Welcome to your restorative practice.
In today's video,
You won't need any props,
But you might like to use a blanket or pillow for comfort.
This will be a slow based practice ideal for preparing your body for bed.
We will hold each pose between 2-3 minutes starting with a gentle warm up and then slowly winding down to prepare you for sleep.
To begin,
Just start to find a nice comfortable seat.
Give yourself a moment to bring your hands onto your thighs and then close your eyes.
As you settle here,
See if you can begin to soften your body.
Releasing any tension you might be holding onto through your face and your drill.
As your body relaxes.
See if you can now bring your attention to your breath.
Starting to find a nice slow deep breath in.
And then a full deep breath out.
Allowing every cycle of breath that you take just to expand your body.
Feeling a gentle ebb and flow as you breathe in.
And see if you can begin to.
Feel into the fullness of who you are.
Allowing it to expand with your breath.
We're going to begin to take a few neck rolls.
So as you feel ready,
Just bring your chin down towards your chest.
And then take your time to slowly roll your ear over to one shoulder.
Working with your breath.
Allow your other ear to come to the other side.
And then just take a few moments to roll your head from side to side.
Allowing the breath to guide the pace of your movement.
Feeling the lengthening of the neck.
And the steadiness of your breath.
Just beginning to slow the movement down now.
And then taking your time to bring your head up.
Noticing any sensations and just giving space to your breath.
Now as you feel ready to move,
You're going to bring your arms out by your side.
Working with the breath,
As you inhale,
You'll send your arms up to the sky,
Fingertips touch.
As you exhale,
Interlacing your hands,
Bringing the breath and the arms all the way towards the earth.
In home.
Widen the arms up to the sky,
Lifting the gaze.
Exhale,
Interlace the fingers,
Riding the breath all the way down.
Inhale to lift.
The expansion of your heart.
Exhale riding the breath down feeling anchoring of your breath.
Just taking a few more rounds,
Moving at your own pace.
Allowing the breath to guide the pace at which you move.
And then once you feel ready,
Settling the hands down and then taking a moment to feel.
We're now going to be moving towards the tabletop position.
So take your time to come onto your hands and your knees.
Making sure that your hands are underneath your shoulders,
Your knees are underneath your hips.
Give yourself a couple of moments here just to move however you feel called to move.
So you might like to sway the hips from side to side,
Bringing a little bend to the elbows,
Just feeling into your side body.
And then we're going to start to take a few rounds of our cat and cow.
So when you feel ready,
Take a moment to sink the belly,
Lifting the heart,
Drawing the tailbone back.
And then slowly rounding the spine,
Pushing the earth away.
Move between these two shapes and give yourself an opportunity just to connect into your breath.
Now nice and slowly we'll prepare for our child's pose.
So bringing your feet together,
Taking your knees out wide,
Start to walk your forearms forward.
And bringing your chest down towards the mat.
Forehead rests either on the floor or on your forearms.
If you have a pillow or a bolster,
You might like to bring it underneath you just to create a bit of additional support.
As you find your shape,
Just allow your body to soften down.
Notice any tension or resistance that you might be experiencing through your face and your jaw.
See if you can start to bring a heaviness to your heart as it anchors down towards the earth.
Allow your breath to move in a way.
That touches every cell of your being.
Invoking this sense of stillness and softness as your body surrenders to the earth.
To start to deepen your breath.
Taking a nice slow,
Deep breath in.
And then a full deep breath out.
And then as you feel ready,
Just taking your time to slowly come out of your shape.
From here we're going to begin to move down onto our bellies.
Take a moment to roll your hips from side to side and then place your arms underneath you so that you can rest your forehead onto your forearms.
Start to bend your right knee and then bring your leg out to the side.
And then soften your head down onto your arms,
Releasing any tension you might be holding onto through your glutes and your legs.
And start to find a few rounds of deep belly breaths.
As you breathe into the belly,
Allow the breath to move down towards the sides of your pelvic bowl.
Continue to deepen your breath.
And then as you feel ready,
Just take your time to lift the crown of your head up.
From here,
You're going to bring your forearms forward,
Lifting your right arm up.
You're going to weave your left arm across your mat.
And then as you do this,
You're going to bring your knees together.
And then slowly come into a twist,
So allowing your right shoulder to peel over to the right side of your mat.
Take a moment to adjust the back of your heart so it remains flat against the earth.
You want to focus on opening up through the chest,
Feeling a rotation of the spine,
And you might like to bring your hands onto your knees just to support the anchoring of your legs.
As you settle into your shape.
See if you can start to comb your breath up and down your spine.
Sink into the depths of your breath.
And then from this place within.
Just take your time now to slowly release your shape.
Slowly coming onto the belly just for a couple of moments here.
Running a nice,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And then a full deep breath out.
And now we're going to start to move into our second side.
So ensuring that your head is resting on your forearms,
Start to bend your left knee and bring it out to the side.
Take a moment to settle the pelvis,
Relax through your glutes,
Ensure that your feet are nice and soft.
Bring awareness to the back of your head.
Sensations of your neck.
The softness of your breath.
And allow this sense of heaviness just to drop over your body.
Starting to prepare for your twist now.
Bring your attention back to your breath.
As you arrive at the end of your next exhale,
Just take your time to bring your forearms up.
Lift the left arm and weave the right arm underneath.
Bring your knees together.
Keeping the bend of your legs and then slowly start to peel your left arm open.
Ensure that the back of your heart remains anchored onto the earth.
You might like to place your hands onto your legs just to support the deepening of your twist.
Starting to release now from your twist.
Take your time to slowly come onto your back.
Extend your legs long and bring your arms down by your side.
Let gravity take the weight of your body down to the earth.
Give yourself an opportunity just to feel.
For our next pose,
We're going to be taking our banana asana.
So from your back you're just going to shift your hips over to the right side of your mat and you're going to walk both of your feet to the left corner.
You can cross one ankle over the other if you like,
Or you can just keep your feet next to one another.
With your upper body you're going to start to shift your arms over to the left corner,
Thinking about creating a banana shape with the spine.
You want to ensure that your right hip remains anchored to the earth and isn't rolling up to the sky.
You can interlace your hands together.
Gently bring your hands onto your elbows,
Whatever feels most appropriate for your shoulders.
And as always,
As you find your shape.
Allow yourself to drop in and use the depth of your breath to find softness through your body.
Just begin to deepen your breath.
Finding a nice slow breath in.
And then a full breath out.
Start to release from your shape.
Settle your arms by your side.
And just give yourself a moment to feel.
And then prepare to move into your other side.
So shifting your hips to the left side of your mat,
Walking your feet to the right corner.
You have the option to cross your ankles over one another if you like.
Your upper body reaches up and over,
Drawing over towards the right corner of your mat.
And once again you can hold onto your hands or reach for your elbows,
Just ensuring that your left hip remains anchored towards the earth.
See if you can use the depth of your breath.
To experience an opening up through your side body.
Once again,
Just start to deepen your breath.
Taking a slow breath in.
And then a full breath out.
Take your time to slowly transition out of your shape.
Just realigning your spine,
Bringing your arms down by your side.
From here we're going to begin to move towards a few of our reclined windshield wipers.
So just bend your knees,
Plant your feet and walk your feet to the edges of your mat.
Give yourself an opportunity just to drop your knees from side to side and you might like to T your arms to support the opening of your chest.
Move in a way that feels appropriate.
Using the breath as a guide.
Nice and slowly now you're going to begin to draw your knees in towards your chest,
Giving yourself a little squeeze.
You can keep your hands on your knees or if you like you can reach for your inner ankles or if you prefer you can bring your hands onto the edges of your feet to come up towards your happy baby.
In your happy baby,
Start to find a little bit of movement,
So let it be soft and playful as you roll your legs from side to side.
Invoking the little baby within.
Supporting to release any tension through the spine.
Keeping the back of your heart heavy and just letting the feet move wherever they feel inclined to move.
Starting to slow down.
Taking a couple of moments here in stillness.
And then extending your legs up to the sky,
Your arms up towards the sky,
Starting to shake your limbs.
Keeping the breath nice and steady as you soften through the back of your heart.
Keep shaking the arms and legs.
Finding this little active but gentle inversion.
And then as you feel ready,
Settling to a place of stillness.
With the arms and the legs lifted to the sky.
Begin to bend your knees and lower your feet onto your mat.
Bring your hands down and just give yourself a moment to feel.
Noticing how the breath moves through your body,
Feeling the echoes of the pose.
From here,
Start to place your left hand to the back of your head.
And then place your right hand to your forehead.
Keep softness between the hands as you notice your head between your hands.
As you inhale,
Maintain the softness.
And then as you exhale,
Start to draw the hands towards one another,
Finding a gentle squeeze.
As you inhale,
Soften the hands.
And then as you exhale,
Draw the hands towards one another to find a gentle squeeze.
Inhale to soften.
Exhale to squeeze.
Release your hands now from your head and start to bring them towards your ears.
As you bring your fingertips to your ears,
Give yourself an opportunity just to explore.
So take some time to feel the edges of your ears.
Maybe find a little rub or a little pool.
Noticing this unfamiliar space.
Feeling into the gentle touch of your fingertips.
Using your breath.
To invoke a softness and a stillness.
Now slowly start to bring your fingertips to the space behind your ears and find a gentle rub.
Pulling the fingertips down the neck.
Towards the chest.
And then allowing your fingertips just to gently graze over your neck.
On the edges of your face across your forehead.
Just slowly starting to sweep.
Preparing yourself to come into your final rests.
As you feel satisfied.
You can gently release your touch,
Bring your hands down by your side and extend your legs out nice and long.
As you settle your body here,
Give yourself an opportunity to reconnect to your breath.
Start to find a nice,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And then a full deep breath out.
And then with every cycle of breath.
Allow your body to become heavier.
And heavier.
And heavier.
Feeling the softening of your tissues and your bones.
Knowing that the earth is beneath you to hold you as you settle into this rest.
