Welcome to Yoga for Witches.
Welcome to your summer spell in a practice of radiance,
Warmth and expansion.
This practice is suitable for everyone from complete beginners to seasoned yogis.
No mat is needed,
But you may wish to find a soft and supportive place,
Whether that is your bed,
A comfortable space upon the floor with cushions and blankets,
Or even on green grass under a sunny sky.
Find a seated position that is comfortable for you.
Often this is cross-legged,
But if you find that too much on the knees or the ankles,
Then you can extend the legs out in front of you,
Or any way of seating upon the earth,
Upon the ground that feels supportive.
Consider your legs,
Your bum upon the earth,
Like roots and grounding,
Foundations from which we can let the spine rise tall,
Radiant,
Like a flame rising without effort.
As we settle,
You may close the eyes if you wish,
Or just let the gaze be soft,
Letting the breath be a drawing in and a letting go.
Drawing in and letting go.
Our invocation for summer,
If you wish to say out loud or simply in the mind's eye,
Is a short but powerful statement.
From our place upon the earth,
We're going to move the arms with the breath.
So on your next big inhale,
Sweep the arms high to the sky,
Reaching to the sun.
And then as you exhale,
Bring the palms together and let them come to your heart centre in prayer position.
And we'll roll through this with our own breath.
So every inhale we're sweeping the arms wide in a big circle like the sun.
And then as we exhale,
The hands come together and to our heart,
We'll bring that light inwards towards us.
Drawing in,
Reaching high,
Letting go,
Drawing to heart.
Take a few rounds in your own time,
Rising and falling,
Rising and falling.
Now no rush,
But just the next time the hands are reaching skywards,
Let's leave them there to reach high for a few breaths.
With those arms reaching tall,
We'll reach the right hand perhaps just a little higher as if you were trying to pluck a beautiful shining apple from a tree.
A little sense of elongation a little further through the right.
And then we're going to pluck an apple with the left.
Slow and unhurried,
We're going to take that little movement,
Reaching a little higher with the right,
Reaching a little higher with the left,
As if you were grasping for fruit in a summer laden tree.
I've heard this pose called picking apples,
So I always imagine shining white fruit above us.
Let the torso move as you reach high one side,
And reach high the other,
A little fluid movement,
Reaching to the abundance of summer.
And then once again,
A reaching high,
A stillness,
Fingertips rising,
And from here we can just let the arms fall away to the earth,
To our sides.
You can take a little roll with the shoulders if you like,
A little wiggle to loosen the arms.
From here we wish to bring the arms behind the back,
So it might be that you interlace your fingers behind your back and straighten the arms.
You might want to hold on to opposite elbows behind your back,
Or simply let the hands rest upon your lower back.
Find a place that feels comfortable for your arms and shoulders.
And a movement here that we can take as gently or as strongly as we like,
As we imagine shining the heart,
The chest forwards,
And sending the arms behind us like wings,
Shining light.
And once more,
You can release the arms and give the shoulders a little wiggle,
Or a flex,
Or a roll.
And from here we are going to make our way further towards the earth.
We are going to lay upon our backs and hug our knees into our heart.
A little tuck position as we hug our knees in,
You can have a little rock side to side,
Settling the spine,
The back of the heart into the ground.
And we're just going to take some little circles with the knees,
So with the hands perhaps upon the knees,
We're just going to pick a direction,
And we're going to do little circles with the knees as if you were drawing a circle on the ceiling,
Or a circle,
A sun shape upon the sky.
And whichever way you're circling the knees,
We'll take it now the opposite way.
And finally,
We'll hug the knees back to our hearts.
Here,
If it is comfortable,
What we'll do is we'll draw our forehead up to meet our knees,
As if you were trying to curl into the tiniest possible shape that you can,
A little seed filled with light.
And then from this seed,
We're going to burst forth,
We're going to send our legs long along the ground and our arms long overhead,
Expanding out.
And then imagine that you are a starburst,
Rays of light.
We're going to expand the arms and legs out as wide as we can,
As if you were trying to take up as much space upon the ground as you possibly can,
Expanding with light and radiance,
Taking up space.
And my beautiful sunbursts,
My beautiful glowing stars,
From here,
We'll settle in to a place of stillness for a little relaxation and meditation.
So you can bring the arms back alongside the body and find a place to settle upon the ground that feels comfortable for you.
So the knees can be soft,
The arms can be on the ground or resting on the body,
Wherever you would like to settle.
You can bring in layers and blankets if you like.
Once more,
A chance to close the eyes or let the gaze be soft.
Letting the breath and the body settle into place.
And you are surrounded here by sunlight.
Warm,
Golden and steady.
You may picture the sunlight shining in beams through leaves or sparkling over water.
This light softens around you.
It sinks with warmth into your chest and shoulders,
Through your arms and down through your belly and legs and feet.
The whole body filled with sunlight,
But gathering perhaps in a golden sphere at the heart,
And with this golden light,
This warmth within the heart,
You remember in some deep level of heart and ground and sky that you are someone that remembers how to shine.
Breathe into that light as we begin to bring our awareness back to our body,
Back to the day,
Back to our contact with the ground and the space around us.
If you are restful where you are,
Don't let me move you,
But if you would like to return to the place we started,
Maybe we take our time to gently bend the knees,
To take a stretch and maybe make our way to seated.
We'll take one last pause with a spell before we journey onwards.
And from our seated place,
We might rest our hands upon our body,
So it might be the chest,
Belly,
And as we pause for a moment in this little liminal space between the end of our journey and the rest of our day,
We imagine perhaps that we carry a small piece of sunshine with us as we return,
And we may say in our mind's eye or out loud,
I do not chase light,
I remember I am made of it.
I do not chase light,
I remember I am made of it.
And with a lovely deep breath in,
We may open the eyes if they're closed and just sigh a lovely breath out into the day.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I hope that your onward journey into the season is filled with light,
Radiance,
And recognition of the fire within you.
Farewell for now.
Thank you and Namaste.
