Welcome to this evening practice.
So in this short sequence,
We're going to use the breath to help.
Release tension in the body but also really to help release tension in the mind And by doing this,
We'll really set ourselves up for a nice,
Nourishing and relaxing sleep.
So you can also do this practice any other time when you're feeling overwhelmed and just need to re-center,
Re-ground and find your balance once again.
So I hope you enjoy.
All right,
We're going to begin in child's pose.
Bring the knees wide.
Send the hips back.
Keep the arms extended.
Relax your forehead onto the floor.
If the forehead doesn't comfortably rest on the floor,
You can stack your forearms or your hands.
You want your head to be resting down onto something.
Give yourself a moment to settle in.
And bring your awareness to your breath.
In order to establish a nice smooth and even rhythm of breath in and out through the nose.
Take a moment to Also check in and notice where your mind is.
Just notice,
Is the mind present here with you on the mat?
Or is the mind still thinking about all of the activities of the day?
And gradually invite the mind into this moment by connecting it to the breath so start to Notice the inhalation and exhalation.
Notice where you feel the breath as you inhale.
Perhaps sensing the natural expansion through the abdomen.
The ribs.
Maybe even the low back region.
And then as you exhale everything gently and naturally contracts.
And with each breath see if you can also soften.
Let go of any gripping any tension.
Through the face and all the way down through the body.
And as much as you can Keep your awareness inward.
And stay with this smooth and even breath rhythm.
Bring the knees closer together.
And now on an inhale extend your arms overhead looking up And then exhale.
Send the hips back,
Keep the arms forward,
Back towards child's pose.
Inhale up to all four,
So lengthen through the front of the body.
And then exhale,
Tuck the toes,
Lift the hips,
Downward Dog.
We're gonna pause here for a moment.
Breathe.
You can bend the knees nice and deep,
Really press through the palms.
Inhale back to all fours,
Lift the chin,
Lengthen through the front of the body.
And exhale back to Child's Pose.
Inhale rise up arms overhead look to the fingertips Exhale,
Send the hips back,
Extend the arms,
Child's Pose.
Inhale,
Lengthen through the front of the body,
Come up to all fours.
And exhale,
Back to down dog.
Pause and breathe here.
Feel some steadiness through the hands.
Lift the hips maybe a little bit higher this time.
Okay,
We'll go through that little sequence one more time.
So we're going to inhale,
Lower the knees,
Lengthen through the front of the body.
Exhale,
Send the hips back to Child's Pose.
Inhale rise up arms overhead look to the fingertips Exhale,
Back to Child's Pose.
Inhale up to all fours,
Lift the chin,
Lengthen through the front of the body.
Exhale hips up and back downward dog Stay here now.
From here we're going to bend the right knee and allow the hips to shift toward the right.
Maybe feeling a stretch along the left side hip.
With inhale come back to center.
And go to the opposite side.
So bend the left knee.
Let the hips shift to the left.
Now maybe feeling a stretch on the right side.
And do that a couple more times.
So inhaling,
Coming back to center.
Exhaling,
You bend deeply through one knee.
Let the hips shift in that direction.
Feeling the groundedness under the palms.
Good.
Look forward now.
Step both feet in between the hands.
Bend your knees so that you're able to relax and release down here.
Enough so that your abdomen is resting on the thighs.
Soften your head and your neck.
And breathe into the space of the belly.
Sensing the natural rise and fall of the abdomen as you breathe.
Ground down through the feet.
And inhale rise all the way up arms come overhead look to the fingertips And exhale,
Lower the arms.
Good.
We'll come into a.
.
.
A variation of chandra namaskar or moon salutation.
Linking each movement.
To one breath.
So inhale,
Arms overhead.
Exhale,
Slightly bend the knees and fold forward.
Inhale,
Lift the collarbone,
Lengthen through the spine.
Exhale step the right foot back lower the back knee.
Inhale,
Bring your hands to your thigh or extend your arms overhead.
And then exhale.
Step back to downward dog.
Inhale,
Lower the knees,
Lengthen through the front of the body.
Exhale,
Send the hips back to child's pose.
Inhale,
Rise up.
Look to the fingertips.
Exhale,
Send the hips back,
Child's Pose.
Inhale come back to all fours and reach up to the chin lengthen for the front of the body And then exhale,
Hips up and back,
And downward dog.
Good.
Breathe here.
On your next exhale,
Look forward.
Step the right foot forward.
Lower the left knee.
Coming into the lunge on the second side.
And then inhale,
Bringing your hands to the thigh or extending arms overhead.
Exhale,
Step the back foot forward.
Uttanasana,
Forward bend.
Inhale,
Rise all the way up,
Arms overhead.
And exhale,
Hands together at the heart.
Pause here and breathe.
Breath is smooth and even.
The movement follows the breath So we'll do one more just like that.
Inhale,
Arms overhead.
Exhale,
Slightly bend the knees,
Fold forward.
Inhale,
Lift the collarbone,
Reach up through the crown of the head.
Exhale,
Step the left foot back,
Lower the back knee,
Untuck the toes.
Inhale,
Hands to the thigh or hands overhead.
Exhale,
Lower the hands,
Step the foot back,
Downward dog.
Inhale lower the knees lengthen through the front of the body Exhale,
Send the hips back to Child's Pose.
Inhale rise up arms overhead look to the fingertips Exhale,
Send the hips back,
Child's Pose.
Inhale back to table.
Lengthening through the front of the body And then exhale,
Hips up and back,
Downward dog.
Pause and breathe here.
Lift the hips nice and high,
Maybe a little bit higher than before.
Really ground down through the palms.
Do it at the bottom of your next exhalation.
You'll look forward.
Step that left foot forward,
Lowering the right knee,
Taking the lunge on the second side.
And then inhale,
Either hands to the thigh or arms overhead.
Exhale lower the arm step the back foot forward forward bend Then inhale,
Rise up,
Arms overhead.
And exhale,
Hands together at the heart.
Really nice.
Let's widen the stance just a little bit.
Relax your arms alongside your body.
Ground down through the feet.
Lengthen up through the spine Relax your shoulders.
And then close your eyes.
And just moving the arms.
As you inhale,
Palms face up,
Arms reach out and overhead.
And then as you exhale,
Palms face down,
Arms come alongside the body.
And continue inhale arms overhead Exhale,
Arms alongside the body.
So keep moving with your breath.
The arms only moving.
At the exact speed of the breath.
The movement follows the guidance.
And wisdom of the breath.
Each inhale deeply nourishing the body Expanding.
Each exhale,
Deeply cleansing the body and grounding.
Next time you inhale let's keep the arms extended.
Keep your awareness inward.
And really reach up.
So keep breathing.
Continue to breathe.
Reach up to the fingertips.
Create some length along the side body.
And then nice and slowly.
Gradually release your arms down.
And resolve to remain still.
So resist the urge to move here.
Remain completely still.
And notice your experience.
Sense how you feel in the body and the mind.
And then come with the eyes open.
And then just a few rolling out.
He rolls through the shoulders.
Just a little bit of tension release there.
You can sort of exaggerate as you draw the shoulders back.
So you can really squeeze the shoulder blades together.
Help to release some tension.
And just go in both directions.
Just a little bit of arm swings.
Stay nice and heavy through the joints.
If it's comfortable you can expand this and cross the arms a bit.
Just a little bit of tension release.
You can shake out the legs a bit.
Good,
And then come back to the front of the mat.
And inhale,
Reach your arms overhead.
And then exhale,
Fold forward.
And we're going to stay here in this forward bend.
I'd like you to bend your knees.
As much as you need to so that you can place the palms down onto the floor.
And at the same time,
You'll likely feel the abdomen,
The belly,
Resting on the thighs.
And then completely relax the shoulders,
The head and the neck.
And breathe into the belly.
Feeling the Abdomen expand into the thighs as you inhale.
Relax as you exhale.
Good,
And then clasp onto the big toes.
Inhale.
Lift the collarbone to lengthen,
And then as you exhale,
Gently draw yourself down into the forward bend.
Looking back toward the navel,
Keep relaxing through the head and the neck.
You can stay here,
Or if it's available,
Place the hands under the feet.
Inhale once again to lift the collarbones and then exhale as you fold forward.
But soften here and connect to the breath.
Really find that nice,
Even,
Smooth rhythm of breath.
Good,
And then we're going to release out of that,
Step the feedback,
Come to downward facing dog.
Lower the knees now.
And let's make our way down.
Extend your legs out in front of you.
And then a couple options.
We're going to come into a twist.
So we're going to start on the right side.
We're going to bend through the right knee,
Place that right foot on the floor.
You might like to cross that foot over the left leg.
And you might even also like to bend that left leg.
So bring in the left heel toward the right hip.
Just do what feels best for you.
Left arm is gonna Clasp onto that right knee.
And then on an exhalation,
We'll twist from the base of the spine toward that bent knee.
Arm comes behind you for support.
So keep breathing into the abdomen here as well.
You'll notice in the twist you'll feel a little bit of resistance.
Helping to strengthen the diaphragm here.
Good.
Gradually untwist.
Come back towards center.
Release the legs.
And switch sides.
So taking the same variation,
Bending the Left knee.
Foot stays on either the inner edge.
Or the outer edge of the thigh.
Maybe you bend that.
Right leg this time,
The right heel coming toward the left side hip.
Sit up nice and tall,
Really lengthen through the spine.
And then clasp the right arm around the left knee.
And as you exhale from the base of your spine,
Twisting toward that bent knee,
Using the arm behind you for support.
Finding that nice breath rhythm.
And with each inhale,
You might find a little bit more length.
So really extend out through the crown.
On the exhale,
Connecting a bit more deeply to the twist.
The twist should feel nourishing,
Should feel supported.
Good,
And then unwind and come back towards center.
Place the feet down.
Hands come behind you.
Feet are nice and wide.
And then start to internally and externally rotate the thighs.
He's going from one side to the other.
Good,
And then you can come back toward the center.
And then start to Make your way down,
Lie onto your back.
Take a moment here to bring the awareness inward,
Maybe even close the eyes.
Really settle.
So allow the weight of the body to be supported.
Settle into the floor.
Feel that you are supportive.
Then some more breath-aligned movement.
For the length of your inhale,
Reach your arms up and behind you.
Maybe the hands can touch the floor.
And as you exhale,
Lower the arms alongside your body.
Continue just like that,
Moving at the rhythm of your breath.
As you inhale your arms extend.
As you exhale your arms lower.
Just like we did in the standing variation.
The awareness is on the breath.
The movement comes secondary.
Beautiful,
Next time your arms come overhead keep them there.
And then extend the legs out.
And reach.
Of the body.
Fingers all the way down to the toes.
Keep breathing.
Really get a nice stretch.
Good,
Keep your right leg extended,
Draw your left knee in toward your body,
Clasping the shin.
Relax your shoulders here.
And begin to circle the left ankle.
Both directions.
Then the left one.
Slowly release and switch sides.
Left leg stays extended,
Right comes in.
Chin slightly.
Circle the right angle.
Let's inhale the right leg up toward the ceiling clasping that thigh and draw the leg in toward the body Same thing here,
Circling or moving the foot on this side in any way that feels good.
You can release out of that post.
And then let's bring both knees in toward the body.
Bring the chin in toward the chest.
Give yourself a nice squeeze.
Nice.
And then lower yourself all the way down.
And make your way to your final resting position.
So coming into Shavasana.
Now I encourage you to really take your time here so if you need to dim your lighting or put on some additional clothing or Cover the body with a thin blanket.
So start to settle.
I'm going to set up so that I can guide you here.
So you're settling into your savasana.
Eyes are closed.
And really let yourself relax.
So let go of.
.
.
Any tension any holding in the body Let the body settle into the support of the floor.
And also relax in the breath.
So allow the breath to just breathe in the way that feels natural.
So there's the.
.
.
Inherent sense of effortlessness.
And sense the nourishment of the breath.
As you inhale the body's nourished taking in this new energy And as you exhale,
The body's cleanse releases that which it doesn't need.
Continue resting in stillness.
And then bring your awareness up to the very top of the head,
The crown of the head.
Breathe into that space.
Soften and relax any tension.
Warhead.
Your eyebrows.
And all throughout the entire space of the head,
Your cheeks and jaw.
Relax your tongue.
And then allow that relaxed awareness to travel down into the throat center,
Softening the muscles of the neck.
Into the collar bones.
Relax your shoulders.
And down your arms to your elbows and wrists.
The palms of your hands and your fingertips.
And awareness travels back up the arms to the wrists and elbows.
Into the shoulders.
Into the throat center.
Then travel down to the heart center and rest and breathe.
Breathe into that space.
Allow the breath to help to soften here.
Sensing that nourishment as you inhale.
And the relaxation and cleansing as you exhale.
Soften through the rib cage and the abdomen.
And relax around your waist into your pelvis and your hips your buttocks Down your thighs to your knees.
All the way down to your ankles,
Your feet.
And to the tips of your toes.
Every muscle of the body is completely relaxed,
Deeply supported by the floor.
And nourished by the breath Let that awareness travel back up the body to your ankles and knees.
Your hips,
Pelvis,
Buttocks.
Into your abdomen.
And heart center.
Up to your throat center.
Eyebrow Center And back to the crown of the head.
Allow the breath to fill the entire space of the body.
Every cell.
Nourished as you inhale.
And cleansed as you exhale.
Sensing the breath throughout the entire space of the body.
You can stay here as long as you'd like.
Or if you're ready to close,
We'll start that process.
Gradually deepen the breath.
Starting in the hands and the feet invites some small movements in the body.
If you'd like,
You can extend your arms overhead.
And really lengthen.
Get one more nice full body stretch.
From fingers to toes.
And then you'll roll over onto your left side using your lower arm as a pillow.
Rest on your side.
And then use your arms to press yourself up and find any comfortable seated posture.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor,
Maybe sitting up on a bolster or a block.
Maybe sitting in a chair.
Looking for some stability and comfort in your seat as we spend a few minutes to seal out this practice.
As you settle,
Allow your eyes to close.
Keep extending up through the spine,
Sit up nice and tall,
Relax your shoulders.
Allow yourself to be still here.
Allow yourself to connect to the stillness.
That is you.
That is your true nature.
The stillness that arises from deep within.
Notice your breath.
Notice the effortlessness of your breath.
Take another moment to enjoy the peace that you've created through your practice.
It's comfortable.
You can bring your hands together at your heart.
Take a moment to honor yourself for practicing and nourishing.
Your mind and body.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Namaste.
