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Shadowing practice: The BEST way to start your day! | 10-Minute Morning Yoga

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
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  1. Good morning, my darling friends.0:00
  2. Welcome to Yoga with Adriene.0:02
  3. I'm Adriene, Benji's over here, and we have a super sweet, swift morning yoga for you.0:03
  4. This is a quickie, so hop into something comfy, and let's get started.0:11
  5. Alright, let's start in a seat.0:27
  6. You can come on down to the ground nice and slow.0:30
  7. You can start kneeling if that feels good in your body, or you can start seated, cross -legged on a block or a blanket, or just on the floor.0:33
  8. Won't be here long, just taking a moment to tune in to the sound of your breath.0:44
  9. So as you get settled in, relax your shoulders, close your eyes.0:52
  10. Chances are you are still a little sleepy, and that is okay.0:57
  11. Gently begin to deepen your breath.1:05
  12. Softening any area of the body where you maybe feel like you're gripping or holding some tension.1:13
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  1. Then softening the areas that are tight, literally, and perhaps even metaphorically here as we begin the day with intention.1:22
  2. Draw the hands together at your heart.1:48
  3. Inhale in deeply.1:52
  4. As you exhale, bow the head to your hands, and you can set a little word, like one word intention here just to carry with you throughout this quick practice.1:55
  5. Anything at all.2:16
  6. I'm choosing the word love.2:20
  7. And then take a deep breath in, carry that word with you.2:26
  8. As you exhale, open the eyes and come forward onto all fours.2:31
  9. Spread the fingertips, press into the tops of the feet.2:36
  10. Drop the belly, inhale, look forward.2:41
  11. Big stretch in the front body as you open.2:45
  12. And then exhale, round through.2:48
  13. Big stretch in the back body as you open.2:51
  14. Good, inhale, drop the belly, open, stretch the front body.2:57
  15. Exhale, round through, open the back body, feel that stretch.3:04
  16. Inhale, drop the belly, let your heart energy just open forward.3:11
  17. Good, and then exhale, round through.3:18
  18. Chin to chest, navel draws up.3:21
  19. Good, inhale to a nice neutral spine.3:25
  20. Now walk the hands a little bit forward.3:28
  21. Curl the toes under, take a deep breath in.3:31
  22. Claw through the fingertips as you exhale.3:33
  23. Slowly, slowly peel the hips up high.3:35
  24. Send them back downward facing dog.3:40
  25. Close your eyes here.3:43
  26. Or soften your gaze as you begin to bend one knee and then the other.3:46
  27. Stretching through the feet, the ankles.3:51
  28. Breathing deep as you feel that stretch through the calves.3:58
  29. Up through the back of the knee, the hamstrings.4:04
  30. The hips.4:08
  31. Your hand -to -earth connection here, strong.4:11
  32. Reinforce it now.4:14
  33. Good, take one more deep breath in and as you exhale, come to stillness now.4:17
  34. Tuck the chin slightly, hug the low ribs in and up.4:22
  35. Feel your core connection.4:26
  36. Nice, keep breathing here.4:29
  37. And then slowly allow the knees to descend.4:36
  38. They kiss the earth.4:39
  39. We walk them out as wide as the yoga mat.4:41
  40. And then send the hips back, extended child's pose.4:43
  41. You can take different arm variations here.4:47
  42. If you're ready for it, start to activate the arms maybe by lifting the palms.4:50
  43. Nice active arms.4:56
  44. And if you're feeling softer and want to ease into the day a little more, maybe taking the palms together and up behind the head, bending at the elbows.4:57
  45. Soften through your jaw.5:11
  46. Continue to gently deepen your breath.5:13
  47. Connecting to your breath.5:17
  48. Connecting to your source.5:21
  49. Connecting to yourself.5:26
  50. One last cycle of breath here.5:34
  51. Maybe you soften through the jaw.5:36
  52. Maybe you rock the forehead gently massaging it on the mat if that's available to you.5:38
  53. Sweet and then slow and steady, let's come back up to all fours.5:47
  54. Walk the knees underneath the hips, curl the toes under.5:52
  55. When you're ready, peel the hips up high and back again, downward facing dog.5:55
  56. This time anchor through the left heel and slowly on your next inhale lift the right leg up high, three -legged dog.6:00
  57. Press into both palms evenly.6:09
  58. Hug the low ribs in, feel that core connection.6:12
  59. Let the left heel get heavy.6:16
  60. Make sure you're not holding or gripping in the neck.6:18
  61. Think of this long line from the crown of the head to the tip of the tailbone.6:21
  62. Lots of integrity in the spine, in your posture.6:26
  63. Dial the right toes down here, lift the right heel up just a little more.6:32
  64. Inhale in deeply, then exhale, bend the right knee and start to open up through the hips, stacking the right hip over the left.6:38
  65. Breathing deep here.6:46
  66. Now try to draw your right shoulder back in line with your left.6:48
  67. So we're just opening up through the hips, getting a beautiful twist in the spine.6:52
  68. Take one more breath here, you got this.6:57
  69. And then exhale, slow and steady, lower back down all the way to the knees.6:59
  70. Walk the hands now all the way back to the tops of the thighs and come to sit on the heels.7:06
  71. Big stretch for the feet here, preparing you for the day.7:11
  72. Inhale in, sit up nice and tall.7:15
  73. Exhale, relax the shoulders.7:18
  74. Great, interlace the fingertips now here in a little prayer.7:21
  75. And we're just gonna draw circles one way and then the other.7:26
  76. And now a little wave.7:35
  77. And just lift this, maybe invites you to lift the corners of the mouth a little bit.7:40
  78. Let it, if not, don't worry.7:47
  79. Alright, now press the palms out, keep the shoulders relaxed.7:50
  80. Inhale in, exhale out.7:54
  81. Release the bind, come back to all fours.7:58
  82. Let's send the hips up high and back.8:01
  83. So balancing the left and the right side of the body here, tuck the chin.8:04
  84. Hug the low ribs in, feel that core connection.8:10
  85. Anchor through the right heel this time as you inhale, lift the left leg up high.8:13
  86. Press into both palms evenly.8:18
  87. Keep that low rib cage hugging in.8:21
  88. Dial the left toes down, engaging the muscles.8:25
  89. Strong arms, strong legs, strong glutes, strong core.8:29
  90. Remember the neck here, paying attention to your posture.8:35
  91. Take a deep breath in.8:39
  92. And on the exhale we start to bend the knee and open it up.8:41
  93. Stacking the hips.8:46
  94. Again, right heel heavy.8:48
  95. You got this, keep breathing.8:50
  96. Breathing.8:51
  97. Dropping the left shoulder in line with the right here for one final breath cycle.8:55
  98. Waking up the whole body.9:01
  99. Waking up the spirit.9:04
  100. Good, and then slow and steady, release it.9:06
  101. Come all the way back down to the knees.9:09
  102. Walk the knees up close to the wrists and then cross one ankle over the other.9:12
  103. As you come through to a seat, the palms come to the knees and right away we find Sukhasana.9:17
  104. Head over heart, heart over pelvis.9:25
  105. Shoulders relaxed.9:28
  106. You can soften your gaze here or close your eyes in this meditation posture.9:29
  107. Find a gentle lift in your chest.9:38
  108. Take a deep breath in.9:40
  109. And a long breath out.9:43
  110. Notice how you feel.9:47
  111. Circle back to the word that you chose.9:55
  112. Notice how it makes you feel.9:59
  113. Sit up a little taller.10:05
  114. Inhale, lots of love in.10:07
  115. And as you exhale, lots of love out, palms come together.10:10
  116. Sternum lifting to thumbs.10:16
  117. If you have a little time, maybe you sit here for a couple quiet moments in meditation.10:19
  118. And if not, take this mindfulness, this awareness of your breath, and maybe the word you chose with you on into the rest of your day.10:26
  119. Have a beautiful one.10:37
  120. Thank you.10:39
  121. Namaste.10:41

A2 English Speaking Practice with an American Yoga Instructor

This is calm narration, not a conversation, which makes it a gentle place to start english speaking practice if dialogue moves too fast for you. Adriene talks you through a home yoga session in an american accent, at a measured 160 words per minute, faster than most of the catalogue but still unhurried. The recording sits at CEFR A2, so the vocabulary stays close to everyday instructions rather than slang.

What you actually hear in these opening lines is a body scan into breathing cues, then a slow move onto all fours: dropping the belly, rounding the spine, walking the hands forward before curling the toes under and lifting into downward dog. It is 133 lines long, short enough to finish in one sitting, and every line is a single, complete instruction, which is exactly the shape you want when you are still building confidence to speak english fluently.

The Language of This Session: How to Pronounce English Words for Yoga

A few lines here reward a close listen. Adriene says "we have a super sweet, swift morning yoga for you", stacking three soft consonant sounds in a row, which is good ear training even if you never repeat the phrase yourself. "This is a quickie, so hop into something comfy, and let's get started" is friendly, contracted speech, the kind you rarely get in a textbook.

The instruction "you can set a little word, like one word intention here just to carry with you throughout this quick practice" is one long breath group with almost no pause, so it is a useful test of whether you can keep pace without stopping for air. On the movement side, "Claw through the fingertips as you exhale" pairs an unusual verb with a short, clipped rhythm, worth isolating on its own.

  • "we have a super sweet, swift morning yoga for you": three soft consonant sounds back to back, good for pronunciation practice
  • "This is a quickie, so hop into something comfy, and let's get started": relaxed, contracted, conversational
  • "Claw through the fingertips as you exhale": an unusual verb landing on a short exhale, worth repeating alone
  • rare vocabulary in this clip includes glutes, deepen, sternum and stillness, all words worth pausing on

English Shadowing Practice, Line by Line, for This Yoga Session

Work through this clip in short passes rather than trying to keep up with the whole ten minutes at once. It is free to try in your browser with no install, so there is no cost to going slowly the first time through.

  • Play lines 1 to 4 once through without speaking, just to catch Adriene's pace and how she opens a sentence
  • Shadow this line on its own first: "we have a super sweet, swift morning yoga for you", repeating it until the rhythm feels natural, not just the words
  • Move to line 12, "Softening any area of the body where you maybe feel like you're gripping or holding some tension", and say it slowly once before matching speed
  • Shadow line 16 in full, since it is one continuous breath group, and check whether you ran out of air before Adriene did
  • Isolate "Claw through the fingertips as you exhale" and repeat it five times on its own to lock in the verb
  • Once lines 1 to 40 feel comfortable, play them back to back and speak over them without pausing, the same way you would in daily english conversation practice
  • Come back the next day and repeat the same block before moving further into the video, since repetition on one line does more for your accent than moving on too soon
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