Yin And Shavasana Practice - Slowing Down

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 12/18/24.

Transcript

Lisa and this is Yin and Shavasana and what is that?

That is a more contemplative practice.

As I alluded to of just giving ourselves the space to be.

You don't have to be doing a stretch,

You don't have to be seated in a specific way,

You don't have to have the things.

We are allowing ourselves to gather in whatever you have.

So some props,

Cushions from your couch,

Blankets from wherever your bed,

Some towels,

Something to stay warm with especially if you're in anywhere that's chilly to you.

Finding some warmth,

A layer between you and the ground and again maybe that is on your couch or in a chair if you're just listening today.

Allowing this practice to be for everybody,

Every body.

Allowing ourselves to arrive back home in the body especially if we've been traveling,

If we've been worrying,

If we've been in this world.

How can we allow ourselves to come back home?

So find a spot and it doesn't have to be perfect if you're like most of us that overthink it.

Just plop yourself down and you will eventually move to the place that feels or gravitate to the place that feels more comfortable or spacious or not in the whole line of sunlight that will be in your eyes.

Find what feels spacious to you and it doesn't have to be a big space.

Gathering in whatever props you have,

Whatever,

But remembering that you don't need anything for yoga.

You are the yoga so you don't need to go buy anything especially right now.

Like allowing yourself to gather in what you have,

To use your resources,

To shop your house wherever you are.

Allowing yourself to start when you need as if we haven't already started and maybe notice your why on preference and aversion here.

You are the yoga.

So when did you start?

Coming to the breath here,

Finding that spaciousness in your own experience.

Maybe you allow the eyes to close and taking on that sense of listening.

What is calling to you?

What is rumbling underneath?

Allowing a little bit of honoring whatever you're noticing.

Maybe you have an aversion to this moment,

To me,

To your environment,

To everything.

Allow that to be noticed and noticed and from within that allow the breath to build the foundation of what you notice.

Again,

Maybe the eyes now close or that soft filter.

How can the breath support you in this foundation of maybe listening more than speaking?

And as the body makes itself known,

Make the adjustments that make your shape feel a little bit more sustainable here.

And especially if this is your first time with me,

There is this common theme of taking your time,

Allowing the breath,

The awareness to be known,

Using the breath to create a sustainable shape from within.

So taking the time to give yourself permission to explore that.

As we know,

Asana is not the practice.

The shapes that we make with our bodies is not the goal or the practice.

It is one of the explorations of using the breath to create this awareness from within,

Especially if the mind is already up and out.

Maybe start to notice how the breath is showing up if it's tight and constricted within the throat or the chest.

Perhaps your breaths are gracious and expansive.

And again,

Without a goal,

That which is witnessing to be acknowledged.

Perhaps that's more of an exploration now,

Or you stay with the breath and the body.

Checking in with your spirit,

Your mood,

Allowing the breath to be that foundation in which is supportive here in your exploration.

How are you showing up here in this moment?

Another breath or two with this expansive breath supporting all of the findings.

We'll all return to the breath here,

Taking that bigger,

Fuller breath in without bullying or bossing the body.

And allow the exhale to be long and luxurious,

Taking your time.

A couple more breaths like that with intentionality,

With purpose here of slowing it down.

Drawing out the exhale,

Maybe one more here,

Wherever you are.

Full,

Long,

Expansive breath out,

Slowly returning to your natural breath as you lower your chin towards your chest,

Starting to blink the eyes open,

Allowing the softness between experiences on the inside and outside as they meld and shift.

And then when you're ready,

Lift the gaze.

And as you are ready,

As we know in yin,

It's a very slow and contemplative practice.

So taking the time,

If you've been seated in a cross-legged shape,

Unwinding slowly,

Carefully,

With intention.

And then we'll all come down to our backs,

Find a little bit of a full body stretch,

A exploration,

If you will.

I'm staying upright for now.

So allow yourself to stretch in the way that feels right versus watching what I'm doing.

And of course,

If that's needed,

I can.

Taking this moment to feel into that felt sense versus,

Wait,

How are they doing that?

What's that person doing?

Allowing just organic movement from the inside out.

How can that be expressed or relayed?

Just some stretches here,

If you're here for just that,

As we all can be in the moment.

A little bit of stretch.

If you're in a chair,

Having that moment to stretch out in the chair,

Wherever your mobility is,

Wherever your boundaries are in your body,

Allow that to be explored with the breath,

With that sustainability.

Versus doing a thing.

Let's find what is speaking to you.

And when you find those moments of,

Ooh,

Or ooh,

Pause,

Explore.

And then,

As always,

Rebuilding the breath.

How is my breath here in this moment?

How am I showing up in this moment?

Is it with preference,

Aversion,

Force,

More words than listening,

Mental chatter?

When you're ready,

Allow the arms to come down by your sides and then pause.

Again,

This class is slow.

It's full of breath.

We're letting go of most of the doing.

Sometimes we get the good stretch in there.

We can open up the connective tissue.

If the brain is still,

Then where is the balance?

So for this practice,

It's the yes and.

It's the,

Am I regulated?

Because nothing's going to happen if we're dysregulated.

Some breaths.

And then when you're ready,

Roll over to one side or the other.

Find a soft moment here on your side as you're in between.

So in that liminal space of movement,

Of stillness,

Of the yes and.

With as much grace,

Gentleness as you can manage.

Gently press your way up,

Taking into mind that your crown of your head is the top of the spine.

So rebuilding the spine as you sit up.

And then from here,

Find a wide legged stretch.

So creating some space.

If you have a mound of props around you,

Setting them to the side.

Finding what you need and then extending.

So it's not Saskatchewan cold,

But it's chilly here.

I'm going to keep my blanket,

Make it accessible for you.

So whatever wide leg stretch feels appropriate.

I'm still up on some cushions,

But these are a little bit thinner.

My sitting bones are still connected.

I don't feel wobbly.

I feel still connected,

Grounded.

Could I be more comfortable?

Yeah.

So I could prop something underneath my knees.

You can find some,

You know,

All the padding you can move to a chair.

So starting to find some of that advocacy.

And then notice,

Especially is my breath sustainable here?

If you're clenching and gripping.

What can we do?

Where can that advocacy begin?

Can I breathe here?

And as I've been talking about,

Especially last week is,

Do I have breath?

There's no breath,

No human experience.

So finding this moment of,

Okay,

And then we start to soften into the shape.

But if you're forcing here and there's no breath and you're in a flow or in a heated something.

Force.

Is there breath?

Is there awareness?

Is there inquiry?

Is there,

Are we creating suffering?

So how can we soften into no matter the chaos?

Can I breathe?

And then we take the next right action here.

So you need to lean up against something,

Lean up against something.

Find what works for you that you feel supported.

And as we start to soften into Yin shapes,

The Asana here,

We hold these shapes for a longer period of time.

And that's why we have the props.

We're not using the muscles to clench.

Check in.

Is it the brain that's clenching?

Is it the quads?

Is it the everything?

Can I breathe into the body and create a little bit more spaciousness?

Again,

No goal,

Just breathing.

Notice where we can be softening from the layers,

From the Koshas here,

From the outside in,

From the physical layer.

And softening is relative.

It's not one and done,

One breath,

One breath at a time,

Repeatedly.

And that is the gift of the practice is the breath is each moment.

Noticing if you've followed the thread into the past or the future.

Noticing coming back to the breath,

Perpetual permission to start again.

Starting to take,

Let's take a few final full deep breaths.

Reconnecting breaths here,

Wherever you are,

Staying as you are.

And notice if you're rushing the breath or skipping.

Again,

No right or wrong.

Just allow yourself to notice what's happening.

If you have folded forward into this stretch,

Allow yourself to make that journey upright,

Escorting yourself,

Building that long spine crown,

Being the top of the spine.

Then we'll all choose a side,

Gently re-bend that leg,

Bring it to the other side.

And find some pedaling motions or whatever you need to bring the hips back online.

To bring the toes back into circulation,

Whatever it is here,

Find some breath.

Reconnecting to whatever's happening,

Whatever's going on.

And especially if it is colder,

Wherever you are,

And that can be cold in relativity to where you are,

Right?

So taking the time to stoke the fire,

To build some heat.

And how we do that also in our practice is through breath,

Through Pranayama,

Through lots of different intentional breathing techniques.

So notice if you can breathe intentionally when you're finding this organic movement,

Or are you just out?

A lot of the time I'm thinking about this,

And I have to do this,

And my breath stops or really ends at the base of my throat.

So I'm thinking,

I'm doing,

And none of it's connected.

So where can we circle us back into the process here?

Okay,

A little bit of movement,

However,

Is calling to you what hasn't moved today.

Oh,

The bottom of my feet.

How might I do that?

Oh,

My hips have been very seated all day,

Allowing that to be known and seen and moved without,

Do this now and this and now and do this,

Which I also do.

But starting to listen to breath,

To body,

To connection.

Okay,

Experiencing.

Okay,

As we have moved and stretched,

Allow the legs to go long here.

And for a moment,

Bringing the attention to the hips or your boundaries of your body there,

And taking the moment to notice if your tailbone is pointing all the way back.

If you're tucked way under,

If you're hunched,

Allowing yourself to just find where you are in space and time.

Is it too much to hold yourself up?

So where can you support?

Where can you build some permission to bring the ground closer to you to move?

You get what I'm saying.

And then gentle movements,

Legs going left to right here from the hip.

Okay,

Coming back to your breath.

So tying brain and body and the breath support,

Slowing it down.

Can I dictate this movement from the hip?

Can this be directed by,

Maybe is a better way to say that.

Notice if there's bone on bone,

If there's compression,

Just checking in with your own hypermobility,

My zebra friends.

So finding what that is here,

And then let's move down to the knees.

Little bit of a gentle march,

Moving through the knee joints slowly.

And instead of gripping with the brain,

Allowing the breath to be that flowing factor between body,

Breath,

Awareness,

Maybe taking notes for later,

Like,

Oh,

When I did this,

This sensation was there.

I'm going to check that out.

So finding the moment here and then extend the legs.

Same thing moving from the ankles.

So moving the feet side to side through the movement of the ankles,

Which is different from the hips and the hip joints,

The hip flexors,

Finding a little and leaning up against something,

Taking the struggle out of the asana to the best of our ability.

Using slow movements,

Sustainable shapes,

Breath.

Which then becomes the foundation of all things,

Right?

Slow intention.

All right,

Bringing some stillness now,

Allowing sensation to be felt,

Starting to move through the toes.

Little bit of movement,

Maybe a squeeze and release,

Flex and point,

Whatever that feels like,

Not necessarily through the entire foot,

But toes.

Spreading them wide and then hugging them in again a couple more times.

Notice where breath goes.

If you're focusing,

Does the breath go away?

Does everything else,

Like I talked about last week,

The hunch and crunch,

Like you're sacrificing everything for the benefit of one.

Let that sit there for a minute.

Soften everything in.

Full breath in,

Full breath out,

Then kind of just shake it out.

Forget about it.

Just find that movement.

Allow your lower half to be throwing a fit,

To just let it go,

To be there,

To get some energy,

Some movement.

Again,

Being mindful of your own situation,

Stoking the fire a little bit and then find that stillness.

Pause.

Notice what might feel more lively,

Where might there be more chi,

More life force,

More prana.

It's whatever you want to call it.

Are the,

Are you feeling aligned?

Finding your own flow.

What is your middle?

Noticing,

Whatever language you want to attach.

How do you feel?

Allow the body to be speaking.

Allow the breath to be known.

When you're ready,

Lay it down again.

Take your time.

Find the grace.

Find the softness.

And then start to find that full body stretch.

Still aware of the sensations in the low body,

But now starting to bring some awareness to the reaches,

To the stretches.

The upper body starts to come online a little bit.

Fingers and toes,

Find some sensation.

The smallest detail.

Starting to get that.

Maybe the lower body gets quiet now as organic movement.

Where do I need to move?

How have I not moved today?

Maybe you haven't moved your spine much at all.

So we'll get there.

No rushing into that.

No rushing into anything.

But find,

Oh wow,

I haven't done this weird thing today.

Whatever movement it is that you're finding.

Taking the time to breathe into it.

Is my breath supporting this inquiry?

Can we notice when the breath holds?

When it grips?

When it stops?

When it shifts?

Letting that be our north star versus snap,

Snap.

Let's go.

Finding our way back to center.

Listening a little bit more deeply.

Find one more full stretch here.

Stretch through fingers and toes.

Reach,

Stretch,

Stretch,

Reach.

And then from here,

We'll come into banana asana.

So finding your biggest,

Longest stretch.

Creating a banana shape.

Moving some of your stuff out of the way,

Which I did not do.

That big,

Long stretch.

And then upper body reaches up and over.

Pick a side.

Up and over to the right.

Hips slide to the left slightly.

Leaving the arms and legs in that same general direction.

And then maybe crossing the left ankle over the right.

And definitely lowering both elbows to the earth.

So that there's no effort.

Finding this full body,

Side body stretch.

And again,

Take the time to arrive.

This is that idea of have I moved my spine in all directions?

Recently.

Forget about today.

Maybe it's,

Oh,

The last time I did all of the things was many moons ago.

Soften into the shape here.

And it's not held as long.

Use your breath to feel the expansion and the places.

Checking in if you've hyperextended somewhere.

Where can you soften into this expansion?

Let's take a full breath in and out.

Taking the time to breathe.

When you're ready,

Uncross the ankle.

If that was a thing,

Find extension throughout the entire body.

Again,

Full body stretch into the center.

Maybe notice the sides.

And then as you prepare with your next lengthening breath in,

We'll take banana asana to the other side.

So whatever side you didn't go to.

Maybe that top ankle crosses over.

Bending the elbows so that there's no shoulder action.

We're not holding a shape.

It's how can the shape meet me where I am?

Not how can I force myself into a shape?

How does the breath support?

Do I have breath here?

Breathing into all those nooks and crannies that don't always get attention or listened to or acknowledged.

And when it's time,

Uncross the ankle slowly with grace.

Coming back to your full body stretch with your next inhale.

Making it long.

Extending from fingers to toes.

Wiggling out,

Reaching out through all of you.

So maybe you start to expand into a full star shape.

Picking up as much space as you have.

Maybe you are not as adventurous with space and you're finding a little less spacious space.

How can that be more spacious from the inside out?

So finding your experience.

Reaching in through the boundaries that you have.

One more big reach with your inhale and then your next exhale.

Drawing your knees in towards your chest.

Bringing everything in towards your body.

So wherever that is for you.

Finding a big hug,

A big squeeze without too much force.

Allow yourself to maybe this is your first hug of the day.

So find a big hug,

Squeeze a little whisper of gratitude.

And then notice if you can make yourself small and hug in and squish and squeeze.

One more big hug and then coming back into that spaciousness.

Reaching into the boundaries of your body.

Feel the tips of the fingers and toes,

The crown,

The tail.

Find whatever boundaries and reach in.

And then soften arms down by your sides.

Allow yourself to arrive here.

Notice that sensation of release versus the hug,

The squeeze,

The contraction.

And when the words want to fill in the spaces,

Use the breath to sweep them away for a moment.

Another moment or two here.

And as you're feeling into the sensation,

Allow one knee to bend than the other,

Keeping the feet planted.

Maybe the knees rest together and you stay here.

Perhaps you come into,

Well,

Talk about it first,

But a supported bridge.

You can have any of the supports that you want as long as it's not tall,

Tall.

So you'll hear.

So for,

Especially for the folks who are on audio,

Bringing ourselves to the back.

If you're not already there,

Knees rest and creating that length in the spine.

So maybe you walk your shoulders away from the hips,

Feeling spacious,

Chin slightly tucked.

If you'd like to add and lift the hips,

Having something underneath you that's not super tall where you feel safe,

You feel secure and you have a foundation.

So if you're adding on feet are about hip width,

Not too far from the seat,

You want to have that firm,

Solid foundation,

Especially as we call on our breath,

Big inhale and exhale,

Press into the feet,

Lifting the upper body,

Sliding whatever prop you're using underneath the tail.

So just below the belt line,

Feeling that secure,

Whatever you're using that little bit of a wiggle.

So you know that it's not going to move,

That you can rest your entire weight or whatever is going on onto the prop.

Pausing here,

Maybe you stay here,

Maybe you extend one leg at a time,

Allowing for the breath to be the North star.

Is this sustainable?

Is this something that I have to grit my way through?

That's when we use the breath to come out slightly,

Find your permission to soften fully,

Whatever that looks like.

Using the breath,

Finding that sustainability within the moment.

Can I breathe?

Do I have breath here versus what it looks like,

What it sounds like,

What somebody else thinks about it?

Do I have breath?

Am I taking care of this experience so that I can then help others in whatever experience you're having?

Using the breath to continue to melt into whatever you're resting on.

And the hips do not have to be lifted.

This does not have to be anything other than constructive rest.

Another breath or two here,

We won't be here for very long.

When it's time for you,

Coming back to the breath is always our first step.

Notice if you've been traveling,

Reconnecting all of you so that there is intention and movement.

So there's no liminal space of taking off within the movement.

So using the breath to reconnect.

When it's time for you,

Press into the feet,

Lifting the hips just enough off of whatever prop to set it aside.

And then with the most intention,

Slowly lower down and maybe you hinge,

Maybe you articulate the vertebra,

But also noticing the mobility within the body as you slowly come down versus a plop.

Pause here,

Rest the knees,

Allow everything to soften into this space.

And then gently separate the knees,

One knee at a time into the chest.

This time,

We're not hugging,

Squeezing,

A slight rest of the arms or the hands,

Wherever they might be.

Allow the tailbone to come back down to the earth.

That slight tuck of the chin,

Letting the spine soften,

Releasing any contraction or gripping.

And then lastly,

A little bit of a squeeze as an acknowledgement,

A hug,

Without flattening the spine,

Finding just a cheeky,

Hello,

Squeeze.

And then when you're ready,

One foot at a time to the earth,

Find that full extension,

Full reach,

Full stretch.

And then coming into whatever shape you are taking for your Shavasana.

So if you need to build your cozy nest,

And Shavasana is our rest with a guided meditation.

So find what supports you best here.

Without too much jostling or too much coming out to come back in,

If you do have to move and fetch the things,

Come back to that dropped in sensation of listening,

Of being open to,

And letting the body release any gripping that's snuck back in.

As you snuggle down under the covers or wherever you might be,

Allow the eyes to drift closed.

Once again,

The body soft,

Finding your biggest breath to signal to the body,

To release its bracing,

Its gripping.

So maybe it's audible and you let some tension go.

Maybe you have others nearby and it's soft,

But inside it's a roaring exhale.

Cueing the bracing,

The gripping,

No matter the circumstances for this moment,

Cueing it to soften,

Even if in imagination only.

The breath oftentimes is the only control.

And even then,

The practice is that which cannot be taken away.

Coming back to the breath,

Noticing these neural pathways in the brain in which we can rewire and rework these grooves.

And the work starts from within with the breath,

One breath at a time.

The breath coming back brings us back to connection.

If we are disconnected from the felt sense,

Our sense of connection is lost.

Our greater self,

How can we be connected to each other?

We're coming back to the breath over and over again,

Softening the boundaries between inner and outer experience.

And notice how the breath can continue to support the exploration of the now.

Whether eyes are open or closed,

Allowing the breath to be that reminder.

Again and again,

Reminding us to come back to this moment.

To reconnection.

Reconnecting here to the breath as you bring movement into the furthest reaches of the body.

Bringing awareness into the sensations of the physical as you add the movement.

Maybe fluttering the eyes open and closed as you reach and stretch and find that blossoming open of spaciousness.

Finding the reach,

Take up as much literal and figurative space as you are able.

Bringing yourself back online with intention,

With breath,

With movement by movement,

Breath by breath.

And when it's time,

Roll over onto one side or the other.

Find this pause again.

Again,

Setting aside preference and aversion.

Notice,

Is this sustainable?

Do I have breath here?

When you're ready,

Gently pressing your way up.

Eyes remain closed this time.

Palms come to touch in front of the heart.

Anjali Mudra,

Prayer.

And as a collective,

Let's all take a breath in through the nose or the mouth,

Filling up.

And a long,

Full exhale,

Letting something soften,

Sweeping something loose.

Lastly,

Thumbs to the space between the forehead or on the forehead,

Between the eyebrows,

The space of our inner knowing.

That wisdom sometimes gets fuzzy,

But we reconnect one breath at a time.

Taking that space,

Bowing forward to the teacher within all things.

We say a hearty thank you.