Ground & Restore - Gentle Flow Into Yin

I’ve recorded a gentle grounding Vinyasa + Yin practice to support this energy, with a little space to settle in, reconnect with your body and set your intentions.

This was recorded under the lead up to the Virgo New Moon and is a beautiful invitation to slow down, get grounded and create a little more space — a bit of spring cleaning for the soul.

Transcript

Thank you for joining me for this grounding practice. So we'll flow through gentle vinyasa and then into some yin. If you have a bolster, Amazing, Grab it. Otherwise, That's totally fine. Just find a comfortable seat, Even if you want to sit on some cushion. So just take your time, Take any little wiggles and adjustments. Landing in the perfect shape. A little rock side to side to feel yourself nice and grounded on both sit bones. And then from that stable base, Lots of length traveling up through your spine. Feel the shoulders soft down your back, Away from your ears. Ever so gently the chin towards the chest so the back of the neck is long. And just arriving fully here now. Feeling the support beneath you. Notice what you can feel through your feet. That lengthening through the spine, Shoulders soft. Notice the temperature of the air greeting your skin. All the different sounds that you can hear. Paying close attention, Can you notice the soft sound of your breath? All the muscles on the face relax, Jaw unclenched, Even the back teeth soften. Switching the focus to feeling the breath flow in and out. Can you imagine now with the breath in, You're drawing energy up from the earth through your root all the way up your spine to your crown. Then the breath out, It's like a release of this energy all the way around the body back to the earth. So inhale, That's that drawing up. All the way to the crown. And exhale this beautiful release all the way back to the earth. So a few more rounds of this. Almost like you're clearing your system. Expanding that which is expansive. Expanding that which is joyous, Is grounded. One more round. Gently opening the eyes, Hands take a hold of the kneecaps, Your next breath in, Opening the heart through the arms, Shoulders draw back, A little lift of the gaze, And your breath out, Chin to chest, Round into the space behind you, Let your head be heavy. Inhale, Opening forward. And exhaling, Rounding back. And just a couple more rounds with your breath. And finding that neutral spine the next breath in draw a nice big circle of the arms up overhead really spreading the fingers and exhaling hands home to the heart space, Bowing in towards your heart, Welcoming yourself here, Good on you for taking this time and space to meet yourself for some self-care, Well done. And let your breath be your only concern from here on out. Notice when your mind takes you away, Come back to the breath again and again. Let's make our way to a tabletop position. So I'll have our fingers nice and spread underneath shoulders, Knees roughly underneath the hips. The breath in, Let's lower the tummy to the mat, Lift the tail, Shine the heart through the arms. And then the breath out, Press the earth away, Chin to chest, Tuck through the tail. Two more rounds with your breath. Finding that neutral spine, Lots of length from the crown to the tail, Take a breath in. Breath out, Turn and look over the right shoulder, Bring both feet to the right. Breath in, Come back through centre, Lots of length. And breath out over to the left. And once more each side with your breath, Feeling into the side seam. Good, Coming back through centre, Grounding into the left hand, Breath in, Raise either right elbow or right hand, Pressing down to reach up, Breath out, We're going to thread it all the way underneath, Just hover above the earth. Inhale, Peeling up. And exhale thread and hover really reach over to the left Last one. This time relaxing it all the way down shoulder and ear towards the mat so that left hand can stay beside the face maybe you can press into that left hand to roll yourself more over to the right Take a nice full breath. Then pressing into that left hand, Let's unravel, Breath in, Reach all the way up. And breath out, We'll lower right hand down. Really just feel the difference between the sides. Let's start to walk the hands forward in between sides. Chin or forehead find the mat. We'll take two breaths, Letting the heart melt down. Slowly hands come back underneath the shoulders. Rounding into that right hand now breath in raise either left elbow or the left hand pressing down to reach up exhale we'll thread and hover And twice more with the breath. Relaxing all the way down on this third round, Shoulder and ear to the mat, Maybe pressing into that right hand, Feel yourself roll back to the left a little, Take a full breath. Grounding into that right hand, Inhale, Peeling open, Reaching up. And exhale, We'll lower that hand down. Well this time let's melt back into a child's pose. Big toes together, Knees nice and wide, Hips to the heels. You can always make a pillow with your forearms to rest your head. Find that little sway side to side, All that length through the back body. Let's slowly return to our tabletop. Knees underneath the hips, Round into your cat shape. Tuck your toes behind you, Feel that stretch through the soles of the feet. Hover your knees and send the hips up for our first downward facing dog. Meet your breath. And just take any little movements here. Bending into one knee and then the other. Little shake out of the head. Most importantly, Breathing. Breath in, Let's lift up. Tippy toes, Bent knees, Gazing forward. Exhale as many little steps to the top of the mat, Finding your forward fold. Take your feet as wide as you like, Arms heavy. Find that little sway. Maybe taking the opposite elbow or even interlacing hands at the base of the head. Let the arms hang heavy. Ground into the heels, Bend the knees really slowly, Your breath in, Let's unravel. You want that breath out. Pause. Let the inhale lift you. Nice big shoulder roll at the top. Breath in, Let's circle the arms up. And breath out folding all the way down. Inhaling your halfway lift. Breath out, Let's fold, Ground the palms, Step or jump to high plank or tabletop. Take a breath in. Breath out, Let's come all the way down. Backbend with your inhale, Peeling up to a level that's nourishing for you. Breath out, We'll soften. Let's do two more with the breath. Chin to chest, Ground through the palms, Tuck the toes from your core, Inhale, Pressing up, Knees or toes. Exhale, Send the hips high, Downward facing dog. Let's take five deep slow breaths. Grounding through spread fingers and the whole palms. That energy of pressing the mat forward away from you. Three more breaths. Head hangs heavy. Last two. Final breath out, Let's drop the knees down or the shins down. Start to walk the hands back behind you if that's okay for knees and ankles. Breath in, We're going to lift the hips up. So we feel this opening into the fronts of the hips, Nourishing that earth element. Breath out, We'll lower down. Let's do two more. Inhale, We rise. Exhale, Soften. Last one inhale and if you want to exaggerate really tuck through the tail so pubic bone towards the belly button exhale soften beautiful Let's make our way onto our bottom, Feet to one side, Bottom to the other, Stretch the legs out in front, Feel that sweet release through the legs. Come all the way to the top of the mat, Hips behind the heels, Give yourself a nice squeeze in. And make our way down to our backs. When you land there giving the knees a cuddle into the chest nice little massage for the low back rolling in one way And back the other way. Let's let the feet find the mat transitioning into our yin practice ground into the feet lift the hips let's slide that bolster underneath coming into a supported bridge if you've got a block that will work too or pillows let the hips relax down we're going to extend through the right leg. So just test the water, See how this feels for the low back. For the hips, You might need to adjust those props to bring them higher up or lower down. Looking for a stretch down that front right hip. So if you're feeling enough here, Perfect, Stay put and breathe. If there's space for a little more, That left knee may draw in towards you. Meet your friend. If you're using the arms, The hands being as relaxed as possible. Closing down the eye. Softening all the muscles on the face. And imagine your breath flowing into that front right hip. X I add at any point. You slow it down and nourish the earth element. Allowing us to receive more nourishment in all areas of our lives. Feel grounded. Noticing any shifts in how your body's feeling in this position after some time. And noticing if there's any part that you can soften that little bit further. We're into our last minute here. Deep, Slow breath, The body melting into the mat, Into the props and into the earth. Take our last three breaths. Gently starting to release. Slowly letting that foot find the mat. Bending up through the right, Might be quite fragile and sensitive, Just notice all those beautiful sensations and if it feels okay, Feet out a little wider, Knees knocking in. And just observing here. Fresh blood and energy moving through the body. Allowing yourself to feel so held. Slowly make our way into the second side, So feet will walk to hip width. We'll start to lengthen that left leg long. Enjoy that beautiful opening through the front of the hip. Now you're so welcome to stay here. Or we're going to start to draw the right knee in. Meet the breath. Take those little adjustments, Adjust the props beneath you if you need to in any way. Deep breath in. And a big sigh out as you sink down into it. One more of those. And then following your natural breath. You melt a little further with each breath out. Coming into our last minute. Any part that you can soften down that little bit further. Keep giving the mind the task of following the breath. Our last two breaths, Deeper breathing. Long breath out. Last one. Really gently releasing, Enjoy that sweet release. Slowly that foot can find the mat if it's not already there. Ending up through left knee. Straight away let's slide the bolster down so it will rest underneath the knee. Take a revamp here. Fully laying, Feeling the effects of that shape. All the tingling, All the movement. Imagining all those energetic pathways and lines in the body just flowing so freely, So picture clear stream just flowing with ease, Crystal clear water flowing. Pathways in your body like that just flowing with such ease one into the next. And here as you lay, Feeling so held, So supported by the earth. By yourself for taking this time and space. Would you like to set an intention? Go big. Connect to that dream line, And if you can put it into an I am statement, Do so now, I am. I'm flowing with ease, Clarity and joy. Whatever feels good. Most expansive to you, I am or I feel like it's your true. Let it bring a smile to your face, Let it wash throughout your whole body. Meet those. Beautiful sensation still streaming through from the yin practice, Let it move through your fascia. Letting go, Complete trust here. As just maybe something more amazing than you can possibly fathom is in store for you. I'll leave you here, Stay as long as you like. Namaste, Beautiful yogis. Thank you for practicing with me.