Hello and welcome to this softness and stillness yin practice where we will hold some yoga shapes for longer periods of time in a very relaxing practice.
It'll be helpful to have a bolster and some blocks for this practice.
So go ahead and grab those and grab your yoga mat.
And we'll get started.
Invite you to start sitting with me today.
You might decide to close your eyes.
Bringing your awareness to the body.
Perhaps placing your hands on your heart.
And as you take some gentle breaths here,
Maybe imagining a light.
Of any teller that calls to you.
To just bring that light into your heart.
Bring that energy,
That positivity,
That nourishment from that light as you breathe in.
And as you breathe out,
Let go of anything that isn't serving you today.
Taking one more nice inhale with that light.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Can allow your hands to rest.
Moving into our first shape today,
Butterfly,
Taking those feet together.
And you can sit on a bolster like I am if you'd like,
Or maybe you sit on your mat,
Whatever feels better.
And as you start this butterfly shape,
You may decide to just sit up tall.
Or you might decide you want to lean forward and perhaps feel different sensations in the back and the hips.
So we'll spend some moments here and you can choose which variation works best for you and you might even Switch up if you're leaning or up tall.
And as you hold the shape,
You might notice Different sensations in the body.
You might notice your body can sink further.
Try not to judge any of these sensations as good or bad.
Just allow them to be.
And allow yourself to move in whatever way your body is asking of you.
When you're ready,
Moving back up to sitting.
Moving into a cowl face shape.
So you're gonna take your right leg,
Bring that right knee in.
If you're on a bullsweep,
You might have to lean forward a bit.
That left leg is either going to go in front of the right one or around the right one,
Depending on how your hips are feeling.
And then we'll hold this for a few moments.
If you would like,
You could bring eagle arms into this as well.
Where you might decide to just stay focused on the legs today.
Once again,
Any sensations,
Any changes?
You're in the shape,
See if you can allow them to be.
And of course,
At any time,
If something isn't feeling right for your body today,
You can always come out of the shape.
On your next breath,
I invite you to uncross your legs and switch sides here.
So now that left leg is going to go underneath,
That right one will go over top or beside.
And then once again,
You can decide arms.
Eagle arms,
You could do the opposite way this time,
Or.
.
.
Have the arms down.
Breathing here.
Allowing whatever to be,
To be.
And you are ready.
Uncrossing the legs here.
You can move that bolster off to the side.
And we'll go into a low lunge here.
So if you have blocks and you would like to bring those onto your mat,
You can grab those now.
Take that left leg and bring it forward,
Right leg back.
And then you can bring that body forward,
Those hips forward,
As far as feels comfortable.
If you would prefer not to have the blocks or you want them on the lower level,
That's also completely okay.
And then once again.
Being in this stillness.
Perhaps trying to see if your body will soften or relax into the shape.
And if it's not,
That's okay.
That's just your body's way of saying it doesn't want to be there.
On your next breath,
Bringing that front leg straight,
Gentle hamstring stretch as you switch sides.
Right leg goes forward this time,
Left leg back.
And then moving into that low lunge on this side.
Perhaps seeing if you can relax the jaw and the shoulders.
And on your next breath,
Straightening that front leg,
Little hamstring stretch as you bring both legs back.
Moving into a child shape.
So you could use your blocks for the child shape,
You could use a bolster,
You could use neither.
Whatever feels good for you.
Bringing those knees to the width of your mat,
Hips backwards,
And giving yourself some time to rest in comfort.
When you're ready,
Slowly making your way up.
Moving on to your back.
For a few more.
Stretches,
Stretching into the hamstring here,
Take your right leg in the air.
You can take your arms behind your leg.
That left leg could stay bent or straightened depending on how your right leg feels.
I'm just pulling that leg until you feel a gentle stretch or sensation in the back of the right leg.
If at any point you get numbness or tingling or if You're someone who tends to get.
Leg pain or sciatic pain sometimes they call it.
You might not want to hold this one for as long,
And you can always just take a break,
Bend the knee.
Let it rest for a moment and then straighten the leg back up.
Slowly lowering that right leg,
Switching sides.
Left leg goes up.
Arms can support the back of the leg once again.
That right leg can be bent or straight.
Maybe you notice a difference side to side.
That's okay.
Once again,
Try not to judge.
Be curious about what's showing up in your body.
And on an exhale,
Lower that left leg.
And we'll do a final resting shavasana.
I'm going to do a supported one.
So I'm going to take my bolster and bring it back and Allow myself to rest on that,
Bringing it close to my eyes.
Hips here close to my low back.
And resting my body on here,
Letting the arms.
Come out the chest to soften.
You may decide to bring that nice light in from the start.
Starting from your toes as you breathe in,
Breathe in that beautiful healing energy and light.
And allow it to come all the way through your body.
Out through the top of your head,
Surrounding you with healing.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
I hope that you enjoyed this.
You can rest in this healing energy as long as you would like.
I'll see you next time.
