So you can make your way over to your mat.
And we'll start today in a tabletop position.
So you can slowly make your way there.
And you can have a little bend in your elbows if you'd like.
Feel the crown of your head pressing forward so your spine is really long.
Pointer fingers are facing the top of the mat.
And then we'll do a little bit deeper movement into the body.
So you can tuck your toes under just a little bit.
And we'll do deeper cat-cows.
So as you inhale,
Just drop your belly,
Lift your heart.
And as you exhale,
Round your spine and drop your hips all the way back to your heels.
Inhale,
Come back forward,
Maybe a little bend in the elbows as you draw.
The chest lifting through the heart space.
Exhale,
Rounding the spine and sinking your hips all the way back to your heels.
Inhale,
Coming forward.
Nice and slow.
And exhale,
Rounding and dropping all the way back.
Keep moving at your own pace.
And maybe you close your eye.
And allow yourself to get in tune with this deeper breathing into your belly.
You You can sigh at any point.
And take two more nice and slow.
When you finish your last one,
Keep your hips on your heels,
Walk your hands or slide your hands forward so your forehead comes down towards the ground.
Quite a deep opening into your lower back.
Sides of your body,
Your shoulders.
Your chest,
So gently breathing into those areas.
Take one more full breath.
Good.
Then slowly press into your hands.
Start rising up.
And then gently send your feet to the side and sit down onto your bum.
Bring your legs forward.
You can move your feet around a bit,
Pointing your toes,
Just moving it around a bit.
Feeling that release through your feet,
Your ankle.
Good,
And then we're going to fold forward so you can have your legs hip-width.
Or you can always take your legs a little wider if you'd like some more space in your hips,
Okay?
So then you can use your block or pillow if it makes sense for your body.
For your forehead.
So you're going to lengthen through your low back.
And you may have a little bend in your knees,
And that can help to make sure you're hinging right from your hip.
Instead of your low back.
So you want to be hinging from your hip.
And then let yourself come down just as much as your body wants to.
And when it pauses,
Let yourself pause.
Feel your spine lengthen,
Your upper back lengthen.
Take a few breaths here with a longer spine at first.
You Breathing into your belly and gently sighing.
Good,
And then you can continue to hold your back more straight with your head more straight.
Or from your mid back up,
You can search around if that feels good on your body.
In each moment and every time we come to our practice.
We are tuning in to see what is.
.
.
Truthful that our body needs in each moment.
So each moment is a new moment.
And we can reference our past experiences.
We always want to be curious and alert and awake.
For maybe this moment is something different than what I think.
And how you know what is best is what feels best.
So what feels right with your body.
With your energy levels,
With how you're feeling today.
Feel your shoulders,
Your jaw relax.
Your legs.
You can feel your breath effortlessly traveling into your lower lungs,
Your upper belly region.
You can sigh as much as you'd like this practice.
This is a practice of releasing and trying less.
You can try all you want if you wish to off your mat,
But it's not necessary all the time,
And especially not in the yin practice.
This hour.
You are not trying at all.
You're settling into the intelligence of the universe.
Gravity,
And time,
Which is all happening without your will.
Without your effort.
The intelligence that beats your heart,
That breathes your body.
That cycles the seasons.
That grows plants.
That spins the earth around the sun.
You don't have to do anything for those things to happen.
So recognizing that it's not all your will and your effort is very wise.
And you can come to that through experience that's been my own experience over the years through experience I've been able to wake up to.
.
.
The energy,
The unseen.
Mystery of life that's already happening.
And in its intelligence,
It's already moving towards more flow.
So without doing anything at all,
Your body's already releasing.
All the stress,
All the tension because it doesn't want to hold it.
So that's already happening.
And you'll notice that by sensation in the body.
Fluctuations of emotion happening.
You may feel impatient at some points,
Frustrated at others,
Bored.
Irritable,
Sad,
Overwhelmed.
And it may just fluctuate through these emotions.
As you heal.
Because every emotion wants to be felt.
And we don't have a lot of space in this culture,
Unfortunately,
For emotion.
So a lot of it gets pushed down very unhealthily.
Not healthy at all.
And then when we pause for meditation or for yin yoga.
They start to feel all these things because the body is like,
Okay,
Yay,
It's time.
I have space to release now I can feel now.
And that's what you're feeling.
And feeling is healing.
So the lifelong practice is trusting that what you're feeling,
You're supposed to be feeling.
There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling.
Ever.
And recognizing with time that it is temporary and it has a purpose.
And the practice of a lifetime is to continue to breathe into your belly so you deepen.
Your strength.
In the awareness that's compassionate and loving.
Towards yourself.
So it's a lifelong practice of compassion and love.
For yourself.
Which is Practice at the edges.
Of what feels like too much.
Emotionally or mentally.
That's when you're in the practice.
You don't have to practice it when you're feeling good.
When you're feeling good,
It's pretty easy to love yourself and love life.
Practice is when we're healing,
When we're being patient with ourselves.
And compassionate and that rests on the foundation of trust.
Trusting life.
Trusting the posture.
Trusting that you don't have to do anything and things are already moving forward.
They're already healing.
And that's the practice.
Bye.
Gently deepen your breath into your belly and sigh it out.
And then very slowly start rising.
So it's really deep.
We were there for a while.
Very slow.
Slowly start rising.
And then take an exhale.
Okay,
Removing any blocks or pillows.
Take your right foot into your left thigh.
And then you're going to take your right hand to your thigh and your left hand to the inner leg.
Feel your spine lengthen.
And then gently start tipping down.
Towards your left foot.
And then pause there.
It doesn't have to be super deep.
Just pause.
And then press into your right hand.
And as you press into your right hand,
Feel your chest start to open a little bit.
Relaxing your neck and breathing there.
Then there's an option.
You can reach your right arm up and over,
Still pressing your right shoulder blade back.
That's just an option for you.
And we'll just take a few more breaths here into the side body.
Feel your shoulders soften.
And gently sigh your breath.
Alright,
Slowly start to rise up.
Exhale.
Right hand beside you.
Left arm reaches up and over just for a counter breath.
Inhale,
Rise back up.
And release your hand down.
Okay,
Now take your left leg more out to a diagonal,
45 degrees,
Just as far as you'd like.
Keeping the right foot into your body.
Now we're in half dragonfly pose.
Gently lengthen through the spine,
Low back.
Slowly start to walk forward.
Keep that spine longer at first.
Full breath.
You can start to feel this into your inner left thigh.
Bye.
Probably a little bit to that right to glute as well Now from the mid back up,
You can keep it straight or you can round a bit.
You may place your forehead on a block if that's accessible or just keeping your hands on the ground.
In the most comfortable position possible.
You may take a full breath into your back and gently sigh as you drop in.
You Gently start deepening your breath.
You you And then very slowly start rising yourself up.
Take your time.
Take an exhale.
And then gently removing the blocker pillow.
Then take your left leg forwards and straighten out your right leg for a moment.
Let's take a deep breath.
Feel that release,
That flush of energy through the right leg.
And then when you're ready,
Bring your right foot to the mat or cross it over your left leg.
Lengthen your spine as you breathe in right from your low back,
Your mid back to your upper back.
Right hand behind you.
Inhale,
Left arm up to the sky.
Exhale,
Twist to the right.
And then you may close your eyes again or you can just soften your gaze on one spot.
Feeling that gentle,
Full breath into your belly and sighing it out.
Bye.
Thank you,
Barbara.
And then gently turn the other way.
So you're counter twisting,
Nice long spine.
Take a full breath in.
And out.
Good and then turn back to center bring your hands back your feet to the mat And then gently release your legs side to side.
May press into your hands a bit just lifting your heart and your throat a little higher up to the sky Good,
And then pause the movements and you can stay here pressing into your hands,
Lifting your heart up.
Option two,
You could press into your feet and come into reverse tabletop for a couple breaths.
So you're pressing your feet down and you're looking up to the sky.
Three,
Two.
And one.
Slowly lower down if you're up.
And then take an exhale.
Good,
And then slide your bum forward a little bit,
Fingers still facing in.
We're going to release the back of the neck.
So you're going to press your hands down into the ground.
So you're pressing the earth away from you.
And then tucking your chin into your chest.
So you're pressing the earth down with your hands,
Pressing away.
You may feel your shoulder blades squeeze together a bit there.
And then tucking the chin in.
You may close your eyes again.
Just softly breathe out.
Two more breaths.
You Gently lift your head back up.
Good.
And then straighten out your legs.
Walking your hands back up.
And breathing out.
And then left foot into your right thigh.
Left foot into your right thigh.
Right hand inner leg you're opening to the left now so your left hand's coming to your right To your left thigh,
Left hand on your left thigh.
Feel your spine lengthen.
Then begin to tip down towards your right foot a little bit.
Then gently press into your left thigh,
Feeling your heart open a little bit more to the sky.
And then as your shoulders relax,
Breathe there.
Option to lift your left arm up and over.
Pressing left shoulder blade back,
So nice and open to the chest.
A few more deep breaths.
One more breath.
Slowly start rising yourself back up.
And breathe out.
Good,
And then take your right leg out to the side.
So right leg out to the side,
45 degrees,
However open you want to be there.
And this is half dragonfly.
So lengthening through your low back.
And then slowly begin to hinge forward,
Moving nice and slow,
Feel the low back.
Stay straight.
And then hold it straight for a little bit as you breathe.
Feeling your thighs start to relax.
Your eyes may be closed.
And from your mid back up,
You may round if that feels okay for you.
It's just another option.
Wherever you are,
Letting your arms,
Your shoulders be in the most comfortable position possible.
Gently sigh to drop in.
Remembering you can sigh at any point during the yin practice.
Especially if you feel your body getting tense on its own.
It's a typical part of the healing process as you Effortlessly go another layer deeper,
Your body will on its own tense up and shorten the breath.
And then you just notice that and you remind yourself it's okay.
It's all good.
Can soften,
And you don't need to tell yourself that,
But you can tell your body that by just initiating a sigh.
As you sigh,
Your muscles will relax.
Then you'll just go a little bit deeper all on its own.
Really working with the intelligence of the posture,
The moment,
Your body.
And just trying less,
Receiving more.
Receiving even more.
That's it.
Then start to deepen your breath.
When you're ready,
Very slowly start rising yourself up.
Take your time.
Taking an exhale.
Sliding right leg back.
You can help your leg back if you'd like.
Straighten out your left leg.
And just take a full breath here.
And then bend your left knee,
Foot to the mat.
Or you can cross your leg over.
Lengthen to your spine.
Low back,
Mid back.
Upper back lengthening.
Left hand behind you inhale right arm up exhale twist to the left Feeling your spine grow nice and tall.
Relaxing your shoulders as you twist a little bit deeper.
And then steadying your gaze or closing your eyes.
Take two more breaths.
Bye.
Bye.
And then gently turn the other way so you're counter twisting and take a full breath here.
And then turn back to center.
Hands back,
Feet to the mat.
Releasing your knees side to side.
Following your breath,
You may hold one side or the other a little longer.
Lifting your heart up to the sky,
Breathing out.
Bye.
Okay,
Last posture seated here,
So two options.
You can bring your feet together,
Your knees out for a butterfly pose,
Or you can bring your legs out into full dragonfly.
So you can be in full dragonfly with both your legs out or feet together in butterfly.
And if you're in butterfly,
Your feet can be closer or further.
Breathing in to lengthen your slow back.
Nice long inhale.
Exhale,
Begin to hinge forward and keep that spine long initially.
And continue to keep the spine long.
Or you can round from the mid back up wherever you are if that feels okay on your body.
You About three more deep breaths.
And then very slowly start rising yourself back up.
Taking an exhale.
Your legs are in dragonfly.
Take your hands to the outside of your thighs and help your legs back in.
Gently remove any blocks or pillows.
Here in butterfly,
You can just lean back,
Bring your knees together.
And then we're all going to slowly make our way to the belly.
So you're just going to send your legs back.
Slowly come down.
Stacking your hands to rest your forehead.
And taking an exhale.
Good.
Now we're going to slowly set up a twist from the belly.
So it's pretty simple.
Just bend your right knee up to the side body.
So your inner thigh,
Your inner,
Your calf there.
It's on the ground.
Okay.
And then you're going to lift up onto your forearms so you can slide your left arm,
Left arm underneath the body,
Palm up to the sky.
Right hand on top of your left hand.
Now engage your core a little bit to protect your low back.
Take an inhale.
Exhale,
Open that right arm into a twist.
Now your right arm can dangle in the air as long as that feels okay for you.
If it doesn't,
Keep going so your right arm comes down to the ground.
And then reach for a blocker pillow.
And place it underneath your right knee.
So your leg is supported.
Feel your shoulders soften as you breathe out.
You may gently sigh to drop a little deeper.
Couple more deep breaths.
Slowly bring your right arm all the way back to your left.
Remove any blocks or pillow.
Roll back to your belly.
And take a sigh.
Then bend your left knee up to your side body.
Bending your left knee up.
Rising up to your forearm so you can slide your right arm underneath your body.
Take your left hand on top of your right hand.
Engage your core a little bit.
Breathe in.
And then open.
Left arm into twist.
So your left arm can dangle in the air if that feels okay for you.
Or You can keep rolling so your arm comes to the ground and then you can place a block or pillow.
Underneath,
Your left knee.
Feel your shoulders relax as best as you can.
And breathe out.
Receiving this deep detoxification,
Effortless releasing and wringing out of the body and the mind.
Bye.
You Couple more deep breaths.
Slowly bring your left hand all the way back to your right hand.
And then this time,
Remove the blocker pillow if it's there and bend your right knee beneath your left knee so you're in a fetal position on the right side of your body.
Take a full sigh.
And then slowly roll onto your back.
All the way onto your back.
Breathe out.
Draw your knees into your chest.
Hold your shins and pull your knees towards your shoulders.
Opening up the hips.
Releasing the lower back and gently moving the ankles in circles.
Move the jaw around if you like.
Then pausing the movement and you can stay there or you can hold your feet for happy baby.
Drawing your feet up to the sky,
Just an option.
Feel your breath flowing into your belly,
Gently sighing out.
You Bye.
One more full breath.
Releasing the legs straight into Shavasana.
Sighing.
Settling into the ground.
Feeling your awareness expand far beyond your physical body.
Resting in this deeply healing posture.
Bye.
Gently bring your awareness to your breath.
Slowly make little movement into your body.
You can spend more time in Shavasana if you'd like.
Or rolling to the left into fetal position.
Taking an exhale.
Then rising to seated position,
Closing your eyes.
Taking your hands on top of your heart.
Feeling the beautiful effects of your practice,
The qualities that have arisen to the surface from within.
Take a breath in.
And out.
Connecting your palms together,
Opening your eyes.
Namaste.
