Yoga Warm Up Exercises for New Moms

Video Transcript

"Okay, so we are about to begin our warm up. It is a traditional Surya-namasker, which means "sun salute." Or sun salutation. I want you guys to do three...at least three of these sequence. We are going to show you one. And it's going to begin with Tadasana. That's standing with your feet, your ankles touching, your toes touching. Strong feet. Put all the pressure equally on the bottoms of your feet. From the front to the back; side to side. Push down from the center of your feet. Contract your leg muscles, starting with your calves all the way up to your thighs. Hold them tight. Also the alignment of your feet, your hips, your shoulders and your head should be, all in one line. So just make sure you are not pinching your pelvis forward, arching your back too much. Find that center place for your hips, it does take some abdominal strength to hold your hips in that place. Strong legs. Strong stomach. Roll your shoulders back. Head held high. Turn your palms outward. Use your middle finger. Take a deep breath in. Exhale. Get ready. Now your nose-inhale. Long inhale through your nose. Reach with your middle finger as far away. Keep those shoulders down. As your arms come up, look up at your arms. Clap your hands together, grab your wrist. Inhale, keep that inhale. Exhale, lean to the side like a palm tree in the wind. Do not twist your spine. You see how my arm is by my ear. My shoulder is back. You don't want to bring your shoulder forward. Inhale. Reach up. Push down with your legs to come up. Look up at/through past your fingers. Exhale to the side. This is one of the most fat burning poses. It helps boost your immunity in your endocrine system. Very simple; very powerful. Inhale. Push down to come up. Lean back just a little. Yes, you can push your pelvis forward. Reach those fingers up to the sky behind you. Exhale. Finally; hinge at your hips like a jackknife. Use all of your arm strength to keep your arms by your ears. Let those arms shake if they must. Reach those shoulders out. Do not drop until you come to that point. Keep your legs straight. So don't go as far as I'm going. Go as far as your hamstrings will let you go with your legs straight. Tuck your chin completely down. Try to tuck it to your chest so you really get the stretch in the back of your neck. That's an exhale. Inhale. Fingers at your side. Now you can bend if you need to. Look up with your shoulders back. Exhale through your nose. Down. Look down, tuck your chin. Same exhale, step yourself back one leg at a time. Your heels are pushing back. Your toes are flexed. Your arms are right at under your shoulder. You can check by touching your shoulders with your fingertips and then resting it back down. Push your heels back. Hold your abdominals in, even if they are shaking. Pull yourself together. Make sure you are not going down or up too far. It's a plank; a straight plank. Inhale. Exhale through your mouth. Agni-Prasana is breath of fire. That's three breaths of fire, pumping your navel. Drop to your knees and you are going to keep your elbows in. This is lowering slowly with control. You are going to develop muscles the slower you go. Let yourself come all the way down. You see how my chest is forward. And then I let myself come all the way down. Put your forehead on the mat. Relax. Get ready. Inhale. Push down with your hands. Relax everything from say, your lower back down. Inhale; up to cobra. And exhale down. Same exhale, tuck your toes, push up. If you need to, come onto your knees first and then push yourself up to downward dog. Adjust so that your feet are parallel with your hip. That's your hip joint, not on the outside of your hip. Find your hip bone, it should be straight down from your hip bone. Toes, heels are parallel. Push into it. Take five breaths here when you are ready. Spread all your fingertips; push your knuckles down into the floor. Elbows are straighter. If they feel straight; make them straighter. Stretch those armpits. And breathe in and out of your nose. Ujjayi breathing means "makes sound; make wind sound" through the back of your throat. And on the next exhale, walk your feet up. We'll finish the sequence. Walk your feet up to your hands. Drop your head. And bend your knees. Inhale, it's a very long inhale all the way to standing. Your head is going to be the last thing to come up. Vertebrae by vertebrae. Roll your shoulders, don't let your head come up until your shoulders are down. Head comes up as the arms turn out. Reach far away. You are going to feel it on your inner arms. If you keep your shoulders down and up. Bringing it all back together in front of your heart and then you exhale. And begin again. "