Slow And Gentle: A 25 Minute Flow

A 25-minute slow, gentle flow. Low energy and unhurried, with time to settle into each shape and let the pace stay easy throughout.
Suitable for all levels. Props (blocks, bolster, blanket) welcome if you have them.
Move slowly, listen to your body, and don't push into sharp pain.
Music: Piano Music No. 14 by RelaxingTime.

Transcript

Your feet hip distance apart. Or you can bring the big toes together, Heels slightly apart. Just feel your feet grounding. On the mat. Feel the four corners of your feet. Maybe pick up your toes and just notice how that feels, The bottom of your feet. And then holding on to that feeling slowly, Bring your toes back down. Soften your shoulders down your back. Open up your heart. And slight tuck of the chin so the back of your neck is long. Soften your gaze or close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you. And just begin to arrive here. Minding your breath, Just notice how your breath feels today. Without trying to change it, Notice if it's fast or slow, Deep or shallow. Notice if there's any part of your body that moves as you breathe. Good, Taking a few cleansing breaths here together. Take a deep breath in through your nose. And then open your mouth and slowly and quietly sigh it out. Let it go. Two more like that, Inhale through your nose. Exhale, Sigh it out, Let it go. And one more, Inhale. And exhale, Sigh it out. Next inhale, Reach your arms all the way up, Palms touch overhead. As you exhale, Bring your hands to your heart and bow your head to your hands. And think of one thing you're grateful for today. Inhale to reach up, Palms touch overhead. Exhale, Bring your hands to your heart center. One more inhale. And exhale. Come back to mountain pose and just pause here. Scan from. . . Your feet. Bottom of your feet all the way up to the crown of your head. Pausing. At any part of your body that's maybe a little tight or sore. I'm just becoming aware. Of how your body feels. During our practice, If anything I say doesn't feel right for you, Please let me know. Don't do it, Come out of the pose and just take a resting posture that works for you. And then join me when you rest. Inhale, Reach your arms all the way up, Palms touch overhead. As you exhale, Fold forward over your thighs. Bring your hands to your shins. Halfway lift, Inhale. And then fold forward as you exhale. Next, Inhale, Come all the way up, Reach up, Palms touch, Overhead. And exhale, Bring your hands to your heart. Inhale to reach up. Exhale to fold. Hands to your shins, Halfway lift, Inhale. Fold forward as you exhale. Inhale, Come all the way up, Reach up, Palms touch overhead. And exhale. Bring your hands to your heart. One more, Just like that, Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, Lengthen your spine. Exhale, Bend your knees, Fold forward. Head. Inhale to come all the way up, Reach up, Palms touch overhead. Exhale, Bring your hands to your heart center. Anyhow, To reach out. . . Exhale, Fold forward. Pat your palms. Step the right leg back and then drop the back knee down. Coming to your lunge. You can keep the back toes tucked if that feels good in your knees. Come to the top of the foot, Front knee right over your ankle, And then stay here in your low lunge, Or if you like, Inhale to reach your arms all the way up. Good, Soften your shoulders. Breathe here, Take a deep breath in. As you exhale, Bring your hands down either side of the front foot. Inhale, Pull your hips back. Flex your left foot. Straighten your leg, Lean forward. And then exhale, Come back to your lunge. Plant your palms, Step back to tabletop. Spread your fingers wide, Wrists under your shoulders, Knees underneath your hips. And then moving through some cat cows, Inhale, Drop your belly, Open up your heart, Look up. Exhale, Round your back, Tuck your tail, Look down. Two more, Inhale to cow pose. Exhale to cat pose. Move with your breath, Inhale. And exhale. You need to come back to table, Walk your hands forward, Tuck your toes under, Push your hips up and back, Downward facing dog. It so down dog maybe Now you stay in stillness with your knees bent, Pushing your hips up. Or you can walk your dog, Bending one knee and then the other, Again just noticing how your body feels. Let your head be heavy, Shoulders. Away from your ears. Take a deep breath in. Open your mouth, Sigh it out, Let it go. Next inhale, Lift your heels, Bend your knees, Look forward. Exhale to slowly step to the top of the mat, Come to a forward fold. Bring your hands to your shins, Halfway lift, Inhale. Fold forward as you exhale. Inhale, Come all the way up, Reach up, Palms touch. Overhead. Exhale, Hands to your heart. In how to reach out. Exhale to fold forward. Lengthen your spine as you inhale. Fold forward as you exhale. Plant your palms, Step the left leg back this time and then drop your knee down. Good, Front knee right over your ankle. You can stay here with your hands on the mat. Or on blocks, Or if you like, Inhale to reach all the way up and then soften your shoulders down your back. Deep breath in. Long breath out. One more inhale. Exhale, Hands down either side of the front foot. Pull your hips back, Straighten the right leg, Flex your foot, Lean forward, Feel the stretch in the back of your leg. And then come back to your lunge. Good. Step back to tabletop. As you inhale, Drop your belly, Open up your heart, Look up, Cow pose. Exhale to round your back, Tuck your tail, Look down, Cat pose. Good, Inhale to cow. Exhale. Take care. One more inhale. And exhale. Good. Come back to tabletop. Bring your knees as wide as the mat, Big toes together. Push your hips back towards your heels. Come to child's pose, Keeping your arms active. So pressing your fingers down, Your elbows are probably lifted off the mat, Shoulders away from the ears. Allow your forehead to rest either on the mat or on a block. Actively pushing your hips back towards your heels. Take a deep breath in, Feel your body expand as you breathe in. Exhale all the air out. Let it go. Slowly come back to table, Walk your knees forward, Cross your ankles and come to a seat. So coming to a comfortable seat, Sitting with your spine tall. You can fold up your mat or sit on a folded up blanket or a pillow just to tilt your hips forward a little bit so you can lengthen your spine. Good. So just sitting tall. Soften your gaze or close your eyes, Soften your shoulders, Down your back. And come to your breath. You can bring your hands on your belly or one hand on your belly, One hand on your heart. Feel your body expand as you breathe in. And soften as you breathe out. From here you're going to extend the right leg long and bring the left foot to the inside of the right thigh. And we're going to come into a forward fold, Janu Sirsasana. So we want to turn our upper body towards the extended leg. And one way to do that is you can bring your hands behind you and just lift your right hip up and just pull it back. So as you pull your right hip back, You kind of turn your upper body towards that leg. And you can start to walk your hands forward. Coming to a forward fold. As you fold forward, You may want to bring a slight bend in the right knee, But keep that foot flat. And feel the stretch in the back of your leg. So you can fold forward, You can grab somewhere on your leg or your foot, You can grab your big toe with your other hand. Two peace fingers and your thumb on the right hand. Good, So with every inhale, Lengthen your spine. With every exhale, Fold forward over your right leg. Notice where you feel the stretch. Make sure there is no pain or discomfort. And just breathe here. And slowly come all the way up And then from here, Bring your left hand behind you, Point the front toes. And then as you inhale, You're going to start to lift your hips up, Reach your arms up and back. Cheers. Inhale to lift up just a little bit more. And then exhale, Bring it all the way down. Good. We're going to switch sides. So bring your right foot to the inside of your left leg, Extending your left leg long, Flex your foot, And then pull your left hip back, Turning your upper body towards your extended leg. And then when you're ready, Start to walk your hands forward. You can grab somewhere on your leg, Maybe grabbing your big toe with your peace fingers and thumb. Just folding forward over your leg. So as you fold forward you can bring a slight bend in your leg. Deep breath in. Long breath out. Slowly start to come all the way up bring your right hand behind you point the front toes inhale to lift all the way up reach your arm back good inhale lift your hips just a little bit more and exhale come all the way down to a seat get it from here you're going to bring your feet flat on the mat Bring your feet mat distance apart, Keeping your knees bent. And you're just gonna windshield wiper your knees gently from side to side. And then make your way to your back. So coming to your mat, You can bring your knees with you, Hug your knees in, Maybe gently rocking from side to side, Massaging your lower back, Maybe making circles with your knees. In one direction and then the other Yeah. Now we're going to set up for bridge pose. So. . . For bridge pose, You want to have your knees bent and just walk your feet as close to you as it feels good in your knees, Having your feet hip distance apart. And when you move into the pose, Just don't turn your head from side to side. Make sure you're still looking up. Bring your hands by your side. And when you're ready, As you inhale, Press your feet and your hands, Your arms down. Start to lift your hips all the way up. So when you lift your hips up, You can maybe slide one shoulder under and then the other. Maybe bringing your hands under your body, You can interlace your fingers. Good, Pressing your arms. Down to the mat to lift your hips up just a little bit more. And then notice if your thighs are starting to fall out. See if you can bring them parallel. Your feet and your knees are hip distance apart. Every inhale, Maybe lift your hips up a little bit more. And exhale to hold. Breathing deeply. Take a deep breath in and then as you exhale slowly start to Bring your spine back down and your hips reach the mat. The very end. And bring your hands by your side, Walk your feet mat distance apart and just start to windshield wiper your knees gently from side to side. Bye. Moving really slowly. Next time your knees fall to the right, You can keep them there. Coming into a twist. So you can stay here or maybe you bring your right foot on top of the left thigh just for a little bit more weight, Making sure your knee is still comfortable. You can extend your arms to a T. You can extend your arms overhead, Maybe grabbing the right wrist with the left hand. You can turn your head to the left if that feels good in your neck. Take a deep breath in. Exhale all the air out. One more in. And exhale. We're gonna slowly move out of the pose, Moving really mindfully and slowly, Coming back to center, Feet mat distance apart, Your knees bent, And then just gently windshield wiper your knees from side to side. Good. And then next time your knees fall to the left, You can let them fall and maybe bring your left foot on top of the right thigh. You can have your arms in a T or reach your arms up, Grabbing the left wrist with the right hand. Maybe turning your head to the right if that feels good in your neck. Just breathing into this twist, You can soften your gaze or close your eyes. Soften your jaw. Take a deep breath in. Long breath out. And then slowly start to come out of the pose, Come back to center. Bring your hands somewhere on your body. Feel your body expand as you breathe in. And soften as you breathe out. Now we're going to move into Shavasana. If you need anything else in your practice, You can do that. If you want to come to happy baby pose. If you want to come to an easy inversion, Maybe legs up the wall or shoulder span. Take anything else your body needs. And then just come to your variation of Shavasana. So maybe bringing a bolster under your knees, Maybe having your knees bent. Or your knees extended long. Wherever you are, Your legs, Your hips, Your shoulders, Heavy. Arms by your side. Palms up, Fingers gently curled in. Soften your jaw, Part your teeth, Allow your tongue to fall away from the roof of the mouth. Soften the muscles of the face and your eyelids, Allowing your eyes to gently close. Scan from the crown of your head all the way down to your fingers and your toes. Just notice if there's 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. A deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more like that, Deep inhale. Full and complete exhale, Let it go. Start to bring some movement back to your body. Moving your fingers, Your toes, Your wrists and your ankles. Maybe gently moving your head from side to side. Bring your big toes together, Point your toes, Reach your arms overhead. Come to a full body stretch. Good when you're ready bend one knee and then the other rolling on to your right side in a fetal position using your bottom arm as a pillow. And slowly start to push yourself up. To a comfortable seat. Sitting with your spine tall, Your neck straight, Chin 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, Almost touch overhead. And exhale, Bring your hands to your heart. Bow your head to your head. Thank yourself for coming to your mat today. For spending this time for yourself, For your practice. Thumbs to your third eye, The space between your eyebrows. May your thoughts be kind. Bring your thumbs to your lips. May your words be caring. And your thumbs to your heart center. May your heart be filled with love and gratitude. Thank you for practicing with me today. Namaste.