring your fingertips down to the mat or to two blocks.
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And we're gonna step the right foot back and lower the right knee.
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It's a big move, take your time.
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Pad the knee with a blanket if you like, or you can even roll your mat, double it up to create a little padding for the knee.
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Front knee over front ankle.
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We're gonna just set that.
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Spreading awareness through all four corners of the left foot, set that.
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Then flip your right foot, come onto the top of your right foot and press firmly into your right foot to slowly rise up,
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interlace the fingertips, bring them to the top of the left thigh.
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Now imagine squeezing your inner thighs towards the center,
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towards the midline of your yoga mat to find a little lift up from the pelvic floor.
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So we're not collapsing into the shape here, but we're engaging the body just enough to support the joints,
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engage the muscles, and find this energetic lift up through the chest, just like we did in our Super Mountain.
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So you have options here.
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You can stay here with this nice support of the left thigh.
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Hands on the left thigh.
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Or we can start to bring the right hand all the way up and back.
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And then if you wanna take it one step further, we'll take both hands all the way up.
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Now whatever stage you're at, keep the engagement of the legs.
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Maybe you start to sink a little bit deeper into the posture.
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And maybe you pull the left hip crease back just a little bit in space.
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Take one breath here, maybe lifting the heart,
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maybe lifting the gaze, and then use your exhale to slowly bring it back down with control.
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Great, then we're gonna pull the left hip crease back and straighten the left leg here, but you can keep a soft bend, so we're just gonna find extension rather than straighten.
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And you're gonna flex your left toes up towards your face and breathe, breathe, breathe here.
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Right hip is over the right knee.
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and then from here we'll plant the palms, walk it forward and just bring that left knee all the way back to the right.
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So now we're in a Tabletop Position.
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Walk the wrists underneath the shoulders.
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Nice neutral spine.
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Drop the belly, open the chest, look forward.
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Exhale, round the spine, chin to chest, navel draws up towards the spine or towards the ceiling.
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Again, Cow Pose.
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We drop the belly, open the chest, look forward.
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With your breath, exhale, slow and steady.
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Start at the tailbone and travel all the way up the spine, finding that curvature until the crown of the head drops to the ground.
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One more like this.
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Inhale, drop the belly, slow.
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Open the chest, look forward.
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Tailbone up towards the sky and then exhale, reverse it.
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Slow and steady.
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We're moving the energy that runs up and down the spine.
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Beautiful.
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Inhale to a nice neutral spine.
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Listen carefully, you're gonna walk the hands forward.
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Curl the toes under.
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Keep the knees bent as you slowly lift the hips up for a Downward Facing Dog.
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Now take a breath here.
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Make sure you're not holding your breath.
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Good, and then slowly lower the knees down and reset.
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Spread the fingertips wide, toes are curled under.
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Take a deep breath in.
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Let's just check it out.
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And here we go.
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Hips up high, knees slightly bent.
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Don't worry about getting your heels to the ground.
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This time melting the heart closer towards the legs.
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Just check it out.
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We're shaking, we're not holding our breath, we're alive.
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We got this slow and steady knees come all the way back down.
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Good, take a moment, reset.
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If you need to rotate the wrists one way and then the other, maybe we do that.
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And last time, here we go, lifting the hips up.
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This time maybe we start to anchor through the heels a little more, but do not worry about the heels actually touching it around.
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It's more of the intention of finding that extension, that length through the back of the leg.
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Hips up high, heart melting.
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The head is below the heart here getting that fresh blood flow going.
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Breathe deep, you're here for one more breath.
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In and out, and slow descend of the knees down.
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Awesome.
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From here, walk the hands all the way up the thighs.
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You're gonna come to sit on your heels and lift your heart.
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If this is too much, bring your fists, your knuckles to the ground for a little support.
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We're here for one big breath cycle in. And out.
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Beautiful.
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Walk it back.
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Hands come forward.
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We're gonna lift the right knee this time and send the right foot all the way up, left knee back for our low lunge.
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Press into all four corners of the right foot, always working from the ground up.
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Right knee is over that right ankle.
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We're feeling that big stretch in the legs, the hips, the groin.
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Then flip the left foot down, root down through the top of this left foot.
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Squeeze the inner thighs to the midline as you interlace the fingertips and bring them to the top of the right thigh.
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Move nice and slow with control.
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Feel it out.
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Get in the habit of really feeling things out in your practice.
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Moving from a place of connection And same thing as before, we'll squeeze inner thighs together,
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lift up from the pelvic floor.
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Right hand can stay on the top of the right thigh as we send the left fingertips up towards the sky.
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So that very southern sky.
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Or we can take both arms up.
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So we have lots of options, both hands down, one arm up, or both arms.
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Inhale to lift the chest, maybe pull the right hip crease back in his face, sink a little lower.
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And exhale to slowly bring it back down, fingertips to the mat.
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Now send the hips and the buttocks back, extend through the right leg this time, and flex your right foot.
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You should feel a deep, deep stretch here towards your face, so that just means you're really reaching your toes back towards your eyes here.
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the right hip creases pulling back, and I'm pressing still firmly into my left foot.
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Just always kind of staying curious about how I'm stacking the bones, keeping my home practice really good.
Why practice speaking with this video?
This yoga practice video provides an excellent context for English learners to enhance their speaking skills through shadowing. By listening to Adriene's gentle instructions and following her movements, you can not only improve your English pronunciation but also develop a rhythm in your speech. Engaging with her clear and slow delivery will help you build confidence in your speaking abilities while familiarizing yourself with vocabulary related to yoga and wellness.
Practicing with this video also allows you to experience the calming effects of yoga while simultaneously absorbing the English language in a natural setting. As you adopt the poses and listen closely to the instructions, you can repeat phrases and vocabulary in real-time, fostering a connection between physical movement and verbal expression. This dual engagement can enhance your overall comprehension and retention of the language.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
Throughout the video, several important grammatical structures and expressions are utilized that can serve as useful templates for learners:
- Imperatives: Using commands like "bring your awareness" and "step the feet hip width apart" gives learners an understanding of how to issue instructions clearly and succinctly.
- Present Continuous Tense: Phrases such as "we’re going to try" convey ongoing actions and can help learners understand the dynamic nature of physical activities.
- Descriptive Language: Terms like "relax the arms gently" and "lengthening your tailbone" illustrate how to incorporate descriptive language when discussing actions, ideal for enhancing your expressive vocabulary.
By practicing these structures through shadow speech, you can mimic the natural flow of conversation and create a more authentic speaking style.
Common Pronunciation Traps
In this video, a few pronunciation challenges may arise, especially for non-native speakers:
- Mountain Pose: The term "Mountain" can be tricky; ensure you stress the first syllable and blend the ‘t’ sound smoothly.
- Awareness: This word may be pronounced with different stress patterns in varied dialects. Focus on the middle syllable to align with standard pronunciation.
- Superhero: The ‘super’ part can be pronounced quickly, leading to slurring. Practice saying it slowly and clearly to maintain clarity.
By identifying and working on these common pronunciation traps, you can enhance your fluency. Use the practice of shadow speak to imitate the speaker’s intonation and rhythm, making your learning experience both dynamic and enjoyable.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.