Yin Yoga: Surrender And Release

Yin Yoga is a passive practice but that doesn't mean that it isn't powerful or that the postures don't sometimes feel intense, and practicing yin yoga can teach us that we don't always need to be pushing and forcing things to happen to experience results - all we need to do is bring ourselves into the position and commit to staying there, and the natural connection between our bodies and gravity does all the rest of the work. In this full-length practice, you are guided to surrender into each of the postures and welcome the benefits of each deep stretch.

We practice supported bridge, reclining butterfly, reclining twist, child's pose, thread the needle, dragonfly, butterfly, caterpillar, and savasana.

Intro music by Nature's Eye
Background Music by Lightning Music
Photo by Jann Marcus Trapp

Transcript

Welcome to your yin yoga practice.

Before we begin just take a moment to make sure that you have everything you need for your practice today.

You'll need a yoga mat and if you're in a cooler climate make sure you have a blanket to cover yourself with during the relaxation at the end.

You may also need to support your body with props in some of the postures.

If you have yoga blocks those are great but you can also use cushions or pillows or a folded blanket to support yourself.

So make sure that you have some of those with you in case you need them.

Yin yoga is a passive practice where postures are held for several minutes to stretch into the connective tissues.

These tissues are delicate and can be injured if they're stretched too forcefully or intensely.

It's good to be able to feel that something is happening but you should never be forcing a stretch or pushing yourself into a position.

And you never want to be feeling any physical pain as you practice.

Pain is a signal from your body that the position that you're in is not safe or beneficial for you.

So if you do feel any pain at any time come out of the pose.

You can come into a resting position until the next posture or you can move back into another posture from the class that you didn't experience any pain in.

If you have any injuries or health conditions make sure to consult with your doctor before starting a new practice.

Yin yoga can have many benefits for health and recovery but it is important that your body is suitably recovered that the stretches will benefit the tissues and won't potentially make the injury worse.

So do please check with your doctor first for your safety.

As this is an audio session I will talk you in and out of the postures verbally but if at any time you're unsure of a posture and don't know if you're in the right position you can always pause the recording and do a quick internet search to bring up a picture.

I've included names for all of the postures so that you can easily do this if you need to.

We're going to begin the practice today in a supported bridge pose.

So have your block near to you and come to lying on the mat with your feet at hip distance apart and your knees pointing up towards the ceiling.

Press into your feet to lift your hips and slide your block under your lower back.

You want the block to be supporting your sacrum which is the flat bit of bone at your lower back and relax onto the block.

Allow your lower back to completely release into your support here and bring your awareness into your body to feel how your body is right now.

Observe any sensations that are present in your body today.

There might be some areas that are tighter,

That are indicating that they're ready for some release.

There might be some other areas that feel more relaxed,

More at ease.

Without thinking about any of it too much,

Just feel into the feelings that are there and just observe.

And now bring your awareness to your breath and notice how your breath is flowing today.

Follow the breath as it flows into your body,

Into your lungs.

Watch the chest expanding and follow the breath back out again.

Observe how your breath is flowing.

Is it fast or is it slow?

Is it shallow or deep?

Where is the inhalation flowing to?

Does it go into your chest?

Into your belly?

Or somewhere else?

Just watch and notice.

And if you're feeling some places in your body that are holding on to some tension,

That are feeling a little more uncomfortable today,

Begin to send the breath into those areas.

Inhale into an area of tension and feel that area beginning to release with the exhalation.

Repeat this with as many places as you need to.

Send the breath into the tight or uncomfortable part of your body and feel the exhalation assisting with the release.

We'll just take a few more breaths here.

Press into your feet to lift your hips and slide the block out from underneath you.

And slowly release back to the mat.

Pay attention to the feeling of each vertebrae in your spine reconnecting with the mat.

The feeling of your sacrum reconnecting with the mat.

And once you've come back down,

Drop the knees together and take some breaths here to observe any after effects from that posture.

Next we're moving into reclining butterfly.

So from here bring the soles of your feet together so that your knees open out towards the sides.

You can support your thighs with blocks or cushions if that feels more comfortable for your legs.

And find where you want your arms to be.

You can rest your hands onto your thighs or keep your arms by your sides.

Or you can take your arms up over your head,

Keeping the elbows soft.

Scan over your body here to see if there are any places that you can relax.

Can you relax the muscles in your thighs,

In your shoulders?

Notice the new sensations that come up for you in this position.

Yin yoga is a passive practice,

But that doesn't mean that it isn't powerful or that the postures don't sometimes feel intense.

And practicing yin yoga can teach us that we don't always need to be pushing and forcing things to happen to experience results.

All we need to do is bring ourselves into the position and commit to staying there.

And the natural connection between our bodies and gravity does all the rest of the work.

We can learn to trust and surrender to the natural process of things.

And with regular practice the benefits of yin yoga can overflow into our lives.

We can learn to surrender control,

To flow with life and to trust that we are supported and that life is carrying us to where we need to go.

Bring your hands to the outsides of your legs and push your knees up.

Bring your feet back to hip distance apart and rest the knees together again.

Take a few breaths here to observe,

To feel any effects from that posture.

From here we'll move into a reclining twist.

Bring your arms out in line with your shoulders with the palms of your hands facing upwards and let your knees drop towards the left.

Let them fall all the way down and if it feels best to take some support under the left leg you can place a block or a cushion there.

You can keep your head looking up or turn to look over your right shoulder depending on what feels best for your body.

Scan over your body to see what muscles you can relax.

If this position isn't giving you much intensity and you feel like you would like a deeper stretch take your left foot to rest onto your right thigh.

Keep everything relaxed here.

Observe the new sensations that arise in this posture.

We're going to stay here for one more minute.

Bring your left foot back to the mat and bring the knees back to the centre.

Bring your head back to the centre and drop the knees together here for some breaths to observe.

And we'll go to the other side.

So let your knees drop to the right this time,

Taking any support that you need.

Turn the head to look over the left shoulder or keep looking straight up if that feels more comfortable for you.

Usually the two sides of the body feel different so observe the new sensations that come up on this side.

And if you would like a deeper stretch take the right foot to rest onto the left thigh.

We'll just stay here for a few more breaths.

And slowly make your way back out.

Take your right foot back to the mat and bring the knees back to the centre.

Bring your head back to the centre and drop your knees together for some observational breaths.

And from here roll over to one side and come up to your hands and knees.

Next we're coming into child's pose.

If you have sensitive knees or if you'd like to support your knees a little more take a folded blanket onto the mat to kneel on.

We'll be on the knees for a few minutes so make sure that you're comfortable.

Bring your big toes together and sit back onto your heels taking your chest forwards between your legs and reach your arms out towards the front corners of your mat taking the forehead to rest onto the mat.

You can take some support onto your heels to sit back onto if that feels best for you and you can support your head with a block or stack your forearms and rest your forehead onto your forearms.

Once you've found your comfortable position relax everything and allow your body to surrender into the pose.

If there are any places that are feeling tense or uncomfortable remember that you can breathe into those places.

Send your inhalation into the discomfort and feel the exhalation encouraging that area to release.

Sometimes surrendering into a posture and just being here can feel a lot more challenging than moving through a more active dynamic practice.

We can become so used to doing in our lives and striving for results that it's difficult for our minds to just let go and allow things to be as they are.

If you do find that your mind wanders away to think about something else or that thoughts come in about what you want to be different or how you can't wait for this posture to end gently acknowledge those thoughts and come back to your breath.

Continue to breathe into any discomfort and witness the ever-changing sensations in your body.

Slowly walk your hands in to bring yourself back up to kneeling.

Move any support to the side and come to your hands and knees with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.

The next posture is thread the needle.

Bring your right arm behind your left arm keeping the arm straight and the palm of your hand facing upwards and take your right ear to the mat.

If this feels very challenging for your neck and shoulders support your head by resting your ear onto a block.

Take your left arm out to a diagonal angle so your hand goes towards the front corner of the mat and relax into the posture.

Feel into the new sensations that come with this different position.

Keep breathing into any discomfort.

And for this last minute if you'd like to open the left shoulder a little more take the left hand behind your back either to rest it at your lower back or to bring the fingertips towards the right thigh.

Bring the left hand back under the left shoulder.

Unthread the right arm and bring yourself back onto your hands and knees.

We'll do some cat-cows here so inhale to drop your belly towards the mat lift your head to look up towards the ceiling.

Exhale your chin to your chest and round the back.

Do a few more of these in your own time.

Inhaling forwards,

Exhaling to round.

And going to the other side thread the left hand behind the right arm taking the left ear to the mat or supporting it with a block.

Bring the right arm out to a diagonal angle and relax into the posture.

And if you want to open the right shoulder for this last minute bring the right arm behind your back taking the hand to the lower back or to the left thigh.

And slowly unwind bring the right hand back under the right shoulder unthread the left arm and come back onto your hands and knees.

Take some more cat-cows here inhaling the chest forwards exhaling to arch the back.

And now make your way down to sitting.

Next we're going to come into dragonfly pose.

Come to sit with the legs open finding an open-legged position where you can feel that something is happening there but where you'll be able to stay for a few minutes.

If it feels difficult for you to sit with your spine upright here sit onto a block or a folded blanket for support.

And you might also like to support your legs if the backs of your legs feel very tight or if your knees are lifted.

Take blocks or cushions under your knees so that they can completely relax down.

If you're already feeling some intensity here and this is enough for you right now you can stay here with your spine straight or otherwise begin to fold forwards until you feel that edge when the intensity becomes a lot stronger.

Relax into the posture here.

Keep breathing into the discomfort.

This is one of those postures that really teaches us to be in the best place for us.

Some people are going to come very far forwards where others will move a centimetre or two.

How you look in the posture or how far forwards you fold is completely irrelevant.

It's about what you're feeling on the inside and where we need to be is always changing.

Sometimes we get used to being here and the intensity decreases so we need to move forwards until we can feel something again.

Sometimes it starts to feel too much and we need to come up to a more manageable place.

But as long as we stay sensitive to our bodies we can flow with whatever the posture brings us and always be in that best place for us to receive the benefits.

Slowly walk your hands in to bring your spine back up to straight.

Bring your hands under your legs and take your feet to the mat and just rock your knees from side to side here.

Feeling any after effects from that posture.

And next is butterfly.

So bring the soles of your feet together so that your knees open to the sides.

You can support your thighs with blocks or cushions if that feels best for you.

And you're welcome to stay here with your spine straight or otherwise fold forwards over your legs until you reach your edge.

Relax into the posture here.

And for these final two postures I'm going to leave you in silence to have your experience with your body.

Slowly walk your hands up your legs to bring your spine back to straight.

Take your hands to the outsides of your thighs push your knees together and bring your feet back to the mat.

And rock your knees from side to side again just to observe.

And our final posture is caterpillar.

So now bring your legs to straight bringing the legs together and you can support the knees again here if it feels very tight on the backs of your legs.

You have the option to keep the spine straight here or otherwise fold forwards letting your head drop towards your legs and relax everything here.

Feel into the new sensations that come up for you in this position.

Walk the hands in alongside your legs to bring your spine back up to straight.

And we'll take a gentle back bend as a counter-stretch here.

So bring your hands behind your back turning your hands so that your fingers point back towards your body and lift your chest.

Open the front of the body.

Taking the head back if that's what feels best for you.

Feel into the whole of the front of your body opening up.

And it's time for your relaxation.

So make your way down to lying on your back taking whatever you need to feel warm and comfortable.

You can come to lying in Shavasana with your legs open and your arms a little away from your sides with the palms of your hands facing upwards.

And you can support your head here with a block or a cushion or take a rolled up blanket under your knees or feet if that helps you to feel more comfortable.

And if Shavasana doesn't feel comfortable for your back then take your feet to the mat at hip distance apart and let the knees rest together.

Come back to your breath and notice how every exhalation gently guides your body into relaxation.

With every exhalation tiny movements happen in the muscles all over your body as they release and let go.

With every exhalation your breath slows down a little more.

The heartbeat slows down a little more.

With every exhalation you surrender a little more deeply.

And for these next few minutes nothing is required of you but to be here and allow yourself to surrender into relaxation.

Slowly begin to reawaken the body making some movements with the fingers and the toes the wrists and the ankles and bring your arms over your head for a long stretch down the sides from your hands to your feet.

Bend your knees bring the knees into the chest and rock from side to side here feeling the lower back massaging into the mat.

And when you're ready roll over to one side and make your way back up to sitting.

Come to sitting with your eyes closed and take a moment here to feel into your body to observe how your body is feeling after your practice.

Take a moment to notice how you are feeling to observe any thoughts or feelings just watch.

And when you're ready slowly blink your eyes open to return to your day.

This brings us to the end of the practice.

Thank you for joining me.