Hello there beautiful one.
My name is Faith and welcome to my somatic yoga practice for the morning.
Now if you've never done a somatic type of practice,
It really is about being tapped in,
Tuned in,
And completely aware of all of the feelings,
Sensations within the physical body,
The mind,
As well as the heart.
This particular practice is really designed to help you set the tone for your day.
So let's get started.
I'm going to begin by actually reading something from my book.
So before I do that,
I want you to find a cross-legged position.
Sit up tall.
Rest your hands on your legs wherever it feels comfortable.
I encourage you to place the palms facing down to assist you in grounding into your morning.
Soften the gaze or completely close your eyes and just allow your breath to flow in and out of your nose.
Soften the shoulders so the crown of your head rise all the way up towards the sky.
Feel the hips grounding into the earth.
And then take a deep breath in through your nose exhale out a big sigh.
Seal your lips and allow your breath to flow naturally in and out of your nose.
So I'm reading a brief passage from my return to you journal.
This is actually week 19 in the journal.
Embracing mindfulness.
Let's embrace the beauty of being present.
Experiencing each moment in its fullness.
Mindfulness is more than a practice.
It's a way of living that brings richness to our experiences and depth to our connections.
Let's journey through this week with a mindful heart.
Savoring each moment with awareness and gratitude.
Keep your palms facing down and just do a quick little body scan.
Noticing any sensations through the soles of the feet,
Through legs,
Your hips,
Your spine,
Your chest.
And then go a little bit beyond the physical.
Notice what you may be feeling in your heart.
How is your heart today?
And then slowly begin to blink the eyes open.
Start to find a little gentle movement in the shoulders.
So just lifting the shoulders up and rolling them back.
Gently up and down.
And roll them back.
Now as you move the shoulders,
I want you to breathe deeply.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Soften back.
One more time.
And then allow your fingertips to touch the earth.
Notice how your fingertips feel on the earth.
Is your mat cool?
Do you feel warm?
And then when you're ready,
Sweep those arms high over your head.
Interlace your fingers once they get up there.
Spin the palms up to the sky.
Relax your shoulders.
And hold here for two breaths.
Deep inhale.
Exhale.
One more.
As you release,
Lower your left hand outside your left hip and then reach your right arm up and overhead.
Now don't feel like you have to overdo this.
Just go to whatever feels right for you.
Maybe you're just getting out the bed and you're doing this practice.
Maybe you've already had your morning tea.
Or maybe even a quick little walk.
Just ease into it.
One more breath.
Slowly go all the way over to the opposite side.
Dropping your right hand down.
Sweep your left arm up and overhead.
Palm facing down.
Shoulders relaxed.
Chest is open.
Make sure you're keeping both hips grounded into the earth.
One more breath here.
Slowly bring your body back to neutral.
Take another deep breath in.
And exhale.
I'm going to do some very simple spinal flexions.
Your palms can rest on your knees or you can hold on to the front foot or your shin.
Whatever feels most comfortable for you.
Because really this practice is all about you.
All right.
So you're going to inhale.
Bring your chest forward.
And then exhale slowly around the back.
Inhale hard forward.
Exhale round.
Know that you can lift your chin if that feels comfortable.
If not,
Keep the chin parallel to the earth.
Let's do two more.
Breathing in.
Chest forward.
Exhale round.
One more.
Inhale.
Chest forward.
Exhale round.
And then slowly come back to neutral.
Switch the crossing of your legs now.
Pause for a moment.
Maybe even allow your spine to sway a little bit because that's what's feeling good for me right now.
And then arrive back in center.
Taking our spinal flexions one more time with the opposite leg in front.
So here we go.
Breathe in.
Chest forward.
Exhale around.
Inhale forward.
Exhale round.
Move intentionally and slowly.
And as you move in and out of the spinal flexion,
Be in tune.
Be aware of all the sensations.
Few more rounds.
I always like to close my eyes when I'm doing these very intentional movements.
So I encourage you at any moment in time just kind of close your eyes.
Go inside and feel.
Two more.
Bring your body back to neutral.
Breathe in.
Reach your arms high overhead.
And then exhale.
Fan the hands down.
We're going to do that two more times.
Bring the palms to your heart.
Inhale.
Lift the arms up.
Exhale.
Fan the arms down.
One more.
Breathe in.
Reach up.
Exhale.
Fan the hands down.
Fingertips touch the earth one more time.
We're going to take three breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Deep inhale.
Exhale out of the mouth.
Breathing in.
Out of the mouth.
One more.
Deep breath in.
Exhale out of the mouth.
All right.
Slowly release the legs and place the soles of your feet on the mat.
I'm just going to start with some gentle windshield wipers.
So just let those legs swing from right to left.
Your hands are behind you.
If you want to lift your hands off the mat,
Feel free to do so.
But you know,
It's not important.
Loosening any tension in those hips.
All right.
So you're going to let that right knee drape all the way over to the side.
You're going to bring your left knee towards your right foot.
You're going to take a deep inhale.
And as you exhale,
You're going to twist to your right.
Drop the right hand behind you.
And then come back to center on the inhale.
So we're going to take this three more times.
Breathing in.
Center.
Exhale.
Twist to the right.
Inhale.
Center.
Exhale to the right.
And we have one more.
Breathe in.
Center.
And exhale.
Twist to the right.
Now,
This one we're going to hold here for three breaths.
Or maybe four.
Let's do four.
Deep inhale.
Exhale.
One more breath.
Slowly bring your body back to neutral.
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale.
Empty out.
And then we're going to switch to the other side.
So go on and flip.
Your left knee is bent.
Your right knee comes right around your left foot.
Doesn't matter how the hips are moving here,
Right?
That right hip will naturally start to come off the mat as we take this twist.
So here we go.
Deep breath in.
Center.
Exhale.
Twist to the left.
Inhale.
Center.
Exhale.
Twist to the left.
Inhale.
Center.
Exhale.
Twist.
And I think this is our last one.
Breathe in.
Center.
Exhale.
Twist.
And then we're going to stay here for four long deep breaths.
Relax those shoulders.
Know that you can gaze over your left shoulder or just close your eyes and feel.
One more breath.
Slowly come back to neutral.
Pause.
Center.
Give yourself a moment.
And let's transition to the next movement.
So you're going to bring the soles of your feet together and you're creating more of like a diamond shape with your legs.
Now remember that spinal flexion that we took?
We're going to do the same thing here.
Your hands can rest on your shins if you'd like or bring them towards your ankle.
For me,
It feels more comfortable to have my hands by my shins and closer to my knees for this.
So you do the one that's going to feel right for you.
Same spinal flexion.
Inhale.
Chest forward.
Exhale.
Gently round.
And this time go really far back.
Inhale forward.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Chest forward.
Exhale.
Now I want you to just really find your own movement.
Sometimes I like to go a little bit further in that forward fold.
My hands may shift as I start to go a little bit lower in the posture.
But you're kind of finding your own way in this.
And that's also part of the somatic movement process is that sometimes you just move through movements that feel supportive and healing and loving for you.
And then inhale.
Come back to neutral.
Shoulders over your hips.
Soles of the feet are still touching.
Spine is long.
Eyes opened or closed.
And you're going to rest the backs of your hands on your legs.
This time the palms are going to face up because it is the morning.
So you want to invite just a little energy but very small amount of energy in a very subtle way.
And as you think about how you've been moving so far,
Do another little body scan noticing any sensations through your feet,
Your legs,
Your hips,
Your spine,
Your shoulders,
Your arms.
Even notice any tension that you still may be holding in your jaw muscles.
And that's okay.
If you do feel tightness there and just breathe in through your nose and just exhale out a big sigh.
Relaxing the tongue and the mouth.
One more breath here.
All right.
Take your hands behind your knees.
Gently close your legs.
Bring the soles of your feet on the mat.
Draw your heels in and then take your hands,
Wrap them around your shins and just give yourself a nice little hug.
The chin is going to soften to your chest.
You're just going to round the back a little bit.
Still breathing deeply in out of your nose.
And then slowly lift your head.
Release your hands from your shins.
Extend those legs,
Give them a little shake.
And then we're going to come on to all fours.
So wrists are underneath your shoulders,
Knees are underneath your hips,
And you're simply going to rock your body from right to left.
So you're just letting those hips swing gently from one side to the other.
Drawing your navel in the crown of your head is reaching forward and take two more easy breaths in and out of your nose.
And then come back to neutral.
Bring your hips to meet your heels and find your way in child's pose.
And as you take this child's pose,
Extend your arms out in front of you.
Now you have the option to stay right here.
Gentle child's pose.
So if you want to feel an easy stretch to the side body,
Go on and walk your hands over to the left.
Feeling that nice stretch through the right hip and the right rib cage.
Reach a little bit further if that's comfortable for you,
Feeling a deeper stretch right around your armpit.
And then whenever you're ready,
Walk it to the other side.
Long,
Deep breaths in and out of your nose.
And then bring yourself back to center.
Return to all fours.
Just going to do a simple little down dog.
This isn't a really intense one either.
So the toes are going to curl under.
You're going to slowly straighten your legs.
And I just want you to pedal your feet.
Shift your head from right to left.
That's all you have to do.
And then come on back down.
Lower your knees.
Cross your legs one more time.
Bring your palms together right at the center of your chest.
Inhale,
Reach those arms up.
Exhale,
Take a twist to your right.
Drop your right hand behind you.
Left hand to your knee.
Eyes closed or gaze over your right shoulder.
Long,
Deep breaths in and out of your nose.
And then bring your body back to neutral.
Take your right leg,
Extend it out to the side.
Try not to disturb Sebastian here.
And then from here,
We're going to start to slowly hinge from your hips,
Folding forward.
Now the hands can just simply rest on the mat.
If you have any props,
You can use that.
Blankets,
Blocks,
Bolsters underneath your palms.
You can also start to lower your forearms.
So whatever feels right for you.
So as we take a few more breaths here,
Make sure that you're flexing that right foot.
The toes are going up towards the ceiling.
Long,
Deep breaths in and out of your nose.
Slowly begin to lift your upper body.
Rise back up.
Close the eyes if they're not closed or just simply cast them down.
And just breathe.
And then when you're ready,
Draw that right leg in.
We're going to take that spinal twist now to the other side.
Bring your palms to your heart.
Inhale,
Lift the arms high overhead.
Stretch and elongate that side body.
Exhale,
Twist to your left.
Dropping the left hand behind you,
Right hand to your knee.
And so you have somewhere around six breaths,
So just breathe deeply in and out of your nose.
Try not to put any weight on that left hand,
That back hand,
So only the fingertips are touching.
One more breath here.
Release,
Draw your body back to center.
Take that left leg,
Extend it out to the side.
Flex your left foot.
Both hips are grounded to the earth.
Spine is long,
Breathing in.
Exhale,
Hinge from your hips,
Folding forward.
Go to that place that feels right for you.
Don't overdo it.
Palms to the mat,
Forearms to the mat,
Whatever feels good for you.
Slowly lift your upper body,
Walk your hands back in.
Shoulders over your hips,
Hands can rest on your legs and just breathe here.
And then when you're ready,
Draw that leg back in.
Soles of the feet can come together or if you want you can cross.
We're just going to take a moment of stillness.
And as you find this moment of stillness,
Palms can face up to invite a little more energy.
Fingers are light or palms can face down if you need to feel a little bit more grounded in this moment.
As you breathe in and out,
Feel the shoulders soften away from your ears.
The hips release into the earth and the crown of your head rises towards the heavens.
Feel a softness and ease come upon your face as the eyelids drip gently over your eyes.
The breath is smooth,
Easy and steady.
And as you take these next few breaths,
Here are three beautiful affirmations to support you throughout the day.
I am fully present in every moment.
Mindfulness enriches my experiences and connections.
I embrace each moment with awareness and gratitude.
Take another deep breath in.
Place your palms over the center of your chest,
One hand on top of the other.
And thank yourself for showing up and being fully present in this moment.
Take care and have an amazing day.
Stay spiritually fly.
Ciao.
