Gentle Yoga - Upper Body Mobility and Stretch

We start with gentle movements through the neck and shoulders. From there, we move into the wrists, fingers, and elbows, and finish with the chest to work on mobility and stretching through the upper body.

Transcript

Hi, Everyone, And welcome to these Monday evening 20 to 25 minutes-ish of gentle yoga. As always, I can't see you, So make sure that you always listen to your body. That's the most important thing. If there's something that I'm cuing that doesn't feel good, Feel free to skip it. You're welcome to turn on your camera or ask me questions, As many questions as you want after the class. So today we are going to focusing on mobility and also stretching the upper body. Now we are going to start off finding ourselves in a comfortable position. For me, I am going to. . . Sit on a yoga block but for you maybe it feels good for you to stay for today to stay laying on your back lay on your side um sitting on a block with me whatever that feels comfortable for you Letting your arms be whatever is comfortable. Let your legs be whatever is comfortable. If it feels good to close the eyes, Close the eyes. We're gazing somewhere just right in front of you. And let's start by taking a deep breath in through your nose. Exhale, Let it go. As a moment for us to arrive into this practice. Maybe start by noticing your surroundings. No noticing any sounds. Not the same and the same. And then for the next few moments. Maybe even start to notice your physical body Now for today, We're going to pay attention onto our neck, Our shoulders, And our chest. So maybe paying extra close attention in those spots. Maybe even mentally jot down a few notes of how those spots are feeling right now. And as we noticing those specific spots, Also start to pay attention of your physical body as a whole. Noticing if there's any tension. Any discomfort. But I also invite you to notice what feels good in the body. And even being aware of all these sensations with no judgment. And then on your next few breaths, Can you let yourself to go just a little bit deeper, Noticing your thoughts? Whatever those thoughts might be. Can we imagine these thoughts as the other pieces of clown? Letting them drift in. And drift away. Now, As you come back to your breath, Even though that we're practicing in different parts of the world, We're still creating a safe space for each other. And in this safe space, There is no judgment, No expectations. And finally, I invite you to think about something that you're grateful for today. Whatever that might be, Can you allow that thought to fill every single part of yourself? Now let's start this practice by bringing your breaths together. Let's take a deep breath in through your nose. And exhale, Let it go. One more just like that. Deep breath in. And long breath out. Slowly starting to flutter our eyes open. Now, For those of us that are laying down, I invite you to come into our seat. For those of us that started with seated, If you do have your legs crossed, We're going to switch it up so that the other one is on top just to even it out. Now we're going to start by bringing some movement into the neck. So start by tucking the chin down towards the chest. On your neck, Inhale, Let's start to roll a head up in one direction. Doesn't matter which way. Now you're welcome to make these circles as big as you need. Or as small as you win. Maybe noticing any sound. Any sensation. And then the next time when your chin comes back towards the chest, We're going to roll ahead in the opposite way. Now maybe noticing the differences between the first direction and this one. And then eventually coming back into that stillness. Now we're going to start to turn our head from side to side. So trying our best without moving the torso, We're just going to turn our head. So take a breath in. As I exhale, We're going to gaze over towards the right side. Inhale center. And exhale to the left. Just a few more of these and I want you to follow your breath. Maybe your breath is faster than me. Maybe your breath is slower than mine. But as you start to get the hang of these tilting the head from side to side, Maybe it even feels good to close that eye. Noticing what sort of sensation as you bring your head from one side to the other. And then just one more on each side. Beautiful. And then eventually coming back into neutral. Now we're going to tilt our head from the left and the right. So sitting nice and tall. And then starting to tilt your head over to one side. And then bringing your head back to center. And as you exhale, Bring it to the opposite way. Now I like to follow my breath, Inhale center and exhale to one side. But just noticing that some of us It feels better to either go a little bit faster. We're a little bit slower. Now the idea is as you tilt your head from side to side, That we're not moving the torso. So we're not leaning towards the side. We're not moving that spine at all. Really isolating that movement into the neck. One more on each side. Beautiful. And then eventually coming back to center, Let's do those head rolls once again. And then this time maybe noticing any differences between the first time and this time through. Rolling to the opposite way. I always notice it every time when I really work into those mobility into the joint. I feel like I squirt some WD-40 in that space. It just feels a little bit more looser. And then eventually coming back into that stillness, The next thing we're going to focus on is our fingers. So starting to reach your fingers towards in front of you. And then we're just going to almost like bringing one finger down at a time. If you play piano, Imagine you're doing some sort of scale. It doesn't matter how fast you go or how slow you go. Wonderful. And then eventually we're going to make a fist and then we're just going to roll that wrist. And then rolling the wrist in the opposite way. Beautiful. And then we're going to bring that movement into our elbow. So the tacking, Not tacking, But bringing the arms out to the side and this time just drawing these big circles with the elbow. And then go the opposite way. Wonderful. The last thing we're going to do is into our shoulders. So start to lift the shoulders up towards the ears. And as you exhale, Roll them back and then coming down and then rolling forward. Now once again, You're welcome to make this movement fast or slow. Maybe even noticing any sounds. I know that one shoulder for me always makes these sounds. And then we're going to reverse this. Beautiful. Just a couple more breaths in here. And then we're going to make our way onto our tabletop. I'm gonna keep demoing and facing to the camera so you can all see me dog away for a little bit so hope everybody can see my palms good All right, We're gonna spread those palms nice and wide, And then we're gonna start to lean forward. First of all, We're just gonna shift the weight from side to side. As you shift away from side to side, Maybe even starting to notice that stretch in the wrists into the forearms. And then eventually coming back in that stillness, We're going to turn the fingertips towards the side of the mat and then start to shift away from side to side. And then we're gonna keep turning those fingertips. So if it feels okay for you, We're gonna turn those fingertips all the way towards the back of the mat. Now keeping in mind if this is very intense, Maybe just go about like a diagonal way. I also find that if it's very intense, Start to walk your knees a little bit further towards the front, Like towards your palms and wrists. That should help you release the tension just a little bit more. Now this one will be very mindful. Only if it feels good, Then you're welcome to shift that weight from side to side. Maybe even noticing that you won't be able to shift those weight as much as you can. As much as you can as when those fingertips are pointing to the side and to the front. And then if it's okay for you, Eventually we're going to find that stillness. If this is very intense, Come out of it. And we won't stay here for too, Too long, Just for a couple more breaths. Beautiful. And they're starting to turn those fingertips back towards their front. Maybe it feels good to sit onto your heels and then just shake those wrists, Roll those wrists. We're just going to do the same thing towards the back of the wrist. So if it feels okay for you, We are going to start to make a fist again, Tucking those fingertips into the thumb. Now we're gonna bring our knuckles together like this. Keep bending into the knees. We're gonna place the back of the palms with those knuckles touching onto the mat like that. So noticing that my fingertips or my knuckles are not splaying out like this, They're gonna keep gluing towards each other. Once you have it, We're gonna gently start to As much as we can straighten the arm. I am giggling and laughing because this is as straight as I can go. Now, Noticing that if those fingertips are starting to come apart from your palms, Can you keep trying your best to bring those fingertips back towards your palms? Mm-hmm. And we won't stay in these posts for too, Too long as I know it's not the most comfortable position of all. Alright, Let's stay here for one more breath. Beautiful. And it's starting to release this pose. Once again, If it feels good, Sit onto your heels. I am just gonna gently. . . Move my arms or move my palms. Yours might be different. Wonderful. And I did say we're going to focus on this chest. So we're going to stretch the chest with coming our belly face down onto the mat. Then we'll it this way. So keeping our legs extended, I'm going to sweep one arm out to the side. I'm going to sweep my right arm out. Yours can be different. Now, Instead of having this right arm straight, I want you to bend at the elbow so that your fingertips pointing towards one side of the mat. It doesn't matter which side. Plant that right palm or right cheek down onto the mat. And then we're going to start to roll over onto that right side. Now as you roll over to the right side, You might notice that you cannot go as deep as when you have the arm extended. And that's okay, Because you might feel that stretch in a different spot. However, As always, If you're like, Jackie, I don't like this pose. I like it a lot more with my arms straight. Listen to your body. Now for those of us that do have the elbows bent though, If you would like to do a little movement with me to kind of like being an only investigator and find different spots. With that bent elbow, We're going to start to crawl the arm towards the top of the mat. Maybe you feel it into a different spot. And then starting to slide that arm down towards our toes. Maybe you also feel a different spot. Now, As you keep moving that palm forward and back, Up or down, Maybe you find a new spot that you might want to stay still on. For me today. As I creep that fingertips a little bit higher, I feel that stretch into a different spot that my body really needs today. And then once you find a new spot that you would like to stay still on, We're going to stay here for the next five to six more long, Deep breaths. Two more breaths in here. One more breath in. If it feels good, Say it out. And then if your body is asking for you to stay longer, Feel free to stay. If you're ready to release this shape, Gently start to bring yourself back down onto our belly. Let's bring both hands by her hips, Palms facing up. We're going to start by bringing the left cheek down onto the mat. Maybe just noticing that differences between the left side and the right side. And then whenever you're ready, We'll do the same thing to the opposite side. So I'm going to extend my left arm a lot long. I'm going to bend that elbow so that my fingertips is pointing towards the top of the mat. Planting the right hand down and gently start to roll ourselves over onto the left side. And as always, If your body do enjoy that straight arm more, Do that. Wonderful. Now, If your body feels good and you want to start to bring in that movement, Start to move the arm up. We're down. Feeling different spots that might need some attention into the chest. And then when you find one new spot that you would like to stay a little bit longer. I'm going to stay in that spot and linger for the next five to seven more long deep breaths. Two more breaths in here. One more breath in. And if it feels good, Sigh it out. And then once again, Whenever you're ready to come out of this shape, Starting to bring yourself back down onto our bellies. Both hands by your hips, Palms facing up. This time, Opposite cheek on the mat. So I believe that will be the right cheek down. Just staying here for the next few moments. Noticing what sort of sensation the chests are sending you. Staying in this awareness for one more breath. And then whenever you're ready, We're going to roll over onto our. . . Now, If you can stay for an extra five more minutes for Shavasana. Feel free to join me however you have to go. Thank you for joining us today and I hope to see you next time. In Shavasana, We're going to extend our legs out long. Maybe having the feet be about mat with this as a part and letting those toes fall to the side. As if you'll go to have your hands by your hips, Palms facing up. Or does it feel better for you to bring your hands onto your belt? Let's have a slight tuck of the chin and feel that length in the back of the neck. If it feels okay for you, I invite you to close your eyes. Or maybe just gazing somewhere just right in front of you. Let's start by taking a deep breath in through your nose. And exhale, Side out. Shavasana, Our final resting pose. Start to bring awareness to the top of your head. And start to relax the forehead. Creating that space between your eyebrows. And allow your eyes to sink deep into their sockets. Feel the space between your teeth. Releasing your neck and let your shoulders come back down towards the ground. Allowed your arms to be heavy. Releasing your back. Noticing the rise and fall of your abdomen. With every inhale. And exhale. Allow your hips to be heavy. And send this relaxation down towards your legs. Releasing your thigh. Your hamstring. Yoshin. Your calves. Feel the release of your ankles. And allow this relaxation to move through to each and every toe. Let yourself be surrounded by this warmth. And by this piece. . . Reminding ourselves to fill your jar with the things that you love to do. And as always. . . Keep being you. The world needs more you. Slowly start to deepen your breath. Bringing sensation back into your body. By wiggling your fingers and your toes. Rolling your head from side to side. Rolling your hands and your feet. On your next inhale, We'll reach your arms up to the sky towards the back. Take a deep breath in. And next I'll say it out. Bringing our knees into the chest, We'll all roll over to the right, Coming into a ball, Maybe using your arm as a pillow. Staying here for a few moments. Enjoying this peace and quiet that you have created for yourself. And know that it is here for you whenever you need. Gently pressing ourselves back up into a comfortable seat. Taking your time, There is no rush. Sitting nice and tall. On your next inhale, Let's sweep our arms up to the sky. Then as you exhale, Hands towards your heart center. Thank you for sharing your practice with me today.