Yin Yoga For Inner Peace

Ali guides you through a gentle yin yoga sequence that's great for all levels. This restorative practice will leave you in a state of inner peace and tranquility, while assisting in melting away tension and stress, so you can relax and sleep better.

Transcript

Hey everyone,

My name is Ali and today I'm sharing some Yin Yoga for beginners.

This will be a simple practice,

Really it's great for all levels to relax,

Open up the body,

And come into a state of tranquility.

So I hope you'll enjoy that sweet sound of the ocean waves behind me.

We'll start out in a comfortable seated position,

Cross-legged.

Grab a block or a cushion if you'd like something to sit on and I'll meet you there.

So once you're seated and comfortable,

Legs crossed,

We'll just start by placing your hands in your lap,

Taking a moment to drop into our bodies and release the external noise and clutter and distractions that may have been coming up for us around or before we sat down together.

So just start to become aware of your breath here.

Feeling the inhale,

Travel in through the nostrils and expand the chest,

Ribcage,

And belly.

With a gentle exhale,

Just releasing anything that you don't need for this short Yin practice today.

Breath is an important component to this practice so keep coming back to it,

Especially in the moments where you feel distracted or you feel like you need to focus more internally and be more present.

So we'll start here with a side stretch for the body.

Really nice way to start to wake it up.

You can bring your right fingertips down to the mat beside you and you'll start to stretch your left arm up and over the body to the right.

We want to continue grounding down through the seat and we're not looking for a really intense stretch here.

Just subtle to start because we'll be holding this for a while.

You should feel a nice lengthening from the left underarm down to the hip.

Once you've landed in a position that feels somewhat comfortable for you,

You just want to hang out and follow your breath.

It's okay if the mind is full or busy today.

Just notice that and allow your breath to draw you back into your body.

Feeling that waking up,

That stretch into the side.

Last few breaths here,

Slow and gentle.

And we'll start to release that side coming back to center.

Take a moment sitting right in the middle and observing any shift from side to side.

If you're feeling a little uneven on one side or maybe you're feeling a little more even,

Whatever it is,

Just observe.

Bring that into the other side now.

Left fingertips down beside you,

Right arm reaches up and overhead to the left.

Not pulling or forcing the stretch but allowing gravity and time to take over for you as you come into a shape that you can hold in stillness.

And of course any of these shapes you're welcome to modify so they feel right in your body.

You never want to allow any pain,

Any sharpness,

Any throbbing into the body but a little discomfort is good.

Staying in the present moment by following your inhales and your exhales.

Just a few more breaths on this side.

Never a rush in this practice.

Take your time,

Rise back through center and we'll take a moment just to allow those first two stretches to integrate,

Taking a few deep breaths.

Now go ahead and lay right down on to the front of your body,

Onto your belly.

As you arrive there you can bring your left cheek down onto the mat and your arms alongside of your body.

Just allowing a few breaths to flow organically as we take a little gentle stretch into the neck and allow the back body to settle.

Go ahead and switch it up,

Take the other cheek down.

And we'll move into Sphinx pose,

A wonderful pose to bring into a morning practice and to start to open up the upper body.

Prop yourself onto your forearms,

Elbows will start about under your shoulders and you can always modify from there if it's too much in your low back.

You can bring your arms a little further out apart or forward and then just settling in here.

You can allow your head to do whatever feels right if you want support,

Maybe placing a yoga block or another item under your chin or forehead.

For me it often feels good to keep the head more upright.

You might also feel nice to let your head drop a little heavier.

And as you settle into your position you want to remember to bring in as little physical effort as possible into each one of these shapes.

And there's nothing left to do here but just breathe.

You If you're feeling a good amount of compression in your lower back that's awesome.

Stay right there.

If you feel like you could take on a little bit more in that area you can try bending your knees and letting your feet just float toward the back of your body.

Maybe you try it out and see if it works for you today or not.

Landing here for about 10 more rounds of breath.

And ever so slowly lower your legs back down and the upper body down bringing your left cheek back onto the mat arms by your side and just feel that ripple effect and that settling in the back body once again.

Let's even it out and bring the other cheek down.

And now however you want to we are going to shift around to lay right down on your back.

So turning around and as you arrive there you can bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet onto the mat.

Feeling a new sensation of settling in the back body just for a few breaths.

And this is where you'll want a cushion or a yoga block if you have one.

I'll give you an option in case you don't but we're moving into one of my faves supported bridge.

So your feet stay on the mat flat underneath your knees.

Knees about hip distance.

Grab your prop if you have it.

Lift your hips up slightly and slide that right underneath your seat.

So we don't want it under your low back.

Go lower than that so your bum is supported.

If you're not practicing with a prop today you can do just less active bridge pose where your hips are floating and the soles of the feet stay on the mat and you just use a little effort as little as you can to stay in this shape.

If you've got the prop you really want to allow that to take over for you and for your physical body to release into this shape.

If you want a little more opening in the upper body you could explore bending the elbows and bringing the arms to the floor overhead.

If you know this one and you love it and you want a little bit more you could also extend your legs out away from you so it's really the back of your heels that are heavy on your mat.

Wherever you are let it be a shape that you can continue to surrender in as you stay and breathe.

You you you Slowly walk your feet back in,

Bring your arms by your sides and slide that prop out from under you.

Let's take a little Shavasana here.

Slide your legs out on the mat.

Feel the full support of the floor beneath you as you sink heavier into it.

Take one more shape before we land back in this one.

Go ahead and hug your knees in towards your chest or your belly.

Wrapping your arms around the legs,

Either the front of the shins or back of the thighs,

Whatever works.

Kind of rolling into a little ball but keep the back of your head on your mat.

Might feel nice for a bit of movement here,

A little rock and roll left and right a few times.

Then settle into this one so we're compressing the front of your hips.

Great morning shape to wake up the internal organs.

Slow deep breaths as you continue to feel the gravity of your back body sinking down further into the floor.

And in your shoulders,

In your face,

The belly and the chest.

And gently release that grip.

We'll come into our final shape today,

Shavasana.

Take a moment to set yourself up and take up even more space in the extremities.

The legs lengthen out wide.

Your shoulder blades wrap underneath you.

Back of the hands gently fall onto the floor.

Continuing with the heaviness in the back body and observing the lightness and space that you created in the front body today.

As we allow this practice to integrate,

We'll just land here for a moment with your breath.

If you know me,

You know that I love,

Love,

Love this shape and all of its wonderful benefits.

So feel free to linger here longer if that calls to you.

If you're ready to finish the practice back up in a seated position,

You can start by slowly waking your body up with gentle movements.

Whatever it craves,

Maybe a big old stretch reaching overhead and pressing your toes away from you.

From there,

Gently roll through one side of the body,

Come back up to a comfortable seat.

I want to thank you for having the courage to show up and find peace within.

I'll see you next time.

Namaste.

Reviews

The perfect practice before bed! So lovely. Thank you.

Hello beautiful 🌺🎈🌺🎈🌺Thank you so much for the wonderful yin yoga practice ☀️🌼I’m feeling sweet relaxed and my day is sunny side up 🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste

I really needed this

Really nice practise. Thank you so much! Very light and calming. Just what I needed.

Very wonderful 20-minute practice to release stress and calm anxieties. Peaceful voice and restful stretches!