Welcome to this guided yoga practice,
Lying down and connecting breath,
Sound and movement.
This can be a lovely way of calming the nervous system,
Particularly if you're feeling a little bit stressed.
So taking some time to organise yourself to lie down,
Can be on your bed or on a carpeted surface.
Placing a blanket underneath the back and a small pillow underneath the head.
Encouraging a neutral spine.
So just taking the time to organise yourself as you lie down.
Legs are bent,
Feet on the floor.
Feet are hip distance.
Arms are long,
Hands soft.
Head resting on the pillow.
And we're going to begin with some breathing.
Breathing in and out through the nose unless your nose is blocked.
We'll start with the centering breath.
Taking a slow gentle in-breath.
And a slow gentle out-breath,
Letting go.
And coming back to natural breathing.
Trying that again.
Another centering breath.
Slow gentle in-breath.
Slow gentle out-breath.
And coming back to natural breathing.
And just trying that one more time with your own breathing ratio.
And when you're ready,
Bringing your hands to your waist.
Always looking after yourself,
Only doing what feels right for you.
No pushing,
Forcing,
Striving.
Practising with kindness.
As you inhale,
Having a neutral head.
And as you exhale,
Looking over your right shoulder.
Inhale,
Head comes back to centre.
Exhale,
Turning the head,
Looking over your left shoulder.
And continue connecting breath with movement to calm the mind.
This can be a lovely practice if the head is spinning and there's lots of rumination.
Just gently connecting the head and the breath.
Gentle movement,
Looking after your neck and shoulder girdle.
Coming back now to stillness.
And noticing your arms.
Arms are long.
See if you can inhale and take the right arm slowly over the head.
You can keep your elbow soft so there's no strain on the shoulders.
And as you exhale,
Float the arm back down.
Inhale,
Floating the left arm gently over.
And as you exhale,
Float the arm back down.
Continue alternating the arms.
Some of you might be able to have the arm reaching the floor above the head.
If that feels comfortable.
And as you exhale,
The arm comes back down.
Feeling the touch as the arm rests gently next to you.
Inhale,
Floating the left arm.
Exhale,
Releasing.
And then doing one more round with your breathing.
And releasing the arms,
Taking them a little bit wider out from the side body.
Stepping the feet a little bit wider.
And we're going to relax the knees to the left.
Inhale,
Point the knees back up.
Exhale,
Relax the knees to the right.
So the feet remain on the floor.
And you might like to turn your head in the opposite direction to the knees.
So the knees are like windscreen wipers,
Gently going side to side.
And you might feel this lovely release through your lower back.
So inhale,
Knees point up.
Exhale,
Knees soften to one side.
And your head might look in the opposite direction,
Inviting a lovely twist up through the spine.
Releasing the lower back.
So trying that for a few times.
It's a lovely practice if you're carrying tension through the lower back.
Coming back to stillness.
And now we're going to try breathing,
A lovely way of lengthening the out-breath.
We breathe in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Great way of letting go of tension.
So breathing in.
Breathing out.
Two more times,
Breathing in.
One more time when you're ready.
Coming back to natural breathing and just observing.
How does that feel?
Lifting the feet now,
Having the hands on the knees.
Knees are wide,
One hand on each knee.
And drawing gentle circles like a frog swimming.
Feeling into the hips,
The left and right sides.
Gentle rocking through your lower back.
And now turning the knees back the other way.
Notice how that feels.
I get really curious about the body when we practice yoga.
Letting go of tension,
Holding.
One side might feel different to the other.
And then bringing the feet back down.
Feet on the floor,
Legs bent,
Arms long.
And now we'll try some straw breathing.
We're going to make a small circle with the mouth.
As we let go of the air.
As if we're blowing through a little tiny straw.
Inhale.
Trying that two more times.
Deep breath in.
And one more time when you're ready.
And then taking the pillow out from underneath your head.
You might notice that the lips are tingling or there's more sensation around the face between the eyebrow centre.
We're going to do some pelvic lifts now.
Gently pressing into your feet,
Arms along.
Pressing the palms into the floor.
Looking after your back.
As you inhale,
Lifting the pelvis off the floor.
Comfortable back,
Comfortable neck.
And as you exhale,
Bringing the sacrum down.
The sense of letting be,
Letting go.
Having a resting breath in between.
Inhale,
Pressing into the feet,
Lifting the pelvis off the floor.
And as you exhale,
Releasing the sacrum back down.
Being gentle,
Kind,
Patient.
With your next breath.
Inhale,
Coming up.
And see if you can hold for two slow deep breaths in this position now.
And letting go.
Notice how it feels to contract the muscles and how it feels to let go.
And then we'll try it one more time.
We're going to press into the feet,
Make sure the toes are flat.
Inhale,
Lifting the pelvis.
And see if you can take the arms over the head,
Keeping the elbows soft.
So we're opening armpits to reduce depression in the body.
Opening up through the front of the body to bring energy into the body.
And pausing and breathing.
Can you take three slow deep breaths here?
And letting go.
Coming back.
Noticing how the body's feeling now.
And we'll just bring the soles of the feet together.
Feet are on the floor,
Knees are wide.
Arms are wide,
Palms up.
So we're just inviting soft belly,
Soft palms.
And just softening your tongue.
Releasing the tongue down into the base of the mouth.
Unhinging the jaws.
And just observing,
How does it feel?
If there's any pain in the neck you might need to put the pillow back underneath your head.
Just being curious.
Soft belly,
Open heart.
Know that doing gentle yoga,
A little bit of practice each day,
Is a real gift to your body,
Heart and mind.
If any of these practices felt lovely for you,
Know that you can repeat them.
Just pausing,
Soles of the feet together,
Knees wide,
Belly soft,
Palms of the hands soft,
Tongue and jaws soft.
And we'll just come back to natural breathing,
Observing any physical sensations that are here to be known.
Know that you can stay here as long as you need to.
Or if you're ready you might draw the knees back in together.
Rolling off to your right side,
Pausing here.
Know that you can take these mini breaks,
Working with the body and the breath,
Anytime during your day to reduce stress.
And to help you feel centered and grounded.
Thank you for your practice and I look forward to doing more yoga with you.
Bye for now.
