Welcome to this bedtime yin yoga practice.
This entire practice can be done on your bed or you can do this on the mat,
You can do this on a carpet,
On the floor,
And maybe you're close to your bed so you're ready to go right to sleep afterwards.
So begin either taking a seat for an opening meditation or make yourself comfortable and lay down.
Once you're settled,
If you're seated,
Notice if you need any props,
Anything to make you feel more comfortable in the hips,
And if you're laying down maybe fluffing up your pillow or maybe putting a cushion underneath your knees.
Observe your breath,
Watch your inhale and exhale,
And for the next few minutes I'll watch the time for you as you check in how you feel today,
This moment.
Maybe feel the body soften,
Maybe allow the breath to slow down.
Notice if the body would like to periodically sigh and release.
Release anything from your day,
Release anything you don't want to hold on to,
And open your mouth and really,
Really let it go.
If you notice the mind is wandering,
Bring your attention to your breath.
Observe your inhale and your exhale.
To keep you focused,
Maybe you repeat to yourself,
With your inhales,
I breathe in,
And with your exhales,
I breathe out.
Yin yoga is a quiet,
Soft,
Slow practice,
Inviting the body to be still,
And the mind in a restful state of awareness.
Breathe into your intention,
And then sigh,
Release attachments to outcomes or results.
Let it go,
And bring to mind anything that you could set aside for the night before you go to bed,
That you can pick up tomorrow,
That you don't need to bring with you now,
You don't need to bring into your sleep.
Give the mind and the body permission to put it down,
And let it go.
And then slowly,
From your meditation,
Come into a cat-cow.
So even on your bed,
On your hands and your knees,
So if you're on your back,
Take your time to hug your knees into your chest,
Roll over onto your side,
And then press yourself up on your hands and your knees.
Cat-cow is gently arching the spine and rounding the spine.
As you press your hands down into your foundation,
Whether it's the floor or whether it's your bed,
Exhale as you round your back up towards the ceiling,
In cat pose,
Looking like the shape of a Halloween cat.
And with your inhale,
Slowly drop the belly down,
Flexing the spine,
Dropping the shoulders down the back.
Do that a few more times,
Bringing some stretch from the tailbone to the base of the skull.
And with your cow pose,
Dropping the belly down,
Inhaling,
Filling up.
If you're on the ground,
On a hard surface,
Maybe you can do this on your bed.
Press up into a downward-facing dog.
We're setting up for a sleeping swan,
Which some of you may know as a half pigeon.
With your right leg forward,
Your left leg is straight behind you.
Your arms are forward,
And your right knee is roughly behind your right wrist.
So if you're on your bed and you're in the cat-cow,
You might be sliding that right leg forward.
So start with the hands down onto the ground,
Lifting the chest forward,
And adjust in any way that makes you feel comfortable here.
Notice if you would like some support underneath that right hip.
Notice if you might want to square your hips.
Slowly hinge at the hips.
Melt your chest down,
Or maybe resting on a pillow.
Settle in to this hip opener.
Hold and breathe.
Take a big breath in,
And a sigh.
Let something go.
Take your time transitioning out of the sleeping swan on the right side,
And then you'll slowly prepare to bring the left knee forward,
The left leg forward.
Your transition might be through a downward-facing dog again.
Take your time.
Settle in.
Melt your chest down.
Relax the arms,
And hold and breathe.
Take a breath in,
And a breath out,
And very slowly transition into a child's pose.
This child's pose is a counter pose to slowly transition out of the sleeping swan.
And notice how the hips feel on the right side and the left side.
We're nearing our final poses and our Shavasana.
Take one more breath here in child's pose,
And give yourself permission to sigh if that would feel good.
And slowly work your way onto your back.
If you're on your bed,
You might want to adjust your sheets.
Maybe remove them from on top of you,
Or just manage them as you come into this twist.
And if you're on the bed,
You might want to make sure when you twist from side to side that you're not on the edge of the bed,
So you have room for your legs on the right and left sides.
All right,
Now that you're settled on your back,
You've created your space to twist on right and left.
I'm going to hold each side about two minutes on each side.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Right arm is out.
Slowly let the knees fall to the left side.
Again,
Set up as you need.
Settle in.
Hold and breathe.
Take a breath in,
And a breath out.
Slowly bring the knees back to your center.
Maybe massage side to side.
Feel that stretch at the lower back.
And you'll slowly prepare for this final twist.
Again,
Propping up as you need,
Making yourself comfortable,
So you can settle here for a few minutes to hold and breathe.
With your next inhale,
Bring your knees back to center.
Hold here a little bit if that feels good.
Stretching the back again.
And take any other poses the body would like.
If you're practicing on the bed,
You might want to take some time to adjust your sheets,
Your comforter,
Your pillow.
Turn off the lights.
After five minutes,
You'll hear three bells,
Which you can choose to ignore and go right to sleep.
Or when you hear the bells on your own,
When you're ready,
Rise up from your Shavasana and enjoy your day,
Your evening.
So I'll leave you here.
Settle in.
Let the back body completely relax.
Sink into this deep rest.
Shavasana.
