Welcome back!
This quick flow is designed to soothe the busy mind by bringing mindful movement and different practices that will help bring more ease and relaxation in the body and the mind as well.
Listen to your body,
Tune into how this practice feels like and how can you make it truly yours by always adapting and always tuning inwards.
We'll get started in a comfortable seated position.
Eyes can come to a close if you feel comfortable doing that,
But you can also just keep a soft gaze looking at the floor in front of you,
Maybe a wall,
Something neutral perhaps,
Just to bring a bit less of that input from the environment.
As you slowly tune your awareness into your body,
Into your breath.
Taking a quick inventory as to.
.
.
What's going on?
In the mind,
Perhaps,
How is your breath feeling?
And what kind of sensations do you notice in your body?
And doing this in a non-judgmental manner,
So no matter what you find,
To be your truth at the moment.
It is what it is and it simply serves a purpose.
So that once we are at the end of the class,
We can take that same inventory and notice what changed.
Again in the same non-judgmental manner I'm not trying to change anything right now.
Trying to force your body to be a certain way.
Letting it be as it is.
All right and then slowly when you're ready chin comes to chest and you start to circle your head in one direction.
Going gently at first,
And then with time,
Maybe making the circles bigger and bigger.
Feeling into the edges of the movement.
And slowly switch direction.
Noticing every little sensation around your neck.
What's stretching?
What's compressing?
How does it feel like?
The next time your chin meets the chest,
Lift it up again parallel with the mat.
As you feel your sit bones grounded down into the mat,
Imagine my hand hovering above the crown of your head and you want to grow tall into that head.
Keeping that nice length along your spine,
You're going to start with some shoulder rolls next.
Circling the shoulders back,
Feeling again into all the edges of the movement.
Letting the breath flow with ease.
Alright and then switch directions.
And slowly relax.
Next we're going to move our chest.
So just simple cat and cows with your upper spine.
You can even bring your hand on your chest bone just to navigate that movement.
With the inhale we're going to puff the chest open,
Lifting it high up towards the sky,
Squeezing the shoulder blades together.
And then with the exhale rounding it down as you want to send your chest bone into your spine,
Bringing the chin to chin as well.
And then again,
Inhale,
Lift it high up.
Feel the shoulder blades squeeze in.
And then exhale,
Round it down.
Feel the shoulder blades spread wide.
Just keep on going for a couple of rounds.
At any moment,
If it's comfortable,
You can always close the eyes and tune into the sensations in the body as you explore different movements.
An option now to add hands here as well,
Bringing the arms in cactus.
As you puff the chest open,
Open the elbows wide,
Again feeling those shoulder blades squeeze in.
And then as you exhale round down,
Bringing the elbows to touch,
Palms to touch as well.
And again,
Keep on going for a couple of rounds.
Next inhale,
Exhale,
We're gonna slowly release.
Finding your way to tabletop.
Palms beneath the shoulders,
Knees beneath the hips.
Extend the right leg to the side,
Right heel left knee parallel with the shorter edge of the mat.
From here we're going to explore some cat and cows from the tailbone all the way to the crown of your head.
With the inhale,
Lifting the sit bones high up,
Dropping the belly,
Lifting the gaze.
And then exhale,
Rounding everything in,
Chin to chest.
Just again keep on going for a couple of rounds,
Noticing how this version of cat and cow feels different.
Where and how.
These simple repetitive movements can feel really,
Really soothing.
The busy mind and we're going to explore them further on but for now we're going to come to spine neutral And then simply lift your body above the hips.
You're going to keep the right leg extended to the side.
I'm just going to face you this way.
Left palm is going to come onto the mat,
Right beneath your left shoulder.
You're keeping this one line between your heel,
Knee and palm.
Right arm can lift high towards the sky,
Fingertips want to reach the ceiling,
Or another option finding a side bend here,
Extending the arm above the head.
Breathing into the right ribs.
Maybe again,
Finding eyes closed.
Now we can stay here or maybe find a kneeling.
Slight wild thing.
So you can send the right foot towards the back where you're.
Back is facing.
Open the hips through the sky,
Squeezing the glutes.
Stand the arm,
Follow your ear as you open the chest or the sky,
Lift the gaze up as well.
Pressing against that left palm,
Pushing the mat away.
Letting the breath flow at ease.
Again,
Slowly find side plank coming back to that one line.
Right leg lifts up parallel with the mat.
Hand can come on your hip,
Making sure the right hip is on top of the left one.
You can stay here or an option to bend into the right knee and grab hold of your foot behind you.
Slightly perhaps opening the hips,
Again,
Feeling the glutes squeeze as they help you do that.
You're pushing against the left palm,
Maybe lifting the gaze up as you do that.
You feel that opening in your right shoulder,
Your chest.
As you hold your balance here for two more breaths And then exhale,
How slowly can you release?
Step the right foot back where it was.
Lift yourself back up and then find tabletop once again.
Now the left leg is going to open to the side.
Again,
Heel,
Knee parallel with the mat.
First,
Going with those cat and cows on this side,
With the inhale arching the back,
Exhale rounding the spine.
Slowly coming to neutral and then lifting yourself up.
Right palm comes down right beneath your right shoulder left fingertips reach for the sky Or again,
They extend over the head,
Finding a gentle side bend here.
Imagine something just out of reach of your left palm and you want to reach for that so for me that's the wall and i'm trying to touch it with my entire palm And again,
Often to turn this into a.
.
.
Half wild thing left foot now steps slightly behind you as you open the hips to the sky open the chest to the sky Soften your breathing,
Soften your face.
Alright,
Slowly find side plank once again.
One line between your heel knee palm And then left leg lifts up,
Hand can come on your left hip,
Making sure it's on top of the right one.
And then if you did it on the other side,
Left knee bent.
You grab hold of your foot,
Open the hip.
Open the chest.
Push against the right palm,
Maybe lift the gaze up.
It can be tiring,
Perhaps you can also lower the gaze down.
Holding your balance here for a couple of more moments,
Maybe playing around with the eyes closed.
And then slowly release lifting back up and then lowering down finding tabletop Toes curl in,
Lift your sit bones up.
Exhale,
Lift them all the way up to downward facing dog.
Taking a couple of pedals with your feet.
And maybe finding.
.
.
Stillness here.
So knees can stay bent,
You're lifting the sit bones towards the sky.
Pushing the mat away as you really focus on lengthening your spine and wrapping the armpit in.
With time you're gonna extend the legs and the heels towards the mat.
That can happen gradually.
So your main focus is on really,
Really lengthening your spine,
Lifting the sit bones up,
Up,
Up.
A couple more moments here,
Eyes can close.
Next,
Inhale,
Right leg lifts high up.
Bend the knee,
Send the right foot forward in between the palms.
Left knee lowers,
Lift the body up to low lunge.
Hands on the hips,
Bony bits of the hips are facing directly forward.
As you squeeze your legs towards the midline,
You're lowering the hips down.
Arms extend in front of you parallel with the mat,
Palms face one another.
We're going to swing the right arm back,
Finding a twist here.
Left arm stays where it is.
Inhale,
Right arm swings up,
Over and to the back.
As you open the chest to the right,
Maybe send the gaze towards the arm in the back.
And then lift and float it back forward.
And switching between this Twisted version and facing forward a couple of times.
Again,
Can you focus on finding the edges of the movement instead of perhaps going as fast?
As you can really feeling into the twist Alright,
Last one,
We're gonna hold it in the twist or an option for a side bend here.
As the right arm finds your back leg,
Left arm reaches high for the sky.
Your gaze can lift.
Notice the breathing slow it down Find ease in every moment.
And bring yourself back to the twist.
Exhale,
Relax the arms,
Face forward.
Left toes curl.
Next,
Inhale,
Arms reach high as you lift the knee into high lunge.
Hands on the hips,
Extend the front leg.
Bring the back foot.
An inch closer All right,
Back heel can stay slightly lifted or you can lower down at about a 45 degrees or even less.
Hips face directly forward.
Hands stay on the hips.
We're gonna grow tall into the crown of the head and then keeping the length in the spine,
Hinge from the hips,
Lowering slowly down to pyramid.
Stay hovering with your body.
The goal is not to reach the mat.
Hands can come on the thigh if this is more comfortable or you can keep them on the hips.
Option here to keep this steady or find those cat and cows from the beginning so moving with the upper spine opening the chest and then rounding it down keep the palms where they are or an option again to add the bent elbows As you cactus the arm,
Bring the elbows in and open.
Letting the breath flow,
Keeping the hips where they are.
Slowly bring the hands back on the hips.
Lift the left heel once again.
Maybe step the left leg slightly back.
Left palm then lowers right beneath your left shoulder as you twist bend the right knee again twist the chest towards the right knee right fingertips now reach for the sky as you find easy twist Couple of moments in stillness here.
Good,
Right palm lowers,
Step the right foot back,
Let's find downward facing dog straight away.
Sid bones again shine towards the back.
Or even towards the sky.
Spine is long,
You're pushing the mat away.
Left leg lifts towards the sky.
Bend the knee,
Send the foot forward in between the palms.
Right knee lowers,
Lift your body up.
Hands on the hips,
You're keeping the hips facing forward as you slowly lower,
Slightly more down.
Arms extend,
We're twisting towards the left now.
Left arm swims up and towards the back as you gaze,
Towards the back,
And then bring it back forward.
Just keep on going a couple of rounds on your own Last one.
Either stay twisted or find that side bend on this side.
Right fingertips are trying to reach for that ceiling you're breathing into your right side body And slowly find a twist.
Exhale,
Release.
Curl up the right toes,
Inhale,
Arms reach sky high as the right knee lifts and you find high lunge.
Palms find the hips,
Front foot extends,
Back heel either slightly lifted or lowers down onto the mat.
Hips shine forward spine is long as you lower slowly towards the mat hovering your body wherever this is a comfortable stretch for you.
And again,
Finding those cat and cows however you did first time around.
Aligning the breath.
With the movement Alright.
Slowly finding stillness.
Re-bend the left knee,
Step of the back foot,
Slightly towards the back,
Right palm lowers.
Twist the chest towards the left,
Left fingertips reach for the sky,
Easy twist.
Notice if you're slouching down on your right shoulder you want to be pushing the mat away staying strong on your arm but not just on your arm feel your body weight on your feet as well exhale left palm lowers step the left foot back downward facing dog and then lower the knees down,
Fine Child's Pose.
As you sit on your heels,
Knees can come wide,
That can stay hips distance,
Melting down into the mat.
Taking a couple of soft breaths here.
You might prefer stillness,
But you also might prefer maybe rocking the hips left to right.
Choosing your version by closing the eyes.
And just feeling into your body.
Inhale and with the exhale slowly walk the palms in as you find seated.
Coming back to that cross-legged seated position from the beginning.
Next inhale palms are going to reach for the sky again you want to grow tall Grow an interso along the spine,
And then exhale,
Twist to the right.
Left palm on your knee,
Right palm somewhere behind you as you twist with the chest,
And then when there's no more space,
Maybe send the gaze even further towards the right.
As you inhale can you find a bit more length in the spine and as you exhale can you find a bit more ease in your body Inhale,
Fingertips reach high.
And exhale,
Twist to the other side.
Maybe the eyes slowly come to a close.
Inhale grows you tall Exhale,
Relaxes you further.
Inhale,
Fingertips reach for the sky.
Exhale,
Relax the palms on your knees.
Maybe closing the eyes once again Option now to do a little visual reset as you bring your palms the body of your palm.
Over your eyes so this rounded part of Your palm comes over the bony circle around your eye.
You're pressing into that bony circle so that no pressure is on the eyes themselves.
They're completely at ease.
Eyes come to a close and as you press into the bony circle,
You're shutting off any light that can come into the eyes.
Creating a pitch black situation.
You're gonna take a couple of moments here,
Slowly breathing through your nose if it's possible.
If you're maybe shutting your nose,
You're gonna move the hands slightly further away.
Noticing flickers of light maybe coming in and out.
Letting your eyes slowly find ease in this darkness.
As you're here,
You're relaxing your face,
Your jaw,
The tongue.
Plummer moments.
Keeping the eyes closed,
You can very slowly start to lift the palms off your face.
Then bring them back on the knees.
And like we did at the beginning of the class Taking the little inventory now.
Noticing the state of your mind your breath,
And your body.
Keeping that non-judgmental approach.
And simply noticing.
What changed,
What stayed the same.
Right and then when you're ready hands come in front of your heart space palms pressing against one another as we take one more cleansing breath together in through the nose inside out release relaxing the palms blinking the eyes open That's it for today.
Thank you for joining me on the mat.
I'll see you tomorrow again.
Until then,
Have a beautiful rest of your day.
Namaste.
