Hello there,
And welcome to this guided practice of gentle movement to help move anxiety through the body.
Let's begin.
Find an easy seat on your mat,
Crisscross your legs,
And let your right shin sit in front of your left.
Find a long line of energy starting at the base of your spine,
Traveling all the way up and through the crown of your head.
Roll your shoulders down and back.
Soften the jaw,
Soften the space between your eyebrows,
And bring your attention to your breath.
Slowly start to lengthen your inhales and your exhales.
Breathing in,
Fill up.
Open your mouth,
Let it go.
Inhale,
Fill up your belly,
Your ribcage,
Your chest.
Exhale,
Let it all soften.
Let's take one more big belly breath in.
Exhale,
Let something go.
Reach your arms up towards the sky,
Interlace the hands,
And bring them behind your head.
Press your head into your hands,
And press your elbows back behind you.
Shine the heart forward.
And then round the spine,
Tucking the chin,
And closing the elbows towards your temples.
Feel a nice stretch in the back of your neck.
Inhale,
Open back up,
Reach the heart forward.
Exhale,
Contract,
Round the spine,
Tuck the chin.
Begin to match your own breath with movement here.
Breathing in,
We expand.
Breathing out,
We contract.
And as you continue this movement,
Bring your attention to your low back.
And notice if you have a strong arch in your low spine.
And I want you to think of tilting the pelvis slightly forward,
Activating your core,
And letting this movement come from the cervical spine,
The top of the spine,
Rather than the lumbar,
The lower spine.
Let's take one more here.
And then reach the arms up ahead and twist towards the right.
Left hand finds the outside of the right knee,
Right hand supports your spine behind you.
Breathing in,
We lengthen through the crown of the head,
And breathing out,
We twist a little deeper.
And let your gaze drift behind you.
Coming back through center,
Swing the arms towards the left for a counter-twist.
And then return to center.
And then move your legs so that your left shin is in front of your right now.
And then inhale,
Reach the arms up towards the ceiling,
And then twist towards the left.
Right hand finds the outside of the left knee,
Left hand supports your spine behind you.
Breathing in,
We lengthen through the crown of the head,
And breathing out,
We twist a little deeper.
And let your gaze drift behind you.
Coming back through center,
Swing the arms towards the right for a counter-twist.
And coming back through center,
Start to swing your arms side to side,
Just keeping your twist short and gentle for a nice massage of the spine here.
And then slowing it down,
Returning to center,
Returning to your breath.
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale,
Let it go.
And then plant your heels about two feet away from your glutes,
And let your hands plant behind you for support,
Letting your fingertips point any which way that supports your wrists.
And then set your weight back into your hands.
Pressing the heart forward,
Feel a nice stretch in the chest,
The shoulders,
The arms,
And the wrists.
And then round the spine,
Tuck the chin,
Press the heart towards the back of the room.
Breathing in,
Reach the heart forward.
And breathing out,
Push it away.
Continue this variation of Cat-Cow,
Letting your inhale bring you forward,
And your exhale round you back.
Let's take one more.
And then finding stillness,
Bringing your attention to your feet,
Start to stomp your feet on the ground,
Feeling the contact between your feet and the ground.
Letting some of that anxious energy move down and through the feet.
And start to slow it down,
Beginning to relax the feet,
Notice the sensations in your feet and legs.
Tabletop position.
Stack wrists underneath the shoulders,
Knees bent,
Knees underneath the hips,
Crown of the head is reaching towards the front of your space.
Drop the belly,
Lift the gaze,
Roll the shoulders away from the ears,
Press the heart forward.
And then press the earth away,
Round the spine,
Tuck the chin,
Let the gaze find your belly button.
Breathing in,
Drop the belly for Cow.
Breathing out,
Round the spine for Cat.
Let's take one more here.
Finding a neutral spine.
And then begin to tap the tops of the feet on your mat.
Noticing the difference in sensation here.
And slow it down.
Child's pose.
Big toes come together,
Knees come out wide,
Set your tailbone towards the back of your mat.
Rest your forehead,
Arms reach along in front of you.
And then let your next inhale bring you up through tabletop position.
And your exhale,
Sweep you back into child's pose.
Continue this movement,
Letting your core lift you up into tabletop and letting your core sit you back into child's pose.
And notice how long you can make your inhales and your exhales here to slow down this movement even more.
And let's take one more.
Meeting a neutral tabletop position.
And then walk the hands back towards the knees for hero's pose.
If this is too much on your knees or ankles,
Come into an easy seat,
Like how we began our practice.
And then interlace the hands behind the sacrum.
Roll the shoulders down and back.
And then release the hands,
Swinging the arms in front of you for a hug,
Right arm on top,
Left hand on bottom.
Tuck the chin to chest.
Releasing the arms,
Interlace the hands back behind you once more,
Letting the opposite thumb on top.
Roll the shoulders down and back.
And then release the bind,
Swing the arms in front for a hug,
Left arm on top this time.
And tuck the chin.
Coming back up through center,
Bringing the tips of your fingers to your chest,
Start to tap them all along your body.
On the chest,
The belly,
The arms,
The legs,
The face,
Wherever it might feel good to receive touch.
And then placing one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly.
Soften the gaze by looking down and forward or close your eyes altogether.
We will close our practice with three rounds of breath.
Breathing in,
Fill up.
Exhale,
Open your mouth,
Let it go.
Inhale,
Fill the belly,
The rib cage,
The chest.
Exhale,
Let it all go and soften.
And take your biggest inhale of the day.
And your biggest exhale.
Relax the palms onto your legs.
Begin to blink your eyes open.
Thank you for taking the time for yourself and for practicing with me.
I hope to see you again soon.
