Breathe Easier - A Slow Flow To Create Space

Our focus in this practice is the breath, and the areas where we can create space by taking a fuller breath. We draw awareness to our lungs, the space between our ribs, how a deeper breath brings us a calmer state of mind and so much more. A much loved class for the fellow anatomy lover. Perfect for yoga teachers who want to add more depth in how they express these topics in their own classes.

Transcript

Today's class is titled Breathe Easier, And that can be interpreted in lots of different ways. We're going to start with a pranayama, Of course, As we often do, But I want you to think about what that means to breathe. So within the breathing or within the area in which we breathe, It's the lungs and the chest and the heart space. So we're going to be mobilizing the thoracic spine today and all of the different directions that it moves so that we can create some freedom in between the ribs and the tissues that support the lungs as well. Thank you all. And I also want you to think about taking a really nice nourishing breath. And I don't mean that that necessarily needs to be a deep breath. Sometimes yogis will say to you, Let's take a really deep breath. And we kind of pause and linger. But what I want you to think about today is taking in the breath that you need and then remembering to breathe out, Not really trying to force anything about the breath, Letting it be natural. Where you can, Let's experiment today with breathing in just through the nose. And we're going to be moving slowly enough that that should be manageable for us. Lungs are in good health and everything is working well. We are in this upright position, So we're almost thinking of this class as a good posture class, Okay? When we've got the chest nice and broad, The back body's nice and strong, Holding us up in this nice, Long length with the spine, We have space for the lungs to expand as fully as they can, Forwards and out to the side and the back of our body. So I want you to be visualizing where the lungs sit, Okay? So we've got two, One on each side. One is slightly bigger than the other placement of the heart and imagine with each breath, Breath coming out to the front. Ribs and lungs reaching out to the side of the body, And then behind us as well. And then as you sit up tall, You're creating even more space in which this area here can work efficiently. When we're slouching and curling forward, We're kind of creating a lesser vacuum in which we can breathe into. So that's the purpose behind today's class, Is just creating that space, Reminding us to sit up nice and tall, And then allowing us for the rest of the day, The rest of the week ahead, To have that mindset of holding that space. So starting our new week with that intention of breathing more easily. So from your comfortable position, Just take your palms to face upward. Whether they be resting on your knees or in your lap. And notice how that just lifts the heart a little bit. Yeah, Collarbone broadens, Chest lifts. Sit up tall, So you're lifting up through the crown of the head, Almost as if there was that piece of rope that I'm always referring to through the center of your body. And I'm walking around each of your rooms and just lifting that piece of rope upward to the sky. And notice how that elongates and lengthens the spine, So instantly more space in between the vertebrae here. And then draw the chin ever so lightly in towards the neck, Just as though you were holding an orange between your chin and your throat. And then close your eyes. Let the shoulders relax. Let the belly soften just a little. Let the tongue relax away from the roof of the mouth. And just take a moment to notice how it feels to be happy. Notice how you feel, How your mood is. From the moment that you woke up. Until this moment in time, How are you feeling? Of various parts of your body feeling better. And see if you can create this moment in time where you're committing to letting go of everything else that's happening in your world. Let go of any anticipation about things that haven't happened yet. The unknown element of the future can cause us so much stress and worry, And I want you to just let that go for at least the duration of this short class together. And as you arrive into this place that we call the here and now, Start to bring your awareness to the breath. And we're trying to breathe through the nose if we can. So as you inhale, Notice how it feels to breathe through both nostrils together. Notice that gentle expansion of the chest, The lift of the lungs and the ribs. As you inhale, And then notice on the exhale how you're still nice and tall in the spine, But everything that expanded starts to come back towards center, And there's a letting go of the energy, Energy working its way back out through the nose. And just continue to breathe in this way. You're aware of how it feels to breathe in through both nostrils. You're aware of the space that you create. Around the heart and the chest in all directions. As you breathe in. And then you're aware of everything coming back to center as you breathe out. And yet you keep that longness, That length in the spine. Notice how it feels to breathe out through both nostrils together. As you start to follow the breath, I want you to just notice how it feels at the beginning or rather at the end of the exhale and the end of the inhale. So the inhale just naturally drawing down towards the belly, The lungs expanding beneath the ribs, The ribs and tissues around the ribs lifting. And then notice how it feels at the end of that inhale, If there's a natural pause or a lull in the breath before the exhale begins. And then notice how it feels at the end of that exhale. Before the inhale begins, Is there a temporary window where nothing is really happening, There's just a pause or a moment in time? Some of you will naturally notice that, Some of you it's not really happening just yet, So let that be okay. We're going to start with a simple breathing technique. So taking that just a little step further now. So as we inhale, I want you to draw the breath down to the belly. Expand into all of the areas of the ribs and the lungs, And you're counting to your count of four. And then when it's time for the exhale to begin, You're going to be aware of if there's a natural pause or not, And then let the exhale also be the length of four, Your count of four. And you're staying with that cycle, Inhale and exhale, Come together to be the same length. And awareness perhaps for some of us of a pause lightly between the two. Notice where you can soften, Where you can relax a little. Around the jaw, The neck. Softening of the forehead area. Around the edges of the eyes. Notice how it feels to have that single focus for your mind. And then notice physically how it feels in the body. As the ribs expand, The lungs beneath them expanding. Forward, Backwards, Side. To side. Awareness of space again and again. And then let's change the breath just one more time. To help us to tone the diaphragm, The breathing muscle. So as we inhale, We'll continue with that length of four. But now the pause is going to be introduced as a. . . Real thing now. So as the inhale finishes we'll pause for the count of four. And at the end of the pause to the count of four, You'll let the exhale begin. Still to the count of four. And at the end of the exhale, We're. Counting to four as we pause before the inhale begins again. So everything is for the count of four. We inhale to count to four. We pause for the count of four. We exhale to the count of four. And we pause to the count of four. Notice how it feels at the end of the exhale, Really pushing out all of that energy from the lungs and then pausing. Notice how it feels at the end of the inhale, That drawing in of energy and then holding that energy in. So you're holding that spaciousness that you're creating. With that full lung. The muscles supporting the lungs. Three more rounds of breath, Just like this. When the third breath is complete, Just return to a natural breath. Keep the eyes closed for a moment and just notice how it feels to let the breath come and go as it naturally does. Notice how you feel. Notice if you can carry that awareness of the breath and where we're breathing into. With us throughout the practice today. Using it as a visual aid. To understand how the breath is. Working within us. One more breath. And when that natural breath is complete, Just slowly, Slowly start to open the eyes up and let's release the block from underneath as bottom comes down to the ground and just place the block near the top of the mat. Place your right foot to the ground and just draw your left knee to point towards the center of your mat. So the left heel is now on the outside of the right hip. And then carry your right foot so that the base of the foot is on the ground on the outside of the left hip, Okay? So we're gonna sit up really nice and tall as we inhale here. And as we exhale, We're keeping the length in the spine and we're twisting over to the right side and you're hooking the knee into the crease of the left elbow, Right hand behind us to the ground. And as you inhale, I want you to sit really tall, Draw the belly in, Lift up. And as you exhale, You're seeing if you can draw your ribs and your chest around towards the right side of the room. And that right hand is really just there to remind you to sit up nice and tall. And if we were moving the hand, You're. . . Core muscles should be holding you in place nicely anyway. Every breath in, We lengthen the spine. And every breath out, We twist as we draw the ribs and chest and shoulder just a little bit further around. So getting into thoracic spine here. And this is where the ribs are attached into, These 12 vertebrae in the upper back. And they're designed to not be so mobile because they're protecting the lungs and the heart beneath them, But we still need to have space in them. For our day-to-day movements. Take another big breath here. And then just slowly unwind, Come back to face forwards, And let's just slowly unwind the legs. So the feet come to the floor, And then bend your right knee, So the right knee points forward, The heel of the foot's to the outside of the left hip, And then carry the left foot over to be on the outside of the right thigh towards the knee. Sit nice and tall as you inhale. And as you exhale, Twist the body towards the right, The left side of the room now. And then left knee connects into the crease of right elbow. Left hand is behind the ground, Behind your back on the ground. Sit tall to lengthen again, Inhale. Draw the belly in and up and as you exhale can you draw the ribs, Chest and shoulder around a little bit more. So everything is pretty active in this. Some of you might feel it through the outer left hip as well. Every breath in spine long, Every breath out, Moving a little deeper if we're able to into that. Twist through thoracic. And just notice how it feels. It should feel like there's quite a lot of work here happening. One more breath at the top. And then just slowly, Slowly unwind back to face forwards. Unwrap or unravel the legs. And then from here, Roll yourself over into tabletop position. Fingers and hands flat to the ground, Shoulders above the wrist, Hips above the knees. And let's inhale, Soften the belly, Reach the chest forward. So we're drawing the chest actively forward, Tailbone naturally lifts up, Awakening through the front of the spine here. And on the exhale, We're gonna push the ground away with the hands, Broaden the shoulder blades, Rounding through the whole of the spine, Chin draws to the chest. And then keep on flowing in this way. Inhale, Awakening the spine on the front side. And as you exhale, Just nourishing the tissues and finding space on the backside. And you can think about this as a movement of the spine of which the ribs attach into. So we're creating some space in between the ribs. Creating some space and nourishment in between the vertebrae of the spine. I'm creating some physical space. That allows the lungs to expand more fully. Keep on flowing. We're going to take two more rounds like this. Notice which direction feels easier for you, More natural perhaps. And then when the second breath is finished, Come back into that neutral position. Keep the hips above the knees and let's walk the fingers forward, The palms stay on the ground and lower the forehead down to the ground, Melting heart pose. Option to bend the elbows, Elbows to the ground, And just bring the hands into prayer position behind the head, Thumbs reaching towards the neck, Whether they touch or not doesn't matter. And some of you might prefer to keep the hands on the ground and the elbows lifted and melt down in that direction. See what suits your shoulders, Your upper back best. Some of you might even come onto the chin. Some of you might need a block for your head. Check into what suits you today. And as you inhale, I want you to really breathe into the fullness of the lungs, The chest. And as you exhale, Can you soften and relax around the heart space? Three nice big breaths here. Noticing the melting of the tissues through the front of the heart and between the ribs, The lungs. Still the ability to breathe here. Fairly easily even though we're inverted a little. Last big breath. When that exhale is complete, Just begin to lift the head and heart from the ground. Walk the hands back to being underneath the shoulders here. And then keep the left hand on the ground. Reach the right hand up to the sky. Let's keep the hips above the knees if we can. And we're gonna do this in a dynamic way. Thread the needle today. Exhale, Reach that right arm through and under. So you're briefly resting on the shoulder and the side of the head. And then when it's time for the inhale to begin, Inhale, Sweep that arm back up to the sky here. And then exhale, Reach the arms through and under. Okay. And then inhale, Arm back up to the sky again, Just getting into those deep breaths. Harder to reach areas in the upper back. Exhale, Thread the NATO, Just one more time, Reaching the arm through and under. And then last time, Arm up to the sky, Inhale. And then this time, Stay down. Exhale, Thread the needle as far through as you can. And once you're there, Reach the left arm up to the sky. Draw the shoulder actively back. Bend the elbow, Place the hand to the right side of the waist or lower back. Some of you might even reach your right hip or inner thigh. And make it active, Keep reaching right fingers through, Keep drawing left shoulders, Chest and ribs back. And this is just really nice to access that mobility that we do have available to us in the thoracic spine. And what mobility we can create, What flexibility and space we can create, There becomes more room for us to breathe more easily, To draw more energy in. And the lungs are the starting point of the entire system in terms of health of the organs inside. As well as. Creating this beautiful faith spaciousness in the upper body. I'm doing the effects of a lot of the sitting down that we do day to day. Take another breath here, Just one more. And then release left hand back down to the ground, Push into the earth, And right hand simply comes back to the ground. And then push into right hand, Hips stay above those knees. Inhale, Sweep left arm up to the sky. Notice how this feels in this direction, Similar or not. And then thread the needle as you exhale, Reaching through as far as you can. Inhale, Arm back up to the sky, Shoulder draws back. Exhale, Thread the needle, Reach it all the way through. Nice, Deep twist. And then one more time here. Sorry, Two more times. Inhale, Arm up. Body reaching to the side of the room and then arm reaching over to the right side of the room. And then this is our last one. Left hand up to the sky, Hips stay where they are if you can. And then thread the needle, Reach the arm as far through as you can, Resting on the shoulder and the side of the head. Reach the right arm up to the sky. Now actively draw the ribs, Chest, And shoulder back. And then bend the elbow, Reach the hand over towards left side of the waist. Maybe even left inner thigh, Some of you lower back. And don't just hang out here, Really make it count. So reach the left arm through, Keep drawing right shoulder back. Breathe deeply, Okay? Breathe deeply in the sense that you're drawing actively the energy in. Doesn't matter how far down inside of you it goes at the moment, But just drawing energy in rather than pausing the breath, Which is what we tend to do when we don't really know what's coming next. Take another big, Big, Juicy breath in. And then release right hand slowly to the earth. Push into the hand, Left hand returns to the ground and we come back to tabletop position. From tabletop, Tuck the toes under, Lift the knees from the ground, Hips to the sky. Downward facing dog. Walk the dog for a moment. Lifting one heel, Bending the same knee, Getting a little movement through the back of the legs. Notice how the legs are feeling here. Hands push the ground away, Hips nice and high. Notice the length in the spine, The side body here as well. And then soften both knees, Look to the top of the mat, Hop, Step or jump there. Arriving in a halfway lift, So spine nice and long. And then exhale, Soften the knees, Forward fold. Okay, Belly to spine as you roll yourself slowly up, Vertebrae by vertebrae, Head is the last thing to arrive upward. And then place the hands into heart center. Push down through the feet, Inhale, Rise up with the fingers. Can you lift the heart a little? So a little back bend here. And then exhale nice and slowly, Hands through heart center as you hinge from the hips, Hands to the ground, Right foot back, Lower the knee down. Come onto the top of the foot as you sweep the fingers up to the sky here. Push down through the top of the right foot, Bottom of the left foot. Imagine squeezing those inner thighs in. So you're getting that nice awakening through psoas on the right hip, Front area of the thigh. And then really sink down. Continue to lift up. So everything from the belly button up is lifting up. Everything in the belly button down is sinking down. And then just slowly take the fingers down towards the earth, Interlace the fingers behind the back, And reach those hands away from the lower back. So we're not pulling down, We're not just hanging out, We're really drawing them away. And at the same time, You're lifting the heart up. Left big toe is going to want to leave the ground, Keep pushing it down. And just notice how that feels to create that beautiful. Spaciousness through the front of the chest and heart and shoulders. WOMOBRA! And then release that, Left hand comes to rest on the thigh. Draw the belly in and away from left thigh. Sweep the right hand up to the sky. And on the exhale, Lean over to the left. So now you're getting it through the side body and the front of that right hip. Keep the feet strong to the ground and this is just creating a little bit of space. In the QL, A little bit of space in the psoas. All of which connects into the lower back and when these muscles are tight they tilt the pelvic bowl forward. And that tends to create this. . . Lack of space around the heart because the ribs jut forward and we resort to shallow breathing. Take another breath. And then lower right hand to the ground, Twist the upper body to the left side of the room, Left hand up to the sky, Push actively right hand into the ground. And as you do that, Can you lean back a little bit with left shoulder? Notice how that feels through the upper back again. Another way to get into these tissues here. And then let's lower the hands to the ground. Tuck right toes under, Lift the knee, Step back to downward facing dog. Thighs reaching high, Back, Hips lifting high, Hands push the earth away. And then look forward, Travel forward to plank, Strong legs. Chaturanga all the way down to the ground. Inhale, Baby cobra. Push down through the top of the feet so the legs are strong. Elbows hugging it. And then lower the body down, Push into the hands again. Inhale, Rise up to Cobra. So a little bit more of a back bend here, Still with a bend in the elbows though. Chest reaching forward, Awareness of strength in the legs and the back. And then tuck the toes under, Lift up slowly to plank, Downward facing dog. And once you get there, Right leg rises. Look to the top of the mat, Step the foot to the top of the mat, Lower left knee down. Top of the foot to the floor, We rise up for the second side of low crescent. So you're sinking down into the hips, That belly drawing in away from the thigh kind of gives us that nice lifting motion here. Strong feet. Inner thighs squeezing towards each other. Take a nice big breath. And then fingers down towards the earth, Interlace the fingers like we did on the first side behind the lower back, And then reach the hands actively away from the back. Lift up with the chest and heart. A's can come up or forward. And you're sinking down into the hips, But everything from the belly button up is lifting up. Notice how this feels second time around. Might feel slightly different due to tightness in the left hip here. Last breath. And then slowly lengthen the spine, Release the hands, Right hand to the thigh, Draw the belly in again. Lift up through the left fingers to the sky. And on the exhale, Lean over to the right now. And you're drawing that left hip back just a little. Awakening through left side body as well as left hip. Okay, Either your hand on the femur bone or arm resting. Keep pushing down through the toes, Let yourself be strong through the ground. Big, Big breath. And then lower slowly, Left hand to the ground. Exhale, Twist upper body to the right side of the room, Right hand up to the sky. Use the left hand to push the ground away and as you do exhale lean back with the right shoulder and fingers. So it's not a nice, Clean twist. We're pushing the ground away with the left hand, Drawing back as far as we can, Creating space. One more breath here. And then lower the hand to the ground, Tuck left toes, Lift the knee, Step it forward to forward fold. Take hold of opposite elbows here and just sway for a few breaths from side to side. Dangle in stillness if you prefer. Head heavy, Neck relaxed. Notice how it feels to bend the knees a lot, Curl through the spine. Little inversion creates a little space in between the vertebrae. Allows the immune system to have a little boost as we. Kickstart the lymphatic system here in our, Allowing the head to be beneath the heart. Last breath. And then release those elbows, Belly to spine as you roll yourself up nice and slowly. Two standing and then allow once you're there. The hands to come back to heart center. Strong through the feet. Inhale, Lift with the heart, Fingers high. Exhale, Hinge from the hips, Hands through heart center to the ground. Step the right foot back, 90 degree angle with the foot. Inhale, Come up into warrior two. So the fingers are actively reaching away from each other. The body's facing the long end of the mat now, Sinking into the hips. And we've got this length in the side body. We'll do a little bit of a dance. So sink down into the hips, Flip left palm up. And then as you lift left arm up and back, Reach right fingers towards the top of your mat. So you're stretching through left side body. And then let's reverse that. So we're going to bring the hands back. Left hand now reaches towards the back of the mat. Right hand each reaches forward. Okay, And then come back through centre, Same as we were before. Right hand forward, Left hand back. And then again, Left hand towards the back of the mat, Right hand forward. Little lateral work for the spine now. One more round. Right hand forward, Left hand back. And then left hand back, Right hand forward. And then inhale, Stand tall, Right hand reaching down, Right leg, Left hand reaching back. Peaceful warrior. Sink down into the left thigh. Nice big breaths. And then standing tall, Straightening both legs, Turn both feet to face the long end of the mat, And then turn right foot to face the back of the mat as you introduce a bend into the knee. Strong warrior two, Second side. Sink down nice and low, Fingers powerful as they reach away from each other. Sink a little deeper. Flip right palm up, Same dance, Second side. Hand up to the sky and then reaching back, Left fingers towards what is now the top of our mat, But was the back of the mat. Come back through Warrior II briefly, Right hand towards the back of the mat, Left hand forward. Inhale back through center, Left hand forward, Right hand back. And then swap it over, Right hand back, Left hand forward. One more round, Left hand forward, Right hand back. And then last time, Right hand back, Left hand forward. And then slowly come back up to warrior two, Straighten the leg, Both feet facing forward here, Okay? Interlace the fingers behind the back. Chest open, Soften the knees a little, Exhale forward fold. Weight comes into the front of the foot and the back of the foot. Just a little relaxing of the head and neck. Notice how that feels here. Squeeze the hands towards each other, Actively drawing shoulder blades towards each other. So a nice awakening of the chest. Notice that feeling of inverting with heart above head. And then leave the fingers away from each other to the ground and then turn your body, Your hands, Your feet to face the top of the mat and step back to downward facing dog. Hips high as you push the ground away with the hands. Awareness of length and space. Notice how it feels around the shoulders and chest here. And then inhale forward to plank, Strong legs. Chaturanga all the way down. And then interlace the fingers behind the back. Peel the chest up away from the ground here, And then lift the legs as well, Locust. Option to stay here, Or bend the knees, Release the hands to take hold of the ankles instead for Bopos. Lifting the chest. Strength through the back, Pushing the feet into the hands. Choice is yours. We're going to be here for two more breaths if you're able. Last one. And then release the feet if you have them. Release the hands otherwise, Hands next to the ground, To the next to the chest on the ground. Tuck the toes, Lift up through plank, Downward facing dog. Look to the middle of the mat, Step to the middle of the mat, Bend the knees, Lower the bottom down, Feet to the ground. And then lie yourself down on your back. Keep the bend in the knees. Okay, Take the palms alongside the body, The arms alongside the body, Palms face down. Push into the feet, Lift the hips up, Away from the ground. Lift the lower back up away from the ground. Interlace the fingers behind the lower back now. Push into the back of the arms, Triceps. Lift up with the chest. Chest is reaching almost towards your throat here. Keep pushing into the feet, Keep lifting up. Imagine a block in between the thighs if that helps you to energize and awaken glutes. And just notice how that feels to strengthen through the back of the body. When we're slouching or sitting down a lot, We tend to shorten the front body. Lengthen and weaken the back body. Take another big breath. And then very slowly and mindfully release the fingers, Release the shoulders. Lower yourself back down onto your backs. Okay, Hug the knees into the chest. And when you're there, Take left leg and wrap it over right leg. Wrap the feet and shins around each other if you're able to. And just lower the hips over to the right side. Thighs to the right side, Sorry. Left hand over to the left side. And if that's too much of a twist for you right now, Right leg stays straight, Just bending into left knee. And just notice how it feels through the upper back. Can you let the back of the left shoulder melt down to the ground? Just move two more breaths here. Awareness of space arriving into thoracic spine, Awareness of the feeling of release through outer hips. And then nice and slowly come back through center, Release the legs. Hug them back into the chest, Readjust your hip position if you need. Right leg over left. Wrap shins and feet around each other and lower the knees over to the left as the right arm reaches away to the right side. Close your eyes. Wherever feels good for your neck. Notice how it feels in this direction. Slow down. Take another juicy. Deep nourishing breath here. And then you'll slowly unwind. Come back to center, Release those legs. Grab your cushion if you reached for one before and just place it behind your knees here. Let the legs relax down to the ground. Take the arms out to a position that feels comfortable for Shavasana. Whole of the back line of the body connecting to the earth. Closing your eyes once you get there. Slowing down the breath, Noticing how that. Finds its natural rhythm as we come into stillness. And as you pause in stillness. Still stay connected and aware of the breath. That source of energy, That source of life. Always there inside of us, Just taking a moment to notice it and be grateful for it. And start to bring the smallest movements into the fingers and the toes. Reach the arms all the way up overhead, A nice indulgent full body stretch. And then get as small as you can, Hug the knees into the chest. And just slowly roll over to whichever side feels natural for you. Push the ground away from you with your hands. Slowly lifting yourself up to a comfortable seat. And let's take a moment to just notice the space that we've created to be mindful of this good posture. Bring our hands together at heart center as we sit tall. And then gently bowing our head to our hands in gratitude for our practice, In gratitude for our help. Namaste.