We're going to start today's practice in child's pose.
So from kneeling,
Bring your big toes together and open your knees out to the sides of the mat.
Sit back onto your heels and bring your chest forwards between your legs.
Reaching your arms out to the top of the mat.
If you would like to support your body here,
You can take a block or a cushion onto your heels to sit back onto.
Or you can place a block under your head.
Or if it feels best,
Stack your arms and rest your forehead onto your forearms.
Once you've found where your body wants to be.
Scan over your body to see if there are any parts that you can relax here.
Make sure that your thighs are relaxed.
Your shoulders are relaxed.
And feel into your body.
Take a moment here to feel into how your body is feeling today.
There may be some places which feel a little tight today.
Litter ready for some release.
And there may be some other places which feel more relaxed.
More comfortable.
Just observe.
Yin yoga is a practice of being.
Feeling,
Observing and breathing.
We don't need to do anything or try to make anything happen.
Once we arrive into each of the postures,
All we need to do is just be here.
And be with whatever is happening in our bodies.
And just by surrendering into the postures.
Feeling and observing.
We make space for all of the magic to happen.
Continue to observe the sensations that arise in your body as you rest in this position.
There's no need to think about why anything feels the way it does.
Or why anything in your body is the way that it is.
Just watch and feel.
You're welcome to stay here if this posture is giving you what you need right now.
Or to come into a twisting child's pose.
Just lift your upper body here.
And walk your hands over towards the right.
Bringing your chest over your right thigh.
And relax back forwards,
Resting the chest onto the thigh.
You can support your forehead here with a block or with your stacked forearms if that feels best for you.
Observe the new sensations that arise now that your body is in this different position.
If there are any areas that feel a little tighter here.
That feel more uncomfortable.
Use the breath to help those areas to release.
Inhale into the tension or discomfort.
And allow the exhalation to carry some of that tension away.
Yin yoga can be considered to be a meditation on your body.
As you rest in each of the postures,
Your body becomes your mantra as you simply observe.
So in your practice today,
Keep your mind on your body.
Continue to feel.
To observe.
And it's natural that at times your mind will wander away and you'll start to think about different things.
But whenever you notice that happening,
Just very gently come back to your body.
Come back to the sensations that the posture is bringing up for you.
And we'll go to the other side.
So lift your chest and walk the hands towards the left.
Bringing the chest over the left thigh.
And relax the chest down over the leg.
Support your head here if that feels best for you.
Often our two sides are very different.
So feel into the new sensations that arise for you on this side.
Keep breathing into any tension.
We'll just take a few more breaths here.
And walk your hands back to the centre.
And slowly walk the hands in to bring your spine back up to straight.
And from here,
Make your way down to lying on your belly for Sphinx Pose.
First thing.
Bring the elbows under the shoulders and the forearms parallel to the sides of the mat.
So that your chest lifts.
If this feels too intense for your back,
Walking the arms forwards will reduce the intensity.
And you can also stack the forearms and rest the forehead onto the forearm.
And this will still give you that gentle back bending shape.
If your chest is lifted you can keep your head looking straight forward.
Or drop your chin to your chest.
And relax into the posture here.
Observe the new sensations that come up in this position.
Keep breathing into any tension.
If you find that your mind has wandered away,
Very gently come back to your body.
Back to your breath.
Back to the feeling of being in this posture We'll just stay here for a few more breaths.
Bring the hands under your shoulders to push yourself back up onto your hands and knees.
And make your way down to lying on your back for your relaxation.
Make sure that you're going to be warm and comfortable.
You can support your head with a block.
Or take a rolled up blanket under your knees or your ankles.
And you can lie in Shavasana with your legs extended and your feet resting towards the corners of the mat.
With your arms at your sides and the palms facing upwards.
Or if it feels better for your back.
Bring your feet to the mat at hip distance apart.
And let the knees fall in together.
Allow your body to completely relax here.
Notice how every exhalation guides your body a little more deeply into relaxation.
And these next few minutes are yours to simply be.
To enjoy the feelings that arise inside your body as a result of your practice.
Slowly begin to reawaken your body.
Make some small movements with the fingers and the toes.
Circle the wrists and the ankle.
And bring the arms up over your head for a long stretch down the side.
Bend the knees,
Bring the knees into your chest.
Hug the knees.
And rock gently from side to side.
Massaging out the lower back.
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 to feel into your body.
To notice any effects from your practice.
And when you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes to return to your day.
