Yoga for Glutes & Hamstrings: Full 25-Min Class with Blocks

In today's class, we're going to focus on glutes and hamstrings, and we're going to need two blocks. So let's go ahead and get started. If you're in a place where you cannot practice with me right now, save this on your watch later and join me whenever you can. Hey there. Today, we're going to start in a comfortable seated pose with your legs crossed. Keep your blocks towards the sides. We're going to be using them later. Take a deep breath in through the nose. Open your mouth. Let it go. Few more like that. Deep breath in and deep breath out. One last one. Take a deep inhale. Feel your shoulders going up. Rib cage expanding. Belly getting bigger. As you exhale, bring the navel in. Ribs contract. Shoulders go down. Good. Again, inhale. Notice these tiny micro adjustments in your dorsal as you inflate your body. Exhale to expand. Two more. Inhale. Let it go. Last one. And out. Good. With the next inhale, start grabbing onto your knees. Pull the belly forward. Shoulders back. Chin to the sky. Exhale. Chin to chest. Roll back. Good. Few more. Inhale. Pull yourself forward. Exhale. Back. Inhale. Forward. Exhale. Two more. Send it forward. And then back. Last one. Lean forward. Then back. Good. As you inhale, lean all the way to center. Exhale. Start lengthening your right leg to the front of your space. Right foot will be flexed. Left leg will be inside of your right leg. Also foot flexed. Remove the flesh from underneath your sit bones. Take an inhale. Exhale to lift your arms high. Breathe out to forward fold towards your right foot. Take a deep inhale there. Deep breath out. Once more. Deep breath in. And let it go. With the next inhale, slowly start bringing yourself to center. Reach for that foot. Grab it with your left hand. You can bend your knee a lot. See if you can start lengthening that foot. Grab it from the outside. You can also grab outside from the knee, the ankle, the toes. Keep the foot outside. you. Now put your left leg up to the sky. You can keep your right hand behind you. Or maybe you send your right hand to the back of your space. Take a deep inhale in your twist. Breathe out. One more deep breath in. Exhale. Let it go. Don't let it slam down. Slowly, with control, bring it down on the ground. Good. Bring your hands right behind you. Bend the left knee. Bring your left foot on the ground. Take an inhale to lift your body up. Try to point the toes. Deep inhale there, exhaling yourself back down on the ground, lengthen the left leg, bring the right foot in, flex your left toes, reach your hands high, exhale forward, fold towards your left foot, three rounds of breath here, we're trying to lengthen the spine, it's not really about reaching forward, it's trying to find length, sending your sit bones back, belly to your thighs, two more rounds of breath here, let it go. Last breath in, as you breathe out slowly start lifting your body, reach for your right foot with your left hand, you can bend your knee at all times and then send your left hand to the back of your space, balancing on your sit bones, full inhale, deep breath out, last breath in, exhale release the foot and slowly let it fall down on the ground, hands behind you, right foot on the mat, you want to point your toes, lengthen the leg, take an inhale to lift, exhaling it down, now we're going to do it with both legs, extend your feet, point your toes, inhale lift, press your toes against the ground, engage your glutes a lot, hold here for 5, hold here for 4, 3, 2, 1, see if you can keep the leg as it is and bring your right knee to you, hold here for 3, 2, 1, other side, 3, 2, 1, bring it down, good, open your knees as wide as you can and winch your wide for your legs a tiny bit, side to side, slowly bring yourself into center, roll into a tabletop position, keep your hands and knees on the ground, as you inhale send the left foot to the back of your space, tuck your toes and rock a little bit back and forward, good, slowly start finding stillness, press the heel as back as you can, tuck the right toes, take an inhale to lengthen the left leg for a staggered down dog, so your right knee is very bent, your thigh is close to your belly, your left leg is extended like in a down dog, deep inhale, breathe out come back down to center, bend the left knee, lift your left foot to the ceiling, send your left foot to the side, down to your elbow and back, draw in circles with your left knee one direction and then the other, slowly bring yourself back to center, point your toes and now start pulsing your toes towards your head for 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, send your right left foot all the way in between your hands, tuck the back toes, inhale to lift the back knee off the ground, as you exhale send your body back, good, see if you can start bending the back knee and lift, down and lift, torsos leaning forward to target the glute a tiny bit more, for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, stay here, take an inhale, exhale hands right next to your foot, inhale to lift the left leg as high up as you can, as you breathe out your hands can stay on blocks to give you a little bit of more support here, blocks in the higher setting will make it easier, maybe you grab onto your bottom ankle with one or both hands to find more challenge, take a deep breath in, as you breathe out bring your hands onto your blocks, bend your left knee and your right knee, shiva tap, inhale kick up, exhale tap, and up, and tap for 3, 2, 1, hold there, option 1, right foot goes outside of the left foot, bend both knees and swipe your hands to the back of your space for condor pose, if you want to find more challenge bring your hands onto your heart, bring your right foot towards your left glute, hold there for 3, hips are lower than your heart, hold there for 2, skandasana back of your space, right foot goes to the back, right toes facing at the back wall and go as low as you can, maybe you pulse a little bit up and down, forward in and deep breath out, one more deep inhale here, good, as you exhale bring both hands in the middle of your space, lengthen both legs, toes in, heels out, wide legged forward fold, relax your torso, grab onto your ankles to pull your belly closer to your thighs, deep inhale, deep breath out, last breath in, exhale to bring your hands underneath your shoulders, pivot the heels in, toes out, find yourself in goddess pose, pulse up and down for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, sit low, lift your heels, hold here for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, heels down, inhale lengthen arms and legs, exhale hands onto your heart center, again inhale lengthen up, exhale curl your hands to the front of your space, send the left leg back, high plank, bend your knees, table top, good, other side, right foot goes back, tuck your toes and rock a little bit back and forward, beautiful, last one, keep pressing the right heel back, tuck your left toes, push it far away, lengthen your right leg for your half way, for your standard down dog, deep inhale, deep breath out, good, one more, pull it in here, breathe out to come back down, inhale left your left foot, right foot, exhale bend your right knee and start drawing circles here with your right leg as wide as you can, one direction and the other, eventually bring yourself back to center, point your toes, bring your toes to your head and bring it down, pulse it up and down, and now stay up here and pulse for 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, bring the right foot in between your hands, tuck the left toes, you're leaning slightly forward, send your hands back, bend the back knee and lift, down and lift, down and lift, you got this, 3 more, 2 more, last one, sit, low hands onto the mat or your blocks, inhale left, the left leg high, stand in place, same thing you did on the other side, you can stay here or grab onto your bottom ankle with one hand or maybe the other one as well, deep inhale there, breathe out, shiva tap, inhale kick up, exhale shiva, up and down for 3, for 2, last one, hold there, option 1, contour pose, left foot on the ground, hands to the back, option 2, hands onto your heart, balance on the right foot, left heel to your right glute, keep your hips low, hold there for 3, deep exhale, 1 more inhale, see if you can soften your face, as you exhale, skandasana, back of your space, left toes going towards the back left corner, sit as low as you can, keeping the left heel on the ground, forward in, deep breath out, 1 more deep inhale, let it go, as you inhale, hands in the middle of your space, we'll stay a little less this time, finding a wide legged forward fold, toes in heels out, fall down, inhale to come all the way up, exhale to cartwheel your hands to the front of your space, send the right foot back, high plank, knees on the ground, sit on your heels, take a child's pose, deep inhale, deep breath out, 1 more breathing, and let it go, nice, we're gonna add on, you're gonna reach for your block this time, you're gonna do similar movements but adding on to the block to bring more engagement on your hamstring, place the block in the longer setting, in between your ankle, and right below your butt, squish that block a lot, it might fall, but that's when you're working on your engagement, hands on the mat, left the right knee, good, try and bring the right foot towards your head, take an inhale, tuck your left toes, exhale, 3 legged down dogs, send the hips all the way up and back, good, now that you're here, you're gonna walk your hands to the back of your space, find the balance, you're back in your one legged stance, standing splits, then bring your knee to your nose, don't drop the block, and come all the way up, keep squishing the block, take an inhale there, breathe out, 1 more deep breathing, you can stay here, or see if you can draw circles with your right knee, one direction, and the other, it's very tricky, good, last one, now warrior 3, kick the foot back, keep your right knee as high as your hip, torso forward, good, and if you really wanna make it even more, hands on the ground, don't drop the block, see if you can do tiny jumps with the bottom leg, for 3, 2, and last one, good, slowly take the block away, coming to standing, maybe just shake it out a tiny bit, that hamstring might feel like a fire right now, we're gonna rinse it up and do the other side, come to the front of the mat, take an inhale, mountain pose, exhale, forward fold, hold onto your ankles, bring a deeper forward fold here, inhale, halfway left, press your shins away, exhale, forward fold, again inhale, halfway left, exhale, forward fold, hands on the mat, jump or step back, high plank, exhale, bend your elbows, inhale, up dog, open your heart, exhale, down dog, same hips, up and back, breathe in here, breathe out, inhale, table top, knees on the ground, stay for your exhale, grab the block, once again, right behind, right below your butt, and your ankle, longer setting, squish a lot, once you're there, coming to your table top, lift your left knee as high as your hips, keep the heel engaged a lot, you're gonna feel the fire in your hamstrings, take an inhale, see if you can bring the left foot closer to your head, exhale, tuck your right toes, inhale, lengthen the right leg, three-legged down dog, deep inhale here, breathe out, walk your hands towards your right foot, inhale to stay, breathe out, one more deep breath in, exhale, bring your knee to your nose, and slowly start coming all the way up, nice, maybe you need to reset, I need to reset a tiny bit, good, once you're here, do your circles, one direction, and the other, you can always reach to a wall to have more stability here, good, now that you're here, come back into stillness, warrior three, exhale, left knee, try to keep it as high as your hips, tension forward, keep squishing the block, don't let it fall, good, and now you stay here, if you did on the other side, hands to the ground, you don't really have to jump too high, just teeny tiny jumps, but maybe you can bring yourself all the way up, for three, two, and last one, good, slowly grab the block, foot on the ground, shake it out, feel that stretch in your hamstrings, move the body organically, side to side, side to side, eventually take an inhale, halfway left, exhale, forward fold, two more, breathe in, halfway left, breathe out, forward fold, last one, inhale, lengthen, exhale, down, waiting to come all the way up, mountain pose, exhale, hands into your heart center, come again to the front of the mat, grab your blocks and place them on the longer setting, hands on your blocks, take an inhale, halfway left, breathe out, forward fold, step the left foot all the way to the back of the mat, left knee on the ground, walk your hands closer to your hips, keep your right knee and right ankle in the same line, and just stay here, lengthening your legs after that hard work that you just did, deep inhale, deep breath out, two more rounds of breath here, and inhale, lengthen the front leg halfway splits, you can stay here or grab onto your right toes and pull them close to you, maybe lower onto your forearms, or maybe you walk, you slide your heel even more forward for your version of splits today, you can always place a block underneath your thigh, and stay there, keep the front toes where you flex, two rounds of breath here, one more round of breath here, last inhale, as you breathe out, push the foot away, slide your heel back in if you send it forward, re-bend your right knee, walk your right foot to the edge of your mat, both hands inside of your right foot, lean a tiny bit more forward, and then you can come down into your forearms on your blocks or on the mat, flex your right foot and open your right knee to the right side of your space, you can stay here, or maybe you bend the left knee and reach for your left foot with your right hand for a different stretch and a quad stretch, notice if you're dumping your weight on your left shoulder, press the left shoulder away from you, take a deep breath out, last inhale, exhale to release that foot, you can inhale, bring your hands onto your blocks, tuck the back toes, lengthen the back neck, lengthen both legs and find a modified pyramid pose, you can flex your right foot to give yourself a deeper stretch on the hamstring, take one more inhale, breathe out to re-bend the right knee, big step to the front of your space, and now we're gonna do the other side, left knee down on the ground, I mean right knee down on the ground, left foot is forward, knee on top of your ankle, and now stay here, few rounds of breath, try to make your exhalations even longer than your inhalations to calm down the nervous system even more, allowing you to sink a tiny bit deeper last inhale, as you exhale lengthen the front leg, flex your left toes, same options, you can stay, you can press your toes towards you, you can come down into your forearms, keeping your hips on top of the back knee, or start sliding your foot as forward as you can for your version of splits on this other side, few rounds of breath, it's very important in this heart process that we try not to fidget too much and calm down the breath so that we allow for the muscles to give into the pose, sometimes it's normal that we open our body a little bit to the side, see if you can keep your torso facing straight to the front, good, one more deep inhale there, deep breath out, slowly start sliding your foot back to center, re-bend the left knee, walk your left foot all the way to the left side of your space, and maybe you stay here or you come down into your forearms for your lizard pose on the other side, and then go ahead and flex your left toes and open your left knee to the side if you get on the other way, and maybe you reach for your right foot with your left hand for a quad stretch, one more full inhale, deep exhale, last breath in, exhale as you come out of the pose, bring both hands on your blocks, tuck your right toes, inhale, lengthen both legs, exhale, flex your left toes, pyramid pose with the left toes lifted, forward in here, breathe out, last inhale, exhale, bring the right knee on the ground, send the left knee down, flip your feet towards one side or the other, bring your soles of your feet to touch, knees open, pull the left closer to you, take an inhale to lengthen your spine, as you exhale, walk your hands forward, forward, forward, as forward as they can go, and take a few seconds in a forward fold with butterfly legs, as you breathe in, bring yourself back up, breathe out to lengthen your legs to the front of your space, slowly find yourself laying on the ground, take an inhale to bring your legs close to you, turn yourself into a tiny little ball, breathe out to send both legs to the right side, right hand on your left knee, looking straight to the left, deep inhale, breathe out to come to center, send the legs to the other side, left hand on top of your right knee, look to the right, eyes closed, continue to turn into your body, be ready for shavasana, inhale to bring yourself to center, as you exhale, release your legs to the front of your space, allow for your palms to rest right next to your body, walk the shoulders away from your ears, start going, making a scan of your body from head to toe, releasing and relaxing every single muscle of your face, your arms, your belly, your thighs, and your toes, stay here for as long as it feels good, enjoying your shavasana, last resting pose, thank you so much for practicing with me, if you enjoyed this video and you would like to watch more, download our app yoga plus, don't forget to check my next video, bye, welcome to yoga plus, courses available from pupil to yogi, sort by yoga, fitness, and instructors, create your own routines, access the pose library, yoga plus by psyche truth, available on google 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