Gentle Lying Down Yoga

This is a very gentle yoga sequence, done entirely lying down on a yoga mat or a firm bed. It includes some simple stretches through shoulders, spine, hips, and legs with a focus on mindful awareness of the movement. Relaxing and gently strengthening, you will feel the effects of this practice on your mind, body, and emotions.

Transcript

Mindful yoga is a lifetime engagement,

Not to get somewhere else,

But to be where and as we actually are in this very moment,

With this very breath,

Whether the experience is pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral.

Our body will change a lot as we practice.

And so will our minds and our hearts and our views.

Hopefully,

Whether a beginner or an old-timer,

We are always reminding ourselves in our practice of the value of keeping a beginner's mind and practicing with patience and kindness towards ourselves.

Getting now into a comfortable position,

Lying on a mat or a blanket on your back on the floor.

If it is more comfortable for your neck,

You can place a low cushion or folded blanket under your head.

A folded blanket or a pillow under your knees may also feel better for your lower back when laying in this position.

Just making sure you feel as comfortable as possible with your arms simply relaxed down by your sides,

Palms facing up or down,

Depending on what feels most comfortable in your shoulders.

Begin by feeling the whole body lying out here,

Sensing under the body to feel the points of contact along the floor,

Where it feels the most pressure of weight,

And also where the little spaces under the body appear,

Allowing as best you can a sense of release and relaxation of the body's weight into the ground.

Perhaps noticing if there are any particular areas of tension that seem obvious,

And if you can,

Allowing these areas to soften with the out-breath.

Bringing your awareness to your breath in this moment now,

Feeling the flow of the breath into the body and out of the body,

Feeling the movement of the belly on the in-breath and on the out-breath,

Feeling into the chest as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

Feeling the sensation of the breath in the nostrils on the inhale and on the exhale.

As we progress through this practice,

It's quite possible that your mind will wander,

Perhaps thinking about your body or judging its abilities or feeling various emotions arise.

Whatever occurs,

Exercising your ability to be kind and firm as you bring your attention back,

Each time it goes anywhere,

Perhaps noticing if the same thoughts or feelings arise again and again.

At times through this practice,

I will make mention of doing a movement in conjunction with an inhale or an exhale as we experiment with bringing movement and breath into alignment.

If you find yourself breathing a different way than is suggested,

That is fine too.

It's worth experimenting and trying it out to see if suggestions for breathing and movement work for you.

But whenever they don't,

You are always in position to do or not do whatever movement or breath is suggested.

Sometimes you may even wish to simply listen and imagine you are moving as directed while you simply lie still and breathe.

As you're ready now,

The next time you breathe in,

Start to lift your arms up from the floor and overhead,

Just as far as your shoulders will allow.

Then as you breathe out,

Sweeping your arms in a smooth arc back to the floor.

Pause for a moment to notice how your shoulders and arms feel and then as you're ready,

Repeat this movement a couple more times.

Breathing into the lift of the arms overhead and breathing out as you lower the arms back to the start position.

Now bringing your awareness into your legs and one by one,

Bending the knees and sliding the feet in towards the bottom.

Bringing your feet,

Knees,

And hips into alignment with each other,

Feet hip width apart.

Perhaps noticing here the slight change in weight under the pelvis with the feet closer to the torso.

As you next breathe out,

Pressing the lower back into the floor,

Perhaps noticing how the pelvis is rolling back as you do this.

Then as you breathe in,

Arching the lower back away from the floor so that the belly button is reaching towards the ceiling.

You may notice how the pelvis is rolling forward as you lift the lower back away from the floor.

Feeling the next few out breaths and in breaths,

Continue to roll the pelvis backwards and forwards.

Feeling the movements in the lower back and hips.

Letting the pelvis settle into its resting position now and feeling the effects of your movements.

Then as you're ready,

Draw the right knee and then the left knee up towards the chest,

Interlacing your fingers either over the fronts of the knees or holding on to the backs of the thighs.

As you next breathe out,

Gently rolling the head and shoulders up towards the knees,

Curling yourself in as close as you are able.

Inhale and release the head and shoulders back to the floor.

Repeat this movement a couple more times,

Exhaling and curling in,

Inhaling and releasing head and shoulders back to the floor.

Now continuing to hold on to your right knee,

Slowly extend the left leg along the floor,

Stretching out into the toes as you curl your head and shoulders up towards the right knee.

Hold here for a moment or two.

The next time you breathe in,

Draw the left knee back in again and hold on to it.

Inhale and slowly lengthen the right leg along the floor as you roll the head and shoulders up towards the left knee,

Holding here for a few beats,

Perhaps feeling the gentle stretch down the back body,

Then releasing the head and shoulders back and releasing the left leg out alongside the right.

Slowly and mindfully now,

Rolling over onto one side and then coming up onto all fours,

Positioning your knees under your hips and hands under your shoulders.

Just finding your balance here.

And if this feels too intense in your wrists,

You can try walking your hands a little forward of your shoulders so there is less pressure on your wrists.

The next time you start to breathe out,

Slowly lower your head and tail down towards the floor as you roll your middle back body towards the ceiling so that your whole spine curls into a C shape.

Pause here for another breath and notice the sensations through the back body.

Then as you next start to inhale,

Lift the tail up and lift the head slightly,

Being careful not to overextend through the front of the neck and allow the belly button to extend towards the floor so that the whole spine comes into the opposite shape.

Pause here for another breath.

Feeling the sensations through the front body.

In your own time,

Go through another up and down movement,

Feeling into the sensations of opening and mobilizing through the spine.

Now coming back to your beginning neutral position,

Then slowly sinking your hips back towards the heels,

Just allowing the hips to move back as far as you are able.

Your hands and arms can have a little break here as you take a few breaths,

Noticing where the breath moves through the back,

The sides,

And the front of your torso.

Just breathing,

Just staying present,

Being aware of how your body,

Mind,

And emotions are all playing their parts in this moment exactly as it is.

No need to be anywhere else or doing anything else.

Coming back up to all fours once again and working with a bit of balance and strengthening through the body now.

Feel free to come out of these poses at any time,

But if you do decide to come out,

It's useful to first notice the urge to change position and just see what happens if you can stay with it for a little longer,

Always working within your own sense of comfort and ease.

The next time you breathe in,

Start to slide your left hand forward as you slide your right leg backward.

When both limbs are stretched to their limit,

Exhale them back to the starting position.

The next time you breathe in,

Extend the right hand and the left leg in opposite directions,

Keeping contact with the floor,

With the fingers and toes.

Draw the limbs back in on the exhale breath.

Now repeating these movements,

Only this time as you reach the full extension of your left hand and right leg,

Lift these limbs away from the floor and feel your balance on the supporting hand and knee.

Breathe into the length of your arm,

Torso,

And leg from the tips of your fingers all the way back to the tips of your toes,

Reaching and balancing and staying here for another few moments,

Perhaps noticing the work your core muscles are doing to help you stay in this balance.

Now releasing back to all fours.

On your next in breath,

Extending the right hand and left leg out in opposite directions and lifting them away from the floor,

Feeling into your balance and stretch from fingertip to toe tip on this side of the body,

Noticing the array of sensations that arise in this position,

As well as whatever thoughts may be coming up as you hold here for another few moments,

Then releasing the arm and leg back down.

In the best way you can find now,

Coming back down to the floor and rolling over onto your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor,

Hip width apart,

Arms resting down along your sides.

The next time you breathe in,

Press through your feet and start to lift your hips off the floor a few centimeters as you sweep your arms overhead as far as is comfortable.

Then as you breathe out,

Slowly lower the arms and hips back down to the starting position,

Perhaps trying to feel each vertebra of the lower spine as it regains contact with the floor.

Pause here a moment,

Feeling the work your lower back has just done.

And then when you're ready,

Repeating this movement one more time,

Pressing through the feet,

Lifting the hips as you roll the arms up and overhead,

Then lowering vertebra by vertebra as your arms sweep back down to your sides.

Breathing here a few moments,

And to counter pose from this back bend,

Drawing your knees up towards your chest and wrapping your hands around your knees.

As you're ready,

Drawing a few circles with your knees,

Either big or small,

In one direction and then in the other direction,

Perhaps noticing the movements in the lower back,

The hip sockets,

The knees.

Now releasing your feet back to the floor and bringing your hands under the back of your head with your elbows pointing outwards,

Letting your knees fall down towards one side as you gently turn your head in the opposite direction,

And then taking the knees over in the opposite direction as the head gently turns to the other side.

Feeling the gentle twist up the column of the spine,

Slowly taking yourself from one side to the other once again,

Simply easing into these movements to the best of your ability and noticing the sensations that arise along the spine,

The abdomen,

The waist,

The legs,

And wherever else you may notice through your body.

Settling back now into the position of knees bent,

Feet on the floor,

And arms down by your sides.

And as you next breathe in,

Slowly raise your right leg and extend the heel towards the ceiling,

Watching for the first twinge of sensation in the muscles in the back of the leg.

If it feels better for you,

You can bring your hands up to support the leg while you hold it here for another breath or two,

Reaching up into the heel and keeping the hip in place on the floor.

Notice if your right hip has started to inch up towards your shoulder so that your right waist feels shorter than the left.

If you do notice this,

Then just gently shifting the right hip down until both sides of the waist feel equally open.

When you're ready,

Releasing the right leg back down beside the left and pausing a moment to notice the sensations in the leg and hip.

Then inhaling the left leg up and reaching the heel to the ceiling,

Tracing your awareness along the back of the leg and feeling what's present here.

As you hold the leg in this position for another few breaths,

You may notice how the sensation of stretch starts to change as the muscles release and lengthen with each breath.

Then slowly lowering the leg back down and feeling into the effects on this side of the body.

Once again now,

Extending the right leg up towards the ceiling and gently taking hold of the leg with both hands.

As you next exhale,

Roll the head and shoulders up towards the right knee and hold here for a breath or two.

Exhale and release the head back down and the leg back down to foot on the floor with the knee bent.

Exhaling in now as you lift the left leg up and reach up into the heel,

Holding the leg in a comfortable position with both hands.

Exhaling and rolling the head up to bring it as close as is possible for you towards the knee,

Holding in this curled position for another breath or two.

Releasing back down now and taking a few moments to feel into your whole body,

Noticing the sensations,

The thoughts,

Any emotions,

Just what is present in this moment now,

The way it is.

Then with care and attention,

Rolling onto your left side and propping your head up on your left hand and having your right hand on the floor in front of your chest to help maintain your balance on your side.

And as you next breathe in,

Raising the right leg up just as far as it will comfortably go and then exhaling and releasing the leg back down.

Repeating this movement one more time,

Inhaling and raising the leg,

Exhaling and smoothly lowering.

Exhaling over now onto your tummy and then onto your right side with your hand propping your head and your left hand in front on the floor just to give you balance.

Inhaling and lifting your left leg slowly up,

Just feeling the range and sensation of this motion within your range of comfort,

Then lowering the leg slowly back down.

And as you're ready,

Repeating this movement one more time.

Now rolling onto your tummy again and crossing your hands,

Bringing them up to rest either under your forehead or one cheek and feeling the soft front of your body pressing into the floor.

Taking a couple of relaxed breaths here.

As you're ready,

Keeping your head lowered,

Exhale and lift your left leg just as high as feels comfortable.

Hold it in the lifted position for your in-breath and then lowering the leg down as you breathe out.

Pause for your next in-breath and then exhaling and lifting your right leg as high as you comfortably can.

Hold it in the raised position for your inhale breath and then exhaling it back down.

Was here for a few moments.

Again,

Tuning into the feeling of your belly,

Pressing into the floor and the movements of your breath in the lower back area.

Moving over now carefully onto your back and then drawing your knees up towards your chest.

Gently interlace your fingers over the fronts of the knees and draw them into your chest.

If it's comfortable in your neck and shoulders,

Rolling your head up towards your knees and taking a few breaths in this position.

Slowly releasing the head and shoulders back to the floor and releasing the legs,

Lengthening them along the floor.

And as you're ready,

Gently,

Smoothly lifting the arms overhead once again and from the tips of your fingers all the way down into the tips of your toes,

Feeling into a full body stretch,

Reaching up through the left fingertips down into the left toes and reaching up through the right fingertips down into the right toes.

Feeling the muscles and joints,

The spine,

The space in the body and then as you're ready,

You can release the arms back down by your sides and just settling here.

If you'd like to place a pillow under the knees again or a blanket under the head to give you a little more comfort for these final few moments of your practice,

You can do that now.

And as we bring this practice to its final pose of relaxation,

Let yourself soften back into the ground and releasing your full weight into the surface underneath you,

Feeling once again the contact points under the back of your body.

Slowly scanning your awareness through your body from the tips of your toes all the way up through your legs,

Through your hip joints and pelvis,

Through your torso and spine,

From the tips of the shoulders all the way down the arms into the fingertips,

Up through the column of the neck,

Feeling the head resting back into the surface beneath you,

Feeling the effects of this practice on your body,

Your mind,

Your emotions,

Allowing your breath to simply flow in and out.

One breath.

One breath.

One breath.

Breathing in quiet a few moments longer.

One breath.

One breath.

As you're ready now,

Just starting to bring some little movements into your hands and feet and neck,

Just as comfortable.

Then as you're ready,

Slowly rolling onto one side for a few more breaths.

And again,

As you're ready,

Very carefully and mindfully bringing yourself back up to sitting.

And as you move into your next activity,

Carrying with you this sense of connection with yourself,

This quality of presence you have cultivated through your practice.

Determinate the space for disbelief,

Where everybody is,

Desk to desk.

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Reviews

Good

Extremely gentle, lovely, slow pacing, clear guidance and a wonderfully soothing voice. Just what I needed in a tiring, stressful time. Will definitely be coming back often! Thank you.

Lovely calm, clear voice and gentle pace ❤️

Thank you 🌺🌺🌺🌺for the wonderful yoga session 🦋 I enjoyed the gentle movements and the relaxation 🗺 stay safe 🙏 Namaste

Thank you for that practice! I have not been practicing since covid started and that was the first reintroduction that was perfect!! I will be doing this again and again!

Absolutely loved it!! So much better than looking at a video or instructor for every move. Everything was explained perfectly so that anyone can understand and in a soothing voice. Did this on my yoga mat in the woods while on a camping trip!

Great practice. I love that it's audio only as it allows for far more focus on what feels good over how it looks. Slow and mindful, I practiced with my eyes closed (as I often do) and really felt connected with myself.