Hello and welcome to this practice.
This is a style that I like to call spa yoga.
It's gentle.
It's slow.
There are many opportunities to take deep breaths.
And in this class specifically,
To take inventory of your hips and to care for them.
I'll offer lots of options for all levels and for all types of bodies.
So let's get right into it.
We're going to start on our hands and our knees.
You're more than welcome to be on your fists if that's better for your wrists.
You're welcome to put some padding under your knees if you like.
Start with some cat cows.
So arching the spine,
Opening the chest,
And then rounding.
Tailbone towards your knees.
You could add an inhale as you look forward.
And then exhale,
Tuck your tailbone,
Round your back to the ceiling.
Good.
Do that again.
The tailbone initiates the movement into the arc and then the tailbone draws down the rest of your spine domes and rounds.
Couple more times.
Opening the chest,
The belly and then as you round you're opening your back.
Fluffing up your back ribs.
Yeah,
A few more times and if it's.
.
.
You know,
A different pace than mine,
That's always okay to go at a different pace.
To make this practice work for you rather than forcing your body.
To adhere to some perfect shape or some perfect movement.
Let's take one more of these cat cows.
And then we'll meet with a neutral spine,
Chest drawing forward.
And start to simply sway your hips side to side.
Again,
Go with the pace that's right for you and just go with the depth that's right for you.
So it could be a little bit or a little more rocking side to side.
You're welcome to add in more.
Looking over each shoulder as well.
And you could play around with the hips and the head going to the same side each time or opposite.
No perfect way to do this,
Just a couple more times and make sure your breath is full and deep.
Great.
Then from here,
Let's lift our right leg up behind us.
And cross your right foot off your mat to the left.
Could be a little or a touch more.
And take your right hand,
Bring it forward a good five or six inches.
And begin to rock on the ball of your back foot.
So we're kind of opening up into the outer of the side waist and more towards the outer thigh,
Outer hip.
Rocking mindful of your breath.
And it might be interesting to hold somewhere.
Or continue with these slow rocks,
Just a couple more breaths.
Notice how your neck might be holding on.
Inviting it to relax.
And then bring your right hand onto your mat again and take your right knee next to your left knee.
Arcing and rounding your spine three times.
And noticing anywhere along your spine that requires a little bit more breath.
When we pause,
When we check in with the body like this,
It often usually really responds and speaks to us,
The body.
Right,
So notice what your body is saying.
Give it all the breath you can.
From that neutral spine again,
Lift up your left leg and cross your left foot off your mat to the right.
That left hand crawls forward about five or six inches,
Begin some.
Rocks forward and backward.
A few times.
Giving your left side body full breaths.
One more.
Return your left hand on your mat,
Your left knee next to your right knee.
And from here,
Round your spinal column.
Keep your tailbone tucked down.
Walk your hands forward an inch or two.
Perhaps pop up onto your fingertips.
We're going to bring chin into chest and remain rounded.
Feel your back ribs puffing up more.
Like an angry cat spine or like an extended cat spine or.
Toward a shell back.
I always love rocking my hips back an inch and forward an inch,
But remain rounded.
Feel your core.
Navel pulling up away from the floor,
Big breath.
Into the spaciousness of your low back,
Mid back.
Those extended arms,
One more breath in and out,
Stay rounded.
Start to look forward,
Bring your hands back on your mat.
Now your right foot,
Your right leg,
Stretch your right leg out to the right so that your right foot is on the floor beside your mat with those right toes pointed forward.
Starting to check in with our hips more fully.
Hips go back and forward a few times.
Just want to be sure that your right foot isn't so far away from you that your left hip has kind of unstacked from the left knee.
Keep hip stacked over knee back and forward.
And then meet me with your shoulders settled over your wrists.
I always love being up on my fingertips here and we'll take a few awkward cat cows,
Arching and rounding the spine.
Noticing your inner thigh,
Your adductors.
Deep breath.
And again,
We're just curious.
We're noticing,
Oh,
How's the hip here?
Hello.
One more of these cat cows.
And set your knee back down.
And here we will take three regular cat cows,
Arc and round.
Perhaps observing things starting to open up or just shift,
Right?
Curious about anything changing in your lower back.
Or your pelvis.
With a neutral spine,
Now your left foot goes out to the left with those toes angled forward.
A simple rock back,
Some little mobility work here,
Back and forward a few times.
These are all things I love to do every morning and you don't need much.
You just 15,
10,
15 minutes can be enough.
And that's,
Kind of the brevity of this practice that we'll explore today is a little bit is enough.
Give yourself that breath,
Give your body the breath that's craving.
And then with your shoulders over your wrists,
Again,
Option to pop on fingertips or be on fists if that serves your wrists better.
Couple of these cat cows.
Pretty awkward here,
But that's okay.
It's okay if things feel different.
This is how change is.
Brought into our lives is through doing things differently.
We'll bring our left knee back down.
And now have your toes tucked under if that works for your toes,
For your feet.
Knees a touch wider.
And with toes tucked,
Come back towards a child's pose,
Adding in a little bit of a foot stretch,
A little toe stretch.
Option for hands stacked under your forehead or arms out in front for a little more extension.
Forehead down on the mat.
And if there's a different way to take child's pose that's better for you,
Please do that.
You know.
This is your time.
Your sacred time to be here for yourself and breathe in a way that works.
It helps your body to light up.
I'll invite you to join me with a clearing breath in your nose.
And a cleansing breath out your mouth.
Try one more,
Breath in your nose.
Opening your mouth,
Big sigh.
Gently come up onto hands and knees.
And either staying on hands and knees or downward dog.
Three or four breaths.
If you're on your hands and your knees,
Option to take cat-cows.
If you're in Downward Dog,
Option to pedal your heels side to side.
One more long breath in and out wherever you are.
Could your neck relax even further?
And we'll step our right foot between our hands.
Totally okay for back knee to lower,
Right foot forward.
We will have the back knee down anyways.
With right foot forward,
Back knee on the floor.
On fingertips.
Work your chest forward.
Explore lunging,
Generous lunge into the front knee,
Opening up your back quads.
Take one breath in and out.
And then start to shift your hips back and flip up on your front heel.
Your hands might walk back a little bit with you.
That's totally fine for the hands to go back as well.
Flex your toes off the floor.
Slight fold over and down your leg for one breath in and out.
And then coming forward,
Bend your leg,
Chest opening,
Deep breath.
Hips draw back,
Dig into your heel.
Folding over your leg,
But keep your chest aiming towards your ankle rather than rounding the back,
A nice long spine.
Breath flows fully,
Evenly along the spine.
Do that one more time,
Bending your leg.
And shifting back.
For your hamstrings.
Now we'll keep our hips pulling back in space,
Little lift up of your sit bones.
Start to turn your front toes in towards the midline in towards the center and your hips go way over to the right so Little bit awkward,
Off-center,
Tiny bend in the front knee is great.
Smart,
That little bend.
So you're more on your inner heel,
Sit bones wide and out to the right.
One more breath here.
Slowly come through center,
Keep a little bend in the knee,
And now hips go way over to the left,
Front toes turn out towards the right towards two o'clock.
You're on your outer heel,
Inner thighs gathering closer,
A couple big breaths.
Aware of your jaw muscles letting go.
And then we'll start to come back to center.
So toes point up,
Bend your leg,
Plant the sole of your front foot.
Just got one more here.
Walk your front foot more to the middle of your hands,
Over towards your left hand.
Lift your toes off the ground and roll to the outer edge of your front foot.
So front knee will go a few inches over to the right.
It's not quite full pigeon pose,
But we will go there because this is a hip opener class,
But we're not going there yet.
It's more of an active pigeon.
Actively flex your front toes up to your shin.
Front knee goes out to the right any amount.
But no more than halfway,
And take tiny circles with your hip.
In both directions.
Maybe try to have a sense of humor about this.
And remembering that deep breathing can be received,
Can be translated as care by our bodies,
Being here and breathing here.
This is an act of care.
Last breath.
And then we'll slowly come back into child's pose.
So option for your knees to be shoulder width apart or knees a tad wider,
Hands maybe stack under forehead or arms out in front,
Or you're welcome to Have prayer hands and bend your arms.
With thumbs near the nape of your neck.
A long inhalation.
Release any tension out your mouth.
Thanks for watching!
One more like that,
Slow breath in.
Notice anything that could settle and soften as you exhale.
And take your time to either come up onto hands and knees.
Arching and rounding your spine,
Or into downward dog.
About three breaths,
Not too long.
If you're in dog,
Pedal your heel side to side.
Let the weight of your head be heavy.
And I'll suggest we have our knees down,
Stepping our left foot between our hands.
However you want to get there is great with left foot forward.
Fingers stay down.
And propel your chest forward,
Starting to come in to the other side now with so much breath.
Smooth inhale,
Smooth exhale.
Your hips pull back.
Dig up onto your heel,
Take a breath,
Pouring over and down your leg.
Bend your leg,
Park the sole of your foot flat.
Nice breath.
And shifting back.
For your hamstrings.
Important part of your hips,
Give them breath.
Coming forward.
Remembering that it doesn't have to be a deep or spiritual intention.
Focusing on breath is enough.
The perfect intention,
In my opinion,
Is to be here for every breath you take.
Okay,
We'll do that one more time,
Bending your leg for a breath in and out.
And then pulling your hips back.
Now we'll stay back.
With front leg fairly straight but a little bend in your knee.
And your hips start to open out to the left,
Front toes turn in towards the floor.
One or two o'clock.
Noticing your inner thigh adductor.
And then we'll bring the toes through center.
And over to the left,
So you're on your outer heel,
Hips go way over to the right.
So really pull your hips off center to the right.
Be aware of your breath.
And then as we sweetly come back to center and bend the legs.
One more here will be to walk your foot over to the center of your thumbs,
Lift your toes,
Come to the outer edge of your foot.
I always take my hands a little wider here.
And little circles with the hips.
Strong flex of front toes up to shin.
Curious and patient towards all the things your hips are conveying to you right now.
What if you could respond just with breath?
You got it.
Let's take two more breaths here.
And take time to bring your left knee back.
So we're on hands and knees.
Now we're going to move towards a little bit of neck releasing and I'm going to suggest that you also have a toe stretch while we do this neck releasing.
So toes tucked,
Sit back on your heels,
Knees close,
If this does not serve you,
Then please simply sit cross-legged instead.
And from here,
We'll squeeze shoulders up to ears.
Breathe in.
Big breath out,
Drop your shoulders.
Inhale,
Squeeze,
Exaggerate the tension.
Really release it as you breathe out.
Again inhale,
Squeeze.
Bringing in blood flow again,
Exhaling.
Two more times.
Strong inhale,
Big exhale.
Last one.
Start tipping your head over to the left.
Both shoulders softening down your back.
Breathe into the right side of your neck.
You might also breathe into your feet if you're noticing a lot there.
Whatever is coming into our awareness,
Absolutely let it.
Let it be part of the practice.
Notice how you fight with it or notice how you argue with it or avoid it.
Let it all be part of the practice and give it your breath.
Watch it change.
Roll your chin down to your chest for a couple breaths.
Give the back of your neck some care.
And we'll roll our head up and over to the right for a few breaths.
Let your jaw be slack.
Slower inhales,
Make your exhales even longer.
One more breath.
Gently bring your head back up.
If you're sitting.
Then make your way onto your hands and your knees.
And if you were doing the toe stretch,
Come to hands and knees.
Let's tap the tops of our feet.
That was good,
It's a good way to wake up.
Wake up those feet,
They do so much for us,
Don't they?
Tap,
Tap.
And then from our hands and our knees,
Right shin comes forward for 90-90.
Sit all the way down on your right glute.
I love 90-90 because it's Pretty safe for almost everyone's knees as opposed to pigeon pose.
But if you know pigeon and you love it,
Go ahead into pigeon or come with me into 90-90.
Sitting on the right glute,
Right bum.
Have your front foot up a little more so shin is parallel to that short front edge of your mat and then your back shin over to the left side of your mat.
Hands,
On the ground in front of your shin.
If you have a cushion or a block,
You're welcome to put that under your hands or You could start bending your arms and perhaps put your block under your elbows.
And of course,
Pay attention to breath.
Often when there's discomfort,
Our breath shortens.
Smooth,
Lengthened breaths remind the body that we're essentially safe,
That it's okay to be relaxed and soft.
It's safe to soften with these longer breaths.
Welcome to walk your hands over to the right for a couple breaths.
Just switch up the angle folding over your knee more.
Notice anything that has shifted.
In your hips,
Stretch over to this side.
Perhaps your hands stay in center if that works better for your hips.
Or hands a little more over to the left,
Bowing over your foot.
Remaining here.
Just sweep up anything that's feeling stored or stagnant in your hips with a long breath in your nose.
Opening your mouth,
Let it go.
And if you've got the time,
If it serves you to stay here longer,
Stay here longer.
If you're gonna come up out of this with me now,
Be extra slow,
Hands behind you.
Back leg comes forward.
I always love straight legs,
Pointing and flexing my toes a few times.
You could windshield wiper your knees instead.
And other side,
Keep your left knee forward and take your right leg back from here.
Just be sure that your front knee is at a 90 degree angle and your shin is parallel to the front edge of your mat,
Back shin over at the long right edge of your mat.
Right away arriving into every breath you take.
Using the breath to help you arrive into your body.
You don't have to love your hips.
You don't have to be excited about what's coming up in your hips,
But trust that mindful breathing.
Is received as care.
By your body,
By your hips,
Mindful breathing.
Option for your hands to go any amount to the left.
More over the knee.
Very gently coming through center option to stay in the center or to go more towards the right Aim your chest over your front foot,
Your big toe,
Few deep breaths.
Let your breath sweep all the way down into your outer left hip.
And let's just really offer all the things that our hip stores,
A pathway out with a clearing inhale.
Full exhale.
One more.
And take as much time as you can to rise,
Hands go behind you,
Your legs come out in front.
Opening your chest,
Shoulders back.
Lift up through your breastbone,
Draw your shoulders back as though you're squeezing a pencil between your shoulder blades for three deep breaths.
Feel the inhale go higher up towards your collarbones.
We have so much lung capacity that gets overlooked and it's not a problem,
But just remembering it's important to access more mobility in the upper chest.
As well as the belly,
As well as the ribs,
But just in this posture,
Upper chest,
One more full inhale.
Way up high.
Open your mouth.
Soften your jaw.
Our final posture is butterfly.
Soles of your feet come together,
Knees bent wide out to the sides.
Now,
If butterfly causes any inner knee pain,
We really want to listen to the body and honour that.
And instead,
You're welcome to take your legs a touch wider in a V shape.
You're also welcome to do anything else that you know is right for your body today.
Or butterfly serves you,
Soles of your feet together,
Knees wide.
Feel free to play around with your heels closer to your pelvis or further away.
It just shifts up.
Switches up where we're feeling the stretch around the groin.
Start to fold.
And I will recommend that this is a very passive fold,
That we have our palms face up,
That we let the spine round.
And we fully hang down.
Into wherever the body wants to be,
Letting the spine round.
Letting the breath deepen.
And letting every exhalation be a more complete surrendering.
Bowing into your body bowing down towards the earth.
And surrendering.
To whatever this moment is showing you,
To whatever your body.
Is communicating to you.
Surrender and stay focused on your breath.
Be aware of your neck muscles and your jaw muscles.
For three more cycles of breath here.
Letting your body become heavier.
Setting aside effort,
Setting aside.
Any strain or stress.
The final breath in through your nose.
And out your mouth.
Take as much time as you'd like to rise up from that posture.
You could have your legs out in front of you or sitting cross-legged.
Eyes could be open or softly closed.
You're also welcome to lay down on your back for a minute or two if you have the time.
Feel free to lie down.
I'll recommend that we place both our hands down around the low abdomen,
Hands around the low belly.
Around your pelvis.
Sensing what's here,
Sensing and taking stock of how your hips feel now.
And give your body a thank you.
And this breath.
This life force,
This prana,
This breath.
That flows through all living things.
This breath that sustains life,
Gives life.
That is with us throughout transformations,
Throughout change.
Thank you,
Breath.
And I thank everyone for practicing.
It's always a joy to share these slower.
More regenerative practices with you.
And I hope that you feel more connected to your body and to your breath as you move through whatever life has in store for you next.
I hope to see you soon.
