This practice is to focus on how to bring joy into your life.
We will use some simple relaxing poses by way of yin poses to release into our bodies so that we can welcome in joy.
We'll use the affirmation,
I now welcome in joy.
Come into a comfortable seated position.
Grow your tall spine.
Check that your sit bones are rooted into the ground.
Close your eyes.
Take a deep inhale and exhale out of the mouth.
Do this two more times at your own pace.
Now take your left hand onto your belly.
Take your right hand onto your heart,
Keeping the eyes closed and just gently allow this affirmation to resonate inside of you,
In you,
Through you,
Over you.
I welcome joy into my life.
I welcome joy into my life.
And just sit and be for a moment.
Gently open the eyes.
Get ready for our first posture together.
Take your right knee,
Bend it straight up to the heavens.
Extend your left leg out in front of you.
We're going to come into half dragon.
With your right knee pointed high up to the heavens,
Take a deep inhale and then exhale.
Release the knee down to the ground.
Give that knee any support it might need.
A pillow,
A blanket,
A block,
Anything it needs to relax.
Point your left toes high up to the heavens,
Straight back.
Take a deep inhale and exhale.
Gently come forward and release the left foot and allow the left foot to relax.
And as you're coming forward,
Gently to the point of your resistance.
And when you reach that point of resistance,
Take a deep inhale and exhale out of the mouth.
Pausing here for a moment.
And then on the next inhale,
Allow yourself to come forward and exhale.
Completely release over.
And as you gently release into this pose,
Using your affirmation,
I welcome joy into my life.
I welcome joy into my life.
Release and let go.
On the next inhale,
Gently tuck the chin into the chest.
Curling the neck,
The head and the shoulders up to a straight spine,
Lifting everything in alignment.
And when you come to that straight spine,
Take a deep inhale.
Bend your right knee up to the ceiling,
The heavens extended out.
Shake the legs out.
Maybe take some gentle fists and tap your legs,
Releasing any other tension that might be deep down in your cells and creating this happy energetic flow.
Now extending the right leg out,
Bending the left knee and bringing the knee high up to the heavens.
Take a deep inhale,
Hugging the knee into your chest.
And on the exhale,
Gently drop the left knee out to the side.
And again,
Support it if you need to.
You can even put some support under the right leg if the knee is slightly bent.
Honor your body.
The more supported your body feels,
The deeper you'll go into the stretch.
So start with a deep inhale,
Straight back.
And then gently exhale,
Coming forward to the point of your resistance.
Notice that the right foot is relaxed.
Take another deep inhale.
And then exhale,
Completely fold forward.
Releasing down into the pose.
And using your affirmation,
I welcome joy into my life.
I welcome joy into my life.
Completely release and let go.
On the next inhale,
Tuck the chin to the chest,
Bringing the head,
The neck and the shoulders and curling them and bringing them in alignment to a straight spine.
And when you come upright to a straight spine,
Take a deep inhale.
Exhale out of the mouth just to release anything that's sticky that no longer serves you.
And then bring both legs together,
Extend them out in front of you.
Shake out the legs.
If it feels comfortable for you to take your hands into those small little fists and gently tap your legs.
Follow your body intuition.
And then with an upright spine,
Flexing the toes high up to the heavens,
Take a deep inhale.
Exhale out of the mouth.
Inhale the arms high up to the heavens.
Relax the feet and gently exhale,
Folding from the hips,
Coming forward.
And when you come to your point of resistance,
Relax there a moment.
Take a deep inhale.
Exhale out of the mouth.
On the next inhale,
Tuck your chin to your chest and completely roll forward.
Allow the head to relax.
Allow the neck and the shoulders to relax.
Releasing into the pose and using your affirmation,
I welcome joy into my life.
I welcome joy into my life.
Release,
Relax,
And let go.
On the next inhale,
Tuck the chin into the chest and gently lift the head,
The neck,
And the shoulders coming to a straight spine.
And once you're in alignment,
Take a deep inhale.
Exhale out of the mouth.
Shake out the legs.
Gently tap the legs.
Do whatever feels comfortable and right for you.
Listen to that body intuition.
Maybe it's just shaking out the legs.
Maybe you want to hug your knees to your chest,
Whatever feels comfortable.
As we prepare to go into our final pose,
Before we go into relaxation,
Taking the soles of the feet together and allowing the knees to open up and relax.
Take a deep inhale with a straight spine.
And as you exhale,
Gently coming forward from the hips,
Folding from the hips.
And when you come to your point of resistance,
Take another deep inhale.
Exhale out of the mouth.
Inhale again.
And on this exhale,
Completely fold forward.
Allow the head to relax.
The chin tucks into the chest.
The neck and the shoulders relax.
And allow everything to melt off.
Allow it to melt into the ground,
Anything that doesn't serve you.
And focusing on your affirmation,
I welcome joy into my life.
I welcome joy into my life.
Release,
Relax,
And let go.
On your next inhale,
Tuck the chin into the chest.
Lifting the head,
The neck,
And the shoulders to an upright spine.
Bringing the knees together,
Hug them into your chest.
And take any micro movements that your body intuition is calling for.
I invite you to listen to your body intuition.
Maybe you would like to lay down in Shavasana.
Maybe you're ready to sit silently in meditation.
Listen to that body intuition.
And as you move into your posture,
Allow yourself just to completely let go and be in this moment.
Allow yourself to relax and let go.
And if you're in Shavasana,
I invite you to stay there as long as you wish.
And if you're joining me in a meditation,
Close your eyes.
Relax into this stillness and just be.
