Yin-Vinyasa Yoga For Fall Equinox

Flow into fall with me! This 30 min Yin Vinyasa Yoga sequence is a great class to celebrate the transition into fall or into a new chapter in your life. We're flowing through fluid movements (vinyasa) and long, deep stretches (yin). These poses aim to strike a perfect balance between awareness and stillness, to let go of all that no longer serves you, and to prepare ourselves for the slower time of the year.

Music: "Stress Melt" by Chris Collins

Transcript

Fall is nature's lesson in letting go.

Just like the trees drop their leaves so they can withstand the upcoming storms,

It's our time to let go of anything that didn't go to plan this year so it's not standing in our way going forward.

With that in mind,

Let's begin our practice.

Come to a seated position on your mat and release into child's pose.

Your arms can be resting next to the sides of your body or reaching forward.

You can also stack your hands like a little pillow and rest your forehead on them.

Close your eyes and breathe.

Extend your arms forward if they're not already there and place your right hand to your head.

Then turn your right side open gazing up to the sky and thread your right arm through so it's extended to the left side.

Your forehead comes to the mat.

If you want to go deeper into the stretch,

Come onto your left fingertips while keeping your forehead down.

Unwind and bring your left hand to your head,

Opening up to the left side,

Lifting your gaze and now thread your left arm through,

Extending the left arm to the right side.

Again,

To go deeper,

You can come onto your right fingertips.

Wonderful.

Unwind and come onto your hands on knees,

Tabletop position.

Inhale,

Arch the back for cow,

Gazing up and exhale around the spine,

Gazing to your belly.

One more like this.

Now tuck your toes,

Come into cow and as you round the spine,

Let your knees hover just above the mat.

Release the knees for cow and hover for cat.

Once more.

Come back to neutral and lift up into downward facing dog,

Paddling out your legs here if that feels good for you.

Come into stillness and extend your right leg back,

Three leg dog.

Bend the knee and draw circles with your right leg for three,

Two,

One and now reverse for three,

Two and one.

Extend the leg and step forward into low lunge.

Place your hands onto your front leg and relax.

We're holding this pose for a couple of breaths,

So maybe close your eyes.

With your next inhalation,

Reach both arms up and exhale,

Twist.

Your right hand comes to your back leg,

The left arm reaches up and slightly over to the right.

Now place your left elbow to your front knee and bring your hands to heart center,

Twisting to the right.

Then tuck your back toes and lift your back knee off the mat.

Now open your arms and rise up into twisted lunge,

Right hand on your back leg,

Left arm reaches up and slightly over.

And now place your left hand to the mat,

On the inside of your front foot,

Revolved lunge,

Gazing down for stability or up for a challenge.

Switch hands,

Right hand comes down,

Left arm reaches up,

Extended side angle and rise up into peace for Varya.

Extend your front leg,

Left arm wraps around your lower back and side angle,

Both arms reaching up,

Palms facing each other.

Again,

Peace for Varya,

Extended front leg and side angle,

Arms reaching up.

Straighten your front leg as you turn to the left side and release into a wide leg forward fold.

You can bring your hands to the mat and fold all the way down,

Or if you tend to get dizzy or want to make it a bit easier on your back,

You could place your hands onto blocks or a chair and keep your back straight.

Come into the variation that you need today and with each exhalation think about letting go of anything that's no longer serving you.

Carefully lift your back up halfway,

Then bend your right knee and come into Skandasana,

Your left leg extended,

Toes pointing up.

Then turn forward,

So over your bent leg,

Lunge position,

Hands framing your front foot and extend your right leg up into three-leg dog.

Pull the right knee forward to your right hand and release into pigeon.

Inhale lifting the gaze up and exhale lower down onto your forearms or all the way down.

Make yourself comfortable,

Maybe close your eyes and with each exhalation relax deeper into the pose.

Keep in mind that hip openers like this pigeon can bring emotions up,

So if that's happening for you,

Know that it's okay.

Let them go to move forward with a fresh perspective.

Gently lift your upper body up and swing your back leg around and stack the knees for shoelace.

Hands come to your feet,

Your back straight,

Your shoulders relaxed,

Your neck long.

On your next inhalation reach both arms up and come into eagle arms,

Right arm over your left and again relax enjoying this beautiful stretch.

Unwind,

Swing the left leg back and come into kneeling peace for warrior.

So your right shin and the left foot is grounded,

Your arms circling up,

Your left hand comes to the back leg,

Your right arm reaches up high.

Release,

Ground your hands and step back into three-leg dog one more time.

Then come into plank as you ground your right toes and let's float out.

Inhale shift forward and exhale chaturanga.

Inhale up dog and exhale child's pose,

Savoring the comfort of this pose.

Slowly make your way back up into downward facing dog.

Extend your left leg into three-leg dog,

Then bend the knee and begin to draw circles for three,

Two,

One and reverse three,

Two,

One.

Extend into three-leg dog and step forward into low lunge,

Placing your hands to your front leg.

Stay here for a couple of breaths and bring your awareness inward.

With your next inhalation raise both arms up and exhale twist.

Your left hand comes to your back leg,

The right arm reaches up and slightly over to the left.

Now place your right elbow to the outside of your left knee,

Bring your palms together going deep into the twist and then tuck your back toes to lift your back knee off the mat.

Release and lift up into twisted high lunge.

Ground your right hand at the inside of your front foot and come into side angle.

Left hand comes down,

Right arm reaches up,

Your back foot turns to the right.

Rise up into peace for warrior,

Front leg extends and come forward side angle,

Both arms reaching up.

Again,

Peace for warrior and side angle.

Begin to straighten your left leg as you turn to the right and slowly fold all the way down,

Wide-legged forward fold.

Breathe and let go,

Allowing gravity to help you release deeper and deeper.

Carefully lift halfway up and bend your left leg to come into skandhasana,

Stretching out the right leg.

Then turn forward and extend the left leg up into three-leg dog.

Draw the knee forward and release into pigeon.

Inhale gaze up and exhale fold down.

Close your eyes and with each exhalation allow yourself to let go of anything that's no longer serving you.

Think about it like the trees in autumn.

Those who hold on to their leaves for a long time are less resistant against the storms,

While those who were able to let go can withstand more.

It is the same with life.

You can control the storms that are coming,

But you can try your best to prepare yourself,

Making space to fill with positive energy.

Carefully lift your upper body and swing your right leg forward,

Stacking the knees for shoelace.

Beautiful.

With your next inhalation reach both arms up and exhale come into eagle arms,

Left arm over your right.

Hold it there and breathe,

Enjoying the stretch in your shoulders.

Unwind and swing your right leg back again,

Circling arms up into kneeling peaceful varia.

Then ground both hands at the top of your mat and extend the left leg back into three-leg dog.

Come into plank,

Toes grounded and shift forward for chaturanga.

Inhale up dog and exhale release into child's pose.

Slowly come back to tabletop and let's do two more rounds of cat cow.

Inhale arch the back,

Gazing up and exhale around the spine,

Gazing down.

Once more.

Then come back to neutral and walk your hands forward for melting heart or puppy pose.

Your hips are over your knees.

Rest your forehead to the mat or gaze forward.

We're staying here for about a minute to soak up all the benefits of this pose,

But you can always come back to child's pose,

Maybe with your toes tucked under if that's better for you.

Melting heart pose is a great way to calm the mind and to open the heart,

Releasing tension from your shoulders and upper body to make space for air.

Now slowly shift forward,

Lying down onto your belly.

Then bring your hands next to your ribs,

Lift up into up dog and rise up into downward facing dog,

Maybe working out your legs here.

And then take a few steps or light hop forward and lie down onto your back,

Hugging your knees in for a panasana and maybe taking a gentle rock from side to side here.

Ground your left foot and place your right ankle onto your left knee for reverse pigeon.

You can stay here or lift your left leg up,

Holding it with your hands but let your back and head rest on the mat.

Now slide your right leg over your left for a shoelace variation,

Holding onto your feet to feel a nice stretch in your outer hips.

Unwind,

Come back to up panasana,

Then ground your right foot and place your left ankle onto your right knee,

Reverse pigeon.

Stay here or lift your right leg up.

Now slide your left leg over your right for shoelace.

Unwind,

Come back to up panasana and for a spinal twist,

Extend your right leg along the mat,

Left knee stays in.

Place your right hand to the outside of your left knee and draw the knee to the right,

Rolling onto your outer hip.

Your left arm extends,

You're gazing to the left while keeping both shoulders grounded on the mat.

Unwind and switch sides.

Hug the right knee in and extend your left leg along the mat.

Draw the right knee to the left and extend your right arm,

Gazing to your right hand.

Unwind,

Bend both knees and ground your feet to release into our butterfly,

A beautiful hip opener for stress and tension relief.

Settle into the stillness of this pose and bring your awareness inward,

Focusing on your inhalations and exhalations.

Gently bring your knees together,

Extend your arms out to the side and lower both knees over to the left and to the right.

Come back to center and release into your well-deserved savasana.

Your arms resting next to the sides of your body,

Palms facing up.

Close your eyes and allow yourself to relax every muscle in your body,

Soaking up all the benefits of our practice.

Breathe deeply and with each exhalation,

Sink deeper into the mat,

Feeling supported by the earth underneath you.

See what you've released through this class,

Imagining as if you're a tree standing tall next to a pile of dropped leaves.

Turn inward and you'll see that you already have what you need to get through whatever comes next.

You can stay here in savasana for as long as it serves you.

If you'd like to finish your practice with me,

Begin to bring some movement into your hands and feet,

Wiggling your fingers and your toes.

Bend your knees,

Roll onto one side to come into a comfortable seated position.

Let's take a moment here,

Close your eyes and just breathe,

Giving your mind a gentle transition out of your practice.

When you're ready,

Take a big inhalation while reaching your arms up and exhale,

Bring your hands down to your heart,

Bowing down and thanking yourself for your beautiful practice today.

Thank you so much for joining me.

I hope you have a wonderful day and I can wait to flow with you again.

Bye!