For our Yin Yoga class today,
You will need a blanket and a block.
You could also be using a big book.
During the whole class,
I will only be giving minimal verbal instructions.
Take a comfortable seat on your mat.
You can sit cross-legged or on your heels.
Spine long.
Close your eyes.
Taking these first few moments to fully arrive.
Arriving in the here and now.
By becoming aware of your physical body.
By connecting to your breath.
In Yin Yoga,
There is no need to change or control your breath.
But I do recommend that you're trying to breathe in and out from your belly throughout the whole class.
Breathing in and out from your abdomen in a soft and relaxed way.
Signals your autonomic nervous system that everything is fine.
That it's okay to relax.
To sink deeper into the postures.
Take a few moments to observe the breath in the belly.
Gentle expansion on the inhalation.
And the soft contraction on the exhalation.
One breath after the other.
Gently bow your head forward now.
Chin to the chest.
Open your eyes.
Transition onto your belly.
Coming into swings pose.
Allow yourself to begin this practice with a gentle compression in the lower back.
So if you want,
You can bring your elbows wider apart.
Maybe as wide as the mat.
Elbows could be also in line with the shoulders.
Your feet could be hip width distance apart or wider.
Decide for yourself what your swings pose is looking like today.
You can keep your head up or let your head hang.
Your eyes could be open with your gaze fixed at one point.
Your eyes could be closed.
Whatever helps you to bring your awareness inside.
Withdrawing your awareness from the outside world.
Directing your full awareness inwards.
Making sure that there is no pain in the lower back.
Gentle compression is what we're looking for.
Observing the physical sensations without judgment,
Without attachment.
Observing the breath in the belly.
And how breathing in and out from the belly also massages your lower back.
Decide for yourself now if you want to stay here or deep in the backbend.
Coming into seal by lifting the elbows,
Straightening out the arms.
Maybe walking the hands further in.
Be gentle with your lower back.
Don't force anything.
Make sure that you're keeping all of your muscles soft and relaxed.
Gentle compression in the lower back.
Held over an extended period of time.
It's the best way to stimulate the lower back,
Vertebrae,
The discs in between the vertebrae.
Take your last three breaths here.
Final inhale.
And on your exhale,
Lower all the way down.
Find a comfortable position for your hands and your arms.
Take a moment here,
Resting and feeling the effect of this first posture.
Place your hands in line with your chest.
Press yourself up and back.
And we're going to come into child's pose.
Since we're spending some time on the knees,
You can take your blanket here and support your knees.
Coming into child's pose,
Either with knees met with distance apart or legs together.
Your choice.
Keep your hands and arms reaching forward,
Finding length along the spine.
Still breathing in and out from your abdomen.
And feel how with every inhalation,
You're creating space in the lower back,
In between the vertebrae.
Using child's pose as a counter posture to swings.
Creating space now,
Where before we were finding compression.
Take three more breaths here.
Then lift your head,
Lift yourself up.
Coming into tabletop.
Finding a little bit of movement here,
Finding some gentle and soft cat and cows.
So on the inhale,
You're arching the spine,
Lifting the head.
On the exhale,
You're rounding the spine,
Chin to the chest.
If you want,
You can close your eyes and find free movement here.
Circles,
Half circles.
Going to the sides,
Further back.
Any movement,
Any direction that feels good in your spine.
Tuck your toes under now.
Transition into downward facing dog.
You can move your blanket out of the way now.
Your legs can be bent,
Your heels can be lifted.
It doesn't have to be a perfect down dog.
Take a few breaths here.
Walk your hands back to the feet now.
Arriving in a standing forward fold at the back of your mat.
Your feet are hip width distance apart.
The legs can be bent.
Your whole torso is hanging heavy.
Hands can be either on the ground or holding opposite elbows.
With this posture,
We're targeting the back of the legs,
The hamstrings.
As for a lot of people,
Tight hamstrings are correlated with pain in the lower back.
You can check for yourself.
Having the legs bent or more straight works better.
Wherever you are,
Try to stay there in stillness,
Still and relaxed.
Take your last three breaths here.
If you haven't already,
Release the hands to the ground.
Bend your legs and come to sitting on your heels.
Legs are together.
Place your hands on your legs or in your lap.
Close your eyes.
Feel the effect of the posture.
Notice how the sensations begin to fade away.
Chin to the chest.
Open your eyes again.
Come forward and tuck your toes under.
We're coming into a toe stretch now.
Feet together.
Knees back on the ground.
Sit upright.
Make sure that all toes,
Even the little toes,
Are tucked under.
Hands resting in a comfortable position.
This posture can be quite intense for some people.
I will just run you through a few variations.
If the soles of the feet and your toes need a break,
You can lift your hips away from the heels.
Bring your torso and your hips in line with the knees.
Take a few breaths here and then come back into the posture.
Another option would be to come forward,
Placing the hands in front of you.
In this variation,
You can decide the intensity for yourself.
The more you press the hands into the ground,
Hips to the heels,
The more intense this posture will be.
You could stay here the whole time.
With this posture,
We're targeting the soles of the feet,
The fascia on the soles of the feet that starts at the toes,
Runs along the soles of the feet,
The heels,
Back of the legs,
Lower back,
Middle and upper back,
To the neck,
To the back of the head.
Tightness and stiffness of the fascia on the soles of the feet could also lead to lower back pain.
Take your last three breaths in this posture.
And then to come out,
Come forward,
Release the toes,
Sit back on your heels,
Observing the sensations.
Transition onto your belly again,
Back into swings.
Take your blanket,
Slide your right knee up,
Placing the knee onto the blanket,
Bringing it into a 90-degree angle,
Trying to release the right side of the hip closer to the ground,
Finding an asymmetric version of swings pose.
Settle into your posture,
Into stillness.
Find relaxation across the whole body,
Softness of the muscles.
You're still breathing in and out from your belly.
In a soft and relaxed way.
Maybe you can even feel your breath travel through your whole body.
Each breath bringing you a deeper sense of relaxation.
Decide for yourself if you want to stay in swings or transition into seal.
Make sure that there is no pain in the lower back.
Take your last three breaths here.
Last inhale here.
And on your exhale,
Slowly,
With control,
Release yourself back onto the mat.
Take a break here.
If you want,
Keep your right knee up for a little longer.
Eventually,
Slide your right foot down again.
Either stay here in stillness or find movement.
Shifting the hips from side to side.
You could bend the legs.
Bring the feet up and let the feet fall from side to side.
Gentle twist for the lower back.
Release the feet again.
Come over to the other side.
Feel free to use your blanket again to support your left knee.
Take a moment to settle into your posture.
Trying to release the left side of the hip closer to the mat.
Not using force,
But finding relaxation.
Keeping your awareness focused in on yourself.
Senses withdrawn from the outside world.
Using these times in stillness.
Using these times in stillness to cultivate awareness of your inner world.
Without judgment.
Without labeling.
Just observing.
Allowing everything to be as it is.
Option to go deeper into the compression,
Into the backbend by transitioning into seal.
Listen to your body.
Let it guide you through your practice.
Take three more breaths here.
Final inhale.
And on your exhale,
Release.
If it feels good,
Keep your left knee up a little longer.
Take a few breaths here.
Breathing into the lower back.
Creating space there in between the vertebrae.
Eventually,
Slide your left foot down.
Maybe you want to find a little bit of movement here.
Shifting the hips from side to side.
Or bringing the feet up and letting the feet fall from side to side.
Release the feet again.
Extend the right arm forward and flip yourself over onto your back.
Hug your both legs in towards the chest.
Your whole spine is flat on the mat.
If you want,
You can find movement here.
Going from left to right,
Right to left.
Massaging the lower back.
You could also circle the knees.
And then we're coming into a reclined twist.
Slide your right leg over the left.
Option to hook the foot behind the calf.
Bring your hips a little over to the right.
And then let your knees fall over to the left.
If your knees are hovering above the ground,
You could take your block or your big book.
Using that as a support underneath the legs.
Left hand can be on the right thigh.
Right arm is opening out to the side.
Keeping your right shoulder connected to the ground.
Find into your expression of this twist.
Settle into stillness.
And feel as though you're surrendering your whole body into this posture.
Into the ground.
Take your last three breaths here.
And then with control,
Come back up into the centre.
Uncross your legs.
Hips are back in the centre.
Take a few breaths here.
Maybe you want to hug the knees into the chest again.
To neutralise in between sides.
When you're ready,
Change sides.
Left leg crossing over the right.
Option to hook the foot.
Hips coming a little over to the left.
And then the knees are coming over to the right.
Option to take your block or your book again.
Right hand on your left thigh.
Left arm opening out to the side.
Maintain the contact of left shoulder in ground.
And feel into your body.
Become aware of the twist.
Where along the spine you can feel the twist.
Still breathing in and out from your abdomen.
In a soft and relaxed way.
Slow and steady breath.
Allowing your body to sink deeper.
Deeper into relaxation.
Take three more breaths here.
And then with control,
Slowly come back up into the centre.
Place the feet onto the ground.
Or hug your legs in towards the chest.
Feeling your lower back flat on the ground.
Or coming into our last posture.
Into happy baby.
A few different options here.
For an easier,
More relaxed variation of happy baby.
Bring your hands to the shins.
Open your legs a little.
Keep them hugging in.
Or come into a more regular shaped happy baby.
Soles of the feet looking up to the ceiling.
Hands either holding the shins,
The ankles.
Or the outside edges of the feet.
Bringing the thighs and the knees closer towards the ground.
Besides your torso.
Not forcing anything.
Just a gentle pull.
Make sure that your sacrum stays connected to the ground.
So that your whole back,
All the way from the sacrum.
Up the spine.
To the back of the head.
Stays connected to the ground.
Finding a release for the lower back.
Take your last three breaths here.
And once again.
Hug your legs in towards the chest.
And this time lift your head.
Bring the nose in between the knees.
Become round.
Take one deeper inhale here.
And then on your exhale release into Shavasana.
Take whatever you need here to stay warm.
To get comfortable in your final relaxation posture.
Make any last little adjustments.
So that you can maintain stillness for the remainder of the practice.
Eyes closed.
Let go of your breath.
Let go of your physical body.
Let yourself enter into relaxation.
By letting go completely.
Bring your awareness back to your breath.
Take a few deeper breaths.
Bring your awareness back to your physical body.
Start to bring movement back into the hands and the feet.
Rotate your wrists and your ankles.
Turn your head from side to side.
Bring the feet together.
Interlace the fingers.
Reach the arms up.
Take an inhale here to stretch.
Exhale,
Release.
Bend your legs.
Roll yourself over onto your favourite side.
With your eyes closed.
Come back up into your seated posture.
Take a few moments here.
Checking in with yourself.
Then bow your head forward,
Chin to the chest.
Open your eyes.
Namaste.
Thank you.
Thank you.
