We'll start with an opening meditation,
So bring yourself into a comfortable sitting position,
Sitting onto a block,
Cushion or the edge of a folded blanket,
If that feels better for you,
And with your spine straight.
Roll your shoulders up towards your ears and relax your shoulders and shoulder blades down your back,
Making space around your head and your neck.
Close your eyes and bring your awareness into your body.
Feel into your body.
How is your body feeling today?
Observe any sensations.
Notice any places that feel tight or uncomfortable,
And notice any places that feel comfortable and relaxed.
Notice any sensations of tingling or moving energy.
Just observe how your body feels right now,
Without getting involved in the story of why.
For this next few minutes,
Just watch.
And keeping this attitude of feeling and observing as we move through the postures.
Open your eyes and prepare for butterfly pose.
Bring the soles of your feet together,
With your knees opening out,
One towards each side.
And if you want to support yourself here,
You might like to sit onto a block,
Cushion or blanket,
And you can support your legs by placing blocks or cushions under the thighs.
Take a breath in,
And as you breathe in,
Lift your chest up and straighten your spine.
And then as you breathe out,
Fold forwards over your legs and release your head towards your feet.
Remember,
You're coming to your edge here,
The place where you suddenly feel more intensity happening.
You might only move forwards a few inches,
Or you may come a As long as you're at your edge,
It's not important how far forwards you go.
Once you arrive at your edge,
Stop here and relax into the posture.
Notice if there's any tension or gripping in the thighs,
Or in the hips,
And relax those muscles.
Relax the neck and the shoulders,
And observe the sensations that arise in your body in this posture.
Now slowly roll back up to straighten the spine.
Bring your knees up and take your feet to the mat,
And just rock the knees from side to side,
Feeling any effects from the posture.
And next,
Let's take dragonfly.
Straighten your legs in front of you,
And open them wide to a comfortable open distance apart.
You can sit onto a block,
Cushion or blanket here.
And if the backs of your legs are tight,
You might like to place some support under the knees,
Either some blocks or some cushions.
Relax the legs,
Relax the hips and the thighs.
Now take a deep breath in through the nose,
And out through the mouth and the spine.
And as you exhale,
Fold forwards,
Again coming to your edge.
You can rest your hands on the mat in front of you,
Or if you're more flexible,
You might come down to rest on your forearms.
No place is any better or worse than another,
As long as you're at your edge and feeling the intensity there.
If you feel any gripping in the muscles,
Send them a message to relax.
Make sure that the hips and the thighs are relaxed,
And observe the sensations.
Now slowly roll back up,
Straighten your spine and bend your knees.
Take your feet to the mat and rock the knees from side to side again,
Feeling any sensations,
Any effects from the posture.
Next is Caterpillar.
So straighten your legs on the mat in front of you,
This time keeping the legs together.
Again,
If you want to support yourself,
You can sit onto a block or a blanket,
And you can place support under your knees if your legs are tight.
Breathe in to straighten the spine,
And exhale to come forwards,
Coming to your edge,
That first place where you feel more intensity.
And relax into the posture here.
If any areas feel especially tight,
You can use your breath to help encourage a release.
As you breathe in,
Send the breath to that place of tension,
And as you breathe out,
Feel the exhalation moving that tension away.
Slowly roll back up to straight,
And we'll do a gentle back bend for a counter-stretch.
So take your hands behind your back,
With the fingers facing towards the hips,
And lift the chest up,
Making a gentle arch through the front of the body,
To open the front body.
Now come to lying on your front for Sphinx.
Open your legs to a comfortable distance,
And bring your elbows under your shoulders,
With your forearms parallel to the sides of the mat.
To reduce the intensity,
Bring your elbows forwards,
Or if it feels better for you,
Stack your arms in front of you,
And rest your forehead onto your forearms.
You can keep your head looking straight ahead,
Or drop the chin towards the chest,
And relax into the posture.
What new sensations do you feel in this position?
Keep the shoulders and the shoulder blades relaxed.
We'll just be here for a few more breaths.
And now take your hands under your shoulders,
And push yourself up onto your hands and knees.
Take your big toes together,
And open your knees to the sides of the mat,
In preparation for Child's Pose.
Sit back onto your heels,
Or place a block or cushion on your heels to sit onto,
If that feels better for you.
Take your arms out towards the front corners of the mat,
And release your forehead to the mat,
Or support your forehead with a block,
Or with your stacked arms,
If you prefer.
Relax into the posture,
And observe the sensations that arise.
As we move deeper into the practice,
You might become aware of feelings of energy moving,
As tension releases.
Just watch whatever is happening.
And now slowly walk your hands in,
To bring yourself back up.
Release your legs,
And come down to lying on your back.
Next is Banana Pose.
So start on your back,
With your feet open to the corners of the mat,
And your arms at the sides.
Bring your right foot to meet your left foot,
Either bringing the ankles together,
Or taking the right foot over the left ankle,
For a deeper stretch.
And move your upper body towards the left,
Bringing yourself into a curved banana shape.
Take your arms over the head,
Hold on to opposite elbows,
And relax into the pose.
Observe your body,
And observe any emotions or thoughts that arise.
Anything that comes up,
Just watch it.
If any emotions arise,
Know that they're being released,
And are on their way out.
And now slowly come out of the pose.
Remember which arm is on the outside,
So that you can do the opposite way next time.
Bring your right foot back to the right corner of the mat,
Bring your upper body to straight,
And take some breaths here to observe your body.
Observe any feelings that arise,
Any sensations or effects from the posture.
And now we'll go to the opposite side.
Bring your left foot to meet your right,
Either bringing the ankles together,
Or crossing the left ankle over the right ankle.
Move your upper body towards the left,
Coming into a curved shape,
And take the arms above the head,
Holding the elbows the opposite way to last time,
So the other one is in front.
And relax into the posture.
Remember,
You can send your breath into any areas of tension,
And encourage those places to release with the exhalation.
And slowly come back out.
Bring your right foot to the right corner of the mat,
Bring your body back to straight,
And release your arms to your sides,
And observe what you feel.
Now bend your knees,
And bring your feet to the mat,
With the feet at hip distance apart,
And the knees pointing up to the ceiling.
Bring your arms out straight,
In line with the shoulders,
Making a T-shape,
With the palms of your hands facing upwards.
We'll come into our twist.
Drop your knees to the left side,
And if it feels comfortable in your neck,
Turn your head to look over your right shoulder.
If you feel like you need more intensity,
That you're not feeling much in this position,
Bring your left foot up to rest on to your right thigh,
And relax into the posture here.
Observe the sensations.
Observe any emotions,
Any thoughts.
Watch whatever is happening.
And slowly come back out.
Release the left foot back to the mat,
Bring the knees back to the centre,
And bring the head back to the centre.
Keeping the feet apart,
Just let the knees drop in together,
And take a few breaths here to observe.
And now the other side.
Drop your knees towards the right,
And either keep your head facing upwards,
Or turn to look over your left shoulder.
For a deeper stretch,
Bring your right foot to rest on your left thigh,
And relax into the posture.
This is our last position before Shavasana.
Slowly come back out.
Release the right foot back to the mat,
Bring the knees back up,
And the head to straight,
And take some breaths here to observe.
And now make your way into Shavasana for your relaxation.
Take any support you need.
A rolled-up blanket under the feet or knees,
A block or cushion under the head,
And make sure you're warm enough.
Take any extra layers if you need to,
And cover yourself with a blanket.
If you prefer,
You can also take the position you were just in,
With your feet apart and your knees together.
And now give yourself permission to completely relax for the next five minutes.
Feel the muscles in your body completely letting go,
As you relax into the mat beneath you.
And observe what you feel in your body as you relax.
Feel the sensations that arise during your relaxation.
Feel the physical sensations.
Feel any movement of energy.
And for the next few minutes,
Feel yourself relaxing completely,
And just be.
Prepare yourself to finish the practice.
Make some movements with your hands and your feet,
With your fingers and toes,
To reawaken your body.
Circle your wrists and your ankles.
Bring your arms over your head and give yourself a long stretch down the sides.
Bend your knees and bring the knees into the chest.
Hug the knees and rock gently from side to side,
To ease out any remaining tension in the lower back.
And when you're ready,
Roll to one side and come back up to sitting.
This brings us to the end of the practice.
Thank you so much for joining me here,
And I wish you all the benefits of your yin yoga practice long into the future.
