Hi loves,
I'm Ali and ready to slow it down with you again today with some yin yoga for sleep.
This will be a great practice to support your nervous system and to help you feel more relaxed.
So when you're ready to get started,
We will turn around to lay on your back and I'll meet you there.
Wherever you are laying on your back,
We'll get started right in a reclined butterfly position.
So bring the soles of the feet together,
Let your knees fall out to the sides.
I invite you to join me in placing one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest.
Starting to just observe as the back of the body gets heavier,
Dropping down into your yoga mat or your bed.
Removing the gentle and natural rise and fall of your chest and belly as you breathe.
Having an expansion on the inhales and a softening on the exhales.
You can continue to just hang out here and observe the natural flow of your breath or join me in counting the breath.
The inhales down from four and extending the exhales,
Counting them down from six.
Feel free to join in whenever you're ready.
Inhaling for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhaling for six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And inhale for three,
Two,
One.
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
One more time.
Inhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Feel free to continue that pattern on your own or just come back to breathing naturally for a few more moments here.
Let's drop into this shape for one more big,
Big inhale.
Feel that expansion in the chest and belly and open your mouth to let it go.
Exhale,
Release.
You can reach toward your outer knees gently guiding your legs back together and extend your legs out for a Shavasana,
Feeling the shift in the front of the body wherever else it shows up.
And just simply being here with your breath.
Read your favorite arm over your head.
Just roll right through that side of the body.
Come up the hands and knees.
As you arrive there,
You'll stack your shoulders over your wrists,
Hips over your knees.
Let's take one round of cow pose.
As you inhale,
Let your belly drop down.
Peel your chest and chin up.
And for cat pose as you exhale,
Round your spine,
Draw your chin in toward your chest.
Move back to a neutral spine and we'll come into a wide knee child's pose.
Walk the knees wider out to the edges of your mat,
Big toes together and allow a sinking back of your hips toward your heels.
Make sure your forehead is supported here.
If it doesn't reach your mat,
Just stack your hands underneath it.
Otherwise the arms are extended out in front of you,
Not reaching or pulling,
But just resting.
Feeling the belly rise and fall as you breathe.
If the arms are extended out in front,
You can bring this into a side stretch as well.
You'll just start by walking your hands to the top right edge of your mat,
Maybe even stacking one hand over the other.
And as you maintain the heaviness in your hips,
You'll also feel this sweet stretch through the left side of the body from the underarm to the hip.
Little breaths here.
If you're on that one side,
We'll go ahead and switch it up,
Walking your hands through center over to the left.
Maybe the opposite palm lands on top as you soften into this shape with that extra stretch in the right side of the body.
And if your mind is full,
That's okay.
Just keep coming right back to your breath.
Nothing to force or fix here.
Moving into the sensation in the body just as it shows up.
It'll come and it'll go.
Everything is temporary.
Slowly,
Gently curl your hands back to center.
Press into your palms and rise back through to hands and knees.
Your knees can draw in a little closer.
We'll take another cow pose.
Let your belly drop down.
Peel your chest up.
On your breath out,
Ride that through to a cat pose.
Round your spine,
Chin to chest,
Back to a neutral spine.
After coming into dangling pose,
This is a standing forward fold.
So I want you to keep a really generous bend in your knees as you step your feet through.
Keep your head heavy.
You can start by placing your hands on your thighs to support you here.
You can always keep your hands there if you're feeling like that's where they need to be today.
Otherwise,
If you want to release a little bit more and just dangle,
You can let your arms hang or grab opposite elbows.
Allowing the head to hang below the heart is one way to support the nervous system along with slow,
Deep breaths.
So try to incorporate those here.
Good.
And when you're ready,
Bring your hands back to your thighs.
Little support there now as you lower your knees back down onto your mat.
Turn around to lay on your back.
Coming into a Shavasana.
Maybe you choose to place a pillow under your head or under the back of your knees.
And as you drop into this final shape,
Start by observing how the body feels and noticing any thoughts or distractions in the mind or in your space around you.
Bringing your awareness right back to your breath.
Feel the softening in your toes and fingers.
Notice in the back of your right leg and your left leg.
A sinking down sensation in the back of your hips and shoulders.
Notice a natural curve through the spine.
Feel and sense the weight of your head supported beneath you by the pillow or mat.
Feel the softening in your face,
Your brows,
Your cheeks,
Your jaw.
Allow a little space between the top teeth and the bottom teeth as the tongue gently falls away from the top of your mouth.
Feel a spaciousness across the chest.
Softening in the belly.
Gently breathing with nowhere else to be and nothing else to do.
And we'll finish off the practice just as you are laying on your back.
So I encourage you to stay here longer and to end together.
Maybe you bring your hands to your heart.
I want to thank you for showing up with the courage to find peace within.
Namaste.
