Welcome back, yogi friends! Join me for this 30-minute gentle Yin Yoga practice focused on cultivating gratitude, finding mental clarity, and releasing deeply stored emotional tension and stress from the hips.
Meet your Teacher
Houston, TX, USA
Transcript
Welcome back, Yogi friends, To this week's practice on gratitude. So we're doing a yin practice. So if you have two towels or two blankets, That's really the only props that you need. We'll keep it simple, Okay? So if you take one of your blankets and make yourself a cushion, So it can be flat or it can be a little higher, Depending on how your back feels, Okay? So we're going to sit here and. Get started. We're going to start today with what's called Tarjani Mudra. And this mudra. Helps us to kind of find some clarity in the clutter okay so how you do it Relax your shoulders first, Okay? Bring your ears over your shoulders. Kind of make a loose fist with your hands where your palms are facing towards your heart. Take your pointer fingers, Your index fingers, And just bring them to touch, Okay? So, We're bringing together the right and left side again. And this mudra helps us to really find clarity and maybe in that finding that clarity we can see what we are grateful for, We can see where we maybe need to show a little bit more gratitude in our life, See everything. That is already there. Then maybe we've overlooked. Also, It's a mood that helps maybe dispel anger, So. . . I kind of like that sometimes, Because sometimes maybe if you're really angry it won't work. It's also another thought, So let's just settle in here. Soften or close your eyes. And just start to. . . Let your breath be natural. Notice your body, Notice your mind. Notice your heart. And then let's bring our palms together in Anjuli Mudra, Also another mudra for gratitude. Tuck your chin, Bow down. Offering yourself gratitude for showing up today, For giving yourself this time and this space. To be with yourself and to learn about yourself and to grow. We're gonna go right into it with pigeon or sleeping swan pose. So if you know how to get there. Go for it. If not, I will. I will walk you into the pose. So come to tabletop first. Keep your blanket or towel to the side of you, Because we might use it on the hips, All right? And just take your right knee, Take it to the outside of your right wrist. Flip your foot in so it's. Facing the inside of your left thigh, And then tuck your left toes and walk your knee down, Okay? Getting some space until you've kind of just walked your hips down here. All right. Now here's where if you want to. Oh, Two blankets. They can be useful. So bring one, Put it in front of you. Other one's going to go to your right hip if you want, Okay, If you feel like you want that extra support. Don't have to do any of this, But it's there for you. And then we're either going to. . . Rest our forearms on the front. Towel or blanket. Or you can just go all the way down to the ground, All right? Resting your forehead. So if you feel any discomfort, Any pinchiness, Tingling, Burning, Numbness, Come out of the pose. Always make sure you're safe to practice before you start, Guys, Okay? And if you don't like this, So if you like this, Stay here. If you do not like this, There's two other things you can do. You can do a seated figure four. So just bring your feet in front of you, Cross your ankle, Bring your hands behind you, And then just walk your bottom foot in as much as you need to to feel that in your hip. So the goal of this pose is to help with our hip flexors. So we can do it different ways. The other way to do it is to come all the way down. And do a figure four on your back. So let's do behind figure four. You cross your right ankle behind your left knee. You reach through that space, Grab it on the back of your thigh. And go for it this way, Okay? So you find. A pose that speaks to you, Okay? The version of the pose that speaks to you. And we just settle in. Settle in for time. And maybe you find after a few, Maybe like 30 seconds, Our body might open up a little bit more. So you might find you can go a little bit deeper. So we're just finding our edge. Our edge is just where we naturally stop in the pose, Okay? We don't force anything. And maybe when we are in these moments of quiet and stillness, We can think about one thing that we're grateful for. Alright, And when you're ready, Just press yourself up if you're doing this. Regular swan or pigeon. And then just bring your right knee. Back so it is in line. With your hips, So you're back in tabletop, And then extend your right foot out and press through your heel, Okay? So if you did this on your back or seated, Just flip around and come to tabletop. Stretch out the back of your leg a little bit. Then we're going to rotate. So kickstand your left foot to a 45 and then land your right foot down so that your arch intersects your left knee. We're just going to sweep our right arm up and back. Little stargazer pose, Reach right arm back a little bit. Drop your left ear towards your left shoulder. Stretch out your neck. And then sweep your right arm back down. Bring your right knee back. Let's do the other side. So if you're doing it. This way, Take the. Take your left knee to the outside of your left ribs. Flip your right leg. Left foot in. Tuck your right toes, Walk your knee down, Okay? And then take that. Your blanket, Maybe bring it to your left hip if you want something. Support on that side. Look back behind you, Just make sure your right leg is straight. And then come down. And then if you're doing seated or on your back, Just switch sides. All right. And then if you feel like you can go deeper, Go for it. If not, Don't. And again, Listen to yourself, If anything. Feels uncomfortable, Adjust, Okay? Be grateful. That you have the ability. To change the situation if you need to. All right, And then let's come up slowly, Okay? Tuck your right toes, Walk your right knee up, Unwind your left knee to come back. You might feel a little stiffness as you come out of these poses, Which is normal in yin yoga, Okay? I've heard people say you feel like you're 100 years old. I mean, It's kind of the truth. So let's kickstand your right foot back. Extend your left foot. Out and then check that your left arch intersects your right knee. We're going to reach your left hand over by your ear. And then up and back, Okay? So we're taking it behind our ear here. Really try to open up through the heart. And then let's take our right, Take your right ear to your right shoulder. And then sweep it back down. I think I forgot to stretch out the calf. So stretch out your left calf. Just extend your foot back. And then we're going to bring our knee back. Let's tuck your toes, Press back to downward facing dog, And let's just really pedal our feet out here. And then let's come to our knees. We're going to come back to Sita in five minutes. So extend your feet straight out in front of you. Flex your toes here. We're going to bend your right leg and land your right foot on the outside of your left knee, Okay, Like that. And then get really tall. Flex your left toes. We're gonna sweep your left arm around your right knee. So hug that in, Okay? And then take your right hand in front of you and then just land it behind you. So we're coming to a half circle. Lord of the fishes. And then look over your right shoulder. My studio class I taught a couple weeks ago, I called it Half Lord of the Rings. So. Ah! Any fans out there? Okay. Keeping your chin parallel to the ground, Then look over your right shoulder. Okay. Pull your low belly in as you're doing this. That's going to protect your low back. Some people might be too tight in their hips to bring the foot on the outside of the left leg. So if that's the case, Just bring it, Cross it over like this. So you just cross your ankle above your hip. Left knee, Your right ankle. You can do that and then just do it more open twist if that feels better to you. Or you can even just pull it up slightly. And then just slightly twist open here, Too, If you don't like that crossover. We're doing a couple things here, The hip and the spine. See you again. Find you in the pose. And then when you're ready, We can unwind that, Extend both your feet straight forward and then just lift and lower your knees. And then we're just going to reach forward either reach for your shins your ankles or your toes and then just press through your heels. And then let's come up, Bring your fingertips behind you and then lift your heart up. And then let's go to the other side. So you bend your left knee, Land your left foot to the outside of your right knee, Okay? And then you're gonna sweep your right arm around, Grab onto your knee, Really tall here. Pull your low belly in, Kind of suck it in there. Okay, Flex your right toes. And then your left hand's gonna go behind you. Chin stays parallel to the floor as we look over our right shoulder. And again. Take any version of this that you want. Not only is this great for our spine, It's great for our lymph nodes. So we have a lot of them in our belly and digestion. It serves a multitude of purposes that we can be grateful for. Alright, Then let's unwind the extender. Left leg straight, Lift and lower your knees. And then let's fold forward however deep you want to go here, Okay, Just a little bit. Press your heels away from you. And then bring your fingertips behind you, Lift your heart up. Let your back, Low back arch a little bit here. And shake your hips side to side and then we're going to take it on to our back. Okay. All the way down. Press your head on the mat and walk your shoulder blades down. And then we're gonna lift your hips up. Make sure everything feels balanced, All right? We're gonna do waterfall. So basically that's just legs go straight up in the air. If you want, You can add hands or arms. And if you're close to a wall, If you want to scoot up and just put your feet on the wall, Just make sure that your bum, If you're doing the wall, That your bum also touches the wall. If you're like this against the wall, It's just going to put too much strain on your low back. So you've got to be straight up against the wall from your bum to your heels, OK? Or you can just do it like this. Just make sure your feet touch the wall. Are in a straight line, Not in a V or any type of angle. This is a 90 degrees, OK? Keep a tiny bend in your knees. And then let's bend your knees, Hug it in, And just rock side to side here, Okay? Land both your feet down. Flat. So they're about hip width apart. Your heels are close to your bum. We're just gonna take our right foot, Take your right foot and just start walking it out a little bit, Okay? Just walk it out. It might feel a little cranky in your hip, So we're turning our hips. Joint inward. Option here if you want to pick up your left foot and land it on top you can. Then extend your hands up it. T arms at your shoulder and then look to your left. Maybe pull your heel up a little bit closer. If you're feeling any pinchiness, You can adjust there. If you wanna look up real quick. Check that your heel to your knee, Your knee to your hip is a 90, Okay? It's kind of a weird angle to see, But if you look up for a second, You can tell. And then let your left foot go back down. Lift up your right leg, Walk it back in, And then grab onto the inside back of your heel and take a half happy baby right here. Just kind of rock it out a little. And then land your right foot. Walk your left foot out off your mat until your knee starts to come down, Okay? And then check it, Check it for alignment. Hip to knee, Knee to ankle, 90. Arms up, Shoulder height, Look to your right, And then pick up your right foot if you want to. And then look to your right. And then lift up your right leg, Land it down, And then walk your left leg back. Reach for the inside back of your left heel. Come to half happy baby on this side. Rock it out. And then let's go ahead and set up for Shavasana. So if you have any questions. Issue in your low back any pinchiness just keep your knees bent in shavasana or and you can take your hips and imagine maybe pointing them a little bit to your upper thighs or you can take your blankets and put them under your knees. If you want. Sometimes that feels lovely. Press your head on the mat, Walk your shoulder blades down again and just let everything get really heavy. Here. I'm going to read short gratitude meditation as we settle in. As you rest here in stillness, Allow yourself to notice that you have arrived at this moment exactly as you are. Feel the gentle support of the earth beneath you. Holding you without asking anything in return. And bring to mind one thing you are grateful for today. Doesn't need to be extraordinary. It could be a person, A breath, A moment of kindness. Or simply this opportunity to pause. And then just notice how gratitude feels in the body. Is it a sense of warmth, Softness? Calm, Or even ease in your breath. And just for a few moments, Rest here in appreciation. For all that has carried you here. All the visible and invisible supports that make up a life. May gratitude remind you that even on difficult days, There is something steady beneath your feet. And something beautiful within your reach. When you're ready, Start to bring some movement back to your fingertips. Take a deep breath in, Point your toes, Flex your feet. Bend your knees into your chest and give yourself a hug. Rock side to side and then just slowly roll to your most favorite side. Pause there. Honor your body and your breath. And be grateful to yourself for showing up today. There you can slowly open your eyes and press yourself up. Can we back up? We needed to have a break. I'm grateful for practicing with you today. May you be okay. May you be healthy. May you be free from suffering. May you know kindness. May you know peace. May you know love. Namaste. Thank you everyone. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day and I hope to see you again. Bye.
