A 15-Minute Yoga Flow To Create Space For The Changing Of Seasons

Even living in sunny Los Angeles, I find there is something extra cozy about transitioning into fall as a yogi. I notice my physical cravings start to shift from fast-paced vinyasa to slow and heated hatha. My asana practice becomes more soulful and embodied, as if my body knows it's time to turn inward and use the four corners of my mat as a space for reflection before we reach the end of the year.

I find myself more and more frequently playing with the duality of yin and yang energy as the days start to cool, incorporating heating pranayama, and exploring deeper ways to access opening through both physical poses and seated practices.

This is one of the building blocks of my practice and a pose that evokes patience and presence time and time again. It's easy to kick your leg up and move onto the next pose, but the true joy comes from treating this transitional movement as a pose within itself. By taking our time with the foundation, we set ourselves up for success when we shift into more challenging asanas.

Summer might be over, but that doesn't mean that we can't incorporate playful energy into our lives throughout the fall and winter. I love combining common poses to add an extra challenge and foreign feeling in my body while I'm practicing, and this asana does exactly that. Between balancing, abdominal engagement, and hip opening, this side plank variation will become your new favorite pose to add in during your fall flows.

To intensify your practice, this asana will continue cultivating the yang energy that the previous poses in this flow have been building on. The duality between the lower body grounded and supported and the upper body open and expanded provides a symbol of balance that we can incorporate into our lives outside of the four corners of the mat.

While challenging, this variation of goddess pose always provides a heating energy, intensity, and sense of surrender that feels natural as we transition into fall. Fall is a time for warm energy, finding solace in doing less, and reflection, and this pose offers us an opportunity to cultivate all of those qualities through our physical body.

This final yang-inspired posture of the flow brings the body back to basics while still evoking a fire within. Triangle pose is the perfect dash of cinnamon on top of a warming fall elixir as it gives the front leg a break before transitioning into the opposing side of the body and the second half of the flow. It requires awareness to maintain core strength, intentional breath, and alignment throughout the body. 

Half pigeon pose is the ultimate way to slow the body down and transition into the yin energy of the fall and winter months. It is deeply surrendering and offers an opportunity to observe the mind's relationship to physical sensation that runs throughout the body. Through this stillness we have an opportunity to let go of physical and emotional tension that we've been storing and create energetic space in the body and mind.

After finishing your fall yoga flow on both the right and left side, settle into a seated position to end your practice with pranayama. Kapalabhati, translated from Sanskrit is "skull-cleansing breath," and don't worry—it's not anywhere near as scary as it sounds! This practice has been used as a purifying technique and is an amazing way to end your practice feeling energized, heated from within, and clear in your mental and physical body. If you're pregnant or have cardiac problems, it is not recommended to practice this breathwork.