Yin And Shavasana Practice - More Agreements

Yin yoga postures are long held and passive in nature, practiced mainly seated or lying down. This gentle session will let us discover the meditative aspects of yoga through movement and guided rest. Props from around you are helpful but not necessary.

Recorded live on Insight Timer 12/4/24.

Transcript

I'm Lisa.

This is yin and shavasana.

And what is this class?

This class is listed under yoga and yin is a type of asana which is movements with our body,

A little bit of a stretch if you will,

But really we're not going for muscle strength here.

We are maybe having a little stretch in the body,

Perhaps a stretch within the mind and rest,

Lots of rest.

So if you're here for lots of action,

There is,

But not the kind that maybe you're looking for.

So that's in advance.

We support ourselves with all sorts of props and stuff from around wherever you are.

So if you're in your house,

Grab some pillows,

Cushions,

Something from your couch,

Whatever you need,

Whatever you have,

Perhaps a blanket or a towel,

Something that you can roll to put under the knees or to cover the body,

All of the options for the stuff.

If you have block like items,

Maybe a big book or some like a water bottle that can support you,

Bringing,

Really bringing the ground closer to where you are now.

With all of that said,

Do you need to be on the floor or on a special sticky mat?

Nope.

You can be on the couch.

You can be in a chair.

You can be in bed.

You could be doing work.

I don't know.

You can just be listening.

So all of the options are available.

This class has a lot to veer off on your own direction,

Your own rabbit hole in.

So lots of food for thought.

And if something isn't for you,

Take what is and leave the rest.

Okay.

With all of that said,

Grabbing your props,

Your stuff,

Thank you in advance for your donations,

Greatly appreciated.

What else?

I think that is what I have to say about all of the things.

If you have questions and comments pertaining to the class or that kind of aha moment,

Feel free to use the chat function.

I try and look at it often,

But you know,

If I don't know that I will see it and then I will talk about it eventually.

So yes,

All of that stuff.

We have props.

We have clothes that you can move in.

Let's go.

All right.

As if we're not already going.

Before we begin,

However,

Again,

If we had not already begun,

I always like to give my little show and tell here.

I have really been going hard on the four agreements,

Which I love that I had to buy a second copy because someone took mine in the best way possible.

Don Miguel Ruiz,

Right,

From the Toltec tradition.

And then this is one of my variations.

I have many copies of the Bhagavad Gita and this looks like I traveled far and wide for it,

But I actually found it used locally for like $4.

So lots of copies available for all sorts of books and always suggesting used or your local bookshop.

Yes.

Okay.

With that said,

With all of these things in mind,

Find a spot where you would like to arrive in your body.

So maybe you'd like to lay down for this moment,

Just depending on where you are in your body,

Where you are in the world,

What feels appropriate or safe to you to be able to soften into in this moment to check things out,

See how we're doing.

And remember,

You can always shift,

You can move,

You do not have to stay in one spot.

And as you start to arrive in whatever spot you have taken,

If you've lied down or sat upright,

Come into this moment of arriving in the body.

Maybe the eyes close or the gaze softens,

Just depending on your experience,

How the body feels.

If you start to feel anxious and agitated as the eyes close,

Let them be soft.

There is no right or wrong.

Allow the body to start.

And again,

Lots of variations.

So speaking to the metal here of when can the body start to relax,

Soften,

Maybe even feel safe in this moment.

Acknowledge how the body might be communicating to you,

Acknowledging whatever's happening in sensation or any other way.

And allow yourself to come back to that moment of arrival,

Especially if the brain has taken you on a journey.

Continue to arrive in the body and now might be a great time to introduce the awareness around your breath.

Taking a full breath in and out,

Allowing the body to be stable,

Continuing to arrive and letting the breath,

Letting it be a structure,

Something that is your foundation.

And more or less,

How can the breath help the body to feel at ease?

Notice how the sensations of the breath might change.

No need to control or judge,

Allowing the breath to be the foundation of the body.

And perhaps we stay with the noticing of the breath,

The sensations,

The sounds.

And maybe you add on the,

How am I today?

How is the capital self,

Capital S self from within that very best magical piece of you.

Notice how the breath can support those findings here.

Remember,

Eyes can be open or closed or soft,

Or dot,

Dot,

Dot.

Allow this to be your experience through breath,

Through the witnessing of what is in this moment.

How can the breath support the brain from going off on all of those journeys,

Using the breath to keep everything at the witness versus the storyteller.

Start to deepen the breath here.

Let's get the breath more involved.

Again,

No pressure or force,

Allowing a slightly deeper breath.

If that's comfortable for you in through the nose or the mouth,

Staying exactly as you are.

Open mouth or through the nose,

Exhale,

Letting it be slightly longer than the inhale.

Let it be drawn out.

Breath in.

And long,

Full,

Sweeping breath out.

Allow some of the stickiness,

The murky,

Some of that to be swept at least to the surface into the light.

Maybe you're just getting some deep breaths out,

Getting the body moving,

The lungs.

Feeling into each breath,

A couple more here.

Doesn't have to look,

Sound,

Or feel like anything particular,

Just breathing.

Last full,

Deep,

Long exhale,

Let it go.

And then bringing everything back into center with another inhale,

Start to blink the eyes open if they were closed,

Leaving the gaze lowered.

Starting to acknowledge whatever's right in front of you where your gaze lands,

Allowing the softness of this moment to integrate the inner and the outer worlds.

Allowing ourselves to notice what we noticed.

And then for a brief moment here with the gaze lowered still,

Bringing a hand to the heart,

A hand to the belly,

Or where the hands want to be.

Maybe the eyes float closed once again.

And find a deep breath in and out.

Checking in with,

Again,

That capital S self,

The body,

The breath.

Notice the interior for one more moment here once again.

Breathing into the hands,

The hands falling into the body.

And gently release the hands,

Lower the gaze once again,

And blink the eyes open.

Maybe the hands are palm side up facing the sky.

Again,

Don't get caught up in the directions of the things.

Bringing the awareness,

Even though eyes are open,

Soft,

To the palms,

The fingertips where they were touching the chest and belly.

Bringing awareness back to that inner experience,

Even though the eyes are open.

Feeling that connectedness.

Noticing how we transfer the energy from the inner to the outer,

And again,

Back and forth without even a thought.

So as we feel the inner experience melding and transmuting with the outer,

Coming into this liminal space of being.

A space,

Perhaps,

Of more awareness,

Of texture,

Of sound,

Of space,

Of self.

Within these moments,

Remembering that we can shift the energy within ourselves within these moments by being aware,

Finding breath,

Coming back to center,

Alignment.

Alignment within that magical golden self that's connected to everyone's magical golden self,

This greater community.

And we can come back to this one breath at a time.

It is not the magical journey.

It's the showing up for ourselves one breath at a time.

One breath at a time in this liminal space.

Over and over and over again.

Surrounding ourselves with what reminds us to come back.

So notice your breath coming back to this liminal space.

Big,

Full breath in.

Wiggle the fingers.

Exhale.

Blink the eyes a couple of times,

And then lift your gaze.

And just reminding ourselves of the soft,

Slow movement here,

Of that in-between.

Maybe we can bring that with us for the rest of our practice or the rest of our day,

Year,

Life.

So moving slowly,

Especially if you were in a cross-legged or something.

Very slowly,

Carefully moving out of that shape.

And maybe you're staying in bed.

Maybe you're staying in that rest.

So allow for whatever it is to speak to you.

But for those of us who have moved in a shape,

Allow a little bit of movement.

So I was in a cross-legged.

So I'm extending my legs,

Which I can scooch back a little bit here.

Extending the legs.

And with that slow,

Ooey-gooey feeling,

Start to pedal.

Feeling into the hip joint here.

And it's not that we've gone from that internal to external.

It's the interweaving.

It's how can we stay connected to that part in which is our truth while stretching our hips.

Snap,

Crackles,

And pops,

Perhaps.

And then after you've taken this little walk with the legs,

Moving through the hips here,

Maybe bending one knee at a time.

Hands can support either side.

You can be leaning up against something.

Again,

You don't have to stay in a spot.

A little movement through the knee joints here.

And then planting the legs straight again.

A little movement through the ankles.

Sliding the toes,

The feet side to side with the movement of the ankles.

Lubricating the joints here.

One of my teachers likes to say.

And then start to pedal through the feet.

Flexing and extending here through the toes.

And of course the rest of the leg and hip will move,

But what's driving the shape?

So staying within the curiosity from the inside versus checking out.

Yeah,

Yeah,

I'm stretching my legs here and I'm looking out the window.

Let's bring it back.

Practicing intentional movement,

Intentional breathing,

Intentional intentionality.

If that's not a word,

I made it up.

All right.

And then whatever movements you still need to do to bring everything back online.

Maybe scrunching the toes and then splaying them open.

Or stretching a little bit more through a flex.

Bringing the toes towards the knees,

Heels away.

Stretching into the arches.

And then when you feel stretched a little bit more through the legs.

Let's come down to your back,

Which I'm going to stay up.

I tend to get a little muffled as I lay down.

So making your way onto your back here.

Find a full body.

Arms,

Legs extend.

What is it that you need to do to find that same movement in the upper body?

This time listening a little bit more deeply to what your body is needing.

So maybe the right shoulder is feeling a way and you take a moment where you investigate.

Taking that little bit of a journey from within to explore the exterior.

So arms and legs can be,

You know,

If you're not sure what to do,

Starting to breathe into,

How does this feel?

Where does my breath go as you're reaching one side long?

Or whatever it is that's calling to you.

And bringing the awareness back in.

Especially if there's an injury,

There's a story about something,

Let's say a knee.

And when we get into,

Oh,

It was because of the thing and I did this yesterday.

Coming back to sensation and breath,

How can the breath support that?

And how does it need to move in this moment versus what I used to be able to do or any of that?

Another moment here.

A little inquiry,

Investigation.

Notice where the breath goes.

Notice how you can ask that question again.

How am I here in this moment?

And then one more little stretch,

Reach,

Reach,

Stretch.

Slowly arms,

Bring your arms down to the sides.

And pause here.

Maybe you stay with eyes towards the sky.

Softening the gaze,

Pausing,

Noticing what it is.

Perhaps you add a little bit of neck stretch.

So laying on the back or in whatever shape you're in.

You can bring the chin toward the right shoulder.

We're not bringing it to the right shoulder.

Imagining that length in the spine from your tailbone all the way through the crown of the head.

And then turning towards the shoulder from that lengthened awareness,

If you will.

Another breath or two with some investigation or not.

And then with that length in mind and the breath,

How can it support you?

Breathing towards the center,

Chin towards the midline of the body.

Another inhale,

If you're going to continue on to the other side,

Bringing length again.

And then chin toward shoulder.

And investigation without sacrificing something else.

So I like to call it the hunch and crunch.

Like if you're trying to get one body part to do something,

Are you hunching and crunching to get it there with everything else?

And you can picture that in lots of other young classes where maybe you flow or you're trying to achieve.

So find just the sense of being,

Where is my neck today?

How does my breath support that?

Because there is not a goal here.

All right.

Your inhale brings the chin back to center.

Pause again.

And then with that liminal space curiosity,

Maybe notice what was crunched or holding on gripping so that the neck felt less or more or whatever it is.

There's so many different things that we could be doing.

So sometimes that counter movement is what we're noticing.

All right.

Letting everything soften,

A big exhale,

Let it be swept out.

And then mindfully one knee at a time comes in towards the chest.

Pause here.

You can rest the hands on the knees.

No need for a big hugging,

Squeezing motion to be here.

Let the tailbone melt is the motion.

So if your tush is high in the sky,

Just notice the softening where you soften.

If your tailbone is all the way on the earth and the knees are in,

Notice where you can soften.

If you're the gajillion people in the middle,

Notice where we can soften.

Use the breath.

Allow the arms to be weight versus effort.

So we don't have to go into a lot of action in the shoulders and the pulling in.

Resting.

We're in this moment using the breath to sweep where we want to.

I don't know what that was.

It's not a sweeping.

Another breath or two with this little seed shape,

Even though we're feeling into the length,

The whole of the spine.

We're still in this seed shape.

So coming back to,

Well,

In both of the books that I referenced a moment ago,

That warrior within.

Breathing into all of the I shoulds and I could be doing and all of the other agreements.

Letting those soften the agreements that we're unwittingly agreeing to every day in habit,

Whatnot.

So allow the breath to do that sweep out,

Starting to come back to a liminal space of feeling.

And then if you want to give yourself a little hug in that new agreement in the impeccability of our word,

Not taking anything personally,

Give yourself a big squeeze.

Burst back open into a full body stretch.

Allow the fingers and toes to tingle with awareness of borders of edges of the body.

So if your experience is different,

Experiencing your borders and edges of your body and allowing those to.

Go feral.

A little bit reach further,

Not for my hyper mobile friends,

Though,

It's all it can be within the imagination,

Depending on our experiences.

And then hug in once again.

So it's the yes,

And it's that seed shape,

Hugging in,

Remembering our truth.

And then bursting open,

Remembering our truth,

And yet spreading further,

Going further,

Reminding ourselves who we are,

Taking our power back.

All right,

That was fun.

When you're ready,

Roll over to one side or the other.

Pause,

Feel into whatever,

You know,

I say it's fun,

But whatever your experience is here.

Re-grounded,

Re-visited.

And then slowly press your way up to a seat.

And we'll come into a straddle stretch,

A dragonfly,

If you will.

So legs extend wide or not,

Depending on your situation.

Again,

You can be leaning up against something like I am.

You can have something rolled underneath knees,

Thighs,

Ankles,

Heels,

Whatever it is,

As long as we're not elevating the legs.

Putting pressure on the hip joints.

Find the support that you need here.

And especially before you get too settled,

Perhaps a little lift up and off of the real estate of your seat.

Bringing your sitting bones so that they're more connected,

So that you feel into,

I am firmly sat here.

So whether you're sitting up onto something or not,

Making sure that you feel that stability.

As with the breath,

So we take the time to arrive.

We notice how the breath can support,

Because there is no destination.

Feeling into a stretch or not,

We're taking a rest or a deeper rest.

How is the breath?

Notice where the mind tends to go.

And just depending on these shapes,

We hold them for longer periods of time.

So if you are holding yourself up,

Know that you can bring all of the props up to you to bridge the connection between the earth and your body without the hunch,

And crunch over the magical tower.

And then with that long spine,

Rounding forward or wherever you are.

And then remember,

If you are coming further forward,

Checking in with how you are,

Perhaps the why.

Use your breath to arrive again and again.

Perhaps as the brain wanders,

You notice a little bit sooner than you would have.

Checking in with how we speak to ourselves,

Especially when we notice.

I hear a lot of,

But I know better.

We just keep starting again with grace.

Navigating our way back into that liminal space of matching the insides to the outside.

So how do our actions reflect our truth?

Know the reminders that we surround ourselves to shorten the distance between the forgetting and the remembering.

I mean,

Perhaps that's why we come to this class.

We read the books,

We talk about the music,

The whatever it is that's the reminders of not just consumption and being on the wheel.

Using your breath.

Coming back to whatever your center or alignment is today.

And notice the impeccability of your word,

The clarity.

What message are you sending?

So finding the grace within,

Especially the self-talk.

Some breaths here exactly as you are.

Letting all of the muscles,

The grouping,

The tension,

Letting all of that soften to the best of your ability.

In the shape,

Again,

There is no goal.

Perhaps what is noticed.

And how can the grace hold that information?

How can the breath support?

And then in those same agreements,

The taking nothing personally.

So the forgetting and the remembering might get further out than you'd prefer.

And then when we notice,

Ah,

We notice.

It's not a personal failure because there's nothing to be taken personally.

There was no goal,

There is no rule.

Coming back to breath.

Breath.

One breath at a time as we support ourselves here in this new agreement.

The new neural pathways.

The more regulated nervous systems.

Another breath or two here in this shape.

Just as you are feeling into that liminal space of breath.

Of sensation.

If you have a mountain of props and cushions out in front of you,

Slowly with the hands,

Start to bring yourself up and find that long spine.

Move your stuff to the side.

And then we'll all pick a leg,

Pick a side and then gently escort it towards the other side.

So no big movements,

No jumping in and out of any shape we make.

And then again,

A little pedal.

Maybe starting with the hips.

How am I here?

Knees check in,

Ankles,

Toes,

All the snap,

Crackles and pops.

Maybe a little swish,

Swish,

Knees side to side,

Toes follow along.

And then let's,

Well,

Lots of options coming here.

So take your time getting all of those wiggles out.

There's lots of option in what I'm going to offer here.

So with bottom leg extended,

You can scoot your stuff to the side and cross your top ankle over in a type of figure four or half pigeon,

Whatever you're wanting to call this here.

Not half pigeon,

Anyway,

Whatever we're calling this shape.

So you can take a figure four on your back.

You can be in a chair.

You can be in bed making the shape.

So bottom leg is extended out in front of me.

Top leg is crossed ankle towards the top of the bottom knee.

All right,

So here we are.

Lots of options,

Blocks,

Cushions,

Pillows,

Especially if your knee is flying high.

We're not going to be here as long as the last shape that we made.

So find your support.

And then we will come to a little foot massage.

So while we're here,

Notice if there's any hunch or crunch to take the shape on.

If there is a little bit of movement,

Adjust.

Remember,

You don't have to land in the perfect shape and permission is always granted from yourself to move,

To shift,

To accommodate.

All right,

So finding whatever works for you and the boundaries of your body,

A little massage at the end of the left leg and making sure that we're feeling into this moment.

So bringing your awareness,

Your breath,

That liminal space here,

Awareness of how it feels from the inside of the foot as well as the hands.

Giving the mind something to do.

Bringing the breath into it.

How does the breath,

Am I holding my breath?

All right,

Another moment or two,

Maybe getting in between the toes.

And then also check in with how you're holding your upper body.

I tend to roll the shoulders forward.

So finding what works for you,

A little longer spine,

Leaning up against something,

Maybe moving to a chair.

All right,

Once you feel complete,

If that is a thing with a foot massage,

Let that be finished.

Maybe a little squeeze up the ankle and the calf here,

Like just a little crab claw,

Like Lego guy,

Pinchy hands.

Not too much work.

And then when you're finished,

Give your hands a little bit of,

I don't know,

Fun sparkle fingers,

Making sure that you're moving into the wrists.

And then when you're finished,

Uncross your top leg.

Very slowly,

Carefully extend it next to the one that was on the bottom.

A little pedal shimmy through the hips again,

Like you're taking a walk,

But you're seated,

Moving whatever needs to be moved.

And then when you're ready,

We'll cross the opposite.

So my right leg was on the bottom on the first side,

So I'm switching it to left leg on the bottom,

Right on top.

Again,

Find the props underneath the knee.

You can be in a seat,

You can be laying down,

Taking figure four with your bottom leg bent and that foot planted.

Lots of options.

And then once you get situated here,

Feeling solid into your sitting bones that you're not going to fall over,

So that you can soften into the shape.

Foot massage time.

Again,

It doesn't have to be anything special.

You will know what doesn't and does feel good on your foot,

On your hands,

Whatever your boundaries of your body is.

So again,

Finding,

Maybe finding the spot that makes you say,

Ooh,

What's that?

And then spend more time there.

It's that inner and outer experience that we often save for prayer,

Yoga,

For contemplative practice,

For chanting on a mudra,

Hiking.

So allow it to be a reminder in all of what you do,

Because that coming back into alignment,

Finding the space for who we are versus our reactions or habits or personalities,

Expectations on the hamster wheel.

All right.

Finishing up with the toes,

With the ankles,

Getting a little bit of that squeeze up through the calf.

Again,

Nothing fancy here.

Practicing being in our bodies.

Not taking it personally when our brain is like,

Oh,

I'm going to the beach.

And that way when we,

When people say things,

When the internet says things,

We know what's true about us.

We don't have to convince anyone.

I recently heard some things and I just had to laugh because like,

If that's what's being said about me.

Okay.

Wow.

I don't have to take it personally because I know that's not true.

And what does it matter to anyone else?

It matters to me.

It's the impeccability of my word.

All right.

Finishing up.

And then very slowly,

Very mindfully,

Demurely coming back to uncross and extend.

Same exploration here.

Little bits of movement coming back into the hips.

What is different.

And then really what stays the same.

So as my teacher reminds me often of yoga is that,

Which cannot be taken away.

So we won't always be,

I don't know,

Doing downward dog.

Let's say most of us don't,

But like.

We won't always be stretching on the floor.

Finding that breath,

Finding that truth and how to sustain less suffering and drama.

That's the yoga.

All right.

Finishing up whatever movements,

Whatever dancey legs we have.

Lots of words today.

So from here,

Let's come down onto your back,

Setting yourself up for Shavasana.

But not quite yet.

Another full body stretch.

And,

You know,

Like I mentioned,

I gave us the warning that this is not action packed in that sense of physicality here.

We're listening to what the body needs,

Listening to where we are.

If you need more.

I need more.

If you need less,

Take less.

So a little bit of stretch wiggle.

Coming back online,

Feeling into center.

How does the breath support that?

Especially after the foot massage,

How did the hands feel the sensations under the arches?

Learning to meld that inner and outer experience because it's one informs the other.

So if we know our stability is from the inside,

How do we let that expand?

When it's time for you to come into your Shavasana,

Bring the arms down by the sides.

If that feels appropriate,

A thin cushion under the head,

Build yourself a little nest.

And allow for the most softness,

The most relaxed.

If that is an image you can be.

If you need something to cover the eyes or to make yourself a little warmer.

And then notice the breath as perhaps,

Perhaps you get a little bit more comfy,

Cozy,

Soft.

And feel that liminal space,

That shared space of inner and exterior worlds.

Allow them to meet,

Mingle,

Dance.

Maybe the eyes drift fully closed.

Allow any gripping tension.

Let it to be softened or swept.

Set aside for the moment.

Coming back to that.

Divine connection from within.

Letting the breath support that magic.

Letting the kindness,

The impeccability of your internal chatter.

Bathe that magic.

Reminding it of grace.

And a new way of thinking.

Letting the personal lesson,

As if it was melting like butter.

Other people's thoughts of you.

Their less than kindness of words.

Letting that melt away.

The breath supporting your truth as the nervous system softens,

Regulates,

Rests.

The body rests heavily.

The breath supports deep rest and soft exploration of the spirit.

Feeling into that liminal space of yes and breath.

One breath at a time allows mind,

Body,

Spirit to be in alignment knowing that in this moment you are doing the very best that you can.

One breath at a time.

Lessening the space between forgetting and remembering.

Slowly start to come back to this plane,

Allowing the body to be felt as it's resting deeply.

The breath reanimates the body with little movements,

Starting from your boundaries and edges.

And then making their way inwards,

Then outwards.

And once again with a full body stretch.

A blink of the eyes,

A jog of the chin.

Letting the breath be supportive and big and sweeping clean.

Starting anew in this moment.

And then when you're ready,

Roll over to one side or the other.

Pause here in this liminal space between the last moment and the next.

Bringing yourself back to that beautiful magic space from within that is the true capital S self.

That which knows no fear takes nothing personally and rewrites their own agreements.

One breath at a time.

And when you're ready,

Gently make your way upright,

Keeping the eyes closed.

Palms come to touch in front of the heart prayer.

Anjali mudra.

And with a collective breath in,

Let's fill up all the way.

And an open mouth exhale,

All releasing something that no longer serves letting that go.

Lastly,

Thumbs towards the eyebrow center,

Bowing the head forward and finding deep gratitude to the teacher within all things to which we say a hearty thank you.