15 Minute Yoga For Beginners | Gentle Full Body Stretch

Welcome to this 15-minute yoga session! This accessible yoga class is perfect for those new to yoga or anyone looking for a gentle, quick stretch any time of day. No props are needed, making it easy to follow along from the comfort of your home or when you're traveling.

I'll guide you through a simple full-body stretch, focusing on breath and gentle movements to release tension and improve flexibility with options and variations to explore and see what works for you.

Whether you're just starting your yoga journey, returning to yoga after a break, or looking for a relaxing moment, this audio is designed to help you feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

Transcript

Hello friends and welcome to this 10 minute yoga class perfect for beginners or for anyone looking for a gentle practice.

Maybe you haven't gotten on your mat for a while.

Maybe you are recovering from being ill or from a period of inactivity.

So these 10 minutes are designed to help you move your body and reconnect to how you feel in an accessible way.

Start by lying on your back and you can stretch your body all the way or perhaps you bring your feet to the ground about hips distance apart and you allow your knees to gently rest over one another.

Your arms could rest next to your body or perhaps you bring both hands to your belly and for a moment gently move your head side to side noticing the space that you're in and arriving into your practice.

And once you feel ready bring yourself to stillness and perhaps soften your gaze or close your eyes.

Take a deep breath in through your nose filling your belly,

Your ribcage and your chest.

Open your mouth and sigh it out.

Notice how your body feels right now,

Any sensations that you become aware of.

Stretch your arms overhead as little or as much as you want.

Maybe extend your legs also as little or as much as you want.

Give yourself a full body stretch,

Yawn if you want to,

Breathe in and as you breathe out bring both feet to the ground and start to draw your right knee toward the chest.

You could bring your hands over your shin or underneath your knee and maybe you take a moment here to take a couple of circles with your right ankle one way and then the other.

Slowly releasing your right foot back down to the ground next to the left.

Arms next to your body with your palms down.

Press the back body onto the earth and stay here or on your next inhalation press the body into the earth and lift your hips up coming into a bridge pose.

Exhale slowly lower your hips back down toward the earth.

Keep your right foot flat on the floor this time and on your next inhalation hug your left knee toward the chest as little or as much as you want.

And perhaps create a little bit of movement through your left ankle,

Maybe you point and flex the foot,

Maybe you create circles,

Breathe in.

And as you breathe out release your left foot next to the right,

Both feet firmly planted on the earth,

Knees face up toward the ceiling,

Bring your arms next to your body with your palms down and as you inhale stay here or lift your hips up opening to the front body as you take your chest up toward your chin.

Deep breath in.

Notice if your knees draw open gently press them toward one another and on your exhalation lower your hips all the way back down.

Breathe in deeply,

Breathe out completely.

And inhale and exhale.

Allow your arms to come up,

Perhaps you frame your head by catching opposite wrists or elbows or you could keep your arms in cactus and then this time walk your feet a little bit wider maybe they're as wide as your mat and start to gently move your knees a little bit side to side.

You could of course allow the knees to go toward the earth on one side and then the other but you don't have to go very far just notice where the sensation starts to arise that allows you to still breathe and be present and somewhat comfortable and relaxed.

Inhaling deeply and exhaling completely.

One more inhale and exhale.

Pause at the center,

Notice the back body on the earth,

Inhale and on your exhalation let yourself relax toward the ground just a little bit more.

Heel to your feet gently toward one another until they're parallel to one another and then move your hips lightly toward one side as you roll to your side coming into a fetal position you could use your bottom arm as a pillow for a moment.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

One more inhale and exhale.

Begin to press yourself up as slowly as you want to there's no rush and come into a seat of your choice perhaps you sit cross-legged perhaps you choose to sit on your heels you could also sit on a chair for this.

On your inhalation ground through your sitting bones reaching up to the crown of the head and as you exhale once again let yourself ground down and relax down toward the earth a bit more.

Inhale take your arms out and up maybe your palms unite overhead and on your exhalation bring your hands together in front of your heart.

Now open your arms out to the sides stretch through your fingertips as little or as much as feels good for you and on your exhalation lower your left hand to the floor next to you walk it out as much as you want.

Reach up through your right arm breathe in and as you breathe out bend your left elbow as you reach a little bit toward the left with your right arm you could choose to gaze down to the left forward or maybe up notice what feels best for you and what allows you to breathe with most ease.

One more inhale and exhale bring your torso to neutral reach both arms up breathe in palms come together exhale draw your hands in front of your heart relaxing your shoulders down take your arms out to the sides again like a T breathe in and as you breathe out this time your right hand comes down onto the floor next to you breathe in to reach up through your left arm and as you breathe out soften your right elbow and reach over.

Notice the opening to the left side body and keep your sitting bones as evenly grounded as you can.

Consider where you want to take your gaze and breathe.

Come back to center as you inhale take both arms up this time interlace your hands flip them up extend your arms as much as you want maybe your gaze lifts to breathe in breathe out reach your arms forward keeping the hands interlaced and begin to round your back as your gaze lowers down toward your belly button.

Keep your hands interlaced inhale lift your chest perhaps lift your gaze maybe your back arcs a bit here exhale draw your arms forward and round your spine.

One more breathe in and breathe out this time as your arms are in front of you release the fingertips flip your palms forward lift your chest inhale and on your exhalation bring your hands behind you walk them as far back as you need to find support through both palms draw your shoulder blades toward one another lift your chest inhale exhale.

One more breathe in and breathe out now you could choose to remain with your legs crossed or you could also choose to extend your legs for a moment shake them out and whether you are sitting cross-legged or with your legs extended which again your knees could also remain bent on your inhalation I invite you to reach your arms up and on your exhalation let yourself melt forward there's no particular way this needs to look just let yourself fold and relax if you were seated on a chair just let your chest melt over your legs as well and take the arms toward the earth one more breath wherever you are inhale and exhale lengthen through your spine again and start to bring yourself to a hands and knees position coming to a tabletop spread your fingers wide right underneath the shoulders and bring your knees about hips distance apart now here start to move your hips gently from side to side you can allow your spine to mobilize you can allow your neck to mobilize if at any point there's too much sensation on the knees maybe you use a blanket or you could pinch your mat and double fold it or almost triple fold it and then place your knees there but wherever you are let yourself kind of move a little side to side or perhaps you rather create circles there's no right or wrong way to do this just notice what your breath is like and how you allow your breath to be more important than the movement one more breath inhale and exhale pause the movement now and start to tuck your toes under as you send your hips back toward the heels they don't have to go all the way back just as soon as the sensation arises through the soles of the feet that may be sufficient so observe where the edge is as you stretch your feet you could stay with the hands on the ground or if you want to intensify the sensation start to walk your hands toward the thighs as you lift your chest up wherever you are breathe and stay with whatever you find just for one more breath inhale and exhale bring your hands back down to the earth if you lifted them lift your toes and you could tap your toes on the floor or wherever you are noise or tapping is not something you should be doing take a moment to circle your ankle is one way and then the other inhale and on your exhalation lower the tops of the feet to the floor now I invite you to keep your hips stacked over the knees and you could either walk your hands forward and take your forehead either you can let it float or bring it toward the floor or if you wanted to also activate through the legs you could tuck your toes under and send your hips up and back creating this inverted v-shape that in yoga is known as downward facing dog you can keep your knees as bent as you want to in this shape because the intention is to find length from the fingertips through the arms and the spine all the way up to the hips once you have that perhaps you pedal out through the legs noticing the sensation that arises or for some folks it may feel it may feel nice to begin to extend the legs any amount but just do what works for you right now keeping the knees down on the ground and doing puppy pose is just another option it's not better or worse one more breath inhale and exhale if your knees are off the ground start to bring them down and shift your weight forward until you find yourself lying on your belly make a pillow with your hands and rest your forehead down and bend both knees to kind of move your legs from side to side like windshield wipers or you could crisscross them breathe in and breathe out extend your legs bring your hands underneath your shoulders and on your inhalation lift your chest up and then from here bring your big toes to touch separate your knees and send your hips once again back toward the heels they don't have to go all the way you could perfectly stay halfway and if you had a pillow perhaps you could bring it between your hips and your sitting bones and that may be comfortable for you you could also lie on your back and hug your knees into your chest whether you are prone or supine let yourself sway side to side let yourself breathe and notice inhale exhale one more deep breath in and out slow down any movement you might have created if you're in child's pose start to bring yourself up if you're lying down on your back perhaps you stay there now i invite you to either lie down or find a comfortable seated position to close this 10 minute practice that we've done together today so consider if you want to ground yourself more if you want to find more calmness maybe you find more calmness maybe you lie down if what you want is to remain more alert or energized maybe you sit either way soften your gaze or close your eyes and let yourself just be for a few moments no need to do anything you've done all the things let yourself rest deep breath in let it go one more inhale and this time as you exhale maybe you make sound if you have extra time today i invite you to remain in stillness if it's time for you to move on with your day come up to a seated position if you're not already there ground through your sitting bones lengthen your spine and as you soften your gaze or close your eyes you can bring your palms together in front of your head and you're going to do the same thing with the other side and you're going to bring your palms together in front of your head and you're going to do the same thing with the other side and you're going to do the same thing with and as you soften your gaze or close your eyes you can bring your palms together in front of your heart or if you rather you can bring one hand to your heart and the other hand to your abdomen just taking a moment to notice how you feel physically what's going on in your mind and how you feel energetically after this practice and perhaps you take a moment of gratitude by repeating within or without thank you,

Thank you,

Thank you,

Deep breath in let go once you feel complete release your hands open your eyes if you close them and go about your day and go about your day i hope that you have enjoyed this beginner 10 minute practice and that if you're someone that already practices yoga but perhaps fell off of it for a while you have found that spark again to continue to get back on your mat 10 minutes can seem like a very small amount of time but it often is enough to get you moving if you want more practices that are short quick and really purposeful please check out some of the videos in the next page i'll see you next time until then be well

Reviews

Today I will move with gentle ease! Love!!!! Thank you!!!!! Cat