Breathwork, Stretch and Balance

This gentle class combines mindful stretching, breathwork, and simple balance to help you feel more open and grounded. Using a chair for support, we’ll move through slow, standing stretches that release tension without strain. Guided breathing will calm your nervous system and bring you back to center. Perfect for all levels, you’ll leave feeling lighter, steadier, and more connected.

Transcript

Hello, And welcome to your meditative stretch break. For today's class, We will be meditating, We'll be moving, We'll be stretching in a gentle fashion. All you will need is a chair. We're gonna use them as a prop to get into our stretches a little bit deeper. So let's begin by just standing nice and tall, Roll the shoulders down and back, Beautiful posture to start. Now we're gonna match our breath to our movement. So I want you to take a nice big inhale as you reach up through your nose. And then exhale out your mouth and pull your hands in towards your heart. Let's do that again. Inhale, Reach your arms up tall. And exhale, Pull your hands into your heart. Notice how this slow breath work helps to relax the body, Remind your body that you are in a safe space, Ready to move your body, Ready to stretch and ready to relax. Now you can take a few more breaths here, Or maybe you wanna deepen it. Take a nice big inhale up here. Exhale out your nose and let your arms fall back behind you. So again, Inhale, Reaching up tall, Lengthening your spine. And then exhale, Let it all go. We'll do two more. Inhale, Reaching up tall. Exhale, Release and let go. It's like you're holding an imaginary beach ball behind you. Inhale, Reach up towards the sky. Exhale, Release and let go. Take your feet just a little bit wider. Nice wide stance here. And then place your hands up on top. Now what I want you to do is just think about drawing a circle, Letting those arms come all the way around, Warming up the shoulder joints. And you're welcome to stay here. If you want to deepen the movement, I advise you to hinge from your hips as you circle all the way around. Doesn't it feel good to move your body? Maybe you've been sitting most of the day. This is your opportunity to move that beautiful body of yours. And let's go ahead and reverse it the other way. So option A, You could be right here, Really focusing inside that shoulder joints. Or option B, You can hinge from those hips and make it a little bit bigger as you come all the way around. Movement is good for our bodies. Stretching is good for our bodies. Breath work is good for our bodies. So doing something beautiful for our bodies today is a wonderful thing. Good, Take an inhale, Reach your arms up. So spread those fingertips nice and wide. Get a little energy here. Now this time on your exhale, Have your hands come out here. Relax the shoulders. Inhale as you reach up. Exhale as you're up. If you want to take it one step further, Inhale, Reach up. And then exhale to be nice and flat back here. See how that feels in those hamstrings. Inhale as you reach up towards the sky. Exhale, Release and let go. One more time as you inhale up. And then exhale, Release and let go. This is our opportunity to use our chair. A kitchen chair works great. Whatever chair you have. And just standing right behind the chair, Your hips and your shoulders are square to the chair. Right leg's gonna take a step back and then press that heel down. So all 10 toes, Your hips and your shoulders are all facing the chair. Now take your right arm and open it up. Reach back. Let your eyes follow it. Feel that stretch in your back. And then go ahead and close it. Now let's match it to our breath. So take an inhale through your nose. Exhale, Release and let go. Let's do it again. Inhale as you come up. Exhale, Release and let go. We'll do two more. Each time, See if you can get a little bit further back. That rotation is really healthy for our spines, Healthy for our bodies. Reach back and relax. Next step, I want you to reach your arms up by your ears and come up onto the ball of your back foot. Take an inhale. And then on your exhale, Press your heel down and bring your hands back to the chair. Let's do that again. Inhale, Reaching up. Exhale, Release and let go. Good job. You're stretching out your calf muscles. You're lengthening your spine here. Good job. We'll do one more. We're reaching up and down. Now we're gonna hold this stretch. So go ahead and take that right arm, Reach it back. This is one option. Your second option, Find your low back and then reach your left arm up to the sky. How does that feel in your body? And then go ahead and come back here. Just pull out those legs. We're gonna do that all on the other side. So maybe it makes sense to move your chair. Maybe you just want to switch sides. I'm gonna move my chair so I can maintain eye contact with you. So guys, Take that left leg back. Your toes, Your hips, And your shoulders are all facing that chair. And then left arm reaches back. Take an inhale, Exhale to close. Let's do that again. Make it a little bit bigger every time. Let your eyes follow your hand because you know what? You will stretch a little further by doing that. Never give up on your body. You can modify as you need to, But keep moving through this beautiful life we have. So when we have only one body, We get to live in our whole life, So we might as well take good care of it. Stretch it, Strengthen it, Move it, Breathe with it. It is all worth it. Let's go ahead and rock up onto the ball of that back foot. Arms reach up behind your ears. Take a nice big inhale. Exhale, Release, And let go. Good job. Let's do it again. Inhale, Reaching up all the way, And exhale, Let go. Drop that heel down. Notice the sensations you feel in your body. These small, Gentle movements, So healthy for us. What a great break in the day. And then exhale, Release, And let go. Okay, Take that left arm back, Level one. Hold it right here. Hold the stretch. Level two, Find your low back. Right arm reaches up towards the sky. Gaze up at that hand. Good job. And then just pedal out those feet. So you're just bending one knee and then pressing the opposite heel into the earth. Beautiful. Next, We're gonna do a nice back stretch. It's gonna help lengthen our spine and stretch our hamstrings. So all you have to do is, Hands are at the edge of your chair. You're gonna walk back, And then you're gonna let your hips come back and your head come right between your elbows. Notice the sensation. Notice the length in your spine. This is one of my most favorite stretches, So I wanted to make sure to share it with you. Now you can hold it here if you want to enhance it. Take your right hand to the outside of your left leg. Notice that stretch in your back. And then let's go ahead and switch other sides. So left hand to the outside of your right leg. This is optional. You can always just hold that original stretch. And then come back here. Take another deep breath in. Exhale, Let it go out of your mouth. Two more as you inhale. Exhale, Let it go. Find length in that spine. And once more as you inhale. And exhale, Let it go. Beautiful, Come on up. Now we're gonna finish our practice with a little bit of balance work and breath work. We might as well be efficient with our time together. So if it is in your practice, Go ahead and balance on one leg. So starting with the left leg, Right leg can come up if you're just popping a toe or heel, And if you're holding onto your chair. Maybe you wanna come up to a nice little tree pose, Making sure that foot is above or below that knee, Opening up the hips. And then take your hands to your heart if that feels okay for you. And then when you're ready, You're gonna inhale for a count of four through your nose. One, Two, Three, Four. Hold your breath at the top. And then exhale out your mouth for a count of four, Three, Two, One, Pause for a count of four. And we do it again. Inhale, Two, Three, Four, And hold. You're doing great. And then exhale, Let it go. Four, Three, Two, One, And pause. Excellent, We'll finish by doing the same thing on the other side. So your option, You could be here, Just popping a heel up. You can come all the way up to a tree pose if that's in your practice. Good to work on balance, It's good for our minds. It's good for some mental clarity too. So when you're ready, Take an inhale through your nose. Four, Three, Two, Hold that breath at the top. Good, Exhale, Let it go. Let go of the things that no longer serve you. We begin again. Inhale, Holding up nice and tall, Challenging balance. Exhale, Let it go. Pause for four. One more time, Inhale. Hold that breath and exhale, Let it go. Good, Take your feet together. We enter the nice full body stretch. So reach up high to the sky, Lengthen your spine. You just did something beautiful to your body. Go ahead and bend towards the left. You can bend towards the right and be proud of your body's ability to move, To breathe, To relax, And to stretch. My name is Kate Powers. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope to be putting more and more of these stretching meditations out there for you to enjoy. Have a great rest of your day. And thank you.