Replenish: An Evening Practice

This slow, fluid, and grounded flow is specially designed to replenish the nervous system during the transition from day to night, work to free time, and busy to rest. No matter when your work day ends, this practice can support you in resetting the nervous system and opening up to the next part of your day. Replenish your whole being by slowing down and connecting with yourself.

Transcript

We come onto our mat,

Resting onto your back.

Once you're on your back,

Bring the base of the feet together,

The knees open.

Rest the arms over your head,

The backs of the hands on the earth,

So the palms are facing to the sky.

If it's too much for the knees or the low back,

Make sure you place something on the outer thighs,

Supporting the knees a little bit higher.

As you rest here,

This practice is really about restoring.

Certainly can be used at any time of the day,

But in particular in the afternoon or evening,

When all the busy of your day is done.

Unwinding some of the tensions built up during all of the actions,

Interactions of our day,

All the busyness.

In this posture,

Supta baddha konasana,

Let the eyes close.

Simply feel the weight of the hands as the palms are open to the sky.

Also feel a softening around the palms.

So much in our day is pushing and pulling,

Grasping,

Grabbing,

Getting this,

Moving that,

On our phones,

On our computers.

All of that in a sense feels like it just sets itself free.

And your hands here are empty,

Just empty.

You pull in the next breath,

Pull the breath into the lungs.

Really feel it come in as you exhale,

Letting it move out.

Here we're going to come into three-part breath.

It's really acknowledging the three various lobes of the lungs.

So as we begin to inhale,

We come into the first third of the lung,

The upper portion.

As we sip in a little bit more,

It comes in to the second lobe,

Following all the way.

And that third portion is to the very bottom of the lungs,

Sipping it in.

As you exhale,

As if a tube of toothpaste is being rolled up,

We empty the breath from the base of the lung,

Mid-lung,

All the way to the top and out.

Keep going here.

Inhale,

Just finding those portions,

The sections.

Make sure on that inhale you sip all the way in,

And then as you exhale,

Releasing it out.

Here,

Resting the nervous system,

The adrenals.

Four more breaths like this,

Deep,

Deep inhales.

Find those three various parts to sip in,

Find the three various parts to exhale out.

Almost like lung steps.

Two more.

Last one.

Pressing out that last bit of breath.

Beautiful.

And then we'll take the hands on either sides of the thighs,

And bring the knees up to the sky so the base of the feet are on the earth.

Let the middle finger touch around the heels,

So we have that distance measured out.

As you inhale,

Slowly curl the tailbone up and the hips up.

They lift off the earth as the arms then reach up to the sky and then back behind you.

So as if your arms have made a semicircle.

Now as the hips come down,

The arms slowly float to the sky and then back down.

Near the heels,

Fingertips nearly touching the heels.

Inhale,

Hips come up,

Arms float up.

A deep,

Full breath here.

Exhale,

Hips come down,

Arms come down.

Three more here.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Exhale.

And this last one,

Keep the arms by the sides.

Inhale,

Lift the hips up.

Variation of Satubandhasana of bridge.

Here,

Spin the palms up to the sky.

So you wrap the shoulders open.

As the backs of the hands rest into the earth,

The hips are high,

The feet hug into the earth.

Let the jaw soften and the throat soften.

The eyes soften.

Two more breaths.

Those deep,

Full inhales and exhales.

Beautiful.

Take the hips slowly lowering them down.

Hug the knees into the chest and we'll roll circles around the sacrum.

So as you feel your own body weight pressing down,

Just make little circles around the sacrum.

The knees are circling.

And from here,

Come into happy baby.

The base of the feet face the sky.

Feet are flexed back.

Hands hold the outer edges of the feet.

So the back of the head is resting on the earth.

The balls of the feet,

Bases of the feet press up to the sky.

As the hands pull the feet down to the earth,

Matching that intensity of up and down at the same time.

Washing breath around the hips.

And slowly hug the knees into the chest and you'll rock yourself forward and back.

Just a little rock.

Forward,

Back.

Forward,

Back.

Forward,

Back.

And slowly come seated.

As you come seated,

We'll come into a cross-legged posture and take the arms out either sides of the hips,

Reaching the fingertips into the earth.

As you reach here,

Lengthen up through the crown of the head and then lift the left arm up level with the left shoulder.

Right fingertips still rooted into the earth.

From that root,

Bend the right elbow.

As you bend the right elbow,

Reach the left fingertips away.

And then drop the right ear toward the right shoulder.

Seems like a lot going on here,

But it's really just stretching through the left side of the neck.

That right elbow may be bent a little bit or all the way down on the earth.

The left fingertips for right now are still just reaching to the left.

Then inhale,

Float the left arm up and over toward the right.

Taking breaths through the side body,

Deep into the lungs.

Slowly come on up and change sides.

So now the left fingertips root in.

Right arm lifts up level with the right shoulder.

Start to lean over toward the left.

You can bend that left elbow,

Placing it down or not.

And then drop that left ear toward the left shoulder.

Here if you'd like,

Take that right arm up and over toward the left.

And slowly come back toward center.

Take the hands out in front of you.

We'll come forward onto the hands and the knees.

Hands and knees,

Spread the fingers wide.

Stack the shoulders over the wrists.

And here we'll pick up that right hand,

Almost like we've got goo on it.

Or like a cat making little marks on the pillow.

You know,

The hand comes up,

Peeling away from the earth.

And then it drops down full into the earth.

Then the left fingertips again,

Almost like there's goo on the hands.

And we're reaching it away from the earth.

And then ground it back down.

Right hand reaches up,

Comes down.

Left fingertips reach up,

Come down.

So a little bit side to side.

We find this root,

This foundation,

Deep into the ground.

And then settle,

Both hands resting in.

And then spin the fingertips now out to the outer edges of the mat.

Fingers are still spreading wide.

And here we'll roll the hips in circles.

Meaning the shoulders also roll in circles.

Meaning we're releasing some of that tension from the wrists all the way up to the shoulders.

So it's like you're in hands and knees,

But the fingertips instead of forward are facing to the sides of the mat.

Change directions.

Beautiful.

And then slow that down.

Now the fingertips face back toward your knees.

You're still in that hands and knees.

And here too,

You'll make little circles.

You can even bring the hips a little bit back toward the heels.

You'll notice when you hit your limit and make little circles to the right.

And then five little circles to the left.

So feeling that rotation in and through the wrist.

Keep the fingers strong.

Beautiful.

And slowly back to center.

Fingertips facing forward.

Here,

Keep the hips over the knees.

And then we'll walk the arms forward and the whole body forward.

The hips stay over the knees though.

Here,

It's like puppy pose really.

It's the sit bones up into the sky.

And then the heart diving down to the earth.

And the fingertips reaching so far out in front of you.

Here,

We're going to make little circles with the sacrum.

So small little spirals.

So you can see that we're not coming into really intense asana and posture.

So much of this is about unwinding tension from the day.

Unwinding some of the agitation and high level of this fight or flight that we get into.

So calming the nervous system.

Change the sacrum swirl to the left.

So even if you can have a little rotation in your spine.

Slowing it down and walk the hands back.

Hands and knees.

Shoulders over the wrists.

Here,

Push into the earth.

We'll come into cat.

The back of the heart pushes up to the sky.

Chin all the way in.

Relax the face.

Then inhale.

Heart pulls forward.

Sit bones press back.

Throat open.

Again,

Push the earth away.

Curl in.

Stay here for an extra moment.

Really pressing away.

Inhale.

Heart forward.

Three more like that.

Scoop in and open up.

Scoop in and open up.

Maybe one more.

Just scoop it in.

Just find that curling back in.

Deep into that center point and then open.

Beautiful.

And then come back to neutral.

Here,

Bring the base of the right foot up to the sky back behind you.

So that right knee bends,

Pushing it up to the sky.

As you press it up,

Keep the belly strong toward the spine.

Then make circles with that right knee.

So it'll come underneath the body,

Kind of toward that left armpit.

Spin open to the right and up to the sky again.

And two more like that.

So it circles under the body,

Opens up and around.

And one more.

And then step that right foot outside that right hand.

And here,

Inhale.

Lengthen through the spine.

You can keep that back knee down or you can bring the back knee up,

Meaning curl the toes under and bring it up.

Either way,

Exhale,

Bend the elbows as if we're going to do a push-up inside that right foot.

And then press yourself back up like you are doing a push-up.

Three more.

Bend the elbows and press yourself back up.

That right foot is outside the right hand.

Two more.

Bend in,

Getting some movement and breath in that right hip.

Press back up.

Last one.

Bend the elbows.

Here,

If you want,

You can bring the elbows down onto the earth.

Right knee is over the right ankle.

Heart is extending forward.

Back knee can be down or up.

Two more breaths here.

Beautiful.

Come back up on the hands and step that right knee back underneath the right hip.

We'll make big circles with the hips,

Meaning you can swing them way over to the right,

Back by the heels and up the left side.

Two more big circles to the right.

And then three big circles to the left.

And back to center.

And bend that left knee.

Ball the left foot up to the sky,

Pressing it up,

Pressing it up.

And big circles.

So can draw underneath,

Open out,

Up and around.

Two more.

And then stepping that left foot outside the left hand.

Again,

The back knee can be down or up.

Bend the elbows and press back up.

Bend the elbows and then press back up.

Two more.

Lowering in,

Pressing it up.

Lowering in and pressing it up.

Bring the elbows down on or near the earth.

This may or may not be accessible for you,

But just keeping this breath wrapped through the hips.

A few more breaths here.

Beautiful.

Slowly stepping it back.

We'll come back on the hands and the knees.

Make big circles with the hips again.

This time over to the left,

Back and up the right side.

Two more in that direction.

Then to the right.

Beautiful.

And come back toward the center.

Here,

Cross the ankles back behind you.

And we'll come back and have a seat.

From that seat,

Come all the way back onto your back.

So on your back,

Bring the base of feet up to the sky and we'll shake out the feet.

We'll shake out the ankles.

You can even bring the hands up and shake out the hands and the wrists and the fingers.

Beautiful.

Once you shake it out,

Hug the knees into the chest.

We'll make little circles around the sacrum.

And the base of feet come back up to the sky.

Open the legs wide.

Take the hands on the inner thighs.

This is too much for the inner thighs.

You can find maybe chairs to rest your calves on or the ankles on as you extend them out to the sides.

Almost like a wide split,

But the back of the heart presses into the earth.

Keep pressing out through the ankles,

Through the feet.

Couple more breaths here.

Slowing it all down.

Beautiful.

Bring the hands on the outer thighs and draw the base of the feet back up to the sky.

Once again,

We'll shake it out a little bit.

Beautiful.

We'll cross that right knee over the left knee like we're sitting in a chair crossing our legs,

But we're wearing a really tight skirt,

Meaning the knees are really,

The right knee is really stacked on top of that left.

And then if you can reach up,

Grab the outer edges of the nearest foot.

So don't cross your arms.

You just grab the feet that are nearest the hands.

It's going to be the opposite foot.

I will tell you that secret.

And then lean back,

Resting the head back.

Maybe it needs to be on a block.

I don't know,

But just find that moment to curl the feet down toward the earth.

Gets into the outer hips.

Wash the breath all the way through the hips.

Give it long,

Slow breaths.

Two more.

Beautiful.

Unwind it and we'll change legs.

So bring that left knee over the right.

Grab the feet.

Start to bring them down.

Keep the sacrum heavy.

Three more breaths.

Beautiful.

Slowly unwind it.

Hug the knees in.

Again,

Little circles.

Circles left,

Circles right.

Beautiful.

Bring the base of the feet back onto the earth.

We'll lift the hips up again.

We'll come into bridge,

Satubandhasana.

This time,

If you want,

You can interlace the fingers back behind you.

Hips are rising up,

Opening and yet softening the front body.

The same time the back body wakes up,

Clearing out the breath,

Washing through the kidneys.

So that low space at the back,

Base of the ribs,

Opening the breath in there.

Three more breaths here now.

Beautiful.

From here,

If you can come on down.

If you have a wall space near you,

I highly recommend you come sit bones to the wall.

Bring the legs up the wall,

Especially if this is end of day practice,

If you're using this sort of as it's offering to replenish,

To restore in a sense.

You can bring the legs up the wall.

You even turn around maybe to the wall on your bed and bring the legs up if you want to kind of finish up in that space.

And give yourself,

If possible,

A good 10 to 20 minutes.

And if that's simply too much,

Then you can just give yourself a good five minutes.

But as long as you let it extend up.

We'll wrap up the audio in a moment.

So once you settle yourself in,

If you're not going to bring the legs up the wall,

Just come into Shavasana.

So Viparitikarani or Shavasana,

Either way,

Resting in.

I'll set you up for this opportunity to really go still,

To not have a device or something that you're checking or doing or someone you got to be other than just this breath coming in and moving out.

Stillness and slowing practices are vital for our health and equanimity.

We give ourselves these opportunities to replenish,

To refuel our own nervous system.

That is one of the greatest gifts,

Especially in our current culture of busy,

Busy,

Busy.

And you can stay here or again,

You can wrap up this practice and move slowly either toward your nighttime routine or wherever it is that you are in your day.

Whatever point you're finding this practice in a need for restoring,

Replenishing.

I'll call this mantra Tua Me Va.

It's kind of like a lullaby that reminds us that all those we meet are our mothers,

Our fathers,

Our sisters,

Our brothers,

Our teachers.

That if we trace it back far enough,

We're all connected.

So in your moment of rest and restoring,

You can chant along with me if you know this chant or simply receive it,

Taking it in.

Tua Me Va Ma Ta Cha Pi Ta Tua Me Va Tua Me Va Ban Du Sha Se Ka Tua Me Va Tua Me Va Vin Ya Ra Vi Nam Tua Me Va Tua Me Va Sarvam Mam De Va De Va May you feel a sense of replenishment and ease.

Om Namaste.

Reviews

This practice has been such gift to me over the past year. Gentle but very effective. Many thanks 🙏

Wonderful wind down after working at my computer all day. Exactly what I needed and easy to follow. Thank you 🙏🏼

Thank you for this practice ❤️ Your descriptions were easy to follow along :)

That was such a great practice for the end my day. Thank you so much for sharing this. Namaste

Just what I needed in the middle of my busy day! Thank you!