30 Min Slow And Gentle Yoga Flow

This is a 30-minute full-body yoga class with a slow and gentle flow. The intention for the class is to cultivate softness within. It is suitable for beginners as well as seasoned practitioners who are looking to slow down and come back to basics. Feel free to adjust, use props, and adapt as necessary—your body, your practice. Enjoy!

Transcript

Hi and welcome back. Today's flow is going to be a slow flow where our aim is going to be to cultivate softness. So in every pose that we're going to be in, In every pose that we're going to stay for a couple of moments, We're going to ask ourselves, How can I bring more softness here? How can I bring more? Gentleness, More compassion. It's not going to be a completely restorative class, So we are going to build some heat, But we want to always approach it with a soft and gentle nature. So if you're ready, Find a comfortable seated position and we can slowly begin. For a couple of moments you can close the eyes if that feels good to you. If not you can also gaze at the floor, At your mat, At a wall. Taking a couple of deep belly breaths here. We're exhaling fully. Inhaling deeply. Feeling your body expand with every inhale. And feeling it contract with every exhale. Noticing this playful rhythm of the body with every inhale and exhale. You can keep the eyes closed and with the next exhale bring your chin to your chest and slowly start to circle your head in one direction feeling every extension, Every sensation, Every compression. Try to keep the back long and move only with your neck here. Slowly switching directions. Asking yourself, How can I bring more softness here? Am I being gentle with myself? With how I move, But also with how I talk to myself. Next time the chin meets the chest, Inhale, Lift the chest, The chin up. Start with a couple of shoulder rolls in one direction. And then switching sides. And slowly finding stillness, Extending the arms wide as they're going for a big, Big hug, And then hugging yourself. So palms on your shoulders, Hugging yourself very nicely here, Still lengthening the back. We're going to start with a couple of circles with our chest area. So they're trying to make a big circle with your chest bone. I'm going however small or exaggerated you'd like it Try to really move from the chest. And then slowly switching sides. This is a very joint rich area, So we really want to utilize that and really make that movement as luscious as possible. And slowly find stillness. You can repeat that same circular motion or maybe start doing figure eights in your chest. And slowly switching sides. And finding stillness, You can relax the palms on your knees, Taking a couple of moments here. Good, You can blink the eyes open now, Extend the arms in front of you, Fingers spread wide, Wide, Wide, As wide as you can, And then make a fist with them. So going however fast you can here. Just opening the fingers wide and then clenching them into a fist, Getting them really warmed up and juicy. Again, Asking yourself, How can I bring some softness into this movement? With softer movements it seems easier, But how can I even. . . Cultivate that gentle approach when I'm trying to be very active. This is where the magic lays. Okay, Let's shake it out. And then making those fists again just rolling your wrists in one direction And maybe the other. Maybe but in the other. Again shaking it up and meet me in a table top position. So we did a lot of rolls and I'm going to continue with that. Same idea but just move on to her legs. So knees are right beneath the hips, Palms right beneath the shoulders, Navel is in. Extend the right leg back, Keeping everything engaged. The back is long, The leg is in the same direction, The same line with the back. Gonna start to circle with our right ankle in one direction getting that ankle warmed up Push into the palm so don't collapse in the shoulders. And switch directions with the ankle. Okay, You can now bend the knee and start to make circular motions with your knee, But we're really circling from the hip area. The knee actually stays static here But you can imagine a paper right beneath your knee and you're drawing those big nice circles. And switch directions. Try to distribute your weight equally on both of your palms here. Again, Asking yourself, How can I bring a little bit more gentleness here? Good inhale extend the leg and bring it down let's do the other side so navel stays in lift the left leg drop the left hip and start to circle With your ankle in one direction. And switch sides. Then let's bend the knee and start to circle with the hip in one direction. This really helps to wake up that hip in a very nice and juicy way. And then switch sides. Good inhale extend and exhale lower down Okay, Let's sit on our heels for a couple of moments if you need a little break, Rolling the shoulders. Maybe in one direction than the other. Again, Noticing that soft moment. So where am I called to? Stop for a second and bring some love to the body. And then coming back to tabletop. Next inhale, We're going to extend the right leg once again. This time you can keep the leg extended or maybe add the left hand to the mix as well. Keeping the navel in, Keeping everything in line. With the next exhale, Bring the knee to the elbow into a crunch position. And then inhale, Extend. Let's do four more like this. Inhale lengthening, Exhale curling up. And last one. Stay for the inhale. Maybe lift the knee up, Lift the chest, Kick into your left palm and look slightly forward. Taking a couple of deep breaths here, Maybe. Inhale and exhale, Release. Good job let's do the other side inhale left leg lips lifts drop the left hip inhale maybe adding the right arm and then five times bringing that knee to the elbow And last time. Inhale extend grab your foot and next inhale maybe lift the knee lift the thigh kick into the right arm lift the chest and look forward Deep breaths here. Inhale and exhale. Release. Let's take a breather in child's pose. Maybe you can bring the knees wide and just sink. Into the mat, Sinking the chest, The forehead, Walking the arms, The hands further away to find length along the back. And just taking a couple of deep breaths. Inhale slowly lifting up and coming back to tabletop. We're gonna do thread the needle next. With the inhale, Lift the right arm up, Look up and then exhale, Thread it over under the left armpit to the other side, Squaring the hip. Maybe walking the left arm away from you, Lifting the chest, Looking up. Try to gently press into the right shoulder to deepen that shoulder stretch here. Deep breath. Again asking yourself, How can I bring a little bit more ease? A little more softness here. Where am i holding on to that i don't need to be holding on to where am i bringing more tension where it's not necessary maybe the jaw maybe the eyebrows And how can I relax that? Left palm comes back in. Inhale, Lift the right one up. And exhale, Lower down. Other side. Inhale, Left arm lift. Exhale thread. Clear the hips. Good, Right palm comes back in, Next inhale, We're gonna lift the left palm once again, Exhale lower down, Extend the fingers wide, Next finger facing forward. Curl up the toes and next exhale, Let's lift into downward facing dog. Taking a couple of steps in your dog just to bring again that softness in the body. Doing whatever feels the best to you here so maybe some spinal waves, Maybe some intuitive movements. Maybe you find stillness. To lengthen the back, Relax the neck and the head. Inhale and exhale walk the feet in between the palms Feet can stay hips distance. Next inhale, Halfway lift up, Grab onto the opposite elbows. Pull the navel in and then exhale. Relax the entire upper body. Maybe sway left to right, Up and down. Try to bring your weight slightly forward and stay here. Inhale relax the palms and exhale vertebrae by vertebrae very slowly very gently we're gonna lift back up to standing Neck and head go left again, Maybe rolling the shoulders in one direction. And then the others. Or softness might look differently for you. So for me, It's always in that shoulder, Extra shoulder love. Inhale, Lift the palms. Look up. Exhale keeping the back long let's forward fold bend the knees if you have to and then step one foot then the other into a plank position Lower the knees, Sit on the heels into a child's pose. Balasana. We're going to move through a couple of balasana to cobra. By sliding our body between our palms. So first you're gonna look in between the palms, Make sure there is enough space for you to slide your body through them. Really spread the fingers, Really press the palms into the mat. And then with the next inhale, Move your head and then the rest of the body in between the palms, While keeping the elbows close to your body, All the way to cobra, Opening the chest, Forward, Looking forward. And then exhale, Come to your knees. And back to Balasana Child's Pose. Let's do this a couple of more times. Inhale slide the body keep the elbows in open to cobra and exhale Back to Childs. Inhale slide Open to Cobra And exhale child's pose. Let's do two more. And last one, Let it be the most soft one so far. Coming onto your knees and then slowly make your way to the outward facing dog. Lengthening the back, Again relaxing the neck and head. Taking a couple of deep nourishing breaths. When you're ready next inhale right leg lifts up point the right toes bend the knee and then with the exhale bring your right foot forward in between the palms. Lower the left knee, Point the left toes and inhale, Lift to low lunge. We're going to cactus the arms. And from here, Do a couple of twists from one side to the other. So first exhale, Twisting to the right. Try to look towards the back of the mat here, Keeping the hips square, Facing forward. Inhale center and exhale twisting to the left again try not to twist with your hips keep them where they are and twist with your chest area inhale center exhale twist inhale center twist and one more each side and inhale to center relax the hands you can interlace them now behind your back keeping the navel in inhale lift the chest to look up and then exhale sink the hips down And we're gonna switch between this low lunge. And extended half split so extending the front leg keeping the back long folding down towards the extended leg And then lifting back up, Coming to low lunge. And two more like this. And last time. Lift up, Untwine the hands, Re-bend that knee. Bring the palms on the mat. And meet me in a plank position lower the knees sit on the heels child's pose balasana next inhale slide your body in between the palms all the way to cobra And exhale, Make your way to downward facing dog. Taking 2 deep breaths here. Taking inventory of the flow that you just did, Noticing if you still kept it. Soft approach, The gentle approach Noticing perhaps if you haven't, Without judgment. Just noticing what you might do differently on the other side. What thoughts? Could change. What approach to your body could change? And then putting it to practice. Inhale, Left leg lifts up. Bend the knee and bring the left foot forward. Lower into low lunge. Cactus the arms, Navel is in. Inhale, Exhale, Twist to left. Inhale center, Twist to right. Inhale center two more times inhale center i think i did one more than i said i would never mind however much you did let's lower the arms down interlace the hands navel in lift the chest and exhale sink the hips down try to move the arms away from your body and keep the hips squared again we're going to switch between this low lunge And lifting up, Extending that front leg, And fold into a half split. Then inhale lift a little bit of shake from magni and come to low lunge and lift and to half split one more time and lift, Untwine, Re-bend the knee and meet me in a plank position again lower the knees Come to Child's Pose, Balasana. Inhale, Slide the body through Cobra. And exhale to downward facing dog. One deep breath here. And slowly lower the knees we're going to do a child's pose once again this time you might want to really spread the knees wide so you can sink your entire body your entire belly in between the knees So this one is not comfortable for you. You can again choose the one that you like the most. And just dive into child's pose. Taking a couple of deep nourishing breaths here. Inhale. And exhale walk the palms to the right side feeling a nice left side body stretch and inhale center exhale to the left side And inhale, Center. Exhale, Walk the palms back in and let's come on to our back. Are you hot as well? Really hot where we're at currently so that's why you might notice me sweating for just some light movement as well and if you're sweating as well that's fine it's all good So let's prepare for bridge pose. Our feet are gonna stay hips distance facing forward. From here, We're gonna lift the pelvis and then the rest of the body up into bridge, Maybe interlacing the hands behind your back into the mat. Bringing those shoulders and squeezing the shoulder blades in together then lift the chest up, Push the upper arms into the mat, Try to bring the knees a bit closer. And stay here a couple of deep breaths. Inhale. And exhale. Release. Maybe hug the knees in, Rock left to right. Let's do this one more time. Feet hips distance, Next inhale, Lift the hips up, Interlace the palms, Bring the shoulder blades in, Squeeze them in, Knees a bit closer together. This is easy you might lift one leg up try to keep the hips balanced so that the right hip is not falling down And then lower the right leg, Maybe lift the left one. Again, Skip, Stay squared. And lower stay a couple of more moments here And exhale. Let's release. Again, Hug those knees in. Rock left to right. And then we're gonna rock back and forth all the way into wide legged. Seated position so you might prepare the legs right away as you sit down. You might want to use the opportunity to rock back and forth a couple of times. Again, Bringing that softness in the body, Maybe by massaging your back. And then meeting me in a wide-legged seated position feet are flexed Toes facing the ceiling, Inhale, Lengthen, Navel is in, And exhale, Fall down, Keeping the back long. Hands can stay on your shins. Maybe you're gonna grab onto your big toes. Try to tuck the chin slightly in so that you lengthen the neck as well here. Maybe you want to come onto your elbows. Wherever you are, Try to keep the back long. Okay. And inhale, Lift up. It's okay. You can bend the knees. Who wants a cuddle? And then come into a seated position for a last twist before a short Shavasana. So either bending both knees and bringing the right foot over on the outer side of the left knee. Left foot stays on the outer side of the right hip. Or this is a lot for your hips. I know, I know, I know. Odito, Odito. See you there. He just wants to be a part of this, So we're going to let him do that. So you can keep the left leg like this, Or if it's too much, You can keep it extended like this. So it's your decision how you can bring more softness in the body. Inhale, Let's lengthen the back, And exhale, Twist to the right side. I like to hug my right thigh here. You can also just extend the forearm like this in Jan Mudra, So whichever you prefer. Inhale and exhale release let's switch sides again either right leg now stays bent or maybe you extend it forward so wherever you are with your body is perfectly fine so just see what feels the most soft within the body inhale lengthen that back and exhale let's twist to the left inhale and exhale release Let's come onto our mat for a couple of moments of silence and rest. And Savasana. Feet can stay mat distance completely relaxed into the mat you can open the palms towards the sky or maybe bring one palm on your heart the other on your belly, So whichever one feels the best to you. Sometimes I like to use both arms on my belly. Taking a couple of deep nourishing breaths here, Allowing the body to sink deeper into the floor beneath you. Allowing the body to relax now, To let go. Allowing it to restore, To come back to balance. Once again, Asking yourself, How can you bring a little bit more softness in the body, In the mind? How can you bring a little bit more gentleness in the body and in the mind? Where can you be more gentle with yourself? Where would more gentleness benefit you the most? Slowly start to wake up the body without opening the eyes, Maybe rolling the feet, The arms, The hands. Extending the arms above the head, Doing a nice morning stretch. And then bringing the knees closer to you, Resting for a couple of moments on your right side. Curled up into a little ball here. And then slowly lifting up to a seated position. Bringing the hands in front of your heart's face, Bowing down, Saying thank you to your body. Thank you to the practice. Let's take last deep inhale for om Thank you for joining me. For joining us. I will see you in another class tomorrow again. And until then, Namaste.

Reviews

My takeaway: child pose to cobra. 🦜 Thanks [KEY: 5=Insightful, 4=Interesting, 3=Okay, 2=Not For Me, 1=Irritating]. (Audio snob advice: Would be improved by softening the mouth and breathing sounds with a foam mic dampener, it's a powerful mic I can also hear a clock tick in background)

Loved your class. Beautiful voice, very calming. The pace & variety of poses was perfect for me. Thank you!💕🙏🏼