This post-travel yoga sequence will release tight muscles,
Help you feel grounded and refreshed,
And improve circulation.
We'll begin in an upright seated position.
You can be seated on a chair or on the ground like I am,
And we'll begin with neck rolls.
So take the chin forward,
And if it works for your neck today,
Take the ear to one side,
The head back into the opposite side.
If your neck is tender,
And it might feel more comfortable for you today,
Take the gaze from the left to the right,
As though you're shaking your head no.
So honor your body,
Moving the neck in the direction that will help you to release the tension and the tightness in the neck and the shoulders,
And close down your eyes,
Just being present in this moment to let go of the hurry,
Hurry,
Hurry that comes with travel.
And if you were doing the neck circles,
The next time you come forward,
Take it the opposite way.
And if you're doing the neck in the direction of no,
From left to right,
Continue.
And notice if you want to go faster or slower.
Just honor your body's intuition,
And then gently bring the head to center when it arrives there through the movement.
Shrug your shoulders up to your ears,
And exhale,
Release them down.
Inhale,
Shrug them up,
Exhale down.
And you can do this quickly,
Or you can do it slowly.
Close down your eyes,
And shrug off any tension and tightness from the travel experience.
Just let it go.
And on the next inhale,
Shrug your shoulders high up to your ears as you fill your body with the prana,
This healing energy.
Deep,
Deep inhale,
Filling up the body,
And then hold the breath.
And exhale,
Sigh it out of the mouth.
Let it all go.
Just pausing a moment to feel the movement of the energy,
How you feel now compared to just a few moments ago when you began.
And then taking your fingertips out at your sides,
Inhale,
The palms facing up,
High up to the sky,
And exhale,
Sweep the palms facing down.
Do this a few more times,
Moving with your breath.
So you might move slower than me.
Maybe your breath is moving faster than mine.
And just honor the body intuition connecting the breath to the body.
The next time you take the hands high up to the sky,
Drop one hand down at your side and the other hand and arm up and over,
Going into this side stretch.
Relax into it with long,
Deep breathing.
Allow the head and the neck to fall where it feels as though you're getting a stretch,
But no pain.
So maybe the gaze is down at the mat.
Maybe the head is neutral.
Maybe the gaze is up at the sky.
Honor your body intuition.
Use long,
Deep breathing to go deep into the stretch.
And then inhale back to center and go the opposite way.
Take the opposite hand down to the ground and the opposite arm up and over.
Long,
Deep breathing.
Inhale back to center.
And release the hands,
Palms facing down,
Bringing the fingertips to the ground.
Coming into Tabletop,
We'll take some Cat-Cows.
And with your Cat-Cow,
Listen to your body intuition.
Maybe close down the eyes.
Maybe the toes are tucked under.
Maybe the tops of the feet are on the ground.
Moving with the breath.
And maybe the movement is quickly.
Maybe it's slow.
Maybe your body intuition wants to do a Wag the Tail or a Figure 8.
Honor that body intuition.
We're aiming to move the energy up and down the spine.
And you know what will suit you best.
And put a smile on your face.
When we smile,
It opens the heart.
So bring the gratitude into the heart center as you're moving the energy up and down your spine.
The gratitude for having the freedom to travel.
And then gently bring the spine to neutral.
Coming to Child's Pose.
And this can be a very deep Child's Pose for you.
The knees can be very far apart if that suits you.
Or the knees can be together.
And if the knees are together,
You can also bring the arms at your side,
Palms facing up.
Honor your body intuition so that you are stretching the way that it feels most intuitively deep for you.
With a release,
A sense of release,
Of letting go.
Letting go of the tightness that you experienced during your travel time.
Use a breath.
Long,
Deep breathing.
And even if you need to,
Exhaling it out of the mouth if that feels right and comfortable for you.
And then opening up the back,
Releasing the neck and the shoulders.
Letting go of any tightness.
Letting go of any tension.
Long,
Deep breathing.
Sigh it out.
Let it all go.
Take one more deep inhale.
And exhale out of the mouth.
And then come back through Tabletop.
And step the right foot in between both hands,
Coming into this lunge.
You can stay up on your fingertips or you can rest your hands on top of your knee and thigh.
Allow the hips to open.
Feel this gentle stretch,
Releasing any tension and tightness from your long travel experience.
And if it feels comfortable for you,
You can even lift the arms up to the sky.
Maybe cactus pose.
Trust your body intuition.
And then wherever you are,
Bring both hands on top of the right thigh.
Drop the left hand into this lovely side stretch over to the right.
You can stay down on your left knee or you can lift up onto the toes of the left foot.
Twisting out any tightness and tension.
If the knee was lifted,
Bring it down to the ground.
Bring both hands on either side of the right foot and sit back into your half split.
Release into it.
Breathe into the tension or the tightness.
You can always exhale out of the mouth to release any deep tightness.
Or even something that you wish to let go of from the travel experience,
Physically,
Mentally or emotionally.
And then coming back through lunge.
Take the right foot out towards the end of the mat or just a few inches away from you.
If you're traveling,
Maybe you don't have a mat with you.
Bring both hands on the inside of the right foot,
Coming into this lizard pose.
Wiggle into it.
Finding where that deep stretch will feel comfortable for release.
You can keep the head in alignment with the spine or you can even drop the head.
The neck and the shoulders to release any additional tightness and tension.
Long,
Deep breathing.
If the head was dropped,
Bring it back into alignment with the spine and toe heel the foot back to center.
And come back into tabletop.
Take a couple cat cows or wag the tail or figure eight.
Whatever intuitively feels comfortable for you.
Preparing for the left side.
And then bring the spine to neutral.
Set the left foot in between both hands.
Coming into your lunge.
Use your breath to go deep into the lunge.
To the point where you feel the stretch,
But no pain.
Just release and let go.
You can use the arms if that feels intuitively comfortable for you.
You can also just keep the hands rested on top of the left thigh.
If the arms were lifted,
Bring them back on top of the left thigh.
And bring both hands down to the ground.
Planting the right hand into the earth beneath you.
Opening up towards the left for this side stretch.
The right knee can remain on the earth or you can lift it up.
Honor your body.
Stretching lovingly,
Tenderly to release the tightness.
If the right knee was lifted,
Bring the right knee back down to the ground.
The left hand to the earth.
And heel toe the left foot a few inches away from you or towards the end of your mat.
Coming into lizard pose.
And again,
Here you can wiggle into it until you find that deep stretch.
And notice if you want the head in alignment with the spine.
Or maybe you wish to drop the head to release that tension and tightness in the shoulders.
Long deep breathing.
If you release the head,
Bring it back in alignment with the spine.
Toe heel the foot back to center.
And sit back into your half split.
Use the breath to go deeper to create the flexibility.
Enjoying the stretch.
Eyes are closed.
The breath is deep.
The feet get relaxed.
And gently come out of the hamstring stretch.
Moving through tabletop.
Sit back into child's pose again.
Long,
Deep,
Relaxed.
And when you're ready,
Curl the toes under and we'll push up and back into downward dog.
Stretching out the feet.
Maybe wagging the tail.
Using the breath with a deep inhale.
And exhaling out of the mouth.
Do that a couple more times at your own pace.
Gently walk the feet to meet the hands.
Inhale to a flat back.
And exhale,
Bow forward.
We'll stay here for a couple long,
Deep inhales and exhales.
The fingertips can be resting on the shins,
The earth beneath you.
You can even take hold of the elbows and sway from side to side.
Listen to your body intuition as you fold deeply into this lovely forward fold.
This will refresh your mind.
Refresh you with some energy.
At the same time,
Letting go of any tension and tightness from the travel experience.
Allowing it to roll off and melt into the earth beneath you.
As you're also opening the hamstrings and getting this deep stretch.
Take a deep inhale with me.
And exhale out of the mouth.
If you are holding the elbows,
Release the hands.
Tuck the chin into the chest.
And roll up one vertebrae at a time.
Very gently,
Mindfully,
And purposefully.
Stacking the head over the spine,
Coming into a straight spine.
Standing in your mountain pose.
And then when you're ready,
Inhale the hands down,
Around,
And up.
And exhale,
Bow forward.
Inhale to a flat back.
And exhale,
Bow forward.
And coming to your choice.
Either child's pose or downward dog.
Whatever will suit you.
Stretch into it.
Long,
Deep breathing.
Even exhaling out of the mouth to release any added tension and tightness.
One more deep inhale.
And a deep exhale.
And if you are in downward dog,
Come down onto your knees.
If you're in child's pose,
Walk your hands back to an upright spine.
With the intention of coming onto the sit bones.
We'll come into the seated figure four.
So take the left ankle and cross it over the top of the right thigh.
The arms are behind you.
You can walk the heel of the right foot in closer to the sit bones.
Wiggle into it so that you feel the full expression.
With the extension to create the flexibility into the pose.
And then close down the eyes.
And relax into the breath.
Gently release the left foot.
And if it feels comfortable for you,
Take some windshield wipers.
Releasing the hips and the thighs.
Preparing for the opposite side.
And when you're ready,
Cross the right ankle over the left.
Coming into figure four on the right side.
Once you find that point of resistance,
Close down the eyes.
Relax into the breath.
And then gently release the pose.
Windshield wiper again if you feel drawn to do that.
If not,
Just roll down onto your back.
And once you come down onto your back,
Hug your knees into your chest.
Maybe a little rock from side to side.
Extend the legs straight up.
Flex the feet.
You can rest your palms on your belly or at your side.
Palms facing up.
This is a beautiful legs up the wall posture.
And can be used all by itself anytime you travel.
To help reset your circadian rhythm.
To calm the nervous system.
And to also energize you.
Not that it's going to give you energy and you want to jump up from here.
But it brings the circulation,
The flow back to the heart,
Back to the mind.
So that you're refreshed.
And even feeling refreshed enough that you can relax.
So you can take this lovely legs up the wall anytime you need.
Even all by itself after a long travel experience.
With the legs up the wall when you're practicing it by yourself.
Or if you wish to go back to it and do it again.
You literally can take the legs up the wall against the wall.
You can also rest them on a chair.
As though they're bent.
And you rest the back of the shins on the chair.
You can stay there for a couple minutes.
But to move forward into our practice.
We're going to bend the knees.
And take the knees up and over towards the left.
Into the supine twist.
Inhale the knees back to center.
And bring the legs up and over towards the right.
Supine twist to the right.
And to finish your stretch.
Bring the knees back to center.
You can hug the knees in and rock from side to side.
If you feel you need a release in the back.
Especially the lower back.
If you wish you can come into a happy baby.
And stay still or rock from side to side.
Whatever suits you.
Make your final posture.
Fit what your body,
Your spirit and your mind is calling for.
And whichever pose you have chosen.
Put a smile on your face.
And wherever you are bring the knees back to center.
Hug them in.
You can roll over to the left or the right or up on the spine.
To meet me in a seated position.
Bring the hands in prayer pose in front of the heart.
Press your thumbs into your heart center.
And just pause and be for a moment.
How do you feel now compared to the beginning of the practice?
Knowing that you can come back to this practice.
Anytime after a long journey of travel.
Or even after a long busy day.
That you desire to release any tightness.
And to create flexibility in the body.
But also to calm the mind.
Refresh the mind.
And to feel grounded.
And together let's bow towards one another.
Honoring each other.
Namaste.
Namaste.
