Beginner Yin Yoga Practice

Welcome to your Yin Yoga practice! This beginner-friendly sequence consists of all the essential Yin Yoga poses. The slow and comprehensive guidance gives you lots of time to process and soak in this beautiful, somatic practice. All you need is a yoga mat and some space to practice in. I hope you enjoy!

Transcript

Hi and welcome! I'm Jalyn and this is a beginner's yoga practice, An essentials yoga practice that's also great for intermediate practitioners, People who have been practicing for a long time. We're going to come back to the basics in this practice and move through a handful of yin asanas that are just at the core of this practice. I love yin yoga so much because it's so much more than stretching. It's a deep somatic experience and I like to think of it as meditating with your whole body. There are five principles or tattvas of yin yoga and they are coolness so we won't generate any heat in the body. The body will be cool, Stillness, Long holds, Relaxed muscles, And finding your edge or creating therapeutic stress. So yin yoga focuses on the connective tissues, The fascia, The tendons, The joints, And what we call the plastic parts of our body or those more dense parts. It's a very feminine practice. It's a cozy practice and I call it like minimal yoga, Minimalist yoga. It's very simple, Grounded, So good for the nervous system. All of our practice today is going to take place on the ground. Nice and low, Slow, And lovely. You're going to feel nice and open and relaxed after this. So you don't need any yoga props, Just a yoga mat. Hopefully you're wearing something comfy and stretchy and let's dive right in. We're going to start sitting cross-legged or you can find any comfortable seat, Whatever works for you. We'll start just by getting grounded into the body. So feel free to close down your eyes or just turn your eyes downward. And right away coming into that Tattva, That principle of stillness. So let your body grow still. Notice those places where your body is touching the ground beneath. Allow yourself to surrender into that support. Coming into that principle of relaxation, Relaxed muscles. Releasing the muscles around your shoulders. Your jaw, Your eyes. Releasing the muscles around your belly and your hips. Let your belly grow soft. Let your breath grow a little deeper. Let it rise and fall in your belly. And if you're arriving to practice today with a head full of thoughts or a body full of energy, Here's a simple breath technique. You'll inhale through your nose, Hold for a beat, And exhale long and slow through your mouth with a sigh. So let's do this three times together. Inhale deeply, Filling your belly and your chest. Hold at the top of that breath and exhale slowly and completely through your mouth. And again, Inhale deeply. Take your time, Hold and let it go. Letting everything go. And one more time, Inhale deeply and release. And feel a wave of relaxation move through your entire body all the way through your feet and your toes. Beautiful. So coming into our yin asanas. When you're ready, You can just crack the eyes open and we'll come into a butterfly pose. So I'm just going to flip around. You're going to stretch the legs forward. Just give them a nice little stretch to prepare. You might like to flex and point your toes, Just preparing the joints. And then when you're ready, You're going to bend one knee and place that heel in line with your other knee and let that leg open up. And then you'll bend the other leg and bring the soles of the feet together. So you want our heels in line with the center of the pelvis, The muscles all around the legs and the hips and the feet relaxed. And we'll find our edge in this shape. So maybe sitting upright in the shape is quite enough. Maybe it's very sensational. Or maybe you have a little space to come forward and bow into this. So just relax your torso into the forward fold. Let your spine round. And let your arms be heavy. And let your head be heavy. And once you've surrendered into a place where you feel like it's right on the edge, It's sensational, But not too sensational where you can't breathe or you can't relax. So when you've found your place, You can go ahead and welcome some stillness. You might even close your eyes and take your attention inward. And you might observe your breath moving through the belly and the torso. You might just observe the sensations wherever they may be arising from. Maybe the outer hips or somewhere else. And just surrender and let gravity and time do all the work. The shape it targets the outer hips, The lower back especially. You may notice waves of sensation as the body releases deep seated tension. From these places, Just breathe and allow. We'll be here another moment or so. So let's enjoy a couple more breaths here. And if you like, You can enjoy a couple of those sign breaths we did at the top of class. So in through the nose and out through the mouth, Really letting go of any remaining tension. So to come out, We're going to press our hands into the feet or into the floor. And we'll roll up the spine bone by bone, Letting your head come up last, Just stacking your vertebrae and coming back to that first position, Sitting upright. And take a breath. Pause to notice the effect of that shape. So we'll take a counter shape now to release the body from that pose. So you'll use your hands to help guide your knees together. We'll plant the feet and step them out as wide as your yoga mat, Or a little wider than your hips. Your palms will plant behind you. And we'll just open the chest a little bit, Maybe looking up at the place where the wall and the ceiling meet. And let your knees drop to one side. And back through center, They drop to the other side. So we call this windshield wiper. Great way to just move the thighs, The thigh bones in those hip joints and release the hips. Nice. So another counter pose here. We're going to plant the feet. The hands are planted behind you. And you're going to lift your seat, Coming into a short reverse table. Now engaging your muscles just for a breath or two as you release and reverse that butterfly pose. Take a breath. And then slowly release your seat. Back to the floor. Nice. And you can just cross your shin bones or bring your feet to one side. We're going to come forward into a tabletop. So on your all fours, Plant your palms just under your shoulders, Your knees just under your hips. Bring the tops of the feet to the floor. We'll feel strong here in our table. So moving through a few rounds of cat and cow, Just to move through that spine a little bit. So as you breathe in, You can drop the belly, Lift the chest, Look forward and maybe slightly upwards. As you breathe out, You'll tuck the tailbone, Press the shoulder blades apart around the back. So let's do two more. Inhale, Belly drops, Gaze goes up. Exhale, Press the mat away. One more. Inhale. Nice. Now come to a neutral spine. We're going to bring the knees right together, A little closer in. And we're going to walk those knees back and slowly lower down onto the belly. So just take your time. Thighs come to the floor, The belly and your chest. And you can make a little pillow with your hands and just rest your face and rest your forehead. So from here, Coming into another essential yin shape, We're coming into sphinx. So this is a nice back extension, Really nice for the lower back, The sacrum especially. So we're just going to slide the elbows right under our shoulders and prop up onto the forearms. So your fingers are extended out, Your palms are grounded, Your forearms and shoulders are holding you steady and stable. Your legs are relaxed and lengthening back behind you. And you'll just bring your gaze to the space between your palms. If this is too intense, You can slide the elbows a little further away, A little more forward. But remember, We want to find that edge, That place where there's sensation, But you can breathe and your muscles can relax. And we'll just hold there. So the only muscles that might be engaged here are around your shoulders as they're holding you and supporting the shape. The muscles along your spine, Around your glutes and your legs are target areas. They are relaxed and soft. Let your belly be soft and breathing. You may even like to close your eyes here. I love this shape because the heart is open. The gaze is slightly turned down. So it's like we get to open our heart to life. But we're turned inward at the same time, Able to see and experience our own heart. And just enjoy a few more breaths here. Try to keep your breath soft and subtle. Close forward as you widen the elbows and come back to that first position of the forehead resting on the palms. And now let your heels flop apart and your feet relax. Notice how you feel in the rebound, The echo of that. You might like to gently sway your hips side to side. Beautiful. So once you feel nice and released, We're going to plant our palms just under our shoulders, Getting ready to press up and back into a child's pose. So when you're ready, Press into your hands, Lift your chest, Your belly, And then go ahead and round your back all the way back to sit right on your heels. So ideally here, The seat is resting on something, Whether it's your heels or maybe a pillow. And then your head too will rest maybe on your fists, Maybe on your palms, Maybe right on the earth. So just get this full feeling of support. Enjoying this little moment to hug yourself in. The forehead resting is a great way to calm the mind. From our child's pose, We're going to slowly roll up to sit right on our heels if possible. So just rolling up, Stacking the spine all the way up to sit on those heels. And again, If it's too much, You can always close any spaces with a pillow or a blanket or just take a different seat for today. And this right here is a yin shape as well, Helping us to compress and open up those ankles, Compressing the knees, Squeezing the knees. So enjoy a few breaths here. And now a few breaths in our toe stretch. So you can bring the palms forward. We're going to lift the seat. Just tuck the toes under now. And again, Sit back maybe just a little bit or maybe sitting right up on the feet. So we won't be here for too long. Don't worry if it's feeling very sensational. Just breathe a couple breaths. And then go ahead and release your feet. Untuck those toes. We're going to shift over to one side, Sewing our legs forward. And we'll make our way down onto the ground now. So you might like to come to the middle of your mat, Plant your feet and just slowly roll back with control all the way down onto the ground. So if you're like me and you have a ponytail in, You might like to take it out now and just let your head rest flat on your mat. Let your feet plant and your pelvis rest heavy on the yoga mat. So arriving here in this new orientation. You might like to keep your feet planted or enjoy a breath, Stretching the legs out long and your arms overhead. And then we're going to bend the knees into the chest. So give yourself a little hug. Maybe a gentle rock side to side. And then coming into our next shape, Coming into a happy baby pose. This is a great hip opener. It's going to release and lengthen the lower spine. And it's also an inversion. So it's lifting our feet overhead. Great way again to calm the mind, Boost circulation, Can even help you sleep if you're nearing sleep. So please just avoid this posture if you're menstruating. If you are, You can keep hugging your knees in. Otherwise, We're going to separate the knees wider than the torso. So let those knees open up. Then let the soles of the feet point toward the ceiling. You'll either hold on to your thighs, Your shins, Or maybe your feet or your toes. We want to release those knees towards the floor. As the groins open up, This pose is also great and supportive for digestion, The health of those internal organs in our gut. So just hold here, Let gravity do the work. Let your breath be soft and subtle. Through the belly. Although stillness is a principle of yin, That doesn't mean that change is not unfolding and occurring in the body. So we're not pulling ourselves and we're not forcing the body. But just through time and gravity, There absolutely is change that occurs. So you might notice your knees dropping a little deeper, Or your belly softening out a little more as you hold the shape. So definitely allow for those natural changes and listen to the body. The body knows what to do. I'll be here for a few more breaths. Relax those shoulders into the mat. Enjoy one more breath here. Slow and deep. And gently release your feet. Let's hug the knees back in toward the chest. Should feel good now after being so open. Again, You might just like to rock side to side here, Massaging the lower back. From here, We're coming into a twist. So let's bring the feet to the floor. Let's bring the arms out to a T, Or bending the elbows in goal post. Then press into your feet, Lift your hips just an inch off the floor, And shift them over to the left side of your mat. Then bring your knees into your chest again. Squeeze the legs together and slowly bring the knees and the legs over to the right, Stacked one on top of the other. Just come into whatever depth and version of this twist feels good for you. If your knees don't quite make it to the ground, Don't worry. You can place a blanket or a pillow under your legs. If this is feeling alright, You can lift your head just an inch and turn it to the left, Gazing in the opposite direction to your knees for your twist. We'll hold here for a moment. You might like to close your eyes. Soften the muscles of your face and all the muscles through your entire body, Right through to your feet. Enjoy just one more breath here. And slowly move your head back through center. Squeeze your legs together, Draw your belly button in, And bring your legs back through center. Go ahead and bring your feet to the floor, And we'll twist to the other side. So lift your hips, Shift them over to the right side of your mat. Bring the knees into your chest. In and the legs over to the left. Touching down. Relaxing all the muscles. And maybe if it feels good, You can turn your head to the right. Twisting through the entire spine. These twists, Not only are they good for the spine and our digestion, But they're so great at helping us wring out any emotional or mental tension. Old thoughts, Stagnant energies that we might be holding on to, Like wringing out a sponge, We get to squeeze it out. Helping us feel renewed, Refreshed, And reset in that beautiful way that yin yoga allows. Enjoy another relaxed breath or two. And your twist. Slowly guide your head back through center. Draw your legs together, Your belly button in, And bring your legs back through center. And just line yourself up on your mat again. Lining up your hips with your shoulders, And squeeze those knees in. So we're going to finish our practice here, Lying in our final shape, Shavasana. So when you're ready, Lift your head, Give yourself a nice little squeeze, Forehead in towards your knees. We're going to squeeze and tighten all the muscles in the face, The toes, The arms, The legs, Everything. Breathe in. And exhale. Let it all go. And just let your legs lengthen out on your mat. Lots of space between your legs. Take up space. Let your arms rest by your side, Palms facing up in a gesture of surrender. Tuck your chin ever so slightly toward your chest, Lengthening your neck. And let everything go here. Enjoying one last big breath in. Close your eyes. Just let yourself drift and soak in the echo of your practice for a quiet moment. Nothing to do. Just relax and receive. Now slowly begin to deepen your breath again. Just wiggle the fingers and the toes, Maybe the tongue. And rotate the wrists and the ankles, Let your head low, Side to side. And give yourself a big stretch of the arms overhead. As you exhale, Relax the arms and the legs. And then bring your knees in one at a time, Giving yourself a hug again. When you're ready, Just roll to your side, Pausing there just a beat. And finally, You'll come all the way up, Coming full circle. We're back to that seated, Comfortable position, But maybe now feeling a little different. Let's take a moment to close down the eyes and just notice how this practice has affected you. What is the influence on your body, In your mind? And we'll close here, Bringing the palms together in front of the heart, Bowing the head in a gesture of gratitude for this time that you've spent in yoga. Thank you so much for your practice and your efforts. Namaste. So thank you, Everyone. I hope you enjoyed that essentials, Beginner yoga, Yin yoga practice. You can come back to this as many times as you'd like. It will never get old for your body. Thanks again, Everyone, And I'll see you in the next video. Bye!