Welcome,
My name is Allison and I am so glad that you're here for this 60 minute yin yoga full body session for release and relaxation.
You can follow me here on Insight Timer for more yoga and meditation practices.
To get started,
You will need some yoga props for this class.
If you have some yoga blocks.
You might find that helpful.
If you have a blanket.
That might be good,
Especially if you have sensitive knees,
To place under your knees.
If you have a bolster or a firm cushion,
You might want to grab that as well.
And if you want to grab a pillow or an eye mask,
Anything else that you feel like you will need,
Please take this time now to grab that.
And we're going to begin just in an easy seat.
So just cross sitting.
If you'd like,
You can sit on your blanket or maybe on a yoga block just to elevate your hips a little bit more.
And once you're there.
.
.
And just take a little shoulder just inhale shoulders up towards your ears and exhale,
Roll them back down.
Your hands can be wherever you'd like in your lap or on your knees.
And when you're ready,
Maybe you softly close your eyes or bring your gaze down to the earth.
Just arriving here in this moment.
Starting to become aware of your breath.
Just noticing the cool air with your inhales.
And the warm air with your exhale.
Just arriving,
There's nothing to force here.
Just allow your body to slowly arrive instead of.
Trying to achieve anything here.
Softening your forehead.
And relaxing your jaw.
Let's just take a few rounds of breath together.
So we're going to begin.
By inhaling to a count of four.
And then exhaling,
Sighing it out of your mouth.
For a count of six.
So wherever you are in your breathing cycle,
Exhale all the stale air out.
And take a deep breath in through your nose for four.
Three.
Two.
One,
Exhale,
Sigh it out.
Bye.
Four.
Three.
2.
One.
Inhale,
Four.
Three.
Two.
One,
Exhale six.
5.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Inhale,
Four.
Three.
2.
One,
Exhale six.
Bye.
Four.
3.
2.
One,
Go ahead and silently count to yourself.
Inhaling for four.
And sighing it out through your mouth for six.
After your last exhale.
You can feel free to seal your lips and return back to the natural rhythm of your breath.
If you'd like,
You can keep your eyes closed or you can softly begin to flutter them open.
As we come into our first shape of child's pose.
So I'm going to show you the shape first without using any props.
And then I'll show you how to use the yoga props with the pose.
So we're gonna be in child's pose for four minutes.
So if you have any blocks or blanket you are sitting on,
You can just gently remove them off to the side.
And for child's pose,
We can begin by just coming up onto all fours,
A tabletop position.
And then bringing your knees out wide,
Maybe as wide as your mat,
And bringing your two big toes to touch.
You're going to bring your seat back towards your heels and extending your arms out forward.
Lowering your chest,
Maybe your forehead touches the earth here.
If you'd like to use some yoga props.
You can use Two yoga blocks,
Placing them in front of you on the lowest setting.
And if you have a blanket,
Maybe you even place the blanket over the block.
And you're just gonna lie your chest and your head,
Making sure your head and neck are supported here,
Turning your neck in one direction.
And you can extend your arms out if that feels good or maybe it just feels good to hold on to the block.
And if you have a bolster you can pretty much do the same thing here.
Using the bolster out in front.
And lying your chest down,
Head in one direction.
So choosing the shape that works for you,
And if your head is turned in one direction,
I will let you know when to turn.
The opposite way.
If they're not already,
You can close your eyes.
And just coming back to your breath here.
And with every exhale that you take,
Where can you soften just a little more?
Where can you let go?
Just a little more.
If you have your neck turned on one side.
Direction,
Go ahead and slowly and gently Turn it the opposite way.
Just balancing out.
That net.
And of course,
If you are not on a prop,
You are fine to just stay where you are.
Take a deep inhale.
And a deeper exhale.
In this child's pose,
You're opening up your low back and your hips.
Resetting your nervous system here.
Take one more round of breath.
And then slowly begin to lift your chest up,
Walking your hands back towards center.
If you had any props,
You can go ahead and remove them now.
And then we're just going to slowly come up into a tabletop here.
So hips are stacked.
Under or above your knees.
Shoulders are over your wrists.
And we're going to take thread the needle here.
So this is really good for your upper back and your shoulders and neck.
We're going to begin on your left side.
So on your next inhale,
Lift your left hand up towards the sky.
You can lift your gaze to follow.
Just feel that nice,
Opening on your left side body.
And then exhale,
Begin to thread that left arm through,
Lowering your left ear,
Your left cheek down onto your mat.
Doing your best to keep your hips in line with your knees.
And if you'd like,
You can walk that right arm.
You can extend it out in front.
If that feels good for you.
And if you have sensitive knees,
You can always place that blanket under your knees as well.
Ahem.
So while we're here,
You can close your eyes if they're not already.
And just check in with yourself,
Softening your forehead.
Relaxing your jaw.
With every exhale,
Letting something go.
In yin yoga,
We hold these poses anywhere from three to six minutes.
As we hold in stillness.
You may begin to feel gravity taking over doing all the work for you and bringing you deeper into the pose.
When this happens,
It allows for your connective tissues to open up.
And to release.
Take one more round of breath.
And then if you have that right arm extended,
Go ahead and bring that right palm under your shoulder.
Then gently on an inhale,
Lift that left hand back up towards the sky.
And exhale,
Gently release it back down to your mat.
Let's take that on your opposite side.
So inhaling,
Right hand up high,
Gaze can follow.
And then exhale,
Thread that right arm through.
Bringing that right ear down onto your mat.
Again,
You can have that option to extend your left arm forward if that feels good for you.
Just breathing here.
Just observing if there's any areas of tension.
And if there is,
With every inhale,
See that tension expand.
And with your exhale,
Begin to soften.
There's nothing to fix.
There's nothing to figure out.
There is only this moment.
If you have that left arm extended,
You can begin to bring that back in.
And on your next inhale,
Lifting that right hand up high.
And exhale,
Releasing it back down.
We're gonna come into a melting heart pose.
We're going to be here for about four minutes.
So I'm going to show you without the prop and then with the prop.
So it's just staying in this tabletop position.
You can begin to extend your arms,
Walk them forward,
Lowering your chest.
Maybe your forehead touches your mat here.
Melting heart.
If this is a little too much on your shoulders,
You can use yoga blocks.
To place on top of your mat to place your forehead on.
So take time,
Figure out which height works for you.
Maybe you want it on the medium setting,
Or the lowest setting,
Or maybe even the highest setting.
Whatever works for you.
I'm going to do the lowest for me.
And then just,
Again,
Tabletop position.
Walk your hands out in front and you can place that forehead on your block.
Just breathing here.
Just opening your shoulders here.
Your chest and your.
.
.
Thoracic spine,
So kind of your mid-back.
Softening your forehead Relaxing your jaw.
You may begin to observe as you stay in these poses longer that you're able to now go a little deeper.
So at any time,
Through any shape,
If you need to remove the prop.
If it feels better to use it without,
Then allow yourself to do that.
This is your practice.
Your time.
Take what you need here.
At any time if you want to take a completely different shape.
And allow yourself to do so.
As I am only a guide.
Take what you need.
We're about halfway through.
Take a deep breath in.
And exhale,
Sigh it through your mouth.
When you're ready on your next inhale,
Slowly rise back up.
Bringing your hands back in towards that tabletop.
We're going to be taking a sphinx pose here.
So again,
If you have those yoga blocks at the front of your mat,
You can keep them there.
I'm going to show you without and then with the props.
So you just want to move your knees back just a few inches.
And lower the tops of your legs down onto your mat.
And bring your elbows right underneath your shoulders so your forearms are extended,
Your toes are untucked.
And your gaze is forward.
So you're propping your body up here with your forearms.
You can stay just like this.
Or if you have those yoga blocks.
You can place them at the top of your mat.
Again,
You're going to rest your forehead on that.
So you might want to just play around with the height.
Maybe you stack the blocks on top of each other.
And your gaze is down on your mat.
However,
If you do not have yoga props,
Keep your gaze forward.
You can close your eyes here.
Just breathing here.
In this pose,
You're lubricating your lumbar,
So your low back.
While also opening up your abdomen and your heart center.
If your gaze is forward,
You're opening your throat.
If your mind begins to wander.
Just allow those thoughts to.
.
.
Float away like clouds in the sky.
Just come back to your breath.
Releasing your shoulders away from your ears.
Releasing any tension with your exhale.
Take a deep breath in.
And exhale,
Let it go.
When you feel ready.
And bring your palms under your shoulders,
Moving slowly here,
Just gently.
And then slowly pushing yourself back up into that tabletop position.
We're going to cross at the ankles.
And then just bring your seat back towards the seat.
I'm going to turn so you can see better.
But we're going to come into a half butterfly pose here.
So again,
If you have a pillow or a blanket that you'd like to sit on to elevate your hips,
You can place that under your seat.
And if not,
You're fine without that as well.
So we're just gonna extend your left leg out towards the side.
Bringing that right foot in towards that left thigh.
Actually,
We're going to have that.
Left leg pointed straight.
Sorry,
I kind of set out to the side,
But we're going to do straight.
That bend in your right knee.
Just take an inhale here,
Just lengthen the crown of your head up towards the sky.
And then exhale,
Begin to walk your hand.
Over that left leg.
Once you're there,
Begin to round your back,
Allowing your neck and your head to be heavy.
So if you have your bolster.
You can place it.
Either right on top of your leg if that feels good or maybe down just a little more.
If you wanted to rest your chest here.
Upper body.
On that support.
So play around,
See what works good for you.
I don't like to use a prop for this one.
I like to just.
.
.
Ahem.
And you don't want to flex your foot.
Just keep your leg nice and relaxed.
You can have a bend in your knee,
Even if you want to place a.
.
.
Pillow or blanket under that knee for some support.
You can do that as well.
In this pose,
We're getting your hamstrings and your low back.
And with every inhale,
Feel your body expand and with every exhale Feel it softening.
And releasing.
Allowing gravity to do all of the work here.
As it gently brings you deeper into the pose.
Not forcing anything.
When you feel ready,
Your next inhale.
Slowly begin to walk your hands back in.
Lifting your chest and we're going to take that half butterfly On your opposite side,
So if you had a blanket under your knee,
You can just switch it to the other side.
Is now we're going to extend that right leg long in front,
Bending that left knee.
And just bringing that sole of the left foot in towards the thigh.
Take an inhale here just to lengthen.
And then exhale,
Hinging at your hips,
Walking your hands forward.
Allowing your neck and your head to be heavy.
In yoga philosophy.
It's believed that you have prana running through your body.
So prana is kind of like an energy or a life force.
If you think of Chinese medicine,
It's your qi.
And it's running all through your body through different channels.
And sometimes whether it's physically or emotionally Maybe a combination of both.
These channels become black.
So when you take this time for yourself,
Not foreseeing anything.
Just allowing your body to naturally go deeper.
It allows for these channels to open.
And to release.
Don't let go.
Of what no longer is serving you.
And to create space.
Create new openings.
For new things.
When you feel ready.
On an inhale.
Just slowly begin to walk your hands back up.
Coming back to center.
We're going to take a dragonfly pose.
If you're sitting on something,
You can stay right like that.
But we're gonna bring both legs out to the sides.
Again,
You can have a bend in your knee,
That is fine.
And if you want your bolster or yoga blocks in front,
You can.
Once we're there,
And just take an inhale to lengthen.
And then exhale,
Hinge at those hips.
Maybe you just have your hands on some yoga blocks.
Around your bolster.
You could even use a bolster and put yoga blocks on top if you want to rest your forehead on that.
Or maybe you are able to just get lower to where you just need yoga blocks to rest your head on.
In yin yoga,
You always want to find your edge.
So only doing about.
70 or 80 percent of what you're capable of doing in the shape Nothing should feel painful and if it does it just means you've gone too far into the pose and that you just need to come out just a little.
In yin yoga,
There's No muscle engagement.
Can we feel a little active stretch?
But your muscles are relaxed.
Where can you soften?
When you feel ready,
Then slowly begin.
To rise back up.
Remove any prop that you may have had.
Just place them off to the side of your mat for now.
We're going to lower down onto your back.
So just taking your time and slowly getting there.
We're going to meet with your knees bent.
So the soles of your feet are on your mat,
Come down onto your back.
Maybe extend your arms out long like a T.
Now let's just gently take some windshield wiper movements here.
So just swaying your knees side to side.
Moving slowly.
And then coming back to stillness,
To center.
We're going to start that reclined figure four on your left side.
So on your next inhale,
Just lifting that right ankle to meet the top of your right knee.
You can gently just press that left knee out to the side just enough so you feel that little active stretch.
And if you need a little more,
You can always float that right foot off of the mat,
Grabbing behind your right thigh.
Or maybe even on top of that shin.
But you're keeping that left foot nice and relaxed.
So making sure.
That your foot is not flexed here.
Just noticing the earth beneath you.
This feeling it's supporting you here.
You are safe to soften.
If you have that right foot floating.
Go ahead and gently release it back down to your mat.
And bring that left foot back down towards your mat.
Let's take this figure four on your opposite side.
So bringing right ankle to meet left knee.
You can stay right here.
Or if you want a little more,
You can float that left foot.
Again,
Finding your edge in this shape.
With every exhale,
Just letting go.
You may notice one side might feel different than the other.
Completely normal.
Our bodies tend to hold more on one side versus the other.
If you have that left foot floating,
Go ahead,
Release that foot back down.
Release that right foot back down as well.
We're going to take a little bit of a supine twist here.
So on your next inhale,
Just hug that left knee into your chest,
Hugging it in with both hands.
And on an exhale,
Extending that right leg long.
Take an inhale here,
Just squeezing that right knee in towards your armpit.
And then exhale using your right hand.
Guide that left knee up and over your body.
So you may have to scoot your hips just over to the left just a little bit.
And you want both shoulder blades rooted on your mat.
So it might mean that this left leg is hovering.
If you'd like,
You can use your props here if you have yoga blocks or even a bolster to rest that leg on.
And then for a little bit more of a twist,
You can extend that left arm out to the side and maybe gaze over your left shoulder.
Coming back to your breath.
What does it feel like in this twisting shape?
When you feel ready,
Gently come back to center.
If you had that leg resting on a prop,
Go ahead and just remove it to the opposite side of your mat.
And then we're going to have a bend in your knees,
Both soles of the feet on your mat.
Take an inhale,
Bring that right knee in towards your chest with both hands,
And then exhale that left leg long.
Inhale,
Squeezing that right knee in towards that right armpit.
And then exhale using your left hand,
Guiding that right knee up and over your body.
Maybe you scoot your hips to the left or to the right just a little.
Again,
Both shoulder blades rooted on your mat.
You can extend that right arm long.
Maybe your gaze goes over that right shoulder.
On your next inhale.
Slowly run down.
Come back to center.
Knees bent,
Feet on your mat.
And take your arms out to the side like a T.
And if you'd like,
Take some windshield wiper movements here.
Or maybe it feels good,
You can hug both knees into your chest and just gently rock side to side.
And then we're going to come into the most important yoga pose.
Your Shavasana,
So coming back to center.
You can just extend your legs out long,
Keeping them nice and relaxed.
Your feet should be split open.
Arms by your sides with the palms facing up to the sky.
Maybe you bring your shoulder blades in just a little and tuck your chin.
And if they're not already,
You can close your eyes.
There is nothing left to do.
But to enjoy this nice rest.
I will wake you when time is ready.
You can stay here.
For as long as you would like.
There is no rush.
But if you're with me,
Maybe you begin to just wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Maybe you rock your head side to side.
This gently awakening.
Keeping your eyes closed.
You can roll over onto your left side.
Coming into the fetal position.
Using that left bicep as a pillow for under your head.
Just take a moment here.
Feeling the earth supporting you.
In every single way.
And when you feel ready,
Again,
Keeping your eyes closed,
Staying in just a little longer.
Can gently press yourself back up.
Into a seated position.
Just like when we started the session.
Once you're there,
Your hands can be wherever you'd like.
In your lap,
On your knees.
Or if you're with me,
I'm going to inhale my arms up overhead.
Bringing my palms to touch.
And exhaling my palms to heart center.
The light in me.
Sees and honors the light in you.
Namaste.
Thank you so much.
I hope you enjoyed.
This yin yoga session for full body release and relaxation.
For more yoga and meditation practices,
You can follow me.
Thank you.
