Sebastian Brosche · 47 min · 4,251 words
Previously titled: Video 4 - Intermediate Program
Hi guys, welcome back to the Intermediate Week. I'm happy today because we're going to do Flight Club, not Fight Club, but Flight Club, a class that I teach in my yoga studio. We're going to do a lot of inversions and have a lot of fun. We're going to start on all fours, just warming up our wrists.
So turn your fingers backwards, move around. Do some cat-cow movements. Move your neck, your shoulder, shoulders and spine. Flip your palms so they point up, fingers point inwards.
Make fists while you're moving back and forth. Making fists and releasing. Nice. Spread your fingers, move back into down dog.
Stretch your thighs. Stretch your calves. Find a nice and steady breath in and out through your nose. Step your right foot forward, back knee down.
On your knuckles, half splits, just back and forward. Switching sides, left foot forward, back knee down. Inhale forward, exhale back. Stepping back to plank pose, normal vinyasa.
Start with cobra, meet in down dog. Stretch your right leg out, bend your knee, inhale. Exhale step forward, low lunge with arms up. Move your arms around in big circles, inhale up.
Exhale down. Do a couple. Stepping back to down dog, second side. Lift your left leg, bend and open, inhale.
Exhale forward, back knee down. Same thing again. Try to drop your hips but suck your belly in. You're not back bending your lower back here, you're just trying to stretch your chest.
Stepping back to down dog, let's do a sun salutation A. Bend your knees, look forward. Exhale jump forward. Inhale halfway up.
Exhale fold. All the way up, inhale. Exhale mountain pose. Inhale look up, lift your chest.
Exhale bend and fold. Inhale halfway. Exhale low push up. Up dog inhale.
Exhale down dog. Roll forward to plank and stretch your left arm up for side plank, just two breaths. Try to be straight through your arms so one shoulder is not going up and the other back. Try to squeeze both shoulders back and stretch your neck forward.
Switching sides. Let's do one more round and this time think more about your legs. Squeeze your legs and lift your hips up and stretch your arm overhead. So a huge bow from your hand to your feet.
Switching sides. Squeeze your inner thighs, lift your hips and stretch your whole side. From the armpit to the hips to the ankles. Vinyasa.
Down dog. Bend your knees look forward. Inhale. Inhale jump.
Inhale halfway up. Exhale fold. Inhale all the way up and fold all the way down on the exhale. Inhale.
Exhale vinyasa. Down dog. Roll forward to plank and then with your both forearms at the same time move backwards and plant your forearms in the ground simultaneously. Low plank.
Let's stay here for half a minute. Make sure that you flatten your lower back. You're not arching and sticking your butt up. Engage your front.
The front of your thighs and hips. So your belly and your hip flexors are working, your back is not working. The world record is 8 hours and 2 minutes. Someone stood in this position for 8 hours and 2 minutes.
Holy shit. Lower all the way down to your belly. Stretch your arms backwards. Lift your arms and legs and breathe.
Now you engage your lower back and your butt. Your butt lifts your legs. Your lower back lifts your chest. Locust pose.
Spread your toes and fingers. Push back to plank and back to down dog. One more round. Bend your knees, look forward, inhale.
Exhale jump high. Inhale halfway up. Exhale pull your forehead down to your shins. Inhale all the way up.
Exhale all the way down. Inhale halfway up. And asa. Ok.
Lift your heels. Look between your thighs and start rolling forward. Keep your arms straight. Keep your chest high but lower your hips.
Start looking forward. Upward dog with your toes tucked under. Look up and then backwards, rewinding. Chin to chest.
Lift your chest first. Then your hips. Then your butt. And your back on your toes.
Lower your heels. Down dog. Let's do that two more times. Roll like a wave through your spine.
To an up dog. And reverse. The slower you go the more control you will get. Alright bend your knees, look forward, inhale.
Exhale jump. Halfway up, inhale. Exhale fold. Bend your knees.
Chair pose, arms up. You can keep your feet parallel hip width apart. So one foot between your foot. And then arms behind you.
Lift your heels and lower your chest down. Iron chair. Inhale normal chair. Exhale iron chair.
Inhale. Exhale. Maybe we should call it iron throne instead. I know we have a lot of fans of Game of Thrones.
Two more. Chair. Iron throne. Inhale.
Exhale iron throne. Sit down on your butt. Both pose. Roll back to upside down guard.
And from upside down guard go straight to vinyasa. So squat first and then shoot back. Up dog inhale. Exhale down dog.
Stretch your right leg up. We're doing sun salutation B. Roll your knee to your face. Place the foot between the hands.
Circle your arms up for warrior two. Take one breath. Reversing your warrior. Bend your left hand down.
Your knee. Hands down. Step your right foot back slightly. Lift your back leg for a standing split.
Don't bend your left leg. Lean forward. And let's do three jumps. One two and three.
Vinyasa. Low push up. Inhale up dog. And if you want add an extra push up on the way back to down dog.
Second side. Lift the left leg. Bend your knee. Inhale.
Exhale knee to nose. Foot between the hands. Circle up to warrior two. One breath.
Reversing your warrior. Keep your back leg straight. Bend your left knee. Circle your hands down.
Standing splits. Three jumps. One two and three. Vinyasa with an extra push up on the way back.
Take a breath in down dog. Bend your knees. Look forward. This time jump three times before you land.
So point your feet and tuck your heels. So jump up into a tight ball. Two and three. And on number four try to resist with your hands so you land softly between your hands.
Inhale halfway up. Exhale fold. Bend your knees. Chair pose.
Inhale. Exhale iron throne. Inhale. Exhale.
Two more inhale. Exhale. Inhale. All the way down to boat pose.
Take a breath. Point your toes. Feet together. Lift your chest.
Slowly lower down to your lower back. And then sit up again. Straight legs all the time. Let's do two more.
Fall back to upside down dog. And then shoot it back Vinyasa. Inhale up dog. Exhale push up.
Down dog. Let's do one more round. Right leg up. Inhale.
Exhale knee to nose. Two more. Inhale up. Exhale knee to nose.
Last round. Inhale. Exhale foot forward. Circle up warrior two.
Reversing your warrior. Stretch your right side as far as you can. Circle your hands down on the exhale. Three handstand jumps.
One. Two. Three. Try to land in a low push up.
So straight into Vinyasa. Inhale up dog. Exhale push up. One breath in down dog.
Left leg up. Inhale. Three rolling knees. Exhale.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Slowly warrior two. Reversing your warrior. Stretch your left ribs. Slide your fingers down your leg.
Circle down on the exhale. Stand splits. Three handstands. One.
Two. Three. One. Two.
Three. One. Two. Three.
One. Two. Three. One.
Two. Three. One. Two.
Three. One. Two. Three.
One. Two. One. One.
Two. One. One. One.
And three. Vinyasa. Extra push up. Take five breaths in down dog.
Walk your hands back to a squat on the back of your mat. Interlace your fingers and stretch out your wrists and your neck again. We're going to go back into the flow. We're going to do a few standing poses, a few balancing poses and a lot of handstands.
Alright, check it out. And let's meet in down dog. Start by stretching your right leg out. We're going to start by rolling our knee forward now.
We're going to try to jump up and switch the leg in there so the right foot, the foot that is up now, is the foot that is going to land between the hands. So it's like a rolling knee, like we accomplished the same thing, but instead we do this. We lift up and switch the right foot forward. Try that.
Let's do it a couple of times. Jump up and switch land. Right leg up and land with the right leg on the floor. Setting up for crescent pose.
Arms up, back heel up. Take a breath here. And then interlace your fingers and as smoothly and quickly as possible lift your left knee and catch it. So keep lifting your left knee.
Look forward and squeeze your shoulders back. Arms up, leg out, three breaths. And then stretch everything back and land in warrior two. Take a breath here.
And then cross your arms and kung fu stretch from side to side without using your arms. Go as deep or as shallow as you want. Just try to use the power of your legs to remain in control. From here let's go for dancer pose.
Right arm forward, catch your back foot. Stretch everything out. Stretch stretch stretch and then look down. Take a breath.
Lower your front arm down and start leaning forward going from dancer pose to chapasana or sugar cane pose. A variation of the half moon pose. Try to open your hips and chest as much as you can. Don't fall backwards but lean backwards and open your front body.
From here release the foot. Open everything for normal half moon. Left arm up, left leg back. And then hands down.
This time we're going to do ten switch leg handstands. We jump up, switch leg in the air. It's important that you get your butt over your shoulders otherwise you're going to feel heavy. So get your butt high and keep switching your legs with straight legs in the air.
So butt up, straight legs and you're going to find the balance. Try to breathe while you jump. Keep going. You have four more.
And two. And one. And last one. And then straight down to our belly.
Go down. Stretch your arms back. Lift your legs, lift your arms. Keep your feet wide.
Locust pose for five breaths. Squeeze your back. Lift high. And from here normal vinyasa.
Up dog for a breath. And back to down dog. Let's take a little break before we do the second round. Jump your feet forward to a squat.
And from a squat sit down on your butt and place your hands behind you. We're going to do a reverse tabletop flow. So lift your hips like always. Inhale and then exhale.
Get your butt first to the feet and then to your hands. So inhale up. Exhale, feet hands. Again up, inhale.
Exhale, feet hands. Inhale up. Exhale, feet hands. Two more.
Inhale up. Exhale, feet hands. Last one, inhale up, exhale feet, hands stay here, five, four, three, two, one. Sit down on your butt and roll down on your back.
Let's do some arm balances on our back first. So stretch your arms and legs out, inhale and then exhale crow pose. Inhale, stretch it out, exhale knees to elbows crow. Inhale out, exhale knees, elbows crow.
Inhale, exhale. Two more, squeeze your feet together, inhale and exhale. Last round, inhale and exhale. Roll all the way up into no surprise crow pose.
Take seven breaths here, squeeze everything in towards the midline, squeeze your heels up to your butt, stretch your head away from your shoulders. Try to be strong and relaxed. And then save some energy for the low push up. Inhale and shoot it back, exhale.
Vinyasa inhale, exhale, down dog. Stretch your left leg up, we're going to do the same short sequence on the second leg. So we're going to jump up and land on the left foot. Let's do two more, left leg out and jump and switch.
And one more. Back leg far behind us, right leg behind us, crescent pose. Stretch out your wrists in crescent pose. Laser laser fingers and try quickly and steadily, catch your right knee, lift it up, chest forward, shoulders back.
Arms up, leg out, three breaths. Next pose is warrior two, try to do the transitions nice and gracefully. Take a breath in warrior two. Cross your arms, go deep this time, all the way down to the ground, maybe and up again.
Switch from side to side. And then dancers pose, catch your right ankle, left foot forward, find the balance, stretch out, lift up, don't forget to breathe. And then look down, take a breath. Left hand down and then slowly start leaning towards the ground.
Fingers can point out to the left, use your back leg to stretch your hips and your chest. Open, breathe and stretch and open and balance. And then release the foot, keep the foot in hip height, stretch your right arm straight up and take three breaths in half moon pose. Hands down and finally we can do some handstands and release our legs.
So switch from side to side and try to land softly, the more you sister your legs in the air, the softer you will land. Keep going. Five, four, three, keep jumping, two, one, all the way down to our belly. Switch arms in front of you this time, legs up, arms up, seven breaths.
One, two, keep lifting, three, four, lift, five, six, seven, elbows down, rest in low plank. Resist the temptation to rest your forehead on your knuckles, keep your chin tucked, straighten your knees and think back to that guy who spent eight hours and two minutes here just to prove he was the shit. He was indeed the shit, but he did it just because of that. No higher purpose, just goddamn stand in this pose for eight hours and two minutes.
Place your knees down, interlace your fingers behind your back. We have a couple of really tough rounds left. I'm going to pant and breathe a lot, so I hope you can hear what I say. Okay, let's do it.
Downward facing dog, bend your knees, look forward, inhale, exhale, jump to a squat and spin around in the air and go straight to low push-up, straight out. Push back to plank and back to down dog. Let's do that again. Jump and float forward, spin around and straight to low push-up.
Boom, down dog. Let's do a full more round. Jump forward, spin around, low push-up. One more.
Jump, try to catch it, spin around, low push-up. Down dog. Take a breath. Another breath.
Stretch your right leg out behind you, bend your knee, open your hips and place your right foot on the outside of the right hand. On your knuckles, chest forward, think plank pose and move your weight into your right foot. So less weight on the right hand, more weight into the right foot. And then jump and do the second side.
Stretch your back leg, look forward, chest forward, try to be symmetrical. And now let's jump from side to side. And always try to come back to this pose. So don't cheat, go really deep every time.
Jump and go deep, jump and go deep, jump. So I really want you to generate power from the bottom of your range of motion. So go deep and from there you explode. Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, boom.
Go as deep as you can and boom. Keep going. Zoom. Zoom.
And one more. Step back to down dog. Final round, left leg out behind you, bend and open. Foot on the outside of the left hand and kick your back leg through.
So right foot is forward, just front kick with your right foot. Then lift your hips and step back. Left leg out for three legged dog. And then we did switch legs already, so switch your legs in the air and roll your right foot to the outside of the hand.
Kick your left leg through this gateway. Boom. And now lift your butt and step back. Three legged dog.
Switch the legs in the air and keep going. Left foot forward, kick through, step back. Three legged dog reversing and switching the legs. So it's a pretty straight forward sequence.
Step forward, kick through, step back, right leg up and switch in the air. Keep going. Left leg forward, kick through, step back, left leg up and keep going, keep flowing. As long as you keep a steady pace, it doesn't matter how fast you go.
And one last round. Sit on your knees, hands in your lap, close your eyes. Feel your breath, feel the silence. Open your eyes.
Alright guys, I hope you have a wall. Clean some space and go to the wall. We're going to play for a few minutes. Standing down dog, I can actually move my mat.
So standing down dog with your butt facing the wall. And then walk your hands back slightly so you're up and down. And then walk your hands back slightly so you're about leg length from the wall. So if you sit next to the wall, your hands should be about where your feet are now.
And walk your feet up the wall and look towards your hands. So when you look towards your hands, it feels like an intense plank pose. So this is good if you want to come from handstand into a low push up. But when we do handstands, you actually want to push your chest more towards the wall.
So the first exercise, just practice going from plank to like from your chest facing the floor to your chest facing the wall. But don't look at the wall. Keep looking at your fingers all the time. And just practice lifting your hips and lowering them with the power of your arms.
Come down, take a rest. So this shoulders back or chest facing the wall, that's probably the most important thing if you want to start nailing handstands. You can't stand in, you can't do planches. So if you're going to handstand, you can't start with doing planches.
If your shoulders are really stiff, then you probably have to stretch them a bit more with the belt stretching before you start doing handstands. But if you feel like it's possible to get from here to there, then we can keep going. So the next exercise, we start of course the same way. Climb your legs up the wall.
So when your chest has come back and you keep looking at your fingers, then you can lift one leg. But don't keep it bent. Keep it super straight. And then drop your head slightly, but keep looking towards your fingers.
And now do not kick. I repeat, do not kick the wall. Keep the toes in the wall, but try to lean out from the wall. And come down.
So what's keeping you from falling over on your back is your fingers. If you push your fingertips into the ground, it's going to stop you from falling out. And you cannot breathe with your belly when you're doing handstands like this. You have to keep your belly and core engaged and try to breathe more with your chest and your back.
So if your belly is off, your hips will be heavy and fall over. So try again. Walk up the wall. Stretch one leg out.
Keep looking at your hands. Keep your core engaged. Keep your legs strong and resist falling over with your fingertips. So push your hands down.
Push your fingertips down to the ground. And here we are almost balancing. Do not kick. I repeat, do not kick the wall.
Lean away from the wall. And come down. Let's do the same thing, just turning the other way. So now we really have to kick up because we don't have the wall for support, but the wall is going to prevent us from falling over.
So stay maybe one forearm. So one forearm length away from the wall. So hands about two hands, three hands away from the wall. Now you really have to kick up to get up.
But instead of placing both feet in the wall, keep one leg out from the wall and find this same position that we did when we had our butt towards the wall. So look down to your hands, but keep your chest pushing away from the wall. I repeat again, don't kick the wall. Use your fingers to push yourself out from the wall and to come down.
Let's do it again. Shake your arms. First kick up. One leg to the wall.
The other leg away from the wall. Look down to your fingers and now use the fingers to press yourself out from the wall to keep the balance there. And come down. Enough playtime for now.
Let's do some back bends. Let's start with the camel pose. So sit on your knees, shake your wrists a little bit, take a breath. Catch your heels, thumbs points in for beginners.
Catch your heels, lift your chest and then slowly start lifting your hips as well. So you engage your back bodies to stretch your front, but you're really squeezing your core in now. Really try to activate all those lower abdominal muscles. The same muscles that you use when you are trying to not pee yourself.
Really squeeze those in and then when you have your lower abdomen engaged, you can really push and lift. Take another breath. And slowly sit down and have a few breaths. We're going to do the same pose again, but from another angle.
So it's the same figure with our body, but we're going to do it laying down like we did with the locust pose. So you can start with locust pose and then bend your knees and never throw the legs in. Try to slowly lift yourself until you can grab the ankle. Same thing on the other side.
Go slowly until you can grab a firm grip of both ankles. Flex your feet and then straighten your legs so your legs are lifting you up. And when you are halfway up, then you engage your lower back and you also lift with your lower back. Breathe.
Squeeze your knees, not together, but inwards. Spread your toes. And stop neck cranking yourself. And release to pancake pose.
Let's do the same figure again, but this time laying down on the ground. So lay down on your back, catch your ankles and see if you can lift up here and do the same pose upside down. If you can't catch your ankles, interlace the fingers behind your back. Legs, legs, legs, legs.
Push them down. Lift your hips. Your legs should be shaking because you're getting tired in legs. Improving our Uppa.
So if someone is mounting us, we really want to be able to push them super high so that there is enough space for us to get the knee in and escape the mount. Lower down for happy baby pose. Catch the feet and pull the knees down. Push the lower back down.
Let's try a full wheel pose. Do the same one again. Bridge pose or hands next to your shoulders on the inhale. Lift all the way up to wheel pose.
Take five. And lower down. Knees together. Relax your wrists.
Take a break. Left ankle to your right thigh. Before you catch your knee, hug the knee in without using the arms. And then catch the front of your knee or your chin.
Interlace your fingers for a triangle stretch. If you feel super flexible today, you can forklift your left shin like this. Place the right foot in the ground and forklift instead. It's a rubber guard prep.
If it feels better to do the triangle stretch, the sleeping pigeon, do that one instead. Switching sides. Before you hug the knee, pull it in with your leg power first so you feel how much resistance there is. The second side is always worse for me.
I have weird proportions so I have a variation where I wrap my shin with my arms and then I put the knee on the inside. The other one stretches better for me but I'm probably an exception here because I have really long arms and short legs. Take ten. Nice.
Let's roll all the way up to seated. Stretch your legs out sideways. Seated straddle pose. Go forward as far as you can go and relax.
One more breath. Slowly sit up and let's go from side to side a few times. Try to catch your ankle or your foot. Hand stretches always feel so good after handstands.
Let's lay down for Shavasana. I'm going to leave you guys here so just take a deep breath. Relax your fingers, toes. Relax your body and mind for Shavasana.
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