Alright,
So let's get started.
So make your way gently over to the mat.
And then you may have your blocks or pillows next to you and let's slowly lie down onto our back.
And once you've lied down,
Just take your feet to the mat.
You may let your knees touch and you may walk your feet out a little wider.
And then gently connect your hands to your belly,
Your upper belly or your lower belly.
And then maybe your eyes soften closed.
You're beginning this slow process of unraveling yourself into the moment through receiving.
So you're receiving beneath the soles of your feet,
Beneath your back,
Back of your head,
The support of the earth.
Those qualities of strength,
Stability,
Holding you up in this moment,
Giving you permission to let go of your trying,
Of your tensing,
Of trying to figure things out or make things happen or holding anything back.
All of that is starting to soften at their edges.
As you feel your awareness effortlessly expanding now away from your physical body,
You're holding this space within your awareness of your body,
But also the space around you and also the room that you're in.
This experience of the moment is getting just effortlessly and deeply more vivid with every moment and every breath.
Acknowledging the presence of all of our energy focused into the yin practice together,
Everyone together,
Coming inwards to stillness,
To strength and to peace.
Slowly start to breathe a little deeper into your palms.
You may sigh it out.
Just continue with that breath.
Good.
We'll take three breaths where we're going to hold for a bit at the top and then take a long sigh.
Breathing in through your nose and to your belly,
Filling up your palms.
Hold and sigh.
Again,
Breathe in.
Good.
Last one.
Good.
Full breath in.
Good.
Now gently draw your knees into your chest,
Holding your shins or wrapping your arms around your legs.
Allow yourself to witness the release that's arising to the lower body,
Back,
Glutes,
Hamstrings.
You may rock a bit side to side.
Just explore those sensations and your breath down to your belly.
Good.
Then gently send your legs right up to the sky and dangle your arms in the air as well.
Legs can be more hip width.
Get a little micro bend in your knees and your elbows.
Then you may make circles through your ankles and your wrists.
You may move your jaw around a bit.
Squeeze and release the face.
Sighing the breath.
Good.
Landing in stillness.
Letting your limbs become effortless as they float in the air and that connection to the earth beneath you is just getting more and more deep.
We're just sinking deeper into the ground.
Any bits of stickiness that are holding to you energetically or thought-wise or in the body,
It's just pouring down your limbs and away from your body,
Just evaporating to the edges all around and then leaving your being.
Noticing a sense of stillness and ease that's behind and underneath that release.
Then drawing your right knee into your chest,
Hold your shin,
Either lower left foot down or straighten left leg down onto the earth,
Heel down on the mat.
Then draw your right knee a little closer to your right shoulder.
Then softening into the posture to receive.
In some way our muscles have to be a little bit engaged to hold the posture,
But with time we're recognizing how much that actually is and it's usually a lot less than we're actually using.
So really using the absolute minimum amount of effort and strength that's needed through the muscles,
The mind,
Any of that,
And noticing how lightly you can hold,
How lightly you can hold this posture,
How lightly you can hold this present moment,
Your experience,
Life,
Just taking a little bit more lightly.
Letting your breath expand,
Trusting the practice deepening on its own.
Good,
Take a full breath in.
Gently lengthen out your right leg on the mat,
Arms up,
Stretch the body,
Breathe in.
Take a sigh,
Exhale.
Good,
One more stretch,
Breath in,
And let it go.
Gently draw the knees back into the chest,
Squeezing the legs back in,
Rocking a bit.
And then legs back up to the sky,
Arms back up to the sky,
As effortlessly as possible,
Holding yourself in the air in this position of surrender,
This position of trust.
And in trust,
You can soften into life and into the moment.
So we're practicing letting go and trusting even just the depth of our breath and our awareness to hold whatever is temporarily rising and falling.
Good,
One more breath.
Big exhale.
Gently bend left knee into chest,
Either release right foot down or right leg straight down onto the mat,
Heel down.
Draw the left knee closer to the left shoulder.
And we're opening through that left glute hamstring a bit and also the right hip flexor.
So allowing the softness to ease into the body.
As you get into the posture,
You may be holding it a little bit tightly,
Just noticing how much you can relax while still holding your leg.
And then as you breathe into the belly,
Allow that relaxation,
That lightness to take over.
You'll notice you start to feel more,
More sensation,
More ease,
And everything starting to move and the ground in the peace and the stability and awareness within you is growing at the same time.
So awareness is growing,
Expanding,
Holding,
Strength is deepening,
And also life is moving.
Release is happening,
All of that is happening.
Just automatically,
When the intention is to soften and follow the breath,
Then you become more available to receive,
Which is the yin practice.
Receiving,
Depth,
Posture,
And life.
Receiving life.
Receiving what feels good.
Receiving the strength.
Receiving the breath.
Take one more full breath.
Good.
Gently lengthen out your left leg,
Arms up,
Stretch your body,
Breathe in.
And sigh it out.
Good.
Now,
You may use your blocks or pillows if you choose.
We're going to bring our feet to the mat,
And we're going to let our feet come together and our knees fall out.
So you may place the blocks or the pillows underneath your thighs if you choose.
That can help relax your hips.
And of course,
That's our intention,
Is relaxation.
So,
Yes,
There's a little bit of holding in the yin postures,
But not too much.
And that's why we have blocks,
Which really help us to support us so that we can relax more,
And then the depth comes there,
Instead of getting trapped and trying and forcing and holding too much.
So that can be the gift and what the purpose is of the blocks.
So it actually helps create more depth,
More ease,
More flow.
You can either take your hands to your belly,
Or you may have your arms beside you in a cactus shape,
Opening up through the chest if you choose to do that.
Letting your inner thighs and glutes soften.
And your forehead and your face.
Being with that breath in and out of your belly.
Gently deepening your breath.
Good.
Gently bring your hands down to the outside of your legs,
Helping your legs back up slowly,
Feet to the mat.
And then take a breath out.
Good.
Slowly drop your knees side to side a couple times.
And straighten out your legs,
Take a stretch,
Breathe in,
Maybe make fists and squeeze your face as you stretch and breathe in.
And then release it all,
Exhale.
One more.
One more stretch and squeeze.
Good.
Bending your knees,
Gently rolling to the left into a fetal position.
Take a breath out.
And then slowly start rising up,
No rush,
All the way into a seated position.
Bring your feet to the mat.
Good.
And then take your hands back behind you,
Fingers facing in.
And then you may scoot your bum up just a bit,
We're going to release the back of our neck.
So press your hands down into the earth,
Pressing your body away from the mat.
And then tuck your chin in to your chest.
So as you press down with the hands and tuck your chin in.
Breathing into the back of your neck.
Good.
One more breath.
And gently lifting the head back up.
Slide your feet forward a little more.
Now we're going to do a forward bend.
So you may give yourself a hug like this with your feet on the ground.
Or you may slide your heels forward if you want more depth.
Or you can have your legs more straight,
Hands beside you,
And then gently hinge from the hips,
Coming down.
So you want your low back to be straight.
If you find your low back feels like it's bending,
Bend your knees instead.
Bending your knees will give your low back space to be straight,
Which it wants to be.
Because the hinge wants to come from the hips.
And when it does that,
You get the deepest release,
And your low back is safe.
Once you come down,
You can either keep your upper back more straight,
Or you may round it in a little more.
You may have your head more straight,
Or you may drop your head a little more.
Shoulders are softening down the back.
Gently taking a sigh.
And you may have a soft gaze,
Or your eyes may be closed.
We're releasing the whole back line of our body.
Calves,
Hamstrings,
Spine,
Neck,
Shoulders.
And our awareness and the energy that's arising is being directed to the breath.
In and out of the belly.
Sighing if it feels constricted,
Or if it stops.
And receiving the release.
Good,
Take a few more deep breaths.
Alright,
Slow motion,
Begin unraveling yourself,
Take your time.
Very slowly begin rising up.
Breathe out.
And then we'll come into deer pose on the right.
So you're going to lean to the right,
And you're going to bend your legs to the left.
And you're on your right hip.
Your right thigh is aligned with the edge.
Shin with the top.
Back leg back more is deeper.
Back leg forward more is less deep.
And you may use one of your blocks for your forehead as you come down.
So slowly shifting your torso a bit to the left,
And then folding over your right leg.
Opening into right glute,
Right hip.
So if you're not feeling it there,
Send your left leg back more.
Or you can also shift where your weight is,
Where your torso is,
Putting that weight down onto your hip.
So you may shift your torso a bit,
Like little micro movements to the right,
Or back,
Or forward.
And you'll feel different things in your hip space,
Wherever you want that pressure to be.
To release.
Allowing your arms,
Shoulders,
Head to be arranged however you'd like.
And very slowly start rising,
No rush,
Moving very slow.
And then once you come up,
If your left leg's back a lot,
Just bring it forward a bit,
So your knee is in line with your,
Left knee is in line with your left hip.
From there,
Lengthen through your spine.
Breathe in,
Take a little twist to the right,
And breathe out.
Now you may have your eyes closed.
Or you may steady your gaze.
And you're allowing your left glute to soften.
And then twisting a little bit deeper.
Good,
And then gently turn back forwards.
Lean to the right,
Right hand to the right,
Lean,
Left leg is slowly coming forwards,
And then come into a seated position for a moment,
So crossing your legs.
And then,
Right arm out to the side,
Left palm up on the low back,
Lengthen through the spine,
And then tip right ear to right shoulder.
And breathe into the left side of your neck.
And then gently tip your chin down towards your collarbone,
So you're looking more at your right thigh.
Breathe into the back,
The left side of your neck.
Take a full breath in.
And out.
Gently roll right ear back to right shoulder,
And then slowly lift the head back up.
Good,
Left arm out to the side,
Right palm up on the low back,
Lengthen through the spine.
Tip left ear to left shoulder.
Breathing into right side of your neck.
Gently rolling your chin down to your left collarbone,
Looking more at your left thigh.
Breathing into the right,
Back side of your neck.
And gently sigh.
Good,
Slowly roll your left ear back to your left shoulder,
And then lift your head back up.
And you may be still for a bit,
Or you may maybe make some slow,
Full circles.
And switch direction.
Good,
And then find a neutral spine.
Okay,
Let's lean to the left,
Setting up deer pose on the left,
Right leg's coming back.
So you're sitting on your left hip,
Left thigh is aligned with the edge,
Left shin with the top.
Back leg back more is deeper,
Forward more is less deep.
You may place your forehead on a block as you come down over your left leg.
Keeping your spine as straight as you can,
Relaxing through the shoulders.
Breathing into left glute,
Left hip.
If you're not feeling it,
Right leg back more.
Or shifting your torso a bit to find that place where the weight feels like it's good in that left glute,
Left hip space.
Jaw is softening.
Shoulders.
Just breathing with yourself,
Receiving all sensation,
All emotion,
All thoughts,
Just letting it all happen.
It's all temporary,
It's all part of the release process.
Just holding your awareness and your energy on your breath as you relax into the moment.
And gently begin deepening your breath.
And then slowly start rising up.
If your right leg's back a lot,
Gently take it forward a bit more so your right knee is in line with your right hip.
Lengthen your spine,
Breathe in.
And then twist a little bit to the left and breathe out.
Allowing yourself to make micro little movements so you can get into that nice tall spine.
Shoulders relaxed.
And then relaxing through your right glute.
Twisting a little deeper.
And then turning back forwards.
Left hand to the left,
Lean to the left,
Slowly bring that right leg forwards.
Feet to the mat.
Releasing your knees side to side.
Take a big exhale.
Good.
Find a seated position and then if you have blocks or pillows,
I'm going to use them now,
Or a long pillow or a bolster.
This is a lower height,
This is a higher height.
This is on your upper back,
Right along your spine.
This is on your head.
Okay,
So you're going to keep your bum on the ground and then slowly make your way down and kind of have that edge of the first block align right at the beginning of your upper back,
Right along your spine.
And then other block beneath your head,
You can pick it up with your hands and move it into that good position beneath your head.
And if it feels uncomfortable,
It's probably because the block on your back might be a little too low.
So you might move it up a bit and just let it be right along the spine of your upper back,
The top of your back.
And if you don't have anything lying flat on your back,
Then we'll take our arms out to a T or a cactus shape.
Feet can stay on the mat or you may find straight legs or feet together,
Knees out into a butterfly shape.
Allow your eyes to close and receive super deeply through your heart,
Your throat,
Your whole frontal body.
As you allow yourself to settle down into the blocks a little deeper.
Settle down to the earth a little more.
Okay,
And gently begin deepening your breath.
Gently bring your arms down if your legs are in butterfly,
Hands to the outside of your legs,
Helping them back up.
If your legs are straight,
Gently bending your knees,
Feet on the mat.
And then either rolling off your blocks to one side or pressing into your forearms,
Engaging your core,
Gently rising back up.
There's blocks or pillows,
Gently remove them and then slowly lay down onto your back.
Breathing out.
Rolling your shoulder blades under.
And then draw your knees into your chest,
Hold your shins,
Draw your knees towards your shoulders.
Stay there,
Hands on the shins or hold your feet or your ankles for happy baby,
Bringing your soles of your feet up to the sky.
You may be still or you may rock a bit.
Just feel into that ease and that joy and the happy baby in this posture,
Receiving that playfulness of this moment,
All that's present within you.
And take two more deep breaths.
Gently release your feet,
Your legs,
Straightening them out for Shavasana.
Hands can be to the belly or to the sides.
Sinking really deep into that support of the earth.
Feeling super effortless and light in your energy and in your being.
Relaxing through the forehead.
And gently bring your awareness to your breath.
Stay in Shavasana longer,
Receiving more healing benefits through the whole body,
The mind.
Or you may start to make some movements and roll to the left side.
Breathing out.
Gently rising up to a seated position.
Closing the eyes,
Palms together.
Take a full breath in.
And out.
Feel this expansion,
Stability,
Peace and joy within you,
Around you,
Expanding into this moment.
Thanking yourself for your presence,
For arriving on your mat,
For breathing.
From my heart to yours,
Namaste.
