This is one of my favorite home yoga props.
It's a small hand towel.
Today I'm going to show you how to use this to help relieve tension in your lower back,
Middle and upper back and your neck as well.
Once you have your small hand towel.
Fold it down at the long edge.
Like this.
And then start to roll it up.
Now you don't have to go all the way.
Just depends on how thick you want it so just experiment here with what feels better We're gonna start with the thoracic spine,
The middle upper back region.
So come to lie on your back and place the rolled towel.
Underneath your shoulder blades so just where your bra strap is Now you might need to play around with the positioning until you find that sweet spot.
And then when you're ready,
Extend your arms by your side.
Press your feet into the earth as you lift your hips up for just a moment.
Rotate the pelvis towards your upper body and then lower back down again.
This just lengthens your lower back.
Now bring your hands by your side.
Engage your core and we're going to scissor the arms.
So as you inhale,
Reach your right arm overhead.
Exhale,
Lower your right arm down and at the same time bring your left arm overhead.
And again,
Inhale,
Switch.
Exhale,
Switch.
Keep moving at your own pace,
Connecting the movement with the breath.
And keeping your core engaged.
But not tensing it too much.
You still want to be able to breathe with ease.
Let's do this a couple more times.
And then bring both hands to point up towards the ceiling.
Cactus your arms,
Bringing your elbows in line with your shoulders.
Bring them on the floor and then bring the back of your hands onto the floor as well.
Breathe here for a few moments.
And then on your next exhale,
Start to slide your arms down,
Keeping them bent so your elbows moving towards your side body.
Make sure that your arms and your shoulders don't come.
Off the floor,
They don't lift off the floor.
Then inhale slide them back up again.
Again.
Perhaps your fingers come to touch.
Exhale lower.
Inhale,
Raise.
Exhale lower.
Straighten your arms here,
Palms face up.
Maybe you stay here for a couple more moments or if you're ready to move on to the next posture.
Engage your core.
Lift your hips up for just a moment.
Slide the.
.
.
Roll towel.
So just move the roll towel beneath your sacrum.
So not on top of the sacrum,
Just beneath it.
And again,
You want to play around with this until you find.
That sweet spot and once you're there Straighten the arms,
Palms face up.
Breathe.
And as you breathe invite in a sense of ease and relaxation.
Notice how your body starts to feel heavier and heavier.
As you surrender to the mat.
Now you can stay here as long as you like,
But I'm going to move on to the third posture.
So engaging the core,
Lift the hips.
Remove your old towel.
And lower the hips back down again.
Now place the roll towel underneath your head.
So you might wanna,
If your hair's tied up,
You might want to untie your hair.
And then play around with the positioning.
I like to bring it a little bit up so it's really massaging the base of my skull.
And then relax your arms down by your side,
Palms face up.
Start to rock your head from side to side.
Just massaging the whole,
The base of your skull,
Your neck area.
This is one of my favorite poses.
Like I said earlier you can experiment with the thickness of the towel.
Is finding whatever works for you.
Keep going as long as you like.
And once you've had enough,
Just return the head to center.
Bring your knees to your chest.
Give yourself a little squeeze.
Roll over onto one side and prop yourself up to a seated position.
