Yin Yoga For Renewal & Compassion

Yin Yoga is a slow, contemplative practice. A series of moderate yoga postures are held over 3-5 minutes, relying on gravity and time to gently stress connective tissues around the hips and spine.

This sequence includes seated forward folds, side bending, twists, and a prone backbend, and ends with a short guided loving-kindness meditation.

Transcript

Let's get right into it.

Let's start with just a comfortable seat.

We'll take a couple minutes to just land and if that for you is legs crossed,

Legs long,

You might choose butterfly if you want some extra hip opening right from the beginning.

But whatever your comfortable seat is today,

We'll spend a couple minutes to just arrive.

You can close your eyes if you like or you might decide to keep them open.

Maybe a few big breaths letting the day start to leave.

Honoring that sort of pause between activities.

And setting down what you were doing before.

And as we come into this new space,

This new practice,

Take a moment to acknowledge what are we bringing with us.

What attitude,

What thoughts or emotions are currently present.

There's no need to judge or try to change or manage that.

Just say hello.

Hello hungry.

Hello tired.

Hello restless.

Take a moment.

Really thoroughly check in.

Start to invite in some longer inhales.

Breathing in through your nose.

And even longer exhales.

Breathing out of your nose if that's available today.

Breathing in wide to use your whole capacity to take in fresh air.

And then breathing out completely feeling a gentle contraction as your abdominals pull back.

Eventually working your way to a five count inhale.

And a five count exhale.

And counting at your own pace.

We all have different oxygen needs.

Different sizes and torsos.

Different lung capacities.

Counting to yourself inhaling one,

Two,

Three.

However long it takes.

And then counting backwards.

Five as you exhale.

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Taking a step back.

Letting go of that controlled breath.

Find a natural rhythm that feels easy.

Trusting that your body knows how to breathe on its own.

And as we explore a few different shapes this afternoon,

You're welcome to try the practice of counting your breath.

Breathing in,

Saying softly to yourself one.

Breathing out,

Counting two.

Breathing in for three.

And so on.

Continuing until either you get to ten or you lose count or get distracted.

In either case,

Start back at one.

There's no winning,

There's no losing.

It's always starting back at one,

The fresh inhale.

You're welcome to stay right here for as long as you like.

This might be your entire practice today and that's perfectly valid.

If you'd like to explore some side bending and forward folding,

We'll start with right leg coming out wide.

You can adjust your left foot so the sole of your foot finds the inside of your left.

Left foot finds the inside of your right thigh.

Take a big breath in,

Sit up nice and tall,

Find your shoulders stacking over your hips.

And then turning from the center of your torso,

Let your chest align over your right leg.

One hand on either side of your right leg.

On an exhale,

Nice and slow,

Very curious,

Inch by inch,

We'll start to fold forward.

You can let your chin fall in towards your chest.

You might even bring a block or a couch cushion to support your forehead.

Once you find your position,

Not too much,

Not too little,

We sit.

We explore,

Let your foot relax,

So not active,

Not tensing through the ankle or your toes.

You can let your toes flop out to the side if they want to.

Not reaching forward with your torso,

But allowing your upper back to round.

Letting gravity come in.

Everything getting just a little bit heavier with every exhale.

Very gently scanning your body to notice where the sensation is most obvious.

And seeing if you can soften around that area,

Often we'll brace or tense or clench around sensation to protect ourselves.

When you notice that happening maybe in your jaw,

Your hip,

Your chest,

You can acknowledge that and thank your body.

Thank you for your wisdom,

Your response to perceived danger.

Then you can assure yourself,

I'm safe.

I am here.

I am well.

And I can rest.

Youapping.

Maybe without realizing it,

You've already shifted a little lower towards the ground.

Take about a minute longer here.

Honoring wherever you are,

Knowing full well that you can come out at any time.

You don't want to push or force.

Meet the edge and soften around it.

Gently in your next few breaths,

Use your hands to walk your torso back upright.

From here,

We'll spend a little less time,

But it's still a significant amount in a side bend.

Take your right hand and let it come rest at the inside of your right leg.

Big breath in,

Sweep left arm up overhead and let it hang.

There's a couple ways to make this more comfortable.

Make a basket with your left hand to hold your head.

You might decide to bend your right elbow,

Make a little platform for your head.

We'll take two minutes here.

Breathing wide into your left side body.

Notice any clenching in your jaw,

Your face,

Your hip.

And if at all possible,

See if you can let go of extra effort.

It's not so much a reaching forward as it is relying on the weight of your left arm to bring a little traction into your left side waist.

Relying on gravity,

Holding left hip to the floor.

Only acting on the rest of your body to create that sensation.

30 seconds longer.

One,

Two.

.

.

Ah Very carefully let your left hand come to the floor,

Right hand to the floor.

Walk your hands into center.

Help your torso up.

Ooh,

Take a moment just to pause.

Let that settle.

Notice what's changed in your body.

Left and right.

For just a moment let's send both legs forward,

Both legs out long,

Meeting in a Dandasana staff pose.

We'll try it on the other side.

First sending left leg out wide,

Not any wider than it wants to be.

Help your right knee to bend.

Right foot finds somewhere on the inside of your left foot,

Left leg,

Not quite to your foot.

Sitting up nice and tall,

Feel both sit bones rooted onto the ground.

A little turn in your torso,

Maybe it's 15,

20 degrees.

Bring one hand on either side of your left leg.

Big breath in,

Sitting tall.

As you exhale,

Nice and slow,

Walk your hands forward as you fold over your left leg.

The right hip stays heavy,

Chin might come to chest.

We begin.

We pause,

Soften,

Connect with the present moment.

Let the left foot relax.

Let the jaw soften.

If your mind feels busy,

Always come back to counting.

Or gentle body scans,

Noticing from your toes to the tips of your fingers.

What sensations are alive and very obvious in your body?

Beginning with the really obvious ones,

Maybe inviting some curiosity for less obvious sensation.

Maybe you feel your heartbeat,

Notice your pulse in your hands.

Just about another minute here,

Inviting yourself back to your body if your mind has wandered.

Without drama or judgment,

Always returning,

Gentle awareness and friendliness towards oneself.

Use both hands to walk your torso back upright,

Turning your chest forward.

Any little movement that feels good in your upper body.

We'll come to our side bend,

Left arm to the inside of your left leg,

Option to bend the elbow to make a shelf for your head.

It's totally okay to let your head hang so long as that feels okay for your neck.

Big inhale sweeps right arm up and over,

Fingertips not reaching but kind of dangling over by your toes more or less.

I really like the basket option,

Right hand comes to the left side of your head and supports there.

Take two full minutes here beginning now.

Good.

Good.

Take five more big breaths here.

Filling your lungs to top capacity,

Notice how that feels in your body,

How sensation oscillates with the breath.

On your final exhale,

Let your right hand come to the ground,

The left hand to the ground,

Walk your torso upright,

Not using any muscles except your arms who to come upright.

Send both legs long out in front of you,

Then pause.

Now sit bones on the floor,

Chest lifting up.

Take some seated twists from here,

So keeping your left leg long,

Draw your right knee in towards your chest.

Let your foot come down from the inside of your left leg or if you prefer,

You can lift it up and over your left.

Bring right hand back behind you to act as a little kickstand,

A little support.

Maybe a block comes in to make that feel more natural.

I'm gonna reach the left arm forward and then wrap your left elbow around your right knee.

It's like you're hugging right knee with your left arm.

And here we are.

Unlike in a really active or Yang style class where we'll really emphasize alignment sitting up tall,

Twisting from the middle,

Here it's just gravity.

Left hand holds the elbow to,

Or knee,

Left hand holds the knee to keep you in place.

But there's no pulling,

No forcing.

Your left toes can flop to the side if they want.

You might look over your right shoulder if that comes easily to you.

And here we are.

You you you you Take another minute here if you sense there's a little more space to shift into,

Feel free.

Backing off of anything that feels hot or sharp or electrical anywhere.

You feel tingliness or numbness,

Please adjust.

But if you're experiencing just regular fidgetiness,

See how that feels.

How can you sit with it?

Nice and slow,

Unwind,

Turn your torso forward,

Send both legs long.

Maybe there's a little circle in the torso that is asking to happen.

A little shimmy with the legs,

Any movement that feels right before we take our twist to the other side.

We'll draw left knee in and planting your left foot only as close to the midline as you can comfortably get it without force,

Either on the inside or outside of your right leg.

Left hand props you up back behind you,

Right arm reaches forward and wraps around your left knee as your torso turns to the left.

Take a few moments to make any little adjustments,

Finding that sweet spot right between,

No sensation and too much sensation.

Too much means anything that's really effortful,

That requires muscular work for you to stay in,

Or too much could be pain.

We don't want any pain in this class or any class really.

If yoga is a means to end suffering,

Why would we ever suffer in a yoga class?

Making fine-tune adjustments to help you stay in the shape,

Almost using this right arm as a little latch to hold you in the twist.

But other than that,

See if you can let everything just be.

Shoulders soften away from your ears,

Maybe turning to look over to the left.

And if you choose that route,

See if that automatically brings tension into your jaw.

What can you do to soften it?

You you you you you you noticing if you floated off into thinking with kindness and care bring your attention back they're focusing on in breath and out breath finding an interesting sensation in your body to explore exploring that really with your your mind's eye your felt sense of being rather than words or comparison or labels allowing yourself to be fully present with whatever arises watching sensations come sustain and leave is the pattern for everything you you beginning to release this shape turn your torso forward drop both knees in you can lean back into your hands behind you and take a little windshield wiper movement knees to the left knees to the right who take your time from here we'll come on to our bellies for a moment a period in Sphinx pose really one of the only yin back bends that I like to teach you here aiming to move our spine or hold our spine in all directions today as we come into our spinal extension find forearms parallel to one another at least shoulder distance apart if this is too much this is too much compression in your low back you bring a blanket or a towel right underneath your pelvis or your tummy that will give you a little more support take out that pinch in your low back if you're experiencing and keep in mind we'll be here for about four minutes but if you're finding you don't have enough backbend press into your hands and start to straighten your elbows for seal pose which will look like the the ugliest upward-facing dog ever finding your backbend avoiding pinching anything that feels really tight or sharp leaning more into sensations that are kind of dull maybe a little achy that feel heavy if you have props available you might decide to bring in a block to support your forehead but if it feels okay and safe for you you're welcome to just let your chin drop in towards your chest feeling a little traction in the back of your neck and here we are softening into our Sphinx pose letting gravity and time do the work you you you you on an exhale lower all the way down make to lay flat on your belly huh let that pose leave your body notice really if anything has changed from here moving very slowly in a way that makes sense to you come on to your back I mean into our Shavasana shape you can make this a big wide starfish taking up a lot of space you might decide to bend your knees bring the soles of your feet to the floor for a little low back support if you have blankets or a pillow to put underneath your head or your knees take a few moments to set yourself up for a really luxurious rest observe the energetic effects of these postures our mental response to stillness I'm gonna go of any remaining effort relaxing the toes the tops of your feet ankles shins calves acknowledging and relaxing your knees your quads and hamstrings feeling your whole lower body fully supported by the floor noticing the gentle space or the natural curve of your spine creates a little distance between your body and the floor almost like a little bridge your upper back heavy arms at ease chest open and free to rise and fall with your breath relaxing elbows or arms wrists each of your fingers one at a time tongue rests heavy inside your mouth relaxing the jaw the teeth the gums allowing cheekbones to melt down your face towards your ears forehead becoming smooth coming fully to rest in shavasana you you gently begin to bring some movement into your body with the fingers toes rolling wrists ankle whatever makes sense to you maybe you draw your knees in towards your chest or stretch out long make your way over to one side and then help yourself up to a comfortable seat landing nice and easy your hands in your lap we're bring them together in front of your heart close with a short loving kindness meditation first sending well wishes to yourself may I be safe may I be happy may I be free from suffering may I live with ease extending these well wishes to a loved one dear friend of head may you be safe may you be happy may you be free from harm and suffering may you live with ease extending this to everyone who is practicing with us today may you be safe may you be happy your mind be free from worry and stress may you live with ease thank you so much for practicing we hope you have an excellent evening

Reviews

This was so freaking beautiful! I really resonated with the language used by Sarah. It invited so much spaciousness and permission giving in my heart, mind and body. The instructions came across clear. The prompts and invitations to notice were right on time and invited softness and tenderness. Deep gratitude 🤎🙏🏾✨️

Hello beautiful 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺Thank you so much for the wonderful yin yoga practice ☀️I’m feeling wonderfully relaxed like sitting on a sweet sunny spot 🌷🍋⭐️🦋have a blessed day 🙏Namaste

Wonderful!!! The instructions were very clear! Easy to follow! Many thanks!