Hey friends,
I'm Allie and today we'll be moving into a short yin practice.
To open the heart.
So we'll be opening up the chest space and even the shoulders,
Creating some space in the upper front body.
If you have a cushion or a block,
Grab one of those for the practice.
We're going to start out laying down on the front of your body,
Laying on your belly,
And I'll meet you there.
So once you're on your belly,
You can lay all the way down.
Bring one cheek to the mat.
We'll just settle on to the front of the body and start to observe the breath.
And soften onto our mat and into the space.
Just taking a moment here to get quiet and still so you can observe how the breath expands the back of the heart,
The upper spine as you inhale.
And you just soften and let go a little deeper,
Heavier with the front body as you exhale.
Take a couple more of those.
Switch it up.
Bring your other cheek down.
And we'll move it into Sphinx Pose.
So prop yourself up onto your forearms.
Elbows are under the shoulders.
You can bring your arms a little wider or a little.
.
.
Further forward if you want less intensity in the low back.
If you've done some of my videos,
You'll notice that I love this pose.
I do this one a lot.
I probably practice this pose daily.
Especially because I spend a lot of time on the computer,
On the phone.
So this is a great shape to create more space in the chest,
The heart space.
And the shoulders here As you come into your version of this shape,
We're just going to hang out here and relax into it.
Notice the back of your body if you're tightening or tensing up anywhere.
Through the feet.
The legs the glute muscles.
As time passes,
We want to use as little effort physically as possible.
And just surrender into the shape.
If you want a little bit more here,
You can bend your knees,
Let your feet float toward the back of your body.
Really allowing the weight to sink into your forearms,
Your palms.
On the front of the body that meets your mat.
Last little bit,
If you'd like to move it into seal pose a little more intense,
Send your legs back down.
Press into your palms.
Just starting to walk your hands towards you a little bit so your arms straighten out.
Softening across the chest and shoulders.
And let's slowly release that lower down.
Again,
Bring one cheek to the mat,
Arms by your side.
Just let your spine resettle here.
Switch it up,
Other cheek down.
Press into the hands and rise up,
Two hands and knees position.
Just a little bit of movement for the spine before our next shape.
Let's take a cow pose.
Drop your belly down.
Peel your chest up.
Feel that opening across the collarbones and heart space.
And as you breathe out,
Round your spine.
Take the opposite shape.
Maybe feeling some awakening in the low back here.
One more round as you inhale,
Lengthen,
Look up.
On your exhale,
Press into your palms,
Chin to chest round.
Back to a neutral spine.
So from here,
Your lower body will stay where it is and we're going to move into melting heart.
So hips stay over the knees and you'll start to just crawl your hands forward.
Really like you're just melting your heart down to the mat.
So here if you find you don't make it all the way so that your forehead is supported,
This can be a nice place for a block or cushion to come in handy.
Maybe it slides under your forehead.
Maybe you end up with one cheek down.
So find what works for you.
It's okay if it feels a little awkward.
It probably will.
That cushion could go right under your chest as well.
And we're just going to hang out here.
Bend your elbows as much as you need to.
If you want more intensity,
Lengthen out the arms in front.
And just a few more breaths in this shape.
And again,
We'll start to press into your hands,
Rise back up.
To that hands and knees shape.
And then swing your legs around in front of you.
Come to a seat for a moment.
Going to move into one of my faves this is a supported fish pose so grabbing your cushion or block you might even want two of them depending on how this feels for you and you'll set it up underneath the back of the heart.
So think about between the shoulder blades.
Right behind your chest,
Your upper chest,
So it's under your upper spine.
And then you'll just be laying down onto that so your hips stay on the mat.
And then decide if that's okay.
If that's enough of an opening,
If it's too much,
You could place something under your head as well.
Otherwise.
Just softening the back of the head,
So make sure your head is supported.
Buy something.
It's not just hanging unless that does feel really good.
A little more support here.
You can keep your knees bent,
Feet on the mat.
Otherwise,
Lengthening them out might feel nice.
So that you're in basically a Shavasana.
With a lift.
Through the back of the heart.
And wherever it feels good to place your arms,
Just find that space.
It might be nice to open them up to the sides a little more or even bend the elbows and have the arms overhead.
Slow deep breaths wherever you've landed.
Really try to allow your body to soften.
Onto the mat and onto the prop underneath you.
Each time you breathe out,
You can imagine just a nice opening across the chest.
Cross the heart.
Releasing any tension in that space.
As you just continue to breathe.
Take one more deep breath in where you are.
Open your mouth,
Let it go,
Drop a little deeper.
And when you're ready,
Start to press into your hands.
Lift the upper body back up just enough to slide that prop out from underneath you.
Bring it off to the side.
You can prop the soles of the feet back on the mat and then lay right down onto your back again.
Feeling that sweet rebound.
Couple of breaths here.
And if you'd like one last shift or movement before we take Shavasana,
It might feel nice to draw your legs in.
Thighs to belly,
Take a rock side to side,
Releasing the low back.
Still feeling heavy in the back body.
And then we'll come into our final shape for today,
Shavasana.
Extend your legs out.
On your mat.
Bring your arms down by your sides.
Take a little tuck under with your shoulder blades so the back of your hands get heavy outside the edges of your mat.
As you settle into stillness,
Just take a moment to observe any shift that you feel,
Especially around the chest,
Heart,
Shoulders.
Any other sensations showing up in the body?
Notice the thoughts in your mind.
And of course,
You're welcome to stay here as long as it serves you today.
If you'd like to finish off the practice with me in a seated position,
You can slowly start to awaken the fingers and the toes.
Take whatever stretch feels intuitive to you in the moment.
And gently roll through one side of your body.
I'll meet you in a seated position.
I want to thank you for having the courage to show up and find peace within.
See you in the next video.
Namaste.
