#1 MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM: Power Yoga Flow for Strength and Stability
In class #1 of our Body Systems Yoga Series for Full Body Health, we will be focusing on the musculoskeletal system with a 30 minute power flow. This class will be one of the more challenging and dynamic flows of the series as we flow through 3 different flows to strengthen our lower body, upper body and core.
We will start with meditation and learn a myofascial release technique that you can use at home to heal any sore or stiff muscles. Then we will get into our power vinyasa flow for a full body workout. This whole series is designed for all levels, with harder poses mapped out in stages to allow each person to choose the level they are comfortable with.
All you will need is yourself and your mat– option to use blocks or straps to help support you in more difficult poses.
Click here for a curated playlist designed specifically for this flow: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0y0FD6itAu0GrciRgeCrVj?si=11db3519031f49ff
Full Transcript
Introduction to Musculoskeletal Health 0:00
hello [Music] hi I'm Dr Mariella wood and I'm a board-certified family physician and certified yoga teacher and welcome to day one of your body systems yoga series for full body health today we'll be focused on the musculoskeletal system so what all is involved in the musculoskeletal system well most obviously the muscles and the bones but also we have our connective tissue or fascia which connects everything together and strength training which is what we'll be focusing on during this flow is so beneficial for the body for a lot of different reasons than cardiac training is so when we build muscle and activate our muscles we're actually strengthening our bones when we do this as well so this is really important to prevent osteoporosis or fractures especially later in life and especially for women studies show that strength training can not only protect your bones from fractures later in life but if you have osteoporosis incorporating strength training into your routine can actually help to repair your bones and start to build them back again other than preventing and treating osteoporosis strength training is so important for any musculoskeletal injury in the body we're talking about joints ligaments sprains anything like that the first thing that we prescribe to people when they develop any sort of musculoskeletal injury is physical therapy and this is so we can help people strengthen the muscles around an injury so that the location of the injury can be supported supported and allow the body to heal itself so today we'll first start with some breath work and meditation then we'll do our special focus of today which is a myofascial release technique so this is one that I use all the time in the office and it's a technique where you put pressure on a specific part of the muscle or connective tissue to help release any tension that might be there then after that we'll get into our flow and today we have three different flows first
Myofascial Release Technique 1:56
targeting our lower body then our upper body and then our core so I hope you enjoy this flow and I'll see you on the mat [Music] all right so we're first going to start with a myofascial release technique so this is a technique where you're putting pressure on a specific area of a muscle or piece of connective tissue that has a lot of tension that's likely causing you a lot of pain so think of a part of your body that's in a lot of pain for a lot of people that's your shoulders or your neck and also a sneaky one is your IT band so a lot of people don't realize they have a lot of pain along their I.T band and if you do have a really tight intense IT band it can cause knee pain back pain pretty much everything because your IT band connects from your hips all the way down to your knees it's this big long sheet of connective tissue so start by pressing around on your muscles you can try your shoulders if you want to do it here with me usually the point of tension is along the middle of the muscle belly so the really so the very middle point of the muscle and I definitely have one right here so if you feel it and you press in you're probably going to feel pain Additionally the muscle is going to feel really tight and tense so find a point on you this side's a little bit tighter on me so press around with your fingers and find a point that has the most tightness or thickness of the muscle and it's probably going to be the most painful Point as well so take your finger and press directly in to the middle of the muscle and you'll feel the muscles squish in a little bit it requires quite a bit of pressure so you might need to assist with both hands if you really want to get in there and basically you're just going to sit and hold here until you feel a release so a release will feel like the muscles literally melting underneath your hands where you'll feel a little bit of softness and less pain as well I felt mine release a little bit you can rub it around a little bit afterwards one time might not get it so you can find another point on that same muscle and I found another one right here and just press directly in good and release you can feel free to pause the video here try that a little bit longer or try different parts the it band's a really good one I will actually demonstrate the IT band one for you so it's better if you're laying completely down on the ground like this then you're going to find a point along your IT band so find this little bony prominence right here and then March down from there and directly on the lateral side of your leg you're going to feel this really tight tense sheath if you press in you'll probably immediately just like I am feel a lot of pain so you do the same thing find a point then just press directly in and hold it there the other option is to use a tennis ball and so if you're doing it that way you can place the tennis ball down on the ground and essentially place the IT band directly on top of the tennis ball and you can roll it around a little bit or just hold pressure it is painful I will warn you but it works really well especially if you have knee pain that you just can't get rid of or just any kind of leg pain hip pain back pain so with that let's get into our flow and today's flow is going to be a series of three different flows first we'll start with a warm up and then we'll do a flow for your lower body your upper body and your core so again remember the point of today in the musculoskeletal class we're really trying to strengthen all of our muscles so we can support our bones and rest support our whole body so let's all start by laying down on our backs and we'll start with some glute Bridges so go ahead and find yourself down on your back plant your feet firmly down onto the ground and then gently lift your hips up to the sky and you want to be lifting with your glutes rather than any of your core so your core will be involved a little bit but you're really trying to lift from the glutes here and slowly release it down to the ground take a big deep inhale here at the bottom and on the exhale lift your hips back up to the sky do that a couple more times inhaling as you release down to the bottom and then exhale to lift your hips up to the sky a few more times here inhale down to the bottom and then exhale lift your hips High to the sky go ahead and release them back down this time bring your legs to a tabletop position up here so you want to create a sort of a 90 degree angle so you don't
Warm-Up and Standing Lower Body Flow 6:32
want your knees to be too in you can bring them a little bit further it'll it'll it'll bring a little bit more core activation before tabletop position try to keep a 90 90 degree here raise your arms to the sky and we're going to do a few dead bugs so as you inhale lower your left leg and your right arm down to the ground and then exhale bring it back up to Center and switch sides inhale right leg long left arm long and then exhale back to Center go through eight more of those on your own each side inhaling left leg right arm exhale back to Center inhale right leg art right leg left arm inhale back to Center and continue like this on your own and I'll guide you out when we're ready to go all right finish the round you're on we'll be back up in the center then rock and roll yourself back up to a seated position now come around to a neutral tabletop position and we'll go through a few rounds of cat and cow to start to warm up our spine so in your neutral tabletop position shoulders down and back stack directly over your wrists your hips are stacked directly over your knees then inhale to drop the belly gaze up to the sky for cow pose and then exhale around the spine Chuck your chin for cat pose inhale lift up to the sky for cow pose and then exhale around the spine for cat pose inhale now to bring yourself back to a neutral tabletop position and then duck your toes and lift up and back for our first downward facing dog of the day so take some time here pedal out your feet start to get the body warmed up before we get into our three flows okay find some Stillness here and on your next inhale lift your right leg up and back and I'm going to Exhale bring your right knee to your left elbow inhale up and back for a three-legged dog and then right knee to the right elbow inhale up and back for a three-legged dog and then exhale to step your right foot in between your hands for a runner's lunge from here inhale to plant your left hand down on the ground and lift your right arm up for an easy twist bring it back down to the ground step your right foot back to meet the left and we'll start with a modified chaturanga so bring your knees down to the ground inhale to shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga inhale for an upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to tuck your toes and send your hips up and back for a downward facing dog moving on to the other side now inhale your left leg up and back for a three-legged dog exhale to bring the left knee to the right elbow inhale three-legged dog exhale left knee to left elbow inhale three-legged dog and then exhale to step your left foot forward in between your hands for a runner's lunge inhale to plant your right arm lift your left arm up to the sky for an easy twist then exhale place it back down on the ground inhale to step your left foot back to meet your right drop down to your knees shift your weight forward over your wrist and then exhale down through chaturanga inhale for an upward facing dog or cobra and an exhale to lift your hips up and back to a downward facing dog we'll take a full deep breath in and out here inhaling to fill the belly fill your lungs and then exhale to audibly sigh it all out they'll drop down to your knees for just a moment here and then we'll get set up for our first flow all right when you're ready let's all meet back up in a downward facing dog so from here on your inhale lift your heels bend your knees and then jump hop or step forward to meet in a forward fold inhale to lift up to a flat back and then exhale forward fold inhale to sweep your arms up for tadasana Mountain pose exhale hands to prayer Heart Center I'm going to turn to face you you can face the side of your mat or continue facing the front of your mat here so from your Mountain pose start to heel toe your feet out just slightly so they're a little bit wider than hips distance turn your toes out slightly bring your hands back to prepare Heart Center and we're going to get into a couple of malasana Yogi squats so inhale to sink your hips slow bend down into molassana squats our first one here will just find some movements you can bring your elbows to the inside of your knees to press them out further sway from side to side just feel what it feels to be in this position here on your next inhale lift back up to the sky and then we're going to go through a couple of series of melasana squats so take a big deep breath to resect inhale feel the body exhale release it all out inhale to reach up high and then exhale velasana squat inhale stand back up and exhale malasana squats we'll do eight more inhale one exhale squats inhale two exhale squat inhale three exhale squat inhale four exhale squat inhale for five exhale squat inhale for six exhale squat inhale for seven exhale squat one more inhale for eight exhale squat just keeping the squat here find a little bit of movement again then plant your hands down on the ground and lift back up to a forward fold position from here I'll scoot over back to the front of my mat so we can continue on with this flow from here inhale up to a flat back and then exhale forward fold this time inhale to sweep your arms up and we'll find a chair position so keep your shoulders down and back really squat down deeply into your knees here and we'll hold here for a few moments on your next inhale bring your hands to pear Heart Center lift the right leg off the ground and begin to tilt into a warrior three position really challenging our balance challenging our legs here inhale here and then step back into an extended Crescent pose inhale once more for warrior three and then exhale step back for an extended Crescent inhale here to lift and lengthen and then exhale to unwind and open it up into a Warrior Two position from here inhale to straighten both legs lift your arms up exhale back to a Warrior Two a few more times like that inhale to straighten exhale Warrior Two inhale straighten exhale Warrior two one more time inhale to straighten exhale Warrior two and then inhale to straighten one more time and then pivot around and we'll find a goddess pose so knees should be pointing out toes pointing out and bring your hands to prayer Heart Center first find a little movement swaying back and forth here your legs might start to be burning a little bit and now we're going to go through a few squats like this so inhale to straighten exhale God is squat inhale to straighten exhale God is squat a couple more inhale to straighten exhale God is squat one more inhale to straighten exhale gotta squat inhale back up to Star and then exhale back to your Warrior Two position from here inhale to reverse re Warrior and then exhale card will your hands down to frame your left foot and step back and we'll go through our chaturanga inhaling to shift your weight forward over your wrists and exhale down through chaturanga dandasana inhale for an upward facing dog or Cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog let's take a full deep breath in and out here to reset before we move on to the other side inhale to fill your belly fill the lungs and then exhale to audibly side all out from here inhale to lift your heels bend your knees and then jump hop or step forward to the top of the mat for a forward fold inhale to lift up to a flat back and then exhale forward fold inhale to stand it all the way up to tadasana and then we'll go into that Yogi squat series here I'll turn to face you so this time we'll do 10 Yogi squats inhale lift up to the sky exhale Yogi squat inhale for two exhale Yogi squats inhale for three tail Yogi squat inhale for four exhale Yogi squat halfway inhale for five exhale Yogi squat inhale for six exhale Yogi squat inhale for seven exhale Yogi squat inhale for eight exhale Yogi squat inhale for nine exhale Yogi squat inhale for ten exhale Yogi squat inhale back up and we'll move back into our tadasana Mountain pose and then exhale back down forward fold
Upper Body Strength and Crow Pose Practice 17:20
inhale up for a flat back and then exhale forward fold once more this time inhale to sweep your arms up for a chair pose really sink deeply into your butt make sure you can still see your toes so sit back just slightly and then on your next inhale bring your hands to pray Heart Center lift the left leg up and back for your Warrior three position inhale for extended Crescent and then exhale Warrior three inhale for extended Crescent and then exhale to unwind open it up to a Warrior Two position from here inhale to straighten both legs and then exhale Bend to the right knee Warrior Two inhale to straighten exhale Warrior Two inhale to straighten exhale Warrior Two this time inhale to straighten and then exhale into your goddess pose from here we'll go through ten squats again so inhale up for star for one exhale goddess pose inhale for two exhale goddess pose inhale for three exhale goddess pose inhale for four exhale goddess pose inhale for five exhale goddess pose inhale for six exhale goddess pose inhale for seven exhale goddess pose inhale for eight exhale goddess pose two more inhale for nine exhale goddess pose one more inhale for ten and exhale goddess pose inhale to stand back up into a star and then exhale into your Warrior Two inhale to reverse through Warrior and then exhale to cartwheel your hands down to frame the right foot for a warrior lunge inhale to step back shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga dandasana inhale for an upward facing dog or Cobra and then exhale to sit back into a child's pose find some rest here we did a lot of quick and strength Activation so take a little bit of a rest before I move on all right whenever you're ready you'll meet back up in a downward facing dog so once we're all in a downward facing dog inhale to lift your right leg up and back for a three-legged dog and then exhale right knee to left elbow inhale three-legged dog exhale right knee to right elbow inhale three-legged dog and then exhale to step forward to a runner's lunge from here plant your left hand firmly down on the ground and open up into a side plank position we'll see here for just a moment and then bring your right arm around and we'll meet in a reverse plank position Primary Care will go through just five tricep dips one two three four five Great Lift back up to a side plank and then to a front plank step your right foot forward for a runner's lunge and then bring the left one up to meet it for a forward fold inhale to lift up to a flat back and then exhale forward fold inhale to sweep the arms all the way up for tadasana Mountain pose and then tiptoe your feet out wide just as wide as the mat we're going to move on to Crow pose in a moment so give yourself some space to step back if you need to and person starts by bending down into molassana squat so Crow pose is one of the more challenging poses so I'll walk you through it just do what you can so plant your hands firmly down on the ground in front of you bend your elbows deeply to create a shelf for your legs you're gonna get your legs onto your triceps and then start to lean forward a little bit a lot of people are scared to lean forward but that's how you get into this pose so Lean Forward Begin by lifting one foot and then the other and just hold here you can play around try lifting the other foot first and then hold just hold here for a few more moments really strengthening our shoulders and arms all right release it back down to the ground find yourself in a yogi squat then plant your hands and lift back up into a forward fold inhale up for a flat back and exhale to plant your hands step your feet back and go through your Tut around guys inhaling for an upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog moving on to the other side now inhale to lift your left leg up and back for a three-legged dog then a left knee to right elbow inhale three-legged dog left knee to left elbow inhale three-legged dog and then exhale to step forward for a runner's lunge
Core Work and Floor Sequence 22:48
this time inhale to plant your right hand down on the ground and open up to a side plank facing the left side of your mat then swing your arm around and we'll meet in a reversed plank position and we'll go through five tricep dips one two three four five all right lift back up to a side plank into a regular Plank and then step your left foot in between your hands for a runner's lunge next step your right foot forward to bring to meet your left for a forward fold inhale to lift up to a flat back and then exhale forward fold inhale to sweep your arms all the way up for tadasana Mountain pose and then exhale hands to prayer Heart Center all right we're going to try curly pose one more time so scoop back on your mat if you need to and then sit down into a yogi squat plant your hands out in front of you always make sure to keep your shoulders down and back and start to bend into your elbows and gently place your knees onto the back of your triceps play with lifting one foot and then the other we'll just hold here for a few moments all right release it back down to your Yogi squats and then meet in the forward fold inhale to lift up to a flat back and then exhale to plant your hands step your legs back and go through a chaturanga inhaling for Upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog all right drop down to a child's pose or on your seat towel off get some water and we'll take a little bit of a rest before you move on to our last flow all right you guys ready for our last and final flow of the day we're gonna be working on our core so let's all meet in a forearm plank position so you can have your hands clasped together or Shin or forearms parallel to the ground a step back into a forearm plank really start to find some stability here and shift forward and back a little bit at least try to engage the core and when we're ready we're going to go into some hip dips so inhale to Center exhale over to the right inhale Center exhale left inhale Center exhale right inhale Center exhale left inhale Center exhale right inhale Center exhale left couple more inhale Center exhale right inhale Center exhale left two more inhale Center exhale right inhale Center exhale left one more inhale Center exhale right inhale Center exhale left and inhale back to Center all right from here open up to a forearm plank facing the right side of your mat and we're going to do five thread the needle so inhale lift your hips up high to the sky exhale thread the needle two inhale lift up exhale thread the needle three inhale lift up exhale thread the needle four inhale lift up exhale thread the needle one more inhale lift up and exhale thread the needle bring yourself back to a neutral forearm Plank All Right moving on to the other side now open up to the left side of your mat where I'm plank we'll thread the needle again inhale to lift your hips a little bit higher and then exhale thread the needle inhale for two exhale thread the needle inhale for three exhale thread the needle inhale for four exhale thread the needle one more inhale for five and exhale thread the needle inhale to open up once more and then exhale forearm plank from here drop your knees down to the ground and lift up into a sphinx pose we'll stretch your abdomen out just a little bit here so shoulders down and back forearms pointed forward you can lift up a little bit if you want a little bit more stretch and then release it back down forehead on the mat from here sit up and swing your legs around we'll go to a few more core activators before we cool down so from here lift up into navasana boat pose I'll give you a couple different variations because we are going to do some movements in boat pose so variation one hands behind your thighs lift your legs up like this you can try straightening the legs lifting the arms find the variation that fits for you you can also bring your hands back behind here and we're going to go into a couple High about low boats so inhale to drop down to a low boat exhale up and high inhale Drop It Low exhale boat pose inhale low boat exhale High boat a couple more inhale low boat exhale High boat two more inhale low boats exhale High boat one more inhale low boats exhale High boat great all right go ahead and lay down on the back of your mats now one more core exercise and then we'll be done so we're gonna go into some Yogi bicycles a little bit different than normal bicycles because we connect each breath with each movement so they're a little bit slower but they really do activate your core more because they're not using momentum so bring your legs up to a tabletop position inhale here exhale right knee to left elbow inhale Center exhale left knee to right elbow inhale Center exhale twist inhale Center exhale twist we'll go through 10 more of those the right center left two two three three four five six seven eight eight nine nine one more each side ten ten all right pull your knees into the chest gently Rock back and forth along
Cool Down and Final Relaxation 29:38
your spine and we'll start to cool down here all right so from here pull your right knee into the chest to let the left one extend out long we'll go through supine spinal twist grab the right knee with your left arm pull it over to the left side here let your right arm extend out long and just release Here foreign go ahead and pull the right knee back into your chest this time plant your left foot on the ground and bring your right foot to the top of your left knee and we'll do a supine figure four lift your knee up grab for that left leg and really just pull it in start to feel the stretch on your right t-band your right groin your right hip the right glute that's what I was looking for all right and release it out long let the let the right leg stand out long bring the left knee into your chest give it a squeeze supine spinal twisty other side left knee over to the right and extend your left leg and extend your left arm out long all right pull the left knee back in plant your right foot down on the grounds place the left foot on top of the right knee do figure four on the other side and sway back and forth refined Stillness just do what your body's craving all right release that stretch pull both knees into the chest give yourself a tight squeeze here and before we move into shavasana I want you to give a full body stretch stretch as long as you can really stretch from your fingers down to your toes and then release it all out into shavasana our final resting pose find any variation it feels good for you today I do encourage you to take this pose we'll just stay here for a minute or two feel free to pause the video if you want to take a longer shavasana if not it's rest here and I'll guide you out in a few moments all right start to bring sudden movement to your fingers and your toes roll out your wrists and when you're ready we'll all meet up in a seated position place your hands prepare Heart Center and bring your thumbs up to your third eye lighten me honors the light in each and all of you namaste [Music]
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