We're gonna start seated today.
Find a comfortable seated position,
Whatever that means for you.
You can have Your knees bent.
You can be sitting cross-legged,
You know what I mean?
You can sit kneeling.
Just sit comfortably.
You can sit up on a couch,
Doesn't matter.
I'm seated here.
Close your eyes or gaze down.
And just start to bring your awareness into your body.
Maybe you feel your breath.
Maybe you feel an area of tension calling out to you.
Just notice.
Then we'll try to soften that up a little bit,
So.
Soften your breath first.
See if you can make your breath a little more slow.
Smooth it out and try to breathe through your nose if you can.
And usually the rest of the body will follow suit.
Might help to soften your shoulders,
Let them get heavy.
Allow your abdomen to be soft.
You don't need to hold in or push out.
And just drop your left hand down to the left side or onto your left leg.
And now just sweep your right arm up and over.
Feel that nice big side stretch.
You can stay there or you can explore with some big circles.
A little bit to get into the shoulders,
The upper back.
And then we'll really dive into low back and hips soon.
Sweep yourself over to the second side.
Big side stretch.
You can explore with circles or you can stay still.
Sweep yourself back upright.
Place your hands on your knees and take a generous breath in.
Lift your chin,
Lift your chest.
As you breathe out,
Round your back and let all that breath go.
Like you're pushing the air out.
Inhale,
Arch your back,
Lift your chest,
Big deep breath in.
I kind of hold on to my legs.
Breathe out,
Round your back,
Let it go.
Really empty out.
Last one.
Let it all go.
Him um back up You can sweep your arms out.
And we'll take a twist to the right.
Take a peek over your shoulder.
Try to keep your left shoulder moving back.
Keep your heart open.
This kind of gets the whole spine from your neck down to your low back.
A little bit of everything.
Then keep your left hand on your right knee.
Sweep your right arm up and over.
You get a kind of different side stretch.
You're kind of pulling yourself over.
Come upright and switch sides.
Right hand to left knee.
Left hand behind you.
Take a peek over your shoulder.
Keep your right shoulder moving back.
It usually wants to roll forward here,
So that's why we're doing that.
Keep your hand on the opposite leg and find that slightly deeper side bend.
Now,
Please set left hand on the opposite leg.
So you can reach for opposite thigh,
Opposite thigh.
Or opposite knee,
Or you can give yourself a hug here.
Wherever you are,
Start to rock side to side.
Really let your head be heavy until you feel that stretch between your shoulder blades,
Maybe into the back of your neck.
If you've got your hands on your legs you can kind of pull yourself side to side.
Switch which arm is on top just try it out Come on up.
Notice if your seated position feels a little bit different.
And then we'll get into all the low back still.
So.
Let's start by coming down onto our back.
Keep your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
And just give your spine a second to kind of settle.
Sometimes with low back pain we brace a lot.
So see if you can soften that up.
That usually just happens through time and breath rather than.
Actively thinking about releasing it.
Now we've already done a little bit of spinal movement.
And sometimes with your low back,
It feels like you need to stretch it and do more to it.
But often the trick is working your hips.
When the hips get tight,
They pull on your pelvis and then it makes your low back all funky and out of whack.
So.
We'll work on our hips and you should get a little bit more lasting relief with that with a little less effort through your low back.
So there's a method to the madness here.
Pull your right leg in.
You can reach for your thigh or your shin.
And just by doing that,
You'll feel your low back kind of around,
Especially on that right side.
Take your time.
Breathe slowly.
Keep breathing through your nose.
And inhale to reach your right leg up.
You'll feel a stretch through your hamstring.
Your leg does not need to be perfectly straight.
Exhale to bend your knee.
Keep that going.
Inhale.
Straighten.
Exhale,
Bend.
Do that a couple more times with your breath.
The next time your leg is straight-ish,
Keep it there.
Move around through your foot.
And then try to keep your foot flexed here.
So like you're trying to reach your heel higher than your toes.
And just guide your leg over to the left just a few inches.
So your foot's kind of just floating over to the left.
And we're just going until you feel a stretch through the outer right thigh,
Your IT band.
So that runs from your knee to your outer hip.
Gets real tight.
Both of that cheeks are on the ground.
Then come back to center.
Bend your right knee.
Place your left hand down on the ground or on your left hip.
Use your right hand to guide your right leg out to the side.
Until you feel a stretch through the inner right hip and thigh.
You could straighten out your left leg here.
And sometimes we really focus on keeping the left hip down and staying engaged.
This class is called rest.
You don't need to do that here.
The next time you breathe in bring your leg to center.
Switch out your hands and exhale to bring your right leg over to the left.
Big twist.
You can gaze to your right hand.
You might feel it in your back.
You might feel it in your hip.
You might feel it in all of the above.
Without changing your breath.
Use your next inhale to come back to center.
Bend your left.
Place your right ankle over your left thigh.
And you can push your right knee forward.
Sometimes that's enough to get a good stretch through your outer hip and thigh.
If you want more,
You can arch your back here.
If you want to do the most.
Then you can pull your left thigh in and interlace your fingers behind.
That left thigh.
If you want to dial up the sensation,
You can take a little lean to the left,
Whether you're holding on to your leg or if your foot's on the floor.
You when you've got enough.
Come back to center.
Both feet flat on the floor and just take a couple breaths.
Without thinking about the other side or what you've done or any of that.
Just notice the difference.
And go ahead and pull your left leg in.
You can reach for whatever part of your leg.
Then we'll turn it into that little flow where you inhale to reach your foot up.
And exhale to bend.
Let your movement follow your breath.
Rather than changing your breath to match the movement.
The next time your legs are straight up-ish,
Keep it there.
You can flex your foot.
You might feel it into your calf as well.
Calves are sneaky tight spots.
Then just move your left foot a few inches over to the right.
If there was a laser beam coming out of your right hip.
Your left foot would like just be grazing it.
So little goes a long way here.
Come back to center.
Bend your knee.
Use your left hand to bring your left leg out to the left side,
Right hand to the right.
That right arm is just kind of helping you to anchor down.
Until you feel a stretch through the inner left thigh and hip.
Nothing magical happens if your knee touches the ground.
That's not the aim.
The aim is just.
.
.
A nice sensation of release and opening through the inner hip and thigh.
Maybe you straighten out your right leg here.
Inhale your leg to center.
Switch out your arm.
And exhale to pull your leg way across.
My yoga teacher.
Um who i used to practice with all the time when we lived in the same city would always say that if you could only ever do one yoga sequence let it be this one It's just so good for really the whole body,
But especially the hips and your nervous system.
You're grounding.
Breathing slowly.
A good one to pair up with your breath.
Use your inhale to come back to center.
Bend your right knee,
Place your left ankle over your right thigh.
Now,
A lot of people tell you to flex your foot here.
You don't have to if you're getting a nice stretch and it's not bugging your knee,
No need to flex your foot.
You can try it out,
See how it feels.
Then you can push your left knee away,
Maybe arch your back.
Maybe pull your leg in.
Maybe lean to the right.
Maybe,
Maybe,
Maybe.
When you're satisfied with that,
Come back to center.
And reach your arms wide,
Make a T shape.
Widen out through your feet so they're about as wide as a yoga mat.
And just drop your knees side to side,
Windshield wipers.
So yes,
It's nice movement for your hips.
But you're also kind of massaging out your low back against the mat.
If you're doing this class from bed it might be less of a massage but it's again still such a great movement A little bit of twist,
A little bit of hip.
The next time you come to center,
Stay there.
Lift your legs up.
Place your palms on your knees.
Knees are bent.
And your hands are going to stay glued onto your knees for this one.
Take a breath in.
You can straighten out your elbows.
Let your knees move away from your face.
As you breathe out,
Pull your knees in towards your chest.
Inhale let your knees move forward let your elbows straighten Exhale pull your knees in.
Now you make this yours.
If you need more space,
You can do this with your knees apart.
If you'd rather do something else,
Do that.
I'll never know.
So again,
Nice for your low back.
You're kind of massaging it out against the ground in a different way.
Getting a little stretch and then some.
Release.
And you're pairing it all with your breath.
Eventually you can drop both knees down.
Then just drop your knees over to the right for a twist.
And this is my favorite little sneaky bit of massage to do.
Take your right hand,
Place it on your right hip.
And just push that hip down and away.
Sometimes it takes the left hand too.
Just a little bit of space there can feel so nice.
Maybe you extend your right hand.
Use your left hand to pull that hip down.
Push.
It kind of just depends on your body and how your back's feeling.
Ready?
Come through center,
Drop your knees to the right.
Left or right hand can push or both.
And push your right.
What is that?
Your left hip away.
It's just a bit of traction for your back.
When you're done,
Come back to center.
Breathe.
If there's anything else that you're craving before we head into.
Longer held restorative shapes,
Go ahead and do that.
Maybe it's a happy baby.
Or circling out through your knees.
Maybe you just want to give your legs a tight hug.
Now this next one,
You're going to want.
Wow.
Some kind of support here.
It's the hardest part is going to get your pillows.
You can use yoga blocks if you have them.
You can use pillows.
I'm using a bolster.
And now for this.
You're gonna bend your knees,
Feet flat on the floor.
Lift your hips up.
And slide your support under your hips.
So this is a supported bridge pose.
It's just a little lift through your hips.
It can act like a little bit of traction for your spine,
So kind of letting your spine go in different directions.
And then some nice weight through your shoulders and chest from lifting your hips.
If inversions or if this pose aren't for you,
You can do something else that feels better.
Maybe you want to move your pillows under your knees and just do a.
.
.
And a variation of Shavasana.
Maybe there's another pose that you love.
Wherever you are,
This is your time for you.
So you get a good few minutes to just.
.
.
Chill.
There's nothing you need to do.
Know where you need to be.
You're good.
Everything is okay enough.
That you can be in a class called rest.
Keep your breath purposely slow.
And that's really all we do in these restorative shapes is we just breathe.
Feel.
And eventually.
.
.
Your brain will start to do what it's meant to do,
Which is think.
That just walk it back to feeling.
Come back to your breath.
Come back to the shape.
Come back to this feeling of relaxation that you've cultivated.
And then you'll start thinking again,
You come back again and again and again.
David Gee,
Who is a fantastic meditation teacher on this app.
Always says that he's like it's there.
Practice of drifting out and drifting back in.
And you catch yourself drifting.
Drift back into your breath.
And try to hang out here for five more breaths.
Two more.
And then just push down into your feet to lift your hips up.
You can move your prop aside.
Maybe it feels good to hug your legs in,
Rock,
Curl up into a ball on your side.
Just keep that cushion or whatever you're using within reach.
And flip over onto your stomach.
So we'll start in crocodile pose.
Just rest your forehead on.
Brown or your stacked hands.
Or just one side of your head down.
And see if you can feel your breath into your back.
You can stay right here.
Or you can turn this into a very,
Very chill backbend,
A supported sink.
I have a hard time saying that word.
So I've just tucked a bolster or a couple pillows under my arms.
You can rest your forehead or your chin on the support or on your hands.
Just one head,
One of your heads,
One side of your head down.
So it is a little bit of like compression in your low back,
But this is healthy compression.
Very gentle.
See if you can still breathe into your back just like you were before.
Now if this shape just really is not serving you,
You can do the one we did before.
Four.
You can bring the cushion under your pelvis,
Your hips.
And you can lie down this way.
Head on the ground or on your hands.
Just find what feels best for you,
Your back,
Your hips.
Service system.
That's really what this is about at the end of the day.
Relaxing.
And we can only really heal.
When our body is relaxed.
Easier said than done to relax.
Slow breaths are your signal to your body to chill.
It's a reminder to your body that you're safe.
You're in control.
You got this.
Keep drifting back to your breath.
Back to your body.
Try about five more breaths here.
That is that.
Come on up.
Do whatever you want to release that.
Oh.
If you're craving something like a child's pose or.
.
.
Whatever,
Do that.
You never need my permission.
Because I can't see you,
I'll never know.
This next shape is totally up to you.
I don't care what you do.
I just want you to.
.
.
Find a relaxing place where you can hang out and breathe with me for a bit.
So I'm choosing a pillow under my knee.
Mainly because I didn't want to move the pillow.
Now you can do whatever you want.
If you are starting to get cold,
Use a blanket,
Put your socks on,
Get cozy.
If you like having an eye pillow,
Use that.
And I like to be extra.
.
.
Luxurious and cozy.
So since I'm in a position where this works and I'm lying on my back,
I'm going to take my hands and place them just at the base of my neck.
Slide my hands up towards the top of my head,
Almost like you're gently pulling your head off.
For putting your hair in a really high ponytail.
Traction your neck.
And then you can gently place your head back down.
The back of your neck should feel like an inch longer.
You might feel like there's a slight little tuck of your chin.
That's perfect.
If you want,
You can kind of do that with your arms and legs too,
Depending on your setup.
Lift one arm up.
Imagine like someone's there pulling on your hand.
And then let it drop.
Go with the opposite arm.
An imaginary.
Massage person is pulling on your arm.
And dropping it down.
Do that with ULA.
Let it stretch out like someone's pulling on your foot and let it drop.
Same with the other leg.
There's some magic to that.
Wherever you are,
Get heavy.
Let yourself be supportive.
We're gonna do a little bit of a kind of breathing meditation.
And yoga teachers love to tell you this,
Breathe into this area.
Breathe into that spot.
That makes sense if it's kind of like in your torso but then it gets to like your foot and you're like how am i supposed to breathe into my foot Well I'll tell you how.
One,
There's no real way to do this.
You kind of find what works for you.
Essentially,
You're bringing your awareness there.
A few ways to do it are.
.
.
We'll use your foot for an example.
Breathing into your foot,
Maybe you imagine that area expanding and contracting with your breath.
Like a lung would.
Maybe you imagine sending white light to that area.
You can really visualize it.
Maybe you feel the energy of your breath,
Your prana,
Right?
Being pulled all the way down to your foot.
Maybe it's simply bringing your awareness to that area.
So whether it pulses with your breath,
With your energy,
With light,
With your awareness,
You are breathing into it.
There's no wrong way to do it.
So with this kind of relaxed.
Awareness.
Pro.
Start by simply breathing into your lungs.
Not just into the front of your lungs now,
But the sides and backs of your lungs.
Pull your breath into your lower ribs.
Breathe into the sides and back.
Of your rib cage.
Even breathe.
Into your back at that space between your shoulder blades.
Breathe into your abdomen.
Breathe into your waist.
Breathe into your mid-back.
Breathe into your low back.
Breathe into your pelvis.
Your hips.
Now spread that breath into your shoulder.
Your upper arm.
Your elbows.
Your forearm.
Breathe into your wrist.
Your hand.
All the way to the tips of your fingers and thumb.
Now pull your breath down.
Through your hips.
To your thighs.
Breathe into your knees.
Breathe into your calves.
Breathe into your ankle.
Your feet.
Even the soles of your feet and your toes.
Now bring that breath up into your throat.
Your neck.
Your head.
Your face.
And if there's any place that needs A little more breath.
Into it.
Breathe into it.
It might even be something that's kind of more energetic,
The space of your heart or your mind.
Breathe into that.
And maybe there's a physical link like your chest for your heart or your head for your mind.
Or maybe there's not.
You don't need to make sense of it.
Just breathe into it.
Bring your awareness to your heart.
And feel your heartbeat.
You could even place a hand or two over your heart.
And send a warm thank you to your body.
To the roots of our yoga practices.
All the many teachers who came before us and passed these practices down to us.
And the biggest,
Warmest thank you to you.
For carving out this time to practice and do something really sweet.
Your mind,
Your body,
Your low back.
And your nervous system.
Thank you so much for being here.
Peace,
Everyone.
