Join me for this short yoga flow intended to release tension in our spine with gentle movements and stretches using blocks. A great practice to do when you first wake up or any time you feel stiffness in you back. In this practice we will stay close to our mats. Beginner friendly.
Meet your Teacher
Indialantic, FL 32903, USA
Transcript
Hello, My name is Shannon. Thank you for joining me today for this short yoga practice where we'll be focusing on spinal mobility. So I have been a physical therapist for almost 28 years, And I spent a lot of time working at a spinal center. So working with surgeons, Working with post-op patients, And I'm very acutely aware of the importance of keeping our spine healthy and mobile. So we'll be using two blocks in this practice. And we're going to get started here in this easy seated pose. Maybe shutting your eyes, Just taking a few breaths to ground ourselves here. In the present moment. Noticing how we feel And we're going to start today with a little stretch to our forearms. So let's take our hands and flip them so the back of our hands are on the mat in front of us. Fingers facing our body. And we're gonna slowly drop our head. So relaxing our neck. And start to sway a little bit right and left. So just feel that gentle weight through your hands. Getting a nice gentle stretch here. And then we'll pause in center and really drop your head, Just relaxing the back of your neck. Feel those muscles around your spine, Just relaxing. And very slowly release. Let's turn to face the short edge of the mat. We're going to go into a tabletop position with our blocks on the lowest level. And you can have your blocks a little bit in front of your shoulders. We're going to do some Cat-Cows, Which are great movements to warm up our spine. So as we inhale, We're looking up, Arching our back. As we exhale, We're rounding our back, Tucking our chin. And as you inhale, You can also bend your elbows if that feels good. And then exhale, Rounding up. So continuing following your breath. Noticing how your spine is feeling. One more. Now we'll pause in center. We're gonna turn the blocks so they're on one level higher, So they're easier to hold, So sort of the narrow edge here. And let's take our right foot out to the side, Placing our foot flat on the floor, And we'll walk our blocks to the left, Keeping our left block down. We're gonna raise our right arm, Taking our block with us, Getting a long body stretch. So pressing your right foot down, Feeling this nice stretch. Stretching the side of our spine. And if you'd like, You can even arch back slightly, Pressing your chest to the sky, Bringing the block back. So getting a little bit lower. Of a back bend here. And then very gently, We're gonna raise our body up, Bringing the blocks with us, Placing our right block on our thigh, Reaching our left arm up. Inhale, Expanding. Exhale, Side bend to the right. Now we're getting this nice expansion on the left. Opening up the vertebra which keeps our discs nice and healthy. And then staying in the side bend, We're gonna do some circles with our left arm. So just three slow, Big circles here. And release. Let's bring the blocks down to the mat and walk them a little bit forward, Placing our forearms on the block. So we're gonna go into a puppy dog pose with our right foot still out. So we're dropping our chest towards the mat. Opening up our thoracic spine. Relaxing our face. And very slowly release. Let's come up, Bringing that right leg back. You can move your hips a little right and left. And then we'll do that same thing on the other side. So let's straighten our left leg to the side, Walk our blocks to the right. And slowly reach that left arm up and over. Feeling this long body stretch. And option to reach your chest to the sky as you gently bring that left block back. And then we'll very slowly rise up, Placing our left block on our thigh, Reaching our right arm up as we side bend left. And then three big slow circles with that right arm. And then gently come back to tabletop. But keeping that left leg out. Let's bring our forearms to the block. You can adjust the blocks as needed. As we sink our chest down, Coming into sort of a. Puppy dog pose with our left leg out. And slowly release. Let's bring that left leg back. Move our hips a little bit. You can move your blocks a little bit back. We're going to do some thread the needle, But we're going to keep our right hand on the block and leave the left block where it is. We're going to do this a few times. So let's pause and center, Inhaling our left arm up. Exhale, Threading it through as we bend our right elbow. Inhale up. Exhale, Thread it through. So we're getting this nice gentle rotation in our spine. Two more. And on this last one, Let's drop our left arm down. Our left cheek is on the mat, Softening down. And you can keep your right hand on the block. Or you could bring the back of your hand to your back and gently pull your elbow back. Maybe you're gently pushing your left forearm into the mat. Getting a little more of a gentle twist. And very slowly, Let's release back up. Let's do those thread the needles on the other side. So inhaling our right arm up. Exhale, Threading it through as we bend our left elbow. Three more, Drone pace, Following your breath. Last one. Let's drop that arm to the mat. Once again, You can keep your left arm resting on the block or you could bring it around behind you, Gently pulling that elbow back. As you gently press your right arm down. Relax your temples, Your jaw. And very slowly release. Let's tuck our toes. And walk our feet towards the blocks. We're going to bend our knees and bring the blocks to the higher level. Just kind of bounce a few times on your heels. It feels nice to bounce. And then we're going to pause. Pressing our knees together. If you'd like you can take. Your hands to heart center. And as you press your knees together, Maybe you want to raise your bottom a little bit. And hold and breathe. And release. Let's come on our bottoms, Bringing our legs in front of us. We're going to go into a forward fold, So you can bring your blocks again to that narrow level. As we fold down, Your forearms can be on the blocks. Your toes can fall out. So we're really relaxing our back. So your back will probably round. Softening all of the muscles here, Letting your head fall. And very slowly release. Let's bring the blocks near our hips. We're gonna place our hands on the blocks, Flex our feet. And just very slowly press on the blocks, Lifting our bottom up. And then gently release down. Now let's bring our hands behind us on the mat with our fingers pointing towards our body. We're going to squeeze our shoulder blades. You can relax your feet looking up and back. So opening up our chest, Getting a nice little back bend. And very slowly release. Let's turn to come back into our easy seated pose. Inhaling our arms up. Interlace our fingers, Pressing our hands to the sky as we tuck our chin. And breathe. So feel like you're lengthening your spine, Relaxing your neck. And then we'll press our left sit bone down as we side bend to the right. Inhale up. Side bend to the left. Pressing that right sit bone down. Inhale up. Slowly bring our hands together and down to heart center. Pause here, Noticing our breath. Take a full, Deep breath in. And a gentle sigh out. Let's bow our heads, Giving ourselves gratitude for showing up today to practice. And come home to ourselves. The light in me honors the light in you. And together here now and always, We are one. Namaste. I hope you enjoyed this practice. I hope your spine is feeling nice and supple and flexible. And I hope to practice again with you soon. Have a beautiful day.
