Good evening,
I'm Lucy and welcome to tonight's practice.
In this session,
We're going to prepare ourselves for a good night's sleep by stretching out our bodies,
Releasing any stray thoughts that may still be lingering in the mind from the day and finishing with a relaxing breathwork practice.
We will start standing,
Take a few stretches and then get into bed for our breathwork practice.
So you might want to make sure that you're all ready for bed now.
Teeth brushed,
Your PJs on,
So you can get comfy in bed and stay there after this practice is finished.
Starting by finding some clear wall space in your bedroom that you can come to stand by.
Turn to face the wall and bring both your feet quite close to it.
Then place your hands on the wall at about shoulder height.
Take a long step back with your right foot like a lunge and gently press your heel towards the floor.
Maybe you can feel a stretch in your calf muscle and you can play with lifting and lowering your heel to see what the different sensations this creates.
Taking a few slower,
Deeper breaths here and feeling into this stretch.
Gently release and step your right foot back in and then step your left foot back about the same distance and gently press your left heel down towards the floor.
Notice if it feels different on this side.
We have two sides of the body,
Two sides of the brain and stretches can feel different from side to side.
Again,
Maybe you lift and lower your heel,
Feeling into any sensations this creates and taking a few slower,
Deeper breaths here.
Now keeping your left foot where it is,
Step your right foot back next to it and then keep stepping them back if you need to until your hips,
Back and arms are all horizontal,
Your palms still touching the wall but they may need to move down slightly.
Similar to a downward facing dog pose,
This will help stretch out the whole of the back of your body.
Take a few deep breaths here,
Relaxing your jaw and the muscles in your face.
Gently release and step the feet back in,
Coming back up towards standing and then step away from your wall,
Taking both of your hands up towards the ceiling for a few rounds of side bends.
So take a hold of your left wrist with your right hand and gently draw it over towards the right,
Keeping your weight even across both feet and take a full round of breath.
Releasing and changing sides,
Gently guiding the right wrist over to the left and again taking a full breath in your side bend.
Continue taking a few more of these side bends,
Feeling a stretch into the ribs,
The waist,
The hip and continuing to take slower,
Deeper breaths.
Now gently let your arms release down and come to sit on the edge of your bed.
Let your hands rest on your knees and start to circle into your shoulders.
A few circles forwards and a few circles back,
Noticing how your shoulders feel tonight.
Shoulders are often a place where we store tension during the day,
So notice if there's anything you can release,
Anything you can let go of here.
Now keeping your left foot on the floor,
Hug your right knee in towards you,
Maybe interlacing the fingers behind the back of your thigh or on top of your shin and this will help to stretch into the glutes and the lower back.
Maybe you circle your right ankle a few times here too.
And then releasing your fingers,
But keeping your knee lifted,
Externally rotate your right hip so that your ankle can come to rest on the fleshy bit just above your left knee for a pigeon stretch.
Maybe you gently push on the inside of the right thigh to add in a little extra stretch,
But only if this feels good.
If this pose causes any pinching in your knee or any discomfort,
Please go back to hugging it in as we were doing before.
Take another round of breath here.
And then release your right foot back down to the floor and take a moment in centre.
Then hugging your left knee in towards you,
Interlacing your fingers behind the back of your leg or on top of your shin.
Take a deep breath and check in that your jaw,
Your face and your shoulders are all free from tension.
Again maybe taking a few circles into the left ankle.
Releasing your fingers and externally rotating your left hip,
Place your ankle on the fleshy bit above your right knee for pigeon.
Again maybe you gently push on the inside of the thigh to add in a little extra stretch,
But only if this feels right for your body tonight.
Remember you can go back to hugging in the knee if that felt better for you.
Taking a deep breath in this stretch.
And then release.
We're going to get into bed next,
But we're going to prop ourselves up on pillows before we fully lie down.
So taking one or two pillows,
Lie them vertically on your mattress and then you're going to sit with your lower back snuggled into the shorter end of the pillow or pillows.
And then gently let your spine roll down onto the pillows,
Feeling fully supported and comfortable.
And you may wish to snuggle down under a blanket here too.
Your legs could be out long or in a butterfly position where the soles of the feet touch and your knees open out wide in a diamond shape.
If you have other cushions or blankets around,
Maybe you place one under each thigh here to help support your legs in this stretch.
Choose what feels comfy to you and then bring your hands to rest on your tummy.
Notice how you're feeling right now.
Tune into any sensations in your body.
What's going on in your mind?
Are there any thoughts still lingering from the day that you can let go of?
If thoughts are there,
Gently acknowledge them and then give yourself permission to let them go as it's now time for bed and you want to have a peaceful and rejuvenating night's sleep.
Take a moment to thank your wonderful mind and body for taking you through the day.
And then start to bring your focus to your breath,
To the rise and fall of your chest,
Your tummy.
And with each breath,
Feel like you're softening,
You're letting go into the softness of your pillows.
We're going to finish with a short relaxing breath work practice.
If you're comfortable as you are,
Then please do stay there or if you want to make any adjustments,
Please do.
Feel comfortable,
Supported and safe.
We're going to inhale for a count of four and exhale for a count of eight,
Breathing in and out through the nose.
We will do five rounds together and then I will leave you to either continue counting or get yourself ready for sleep.
Taking a full round of breath now and then we will start our count.
Breathing in for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Thank you so much for practicing with me tonight.
I hope you have a peaceful night's sleep.
