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Shadowing practice: Yoga For Hips & Lower Back Release | Yoga With Adriene

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  1. What's up, party people, and welcome to Yoga with Adriene.0:00
  2. I'm Adriene, and this is Benji.0:02
  3. And today we have an awesome practice for the hips and the lower back body.0:04
  4. So hop into something comfy and let's get started.0:08
  5. ["Hop into Something Comfy"] Alrighty, my friends.0:12
  6. Let's begin seated on your yoga mat with the legs out in front of you.0:25
  7. You're gonna lift your knees, place your feet on the ground, try to aim your toes pointing forward just to start to sense some awareness towards your feet.0:30
  8. And then you're gonna take your hands and you're gonna touch your booty.0:39
  9. So we're gonna move the fleshy part of the buttocks to the side so that you can feel this grounding down through your sitz bones.0:43
  10. And if you don't feel like that's okay, just it'll be kind of to each's own.0:51
  11. Moving the buttocks just so you feel grounded.0:56
  12. So we have our feet grounded and then we have the sitz bones grounded.1:00
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  1. And then just notice if the knees are coming in or out.1:05
  2. See if you can align knees with ankles.1:07
  3. You have two slides going down.1:10
  4. Awesome, so we have a swift practice today.1:14
  5. Swift isn't not long.1:16
  6. So we're gonna jump right in with the breath.1:18
  7. Bring your hands to your hamstrings just behind the backs of the thighs here.1:20
  8. You're gonna keep your feet rooted.1:25
  9. Loop your shoulders, start to lift your heart up.1:27
  10. Now, there's the likely chance that you've picked this video because you're experiencing some tension or some tightness in the lower back or hips.1:32
  11. So see if you can send awareness and breath, whatever that means to you, right down to that lower back right away here as you breathe in and breathe out.1:41
  12. Then in your next breath in, sit up a little taller, breathe in and then breathe out.1:53
  13. You're gonna slowly send your heart forward, chest forward.2:00
  14. You're gonna drape over the tops of your thighs.2:03
  15. Now you might clasp opposite elbow here.2:06
  16. Notice if the knees are wanting to come in or out.2:10
  17. See if you can keep these two nice straight lines from the knees to the ankles, toes pointing forward.2:12
  18. And then, yep, you guessed it.2:19
  19. Some of you are probably already there.2:20
  20. You're gonna relax the weight of the head over and still continue with the breath.2:21
  21. Should feel really good.2:29
  22. Notice where you might be holding or clenching in the neck, the traps, the shoulder area, the skin on the forehead, the jaw.2:32
  23. Keep awareness in the toes.2:48
  24. So keep that connection of the sits bones and your feet just kind of grounding you into the moment.2:50
  25. Take a moment to close your eyes here.2:56
  26. Just feel the power of your breath, that wave.3:00
  27. Notice how it can stretch as you breathe in and soften as you breathe out.3:03
  28. And again, if you haven't already, go ahead and close your eyes just for a moment here.3:16
  29. Go inward.3:19
  30. I love this shape.3:23
  31. Doesn't always have to be a fancy yoga pose.3:25
  32. Just uniting breath and body.3:29
  33. Sweet, take one more deep breath in your own private little love cave here.3:39
  34. Nice.3:48
  35. Now release the hands.3:49
  36. Press the palms firmly into the earth.3:51
  37. Stay connected to everything that is touching the ground here at your foundation as you tuck the chin, start to lean back, way back, and slowly roll it up.3:55
  38. Awesome.4:07
  39. Take a deep breath in here.4:08
  40. Head over heart, heart over pelvis.4:10
  41. And then as you exhale, hands are now moving and you're gonna come to behind the thighs.4:12
  42. You're gonna lift the toes up, dig into the heels.4:15
  43. And if you're experiencing any pain or discomfort in the lower back, you're just gonna stay here.4:18
  44. If you're here for more of the release and preventative care, then you're gonna lean back and lift the shins and toes up parallel to the ceiling, just connecting to4:25
  45. a little core stability here.4:34
  46. So we're here, or we're here, and we're breathing deep, jumping right in.4:37
  47. Thank you so much for sharing your time and energy with me and with the Yoga with Adriene community.4:41
  48. You made a great choice.4:48
  49. Take one more breath.4:49
  50. You got it.4:51
  51. Awesome.4:52
  52. Then we're gonna slowly release feet back to the ground.4:53
  53. And you're gonna send the left leg out long.4:56
  54. You're gonna hug the right knee in.4:59
  55. Squeeze as you send your sternum up towards the sky.5:02
  56. Flex your left toes.5:07
  57. Take a deep breath in.5:09
  58. And then on an exhale, you're gonna slowly bring your right hand behind you.5:10
  59. And you're not gonna twist to look back.5:14
  60. You're just gonna twist to look to the right.5:16
  61. So the right side of your mat, not all the way back.5:20
  62. Just gentle and easy here.5:22
  63. Big breath.5:24
  64. Squeeze and lift.5:25
  65. Great.5:30
  66. Then you're gonna come back to center.5:31
  67. We're gonna bring the right knee out this time.5:32
  68. And then we're gonna lift the right fingertips all the way up towards the sky.5:35
  69. Left fingertips brace behind you.5:39
  70. Then you're gonna think up and over as you reach the left fingertips to either grab the outer, sorry, right fingertips to grab the outer edge of your left foot5:42
  71. or your left shin or your left thigh.5:50
  72. So you could be here, here, or here.5:53
  73. Now actively draw the top of the right thigh, that meaty quad muscle and your thigh bone, the femur down towards the earth as you inhale, lift your chest.5:56
  74. Lots of awareness.6:06
  75. 100 % full body awareness.6:09
  76. Take a deep breath in.6:11
  77. And then exhale, you're gonna release your hand.6:13
  78. And then we're just gonna take the hands to the earth, the shin or the foot, and you're gonna come all the way flat, belly towards the thigh.6:17
  79. Just intention.6:26
  80. You don't have to come all the way flat.6:27
  81. Head to knee pose.6:29
  82. Take one more breath here.6:31
  83. Take a big cycle of breath in and out.6:32
  84. Yeah, breathing into that lower back body and then slowly release.6:36
  85. Don't push anything.6:40
  86. Just let it kind of be where it's at today.6:41
  87. You're gonna guide the right knee all the way up and then we'll just do switcheroo.6:44
  88. So send the left right leg down.6:47
  89. I'm not gonna lie guys, I'm on a little bit of a cold medicine, okay?6:50
  90. Just gotta keep it real.6:54
  91. Right leg goes out, left leg comes in.6:56
  92. Nothing better than a little at -home yoga to tend to the body so I'm all good, don't worry.7:00
  93. Not that you were worried.7:05
  94. Squeeze and lift.7:08
  95. So find this foundation first.7:09
  96. Nice and tall.7:13
  97. Hug that left knee in.7:14
  98. And then again, we're not going all the way back today, we're just going to the left.7:16
  99. So you bring the left fingertips behind.7:20
  100. This is to help us resist the urge of cranking all the way back.7:22
  101. Creating stability and finding length today.7:27
  102. Big breath here, breathe into your belly.7:32
  103. Mmm.7:35
  104. Nice and then slowly we'll come back to center.7:37
  105. We're gonna open the left knee out.7:39
  106. Beautiful, then left fingertips reach up.7:43
  107. Got it right this time.7:46
  108. Right fingertips come back to anchor you and then you're gonna think up and over as you reach towards the outer edge of the right thigh, outer edge of the7:46
  109. right shin, or all the way over to the outer edge of that right foot.7:55
  110. And you're of course gonna feel that great long, lengthy release in the lower back body and you know what makes it even better?7:58
  111. You bringing conscious breath to the partay.8:05
  112. So soften your gaze.8:09
  113. Breathe deep.8:12
  114. Let your left thigh bone, left quad get really heavy here so we're actively drawing down as we lift and lengthen over the right leg.8:16
  115. Awesome.8:28
  116. Then slowly release.8:29
  117. Frame your right leg with your hands and then you'll decide what feels best here.8:31
  118. Maybe grabbing the shin, maybe one day the foot, maybe you're just here.8:35
  119. Baby steps.8:42
  120. And we'll slowly fall into our version of head to knee pose.8:44
  121. Janus or Sasan?8:50
  122. Hey buddy.8:53
  123. Breathing deep.8:56
  124. Then slowly, press into your foundation to roll up and look what Benji did.9:01
  125. He loves to sit on top of people or on top of things.9:10
  126. You think you're a lap dog.9:14
  127. Okay, from here, from here we're going to pull the right foot in to meet the left, but we're going to give ourselves a lot of space today.9:16
  128. So if you're used to kind of zipping up to the center line, awesome for you, my loves, but we're going to give ourselves a little space.9:28
  129. You're going to create a diamond shape by bringing the heels out.9:35
  130. Then hands are going to hold onto the shins or the ankles.9:39
  131. So shins, if you seem to be rounding forward, if you have that length already here, then you can go ahead and go for the ankles and find a little9:42
  132. rotation in the pelvis.9:49
  133. Okay, inhale, sit up nice and tall.9:52
  134. Exhale, bend the elbows.9:54
  135. You're just going to slowly shift forward so that you're looking just beyond the toes, maybe looking into a pawn, seeing your reflection.9:57
  136. And then we'll come all the way back up.10:04
  137. And then back again, the able draws in and up, creates space.10:07
  138. Coming forward, bend the elbows.10:10
  139. And then come back up.10:13
  140. And then this is the last time we're going to hold there.10:15
  141. And you might find that the option is available to allow the elbows to press the tops of the thighs out a little bit and maybe open the toes.10:17
  142. So we're breathing deep.10:27
  143. Top of the thighs actively anchoring down.10:32
  144. Ooh, yeah.10:36
  145. This is a good one.10:38
  146. Tuck the chin a little bit here, find length.10:40
  147. Nice.10:46
  148. And then release.10:47
  149. Bring the hands to the outer edges of the thighs or knees.10:49
  150. You're going to bring the knees together.10:52
  151. And then we're going to send the legs out long.10:53
  152. If the legs are a bit tight, lower back hamstrings a bit tight, just go ahead and keep a nice, generous bend in the knees by digging into the heels.10:57
  153. If you're able to straighten the legs, let's go ahead and send the toes up towards the sky and keep nice and active in the toes.11:06
  154. Check it out.11:13
  155. Left fingertips are going to go back.11:13
  156. You're going to slowly reach all the way up and over.11:16
  157. Touch your right toes.11:18
  158. Then come all the way back up.11:21
  159. Left fingertips, I did it again.11:22
  160. Right fingertips are going to go back.11:24
  161. Think up and over.11:25
  162. Touch your left toes.11:27
  163. Again, you can bend the knees here for this flow.11:29
  164. Inhale to reach up and over.11:31
  165. It's like you're swimming here, big stroke.11:32
  166. And then come back.11:35
  167. And then all the way up and over.11:37
  168. And you're going to keep doing this and see if you can find a nice breath to sink up with.11:40
  169. This is definitely one where I'd like to remind you to not worry about what it looks like, but how it feels.11:47
  170. Explore the sensations as you move with your breath.11:55
  171. We'll go ahead and even it out.12:03
  172. And then the next time you're in your forward fold with the knees bent or with the legs straight, with the micro bend, you're going to go ahead and hang12:09
  173. out there in Pashi Tvottanasana.12:18
  174. I love to bend my knees in Pashi Tvottanasana.12:19
  175. When I was younger, I would really try to get that peanut butter and jelly sandwich.12:22
  176. But I think I was straining my muscles a bit more than now.12:25
  177. I know that I would have want it.12:29
  178. Where was doing the captions on this video?12:34
  179. Good luck with that one.12:36
  180. No, just kidding.12:37
  181. Basically, bend your knees.12:39
  182. Because we're not just trying to get loose hamstrings.12:44
  183. It's all connected, right?12:47
  184. It's all tied into one moving part.12:48
  185. So we want to integrate.12:53
  186. I'll stop talking for a second and allow you to listen to the sound of your breath as you allow the weight of the head to relax.12:56
  187. And then take one more breath in your private, beautiful, therapeutic Love Cave.13:12
  188. And then slowly grounding through your foundation to tuck the chin and roll it all the way up.13:24
  189. Okay, so how you get here will be a little bit different for everyone.13:31
  190. But I'm going to guide you to bend both knees and bring the feet flat to the earth.13:34
  191. Okay, so we're in this bit of an awkward pose to start.13:40
  192. We're going to use our fingertips.13:42
  193. We're going to turn the toes out.13:43
  194. This is very important.13:45
  195. Turn your toes out.13:46
  196. Bring your fingertips behind you.13:47
  197. Then here we go.13:49
  198. Lift it from your pelvic floor.13:49
  199. Connect to your core.13:51
  200. And you're going to slowly come forward into a froggy pose.13:53
  201. Knees are going to trace the toes.13:55
  202. Ah, big hip over here.13:59
  203. Find soft, easy movement here.14:01
  204. Notice you got a little frustrated there.14:03
  205. That's okay.14:05
  206. That's why we're here to create space.14:06
  207. One lovely at -home yoga practice at a time.14:10
  208. It's all good.14:14
  209. So create a little movement here.14:15
  210. You can stay in the froggy pose or you might widen your feet just a bit more.14:17
  211. Drop your heels back and come into this low yogi squat.14:22
  212. A little malasana variation.14:26
  213. So you know your body best.14:30
  214. You're the expert.14:32
  215. So you can stay in the froggy or come here.14:33
  216. Big full deep breaths no matter what variation you're choosing.14:35
  217. Again, try to think of the body as one moving part.14:41
  218. It's kind of why I've selected this little dance today so that we're not just kind of going isolating hip stretch, isolating back stretch.14:45
  219. Even though this is really great for the lower body.14:53
  220. All of it.14:58
  221. Take one more breath.14:58
  222. Maybe lean back wherever you are.15:00
  223. Sit up nice and tall.15:02
  224. Yes.15:04
  225. And then release.15:05
  226. We're going to lift the heels if you're in the squat.15:07
  227. You're going to walk the toes back in.15:09
  228. Knees are going to go forward, toes forward.15:11
  229. Come to the center of your mat.15:15
  230. And again, if you're feeling sluggish today, just remember this time is so awesome.15:17
  231. You get to like kick your shoes off and do yoga, right?15:21
  232. You're not at work yet.15:25
  233. Okay.15:29
  234. And then from here, toes pointing forward, fingertips on the earth to support us.15:30
  235. We're going to slowly drop the head down, drop the heels and send the hips up high so you're in a standing forward fold.15:34
  236. Allow the blood to flush to the head.15:42
  237. You can clasp the elbows, rock a little side to side.15:46
  238. Now you have gravity working for you here, so you might be able to straighten the legs just a bit more, but careful not to lock them.15:48
  239. And then really, take this time to release.15:55
  240. Have you been holding on to or carrying around something heavy that needs to be shed?15:59
  241. No matter how big or how small, can you take a really conscious moment here to let go, choose to release something that maybe is just no longer needed?16:07
  242. Maybe that's just tension in the neck and shoulders or tightness in the hips.16:24
  243. That's where we store it all anyway.16:29
  244. Oh, yeah.16:32
  245. If the arms are clasped, go ahead and release the hands down.16:34
  246. Now you're going to walk your feet as wide as your yoga mat.16:38
  247. Once again, turn the toes out.16:41
  248. Inhale, use your fingertips on the ground and exhale to support you.16:44
  249. Exhale, slowly drop your center back down into your froggy or into your yogi squat.16:47
  250. Take a deep breath in here.16:55
  251. Smile, life is good.16:56
  252. Then exhale, you're going to bring the fingertips behind you.16:58
  253. We're going to come all the way back, sitting seated.17:01
  254. Awesome.17:04
  255. Send the legs out long.17:05
  256. Sit up nice and tall.17:07
  257. Beautiful, Dandasana.17:09
  258. Toes up towards the sky, breathing deep.17:11
  259. Close your eyes.17:15
  260. Center.17:18
  261. Nice.17:22
  262. Then press into your hands.17:23
  263. Dig into your heels.17:24
  264. You're going to lift your hips up.17:26
  265. Send them towards the front of your mat and come all the way to your back.17:28
  266. When you get there, take a deep breath in.17:31
  267. The deepest breath you've taken all day.17:34
  268. And as you exhale, hug your navel into your spine and hug the knees up towards the chest.17:36
  269. That's right.17:43
  270. Find what feels good here.17:44
  271. Give yourself a big hug.17:45
  272. Roll around one way and then the other.17:47
  273. Let any sounds or gestures that want to come out of the body.17:49
  274. Let them come out.17:54
  275. Sigh of relief or release.17:56
  276. Great.18:05
  277. Then you're going to lower your left foot to the ground and you're going to cross your right leg over your left leg.18:06
  278. Now check it out.18:15
  279. Use the hands to press into the earth.18:16
  280. You're going to shift your hips over towards the right side of your mat and then slowly just allow your legs to fall towards the left side of your mat.18:17
  281. Now, if you're experiencing any stress or tension in the lower back, you're going to skip this and you're going to come into maybe a more gentler twist.18:25
  282. Maybe an easy recline twist.18:35
  283. Knees just stacked right on top of each other.18:37
  284. Otherwise, we're in the Garandasana legs.18:42
  285. Ish, Eagle legs, breathing deep, soft fingertips.18:45
  286. Send your breath downward.18:50
  287. And then anchor through your foundation to come all the way back up.18:56
  288. Right foot comes to the earth as you recenter the spine and then left leg's going to cross over.19:00
  289. We're going to use our foundation to lift the hips up.19:06
  290. Press down through the earth.19:09
  291. Lift the hips up.19:10
  292. Send the hips to the left side of the mat.19:10
  293. And then let this just fall easy to the right.19:12
  294. No pushing or forcing.19:15
  295. Mmm.19:17
  296. And we're breathing into the belly.19:22
  297. You can close your eyes on this one.19:24
  298. And then slowly press in your foundation to come all the way back up to center.19:37
  299. Take your hands.19:42
  300. Bring them to your kneecaps.19:44
  301. You might have to peek at me for this one.19:46
  302. We're going to stabilize a little bit, neutralize the spine by bringing the palms to the knees.19:48
  303. You're going to scoop the tailbone up first so that it's nice and flush with the mat.19:52
  304. This should feel yummy and it requires you to be active.19:56
  305. So you're going to scoop the tailbone up, draw the navel down so there's no space between.19:59
  306. Breathe deep here.20:05
  307. Try to soften through your feet.20:06
  308. And then if this just feels amazing, you're just going to stay here.20:09
  309. Otherwise, we're going to release and now slowly allow the pelvis to tilt, the lower back to lift up, just the opposite of what we're doing.20:14
  310. And again, you'll know if it's right for you to stay with your lower back.20:22
  311. Flush with the mat.20:26
  312. And if you do take the tilt, you might come right onto that SI joint, right onto the sacrum.20:30
  313. Nice and easy.20:35
  314. Soft in the feet, soft in the jaw.20:37
  315. Great.20:43
  316. And then nice and slow, scoop the tailbone up, hug the knees into the chest.20:43
  317. Nice work.20:47
  318. You're going to reach around.20:47
  319. We're going to end with a happy baby.20:48
  320. So you're going to grab the outer edges of the feet or the inner arches.20:50
  321. I'll let Yogi's choice rule here.20:53
  322. And then you're going to kick one leg up, then the other, soles of the feet, actively kicking towards the sky.20:58
  323. And now actively reach your tailbone towards the front edge of your mat.21:03
  324. Try to lift up the lower back here.21:07
  325. Breathe deep.21:09
  326. If you want to find some soft easy movement here, please do one more big breath in and out.21:10
  327. And then we'll release.21:21
  328. Awesome.21:22
  329. Feet coming to the ground.21:23
  330. You're going to windshield wipe with the legs one way and then the other to extend the legs all the way out.21:24
  331. Great.21:35
  332. Bring your left hand to your heart and your right hand to your belly.21:36
  333. We'll take a final breath here to just allow the nutrients of our practice to settle in.21:39
  334. Go ahead and close your eyes when you land here.21:46
  335. Feel the warmth of your hands.21:49
  336. Inhale lots of love in.21:54
  337. And exhale lots of love out.21:58
  338. Nice work today.22:04
  339. Go ahead and leave behind anything that's not working for you, not serving.22:06
  340. You can just leave it on the yoga mat.22:11
  341. It'll evaporate and transform into something new for someone.22:12
  342. So just a little opportunity to release and leave behind whatever wasn't working for you.22:16
  343. So that you can plant new seeds, find new joy.22:22
  344. And rock your best self.22:27
  345. I want to rock with you all night.22:30
  346. Go ahead and bring your palms together.22:38
  347. Tap into a little inner smile.22:44
  348. Take a deep breath in.22:49
  349. And we finish by quietly whispering Namaste.22:52

Beginner English Shadowing Practice With An American Yoga Narration

This clip is a solo narration, not a conversation. Adriene talks straight through a seated hip and lower back sequence while her dog Benji sits beside her. The transcript runs 361 lines, rated A2, which makes it a solid pick for english shadowing for beginners who want short, plain instructions rather than fast dialogue.

The pace sits at 201 words per minute, faster than 62 percent of the catalogue, so even though the vocabulary is simple the rhythm keeps moving. A body scan turns straight into concrete instructions: "Let's begin seated on your yoga mat with the legs out in front of you." arrives, then almost at once "You're gonna lift your knees, place your feet on the ground." That pattern, instruction then micro correction, is what makes the clip good material for english speaking practice.

Adriene speaks in a clear American accent throughout the recording, so the clip doubles as american accent training while you follow the hip work itself.

The Language In This Clip: Gonna, Grounding And A Swift Practice

Three lines here are worth slowing down for. They show how a fitness instructor actually talks, not how a textbook writes.

  • "You're gonna lift your knees, place your feet on the ground" packs the near future contraction gonna into a live instruction. Adriene uses it 31 times in this recording, so getting comfortable with the reduced sound here pays off for the rest of the video.
  • "So we're gonna move the fleshy part of the buttocks to the side" mixes the same gonna reduction with plain, almost blunt body language. There is no softer synonym reached for, just the direct word.
  • "Swift isn't not long." is a small double negative that native speakers say without thinking. Reading it aloud a few times and matching her rhythm, not just her words, is what actually helps you improve your english accent.

How To Shadow This Yoga Narration Step By Step

Work through the opening in this order rather than jumping straight to repeating full sentences.

  • Start at line one, "What's up, party people, and welcome to Yoga with Adriene.", just to get used to her voice and pace before anything speeds up.
  • Say "Let's begin seated on your yoga mat with the legs out in front of you." slowly once, focused on clear vowels rather than speed.
  • Loop lines seven to nine, the three gonna instructions in a row, until the contraction stops feeling like a separate word you have to remember.
  • Repeat "Swift isn't not long." on its own a few times. It is short enough to say until the stress pattern sits naturally, a step toward speaking english fluently.
  • Finish with the long sentence at line 22, about picking this video for tension or tightness in the lower back or hips. It is the longest sentence in the opening, so it is good practice for keeping your breath under control while you talk.
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