Welcome to our final day of Yin for Your Work Week.
Today we're practicing a banana pose or a crescent moon pose to open the sides of the body and the chest.
All you need today is a blanket.
We're going to lay on the back with a blanket folded in a really long rectangle and it's just to support your arms and your shoulders while we're in this pose.
So please lay on your back.
Make sure that your heels are on your sticky mat and then bring your arms overhead.
Now shoulders I know are a sticky situation here so if you're able elbow to elbow and your elbows should be pretty comfortable on that blanket.
If that is not going to happen for you hand to hand,
Maybe a cactus at that point you would likely not have the blanket anymore or even open your arms into a T.
What I don't want is for your wrist or your elbow to be suspended off of the floor.
I'm looking for the arms every part of the arm to be on the floor or on that blanket.
So we're going to walk the legs over to the left and just keep your legs on your sticky mat.
Now taking that blanket with you you're going to awkwardly inchworm your upper body over to the left as well.
You're keeping your hip and your shoulder on the right side.
You're keeping those on the floor.
So really you're coming into a big side bend.
Now initially I'd like you to cross the left ankle over the right.
So you can see here or you can feel that you would look like a banana or a crescent moon.
And then you relax your arms.
You begin to relax your legs and you get a nice stretch all along the right side from your armpit to your waist maybe even down the outside of the right leg.
The last day of the week.
Doing a side bend adds a little bit of momentum for the weekend,
A little bit of enthusiasm for the evening.
While opening up the side of the body where it might not be a part of the body that you stretch all that much,
Especially the side of the chest and the ribs.
Now if your body has let you in,
I'd like you to uncross your left ankle and cross your right ankle over your left.
This is going to give you a bigger pull so it might be welcome,
It might not.
You'll know immediately if it's not welcome.
If that's the case you go back to left over right.
Try to relax the torso,
The fingertips.
Side bending is yet another stretch you can do to relieve tension in your low back.
So even though we're getting a little bit of tension in the lower back,
So even though we're doing this pose at the end of the week,
At the end of this course,
To create some enthusiasm,
Some energy,
It's a bonus for your low back.
Let's take three more breaths here please.
We're going to uncross the ankles and just let your legs drop down.
I'm going to inchworm your upper body back over.
Before we do the second side,
One at a time,
Please bend your knees,
Feet to the floor,
And bring your arms alongside of you,
And simply adjust your spine,
Your pelvis and hips.
And then let's hug the knees into the chest.
So it's a strange thing.
Side bending relieves tension in the low back in the long run,
But in the short run,
It's a little bit more of a stretch.
It relieves tension in the low back in the long run,
But in the short term,
It presents a little bit of stickiness there.
So it's nice to relieve that by hugging the knees in,
Maybe rocking a little very gently side to side.
Remember,
When we hold poses for several minutes,
We don't want to disrupt the body by moving too quickly out of the pose or into another one.
Let's set up for the second side.
Straighten out your legs.
We're going to walk the legs over to the right side of the mat,
But keep your heels on the mat itself.
Arms are up overhead,
Whatever position is going to work for your shoulders,
And then inchworm your upper body over to the right.
Your left shoulder and your hips stay on the floor.
To begin,
We cross the right ankle over the left.
And then you begin on this side,
Feeling the release in the left side,
Wrapping around to the low back,
All the way up the torso,
Maybe.
And you do the best you can to relax your ribs,
Your fingers.
Remember,
It's the first minute that's the most difficult.
Our body wants to engage,
To grip,
Because we're so uncomfortable.
Then at some point,
The body can't hold on forever,
So it softens.
And if it's softened enough,
You can try uncrossing that right ankle,
And then cross the left ankle over the right.
Again,
It's a much bigger pull,
So sometimes,
On any given day,
It's helpful.
On another,
It's not.
Remember,
No pain,
Discomfort only.
If this is your first experience of yin,
Our intention with yin is to not get closer to the floor,
Or a deeper stretch by reaching the foot or the floor.
A deeper stretch is holding the pose longer.
It's staying in that discomfort longer.
It's staying in that discomfort longer.
The time in the pose,
We learn to accept our limitations,
Our mobility.
We understand our body a little bit more.
We become more patient and kind to our bodies.
And while this was designed to help you feel relief,
Physically,
For the most part,
From your work week,
There are so many more benefits from practicing yin.
Let's take two more breaths,
Please.
To come out,
We're going to uncross the ankles,
And just let your legs relax.
Slide your upper body back over.
Lower your arms.
One at a time,
Bend your knees,
Feet to the mat,
And adjust your hips.
Just rest with your feet wide on the mat,
And just let your legs relax.
Just rest with your feet wide on the mat,
Feet turned slightly inward.
Now,
Walk the feet in.
Pick the feet up off of the floor,
And have one hand on each knee.
And then just draw your knees in a circle.
So this is a little massage for your sacrum.
And then go the other direction.
And then feet to the mat,
Roll on to your side,
And press yourself up.
Let's sit on that blanket that was for your shoulders.
Come to a comfortable seated position,
And settle in for this one minute of silence reflecting on how your body,
Your mind,
Your emotions,
Your being,
All of it,
On how you feel.
Please come back to your breath.
Your homework,
If you'd like,
Is once again to share with me in the course classroom how you're feeling after this banana or crescent moon pose.
And if you'd like to share with me how you're feeling after this banana or crescent moon pose,
How you're feeling after this banana or crescent moon pose.
If you feel longer,
More at ease,
More quiet in your mind,
Any,
All of those things,
I want to hear that.
And I'm going to assume that others do too.
Please feel free to practice these poses any day of the week when you need to unwind.
If you enjoyed this course,
Please also leave a comment for me in the course classroom.
Let me know your thoughts,
Your overall experience of yin for your work week.
My name is Melissa Kleehammer,
And thank you so much for practicing with me.
