Yin Yoga For Inner Awareness

True observation is an art form - one that takes time, commitment, and understanding. This 60 minute yoga session will provide a foundation for this type of awareness. Join to discover stillness; lowering your stress and anxiety.

Transcript

Welcome everyone, My name is Allison and I'll be guiding you through this next 60 minutes of yin yoga for inner awareness. For this class, You'll need a pillow or a blanket, Or both if you prefer, And we're going to begin just with a little meditation. So, It's up to you if you want to be in a sitting position or a laying down position. Do whatever calls you today. If you're sitting, Maybe you put that pillow or that blanket under your seat, And if you're laying, Maybe you put it under your neck. Just take these moments now to become more comfortable and relaxed in your pose, And if they're not already, Go ahead and close your eyes as you begin to arrive. Just noticing your normal breath, Inhaling to your belly and exhaling from your belly. Maybe you soften your forehead, Relax your jaw. Let's do a breathing technique where you're going to inhale for a count of four and exhale for a count of six. So, When you're ready, Go ahead and just exhale all the breath out of your lungs. Take an inhale for four, Three, Two, One. Exhale six, Five, Four, Three, One. Inhale for three, One. Exhale six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Inhale for three, Two, One. Exhale six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Good. Go ahead and just return back to your normal breath here. Just begin to relax your entire body. Feel the ground beneath you supporting you in every way. Release any tension from your face, Your neck, And your shoulders. On your own, Take three deep breaths, Exhaling from your mouth. Relax more with every exhale. Begin to place all of your attention on the crown of your head, So the very top of your head. And become curious about what sensations you may be feeling in this moment. Resist the natural urge to judge or evaluate these sensations. There are no right or wrong feelings here. Only what is happening in this present moment. Begin to take that attention from your head and move it down to your face. Move down to your neck, Your shoulders, Your torso, And your feet. Piece by piece, Cover your entire body with your attention. Begin to deepen your inhales. As we start to slowly awake, Still keeping your eyes closed. Maybe you begin to just wiggle your fingers and toes. Maybe you rock your neck side to side. And again, If you are laying down, Maybe you just begin to roll over onto whatever side calls to you today. Placing your arm as a pillow, Your bicep as a pillow under your head. And when you feel ready, Push yourself up into a seated position. If you've been in that seated position, Maybe you just bring the soles of your feet onto the earth with a bend in your knees. And just take some windshield wiper movements here, Bringing your knees side to side. Come back to that cross-legged position, Only now switch the opposite legs from what you had before. We're going to begin the yin portion of this class. To those of you who may be new to yin yoga, We're going to be holding these poses anywhere from three to five minutes. So for this reason, You don't want to go fully into the pose. You only want to do about 70 or 80% of what you're capable of. We call that finding your edge. And once you find your edge, You want to stay there and hold still. And you'll feel that over time, Gravity will begin to slowly and softly allow you to go deeper into the pose. This is an amazing practice to opening up our connective tissues. So for the next 45 minutes, As we're together in this yin class, We do not want to have any muscular engagement whatsoever. We want to soften and be relaxed in these poses. So with that said, Let's just start in our first poses, Just taking a few side bends here. So when you're ready, You can go ahead and inhale your arms up to the sky, Palms facing each other, Relaxing your shoulders away from your ears. Take an inhale to lengthen the crown of your head to the sky. And on an exhale, Begin to just lower your right arm down onto the mat, Bringing your left arm up and over, Letting that left bicep be in line with your left ear. If you'd like a deeper stretch, You can always bring your right forearm onto the ground. And your gaze could be up or down, Whatever calls for you today. Feel the sensation on your body on that left side. With every exhale, See where you can soften. Take a full breath in, And a full breath out. And when you're ready, You can go ahead and inhale both arms back up to the sky. We're going to just repeat that on the other side. So when you're ready, Inhale, Lengthen the crown of your head. And exhale, Lowering your left hand down to your mat, Taking that right arm up and over. Option to come onto your left forearm. Take a full inhale, And a full exhale. When you feel ready, You can go ahead and inhale both arms back up to the sky. And exhale, Releasing your hands back to the earth. From here, We're going to go just into a butterfly pose. So you can bend your knees, Bringing your soles of your feet together. And we have options here. You can take your hands and hold onto your ankles or your feet, Allowing your forearms to come down onto the tops of your thighs. Or maybe you just want your hands to be nice and loose. Either way, Just inhale, Lengthening your spine. And exhale, Hinging at your hips, Begin to tuck your chin to chest, Rounding your back. Maybe if you're not holding your feet, You walk your hands forward. And just begin to be heavy here in this forward fold. Feeling the sensation in your hips and in your back. Lengthening as you inhale, And surrendering with every exhale. Where can you soften? Just allow your thought to be there, But you don't need to engage. Just allow it to float by like a cloud in the sky. Come back to your breath. Take a full inhale. And when you're ready, Go ahead and just lift your chest up. Maybe walking your hands back towards your body. And let's just begin to straighten our legs out in front of us. Maybe just kind of softly shaking them a little. When you're ready, Again, Maybe you want to put a pillow or a blanket under your seat. We're just going to keep the legs nice and relaxed as we're coming into caterpillar pose. If your knees are bothering you, Maybe you can place a pillow or blanket under your knees. You can have a slight bend in your knees. And when you're ready, Inhale your arms up towards the sky. And on your exhale, Hinging at your hips, Just begin to round your back, Tucking your chin to chest. And allowing your hands to fall wherever they may naturally fall. Maybe on your calves or your ankles. Once you find your edge, Just begin to hold still. And soften with every exhale. Send your breath to these sensations that you're feeling in your body. With every exhale, Relax a little bit more. Back up, Lifting your chest and head. You can keep your left leg long, But bring it out to the left side. Begin to bend your right leg so the sole of your right foot meets the inside of your upper left thigh. Inhale the crown of your head up towards the sky. And exhale, Begin to twist your torso towards that left leg. Inhale to lengthen. And exhale, Begin hinging at your hips, Lowering your chest over your left leg. Your arms can walk out forward, Maybe grabbing your calf, Ankle, Or foot. And tuck your chin to chest, Allowing your head to be heavy here as we're rounding our backs. Option for a deeper stretch, You can place your right hand on the outside of your left calf, Ankle, Or foot. And let's repeat that on the other side. So bring your right leg long and out as you begin to bend your left leg, Tucking that left foot to meet the inside of your right thigh. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale, Just twist your torso over that right leg. Inhale, Lengthen the crown of your head. Exhale, Hinging at your hips, Begin to walk your arms forward, Tucking your chin to your chest. Be feeling a nice opening on that left side body, Lifting your chest and head back up. Let's take a bend with both knees, Bringing the soles of your feet to touch your mat, Your knees are pointing to the sky. And let's just release some tension in the hips by taking some windshield wiper movements with your legs. So begin to sway your knees side to side, Moving with your breath, At your own pace. There is no rush. Begin to lower your back down on maybe rock side to side. From here you can come back into stillness. We're just going to send our feet high up into the sky, Coming into waterfall pose here. So just bringing your legs up into the air. Maybe you bring your arms out to the side like a T. You can have your palms down to feel grounded, Or your palms up to receive energy. Just be aware here, Maybe beginning to feel your circulation reverse as we're holding our legs above our heart. Softening your forehead, Relaxing your jaw, Breathing into the sensations. And when you're ready, Go ahead and bend your knees, Bringing your knees back into your chest. Hugging them in with your arms, And maybe just rocking side to side. Maybe, So bending your knees, With your hands holding on to your feet. Keeping your tailbone on the mat. Again, Maybe you want to just be in stillness here. Maybe you want to rock side to side again, Just feeling that nice low back massage. Maybe with your peace fingers, You grab on to your big toe. Straightening one leg, And then the other. Rocking side by side. Just take anything you might need here before our final pose. If there's any other movement that's calling you, Go ahead and do that now. And when you feel ready, Let's come back to bringing our knees into our chest, Coming back into stillness. Hugging your knees in. Inhale, Bringing your forehead up to meet your knees. Giving yourself a nice big hug, Showing gratitude for yourself, For being here today on your mat. And when you feel ready, Let's come into our final pose of Shavasana. So releasing your legs out long, Keeping them nice and relaxed. Arms by your side, Palms facing up. Maybe you bring your shoulder blades together, And tuck your chin in just a little. Make any final adjustments that you need to feel fully relaxed in this pose. There is nothing left to do but to enjoy this rest. Do when time is ready, For as long as you would like. There is no rush. Maybe you begin to slowly and softly wiggle your shoulders. Maybe you rock your head side to side. Maybe you even do a really big good morning stretch, Stretching your arms up overhead. Pulling in one direction, And your legs pointing in the opposite direction. And when you feel ready, Go ahead and roll onto whatever side calls to you today. Coming into the fetal position, Using your bicep as a pillow for under your head. And just take a moment here, Feeling yourself being grounded to the earth. And when you're ready, You can push yourself back up into a seated position. You can have your hands wherever you'd like, On your knees, In your lap. Maybe you bring your palms together at your heart center. Thank you so much for being here, And listening to this yin yoga practice for inner awareness. The light in me, Sees and honors the light in you. Namaste.

Reviews

Allison, thank you for this deeply relaxing and restorative session! It not only helped to release tension, but also brought clarity into the thoughts. Thank you for the extra time at the end. I will definitely return to this track and use it for meditation. Thank you 🙏