Yin Yoga To Cultivate Calm & Patience

Slow down and breathe with me in this gentle 30-minute Yin Yoga practice.
With minimal talking and no music, this space is yours - to soften, to feel, to just be. It’s perfect for days when life feels too loud and you’re craving stillness. Let’s take the time to stretch, release, and reconnect - with patience, presence and calm. Just you, your mat, and a little bit of quiet.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Journey to Mindfulness.

My name is Letitia and today I'll guide you through a 30 minutes yin yoga practice to cultivate calm and patience.

Patience isn't waiting or being static but moving in harmony with the speed of nature and what life is presenting to you.

So when you're ready take a moment just to settle onto your mat in a seated position.

Maybe closing the eyes down if that feels right and comfortable for you.

Just taking a short moment to arrive in your body and get ready for your practice.

Simply tuning in with yourself with the sensations that are currently present and tuning in with your breath.

And slowly make your way into a child's pose.

Bringing the big toes together and opening the knees as wide as the mat.

You can either extend the arms in front of you perhaps slide a bolster between your legs so that you can rest your chest and your head onto the bolster.

Another version that I really love is resting the forehead onto the mat and just swaying the arms back so that the hands are towards the heels and the palms are facing up.

And keeping all the awareness onto your breath as you rest into your child's pose.

If you wish you may set an intention for your practice.

Otherwise just give yourself this time to completely soften.

From here take all the time you need to slowly come out of the shape using your hands to push yourself up.

Remaining with the hands onto the ground and perhaps taking a bit of movement through your neck or any other movement that might feel good for you right now.

And then eventually come into a seated position perhaps a cross-legged position just as you are.

You can also slide a blanket under your hips if you'd like.

Then join the soles of the feet together coming into your butterfly pose and let the knees open wide to the sides.

Slide your feet forward so they are not too close to your pelvis.

Take a deep breath in and as you exhale slowly fold forward releasing the forehead towards your feet.

If you need some support you can use a block and rest your forehead onto it.

Let the arms rest on the outside of your legs.

And notice whatever is present for you in your body in this moment.

It is truly a practice of patience.

And patience is simply sitting in the present moment with all there is.

Even the pain,

Even the hardships.

Sitting with all there is without any expectation,

Without fighting and without ignoring.

So really give yourself this time to slow down and remain patient with yourself.

And let kindness and compassion towards yourself arise from this practice of patience.

With your next inhale slowly bring the chest back up.

Again taking all the time you need to exit the shape.

Gently closing the knees,

Bringing the legs together.

Before moving onto your hands and knees.

And then tug the toes in and lift the hips up to find the first downward facing dog.

Pushing the hips towards the sky.

Perhaps finding a bit of a pedal through the legs.

Swaying the hips from side to side.

Or taking any other movement that might feel good in your body in this moment.

And slowly walk your feet towards your hands.

Remaining there until you forward fall,

Grabbing the opposite elbows.

Letting the spine,

The neck,

The head be heavy.

As the gravity pulls you towards the earth.

Gently swaying from side to side.

Eventually finding stillness in the middle for a few breaths.

And slowly release the hands onto the mat as you step the left foot between your hands.

And the right leg behind you finding a lunge here.

If you have sensitive knees you can slide the blanket under the right knee.

Keeping the chest open,

Upright.

Resting the hands onto your left knee.

And then slowly untucking the back toes.

Settling into the shape.

Again,

Stay as you are.

But if you need a bit of support,

You can lean forward.

Or you can also slide a block under your left thigh.

This shape might feel quite challenging.

So just notice how your body and your mind react.

In this moment,

In the face of challenges and discomfort.

Can you remain patient with yourself?

Can you give up on your internal deadline about how fast things should happen?

And give way to the unfolding of this shape and of life in general.

And slowly come out of the shape and find a bit of movement here if you need some release.

Through the hip and the arm string.

Maybe gently rocking back and forth.

Before shifting the left heel towards the right side of the mat.

Finding a pitch and pose.

You can either put a block under your left hip or slide a bolster under.

Just so that your hip is fully supported.

And trying to keep those hips in line with each other,

Facing forward.

As the right leg extends towards the back of the mat.

Take your time to shuffle around the shape and eventually find your alignment.

Find stillness.

Keeping the heart open and the shoulders away from the ears.

Observing what this shape feels like in your body.

Welcoming whatever arises just as it is.

No judgment.

Simply notice and observe and acknowledge.

And slowly make your way out of the shape to find another downward facing dog.

Perhaps a gentle pedal through the legs if that feels right.

Finding a bit of movement before finding lunge on the other side.

Again here,

If you have sensitive knees,

Placing a blanket under the left knee.

And then stepping the right foot forward into a 90 degree angle.

Finding space in your body where you are with your inhales.

And letting the exhales ground you.

You have the option here as well to slide a block under your right thigh if you need some extra support.

But both sides might feel completely different and that's totally fine.

One side might feel more restricted than the other.

And this is just how it is.

This is part of discovering patience.

Everything happens when it's ready to happen.

Not when we want it to.

Everything takes time to evolve and to grow.

And very slowly start coming out of the shape.

Again,

Perhaps releasing the hands onto the mat and taking a bit of movement through the right hip.

And when you're ready,

Grabbing a bolster or block.

To place under your right hip.

Shuffling that right foot towards the left side of your mat.

And extending the left leg behind you.

Finding a supported pitch and pose.

Here again,

Taking a bit of time to shuffle around.

Before finding stillness.

Using the breath always to find space and stability in your body.

And ultimately find space and stability in your mind.

And again,

Moving at your own pace and with your own breath to come out of the shape.

And make your way back into a downward facing dog.

Just one last time.

Finding a bit of movement once again.

And then finding the ground.

And coming into a wide legged forward fall.

So we'll open the legs wide to the side.

Again,

Here you can slide the bolster under your hips if you want some extra support.

And open the legs as wide as it's comfortable for you.

Take a deep breath in.

And as you exhale,

Perhaps walking the hands forward,

Feeling that stretch into the groin.

If you need here,

And if it feels good for you,

You may slide a block under the forehead.

And once you find a variation of your choice,

Really letting yourself soften and melt into that shape.

Letting the breath flow freely in and out through the nose.

And slowly walk your hands towards you,

Lift the chest up.

And very slowly close the legs.

There is no rush.

Before making your way onto your back,

I like to use a blanket under my head and under my neck.

It feels very supportive.

And grab the block with you.

Knees are bent,

Feet flat onto the floor so that you can bring the hips up and slide the block under the sacrum.

If the block doesn't feel right for you,

You may slide the bolster under the sacrum.

Whatever you choose,

Just make sure that you are fully supported and stable where you are.

Then take a deep inhale and lift one leg and then the other towards the ceiling.

The arms are resting alongside your body,

Palms facing down.

This will give you extra stability as well.

Feeling this energy circulating from the soles of the feet.

This is a beautiful restorative posture that lowers the cortisol level making you feel more grounded,

Less stressed.

This is a great and easy way to regulate the nervous system.

We'll be here for another couple of breaths and then moving very slowly and gently to bring the feet down back onto the earth lifting the hips up to remove the block from under them.

And make your way into our final resting pose in Shavasana.

Taking the Shavasana of your choice,

You can either lay flat or perhaps bring a bolster under your knees.

Once again make yourself feel supported,

Held and comfortable where you are taking as much space as you need softening the muscles in your face softening the shoulders the hips the legs and the feet and you can rest in your Shavasana for as long as you wish but if you are ready to go on with your day I invite you to find a bit of movement through the fingers and the toes perhaps taking a big stretch extending the arms overhead and bringing the knees to the chest giving yourself a big squeeze rocking from side to side before rolling to your preferred side when you're ready and just posing there for a moment and slowly bringing yourself up into a seat.

Again there is absolutely no rush here remaining to your seat with your eyes closed as we close off this practice you are more than welcome to take a few deep breaths here inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth and again deep inhale through the nose and side out we'll take one more of those deep breath in all the way up and empty gently bringing your hands to your chest hands to your heart to remind us to have clear loving intentions hands to your forehead to remind us to have clear and loving thoughts hands to your mouth to remind us to have clear and loving communication thank you very much for practicing with me today I'm so grateful for you and your presence and I hope you have a beautiful day and I'll see you next time.

Thank you