Hey,
It's Hannah,
And welcome to another morning stretch from bed practice.
This time with a focus on twists.
Twists are a great way to start your day.
Not only do they feel fantastic through your spine,
But they can also help with digestion and release a little bit of that tension in your upper back,
Your hips,
And even up into your neck.
So for this practice,
Just start in the center of your bed.
You might like to move your sheets off of you.
You can try to do this with the sheets on if you're feeling chilly,
But it just might not be quite as graceful.
But hey,
That's okay.
You can keep the pillow underneath your head if it feels supportive.
If it gets in the way,
Just feel free to move it.
So start just lying down.
You can have your legs outstretched,
Arms by your sides,
And just bring your gaze up to the ceiling.
Whether your eyes are closed or not,
Just have your head in center there.
Take a long,
Slow breath in.
Feel how your lungs and abdomen expand.
And breathe out.
Feel how they soften back into center.
And try a few more like that.
Try to invite your breath a little bit lower into your lungs,
Into your abdomen.
It's almost like a little massage for your abdomen as you breathe these deep,
Slow breaths.
Now,
The next time you breathe out,
Let your head fall to the right.
As you inhale,
Bring your head back to center and exhale over to the left.
Inhale to center.
And really take your time here.
Go for a few more.
Keep your breath slow,
Which in turn keeps your movements slow.
When you've had enough of those,
Just keep your gaze in center.
One at a time,
Bend your knees and bring your feet flat onto the mattress.
You can have your feet a hip's distance apart or even more.
And as you breathe out,
Drop your knees over to the right.
Could be a few inches,
Could be more.
And just like you did with your head,
Inhale to bring your knees back to center.
Exhale to the left.
Inhale to center.
Now,
As you drop your knees over to the right,
Drop your head to the left.
Inhale everything to center.
Exhale,
Knees the other way,
Head the other way.
So a really soft,
Gentle twist.
Keep that going.
Take your time.
When you feel like you've had enough of that,
Land in center and pull your knees in.
Give your legs a hug.
You might rock side to side.
Then drop your knees over to the right.
You can stack your knees one on top of the other.
Keep your shoulders on the mattress.
Gaze to the ceiling.
Feel free to extend your arms out to make more of a T-shape.
You could rest your right hand on your left knee or thigh to help keep your legs over.
You might drop your head to look over to your left hand.
And come back to those breaths we did at the start.
So deep belly breaths.
You get even more of an abdominal massage here.
You might be able to breathe into your low back a little bit or into the left side of your ribs,
Your left side lung a little bit more.
Now keep your legs where they are and roll all the way onto your right side.
Now take your hands and interlace your fingers behind your head.
Bring your elbows close towards each other in front of your face.
Now your elbows might touch,
They might be a few inches apart.
It doesn't matter.
As you breathe in,
Reach your left elbow up to the ceiling and then out to the left side.
Keep your fingers interlaced here.
As you breathe out,
Reach that left elbow up and then bring it to touch or almost touch your right elbow.
And we'll keep that going.
You can gaze to your elbow the whole time to bring this up into your neck and a little higher in the upper back.
So I know this move can be a little bit difficult to describe without a visual.
So I like to visualize butterfly wings.
The right arm is still and your left elbow slash arm is just kind of making that rainbow shape as it opens and closes.
Hand stays behind the head and as long as you're feeling that movement and opening through the upper back and shoulder,
You're doing it perfectly.
The next time your heart is open to the ceiling,
Your elbows are wide,
Stay there.
Release your hands from behind your head.
Reach them out to the sides.
Make a T-shape.
Bring your knees back to center and then hug your knees in.
And we'll try this out the other way.
So drop your knees over to the left.
Gaze to your right hand.
Nice supine twist.
A few breaths right here.
You might feel it a bit more through your right side body.
Keep your knees as they are and roll all the way onto your left side.
Fetal position.
Interlace your fingers behind your head.
Elbows come towards each other in front of your face.
The left arm stays still and slowly as you breathe in,
Reach your right elbow up to the ceiling and then open up until the elbow is on the mattress over to that right side.
As you breathe out,
Reach your elbow to the ceiling and then to your left elbow.
Again,
This opening and closing movement.
Think of butterfly wings or maybe like a clam or something.
Keep your eyes on that elbow to bring this movement up into your neck,
Your cervical spine.
The next time your elbows are wide,
Stay there and gently bring your knees back to center.
Hug your legs in one more time.
Send them a thank you and just roll all the way over onto one side.
Doesn't matter which.
You can stay there as long as you'd like.
You can always pause this track and make your way to seated on the side of your bed.
So feet on the floor,
Find a comfortable tall spine.
It's early in the morning,
So don't worry about having a perfectly tall spine.
The next time you breathe in,
Sweep your arms wide and up.
Bring your palms together overhead and as you exhale,
Bring your hands down through center.
We'll do that a couple more times.
Inhale,
Reach your arms wide and up.
Palms together,
Exhale,
Come down through center.
A couple more just like that.
Inhale,
Reach,
Big stretch up.
Palms together as you exhale,
Bring them down through center.
One more on your own.
The next time you reach your arms up,
Keep them there.
As you breathe out,
Take a twist over to the right.
So bring your right hand behind you,
Left hand to your right thigh or knee.
Breathe in to get a little taller and breathe out.
See if you could twist just a little bit deeper.
One more time.
Breathe in,
Get a little bit taller.
Breathe out,
Twist a little bit deeper.
Feel free to take a peek over your right shoulder.
Eventually,
Come back to center.
Sweep your arms wide and up.
Exhale,
Hands come together and down through center.
Inhale,
Sweep wide and up.
Exhale to twist to the left.
Left hand behind,
Propping you up.
Right hand to left knee or thigh.
A few breaths here.
Inhales to give you space and length and height.
Exhale to provide that depth of the twist.
You can take a peek over your shoulder.
When you feel like you've had enough,
Just come back to center with your inhale.
Sweep your arms wide and up.
This time as you breathe out,
Just let your hands rest together at your heart,
Thumbs to sternum.
Place your left hand over your heart and your right hand over your abdomen.
And we'll take three breaths together to finish here.
Breathe in,
Feel your hands move as your body moves.
Exhale,
Feel that softening.
Again,
Breathe in,
Feel space.
Exhale,
Feel softening.
Last one,
Your deepest breath in and feel free to sigh out through the mouth.
Let it go.
Thank you so much for being here with me.
There's a few other practices from bed if you want a little bit more.
I hope you have a great day and I'll see you again soon.
Thanks for being here.
Peace.
