Setting It Down • A guided Asana Practice

This practice focuses on slowing down and letting go of all that often carries through our days. We'll come into our bodies and create space for our minds to slow down the churn of thoughts. This is a wonderful practice for transitional moments in your day or about one hour before bed.

Transcript

Om.

Hello and welcome to this practice,

This practice on setting it down.

I call it setting it down because really this way of softening and letting go of some of the busyness of our life,

The activities,

Our mind gets on this mental churn,

On this treadmill,

And even as the night comes,

Or time for rest,

Even if it's on a weekend,

It's hard for the mind to let go.

It keeps with the same rhythm,

This pace,

This race.

And so this practice is simply to drop into our body,

To ground and slow it down.

Come seated on your heels.

You can be kneeling.

If this is too much for the knees,

You can elevate sitting on a couple blocks or come cross-legged.

From here,

Take the hands together and rub them together.

Just keep that pressing in and rubbing the hands.

See if you can create some warmth,

Some heat.

Press in a little bit harder,

Maybe rub a little bit faster.

Press a little bit harder,

Rub a little bit faster.

Keep going,

Keep going,

Keep going.

Include the thumb,

Let it warm up as well.

Now take the palms of the hands and rest them under the eyes.

Let the head fall into the palms of the hands.

The fingertips are wrapping lightly up toward the skull.

The elbows hang heavy to the ground,

Meaning the back of the heart opens as the head goes heavy into the palms.

Take a moment with the warmth of the hands to in a sense digest everything that you've seen.

Take it a moment to soften around some of that tension of the eyes.

Every imprint,

Whether flat,

One-dimensional on social media screens or through emails,

On television,

Or all the images that we take in,

Friend,

Loved ones,

Frenemies,

People who frustrate us,

Colleagues,

Whatever it might be throughout our day.

We tend to let them in and they carry then a visual imprint inside our being.

From here,

This moment,

Just let some of that pour out,

Digest and complete.

From here,

Pushing the palms lightly in to those cheekbones to lift the head lightly up.

Here,

Taking the fingertips across the forehead,

So meaning the fingertips will come to that space around the third eye center across the forehead and then pull the fingertips away from each other.

They're pressing into the forehead as they swipe away toward the temples.

Cross the temples,

Keep going,

Pressing them in and then pulling them apart,

Pressing them in and pulling them apart.

And one more,

Pushing in and pull apart.

Then take the fingers down the temples,

Drawing toward the jawline,

Drawing across the jaw,

Let the jaw release.

And again,

Start at the top of the temples,

Drag the fingers all the way down through the jawline,

Releasing the jaw completely.

It sounds like this,

Ah.

Couple more.

All the words you've said,

All the movement of chewing,

Of consuming food,

Conversation,

Release and relax.

One more,

Beautiful.

From here,

Sitting up tall,

Interlace the fingers back behind you.

From that interlace,

Pull the fists down to the earth.

Lift up to the heart and the collarbones.

Curl open through the heart as the fists pull down toward the ground.

If you can't interlace,

You can hold a strap or hold on to a shirt or towel,

Whatever you have near.

And then we're gonna look forward again,

Lengthening through the spine.

Keep that interlace,

But bring that interlace to the left waist.

Push the palms in toward each other.

The hands are still interlaced,

But you've wrapped that interlace above that left hip bone.

Drop the left ear toward the left shoulder,

Breathing that right elbow heavy to the earth,

Pulling through the crown of the head.

So breath through the whole right side of the neck.

Release that interlace,

Left fingertips go down onto the ground or a block.

Right arm reaches open to the right,

Level with the right shoulder.

Keep that left ear dropping to the left shoulder,

Getting into the connective tissue,

Into the fascia,

Breathing along the right side of the body,

Unwinding some of the tension.

Then reach that right arm up and over toward the left,

The whole right side of the body,

Yawning open.

Slowly come back up,

Interlace the fingers this time,

Place the other thumb on top.

It'll feel like the awkward thumb,

Because most likely it is.

Pull the knuckles down to the earth,

Curl up through the heart,

That little arch in the upper back,

Keep the belly drawing in.

All the curling and caving in we do around the chest.

In our days,

This moment is an opportunity to open it up.

Come back to neutral spine,

Keep that interlace,

Take the hands over to that right hip,

Press the palms in,

Drop the right ear toward the right shoulder.

Keep lifting,

Lengthening through the crown,

Let that left elbow just hang heavy.

Free the hands of the interlace to reach the right arm to the right,

Down onto the earth,

Left arm reaches up,

Level with the left shoulder,

Still dropping that right ear toward the right shoulder.

From here,

Bring that left arm up and over toward the right,

Lengthen space through that whole right side and left side.

Slowly come back up,

Take the hands just outside the knees,

Hands flat on the earth or up onto the finger pads.

Push into the ground,

You lift the knees up and the shins up off the ground.

You pull your chin in toward your chest.

Imagine your knees can come all the way up toward your collarbones.

Then the shins go down,

The hands stay where they are,

But look forward,

Pull the heart forward.

We'll do that two more times,

Push into the earth,

Pull the knees and shins up off the ground,

You're on the tops of the feet.

Shins come down,

Knees come down,

Inhale,

Open the heart forward.

Last one,

Push in,

Exhale,

Scoop in,

Inhale,

Open it up.

Go ahead and come forward onto your hands and your knees.

Take the knees about as wide as the hips.

We'll bring the ball of the right foot up to the sky back behind us.

Instead of trying to get the foot higher,

Just simply feel the power through the base of the foot.

Press down into the ground through the hands and that left knee to feel that height and space.

Make space between the toes,

Maybe roll your right ankle around in a few circles and change directions.

And pressing it up and then come up onto the fingertips because we're gonna step that right foot through between the hands.

You might even need to have the hands on blocks to step it through.

Let the left thigh now fall to the earth,

Just leaning forward as you bend into that right knee.

Let the head droop over that right knee,

Resting the chest on the right thigh.

So it's a lunge with that left shin down,

The left thigh pressing toward the earth,

Most likely it's not touching,

And just letting our whole body drape over that front right thigh.

Then on the inhale,

Pull the heart forward,

Start to slide the hands back,

Come into a low lunge,

Letting the hands slide back,

Maybe they're up on some blocks,

Maybe you're way up on the fingertips,

Lifting up to the heart,

That left thigh still sinking toward the earth.

Beautiful,

Take the hands on either side of the right foot and you'll straighten out over the right leg.

Inhale,

Lengthen,

Flex the right toes back,

Press the right heel into the earth,

Exhale,

Fold in.

Take three more breaths here.

The tension that is created from sitting in chairs,

Opening here in the back of the legs,

Last breath.

Beautiful,

And stepping that right foot back,

You're coming back into hands and knees.

On hands and knees,

Come into cat-cow,

Pull the belly in and the chin in,

Look inward toward the low belly,

Then inhale,

Pull the heart forward,

Look forward.

Then exhale again,

Scoop in,

Back of the heart to the ceiling,

Chin into the chest.

Inhale,

Scoop forward,

Belly drops softly,

Heart curls forward.

Two more,

Exhale,

Curl in,

Scoop in,

Inhale.

One more,

Exhale,

Scoop in,

Inhale.

We'll come back to neutral spine,

Get the solid foundation,

Shoulders over the wrists,

Knees underneath the hips.

Ball the left foot,

Pushes up to the sky so that left knee is bent.

Spread the toes,

Rolling little circles with that left ankle,

Circling one way,

Circling the other,

And pressing the foot up.

Come up on the fingertips,

And stepping that left foot through.

Sink the right thigh down,

Bend into that left knee,

Lean into that left thigh,

The whole body rests in,

And the head can even fall just in front of that left knee.

It's a way of lunging,

Getting into the hip flexor,

The psoas,

All the way through that front right leg.

The next inhale,

Curl the heart forward.

You can stay here just letting it lift forward and up,

Or you can slide the hands back.

Coming into a deep or low lunge.

Relax in the jaw,

Remember the fingers dragging along the temples to the jaw,

Relax in the throat.

Soften behind the eyes.

Hands come down,

Either side of that left foot.

We'll straighten out over the left leg,

Ardha Hanumanasana.

Inhale,

Lengthen,

Curling the heart forward,

Flexing the left toes back,

Pulling the left hip back.

Exhale,

Fold in.

Deep,

Full breaths here.

Beautiful,

Slowly bending that left knee,

Step it back to hands and knees.

Keep the hips over the knees,

And walk the hands forward.

So now you're in a posture often called Anahata Asana,

Or downward facing puppy.

So the knees and shins are down,

The arms are out in front of you,

The forehead down,

Possibly on the earth.

Breath back behind the heart.

Push the hands into the ground.

Energetically they hug back.

Breath into the sides of the heart,

As well as into the front.

Beautiful,

Slowly come on up,

Cross the ankles and sit back behind the feet.

Knees are bent,

Base the feet on the earth.

Bring that right ankle just on top of that left knee.

So the right knee is open to the right,

Ball the left foot,

And the whole left foot is down onto the earth.

This variation of thread the needle,

Seated.

Here,

You can come up onto your fingertips,

And as you exhale,

Pull the forehead down toward that right shin,

Keeping the right knee opening to the right and lightly forward.

As you inhale,

Lift up to the heart,

Curl it open.

Exhale,

Forehead down toward the right shin.

Doesn't mean it'll touch.

Inhale,

Opens it up.

Two more,

Exhale.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Inhale.

Here,

We'll pull that left heel to the right sit bone.

The right foot will land onto the earth outside that left thigh.

Right hand comes back behind.

Cross that left elbow outside that right knee or thigh.

You're in a seated spinal twist.

Unwinding from the day,

Softening in the jaw,

Softening in the temples.

You'll notice when people get headaches,

All that information,

All that activity,

They often reach their hands toward their temples.

Right now,

Just letting the whole face soften.

Release and relax.

Slowly unwind it.

Both feet on the earth,

Knees bent.

We'll change side into that variation of thread the needle.

Left ankle on top of that right knee.

Up on the fingertips,

Curl the heart open.

And exhale,

Curl the forehead down toward the left shin,

Scooping in.

Inhale again,

Opening.

Exhale and scooping in.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Inhale and coming in to that spinal twist,

Second side.

Unwind it,

Counter twist.

Looking to the right,

Coming back towards center.

Here,

Simply sitting in a cross-legged posture,

Hands together once again,

Rubbing the hands,

Rubbing them,

Creating that heat,

That warmth once again.

A little bit faster.

A little bit faster still.

A little bit faster.

Pressing in,

Slowing down the breath.

And then again,

The palms into the eyes,

Rest the head in.

Face goes soft as if melting any form of that mask that we wear.

Inhale,

Lifting the head up.

And if you're finding this on your weekend or some other moment when you're turning down the busyness volume,

Simply rest back into Shavasana.

Give yourself a good five to 10 minutes,

Maybe even with the legs at the wall,

Called Viparita Karani.

Continue this idea of letting the heart be above the head.

Blood come back into the brain.

If that doesn't work for you,

And if it's bedtime even,

Then you can just use bedtime as the deep Shavasana,

Letting the body rest.

But for a moment,

Take the hands in a prayer at the heart.

Notice the balance of left and right,

Of inhale and exhale.

This is the balance of effort and surrender,

Really honoring the times to slow down.

Thank you for joining me for this practice.

May you be at ease and joy in your body and rest deeply.