We're going to start today's practice in a wide child's pose.
So bring yourself to kneeling on your mat.
And then bring your big toes together and open your knees out to the sides of the mat.
Sit back onto your heels and bring your arms forwards so that your hands reach out to the corners of the mat.
Bring your upper body down towards the mat,
Resting your forehead onto the mat.
And if you can't rest down into this posture comfortably.
Take some support for yourself.
You can take a block or a folded blanket onto the heels if it's challenging or intense to sit back onto the heels.
And if your forehead doesn't comfortably rest onto the mat.
Take a block under the forehead.
Or if you prefer,
Stack your arms and rest your head onto your forearms.
Once you've found your comfortable child's pose,
That you can stay in for the next few minutes.
Relax into the posture.
This is a minimal cues class.
So once I've talked you into each position,
I won't be saying any more until it's time to come back out again.
So you have the opportunity to be 100% with yourself and your body as you hold each of the postures.
And we'll be holding each posture for two and a half minutes today.
So for the next two and a half minutes.
Relax the muscles.
As you surrender into your child's pose.
And observe the sensations that arise for you.
Slowly walk the hands in to bring yourself up and out of the pose.
And make your way to sitting on the mat for butterfly.
Bring the soles of the feet together so that the knees come out one to each side.
And if it feels good for you to support your legs here,
Place blocks or cushions underneath each thigh.
So that your legs are completely supported and able to relax.
Take a breath in.
And as you exhale,
Begin to fold forwards over the legs.
So that your head drops towards your feet.
Coming to your edge.
That place where it suddenly starts to feel a lot more intense.
Once you reach that edge,
Stop here and relax into the posture.
Scan over your body to see if there are any places where the muscles are clinging that you can relax.
And observe the sensations.
We've got two and a half minutes here.
Take the hands onto the feet and slowly walk the hands up the legs to curl the spine back up to straight.
Bring the knees up and take the feet to the mat at about hip distance apart.
And gently rock the knees from side to side.
Feeling any sensations in the body.
Any effects from the posture.
The next posture is dragonfly.
So now we'll take the legs apart.
So straighten out the leg.
Opening them to a comfortable distance.
That you'll be able to stay in for a few minutes without forcing.
Keep the feet relaxed.
And keep the thighs relaxed.
If you find it challenging to sit like this with your back straight.
You may find it helpful to sit onto a block or onto the edge of a folded blanket.
And if the backs of your legs are tight.
Or if your knees are bent.
Place some blocks or cushions under the knees.
So that the legs can relax into that support.
Keeping the legs relaxed.
Take a breath in to lift the chest upwards.
And exhale to fold forward Again,
Coming to that edge.
That place where it suddenly starts to feel a lot more intense.
And relax into the posture.
Slowly make your way back up.
Walk the hands in to curl the spine back up to straight.
And bend the knees and bring the feet back to the mat.
Rocking the knees from side to side again.
To observe any sensations or any effects from that posture.
Next,
We're going to come into Sphinx Pose.
So make your way down to lying on your belly.
And bring the elbows under the shoulders,
With the forearms parallel to the sides of the mat.
Spread the fingers and relax the hand.
Relax the shoulders and the shoulder blades.
If this feels very intense for you and you don't feel like you'll be able to stay comfortably here for the next few minutes.
You can move the arms forwards to reduce the intensity in the back.
Or you can stack the forearms and rest the forehead onto the arms.
If your chest is lifted,
You can either keep the head looking straight forward or release the chin towards the chest.
Scan over your body to see if there is anywhere that you can still relax.
The hips.
The buttock.
The shoulder blade.
And observe what you feel.
Slowly coming out of the pose.
Release the arms and gently bring yourself all the way down onto your front.
You can bring your arms to your sides and turn the head to one side.
Or you can stack the arms and rest your forehead onto your forearm.
And take some breaths here to observe any feelings.
Any sensation?
Any effects from the posture.
The next posture is banana pose.
So turn yourself over onto your back.
And first come into Shavasana.
Bringing the legs apart so that the feet fall outwards towards the corners of the mat.
Bring your arms to your side.
And we'll move the right leg first.
So now take the right foot over to meet the left foot.
Either bringing the ankles together or crossing the right ankle over the left ankle.
Now bring the upper body towards the left.
So that the body comes into a curved banana shape.
Take the arms up over the head.
And either take hold of opposite elbows,
Or take the right wrist into the left hand,
And relax the arms above the head.
Scan over your body to see if there is anywhere that you can relax a little more.
And observe.
And slowly make your way back out.
Bring the right foot back to the right side of the mat.
Release the arms and bring the upper body back to straight.
Pause here to observe any effects from the posture.
And moving to the other side,
Bring the left foot to meet the right ankle.
Or cross the left foot over the right ankle.
Bring the upper body to the right and either take the left wrist into the right hand or take hold of the elbows,
Bringing the opposite arm on top to last time.
And relax.
Slowly coming back out.
Bring the left foot back to the left side of the mat.
Release the arms and bring the upper body back to straight with the arms at the side.
Pause here to observe.
Our final posture will be a twist.
So now bend the knees and bring the knees into the chest with the knees and the ankles together.
And just shift your hips slightly over towards the right.
To make some more space for the twist.
Take the left hand to the outside of the right thigh.
And bring the knees all the way down to the mat on the left.
Keeping the left hand on the right thigh to help anchor it down.
Once you get here,
Relax the lower legs and the feet.
Bring the right arm up and out to a diagonal angle.
Perhaps placing a block or a cushion under the right shoulder.
If that feels best for you.
And relax into the twist.
Observe the new sensations that arise for you in this new position.
Slowly unwinding and coming back out.
Release the right arm back to the right side.
Take the left hand to the outside of the left leg.
And push the knees back up to the centre.
And re-straighten your hips and spine.
Take the feet to the mat at hip distance apart and let the knees drop in together.
And take some breaths here to observe any sensations.
Any feelings?
And we'll go to the other side.
So bring the knees back in towards the chest.
With the knees and the ankles touching.
Shift yourself slightly over to the left.
And take the right hand to the left thigh to bring the knees all the way down to the mat on the right side.
Relax the lower legs and the feet.
Bring the left arm up and out to a diagonal angle.
And relax into your twist.
Slowly make your way back up.
Bring the left arm back to the left side.
Take the right hand to the outside of the right leg and push the legs back to the centre.
Restraighten the body.
And take the feet to the mat at hip distance apart.
Letting the knees drop together.
Take some breaths here to observe any effects from that posture.
And we'll finish with our relaxation.
If you like you can stay here with the feet apart and the knees together.
Or if you prefer,
Come into Shavasana.
Bringing the feet out towards the corners of the mat.
Take the arms to the sides of the body with the palms of the hands facing upwards.
And you might like to support yourself with a block or a cushion under the head.
Or a rolled up blanket under the knee.
If it's cool where you are make sure that you have enough layers on.
Perhaps covering yourself with a blanket as your body temperature will drop as you rest here.
And for these next few minutes.
Allow your body to completely surrender into relaxation.
Slowly begin to reawaken your body.
Start to make some small movements with the fingers and the toes.
Begin to circle the wrist.
And the ankle.
And when you feel ready,
Take the arms up over the head and give yourself a long stretch down the side.
Bend the knees and bring the knees in towards the chest.
And just rock gently from side to side here.
Massaging out any tension that remains in the lower back.
And when you feel ready.
Roll over to the side.
And bring yourself up to city.
Come to sitting comfortably with the back straight and the eyes closed.
And take a moment to feel into your body.
And observe how your body is feeling right now.
Observe how you are feeling right now.
Observe any effects from your practice today.
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
This brings us to the end of the practice.
Thank you for joining me.
