Hey friends,
I'm Allie and today I'm sharing a yin yoga practice for the full moon.
So this will be a nice practice for you to dive into any time you want to focus on surrendering or releasing or letting go of something.
For this practice,
I would love for you to grab either a cushion or two yoga blocks or if you're lucky enough to have a yoga bolster,
Which I usually don't get on me,
But today is a special day.
Grab that and we're going to get started in just a moment.
If you're new to me,
I'm an international yoga and meditation teacher,
Retreat leader,
And yoga teacher mentor,
And I'm traveling all over the world right now.
I'm coming to you from Mexico just north of Puerto Vallarta in a gorgeous space that I'm so happy to get to share with you today.
So we're going to get started in a comfortable seated position.
I'll meet you there.
So as you might be able to see,
I like to prop myself up.
At the front edge of a cushion or yoga bolster or block just to help support the hips.
If they're feeling a bit tight,
I encourage you to give that a try.
Coming into a tall seat.
Let your spine lengthen,
Drop your shoulders back and down Little tuck down to your chin.
And as we drop into this moment,
We'll start with a short meditation.
You can close your eyes or soften them.
Becoming aware of your surroundings.
Any noises?
Anything.
In your space that might distract you,
Just become aware of it.
Notice how you're feeling,
If there are feelings of stress,
Anxiety,
Tension.
Will really support you throughout this practice with the theme of letting go.
So we'll now just begin to notice the breath.
Doesn't need to change.
Just be aware of the ebb and flow of your inhales and your exhales.
Keep it simple.
Nice and easy.
With this awareness of your breath I want you to start to just observe.
And whatever feelings are coming up,
Whether it's physically or mentally.
Start to get curious and notice is there something that you want to dedicate this practice to letting go of.
To releasing.
Maybe it's a certain feeling.
Emotion.
Of fear.
And expectation.
Take a moment.
See what comes up.
Whatever it is.
I want you to repeat after me.
You can do this out loud or in your head.
I am letting go of.
And then you fill in the blank.
Let's take a deep,
Deep breath in.
Open your mouth,
Let that go,
Ha!
And take your time.
We'll move into a widening child's pose.
I'm going to give you lots of options to use the props today.
Always optional.
So coming into child's pose,
I'm going to take mine supported here,
Bringing it lengthwise underneath me,
Knees wide,
Big toes together,
Allow your hips to dissolve back towards your heels as you lower your upper body down.
Maybe bring your forehead to your mat or one cheek down,
Whichever works best for you.
Settle in and just breathe.
We're giving the body here an opportunity to release tension in the hips.
And to feel supported by everything that's underneath you,
Whether you're using props.
Or you just feel that connection of your body to your yoga mat.
And the groundedness of the earth beneath you.
So just like in yin yoga as we.
Focus on letting go.
In this practice specifically,
We want to do that physically.
See if you can do that with each exhale.
What can you let go of?
If you do have one cheek down,
Gently switch it up,
Take the other side.
Just continue to focus on your breath.
Bye.
And so,
So gently,
You'll start to press into the hands to lift your upper body back up.
Slide that prop toward the top of your mat for now.
And let's come through to a gentle downward dog,
Tucking the toes under,
Press your hips up and back.
Take a sweet,
Sweet old stretch for the back of your body.
Feeling that length in your hamstrings.
And in your spine.
And we're moving into swan or deer pose next.
So you can reach your right leg back and up.
Doesn't need to go high.
We're keeping it pretty chill here.
Bring your right knee to your right wrist.
To really get into the outer hips today.
If you know this is going to be a lot for you,
It can be often.
You can come into deer pose,
Bend your back knee to about a 90 degree-ish angle.
And again,
I'm going to use the prop for this one to support my upper body as I lower down.
So you could explore that for yourself as well.
If you're feeling more open in the outer hip,
Scooch that front foot closer to the top of your mat.
So you do you,
Find what works.
Again,
Same options,
Either bringing your forehead flat down,
Supported by something,
Or maybe one cheek to the mat.
Thank you.
Lingering here a little bit longer just check in and notice if you're hugging in through your belly or tightening your face Take a little scan through your body and see where you might be able to let go a little bit deeper.
Thank you.
Let's take one more breath in here.
Exhale it out.
Start to press into your hands.
Now lift your upper body up and we'll kind of shift to lean into your right hip.
And swing it around,
Keeping your legs.
In about the same shape as they are,
You can bring your prop over to your opposite leg,
The one that's extended out,
Your left.
And we're going to be folding over that extended leg.
So when you're ready,
I like to place the bolster either on the leg or the inner leg and just start to hinge forward.
No need to reach or pull here.
Keep it gentle.
And keep it light.
Just a few more breaths.
See where you can soften.
Slowly,
Gently rising back up.
Slide your prop.
Just toward the bottom edge of your mat,
The back of your mat,
And we'll shift around to face that side,
Coming back to a downward dog,
So facing the back of your mat.
Nice sweet stretch once again for the back of your body.
Relengthening the spine after a couple of forward folds can feel really nice.
We'll move into swan or deer on the other side,
So left leg lifts behind.
Shift it through to the left wrist.
And set up however you need to on this side.
Same options of course.
Maybe you choose something different.
Again,
Option for deer pose,
Bending your back knee.
Start to hinge forward if you turned your cheek on one side.
We'll go the other way on this side.
And you just imagine the front of your body melting down into your props mat and the floor.
As you settle into the shape.
Maybe as time passes you start to notice that your breath gets a little bit deeper.
A little bit longer a little bit slower.
So you stay here for a few more.
Gently,
Again,
Press back up.
Lean into your left hip.
And we'll come into the same shape again.
Folding over your right leg.
However it works for you.
When you're ready,
Drop forward.
We don't want to bring any force or strain into these shapes,
So just check in and notice again.
Is there any tightness that you can let go of?
And let your breath guide you there.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
One more breath in.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Slowly gently rise it back up.
Now this time just lean back into your hands behind you,
Bend your knees.
Soles of the feet onto the mat and take a little twist here dropping your knees side to side for a little realigning,
A little rebound from those folds.
We'll turn around to lay on your back for the last few shapes.
As you get settled on your back,
Place your prop on the left side about halfway down your mat.
So from here,
We'll draw the right thigh into your belly,
Interlace your fingers over your shin,
And you can extend your left leg out on the mat.
Again,
We're not really using force.
To pull the leg down but instead allowing the weight of your hands to gently guide your right thigh toward your ribs or your belly.
Is you really become familiar with the weightedness,
The heaviness in the back of your body.
Sinking,
Sinking down into your mat.
Feeling the heaviness in the back of your left heel back of the hip.
Shoulder blades back of your head.
As we compress the front of your right hip.
Slow easy breaths,
Expanding your belly towards your thigh on the inhales.
Softening your thigh down to your belly as you exhale.
Thank you.
From here,
We'll move into a spinal twist.
Start to shift your hips over to the right side of your mat and allow your right leg to drape across your body.
Inner leg should be landing on your prop or on the mat.
Drop your right shoulder blade onto your mat.
Maybe your eyes float over in that direction as well.
Again as you connect to the heaviness in the back body I love,
Love,
Love doing this shape supported.
Really gives you an opportunity to use as little effort as possible.
As we wring out the spine.
So gently we'll start to unravel and come into a shavasana to feel the rebound from that first side.
Extend your legs out.
Grounding the whole back body once again just for a few breaths.
We'll shift to the other side,
Draw your left thigh to belly,
Interlace maybe with the opposite grip.
Without easing.
Effort as much as possible just relax into the shape Breathing into the sensation in the front of your body.
Sinking deeper in the back of your body.
Alright,
Let's shift into your twist.
Bring your prop to the right side of your mat.
Hips to the left Left knee drapes across the body to the right.
Shoulder blades heavy,
Eyes can turn left.
As little effort as possible.
As we surrender into the sweet supported shape.
We'll come back to center now.
Taking one more centering shape,
Maybe a little happy baby to even it out and feel.
Probably a whole lot.
In the hips,
The left side especially.
When you're ready,
Take any other shape if you're craving it and we'll make our way to final Shavasana.
If you do have a bolster or a couple of blocks,
You can bring them underneath the back of your knees.
A really nice way to support your lower back.
Take up all the space you can,
And as we arrive in this shape to finish off the practice,
Let's come back to where we started.
In the meditation?
What is it that you're letting go of today?
Maybe placing a hand on your belly and a hand on your chest.
To get you feeling in your body.
As you reflect on what you're releasing.
You can also observe how you're feeling.
And how it feels to make that conscious decision to let go.
With that,
There's nothing left here.
To do than breathe.
Softening once more into the shape.
I don't think that's a good idea.
I don't think that's a good idea.
I don't know.
I don't know.
You're welcome to stay here as long as you feel necessary.
If you'd like to finish off the practice with me where we started,
Back to the seat,
You could start to wake the body up gently.
Take whatever movement feels right in the moment to stretch and wake up.
And I'll meet you back in a comfortable seated position.
I want to thank you for having the courage to show up and find peace within.
I'll see you next time.
Namaste.
