Welcome to this trauma-informed yoga practice to relax the mind.
We'll move through gentle breathing exercises,
Yoga shapes.
To feel better in our body and in our mind.
Can start with me.
Sitting,
Lying down,
Or really standing,
Whatever feels best for your body.
We're going to start the practice with some gentle breathing.
I'm trying to make our exhales a little longer than our inhales.
So we're gonna breathe in for four and exhale for six.
Inhaling for one,
Two,
Three.
4.
Exhale for one to 3.
Four,
Five.
Sex.
Inhale for 1,
2,
3.
3.
4 exhale for one two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Six.
You can do a few more of these counting silently to yourself.
The longer exhale can help bring about that parasympathetic nervous system,
That rest and digest system.
And throughout the practice you will probably notice your mind wandering,
You will notice thoughts.
Maybe you're feeling anxious,
You have a lot on your mind or stress.
If you're open to it,
I would love for you to practice picturing these thoughts as Leaves floating through a stream throughout this entire practice or clouds floating in the sky.
Just allowing them to come and go and knowing that you're doing something for yourself right now that you value by doing this yoga practice.
We're going to bring some gentle movement in here,
Bringing the right ear to the right shoulder.
Gently gazing down towards the chest,
A little half circle with the neck here and then the ear goes to the left shoulder.
You can do these slow,
Gentle half circles here with normal breath.
Once again,
If the thoughts come in,
Just allow them to be.
You can even say,
Thank you,
Mind.
Thank you for this thought.
Let it come and go.
Bringing that head back to neutral here.
Doing some arm circles.
Arms up above your head.
And back down.
Movement into the body.
You want to bend the elbows feel free to do so having a little more cactus arms getting into the chest a bit more Maybe circling forward,
Switching directions.
And then allowing those hands to rest on the knees.
Inhaling,
If it feels comfortable twisting to the left,
That left arm can go behind you,
Right arm can rest in between the legs there.
And on an exhale coming back to center,
Repeating over to the other side as you inhale over to the right.
And exhale back to center.
If you are sitting or lying down,
I invite you to come onto hands and knees with me.
Moving through some cat cows here on an inhale,
Lowering the stomach to the ground,
Tailbone goes up,
Head goes forward or up.
Exhale,
Round throughout the spine,
Chin to chest,
Tailbone under.
Then moving through these cat cows at your own speed,
As big or as small as you would like.
Really feeling into the sensations of the body.
Knowing that when the thoughts arise,
They can come and go and we're really trying to practice being with our body here.
When you're ready,
Bringing that back to neutral,
Moving through a thread the needle.
So your left arm can move a little bit more forward on your mat near the top.
That right arm is going to go underneath the body here.
So you're twisting to the left.
Your hips can come back a little bit as far as you would lay.
Just allow that gentle mid-back twist here.
Exhale coming back to center bring that right arm to where the left is And now twisting to the right,
That left arm's gonna go under,
Your hips can come back a little bit.
Then on an exhale,
Bringing that left arm to meet the right one.
And then bringing the hips backwards into a child shape if you would like.
You could bring your knees as wide as your mat,
Or you could keep them where they are.
And just bring the hips backwards into that trowel shape.
Allowing some rest here.
If you have a bolster or pillow,
You could place that down under your chest for extra relaxation.
Or maybe you place your arms or your hands under your forehead and allow your forehead to rest there.
Once again,
If you notice thoughts popping in and out,
Just allow them to be.
Thank them for coming and going.
Don't need to change them.
You also don't need to worry about what's happening later or what happened yesterday.
To try and come back to the breath.
Come back to how the body feels.
When you're ready,
Slowly making your way back up to tabletop and then turning over onto your back.
Once on your back,
Keeping those knees bent,
Feet down,
And just gently windshield wiper the knees side to side for a gentle twist.
And then bringing both knees up to chest here,
Hugging the body,
Maybe rocking a bit side to side or doing little circles.
Tuning back into that breath,
Nice and slow and gentle.
When you're ready,
Finding your final resting shape,
Whatever that looks like to you.
And placing your hands on your stomach if that's comfortable.
Just tuning into the breath here,
Feeling the inhaling and the exhaling,
Feeling that stomach move in and out.
Just being aware of how amazing it is that our body breathes all day on its own.
Without us asking it to.
How marvelous.
Do one more nice deep breath in.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
I hope this practice brought you back into your body.
I'll see you next time.
