Restorative Practice For Healing

This practice is designed to hold you. We'll slowly moving through restorative yoga postures designed to calm to nervous system, soothe the mind, and hold space for true emotional healing.

Take 27 minutes to be in your body, and be held by your practice. Thank you for allowing me to guide you.

*This is an exclusive Portal practice. Find more practices and support on my profile.*

Transcript

Hi and welcome. This is an exclusive portal movement practice. Today we will be practicing restorative yoga for healing. This is a nice gentle practice. I would recommend or invite you to bring two blocks to this practice and maybe a blanket. This restorative practice is all about returning to the body, Allowing yourself the space to slow down and process whatever it is you are going through for the day. We'll begin in an extended child's pose. So take all of your moments to gather up and I'll see you there. Now coming into your extended child's pose, If it feels right, You're welcome to grab your block one or two right away to bring the earth up to you. Take a few moments as you come onto all fours to gently rock side to side. Open up through the hips. And then eventually widen the knees, Toes come together behind you. Sink the hips back. And fingertips reach out toward the top edge of your mat. Block depending on how many you have. If it's just one, Maybe it rests underneath your chest. Or underneath the forehead. If you have two blocks, You're welcome to bring them underneath the palm. Maybe lift the earth up in that way, Find a little bit of balance. A deeper shoulder stretch. For this first moment here Arrive in a way that feels good. Fingertips can reach forward toward the top edge of your mat. Maybe fingertips reach back towards your toes or the back edge of your mat. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. We are entering this practice. Nice and low to the ground. And as you begin to arrive, Feel the support underneath you. Maybe tapping into the sensation of the tops of the feet. Remember your forehead is gently resting on the mat or on your block. Separate your teeth, Relax your jaw. Notice if there's any gripping or holding you could gently release. And on your next exhale, Exhale out all the way. Empty, Empty, Empty your lungs. Next breath in through your nose, Big full breath, Feel your belly expand, The low back expand. Open mouth exhale. Relax your jaw. Allow the shoulders to be heavier. Good, Again like that. Inhale in through your nose, Filling all the way up to the top. Open mouth exhale. Maybe a sigh or sound goes with. Let's do one more big breath in. Big breath out. And return to a natural rhythm of breath. Staying here for a few more moments to just breathe. Notice the areas of your body that move as you breathe. Feel the support underneath you once more. Your next breath in fill all the way up to the top maybe add a gentle hold And open mouth exhale. Has begun to move. Invitation to go slow. Feel into the palms of the hands and the tops of the feet. And slowly begin to lift up to tabletop position. Lock in the hands underneath your shoulders. Walk your knees underneath your hip points. Your blanket is welcome to come in to be some support underneath the knees. Blocks can come in underneath the palms. To reduce a little flexion in the wrist. Just take a few moments to just notice how this tabletop feels. Again, Maybe a gentle rock side design. If the wrists are calling for a little love, Take a moment to stretch them. Fingers can flip out toward the outer edges as you gently rock side to side. Really pressing into the fingertips. Thank you. And then eventually coming to a nice neutral tabletop position. Shoulders back over the wrists, Hips over your knees. I'm pressing the ground away. So as we're moving through this restorative practice, Allowing the effort to be maybe 80%. So still that containment within. But really leaving space for softness. Soften the elbows, Elbow creases spiral forward. On your next inhale, Drop the belly, Tailbone lifts toward the sky. Maybe gentle lift of the chin for cow pose. Press the ground away even more, Big breath in. And exhale cat pose one vertebrae at a time. So tucking the tailbone chin will tuck toward chest really press the ground away so you'll feel this in the upper back Allow the head to hang heavy. Nice stretch for the neck. Staying one full breath in. Full breath out. Good, On your next inhale, Cow pose. Drop the belly, Open the heart, Go slow. In the exhale for cat, Press the ground, Navel hooks up and in to support this stretch. Do it again. Inhale, Cow pose. Gently tilt the pelvis. And exhale to round. Talking tailbone toward earth, Press through the hands and the feet. Last one, In. . . And exhale. Good neutral spine Bring the knees wide, Toes together behind you. Extended child's pose. Allowing heart, The chest to melt. Allowing your movement, Your breath. To be enough. The little goes a long way. Give yourself some time. We are ready. Gently pressing through the palms, Pressing the tops of your feet. Bring the knees together and swing the feet around. Making our way to the back. So taking a few moments to get there. You're welcome to lie your blanket down. Bring a block with you. Bring. . . Excuse me, Bring both of your blocks so they're at least nearby, Reachable. And then as you come to your back. We'll use one of those blocks right away. To scoochieing. Ankles hip-width, Toes are facing forward. Cures Scooch towards your body so that knees can stack over your ankles. And then grabbing onto one of your blocks. And when you're ready, Gently beginning to lift the hips. So press through the feet and slide your block underneath the low back. So it could be at the lower setting or maybe a medium setting. If you want to get wild, Maybe it's the higher setting, But really go slow here. Remember that invitation. And then gently resting the low back, The sacrum on that block. It may fall at a different spot for all of us, So take the time to kind of snuggle in. There's this little pocket of flatness somewhere there. And then allowing the hands to be wide. Palms face up. Press into the back of your head, Snuggle the shoulder blades up underneath you. Supported bridge. Allow the hips. To melt into your block. In this gentle inversion, The heart is above the mind. Do your best to let go. Wherever you are today, Whatever is going on for you. Way to show off for yourself. Find the sound of your breath. I'm going to be quiet for the next couple moments. Do your best to deepen the breath. So add an extra beat or two to the inhale. And the longest exhale you can find. These last couple breaths allow the belly to inflate as you breathe in. And as you breathe out, Shoulders melt into the earth. Empty, Empty, Empty. Find three more conscious breaths. In and out. In and out. And stay as long as you need. We need a few more moments. This is one of my favorite restorative postures. For the heart. Mind. And the digestive system. If you're ready to continue on. Gently, Slowly coming back to the soles of your feet. Maybe a wiggle or spread of the toes. And press the soles of the feet down and gently sliding your block out from underneath you. Allow the low back to land. It may feel nice to hug one knee in and then the other. Gentle rock side to side. Reclined cobbler's pose is next. So here's where two blocks may be nice. You can bring one block in for either side. Soles of the feet will come together. Stay here grounded on the back. And your blocks can slide underneath your thighs. So this is again kind of personal. Maybe it's the knees depending on how open your hips are. You can play with the size of the blocks. I like to bring them at the more medium setting and then even add a tilt to it so it's more in line with your thighs. Play around here, Take a second. And then snuggling back in in the upper body. If you have a pillow, You're welcome to bring it underneath your head. Or you can even use your blanket if you're not lying on it to fold it up. Create a little pillow for yourself here. Ankles can be scooched out and more of a diamond. Or if you're looking for a little more, Maybe scooched up closer towards your center. In the know how lane this posture to hold you. Maybe bringing the hands to the tops of the hip crease for a little warmth. Some grounding. Power of personal touch and reconnecting to the body. It's. . . So important. Make you feel vulnerable by That relationship with yourself, Building trust with this beautiful body is everything. Allow yourself to let go. And come back to the sound of your breath. Breathing in through your nose. Out through your nose or your mouth. If it's helpful to anchor the mind with a count on your breathing, Do that. Make in and out one. I'll see you at five. Soften the backs of your eyes. Release the tongue from the roof of your mouth. You are supported. You are safe. Take one more breath in. Big breath out. And only when you're ready, Assisting the legs together. Blocks kind of fall to the side and bring the knees together. Hug the knees in towards your chest. Gentle rock side to side. And as the knees are hugging in, Allow them to fall all the way over to the right. Now if you have that block handy, Block can fall to the left. Can come to the inner thighs. You can leave it grounded for the knees to fall on. Or maybe kind of not needing it at all you can find the cross of the legs. Come into a supine twist that. . . There's no effort or force. Press into the back of the head, Snuggle the shoulder blades underneath you once more. Just relax your jaw. Big cleansing breath in through your nose. And out through your mouth. Bringing it out. Two more, Big breath in. Big breath out. And then this last one, If it feels right to look toward the left, A little stretch for the neck. And take one more inhale. And one more exhale. And slowly coming back to center. Hugging the knees and. . . Nice length of the spine. Allowing the knees to fall toward the left. Maybe that block. Comes in to assist. Maybe not. Ooh, A little pop. Snuggling in on this side. So realign the spine. Arms can be out wide. Elbows bent, More of a cactus shape. We'll close your eyes. Take it away, Three cycles of breath. Hmm. Incredibly nourishing posture for the mind. For the body. A very energetic highway that we call a spine running through the entire systems. Your last breath, Maybe opening. Rolling onto the right ear. Take one more breath in. Big breath out. Slowly coming back to center. I'm winding, I'm crossing it all. Huh. And then last. Little bit before Shavasana. Is legs up the wall. Now, If you're near a wall, You're welcome to do that. So kind of scoot your way, Lift the legs. If not, Which I'm going to be here with. Those who may not have a wall right next to you, Grab onto your block once more. Scooch the heels in. Coming back to like we are entering our supported bridge, Begin to lift the hips and slide your block underneath the low back. Probably at the lowest setting for this round. Then when you're ready lift the left foot up toward the ceiling. Lift the right foot up toward the ceiling to meet it. Knees can have a soft bend. Make adjustments in your neck. Snuggle the shoulders underneath you. And once more open the palms up toward the sky. Close your eyes and allow the circulation to travel in opposite directions. It's really integrating. Nourishing. So good for the heart. So good for the low back. And the kidneys and adrenals. If you're resting on a wall, Do your best to snuggle in. We'll have a few quiet moments here to just breathe. So. . . I love Legs at the Wall. After a long day. Either being on the feet or even just a long day mentally and in the mind. This is a beautiful posture to come back to for five minutes. The end of your day. Now I'm sure you can hear the birds. In my background. I hope they're not distracting. It's a lie. For the external noise in your environment. To just be. Come back to the sound of your breath. You're welcome to pause and take your Shavasana in legs up the wall. Few more moments here to just be I can pause the video or just allow my voice to fade away in the background. When you're ready to release the legs down, Please go slow. Bending one knee, Bringing the sole of the foot down and then the other. If you're on the wall, Gently. Rolling to one side. In assisting yourself. Into a line. Position for Shavasana. If you're with me, Gently lift the hips and slide your block out from underneath you. Extend the legs out long. Extend the arms out long. And last. . . Two minutes, Two minutes here. Fully integrate your practice in corpse pose. Shavasana is one of the most sacred postures in my opinion. This practice of doing nothing. So for this restorative practice for healing, This is where. . . The magic happens. Gently skin your body from the crown of your head. Down through the face and the shoulders and the arms. And the chest and the belly. The hips. Hello there. No way! I feel it. And the toes. Allow your body to be heavy. And allow your body to just breathe. Separate your teeth, Relax your jaw. Release the skin between your eyebrows. Bring your first finger to meet your thumb. And gently draw circles with your fingerprints. Really slowly. And maybe bringing your thumb print to your middle finger. Draw circles slowly. Begin to move your tongue around in your mouth, Stretch your jaw. You slide the thumbs to your ring fingers. And then your pinkies. Making your way across the finger pads once more. And then bringing the palms of the hands to one another and gently rub them together. Regenerating a little heat. From bringing your hands to your heart. Feel the warmth of your palms. Thank you. For practicing with me. Thank you for taking the time to practice with yourself. I'll see you soon. Take good care. Namaste.