We're going to begin the practice today in a wide child's pose.
So come onto your knees,
Bring your big toes together and open the knees out towards the sides of the mat.
Sit back onto your heels and stretch your arms forwards,
Taking the hands towards the front corners of the mat,
And rest your head down to the mat.
Take any support that you need to feel comfortable here.
If you don't comfortably sit back to the heels,
Take a block or a cushion onto the heels to rest onto,
And you might like to support your head with a block,
Or by stacking your forearms and resting your head onto the forearms,
If that's what feels best for you.
And once you've come into the pose,
Allow your body to completely relax here.
Relax the thighs,
The hips,
The shoulders,
And take these first few minutes to arrive into your practice.
Our practice today is based on postures that work with the heart meridian line,
Which in the Chinese medicine system is connected with the fire element,
And this season of summer.
And the fire element is the most young of all the elements.
It's the element of extraversion,
Expression,
Light and illumination.
So in many ways,
It's opposite in its energy to the yin qualities of our practice.
And there are some slightly more young postures included in our practice today,
To make the practice just a little bit more fiery.
As you begin to settle into your practice,
Feel into your body and observe how your body's feeling today.
Notice any sensations that are present in your body right now.
And there's no need to analyse any feelings or to think about where they're coming from or why they're there.
Just feel them as they are.
Acknowledge them.
And take a moment to observe how you are feeling today.
Notice any emotions that are present for you right now.
Observe what's happening in your mind,
Any thoughts that are passing through.
Again,
There's no need to get involved in what anything is,
Or why it's there,
Or the story that it's telling you.
Just observe those thoughts and feelings as they are.
And we'll continue just observing throughout the practice.
All we need to do in yin yoga is to get into the posture,
Hold the posture and observe.
So just for now,
Put to one side the need to know why anything is the way it is and just watch.
From here,
Walk the hands forwards and bring yourself down to lying on your front with your legs straight.
Bring the arms to your sides and turn the head to one side.
If it feels better for you to rest your head onto a block,
Then take a block for your head and feel into your body here.
Notice any sensations or effects from the last posture.
Our postures today are working with the heart meridian lines,
Which begin at the heart and run to the armpits on each side and then travel down the inner arms to the literal fingers.
So now just bring your awareness to that heart meridian pathway and observe anything you feel there.
Any sensations,
Any perceptions of energy,
Just observe what you feel there.
There's nothing right or wrong or better or worse.
Just observe it as it is.
And let's take a few breaths here,
Keeping the awareness on the heart meridian.
As you inhale,
See the breath moving from the heart to the armpits,
Down the inner arms to the little fingers.
And as you exhale,
See the breath moving from the little fingers up the inner arms to the armpits and to the heart.
Take some more breaths like this.
Our next posture is thread the needle.
So bring the hands under your shoulders and push yourself back up onto your hands and knees.
Align the wrists under the shoulders and the knees under the hips.
If you have sensitive knees,
You might like to take some extra padding for the knees for these next few poses.
So place a folded blanket under the knees for some extra support.
And we're going to take the right arm behind the left arm first.
So thread the right arm behind the left arm.
Bring the right arm to straight with the palm facing upwards and take the right ear and shoulder down to the mat.
If you're going to feel more comfortable with the head supported here,
Take a block or a cushion under your head.
And now straighten the left arm,
Taking it out to a diagonal angle so that the hand reaches the top left corner of the mat and relax into the posture.
Scan over your body and see if there are any places that you can relax a little more.
The hips,
The shoulders,
The hands or the feet.
It's when the muscles are relaxed that we're able to experience the deeper stretch into the fascia and observe the sensations that you feel here.
And now carefully make your way out.
Take your time coming out of the postures.
We don't want to move too quickly to suddenly stress the tissues.
Bring the left hand back under the left shoulder and unthread the right arm,
Bringing the right arm back under the right shoulder and coming back to the hands and knees.
And we'll take some cat-cows here.
So inhale to drop the belly,
Bring the chest forwards between the armpits and look up.
Exhale to round the back,
Draw the chin into the chest.
Do a few more of these,
Observing any sensations or effects from the posture.
We'll come in to thread the needle on the other side,
Keeping in mind that both sides are different and that depending on your body,
This side may be a completely different experience for you.
Bring the left arm behind the right arm,
Taking the left arm to straight with the palm facing upwards and bring the left ear and shoulder to the mat or rest the head onto a block if that feels best.
Take the right arm straight out to a diagonal angle and relax into the posture.
Observe the new sensations that you feel on this side.
If there are any places that are feeling a little more tight or uncomfortable,
You can use the breath to help encourage those places to release.
As you inhale,
Send the breath into that tight or uncomfortable area.
And as you exhale,
Feel the exhalation carrying some of the tension away.
We'll just stay here for a few more breaths.
And slowly make your way back out.
Bring the right hand back under the right shoulder.
Unthread the left arm to bring the left hand under the left shoulder,
Coming back to the hands and knees.
And we'll do some more cat-cows here.
Inhale to drop the belly and bring the chest forward.
Look up.
Exhale,
Bring the chin to the chest and round the back.
Draw the belly in towards the spine.
Do a few more of these.
Next is melting heart pose.
So first of all for this one,
Check your alignment that the hips are above the knees and that the thighs are vertical.
Keeping the hips above the knees,
Begin to walk both hands forwards so that the chest sinks towards the mat.
Bring your chin or forehead to the mat,
Or if it feels better for you,
Rest the head onto a block or a stack of blocks.
And once you arrive in the posture,
Check over your body to see if there are any places that you can relax a little more.
And feel into the pose.
In Chinese medicine,
The heart is considered to be the most important organ in the body and the home of our spirit.
And alongside its physical function,
The heart is considered to be responsible for our sense of peace,
Harmony,
Pleasure,
Joy and contentment.
And the heart's meridian is very deeply connected with our emotions.
When the energy of the heart is not functioning properly,
Some of the problems that can be experienced include feelings of sadness,
Depression and melancholy.
So as we work to restore a healthy flow of energy through the heart's meridian as we practice,
We're encouraging those feelings of harmony,
Joy,
Peace and contentment.
And as we release physically,
We're also releasing energetically.
It's normal to feel sensations of energy moving as blockages are released.
And it's also normal to feel emotions releasing.
We can store emotions in the fascia which release as the fascia unwinds.
So if you feel an emotion coming up as you practice,
Perhaps one of those connected with the heart or perhaps something different,
Just observe it as it comes and goes and watch it releasing in the same way that you're watching the physical tension moving and releasing.
Knowing that it's just something your body doesn't need to hold on to anymore,
Making its way out.
And slowly come out of the posture.
Walk the hands in to come back up.
And from here we'll rest into child's pose.
So sit back onto your heels.
Bring your arms forward and rest your forehead down.
Take some support on your heels or under your head if you need to.
And take a few breaths to observe any effects from the posture.
Any sensations or feelings.
From here we're going to move into camel pose.
And camel is a little bit more young in its energy as a posture,
But we'll be doing it in a yin way.
So come up to kneeling now with your thighs straight up so that your hips are above your knees.
And tuck your toes under behind you.
Take your hands to your hips.
Lift your chest up towards the ceiling.
Open your shoulders so the front of the chest is wide and press the hips and the thighs forwards.
If you're not feeling so much here and you want to take the hands back,
Either take your hands to your heels or stack some blocks onto your heels and take the hands to rest on the blocks.
Remember,
In yin,
We want to be at about 60% of our maximum stretch.
So don't force yourself to take the hands all the way down if that means an intense,
Forceful stretch for you.
But make use of support or keep the hands on your hips and find a place where you can feel that there's something happening,
But where you can comfortably hold the pose for another minute if you can.
Remember to send the breath into any areas of tension or discomfort.
And slowly come up on an inhalation.
Bring the spine back to straight and come back into child pose.
Sit onto the heels.
Rest the forehead onto the mat or onto your folded arms or a block.
And if your arms are free,
This time bring the arms to your sides with the palms facing upwards.
Take some deep breaths to observe any effects from the posture.
For a counter pose and to add a little more yang into our fire element practice,
We'll come into downward facing dog now.
So slowly roll yourself up to kneeling and come back to the hands and knees.
Turn the toes under behind you and exhale to lift the hips.
Press into the balls of the hands and the tips of the fingers and lever the hips as high up as you can.
Keeping the legs straight.
And now keeping that height in the hips,
Begin to lower the heels towards the mat.
It doesn't matter if they reach the mat or not.
Just bring them to that place where you can feel something happening in the legs.
Keep pressing into the hands.
Relax the neck and the head.
And observe the sensations that are present for you in this posture.
On your next exhalation,
Bend the knees and come back down to your hands and knees.
Take a few breaths here to observe any effects from the posture,
Any feelings,
Any sensations of energy.
And we'll come up into downward facing dog one more time.
So when you're ready,
On the exhalation,
Lift the hips and release the head.
Keeping the hips high,
Descend the heels towards the mat.
And this time,
If you would like a little more of a stretch for the legs,
You have the option to pedal the legs out one at a time.
Press the left heel towards the mat as you bend the right knee.
And bend the left knee,
Pressing the right heel to the mat.
Do a few more of these.
And exhale to bend the knees and come back down.
And from here,
Make your way down to lying on your back for banana pose.
Lie flat on your back with the legs apart and the feet falling out towards the corners of the mat.
And with your arms at your sides.
We're going to move the right leg first.
So bring the right leg towards the left.
Either taking the right ankle to meet the left ankle.
Or crossing the right foot over the left ankle.
Now move the upper body to the left so that your body comes into a curved banana shape.
Take the arms up over your head and take the right wrist into your left hand.
Or if it feels better for you,
Take hold of opposite elbows.
Relax the arms over the head.
Relax into the posture.
Remember to send the breath into any areas of tension.
We're going to stay in these last postures for a little bit longer.
So we've got two more minutes here.
And slowly unwind.
Bring the right leg back to the right corner of the mat.
Release the arms.
And bring the upper body back to straight.
Take a few breaths here to observe any sensations.
Any effects from the posture.
And we'll go to the other side now.
So bring the left foot to meet the right.
Either bringing the ankles together or crossing the left ankle over the right ankle.
Bring the upper body towards the right.
Take the arms over the head and take the left wrist into the right hand.
Relax the arms.
Relax the whole of the body.
Sending the exhalation into any areas of tension.
And slowly make your way back out.
Bring the left foot back to the left side.
Release the arms.
Bring the upper body back to straight.
And observe.
We're going to finish with a twist.
So from here bend the knees and bring the knees into the chest.
Bringing the ankles and the knees together.
Shift the hips over a little towards the right to make some space for your twist.
And take the left hand to the outside of the right knee to gently bring the legs down to the mat on the left side.
You can keep the left hand on the right thigh to gently encourage the legs to stay down.
And once the legs are down,
Relax the feet to whatever position feels the most comfortable.
Now take the right arm up and out to a diagonal angle.
And if the right shoulder lifts up,
Place a block or a cushion under the shoulder.
You can keep the head looking up or turn to look over the right shoulder.
And relax into the twist.
We'll stay here for another minute.
And to come out,
Take the left hand to the outside of the left leg and push the legs back up to the centre.
Bring the right arm back to the right side.
Re-straighten the upper body.
And take the hands to the knees and make some circles with the knees here.
Gently releasing the lower back.
Circle in the opposite direction.
Now we'll go to the other side.
So keeping the knees and ankles together,
Shift the hips a little towards the left.
And take the right hand to the outside of the left knee.
And bring the knees down to the mat,
Gently resting the right hand on top of the left thigh.
Bring the left arm up and out to a diagonal angle.
Keep the head straight or turn to look over the left shoulder.
Relax into the twist.
Very slowly bring yourself back out.
Take the right hand to the outside of the right leg to push the legs back to the centre.
Bring the left arm back to the side.
Re-straighten the hips.
And now take the feet to the mat at hip distance apart and let the knees drop in together.
Take some breaths here to observe any effects from the posture.
To observe any feelings.
Any sensations.
And it's time for our relaxation.
So make sure that you are warm and comfortable.
If you would like to stay in this position with the knees together,
You can stay here.
Or if you want to come into Shavasana,
Straighten the legs out towards the corners of the mat.
And bring the arms a little away from the sides,
Turning the palms to face upwards.
Take anything that you need to make yourself as comfortable as you can possibly be.
A block or a cushion under your head.
A rolled up mat or blanket under your knees.
And make sure that you're going to be warm enough as you relax.
Put on an extra layer if you need to or cover yourself with a blanket.
And once you're comfortable and settled,
Feel into your body.
Observe what your body is feeling right now.
Notice any sensations.
Any movements of energy.
Observe how your body feels after the practice.
And now come back to the pathways of your heart meridian.
Bring the awareness to the energy lines that run from the heart to the armpits,
Down the inner arms to the little fingers.
And observe what you feel in these energetic pathways.
There's no need to think about it.
Just watch.
And to encourage a deeper level of relaxation,
I'm going to talk you through some different parts of the body.
As I name each place,
Imagine a golden ray of sunlight illuminating that body part.
Bringing the fire element into that part of the body.
Beginning with the eyebrow centre.
Warm sunlight illuminating the eyebrow centre.
And the space between the collarbones.
Warm sunlight illuminating the space between the collarbones.
The right shoulder.
The right elbow.
The right wrist.
The right thumb.
The index finger.
The middle finger.
The ring finger.
And the little finger.
The right wrist.
The right elbow.
The right shoulder.
The space between the collarbones.
The left shoulder.
The left elbow.
The left wrist.
The left thumb.
The left index finger.
The middle finger.
The ring finger.
The little finger.
The right shoulder.
The left wrist.
The left elbow.
The left shoulder.
The space between the collarbones.
The centre of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The navel.
The lower abdomen.
The right hip.
The right knee.
The right ankle.
The right big toe.
The second toe.
The third toe.
The fourth toe.
The fifth toe.
The right ankle.
The right knee.
The right hip.
The lower abdomen.
The left hip.
The left knee.
The left ankle.
The left big toe.
The second toe.
The third toe.
The fourth toe.
The left ankle.
The left knee.
The left hip.
The lower abdomen.
The navel.
The centre of the chest.
Warm golden sunlight illuminating the centre of the chest.
And before we finish the relaxation,
Keeping the awareness at the centre of the chest,
Take a moment to invite those positive feelings of the heart to gently arise.
Joy.
Harmony.
Peace.
Pleasure.
Contentment.
And very slowly begin to turn the awareness back outwards.
Feel into the feeling of your body resting on your mat.
And gently begin to make some movements with your fingers and your toes.
Begin to circle your ankles and your wrists.
And when you feel ready,
Bring the arms up over your head and give yourself a long stretch down the sides.
Bend the knees.
Bring the knees into the chest and gently rock from side to side.
Massaging out any tension from the lower back.
And when you're ready,
Roll to one side and make your way back to sitting.
This brings us to the end of the practice.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
