I'm Chanel,
And I'm going to be guiding you through this 10-minute practice for perimenopause.
This is going to help to ease stiffness,
Support your hormones,
And boost your energy,
Which we all know we need more of in this time of life.
So let's begin in an easy seated pose with the legs crossed.
Roll the shoulders back.
Sit up straight and tall.
Close the eyes so that we can just come into the breath.
So in yoga,
Our breath comes in through the nose.
And out through the nose.
We want to breathe clear down into the belly.
And as we exhale,
We want to let go of everything that's on our plate today,
Of everything that we woke up to.
On our to-do list,
Thinking of,
And just let that all go.
And be here in this present moment,
Starting off the morning with just a little bit of time and a little bit of support for the day ahead.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
Even just a moment of deep breathing,
Of coming to this mindful awareness.
Can help to calm your body,
Calm your mind,
And prepare you for everything that's to come in today.
Go ahead and blink your eyes open,
And let's do a few shoulder rolls,
Rolling the shoulders up toward the ears,
Back and down.
And back.
And when that feels complete,
Lower the shoulders away from the ear,
Drop the left ear toward the left shoulder.
Chin to chest.
Right ear to right shoulder.
Pause.
And come back the other way.
Chin to chest Left ear to left shoulder.
Pause here.
Send a chat.
Right ear to right shoulder.
And bring the head up in the center.
All right,
Let's come onto our hands and knees,
Moving slowly and mindfully here.
Hands directly under the shoulders,
Knees directly under the hips,
And we'll come into Cat-Cow.
Inhale.
And then we exhale,
Press away from the earth.
Let the head drop down,
Let the hips lift and the spine arch away from the earth.
Inhale.
Letting the belly drop,
Let the head and hips lift.
Exhale,
Press away,
Moving slowly and mindfully with your breath.
Making sure that this breath or inhale coming to cow aligns with our movement.
Exhale,
Press into cat one last time.
Inhale to our cow belly.
And then exhale to a nice neutral pose.
Lift the right arm up,
Stretching open,
And then let's thread the needle,
Bringing this right arm into that space.
Dropping the right ear to right shoulder.
Letting everything settle in,
Stretching out,
Breathing deep.
On the next inhale,
Raise that right arm high.
Reach up,
Look up,
And then lower the right arm.
And we'll do the same thing on the other side.
Left arm lifts up,
Look up toward that hand,
Stretch and reach.
And then thread the needle coming down to the left side.
Pausing here.
Breathing slow and steady.
On the next inhale,
Reach that left arm high again.
Look up toward the left fingertip.
And then lower the left hand down under the left shoulder.
Bring the right foot up between the hands into a low lunge,
Pausing here.
If you need more space,
Come up on the fingertips or you can stay down on the palms.
Feeling the stretch.
In the hip flexor on the left side.
And then let's add on here a revolved low lunge.
So lift up the right arm reaches,
Just like we did in that thread the needle.
We look up toward that hand,
Reaching,
Getting a little bit more space.
Big breath in.
Big breath out,
Lower it down,
And let's switch sides.
The right knee comes back to meet the left.
And the left foot comes up between the palms.
Remember,
Just like we did before,
If you need more space,
Come up on the fingertips or you can stay down on the palms.
Feeling everything there is to feel in each of these poses.
So we're stretching out through the hip here.
Deep breath in.
Big breath out and let's add in that revolved low lunge.
The left arm comes up,
Hook up toward the fingertips.
And lower the hand down,
Step back,
The left knee comes back to meet the right,
Tuck the toes under,
And come into downward facing dog.
Let's pedal this out here,
Pressing one heel down.
And then the other,
Getting a nice spine stretch.
The hips are high,
We're pressing into the hands,
Feeling that stretch all along the spine.
On the next inhale,
Look up between the hands.
Walk to the top of your mat.
Inhale,
Halfway lift.
Exhale,
Forward fold.
And pause here.
You can clasp opposite elbows,
Bending through the knees just a little bit here into our forward fold.
We're letting the back release.
I'm gonna turn so you can see me because from here,
We're gonna come into our sunflower pose,
I've heard it called,
Which I think is a great name.
We're going to slowly come up to the right side.
Rotating around.
Lifting up,
Feeling the energy build,
Reach up,
Look up.
Then we'll come down on the left side.
Moving slowly and mindfully here.
Coming back to that forward fold,
Let's do the same thing,
Opposite direction.
Up to the left.
All the way up.
Reach up,
Look up.
Get a big stretch here.
And then come down toward the opposite side.
Hanging here in your forward fold.
Heard.
Go ahead and lower the hand,
Step back to your downward dog once more.
Three breaths here.
Slow,
Steady breaths pressing into the earth.
One more inhale.
And as you exhale,
Gently set the knees down,
Bring big toes to touch,
Knees apart,
Keeping the arms long,
Come into our Extended Child's Pose.
Bring your forehead down to the mat.
Let the hips sink toward the heels.
Let everything melt down toward the earth.
And then gently walk your hands back.
Bring the knees together into Hero's Pose.
From here,
We're gonna reach both arms overhead,
Interlace the fingers,
Press away from the earth.
Reach forward and then drop over to the right,
Getting a side stretch here.
Inhale,
Center.
And drop to the left,
A side stretch to the left.
Bring the arms into cactus shape,
Bending at the elbows.
Open the heart,
Boosting our energy here.
Feel that energy flow.
Feel yourself waking up.
Reach both arms up,
Lower them down by your sides,
And let's gently move onto the back for our final Shavasana.
Lying down on the mat.
Coming into a comfortable pose.
Palms face up,
Take a moment to adjust.
Find your most comfortable place on the mat.
And then relax and breathe.
If you need a longer Shavasana,
Press pause,
Take as long as you need.
Or if you're ready to finish up,
Go ahead and wiggle the fingers.
Wiggle the toes.
Begin to wake up the body,
Maybe take a good morning stretch,
Bringing the arms overhead,
The feet down below,
Reach,
Reach,
Reach.
And then roll over onto your right side,
All curled up in a little ball.
The knees come into the chest,
The arm supports the head.
And when you're ready,
Push up to seated.
Eyes stay closed,
The hands at heart center.
Namaste.
