Seated Gentle Movement To Release Tension

Release stress and tension in the shoulders, spine and neck all from the comfort of your chair. Find gentle movement with your breath to help you feel centered, calm and softened. Great for those long work days, or when you need a moment to tune into your body. Be prepared to leave feeling fresh and at ease.

Transcript

We'll be practicing seated.

So get comfortable in your chair.

You might invite some length into the spine,

Some softening into the face,

Jaw,

The shoulders.

We'll let the arms just rest onto the legs.

So we're not sitting up rigid here,

Sitting like yourself,

Comfortable and easy.

We'll take a full breath in here and breathe outside through the mouth.

We'll take another full breath in through the nose,

Expanding lungs and abdomen.

Exhale,

Sigh it out,

Soften down,

Let go.

Last time,

Full inhale.

This time,

Lift your shoulders up.

Hold at the top of your breath in and breathe out through the mouth.

Soften the shoulders,

Let them melt down.

Let your breath return to its natural pace and rhythm.

Breathing through the nose.

Maybe noticing if our feet touch the floor.

Notice if the feet are both fully down on the floor or if one foot is a little different than the other.

And see if you could bring both feet down now.

Notice where you make contact with the seat of the chair.

And let your hips and legs get a little heavier here.

The next time you breathe in,

Think of lengthening the crown of your head towards the ceiling.

Long spine.

And as you breathe out,

Soften the shoulders a little more.

Use your next inhale to reach both arms out wide and up overhead.

Just as the exhale arrives,

The hands come together and down through center.

As you breathe in,

The palms separate,

Arms reach wide and come up and palms meet overhead.

Breathe out,

Hands come down through heart center.

Inhaling,

The arms separate,

Fingers wide,

Reaching away from each other.

The moment your exhale arrives,

The palms come together,

Hands come down through center.

We'll do two more just like that,

Finding your own breath,

Your own pace.

Exhales to lift,

Exhales to draw the hands down.

One more.

This time let your right hand land down on your thigh and inhale,

Reach the left arm up.

Reach the fingertips all the way to the ceiling,

Really active through the fingers here.

Take a breath out.

And as you breathe in,

Really reach through the fingers and maybe start to lean a little towards the right side,

Finding the sense of opening up through the left side ribs and belly.

Take a couple long,

Slow breaths here.

Breathing space into the left side body,

You might even turn your gaze so that you could look up towards the direction of the ceiling.

The next time you breathe in,

Come back to center and exhale,

Lower that left hand down all the way on to the thigh.

As you inhale,

Reach through the right fingers now all the way up overhead.

Take an exhale,

Soften the shoulder.

Inhale reach through fingertips,

Fingers are active and we could start to lean a little to the left side here with those fingers,

Finding that sense of opening through the side body on the right this time.

Take another big breath in,

Expanding right side body,

Side lung.

Exhale here.

And inhale,

Come all the way back up to center.

Exhale hand comes down.

This time we'll reach both arms way up overhead with an inhale.

And as you breathe out,

We'll twist towards the right side.

Let your arms land down.

Let the palms face up.

As you inhale,

Think of lengthening the spine,

Crown of head lifts.

As you exhale,

Using the breath to twist a little deeper.

Not using the arms here,

But rather using the spine,

The core and the breath.

Another couple of breaths here.

Inhales for length.

And exhales to move a little deeper.

You could close the eyes or gently look over the shoulder.

When your next inhale arrives,

Use it to unravel back to center.

Both arms reach up high overhead.

And as you breathe out,

Twist to the left.

Palms face up,

Back of the hands rest on the side of the chair or side of the leg.

Inhale to find length.

Exhale,

Letting yourself twist a little deeper.

Let the breath do the work for another few rounds here.

Keep the collarbones wide.

The next time an inhale arrives,

Unravel yourself back to center.

Reach the arms up.

And exhale,

Let your hands and arms make a T shape.

Fingers reach away.

Take a big breath in and reach the heart forward,

Hands back.

And as you breathe out,

Wrap one arm over the other like you're giving yourself a big hug.

Fingers reach for shoulders or shoulder blades.

Breathe in,

Reach the elbows up.

And breathe out,

Round your back like your elbows could reach towards your navel.

Let the head go.

As you breathe here,

Imagine creating space between the shoulder blades.

We'll inhale to come up,

Unravel the arms back to that T shape.

Heart reaches forward,

Hands reach back.

Exhale,

Give yourself a hug again,

But this time let the opposite arm come over top.

Inhale to lift the elbow.

Exhale,

Rounding forward.

The next breath in will reach you all the way back up.

Unravel the arms,

Hands come out to the sides.

Exhale,

Hands land on the lap,

Back to seated.

From here,

We'll take a full breath in.

And as you exhale,

Bring your right ear towards your right shoulder.

As you breathe in,

Feel how that creates some sensation along the left side of the neck.

As you breathe out,

You could bring your nose down towards the right shoulder.

Inhale,

Let the ear come towards the shoulder.

And you could bring your right hand towards that area on the left side of your neck and shoulder where you're feeling some tension.

And let the pads of the fingers make some little circles here.

Very gentle self massage.

Even just letting the warmth of your hand rest on that area can be nice too.

You could open and close the mouth a few times.

It's all connected,

All those little muscles in the face and jaw.

When you're ready,

Let that go.

Inhale,

Bring the head back to center.

And exhale,

Let the left ear come down towards the left shoulder.

Taking a couple breaths here,

Feeling space being created along the right side of the neck.

You could bring your nose down towards the shoulder.

If you want to add in that self massage,

Bring your left ear to the left shoulder.

Left hand comes to the right side of your neck and shoulder,

Making some little circles.

Just letting weight and heat from your hand rest there.

Once you've had enough,

Let that go,

Left hand lands down,

Inhaling your gaze back to center,

Back to seated.

Bring your first finger and middle finger of each hand towards your temples and make some little circles here.

Not enough pressure that it causes tension,

But enough that it feels like a bit of a release.

You could bring your first finger and middle finger to the jaw hinge,

The space where the upper and lower jaw meet.

Make some circles there.

You might know this area if you tend to grind your teeth or grip your jaw.

You could play with opening and closing the mouth again here.

When you're ready,

Let your hands land down,

Take one final breath in,

Extra full,

And a thorough sigh of the mouth.

Notice how you feel 15 minutes later.

Thank you.

Stay well and take care.

Reviews

Thanks Hannah, this was helpful in settling some hyperarousal first thing in the.

Hello beautiful 🌺🎈🌺🎈🌺Thank you so much for the wonderfully yoga session 🌸🦋it gives me so much relaxation like flowing in the water🗺️have a blessed day 🐣happy Easter

Proud of myself for showing up… a bit nervous about my neck, but trusting my body’s messages. 15 minutes flew by! Thank you Hannah. I needed something soothing to center me tonight.

This was really helpful during a though day. Than you. 🦋

Excellent thank you 🙏

Outstanding practice every time I do it, but add three underlines, a handful of exclamation points and hearts and stars to it for an incredibly effective morning-after-a-day-of-airline-bus-and car travel followed by visiting family and friends. I was so exhausted I fell asleep without getting my pillows arranged as they must be when I am not in my adjustable bed, and as usual, I woke up with a great deal of back and neck pain and stiffness. After one of my regular practices and this one in sequence, I can move freely with only minor crackling sounds in my neck - but no pain. I did this seated cross-legged in bed to preserve the warmth on my muscles, and added a few moments of child pose at the end because of my position. A forward bend while seated in a chair is also effective - I have done that before, too.

Thank you so much for this lovely practice, and the clear, warm, well-paced guidance moving through it. I see you and the light within you. Be well. ❤🤲🏻❤

One of my favourite little practices for when I'm feeling neck, shoulder, and facial tension! Thanks Hannah :)

Thank you for that lovely relaxing exercise. Great at the moment with limited movement, so unable stretch the whole body. Perfect for sitting down and relaxing. 🙏

Brilliant, Hannah! I was able to do this outdoors in the cool of the morning…this sunny, breezy day ❤️ Thank you for this beautiful soothing practice. 🙏🏼❤️

I love Hannah's live chair yoga class on Tuesdays and this is a nice practice for in between. She is a patient and generous teacher

I love listening to your gentle voice in these wonderful practices, especially after participating in your Live sessions. Thank you Hannah!🙏💖

This was a wonderful practice...Hannah’s voice is soothing and gentle with really good verbal directions...very easy to follow. Thank you, Hannah!🙏🏼

Very relaxing, thank you. I tend to hold tension from the shoulders up so this was a little welcome relief. Namaste 🙏