Welcome to this morning yoga sequence.
To improve posture.
My name is Rachel and I'm a yoga teacher,
Mindfulness teacher and somatic practitioner.
And today we are going to be opening up through the heart space and shoulders.
I'm really resetting parts of the spine.
This is a particularly lovely flow to do in the morning when perhaps you've been sleeping funny or perhaps you've just noticed that your posture has been a little stiff.
And maybe a little hunched in lately.
So let's get started.
So before we begin,
Just coming into a comfortable needing position.
And just start to close down your eyes.
And just connect your belly breathing.
So just breathing deeply through your belly.
What this is doing is it's just signaling to the nervous system.
That it's safe.
And that you were safe.
Still staying in that kneeling position.
I want you to now just take a clasp so your hands are clasped together.
Your elbows can be bent or they can be straight.
And then we're just going to draw the shoulders down here.
So drawing the shoulders down,
Making sure that the rib cage is tucked in and that you have a slight back bend here.
So your gaze,
Your jurisdiction can be slightly up towards the ceiling as you draw the shoulder blades down.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
I'm breathing out long breaths in.
And long breaths out,
One more breath here,
Breathing in.
I'm breathing out And then releasing the hands,
Coming into a tabletop position.
So fingers spread wide,
Knees hip width apart.
Toes can be tucked away,
Feet can be flat on the ground.
And just dropping the belly on that inhale gaze comes forward shoulders draw back.
And on the exhale,
Moving seamlessly into that tap pose,
Pushing the ground away.
And just moving here in the time of your breath,
Inhaling.
And exhaling through to that tap pose.
Breathing and dropping the belly,
Shining the chest forward.
Exhaling,
Rounding and scooping.
A few more hair dropping that belly.
And then scooping through and this time staying in that cat pose and really pushing the ground away.
Retracting through shoulders,
Head,
Keep pushing,
Breathing in.
And breathe out one more breath breathing deeply in and acting out in this neat still staying.
Still staying in this box position.
I want you to now reach that right arm up towards the CA.
And then we're going to thread that needle.
So coming onto the right side of your face,
You can take that left arm up above you in front,
Having off through your hips.
Option to take.
That left leg long behind you.
So we're really getting a nice deep stretch on the outer side of that right shoulder.
By pressing that left hand forward,
We're opening up into the back also of that left shoulder.
As well as the back of the leg.
Breathing deeply in and breathing out.
Keep breathing deeply.
One more breath here,
Breathing in deeply.
Exhaling out and then drawing that left knee so it's in line with the right,
Sliding that left hand back and unraveling that right hand reaching it up to the ceiling.
And then placing it down beside you.
So we're going to take that now on the left side.
So sweeping that left arm up.
And then threading that left hand underneath the right,
Coming onto the left side of your face.
Lengthening through that right arm so it comes up above you if this feels comfortable.
That left hand the pub will be facing towards the ceiling and then you can extend that right leg back if that is an option that you want to take.
Just breathe in deeply.
Breathing in.
And breathing out in this twist that's opening up into the shoulders.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
Few more breaths here.
Really try to send that breath into the part of the body that you're stretching.
And final deep breath in.
And breath out and then drawing that right knee now inline black sliding that right hand back and unraveling that left arm reaching it up towards the ceiling and then placing it back down We're going to slide onto our abdomens,
Coming into a six pose.
In this Saint's Pose,
Feet can be hit width apart or they can be slightly more.
If there's slightly more,
This can protect the spine.
And just breathing here.
So elbows slightly forward of the shoulders,
Drawing the chest forward.
You can do this by pressing into that.
And bringing the hands back towards the elbows and the elbows back towards the body.
And that's going to create a nice opening within the chest area.
Deep belly breathing here.
Breathing deep.
My mom will be bright here breathing in.
And breathing out.
And then just lowering the forehead towards the air.
Now you've got to clasp the hands behind you.
So that bind that we took earlier.
Feet can still be hit with a pulp.
Draw the shoulders down.
And lift up feet.
But as we do this,
We want to be lengthening,
Not trying to lift ourselves as high as possible.
I'm breathing deeply through the belly here.
Lengthening as though you are a piece of an elastic band.
Being pulled in either direction.
So we're looking for that length.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Which is really good for the load back.
One more breath,
Air,
Breathing air.
And breathing out and then just surrendering that forehead to the air.
Releasing my hands.
And then we're going to take that one more time.
So drawing the hands down on the back.
You want to lift up the feet.
Lift up the head.
And you want to be lengthening through the crown,
Through the feet,
As though you're being pulled.
In either direction.
Keep with that deep belly breath,
Breathing in.
And breathe out.
Breathing and And breathing out one more breath in,
Breathing in.
And breathing out and then lowering your forehead down.
Forehead comes to the hands is stacked in a crocodile position and you can just walk your hips from side to side just a little massage through the hips here.
And then sliding the hands back,
Pushing into a child's pose.
An option to stay in this wide-legged Charles pose with the knees out to the outer edges,
Or if you want to,
You can take your hands into a prayer position.
So in this prior position you take the hands.
And they kind of rest on the back of the head here.
Your elbows are on the mat and you'll feel a nice opening within the upper back and the upper shoulders here.
Breathe in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
And breathe out.
Breathing in Out.
And then coming up into a comfortable seated position.
So that could be meaning or crossing your legs.
And then just taking a moment.
To place the hands into the heart centre.
And just thank yourself for showing up today.
For taking time for your practice and yourself.
If you enjoyed this practice,
Please come back and revisit it.
The more we practice it,
The more benefits we see over time.
If you enjoyed this please feel free to leave a review.
Let me know how it was for you.
Thank you for practicing.
Namaste.
