Gentle Awakening Yoga

Whether stepping onto your mat in the morning or needing a mid day reset, this gentle yoga practice will support you opening up your body, getting your energy flowing through your joints, limbs and body, and finding some mindful moments of rest and self-connection.
This practice is suitable for various levels of physical ability, incorporates sound instruments for relaxation, and a short meditation to anchor into your center before setting off into the rest of your day.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. My name is Brenda Mailer with See Bright Spirit. I'm so glad you're here. Today I'm inviting you into a gentle practice to just kind of wake up the body like this might be something you would do in the morning or maybe partway through your day if you need to relieve some stress. But it's going to be a focus on the joints, Getting the energy flowing through the body, Working with the breath, Okay? So really to help you get into the body if you need to kind of get out of your mind a bit. And and just maybe prepare yourself for whatever is next in your day all right so you get more internally connected we'll we'll move through most of the practice on the mat so we won't be doing a lot of standing postures in this practice i will play a few singing bowls at the very end of the practice just to help you kind of resonate in the energies that you've cultivated and as we move through the practice i always recommend just being mindful of what your body needs you know this is going to be a fairly gentle practice so Nothing too strenuous, But always listen to your body, Please. Okay? All right, So we're actually gonna get started lying on our backs on the mat, All right? So I'll get you to just lie down as you're ready. And as you lie down, Just kind of notice how your body's feeling as you first just meet the mat with your back. Sometimes we hold a lot of tension in the low back, So if you want your feet flat on the floor. Just let your knees fall together. Or if your legs feel all right stretched out, Just, Again, Listen to your body. Do what feels right for you. I'm inviting you to place your hands on your belly though. Just take a breath into the nose. And out to the mouth. Just feel your body settle into that support of the floor. A couple more times. Through the mouth, Feel that fresh breath run in. At any point, Your breath is ready to find its own flow. Let the breath become natural. Just notice where your mind is. The mind connecting into the body. Into sensation. Sit wandering a bit. Let's bring our focus down to where our hands are resting on the belly. Start to witness that rise and fall. Not forcing the belly. Forcing the breath, Just finding that rhythm, Noticing how your rhythm is right now. Maybe there's gentle pauses in the breath. Maybe there's a few fluctuations. Maybe your body just needs another deep breath in. Maybe another long sigh out. Just continue to let the body guide you a bit in that way. How do you feel? Into the body as you feel into your center. You can even bring one hand a little bit more towards the heart if you want to connect a bit into the heart center. And as you lie here, Just checking in with yourself for a moment. How are you feeling today? What's present? What's on your mind? You know, Without going deep into any stories, Just acknowledging, Okay, You know, I've got this on my mind today or I'm feeling a little nervous about that. Worried or Maybe I'm excited for what's coming today. Just allowing yourself to be aware. Of what's present. And then come back to the breath. Back to that rhythm, To that flow. From the breath, From the center of your being, Notice if there's an intention that you have for yourself today. What do you need? What could this time on your mat support you with? Physically in your body mentally in your mind, Emotionally, Energetically. And then when you feel ready, Just bring the knees up into the chest. Give yourself a little hug for showing up here. Just a little hug. And release the upper body down again. Place the left foot on the floor. And start to circle the right thigh around. Let's just warm up this hip. Let the breath be continuous. And switch directions as your body feels called. Go back and forth a few times, Feeling into the range of motion. And starting to feel some warmth here. Across the center line of the body up to the side and finding what your body is willing to do today. Once you've gone around a few times, You start to feel that connection of the hip. Let's just draw that knee into the chest, Stretch the left leg out for a moment, And just take a couple breaths into the back of that right hip. Relax your shoulders, Your face. And then bring the left foot flat on the floor and take the right foot up into the air. Let's just circle the ankle. Feel the toes spread a bit. Maybe get out a few little peaks and cracks if you can. Do the foot, Point and flex the toes. So point the toes, Flex the foot. Going into the shin, Into the calf, The hamstring. Let the knee be a little soft and hold the leg if you need to. A couple more little circles. Just lengthening the back of the leg towards the sky. Lengthening upward. And then from here, Hold your thigh steady and move just the lower leg in some circles. So we're internally and externally rotating the thigh, Which causes the lower leg to move in circles. So then again, Move both ways. Keep the breath smooth here if you can. Just help ease any awkwardness that you might notice. How does that feel down into the hip? Thigh, The inner thigh, Outer thigh. Both ways. And then reach that leg back up into the sky. Deep breath. And exhale, Lower it all the way down to the floor. As the heel touches the mat, Just release through the hip. Give the knee a little wiggle. And let's bring that foot flat on the floor. All right, Let's do the left side. So circling the thigh around first, We're going to warm up that hip joint. How does that feel on this side? Is your breath flowing? In both directions. Feel the heat belt. Focusing down in the hip. In the breath. When that feels complete, Draw that knee into the chest. Stretch the right leg out along the floor. Just hold the leg in, Not super tight, But maybe a little gentle. I draw in, Relax the shoulder. Just breathe into that hip. Feel through the groin space. Back of that hip. Deep breath, Belly pressing against the thigh. Now bring the right foot flat on the floor, Take the left foot up into the air and circle the ankle. Again, Spread the toes, Move all directions. Point the toes, Flex the foot. Point the toes, Flex the foot. Just feel down the leg, The shin, The cap. Hamstrings. And then do a couple more circles. Sometimes after pointing and flexing, Get a little bit more openness through that ankle, Through the foot. Toes and then reach through that heel lengthen through the back of the leg draw the toes a bit to your face but let your knee be a little soft So you really feel that extension down through the whole leg. Deep breath, Relaxing to the back of the body. And then hold that thigh steady with just the lower leg in some circles. So we're internally, Externally rotating. That thigh Again, Breathing smoothly and continuously. As you go both directions. And when that feels complete, Just take that foot back up into the air, Reach through the heel, Lengthen. Take a breath in and exhale. Extend that leg all the way onto the mat. Rest the heel and shake out the knee. Releasing through the head. Now bring that foot flat on the floor as well. Just ground a bit to the low back of your body. Feet are flat. Let's take the hands up in the air. Circle the wrist. Straight up, Maybe make fists and circle the wrists. Spread the fingers and circle the wrists. Just getting that energy moving through the hand. Releasing tension to the wrist joint. Dancing the fingers a little bit. And then bring the hands over the shoulder, Or sorry, Over the elbows or the forearms. Take your feet a little bit wider. And then with an exhale, You're just going to take your elbows one way and the knees the opposite direction. Inhale, Come up and through. Exhale, Pause to the other side. Again, Just move with your breath. Inhale up and through. Exhale, Pause. How does that feel through the hips, The front of the hips? The wider the feet are, The more you'll feel that a bit through the hip flexor. Front of the hip. Try not to rush yourself with your breath. Go nice and smoothly, Slowly. Your head might start to follow your arms or go opposite to your arms. As you move from side to side. And then you might pause for a couple breaths. Just pause, Feel it deeper into the shoulders, The twist of the spine, The front of the hip. Hmm. And then whenever you're ready, Do the other side as well. Hmm. Good, And then come back up to center. Take the arms overhead. Lengthen to the body. Take the feet long. Do a big body stretch. Reaching to the fingertips. Reaching through the toes or the heels. I like to kind of reach a bit to the left, Reach through the foot, Through the hand, And then reach to the right, Reach to the foot, Through the hand, And just lengthen a bit through the belly, Through the hip. The shoulders I'm going to just relax the elbows for a moment. Relax the feet. Notice how you're feeling. We're going to come up onto our knees. So. Coming up onto the knees here for a moment. So let's just start by warming up the neck a bit. Just drop the chin towards the collarbone and roll the head off to one side. Ear to the shoulder, Exhale forward, Inhale to the other side. Just move the head a few times side to side, Just relieving any tension through the neck. The upper back. And the front of the neck as you just tilt the head back a little bit on each side. Let the shoulders sway a little bit if it helps to just ease the tension there. Let it be fluid, Let it be open. And then just drop the head forward. Take an inhale roll the shoulders up as you lift the head and just give the shoulders a few rolls Open the jaw. Make some faces. Bye. Stick out the tongue. Maybe look up for a moment. Look around the room, Look into the space. And then just shake the arms out. Feel in connection to the space around you. Take the hands up into the air. Good. Reach a bit, Lengthen here, And then bring the hands down to the shoulders. Bring the elbows together and the shoulders apart. Just a few circles here for the shoulder joint. How's your breath? That energy moving through the shoulder joint. The chest, The upper back. Can get your torso just kind of moving a little bit with it if you want kind of weaving a bit through the spine whatever feels right in your body make sure you feel stable through the core. Hands right on top of the shoulders. Notice how that feels. Another big circle. Everyone's going to take the arms up into the air. Interlace your fingers, Relax the shoulders and just lean a bit to one side. Just a gentle opening here. Inhale, Come up and through. Exhale over the other side. With the rest. Hmm. Feel the end of the side body. Come back up to center. We're going to bring the arms down for a moment. We're going to take the right leg right out to the side. So you're going to ground that foot and start to feel the inner thigh here a little bit, Okay? With your right arm, Just rest it there. Take the left arm up. Inhale and just lean over a little bit. So you're still opening up the side here, But now you're also feeling a bit through that inner thigh. Exhale, Come down. Inhale sweep it up. And exhale over. Inhale up. And down. A couple more and now up. Exhale over. Again, Up. And over, We're just gonna hold here, Ground through that foot, Feel the inner thigh, Lengthen through that left side. Hmm. Open the heart a little bit to the sky. Notice if you're really rounding forward. See if you can open the heart up a bit upward. You can shift your gaze if you want. Good. Inhale up and bring that down. Beautiful. Let's bring that knee in. We'll bring the other foot out. Make sure you're staying right on top. That knee okay so right on top of that knee Okay, And then we're gonna bring that left hand down, Sorry, Left hand onto your thigh, Just rest it there. Take the right arm up and just lean gently over. Exhale, Come. So inhale up. Exhale here. Inhale up. And oh. Feel the shoulder. Inner thigh. The side of the body. And one more time up and we're going to hold the top. Ground down through that foot, Feel the inner thigh a little bit. Opening through that right side Kneel up and bring it down. Beautiful. Bring that knee in. Let's take the knees. A little bit wide. Sink the hips back into a child's pose. And just reach the arms forward here. Take a couple breaths. Nice long exhale. Releasing through the low back. Heart drawing towards the floor. Just calm the mind for a moment. Check in. What's present? Physically, Energetically, Mentally, Emotionally. Finding peace in this moment, Just accepting things as they are. Long exhale. As you inhale, Bring yourself up into table. Bring the knees underneath the hips. On an inhale, Lift the tailbone and the crown up towards the sky, Lengthening the belly. Exhale, Round the back, Tuck the tailbone and squeeze that breath out. Inhale, Cow. Exhale and catch. As you come into cow, Press the arms, The shoulders away from the ears, Lifting the crown. Exhale, Tucking the tailbone, Dropping the head, Opening the upper back. You Excellent. As you come into cow this next time, Just come into little puppy here, Reach the arms forward, Keep the hips high. Lengthen up through the shoulders. Let the head come down between the arms. Now this is always a beautiful option for a downward dog if it's too much pressure on your wrist to do downward dog or there's something else going on with your shoulders. Always listen to your body. Inhale, Bring the hands back underneath the shoulders. Round through cat. Take the hips back to the heels, Just round over the thighs this time. Take a full breath. And then with an inhale, We're going to rise back up into that cow. Puppy or downward dog. Take a couple breaths. If you're in downward dog, Pedal up those feet a bit. And then to the backs of the legs. Hmm. Good. Inhale. As you exhale, Drop the knees to the floor. If you're in down dog, Inhale cow. Come up your puppy. Round through cat. Open the back, Sink the hips back to the heels, Full breath. Mmm. Inhale, Come back up to your cow. And Ian's about to be your downward dog. And again, Just pies. Notice how you're feeling. Deep full breath. Hmm. Rounding through the whole hand. Keep the knees a little bent in your downward dog. Lift the tailbone high. Alright, We're going to come into a lunge. So you can step the right foot forward if you want. You can take it up and back if you want first or just step that left knee to the floor and bring that right foot through. Now if you have a couple blocks, Grab them. And just have them nearby for a moment. We're going to bring our hands up to our knee, Ground through that front foot, Ground through the back foot behind you. Now, If you choose to come up into a high lunge, You certainly could. Let's take the arms up into the air. Relax through the shoulders and just lift the gaze up. Connect down into the body, Feel that rootedness. Through the feet, Through the legs, The hips, The lower belly. And then just sweep the arms back behind as you exhale. Sweep the arms up as you inhale. Just do a few circles. Feeling into those joints of the shoulders. Good. Pause at the top length in here, Deep inhale. Hmm. Inhale and then exhale, Bring the hands down. Now bring the hands to the floor or two blocks if you have them. Lean a little forward if you can, Opening up the groin space. And then inhale, Shift the hips back, Come into half split. You might bring that right block back with you if you have one. Exhale, Come forward. Move back with the inhale. And forward on the exhale. Just move a few times here, Feeling through the groin. As you come back, Let's just pause. Curl the toes back a bit. Can you feel the upper body round over the side? And then just feel into the back of that leg. Hmm. Deep breath in, Long breath out. Side out. Inhale, Come forward. Ground that front foot. Make sure the knee is kind of over top of your ankle. And then bring the right block to the inside of that leg. And then let the foot roll out onto the side, Just letting the knee open up to the side. We're just going to open up the inner thigh here. Okay, So hopefully you can see that I'm just rolling onto the outer edge of my foot. Leaning the hips forward a bit lifting upward now if you don't have blocks just be mindful of reaching for the floor here Only open that knee as much as it works for your body. For a breath. Relax a bit to the upper body. Feel the support of the arms. And then shift the hips back, Take that foot back with you, Set the blocks to the side. And sink into child's pose. Maybe stack the fist for the forehead. Take the arms forward or back, Feel into the body. Releasing through the heart space. Feel the hips. The breath calming, Heart rate slowing. Choking in. Hmm. When you're ready inhale, Bring yourself back up through table into cow pose. Round through cat. Back to cow. You know, We're dog or puppy. I'm just going to pause here. Notice the subtle differences through the body, The right leg, The left leg. Mm, Shoulders. When you're ready, We're gonna bring that left foot forward. You can take it up and back first. Just drop that right knee, Step that left foot through. And come into your lunge again. Hand to the knees, Whichever lunge you did on the other side. Relax through the shoulders. Ground down through that front foot. Feel the back toes also grounding. You can curl under if they need to. And then take the arms up into the air. Opening up through the heart space, Lifting the gaze upward just a little bit. Still looking forward though. Connecting into your breath. So grounded through the lower half of the body, Exhale, Take the arms forward, Inhale, Rise up behind. How does that feel through the shoulders, Through the back, The heart space, The chest? As the arms come up just pause at the top. Lengthen through the front of the body. Relax through the shoulders. Deep breath. Hmm. Inhale exhale bring your hands down grab the blocks if you have them With an exhale, You're going to lean back into that half split. And so come forward with an inhale, Lean back. Exhale forward. Feel through the groin, Down the legs, Getting some flow. Some energy moving. And then when you feel ready, Pause. Pause in that half split. Let the toes curl back a bit. You bend the knee. Hmm. And fold the belly to the thigh. Turn your gaze inward, Feel your body. Deep inhale, Long exhale. On your next inhale bring yourself forward round down to that front foot make sure it's fairly underneath the knee bring the left hand block to the inside of that leg and you're just going to roll onto the outer edge of that foot let the knee fall out to the side just open up that inner groin space Letting the hips lean forward as much as it works for your body. Lift up through the crown and breathe. Hmm. Beautiful. Inhale, Shift the hips back, Bring that foot back, Set the blocks to the side, Come into child's pose. And just take a few breaths. Notice how you're feeling now through your hips, Through the low back. To the breath. Close your mind. Witnessing, Acknowledging thoughts, Not dwelling or attaching. Hmm. All right, As you're ready, You're going to bring yourselves forward. Into a plank you can do plank from the knees or from the toes this is just getting a little bit more core awakening maybe dance from the knees to the toes Hold there for a couple breaths. Come back into downward dog if you want. Take a breath or two there. Come back into that plank. Maybe drop the knees to the floor. We're going to bring the belly right down to the floor here. Bring the elbows back by the ribcage and just lower yourself down. Right onto the belly. Bring the forearms underneath your forehead and rest your forehead. Give the hips a little wiggle, Just shake things out a bit. Let go of a sigh feel the body press to the floor and inhale And soften with the exhale. Let's get the upper back flowing a little bit more here and the hands right beside your chest. Elbows tucked back by the rib cage, Tops of the feet grounded at the floor. Baby cobra here. Start to feel the pubic bone ground. Engage through the glutes, Belly pressing to the floor. On an inhale, Lift the upper body up. Just as much as it wants to, Engaging to the back, Exhale, Come down. Inhale up, Draw the shoulder blades together a bit. You can put a little gentle pressure into the hands or you can even let the hands hover here. So your choice. Lifting, Lengthening through the upper body. Till the cobra is grounded. Let's do one more. You might pause at the top for a breath. And then exhale come down bring the forearms back underneath the forehead the fists and just give the hips a little wiggle release through the back Deep breath in, Long breath out. So the heart rate starts to slow. Let the breath deepen. And when you're ready, You're just gonna roll over onto your back. Let the back meet the mat again. Keep the feet flat on the floor. Bring your hands to your belly, Let your knees fall together and seek a few breaths. Hmm. This long sigh. Alright, Let's bring the feet a little closer together, Bring the arms alongside the body. You're going to start to ground the feet into the floor. Now if you want to put a block between your thighs, We're going to do a little bridge. You certainly can. Just brings a little bit more awareness to the inner thighs activating as well as the glutes. So take an inhale and as you exhale, Just ground the low back to the floor. Tuck the tailbone a bit. Press through the feet and inhale, Lift the hips up into the air. Lifting through the pubic bone, Grounding through the elbows. Keeping the head straight up in the air, Pressing to defeat. Holding for as long as it feels right for you or exhale, Roll down. Inhale just reset. Exhale, Ground to the low back. Inhale, Lift up. You can keep moving with your breath like that. You can hold again listen to your body today you know what is it's not just what i always do but what does my body need today Lift and hold. Deep breath. And then release back down Feel the low back round. Take your arms a bit wider. We're going to lift the hips, Shift them a little bit to the right, And then roll the knees over to the left. Long through the spine, Lift the right arm up. So it's just a long, Do the. . . Link to that right side of the body, Deep breath here. Mmm. Relaxing through. The shoulder, Maybe letting the head roll off to that side a bit. Deep breath in, Long breath out, Support your legs as they need. Inhale, Bring the knees back to center. Bring the hips back in alignment with the shoulders. Rest through the back for a moment. Take a couple breaths. Neutralizing through the spine. And take the arms back wide again. Lift the hips a little to the left, Roll the knees over to the right. And just relax into this side. Maybe take that left arm a little higher. I like to open my palm to the sky. Maybe let the head roll off to the left. Take a deep breath. Hmm. Inhale. Long exhale. Feel that opening down that left side and then inhale, Bring the knees back to center. Realign your hips with your shoulders. Bring your knees into the chest and just rock over that low back. You circle. Side to side. Lovely. Now bring the left foot to the floor and press the right ankle over that left knee. Flex the foot and feel that knee draw away from your chest. As you draw that left knee up towards you, Draw the foot towards you, Grab onto the foot, Grab onto the shin of that right leg. And then just feel into the back of that hip. I like to do a little gentle movement side to side, Just kind of releasing tension through the back of the hip towards the sacrum. Relax through the upper body and breathe. That feels complete for you. Drop the left foot down, Take the right foot up into the air, Reach through that leg, Lengthen out to the hamstring and exhale, Lower all the way down. Rest the heel, Shake out the knee. And then bring that foot flat on the floor. Let's cross the left ankle over the right knee. Same thing. Feel that knee draw away from you without pushing with the hand. And then use the right leg to draw that left foot towards you, Grab onto the foot, Grab onto the shin. Continue to externally rotate that thigh, That knee away from your chest. Then just feel into the back of that hip. Deep breaths, A little gentle movement if that works for you. Listen to your body. Connecting the mind down into the body, Releasing tension. Using the breath. Exhale, Bring that right foot down, Left foot goes up into the air, Reach to the heel. And exhale, Lower all the way down with that leg. Shake out the knee. Beautiful. I'll just bring both knees back into the chest for a moment. Lengthen the legs upward. Feel into the backs of the legs together here for a moment. Curling the toes towards the face. And then we're just going to slowly relax the legs. Relax the feet. Let the knees be soft. Take the arms straight up into the air. And we're just going to do a little. . . Dead bug here and just let all the fluids from the legs, From the arms, The hands are resting, The feet are resting. Elbows and knees have a gentle bend in them and we're just allowing all the fluids to drain down the legs down the arms Back to the heart. Close your eyes if they're not already and just rest and breathe. Taking all the energy back into heart speed. Feel your breath. Whenever that feels complete for you, Just slowly bring the arms to the knees, Draw the knees into the chest. Feet down to the floor. Stretch the legs out. Maybe take the arms overhead just for a moment. Lengthen out through the body. And then bring the arms down beside the body or rest the hands on the body if you want. If you need anything underneath your knees, Grab it. If you need anything under your head. Just allow yourself to rest into Shavasana, Into the integration. Releasing the back, The shoulder blades away from the ears. Be rolling the head side to side a couple times again releasing through the neck Let the arms feel heavy. Let the hands relax. And just feel the legs. Salam. Stillness, Relax the toes. So the whole body breathes. Soften the muscles of your feet. Relax your lips, Your tongue. Let your head feel heavy. Relaxing the shoulders, The elbows, The hands. The thing here. And the spine relax, The heart space, The belly. More back. Feeling the hips relaxed. The glutes, The thighs. Relax the ankles, Relax the feet and the toes. Just feel your whole body resting now. Witnessing subtle sensation. Witnessing the flow of your breath. Just taking a few moments to integrate your practice here. Just bring in a few gentle sounds of singing bowls. To support you. You you in your body. You're missing. You're in a state. Physically, Energetically. Mentally, Emotionally. Inviting your breath to naturally begin to deepen. Creating a little movement back into the body. Maybe a little stretch from head to toe. Rock over your back and roll over to your side. Notice what you're bringing with you today from this practice, From this time spent with yourself. Pussy Queen. Mentally, Emotionally. Spiritually. Perhaps a new intention arises to guide you into the rest of your day. When you're ready, Come back up to your seat. Just sit for a moment. Maybe place a hand on the heart, Hand on the belly and just tune into yourself. To your breath. Into your center. Here you are. Connected. Warm, Energetic. Open. Your experience. Whatever will come your way today. Bring your hands over your heart and just take a moment to bow to yourself in gratitude. So thank you for showing up and tending to yourself and taking this time here today. Gratitude for each other and joining together in this practice through time and space. And maybe anything else that you're grateful for today. Send a little love and light out into the world today. As we close this practice, Bring our hands into prayer. And if you'd like, Join me for the sound of OM. Thank you. You of your palms together and build some work here. Place your palms over your eyes for a moment and just open your eyes to that warmth of your palms. Slowly wash your face. Feeling that warmth against the skin and bring your hands back to your heart. Key mind body and spirit for this practice today And I thank you for sharing yours. No mistake. Hmm. Hope you enjoyed this today. Thank you for being here. And joining with me, Please come and practice with me again. Enjoy this anytime you like. Or feel free to join me live on Insight Timer anytime. And. I hope to share more time and space with you again very soon. So please follow me. Stay connected and feel free to message me if you have any comments or questions. All right. Sending you so much love. Take care.