Hello and welcome to this nice easy seated neck and shoulder stretch.
Let's begin by coming into an easy seat,
Finding a comfortable position,
And sit crisscross one leg in front of the other.
Hands can be placed on the thighs,
Perhaps palms down for grounding or palms up for receiving.
And then start to let your eyes soften,
Looking down and forward.
And imagining a long line of energy starting at the base of your spine,
Growing up and out through the crown of your head.
Sitting nice and tall.
Rolling the shoulders down and back.
10 is parallel to the floor.
Notice the contact between your sits bones and the support beneath you.
And then bring your attention to your breath.
Perhaps starting to lengthen your inhale and exhale ever so slightly.
Nothing really to force here.
Just coming into contact,
Into connection with your breath.
Breathing in through the nose.
And out through the mouth.
Breathing in,
Fill up.
Breathing out,
Let it go.
One more just like that.
Fill up,
Breathe in.
Open your mouth,
Let it go.
And then start to seal the lips closed,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the nose.
Just finding that steady control.
Letting yourself grounds.
And fully arrive.
And on your next inhale,
Lift the arms up towards the ceiling or the sky.
Maybe your eyes follow.
And then placing the right hand next to your hips,
Left hand reaches up and over,
Feeling a nice stretch in that left side body.
And then bend the elbow,
Cactus the arm,
Spinning the right lung up towards the ceiling.
Inhale,
We reach long.
Exhale we stretch Breathing in,
Coming back up through center.
Switching sides,
Left hand plants,
Right hand reaches up and over this time.
Bending the arm,
Cactus the elbow,
Reaching that left lung up towards the ceiling.
And then straighten that arm.
Coming back up through center.
Taking one more each side,
Right hand plants.
Breathing in we reach.
Breathing out,
We cactus open.
Inhale,
Reach low.
Exhale,
Stay for the stretch.
Inhale,
Come back through center.
Exhale,
Left hand plants,
Right hand reaches,
Breathing in.
Breathing out,
Twist open.
Breathing in,
We reach.
Breathing out,
We stay.
Inhale,
Arms come up through center.
And keeping that right hand up,
Left hand finds the side.
Right ear reaches towards our right shoulder and just letting that right hand rest on the head.
We're not pulling or forcing,
It's just a gentle placement,
Giving it a little bit of weight.
An option to keep your left hand planted at your side or maybe it starts to reach over towards the left edge of your mat.
Finding your edge here.
Just coming for a nice,
Soft,
Gentle stretch.
Relaxing your shoulders.
And then release the head,
Coming back through center,
Right hand plant.
Left hand reaches up.
Left ear finds left shoulder,
And that left hand just gently places.
On top of the head.
Right fingertips can reach towards the edge of the mat.
Just finding that steady breath.
Feeling this nice gentle stretch.
And then release,
Left hand comes down.
Arms reach up.
Interlacing the hands,
Both coming behind your head.
And find a slight back bend here,
So heart reaches towards the front.
And then bringing the elbows together,
Round the spine and start to tuck the chin.
Letting the hands add some weight to the head.
Feeling a nice stretch in the back of the neck.
Maybe,
And Shoulder blades.
Letting your next inhale lift you up.
Reach the heart towards the front of your room.
And then exhale,
Folding back down.
Letting yourself stay,
Chin to chest for a few breaths.
Notice everything slowing down.
Be feeling more grounded.
Let your next inhale wake your chest back up.
Arms reach up towards the ceiling.
Practice the elbows,
Press the heart towards the front of the room,
And then sweep the arms in front of you,
Interlacing the hands,
Pressing the top of the palms towards the front of the room,
And then rounding the spine,
Tucking the chin.
Inhale,
Cactus the elbows,
Wake the chest up.
Exhale,
Round forward.
Pressing the top of the palms towards the front of your room.
Breathing in,
Open up.
Breathing out round,
Staying here for a couple of breaths.
Letting your next inhale bring you forward once more.
And then placing the hands on top of the shoulders.
Start to bring the elbows together and then let them reach up and back,
Taking some shoulder circles here.
Going in one direction.
And then the other.
Keeping that nice steady breath in through the nose.
And out through the nose.
And then relaxing the hands onto the knees.
And then dropping that right shoulder towards the left knee.
Coming back out through center.
Exhale,
Left shoulder drops towards the right.
Your inhale brings you up.
Your exhale brings you down,
Swapping sides.
Right shoulder drops.
Back through center.
Left shoulder drop.
One more each side coming back up through center.
Stacking shoulders over hips.
Arms reach up towards the ceiling.
Right hand finds the outside of that right knee,
Right thigh,
Wherever it's comfortable to place.
Left palm stacks behind you,
Supporting your spine.
As we breathe in,
We reach long through the sits bones,
Up the spine,
Through the crown of the head.
And as we breathe out,
We twist a little deeper.
Maybe your gaze starts to look back behind you.
Relaxing the jaw here.
Relaxing the space between your eyebrows.
And then letting yourself unravel,
Arms reach up towards the ceiling.
Switching sides,
Left hand finds the outside of that right knee or right thigh.
Right hand supports the spine behind you.
Breathing in,
We reach long through the crown of the head,
And breathing out,
We twist.
Maybe that gaze looks back behind you.
Me feeling a nice stretch in your spine.
If you were like me,
I have a really.
Left shoulder,
So I'm feeling a nice stretch in my thigh.
The left side of my neck as well.
And then unraveling,
Arms reach up.
And then let that right hand drop back behind you for a tricep stretch here.
Left hand grabs the outside of that right elbow.
And just giving a gentle push.
Feeling that stretch in the right triceps.
And then switching sides,
Arms reach up.
Left hand drops back behind your head,
Right hand grabs that left elbow.
Feeling that tricep stretch on the left side.
And then release.
Bringing the arms out wide,
Crossing the right arm on top of the left.
And then we'll fold over.
And once we reach the ground,
Let your right hand reach for the left side of your mat,
And your left hand reach for the right side of your mat,
And then rest your forehead.
Maybe your forehead doesn't quite find the floor.
Maybe you place a block underneath it.
Or maybe you can rest your forehead.
Then using your quadriceps bones,
Coming back up.
Spreading your arms out like wings.
And if you'd like,
Let's switch whichever shin is behind and front just to even out that stretch in the back of our hips.
Bringing your arms back out.
Left arm comes on top of the right this time and then we fold over.
Right fingertips reach towards the left edge of your mat.
Right fingertips reach towards the right edge.
And then let yourself focus.
And let your next inhale wake you back up,
Spreading the arms open.
And then placing the hands on the knees.
Palms down for grounding or palms up for receiving.
Soften the gaze looking down and forward or close your eyes all together.
And as we close our practice,
We'll take a few rounds of breath together,
Breathing in through the nose,
Fill up.
Open your mouth,
Let it go.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
And taking your biggest inhale of the day.
And your biggest exhale.
Hands come to palm center.
Thanking yourself for taking time to practice.
And thank you for practicing with me.
Together we bow.
Namaste.
See you next time.
