Bring your hands somewhere on your body.
You can bring your hands on your belly.
You can bring your right hand on your belly,
Left hand on your heart.
And just Arriving here on your mat.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes if that feels good.
And bring your awareness to your breath.
Just notice how your breath feels today.
If it's fast or slow deep or shallow just notice it without changing it We are going to start with a few breathing techniques.
So on your next inhale,
See if you can send the air all the way down to your belly,
Feeling the air fill up your belly and your hands rise as you inhale.
And as you exhale,
See if you can empty all the air out and notice your hands falling with your body.
So with every inhale,
See if you can send more air.
All the way down to your belly and feeling your hand rise.
And then as you exhale,
See if you can soften and let everything go.
Really settling and grounding.
Continue breathing like this and just See if you can.
.
.
Hold your attention on the sensation of breathing in your body.
So the physical movements of your breath and how they feel in your body.
Feeling your belly rise as you breathe in.
And soften and release as you breathe out.
As you breathe here,
Bring your awareness to your body Just doing a scan from the crown of your head all the way down to your toes.
Notice if there's any part of your body that's maybe a little tight or sore.
May need a little bit more love and attention during practice today.
And just being mindful of that.
At any point during our practice if something I say doesn't feel right for you,
Please don't do it.
Come out of the pose and take a resting posture that works for you.
In Yin,
We hold poses for longer durations of time.
And you want to make sure that You're not holding any pain at any point.
Sharp pain discomfort anything that doesn't feel right in your body Make sure that you're not holding that.
Continue breathing deeply.
In and out of your nose if that feels good and feeling your body expand with each inhale.
And soften with every exhale.
Now at this point you may notice that you have a little bit more room in your body.
Your body's opened up just a little bit.
So if you have.
.
.
Prop under your knees or you have blocks you may be able to make some adjustments.
And allow your knees to fall a little bit closer to the mat.
So as our body opens up,
We may be able to go a little bit deeper into the mat.
So you may be able to move the blocks to a lower height or just to a different part of your legs so you can lower your legs a little bit more.
So make that adjustment if you.
.
.
Feel the need in your body.
And then come back to stillness.
Bringing your hands somewhere on your body.
And just continuing to breathe deeply.
During our practice.
We want to move into the poses as deep as our body aloud.
Moving to our edge.
To a place where we feel the pose.
And it's still comfortable so you can hold the pose.
Having to Put in too much effort or trying too hard.
And then when you find that place,
Come to stillness.
And allow your body to settle into the posture.
Allow gravity.
Two.
Pull your body down,
Stretch.
Inner tissues and fascia.
And as much as you can,
Not using your muscles to hold you up.
Gonna be here for a little bit longer so Just continuing to breathe deeply.
Take a deep breath in.
And a long breath out.
One more,
Just like that.
Deep inhale.
Full and complete exhale let it all go Yeah.
Now slowly bring your hands to the outside of your thighs.
Just close your knees up like a book and you can move your props away.
Bring your feet as wide as the mat and just let your knees fall from side to side,
Windshield wiper your knees from side to side.
Just noticing how this feels in your lower back.
Noticing the release.
And then when you're ready,
Slowly roll onto your left side in a fetal position using your bottom arm as a pillow.
Just pausing here for a breath or two.
Noticing the effects of that.
First view.
Move in.
Hoses in your body And when you're ready,
Push yourself up to.
.
.
A comfortable Feet to start.
And just pause here.
Let your hands rest somewhere on your legs,
On your lap,
On your body.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
And a long breath out.
Let it go.
One more deep inhale.
And exhale let it go And as you sit here just think of one thing that you are grateful for today.
Slowly start to roll onto your hands and knees coming to a tabletop position.
And just moving through one round of cat-cow.
So starting with your knees under your hips.
Wrists,
Yep,
Right under your shoulders.
Spread your fingers wide.
Push your.
.
.
Shoulders down your back,
Away from your ears,
Pull your belly towards your spine.
Good.
Now moving with a breath,
Inhale to 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.
Pow pose.
Exhale to round your back,
Tuck your tail,
Look down,
Cat pose.
And one more.
Deep inhale.
And exhale.
And slowly from here bringing these as wide as the mat big toes together we're moving into child's pose So we're going to hold this child's pose for a bit.
So you may want to grab a pillow or a bolster.
And just let your torso,
Your chest here.
Head rest on the bolster.
And let your knees.
.
.
Be as wide or as close as it feels comfortable for you.
So it may feel better to have your knees wider.
May feel better to have them closer.
And if you are using a pillow or bolster,
It may feel good to bring one side of your head on.
Your prop.
Allowing your hips to move towards your heels,
Not necessarily touching.
If this doesn't feel good in your in your knees or in the back of your thighs you can always hold up a blanket and bring a blanket just between your calf and your thighs.
Just finding your pose,
Grabbing any props,
Anything you need to get really comfortable here.
You want to make sure that you're really allowing your body.
To get heavy and settled.
So you're not holding anything up.
You can just let go.
And by gravity.
Take over.
Pull your body towards your mat.
And then when you find a place where you feel comfortable,
Soften your gaze or close your eyes and just come to stillness.
Continuing to breathe.
In and out of your nose if that feels good.
And see if you can hold your awareness on your breath.
Child's pose is.
.
.
Usually a pose that's associated with going inwards.
Reflection.
And if you notice any thoughts,
Any feelings start to come up?
Just watch them.
Allow them to come in.
And see if you can.
.
.
Allow your awareness to move back to your breath.
Without judgment.
Just continuing to bring your attention back to your breath.
No.
Noticing where you feel this pose.
Making sure there's no pain or discomfort in your knees,
In your lower back.
Making sure there's no part of your body that you're holding on to.
Especially shoulders,
Your neck,
Your jaw.
This is becoming too much.
You can always come back to a seat and just sit.
In a comfortable seat.
If one side of your head is on your prop you can turn to the other side.
As you hold the pose for time,
You may notice that Your hips are starting to move back a little bit more.
You're going deeper into the pose.
You're melting a little bit closer to the mat.
I mean notice pressures starting to build up.
And your lower back.
Again just being really mindful that it's not pain or discomfort.
A little dull achy feeling is okay.
But you will know.
If it feels right or wrong in your body.
Always listening to your body first.
Bye.
Take a deep breath in.
And a long breath out.
One more like that.
Deep inhale.
Full and complete exhale.
Good.
I'm going to slowly start to come out of the pose.
So just moving really gently,
Mindfully.
Moving your props away.
And coming back to tabletop position.
Bring your wrists under your shoulders,
Knees right underneath your hips.
Pull your belly towards your spine,
Looking straight down so the back of your neck is long.
And then as you inhale,
Drop your belly,
Open up your heart,
Look up.
Exhale to round your back,
Tuck your tail,
Look down.
Inhale,
Drop your belly,
Open up your heart,
Look up.
Exhale,
Round your back,
Tuck your tail,
Look down.
Good,
One more inhale.
And exhale.
Come back to tabletop.
And then from here,
We're going to step the right foot forward.
Coming into an easy low lunge.
So if you need to place.
.
.
Folded up blanket or some fold up your mat under your back knee under your left knee do that I have a blanket on on my mat And they also have two mats here.
So making sure that your back knee is padded and comfortable.
We're going to hold this for a while.
So we want to make sure that we're not pressing.
The knee to a hard floor.
And this may be where you stay.
So you may stay in a lunge,
You may grab blocks and just bring your.
.
.
Your hand.
On blocks or on the floor as long as you're feeling the stretch and the top of your left thigh,
Your inner thigh on the right leg,
Your groin.
If you want to move into.
.
.
Lizard pose,
You can start to walk your foot towards the right side.
Just bring your hands to the inside of.
Your right foot and maybe you let your toes spill off the mat.
Just making sure your knee is moving towards your toes.
So you want your knee to always be moving towards your second toe.
Just so you're not twisting your knee in a weird way.
So you can stay here.
And this is a bigger stretch so if you come here and it doesn't feel good to hold.
We can move back to the lunge.
You can have your hands.
On the ground.
Or if it feels good,
You can come all the way down,
Bringing your elbows on.
The mat or maybe on a prop.
I'm going to use blocks and a bolster And bring my mat up to me so I can bring my forearms and my elbows on too.
And props.
And again,
This is.
Um,
Very big stretch and you want to make sure.
That you're at your edge but you're not uncomfortable.
So finding your edge,
Finding where.
You're feeling this pose.
We're going to hold this for about three minutes.
So just be mindful that at any point,
If it becomes too much,
Just back out of the pose.
When you find your posture,
Just come to stillness.
Notice if there's any part of your body that you're holding on to that you can soften and let go of.
Maybe it's your fingers,
Your toes.
Maybe it's your jaw,
Your forehead.
And then breathe deeply and see if you can visualize your breath moving to the area in your body where you feel this pose.
Soften your gaze.
Close your eyes.
Soften your jaw.
Bring your awareness back to your breath.
You we have about 30 seconds left here If you notice that.
Your mind is starting to wander.
Just come back to your breath.
Take a deep breath in.
And a long breath out.
Slowly start to bring your hands on the mat if they're not there already.
And.
.
.
Move your props away,
Just moving really slowly,
Gently,
Mindfully.
And if you like,
We can come into a twist.
If you've had enough of this,
You can come to tabletop.
Or if you like,
You can bring your left hand on the mat and just bring your right hand on top of your right thigh and just gently press it away.
So not pushing it,
Making sure that your knee is okay.
Gently pushing it and opening up your heart towards the right side.
So this is a really.
.
.
Gentle movement.
Coming into a twist here.
Slowly come back to center and if you're in tabletop come back to your lunge if you're in a lunge you're just going to walk your foot towards the left side so we're getting ready for A sleeping swan or.
.
.
Pigeon pose as most of us know it.
You're gonna bring your right knee.
Towards the right edge of the mat.
Keeping your right foot neutral.
Making sure that there's no pain in your right knee.
So this may not be for everybody.
If this doesn't feel good in your knee,
You can come to your back and take figure four.
I can show that as well.
But if you are here,
You may want to bring a bolster pillow or a block under your right hip.
Or your right thigh.
Just so you don't have to hold yourself up you can just allow your hip and your thigh to rest on a prop.
It can be a pillow,
It can be a block.
It can be a folded up blanket.
And then this is.
.
.
Where you may stay you may want to walk the back foot back a little bit just making adjustments to make sure that you're feeling this pose on the outer edge of your right hip and your right hip.
And making sure there's no pain in your knee.
And if you like,
You can start to come down to your elbows.
Or all the way down,
Bringing your chest down on a pillow or a bolster and allowing your head to rest.
Somewhere either on the mat or on or on a block,
Or on a pillow.
So just finding whatever feels.
Right here i'm going to use a bolster to just rest my upper body on and have a cushion under my hip.
And just allowing your shoulders to be soft,
Your head heavy.
Bring your forehead down.
And again,
Bring one side of your head down on your prop.
Okay.
When you get here,
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
Notice if you're clenching your jaw.
Soften your jaw,
Your forehead,
Your eyebrows.
And just pause here in stillness.
If this pose doesn't feel right i'm just going to demonstrate this on the back so if you're in in pigeon pose in your swan stay there but if you want to move into figure four you can just come to your back Bend your right knee bringing your ankle on top of your left thigh and you can stay here.
This also is an opener in your right hip.
You can always bring a block or a prop under your left foot just to lift it up a little bit.
And this just intensifies that feeling a little bit more.
So you can be here or you can be.
.
.
Um,
And Your swan.
Rekwine sleeping swan.
So holding this pose for a few minutes and you may already feel That this is becoming too much.
Your mind is starting to wander.
Maybe you're starting to get frustrated with me.
And that's all natural.
Completely normal.
And when you notice that happening,
Just see if you can allow yourself to let those thoughts and feelings and emotions go for.
.
.
A little bit longer and coming back to your breath.
See if you can identify where in your body you're feeling this pose.
Visualize your breath moving to that area in your body.
Softening with every exhale,
Allowing gravity to pull you down towards the mat.
Just a little bit more.
Take a deep breath in.
And a long breath out.
One more like that.
Deep inhale.
Full and complete exhale.
Let it go.
Slowly starting to come out of the pose.
Into your hands.
Moving your props away.
And just whatever feels good,
Just coming out of this pose.
So it may feel good to just come to tabletop.
It may feel good to move.
To child's pose or downward dog.
So just.
.
.
Noticing what feels good here.
Be mindful of your right knee,
Your right ankle.
Moving really slowly and mindfully.
Good.
And then when you're ready,
Coming back to your tabletop.
Stepping the left foot forward this time so we're coming into our lunge on the second side.
So again,
Finding your lunge,
Making sure your knee is above your ankle.
You can walk the back knee back a little bit.
This side may feel different.
So making sure that your.
.
.
You're treating it completely differently and just seeing what feels right on this side.
So you can bring your hands on the ground,
You can bring your hands on blocks.
And just stay here if this is enough.
If you want more,
You can start to walk your foot towards the left side of the mat.
Maybe allow your toes to just fall off.
Um,
The outer edge of your mat and again just checking your knee make sure your knee is moving towards your toes Your hands are inside your foot.
So again,
You can stay here.
You may already be feeling a lot,
So if it is too much,
Go back.
To a lunge.
If you want to move down into Dragon flying low,
You can bring your elbows and your forearms.
On the mat or on props.
Just making sure that wherever you are you're comfortable and you can hold the pose.
So taking the first few moments.
To really get Settle to find your edge.
Now when you're ready,
Come to stillness.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
And come back to your breath.
We have about a minute left.
Just noticing.
The sensations in your body.
Notice if your mind starting to wander.
See if you can allow.
Your attention to come back to your breath and stay here in stillness for a bit longer.
Take a deep breath in.
And a long breath out.
One more deep inhale.
Full and complete exhale.
Let it go.
Slowly starting to move out of the pose moving really gently,
Mindfully,
Moving the props.
Aside.
Then you can move into your tabletop or if you want to come into a twist Bring your right hand on the mat or on a block.
And just bring your left hand somewhere on your left thigh and just gently press it away and twist towards the left side just opening up your heart towards the left side of your mat Slowly coming back to center and we're moving into our Swan pose.
So if you're in tabletop.
Come back to your lunge and then just walking the left foot towards the right side.
Dropping the knee.
On the left side of the mat.
And again,
Letting your foot be comfortable.
But making sure your knee is is also comfortable so there's no pain.
So sometimes if you flex your foot just a little bit,
It helps your knee.
So just finding the spot on this side.
Again this side may feel completely different.
And something you did on the first side.
May not work for the second.
So maybe on this side.
You need to come to your back and take figure four.
And just give your body that option to make that decision.
So bringing your props,
Bringing a pillow or a block under your left hip.
Maybe grabbing a folded up blanket or a pillow to rest your torso and your head on.
And when you're ready,
Come all the way down.
Coming to Your variation of this pose.
Allow your forehead or side of the head to rest on your prop or on the mat.
Let your shoulders be soft.
Soften your jaw,
Your forehead,
Your gaze.
And just come back to your breath Visualize your breath moving to the areas in your body where you feel the pose.
And see if you can soften with every exhale.
Bye.
You Oh.
Notice if your mind is starting to wander.
And bring your awareness back to your breath.
Take a deep breath in.
And a long breath out.
Get slowly,
Start to Come out of the pose.
Moving gently mindfully just moving your props aside and it's coming back to either tabletop or downward dog.
Just making any movements or adjustments that your body needs.
When you're ready,
Come to tabletop position.
Rest on your shoulders,
Knees right underneath your head.
And then starting to make circles with your hips.
So you're just making circles in one direction.
With your hips moving back towards child's pose and coming back forward.
Your hips move maybe towards the right and then come back towards the left.
And then when you're ready,
Switching sides.
Rotating in the other direction.
And being really mindful of your knees,
Your wrists,
Your shoulders.
Good.
And then when you're ready,
Just bring your knees as wide as the mat,
Big toes together.
Push your hips back towards your heels,
Coming into Child's Pose.
Again,
Just.
.
.
Moving gently from side to side.
It may feel good to bring your forehead down on a block or a mat and just gently rock your head from side to side.
Massaging your third eye.
Good.
And when you're ready,
We're going to make our way to our back.
So just come into your back.
And if you have.
And block.
Your pillows,
Wrap those and bring them with you so they're close by.
Coming to your back.
Good.
Keeping your knees bent,
Feet flat on the mat.
Just pausing here.
Bring your hands somewhere in your body.
Take a deep breath in.
Feel your body expand as you breathe in.
And then exhale,
Feel your body relax,
Settle,
Get heavy and soften.
As you breathe out One more like that.
Deep inhale.
And full exhale let it all go Now from here,
We're going to come into Supported bridge pose.
So if you have blocks or a pillow,
You may want to bring,
Grab your block.
You can use a book for this as well.
And if you don't have props,
That's completely okay.
You can just hold the pose.
So you want to walk your foot,
Walk your feet as close to you as it feels good.
When you're ready you're just going to lift your hips up and bring your block your book your pillow under your hips just making sure that it's not pressing against your spine so you want it to be under the hips right below your spine.
And allowing your block to be on the lowest or medium level so not going too high and just gently excuse me rocking your shoulders down your back And if you don't have props,
You can just gently hold yourself up,
Maybe bringing your hands under your hips.
Or maybe just holding yourself up with your hands.
So this is also an option if you don't have props.
Just allowing your hands to gently hold you up a bit.
We're not gonna hold this for too long,
Allowing the lower back.
To release,
Opening up your heart a little bit.
If you do have props and.
.
.
You have a block under your hips and you feel.
.
.
Grounded and settled you can start to walk your feet out maybe wider or maybe you just extending your legs completely long and just pausing here again making sure that there is no pain especially in your lower back This should feel really comfortable.
And if you are feeling any pinching or sharp pain anywhere.
Please come out of the pose.
Taking a few breaths here in and out of your nose.
Okay,
Slowly start to bend your knees again if they're not.
Lift your hips up,
Move your prop.
Props away.
And just let your lower back ground.
Feeling the firmness of your mat,
Of the floor,
Under your lower back.
Feeling grounded.
Rooted.
And supportive.
From here,
Start to gently rock your hips from side to side and as you do this,
Just walk your feet wider on the mat so your feet are mat distance apart.
Just gently windshield wiper your knees from side to side.
You can bring your hands to a T or cactus arms.
Maybe turn your head as you move your knees.
Turn your head to the opposite side.
Good.
Just feeling this twist.
And this release in your lower back,
In your hip.
Moving really slowly,
Mindfully.
You can soften your gaze or close your eyes if that feels good.
And then next time your knees are on the right side,
Just let them fall to the right and let your head turn to the left if that feels good.
Arms in a T,
Palms up or down wherever you are see if you can ground your shoulders let them rest heavy on the mat Take a deep breath in.
Long breath out.
Good.
Slowly come back to center and let your knees fall towards the left side.
Turning your head to the right.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
Ground your shoulders,
Soften your jaw,
Your forehead.
And slowly come back to center.
And pause at center with your hands resting somewhere on your body.
We're going to move into our final posture,
But if happy baby is in your practice,
You can come to happy baby pose.
So starting by hugging your knees in.
Maybe gently rocking from side to side.
Massaging your lower back.
And then maybe you start to grab the backs of your thighs,
Opening up your knees.
And if it feels good,
You can grab the outer edges of your feet.
Coming to happy baby pose.
He can stay in stillness or.
.
.
You can gently rock from side to side,
Any movement.
That feel good in your body maybe lengthening one leg and then the other Just anything that feels.
Comforting for you before Shavasana.
Good,
When you're ready,
When you've had enough.
Get ready for.
.
.
Your final resting posture,
Shavasana.
So.
.
.
You can come lying down.
With your legs extended long.
You can have bolster.
Or a pillow,
Rolled up blanket under your knees,
Just so you can ground your lower back just a little bit more.
You can have a pillow on your head.
You can come back to supta baddha konasana,
The way we started,
So bringing the soles of the feet together.
And allow your knees fall either on your bolster pillow or on block.
Wherever you are,
Let your arms rest by your side,
Palms face up,
Fingers gently curled in.
Ground your shoulders.
Let your head be heavy.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
Soften your jaw.
Let your tongue fall away from the roof of your mouth.
And then scan.
From.
.
.
Your head all the way down to your toes.
Notice if there's any part of your body that you can soften just a little bit more.
To feel a bit more comfortable here.
And then allow your body to breathe naturally and take in the effects of your practice.
Take a deep breath in.
And a long breath.
One more like that.
Deep inhale.
Full and complete exhale let it go slowly Start to bring some movement back to your body.
Wiggling your fingers,
Your toes.
Gently rocking your head from side to side.
When you're ready,
Bend one knee and then the other.
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 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 if that feels good.
Bring your hands by your side.
Inhale,
Reach your arms all the way up.
Palms touch overhead.
Exhale,
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 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.
And thumbs to your heart center.
May your heart be filled with love and gratitude.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Namaste
