Unravel — Yin Yoga Full Body Twists

A floor-based Yin practice working through full body twists from multiple angles. Long-held passive shapes move through the spine, hips, and shoulders, creating space and releasing compression through the connective tissue that holds us tight. Each pose is held for several minutes, giving time and gravity room to do the work while you soften and let go. A bolster, pillow, folded blanket, or a couple of blocks are all helpful. However, no props? No problem. Come as you are.

Transcript

So taking a few moments. To get settled and comfortable in supported child's pose. And then allow your body to soften. Allow your eyes to close. And start to arrive here. Letting go of your day so far. Letting go of any thoughts anything you need to do after this or the rest of the week. Letting go of anything that's on your mind right now and just start to arrive here. And you can do that by starting to bring your awareness to your breath. Just without trying to change it, Just notice how your breath feels. Notice if. . . You're breathing fast or slow, Deep or shallow. See if you can follow the next inhale as it enters your body. And then follow the next exhale out. Taking one deep cleansing breath here together, Take a deep breath in through your nose. Then open your mouth and slowly and quietly sigh it out. Let it go. Good. Continue breathing deeply. In and out of your nose if that feels comfortable. Just allowing your body to breathe at its own natural rhythm. And just see if you can. . . Notice it slowing down as you start to settle in. With every exhale, See if you can soften. And let go of one thing that you're holding on to here. Maybe it's a muscle. Maybe it's your jaw. Maybe it's a thought or an emotion or an expectation. And as you breathe here, Bring your awareness to your body, Just noticing how your body feels. You've been here for a few minutes now. Just notice if there's any part of your body that's a little tight or sore. Notice if you need to make adjustments. Notice if there is anything you need to be mindful of during practice. As always, If something I say during practice doesn't feel right for you, Please don't do it. Just ignore me. Move out of the pose and take a deep breath. Find a resting posture that works for you. And then join me when you're ready. Following the next inhale, See if you can feel your body expand. When you reach the top of the inhale. Let's see if we can hold. For just a moment. And then with the next exhale, See if you can soften and feel heavy on your mat. Okay, Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. Slowly start to come out of the pose. Moving your palm away just come to your hands and knees so move really slowly we've been in child's pose for about 5 minutes. So just being mindful and moving slowly, Mindfully. Come to tabletop, Spread your fingers wide. Bring your wrists under your shoulders, Knees right underneath your hips. And you can keep your toes tucked or keep the tops of the feet on the mat. Good and then looking straight down so the back of your neck is long. And we're going to move with our breath. So as you inhale, Drop your belly, Open up your heart, Look up. As you exhale, Round your back, Tuck your tail, Look down. Inhale, Drop your belly, Open up your heart, Look up, Cow pose, Move really slowly. And then exhale to round your back, Tuck your tail, Look down. Cat pose. Good, Inhale, Cow. Exhale to cat. One more inhale. And exhale. Good come back to tabletop from here we're going to come to thread the needle so you may want to come back to child's pose so knees wide big toes together and you can keep your hips up if that feels good From here, Inhale to reach your left arm all the way up towards the ceiling. And as you exhale, Cross it under the right. Just bring your left shoulder to the right. And left side of the head, Your temple on. Than that. And if it feels good, You can sit back. So bringing your hips down. So just try it out. See what feels better. Maybe it feels better to keep your hips up. Maybe it feels better to bring a pillow or bolster just under your hips so you can rest your hips on something. Just finding a place that feels good here. And allowing your shoulder and the side of your head to rest. Around the ground and make sure that this is comfortable. So this should feel really good in your left shoulder Make sure there's no pain or discomfort Just allow and then allow your right arm to rest so it can rest on the ground in front of you you bring it on top of Bring your right hand on top of the left palm Bring your right arm behind you, Your palm facing up. It. We're not going to be here for too long. We're just finding a spot where you can hold the pose without pain. Make sure you're comfortable, Grounded. Heavy and supported. Fields. And then soften your gaze or close your eyes, Soften your jaw, Your forehead. And see if you can get settled here, Get comfortable. Breathe deeply in and out of your nose if that feels good. Allowing gravity to really open up. What? Left shoulder here, Nice stretching. Yeah it should feel really good Should be a really. . . A really nice stretch in your shoulder. We don't usually stretch this way. If you have any injuries. Again make sure you're not holding pain You can come back to child's pose. You can come to a seat. Taking long, Deep breaths wherever you are. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. Good. One more inhale. And exhale. Okay, From here, Bring your right palm on the mat in front of you, And then slowly come up to a tabletop position. So coming back to tabletop, Knees underneath your hips, Wrists under your shoulders. And just moving through some cat cows again. So as you inhale, Drop your belly, Open up your heart, Look up. Exhale to round your back, Tuck your tail, Look down. Two more inhale drop your belly open up your heart look up Exhale to round your back. You Last one, Inhale. And exhale. Good, Now moving to the second side. So again, You can bring your knees wider or you can keep them where they are. You can adjust your props if you need to. And then start to, As you inhale, Lift your right arm all the way up. And then exhale, Cross it under the left, Bringing your right shoulder and right side of the head on the mat. Again, You can try bringing your hips back or bringing a prop under your hips. You can keep your left arm in front of you. Or bring it on your back. Just adjust, Make modifications and see what feels right in your body. Again, Just being really mindful of any pain. Sharp pulling or discomfort especially in your shoulder, In your neck. Making sure your knees are happy and comfortable. And that you can hold this pose for a few minutes. And when you find your edge, When you find the place where it feels good for you, Is come to stillness. Feeling the stretch in your right shoulder. Maybe in your hips. And just breathing into it. Noticing if there's any part of your body that you're holding onto that you can soften and let go of. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more inhale And exhale. Again, Slowly start to move out of the pose, Moving really slowly. Start to walk your knees forward, You can cross your ankles and then sit back. Into a seat, So finding a comfortable seat. You can. . . Maybe grab. A pillow to bring under your hips or fold up your mat or blanket. Just so you can tilt your hips forward a little bit just coming to a tall seat Your spine tall. Your neck straight, Chin parallel to the mat, Softening your shoulders down your back. Just notice the effects of those poses in our practice. You Next inhale, Roll your shoulders up towards your ear. And then exhale, Roll them down your back. Two more like that. Inhale, Shoulders move up towards your ears. And then exhale, Roll them back and down. And one more inhale. And exhale. And from here, We're going to move into deer pose. So I'm going to start with the right leg in front. So your right leg is going to be the same way it is. And you're going to bring your left. Shin to be parallel to the short edge of your mat. So right shin parallel to the long edge, Left shin parallel to the short. And it may feel awkward or weird, So you may need to adjust your feet. You can flex and your left foot if that feels good or just come to the top of the foot and you can move your feet so you're comfortable here. So again you want to be able to sit comfortably, Your knees comfortable and Then you can grab a prop, Maybe a pillow. We're going to turn towards the right knee. Towards the knee that's in front of you. And then you're just gonna start to walk your hands forward, Just bringing your torso on top of your right thigh. So again, This should feel really good. So making sure that there's no pain in your hips, You can sit on a pillow or a bolster. And when you roll down, You can bring a bolster in front of you and just bring your upper body on top of a bolster. Again, You can use blocks to bring the pillow or bolster up to you if you can't go too close to the ground. So this may take a few moments to just finding your place, Setting up your prop, And getting settled here. And you can bring your head on your pillow and maybe turn your head. To one side or the other again. Just try it out, See what feels best in your neck. Um you should feel this pose in your right hip maybe the outer edge of your right thigh. Again, This should feel really good. It should be a really dull, Achy feeling in your leg. No pain, Especially no sharp pulling in your knees or in your lower back. So take a few moments to find. Your place here, Find your pose. And then get settled, Come to stillness. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. And then notice where you feel the pose. And see if you can visualize your breath moving to that area in your body. Visualize the next exhale softening everything. Letting your body feel heavy. Letting go of anything you're holding on to and allowing gravity to Open you up. Open up. You know fascia, The. . . Joins. Noticing if there's any muscles that you're actively flexing or holding on to. See if you can soften and let go. And just notice how that feels. So we've been here for about a minute or so. Just notice if. . . Maybe the sensations here are too much. Maybe you need to back out. Maybe you need to make adjustments. Or maybe it's completely okay and comfortable and you just stay here in stillness. Taking the next few breaths here in stillness. And allowing your body to settle. Your mind starts to wander. Just gently and kindly bring your awareness back to your breath. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. It slowly. Start to push your hands on the ground, Push yourself upward. Coming to a cease and then just really slowly bring your feet flat on the mat in front of you. And just again, Really slowly and mindfully windshield wiper your knees from side to side. Noticing the difference between the two sides. Yeah. And then extend your life long. And then maybe bend one knee and then the other, Shaking your legs. Rinsing that out, Letting that go. Good. From here, Keeping your right leg long, You're going to bring the left foot to the outside of your leg. So you can keep the right leg extended or you can bend your knee and just come to a seat with your right foot to the outside of your knee. So whatever feels good. And again, You can sit on top of a pillow or folded up blanket just to level up your hips a little bit. We're not gonna be here for too long. We're just coming into an easy seated twist. So you're gonna hug your left knee with your right arm. So you can hook your elbow around your knee and then coming into a twist. So left hand behind you, You can use your arm to sit tall. And then as you exhale, See if you can pull your knee close to you and just come into a twist. Yeah. Deep breath in, Sit tall. And exhale, Maybe twist a little bit more. And then coming back to center, We're just going to come into an easy seat again. So just find your seat. Sitting tall. Inhale, Roll your shoulders up towards your ears and then down your back. Good. So just noticing. How your body feels here. Noticing any differences. Your body from the left to the right. Now when you're ready, We're moving to the second side. So We're going to keep the left shin. In front. And just bring the right shin parallel to the short edge of the mat. So again, Finding your place you can bring a pillow maybe under your hips on one side just making adjustments to your props to get comfortable so you're turning your upper body towards your left knee this time and you can point or flex your feet as you need and this side will feel different so making sure to make adjustments and using props as you need them And then using your pillow or bolster, You can start to lower your body down. Um. . . And. . . Finding your your pose. So adjusting your props, Just lowering your upper body. Towards your left leg. So you can use your pillow on your leg or beside your leg. And again finding a spot where you feel comfortable and supported and a place where you can really just let go of anything you're holding on to and allow your mats and your props to support you. As gravity pulls you towards your mat. And allow your body to open up naturally. Just using gravity and your breath. When you've made all your movements and adjustments. And found your spot, You can come to stillness. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. And just breathe here. Following your breath in and out of your body Noticing your body open up. As you rest here in stillness. If your mind starts to wander Just know that that's completely natural. Being really kind and gentle with yourself. Bring your awareness back to your breath. Back to this moment right here right now. So we've been here for a few minutes now. If you need to make adjustments, If you need to move props, Do that. And come back to stillness. If you're happy where you are and you're comfortable. You don't need to move or do anything. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. And slowly start to push yourself up into a seat. Moving really slowly, Bring your feet in front of you, Move your palms aside. And again, You can bring your feet a distance apart and just gently windshield wiper your knees from side to side. Being really mindful of how this feels in your body. Then we're going to come into our twist, Seated twist, So you can extend the left leg long and bring the right foot to the outside of your leg. Or you can bend your knee. Just come to a seat with your right foot to the outside. Of your leg, Your foot is flat on the mat. And then coming to our twist, So you can hook your elbow to your knee, Hugging your knee in with your left arm, Using your right arm to sit tall. And then as you exhale, Twist from the belly. Good so with every inhale you sit a little bit taller With every exhale, You twist just a little bit more. Slowly come back to center. Now we're just going to pause in a seat for a breath or two again. So you can come to a cross leg seat or you can come to kneeling if that feels better right now. We've been sitting for a bit now so it may feel better to sit in kneeling position or you can sit on top of a block or a folded up blanket if that feels good. We're just going to pause here for a few breaths. So we're not going to be here for too long. You can bring your hands somewhere on your legs, On your lap. Roll your shoulders down your back, Soften your gaze or close your eyes. And just notice how your body feels. When you're ready, We're going to come to a seat with our legs extended long. So we're coming into. . . A seated forward fold, Which in the end we call a cataract pillar. And. . . And take a few moments to get set up here. So if you have a pillow or folded up blanket, You can set at the edge just so you can tilt your hips forward a little bit. And then you can keep your knees bent, Maybe bringing a pillow or bolster under your knees if that feels good. You can even lift that up with a block. Um. . . Bend your knees a lot so we want to make sure that As we start off, We're not pulling our hamstrings at all. We want this to be really soft and gentle. And as we fold forward, This will stretch the backs of our legs regardless of how bent our knees are. So finding a place where you can really round your back and fold forward over your legs. So it may take a few moments to really get settled and comfortable. No need to flex your feet, Just allow your feet to be soft. You can allow your feet to fall out towards the edges of your mat. You can have your legs wider or closer together. So any adjustments you need to make here. The other thing you can do is you can also bring a pillow on top of your legs and just roll over the pillow or you can bring a block so you can bring your forehead on top of a block So I'm just making here. Adjustments here to find a place where you can comfortably fold forward over your legs. And allow your hands to just rest. Beside your legs. Don't need to hold or pull anything and we just want this to be really natural and comfortable. Allowing your back to round instead of keeping your spine straight. Something we do in yoga but you want your back to round over your legs. Bringing your belly towards your thighs. Allowing your forehead to rest on either your legs, On a block. On a pillow. And then just breathing here. Making movements and adjustments until you find a comfortable place. Finding your edge. Where you feel a really gentle, Soft, Stretch in the backs of your legs. Maybe in your lower back. But. . . This is something that maybe it's. . . Um. . . 10% of what you can usually and hold in your four folds We're gonna be here for about five minutes, So we want to start. And in a really comfortable place. And allow gravity to move. Open our body up. When you find your edge. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. And just breathe here. Slowly scanning. Your body and finding any places where you're holding on to that you can soften and let go of just a little bit more. Maybe it's your jaw, Maybe it's your forehead. Maybe it's your fingers or your toes. And just really soften and let go. And come to your breath. Forward folds are a symbol of going inwards in reflection. And as you hold here you may notice that things start to come up. Maybe thoughts. Or emotions or just sensations that You don't usually feel. And if and when they come up. Just know that that's completely normal. Without judgment or being hard on yourself. Just allow them to come up. Notice them. See if you can set them aside. As you gently bring your awareness back to your breath. Now you may notice that as you hold this pose the sensations in the backs of your legs and your lower back. Are becoming a little bit more intense. You're feeling it a little bit more than when we started. And just notice and see if it's becoming too much. If it's something you can hold comfortably. Or if you need to make adjustments. Maybe you notice that you can go a little bit deeper. Into your fold. Or maybe you need to back out a little bit. Listening to your body. And trusting what it's telling you. Few more breaths here. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath in. Slowly start to walk your hands back towards you. Moving really slowly and mindfully coming back to your seat. And as you sit, Notice if there is a rush of energy. Moving from your head down towards your toes or the other way around. Just notice it. Slowly start to move your props away. And it's. . . Bring your feet flat on the mat walk your feet close to you and give yourself a hug. Hugging your knees in, Maybe bringing your forehead to your knees. And just thank your body. For relaxation. Everything it does for you. For all the poses on and off the mat. And slowly make your way to your back so again just really moving slowly and mindfully moving to your back We have different options for our twist here, So if you want to cross your legs, You can start by crossing And the left leg over the right. And then let your hips lift up towards the left side and allow your knees to fall towards the right side. So just coming into a twist with your knees on the right side of your mat. Maybe reach down with your left hand and grab your right foot or toes. Coming to cat pulling its tail. So making adjustments as you need them. You can always bring something under You're allowed. Your knees, Your left leg, If that feels good. So anything you need here, Maybe bringing a pillow under your left shoulder if it's not all the way on the ground. So just taking a few moments to get really settled using your props. Anything you need here to get comfortable in this twist. And maybe turn your head towards the left side if that feels good. Finding your twist. And soften your gaze or close your eyes. Allowing your body to breathe. And soften with every exhale. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. And slowly starting to move out of the pose of your head. Holding your right foot, Gently let it go. Slowly bring your knees back to center. Uncross your legs if they're crossed, Move your hips back to center. And just pause here with your knees bent, Feet flat on the mat. Bring your hand somewhere on your body. And then getting ready for the second side, So if you want to cross your legs, Right leg over the left. Lift your hips up towards the right side and let your knees fall towards the left. Again, Moving your props, Adjusting. Maybe bringing your left hand on top of your right thigh. Maybe grabbing the left foot with the right hand. Coming to cat pawing it's tail. Allowing your shoulders to soften on the mat. Maybe turn your head towards the ceiling. The right side. And then soften your gaze or close your eyes if that feels good. Just breathing in the sweat. Noticing. Your body expand as you're breathing. And soften and settle. As you breathe out. Take a deep breath in. Long breath outs. Slowly start to come out of the pose. Bring your knees back to centre and cross your legs if they're crossed. Bring your hips back to center. Pause here. When you're ready, You can hug your knees in if you like. We can move to happy baby pose. If that's in your practice, Grabbing the outer edges of your feet. Staying in stillness or maybe gently rocking from side to side. Any movement your body's craving here, Take that. And then when you're ready, Finding your Shavasana. Your final resting posture, Corpse pose. Grabbing props for maybe under your knees, Under your head. Allowing your shoulders to be heavy, Your hips grounded and heavy on the mat. Arms by your side, Palms face up. Fingers gently curled in. Soften your jaw, Allow your tongue to fall away from the roof of your mouth. Soften the muscles of the face, Allow your eyelids to close. From the crown of your head all the way down to your fingers and your toes. Just notice if there is any part of your body that you can soften and let go of just a little bit more to get comfortable here. Allow your body to rest. And breathe naturally and take in the effects of your practice. Deep inhale. Full and complete exhale, Let it go. Slowly start to bring some movement back to your body. Wiggling your fingers, Your toes. Maybe gently rocking your head from side to side. And when you're ready, Bend one knee and then the other. And roll onto your right side in a fetal position. Using your bottom arm as a pillow fetal pose, After corpse pose. Reminds us that after every ending, There's a new beginning. Slowly. Push yourself up to a comfortable seat, Sitting with your spine tall. Your neck straight and parallel to the mat. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. Bring your hands by your side as you inhale reach your arms all the way up palms touch overhead And exhale, Bring your hands to your heart center, Bow your head to your hands. And thank yourself for coming to your mat today, For spending this time for yourself and for your practice. Thumbs to your third eye, The space between your eyebrows. May your thoughts be kind. Thumbs to your lips. May your words be caring. Thumbs to your heart center. May your heart be filled with love and gratitude. Thank you for practicing with me today. Namaste.