We'll start our practice laying down today any way that's comfortable for you.
It doesn't need to look a certain way.
Just taking the time to make sure it feels easy and comfortable.
Using cushions or pillows as you see fit.
Once you settle in,
Doing any last little wiggles,
Maybe walking the shoulder blades in,
Rocking the hips a little side to side.
And settle in,
The eyes can stay closed if you'd like.
Maybe it feels natural to take a full inhale through the nose and a long sigh of the mouth.
And then we'll breathe in and out through the nose.
Your own breath here,
Soft,
Slow and steady.
Watching how the body breathes for you,
More just keeping an eye on it.
Noticing how air moves in through the nose,
Expands the lungs,
Ribs,
Abdomen.
On the exhale,
How we soften and gently contract back into centre.
The expansive quality of the inhale and the softening of the exhale.
Remembering this breath,
Your pace and rhythm and honouring this as we start to bring in some movement.
Staying in centre for your inhale.
And as you exhale,
Start to let the chin fall to the right.
Your inhale guides you back to centre.
And your exhale lets the chin fall to the left.
Exhale pulls your chin back to centre.
Exhale chin to the right.
Inhale to centre.
Exhale to left.
Once more on each side.
Let your breath guide the movement.
Notice how you're massaging the back of the head here.
And eventually we'll meet in centre.
Your next inhale will reach the fingertips overhead.
Toes stretch out long,
Big full body morning stretch.
And as you exhale,
Just let everything soften.
Your arms might rest overhead.
Twice more,
Your inhale,
Big stretch here.
Maybe low back peels off the mat and as you exhale,
Soften.
Once more.
Biggest stretch yet.
How far can you reach the fingertips from the toes?
And exhale,
Melt it down.
Let the hands rest beside the hips now.
Just take a breath here.
Noticing how just a couple stretches can make all the difference.
Eventually we'll slide the feet along the mat,
Bending the knees,
Reaching for shins or thighs with your hands.
Knees can be together or apart.
Making kind of a ball shape here.
Head will stay resting on the mat.
And you can stay right here or you can bring a little rock side to side,
Massaging your back against the mat now as we shift that point of pressure just slightly.
Moving as much or as little as you'd like.
Eventually we'll meet in center.
We'll bring the palms onto the knees for this one.
Take an inhale where you are.
And as you exhale,
Keeping the palms glued to the knees,
Bend the elbows,
Draw the knees in.
As you inhale,
Straightening the arms,
Knees moving away.
Exhale,
Knees come in like you're pressing the air out with your legs.
And inhale,
Knees move away like you're giving yourself space to breathe into the lower abdomen.
Exhale,
Pressing the air out using the legs here.
Inhale,
Giving yourself space to breathe.
A few more on your own.
Maybe you notice we're massaging the back against the mat in a slightly different way here.
Once you've had enough of this,
Let go of the legs and let the feet come to the floor,
Knees stay bent.
Take an inhale here.
And as you exhale,
Let the knees fall to the right.
Inhale,
Knees come to center.
And exhale,
Knees fall to the left.
Inhale,
Come back to center,
Just like we did before with our head.
Exhale,
The knees fall to the right.
Inhale,
Come to center.
And exhale,
Knees to the left,
Kind of like windshield wipers here.
Once more on each side.
And the next time your knees fall towards the right,
Let them stay there.
You might just let them be there.
Maybe you place the right ankle over the left knee if it's available to you.
Or you could even let the knees stack one on top of the other.
Bring your gaze in the direction of the left shoulder.
Just take a few breaths here in this gentle twist.
Making sure you can keep that same slow,
Steady breath.
Your next inhale will bring the knees up and we'll exhale,
Knees to the left.
Choosing your variation here.
Maybe it's similar to the last side.
Your gaze could fall towards the right side.
Just taking a few breaths here.
Let your next inhale bring you back up to center.
Maybe you give the legs a good squeeze in here,
Wrapping the arms around them.
Eventually letting the feet come back to the earth.
Taking our last breaths here,
Noticing how the body feels 10 minutes later.
Bring your hands to your heart or chest and see if you can feel yourself breathing into your hands.
Maybe you even find your heartbeat.
Send gratitude to yourself for carving out this time in your day to move and breathe.
I'm so grateful to be here with you.
Thank you.
