Yin Yoga For Front Split

Welcome to this yin yoga practice to get your front split. We will be holding several poses to help your body prepare for a front split and with regular practice this will help you to get closer to your front split goal so feel free to come back to it.

This yoga class is perfect for all levels, from beginners to experienced yogis.

Transcript

Hi, Lovely people. Welcome to this. Yin yoga class to help you get your splits your front splits for today's class you will be needing a couple of props I recommend you have some blocks nearby or something to lean on. A blanket or maybe a pillow and then some sort of strap or belt. This glass is suitable for all levels. However, I really urge you to always feel for yourself how far you can comfortably go. If you're ready, Go and sit onto your mat and let's get into this. So straightening out your legs in front of you, Really pulling your toes towards your face. Now you should be able to stay upright quite easily. If you notice you're either falling back or really rounding your back, Go ahead and find some heights. So you can sit on top of a block or maybe a roll of blankets. Whatever works for you. So really pull those toes towards your face, Find a nice long spine. Then gently folding forward from your hips. Until we are at about 80%. So don't force anything. And then when you're at 80%, Gently relax into the posture. So allow your back to around, Your head to drop. Letting go of your left. And really just relaxing into it. If you want, You can find some support here. So maybe it's just good to lay on a block. Maybe allow your heads to rest onto a block. You can also make a little tower of your blocks or even use a boss or a pillow to lean on, So whatever feels good for you. This posture basically stretches the entire backside of the body. So all the way from your neck. Towards your feet If you want, You can really bring your breath into your back to make that even more intense. So really feeling the expansion of your ribcage and your inhale, The widening of the shoulders. And then a gentle relaxation softening of your exhale. Please keep in mind that it's okay to feel this posture. It doesn't have to be comfortable. But it should never be painful. And that goes for any of the postures that we will be doing today. Let's take a last nice deep breath here. And then gently. Find your way back out of the posture. Maybe it feels good to make any small movements, Feel free to do so, To release a bit of the tension. Then gently coming onto your knees. And you will be nearing your blanket here. So put your blanket onto your mat. A bit of cushioning of your knees because we'll be staying on our knees for a little bit longer. And then we are going to grab our blocks, Place them on the highest setting in front of you. Let's step our right foot forward and instead of going all the way down with our hips, We want to keep our hips a little bit higher for this posture. Bending our left knee and i'll see if you can grab hold of either the foot or your Now if you aren't able to grab your foot or your ankle here, You can use your belt or your strap. Put that around your ankle and then grab hold of your strap. So whatever works for you. Leaning onto your blog or onto your. . . From me, Whatever feels good for you. And then we'll be staying here for two minutes. Oops, There goes my balance. Make sure to find a variation that's doable for you for two. In the fighter you are pulling your foot. Towards your body, The intenser the postural be, And also the lower your hips. The more intense postural. I know it's not the easiest posture to relax into, But see where you can maybe soften a little bit more. You should feel a really nice stretch on the front of your left leg. So as long as you're feeling that, You're good. Try to keep your breathing nice and gentle. Taking one last nice deep breath here in the posture. And gently let go of your foot and bring it back onto your knees. Bring your knees back together. Just sitting. Onto your use for a moment. Again, Feel free to make any movements that might feel good for you, That you feel like you need. If you're ready, Let's repeat this on the other side. So step your left foot forward. Again, Keeping our hips a little bit higher. So we're not coming all the way down with our hips. We're keeping them a bit higher. Bend your right knee and see if you can grab hold of your foot. Your ankle again feel free to use your strap if that's more comfortable for you And then the closer you pull your foot, The more intense the posture will be. Again, We will be here for two minutes, So. . . Find a variation that's doable for that amount of time. Maybe you're able to gently. . . Lengthen your exhales, Which is a really nice trick to let your body know that you're safe, That it's okay to relax. Which can in turn allow you to go a little bit deeper. Again, Keep in mind that it's okay to be uncomfortable to feel it. It shouldn't be painful. Let's take one last nice deep breath here in the posture. And then gently let go. Going back out of the posture. Again, Just sitting back onto your knees for a moment, Maybe making any small movements that might feel good for you. Yeah. Missing your blocks to the side for a little bit. We will be stepping our right foot forward again. This time placing your hands onto your mat. Still keeping your left knee onto the blanket. Alright, From here. You can eat or stay up here. Really pulling your knee towards your shoulders and along your hips. If you have the space and it feels okay for you, You can gently come down onto your forearms. Or maybe use your block and place your forearms on your block for kind of an in-between option. Again, We'll be here for two minutes. So find a version that's doable for you for two minutes. Really allow your hips to melt down. You can allow your head to tilt, Maybe even allow your head to rest. On a blog if that feels good for you. Also be really nice. Actually, I think I'm going to stay here right now. We'll be here for one more minute. And let's take our last nice deep breath here in the posture. If you were on your forearms, Gently. Come back up And bring your knees back together. Again, Sitting back into your. . . Nice for a moment. Maybe making any small movements that might feel good for you. Any tension, Maybe rolling your shoulder. Circling your spine. Or maybe you just want to straighten your legs for a moment. Also absolutely an option. Nice deep breath here. And then let's go all to the other side. So stepping our left foot forward. Again, Option to stay up onto your hands, Or if you have the space and it feels okay, To gently come down onto your forearms. Again, Really try to pull your knee close to the body, So don't allow it to fall open for this variation. Keeping it nice and close. And try to relax into it as much as you can. Again, We'll be staying here for two minutes. Try to find a variation that will be doable for two minutes. Keep in mind it's okay to feel it, To be uncomfortable. It's actually where. . . Most of the benefits are going to be within yin yoga. However, Please. . . Come out when it's painful. When it's painful that's a really clear sign from your body that you've gone too far. So you never want pain. Discomfort, Yes. Pain, No. Last nice deep breath here. And gently. Find your way back out. That side was a lot more intense for me. You might notice that one side is a little bit tighter than the other. Know that that's normal. Feel free to make any small movements that might feel good for you. Okay, Nice deep breath here. And then let's move on to the star of the show. We are grabbing our blocks, Placing them on the highest setting. From there, Stepping our left foot forward. So first of all, Please don't be intimidated by this posture. I know it can feel a little bit scary to go into, But we are moving in step by step. At any point, If you feel like this is my maximum for today, Feel free to just stay there. So don't force anything, Really just feel what's okay for you today. And that might differ day to day. Or sight to sight. So placing our hands on our blocks. This time allowing our hips to come down really nice and low. Maybe this is where you're going to stay, Just in basically a supported low launch. If it feels okay to move a little bit deeper, You can Make your step a little bit bigger. So coming in a little bit farther. Little by little, Just moving in. A little bit deeper. If your front leg is almost entirely straight, Activate that front leg and pull your toes towards your face. You are doing this to protect your knee, So please do so. And then at some point, You might be deep enough to support your hips with your block. Kind of placing that in between your And. Your thigh you can keep leaning on your mat or on your blocks or if it feels comfortable you can just Let your hands to rest onto your thighs. Again, Keep in mind, It's okay to feel it. Pain is not okay. So we are still not moving into our full 100% range. We are staying at about 80% simply because we are holding the posture so long in yin yoga. And we aren't really warming up our body when going into this. Don't force it and really keep feeling where you can go, Where it's slightly uncomfortable, But not painful. We'll be here for slightly less than two minutes. Still more on the clock. Really keep breathing. Nice and deep, But gentle breath. About a minute more to go if you want to make any small adjustments. Feel free to do so. You might also notice that it starts to feel more intense as we are holding the posture for longer. Or maybe, You know, It's your body letting go a little bit more as you're in the posture for longer. Also an option. Let's take one last nice deep breath here. And then very gently. Find geriatric activity. Take your time. Coming out of the mixture because it really can be a little bit sensitive. And we want to keep control over our movements. Just sitting back onto your knees for a moment. Again feel free to make any small movements that might feel good for you. Release any tension And then let's repeat this on the other side. So again, Blocks high setting. This time stepping our left foot forward. Really allow your hips to come down nice and low. So basically as low as you can comfortably go. And then, If it feels good, Maybe make your step a little bit better. Again, We are moving little by little and really just try to feel where your max is for today. Not forcing anything. Like I said, It might feel slightly different from side to side and know that that's okay. Here too, If your front leg is almost entirely straight. Fool your. . . Toes towards your face to really activate that front leg. And then maybe at some point start supporting your hip again. It's kind of in between your glutes. And your upper leg. Also, If you notice you're really falling onto one side, Then you most likely have gone a little bit too far. So staying upright in the middle should be fairly easy in this posture. So please keep that in mind. About a minute more to go. Let's take a last nice deep breath here. And then gently Find your back out of the posture again. Take it slow. Keep your movements nice and controlled You're really doing that to protect your body and to prevent any injuries. So please do so. You can just place your props to the side And we will come into a short little shavasana. Before closing off our practice. So come and lay down on your. . . Allowing your feet to fall open and slightly away from the body with the palms facing up. Your eyes gently close. Really just take a moment to feel the contact of your body and your man. Allow yourself to melt into your mouth. Letting go of any last tension you may still be holding. Feeling that nice neutral position. Allow your body to rest. Gently bring some small movements back into your fingers, Your toes. And sincere. Gently allowing your movements to become a little bit bigger. Give yourself a nice big stretch or make yourself small. This feeling, What feels good for your body. And then gently find your way back up into a seated position. To close off. Our practice. So in your inhale, Circle your arms all the way up until your hands touch your forehead. In your exhale, Gently bring them down in front of your chest. Take a nice deep breath for yourself. Take a nice deep breath for someone you love. Take a nice deep breath for the world in which we live. And then gently bow down towards yourself to thank yourself for your practice. Bet you took the time out of your day to follow this glow? You can gently open up your eyes again if you have them glow. Thank you so much for practicing with me today. I wish you a lovely rest of your day and I hope to see you soon. Bye!