Hello and welcome to day two of your retreat.
Today,
We're gonna focus on opening the shoulders and the spine.
Two areas where we hold tension.
What I love about yin yoga is that it gives us the opportunity to release any deeply held tension in these areas using the breath as a guide.
As you move through today's practice,
I invite you to be mindful of how your body feels.
And to give yourself permission to let go of anything,
Stress,
Tightness,
Worries,
Distractions.
To let go.
Soften and release.
So let's start the class in a seated position.
Just taking a couple moments here at the beginning to get accustomed to our breath and our intention.
If it feels comfortable,
You might close down the eyes or have a soft gaze looking down.
And then place a hand on the belly and the rib cage and just start to take some normal natural breaths here.
On every inhale,
Feel the belly rise,
The ribcage rise.
And on every exhale,
Feel the belly fall and the ribcage fall.
So you're using your whole torso to breathe,
The belly,
The ribs,
The chest.
And you're allowing yourself to take these full deep breaths.
As you keep the face soft.
And the breath smooth.
And then let's start to add a count to that.
So we're gonna do triangle breathing,
Inhale for three,
Hold for three,
Exhale for three.
Let's take an exhale out the nose to prepare.
Inhale one two three hold one two three exhale three two one inhale one two three hold one two three exhale three two one inhale one two three hold one two three exhale three two one take a deep breath in And a slow breath out.
And then let's set the intention.
So my question for you is why are you going to do yoga today?
There's no wrong answers.
Anything that brings you to your mat is to be respected.
But understanding your inner drive will help you focus.
To pay attention.
So what is your intention?
And what are you paying attention to in today's class?
If your eyes are closed,
You can gently blink them open.
And let's get into the first posture.
So let's find ourselves getting into a tabletop position.
From all fours,
Let's move into melting heart pose to deeply open the shoulders and upper back.
Keep your hips stacked over your knees and start to walk your hands forward.
Lowering your chest towards the ground.
You can rest your forehead or chin on the mat,
A block,
A bolster,
Whatever feels comfortable.
We'll be here for five minutes,
So you can also place a blanket underneath your knees if your knees need a little extra cushion.
This is a wonderful back bend for the upper and middle back.
And it opens his shoulders and softens the heart.
So come into the pose,
Allow yourself to get in.
And as you breathe here,
Can you imagine your heart melting towards the floor with each exhale?
Releasing any tension held in your chest and upper back.
This posture encourages a sense of surrender and openness.
If you start to feel any intensity in the shoulders.
Soften your breath.
And allow your body to ease into the sensations.
Knowing that you're creating space.
So see if you can soften and deepen your breath.
So slow,
Deep breaths in.
Slow deep breaths out.
If at any point in the practice you start to feel pinching in the back of the shoulders,
You might be reaching a compression point.
So moving the arms farther apart might release this.
I'll go quiet now.
So that you can be in the experience.
Using this first posture here to check in how you're feeling emotionally.
Physically,
Mentally,
Spiritually.
Pause and listen.
You Here for three more breaths.
From here,
Let's start to come down onto our belly.
Use the hands as a pillow.
And be here for 10 breaths.
To just feel yourself being grounded into the floor.
And to feel all the energy flowing through your body after that long hold.
So the next posture we're going to get into is thread the needle.
And this is a gentle twist that targets the shoulders and upper back,
So from all fours.
Let's get into your tabletop position.
Lift your right arm up into the sky on an inhale.
And then exhale and thread it under your left arm,
Bringing your right shoulder and ear down to the mat.
Your left hand can stay planted or you can walk forward.
If you feel compression,
So if you feel bone on bone or you feel your bone on the mat or the floor,
You can place a blanket underneath it.
Or You could find yourself sitting down with your hips.
You can come more into a child's pose instead of keeping the hips lifted.
The target area here is the shoulders and upper back.
So as long as you feel as though you're getting a stretch there and that area is being targeted.
It's less about how the pose looks in the hips and it's more about how it feels in the shoulders.
So as you settle into the twist,
Start to focus each exhale,
Allowing your shoulders to release more deeply into the ground.
And just know that yoga,
Especially in yoga,
Is going to look different for everyone.
In yin yoga,
We don't care about the aesthetics.
We care about how it feels in the target area.
To let go of any tension in the shoulders,
In the face.
And this is just a gentle reminder to let go.
Both physically and mentally.
You may feel a release not just in your shoulder,
But in your upper spine as well.
You may feel a release in your breath and your emotions and your thoughts.
The experience is yours.
So allow yourself to just be the observer of whatever's happening.
And I'll let you know when we're coming out of this one.
Here for three more breaths.
If your left hand was out long you can bring it in line with the nose.
Start to press into the left hand.
Inhale,
Right arm reaches up.
And then exhale,
We'll come back into a tabletop position.
Let's go ahead and come and sit on the knees for a moment.
Bring both hands on the heart.
And give me three rounds of breath here.
We'll come back into a tabletop position and then let's pop up to a really effortless down dog just so the back of the legs can get a nice stretch.
You can walk your feet as wide as the mat put a bend in the knees.
And then we'll come back down to tabletop and let's go to the other side.
And inhale start to lift your left arm up into the sky exhale threaded underneath your right arm bringing your left shoulder down and ear to the mat Your right hand can stay planted or you can walk forward for a deeper stretch.
I'll go quiet on this round and I'll let you know when we're coming out of it.
You here for three more breaths.
If your right arm was out long,
You can bring that right hand in line with the nose.
Start to press into the right hand.
Inhale,
Left arm reaches up.
And then you can bring it back down to the mat.
Once again,
Let's come back onto the knees and we're here for three breaths.
Let's come once again into a lazy down dog.
So bend the knees,
Lift the hips.
Movement or stillness.
Take whatever you need.
Yet can you be really conscious and mindful of all the choices you make?
During the transitions as much as the postures.
And finally,
We'll come into our last posture,
Banana asana.
Kindly make your way onto your back.
Once on your back,
Slowly extend your legs long and reach your arms overhead.
You You can also scoot your hips all the way over to the left if you want a little bit more intensity.
Inhale together.
And as you exhale,
Begin to walk your feet all the way over to the right side of the mat.
And at the same time,
Gently start to slide your arms and your upper body towards the right.
So we're trying to get your body to form a soft crescent shape like a banana.
If you wanna feel a little bit more intensity,
You can always place your left ankle on top of the right.
And your right hand can grab the left wrist and do a little tug to lean it more towards the right.
Remember though,
No muscular engagement is needed.
So we're not trying to force ourselves into the pose to get a deeper stretch.
Instead,
We're arriving exactly where we're supposed to be.
And as you settle into this shape,
Can you feel the stretch along the entire left side of your body?
From your hip all the way through your ribcage,
Up into your shoulder.
And even into the left arm.
This posture is here to help release the muscles between the ribs.
Open the side body.
And allow for a deeper connection to the breath.
So feel your breath expanding in the left lung,
The left rib cage.
And as you take a few slow,
Deep breaths,
Feel your left lung expand with each inhale.
Notice how the breath can create space in areas where you might feel tight.
On every exhale.
Can you allow your body to soften even more?
Letting go of anything that needs to be let go of.
With each breath.
Let gravity do the work.
Gently getting you deeper and deeper into the practice.
Just know that if you feel any discomfort,
You can always adjust slightly.
So maybe you bring your feet a little closer to the midline or you bend your knees slightly.
This pose is about release.
Rather than forcing.
Just allow the body to melt into this shape.
I'll let you know when we're coming out of this one you you Now slowly and mindfully.
Begin to walk your feet and your hands back to center.
And take a moment here to pause in a neutral position.
Notice how your body feels after that stretch.
Breathing in some awareness.
And exhaling as you settle.
We're going to take that on the other side.
You can always move your hips to the right for a little bit more of a deeper stretch if you want.
When you're ready begin to walk your feet and upper body over to the left side of your mat.
Forming that same crescent shape on the other side.
Gently reach your arms towards the left,
Feeling the stretch through the entire right side of your body now.
You can always take your right ankle,
Place it on top of the left.
Maybe that left hand gently around the right wrist,
Give it a little tug,
Lean a little bit more to the left.
And can you feel the lengthening?
From your right hip all the way through your rib cage,
Up into the shoulder and the arm.
The side might feel different,
Might feel the same.
That's perfectly okay.
Every experience is your own unique experience.
This is just an invitation to meet your body where it's at today.
Inhale together.
And as you exhale,
Let the right side of your body melt deeper into the stretch.
With each breath allow your ribs and side body to open just a little bit more And with each exhale,
Let go of any tension.
That you might be holding on to in that right side.
Feel your breath expanding into your rib cage.
Creating space.
I'll go quiet now so that you can create space.
Soften and surrender.
Now slowly and gently begin to walk your feet and hands back to center.
Bring your arms down by your side.
Take a moment to pause here.
And we'll be here for 10 final breaths before we end in a seated meditation.
Start to bring both knees into the chest.
Curl up into a little ball.
Give yourself a squeeze.
And when you're ready,
You can roll over to your favorite side and come up into a seated posture.
Today's class was all about releasing stress in the shoulders,
The spine.
And creating space.
Sometimes when we hold onto things,
We don't allow space for new things and new opportunities to come into our life.
So whatever doesn't serve you anymore,
Invitation to leave it here on the mat.
Bring one hand to the heart,
Gently bow in towards yourself.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I live with ease.
And may all beings everywhere be happy,
Healthy and live with ease.
When you're ready,
You can gently open your eyes and congratulations!
Congratulations on finishing another yin class on your three-day retreat.
Don't forget you have stuff happening this afternoon and this evening.
Until then,
Take care of yourself and I'll see you later.
Peace.
