Hello,
My name is Shannon.
Thank you so much for joining me today for this gentle morning practice where we will be using a strap and two blocks.
So we'll be staying very close to our mat,
Great practice to do when you're first waking up,
Or even when you're winding down for bed,
Or really any time you want to just have some time to yourself,
To breathe and stretch and feel good in your body.
So let's start today on our back.
We're gonna do a long body stretch.
Place one hand on our heart and one on our stomach,
Letting our toes fall out.
Let's take a few moments here to notice how our body is feeling.
And notice our breath.
I wanted our mantra today to be I embrace my truth with an open heart.
I embrace my truth with an open heart.
Now let's take a full deep breath in through our nose.
And a soft sigh out.
Let's find our strap.
If you have a strap with loops,
You can take the loop at the end and place it around the ball of your right foot.
If not,
Place the middle of your strap around the ball of your right foot.
Foot.
We're going to raise our leg in the air.
And you can have a bend in your knee,
Your leg doesn't have to be all the way straight.
Let's let our leg move side to side.
So the strap is just supporting us as we do this gentle movement.
Noticing how our low back is feeling,
Feeling like this little gentle massage as we move our legs.
And then when you're ready,
Let's pause in center and gently pull our leg towards us as we reach our heel up.
Breathing into the back of our leg.
Again,
You can have that slight bend.
Your leg does not have to be straight.
Now let's bend our knee and bring our leg to the right.
And then gently bring it over a little bit to the left.
Just going back and forth,
Again,
Enjoying this movement and noticing how you're feeling in your body.
And then we'll pause with our knee bent,
Letting our leg kind of hang.
And if you'd like,
You could straighten your leg a little bit.
So again,
The strap is helping to support your leg.
As you bring it out.
Relaxing your face and breathing.
And gently release.
Let's switch sides.
And the right leg can be straight or bent.
It doesn't have to be straight,
Whatever feels more comfortable.
So let's raise that left leg in the air and start our gentle movements.
And then we'll pause and center.
Reaching our toes down as we reach our heel up.
Now we'll bend that left knee to the side and then gently straighten it,
Bringing it to the right.
Again,
You can always have that slight bend.
Do not have to straighten it all the way.
And then the next time it comes to the left,
Let's pause with our knee bent.
And you can slowly straighten it a little bit if it feels good.
But keep both of those legs nice and relaxed.
And very slowly release.
Let's place the strap to the side.
We're going to bring our legs in the air and pause.
Feeling our low back on the mat,
Having this little bend in our knees.
And let's point and flex our feet.
So really bringing our awareness to our feet and our ankles,
All the muscles there.
And then maybe do some circles.
Again,
Moving your toes and just feeling all those little muscles in your feet.
And switch direction of your circles.
Now we're gonna come up to seated.
You can turn on your side or you can do a little roll to come up.
Let's find our block.
Keeping them on the kind of narrow level and bringing them out a little bit so they're not too close or not too far.
So your shoulders,
You want your shoulders relaxed.
Now you have the option to take your right block with you or leave it there.
We're going to reach our right arm up,
Taking a big inhale.
And then side bend to the left.
So our left forearm is on the left block.
So we're pressing our right sit bone down as we reach the block over.
You can also relax your head,
So getting this side bend in your neck.
You could turn your head to look down if that feels better on your neck.
Let's take a few breaths here.
And gently release.
Let's do that on the other side.
So inhale,
Lifting that left arm up with or without the block.
And then side bending to the right as we press our left sit bone down.
And keeping our left shoulder back so we're not rounding forward,
Getting the straight side bend.
Relaxing our head.
And release up.
We're going to take that block and hold either side of it and do some seated cat cows.
So inhale looking up reaching the block up.
Exhale,
Rounding,
Bringing the block forward.
Inhale up.
Exhale down.
One more.
This time as we round,
Let's pause and hold,
Reaching the block forward as you tuck your chin and round your back.
And breathe.
And slowly release.
We're gonna place the block in front of us.
You can put it at whatever level you'd like.
Let's have our hands somewhere on our legs.
We're gonna slowly fold down.
Place our forehead on the block.
Now you can keep your arms completely relaxed,
Or you can gently push down on your legs.
Notice your breath.
And slowly release back up.
Let's take the leg that's closest to us and bring it to the outside or in front I should say.
And we'll do the same thing,
So placing your hands somewhere on your legs.
Slowly folding down until your forehead finds the block.
Starting out by relaxing everything in your body.
And then option if you'd like to gently push your knees towards the mat.
And slowly release back up.
Let's take our blocks.
We're going to turn to the left to come into tabletop pose.
So I have my blocks still on this middle level with the narrow edges up.
And let's take our right leg and bring it up,
Out,
And around.
So doing some circles here.
Getting some mobility in our hip muscles.
And then we'll take that right foot and place it to the outside of the right block.
And move our body forwards and backwards a few times.
Now let's pause with our right knee over our ankle,
Tucking our back toes.
We're going to lift our back knee.
Pressing our left heel back as we reach our chest forward and squeeze our left glute muscles.
And breathe.
Now,
Once again,
You have an option here to leave the block where it is or take it with you.
We're going to reach our right arm up,
Looking up.
Having our weight through our feet.
So our left hand on the block is just for a little support and balance.
And slowly release.
Let's drop that back knee,
Bring our right leg back.
Drop our head and move our hips a little bit side to side.
And we will do that with the other leg.
So lifting that left leg up,
Out,
And down.
Getting these nice big circles.
And then we'll place that foot on the outside of the left block.
Moving our body forwards and backwards.
Let's pause with our left knee over our ankle.
Tucking our back toe,
Lifting our back knee.
I'm laughing because I'm getting a bunch of cracks.
Let's push our right heel back as we reach our chest forward and squeeze our right glute muscles.
And then we'll lift our left hand with or without the block,
Looking up and breathing.
And very slowly release.
Let's bring that left leg back.
We're going to bring our knees out and our big toes together,
Our hands on the outside of the blocks on the mat.
Coming back into our wide-legged child's pose.
Softening all the way down.
Feeling your heart beating.
Now let's lift up a little bit,
Bringing our left arm through,
Looking to the right.
Softening down again.
Noticing where you feel this nice stretch in your back,
Your shoulder.
And very slowly release.
Let's go the other way.
Bringing the right arm through,
Looking to the left.
And release back up.
Let's place the blocks in front of the mat.
We're not going to be using them right this second.
So we're coming into our tabletop.
Now we're going to go down knees,
Chest,
Chin.
So we're keeping our elbows in close as we slowly lower our chest and our chin.
Our bottom is in the air.
Pause and breathe.
And then slide your legs down with your forehead on the mat.
We're going to do a few cobras here.
So again,
Keeping our elbows in,
Let's inhale,
Lifting our head and our chest up.
Exhale down.
Twice more Now on this last one,
Pause.
Bring your shoulders down and maybe straighten your elbows a little bit,
But relax your face.
And very slowly release all the way down.
Let's bring our arms to our side with our palms facing up.
Our forehead is still down.
We're gonna lift our arms up.
And bring our thumbs together like we're squeezing our shoulder blades.
And lift our head and our legs off the mat.
So squeezing our glutes.
Keeping our head in neutral.
Relaxing our face.
And release down.
Let's turn our head to the side.
Let our heels fall out.
Notice our heart beating.
Relax all of your muscles.
Feel your breath.
And gently release.
We're going to press up.
And turn to come down on our backs to come into a supported bridge pose.
So coming all the way down.
Finding one of your blocks.
And placing it under your sacrum.
So on your bottom,
Not on your low back.
Let's pause here for a moment and notice how your back is feeling,
Your hips.
And let's let our knees come in and out.
So as your knees come out,
The inside of your feet will come up.
And then maybe pause with your knees out.
Letting gravity pull them down.
You can even take your hands and give a little extra overpressure.
And gently release your knees back up.
Let's find the other block.
And hold it over our chest.
Make sure your knees are bent enough.
We're going to do some bridges here.
So as you lift your bottom off the block,
Raise your arms overhead.
And then back down with your bottom.
Inhale up,
Squeezing our glutes.
Exhale down.
Let's do a few more.
Last one,
Pause,
Hold and breathe.
Maybe you're pressing your hands on the block.
Relaxing your face as you squeeze your glutes.
And very gently release.
Let's place the blocks to the side so we can press our way up.
And come into a supported fish pose.
So bring in one block.
Behind your shoulder blades and you can place the blocks at whatever level you'd like.
So they could be lower than what I have here.
And then one block is behind your head.
So we're opening up our chest in this pose.
Your feet can be flat with your knees up.
You could have your legs straight with your toes falling out.
Where you could do a reclined butterfly with the bottoms of your feet together and your knees falling out.
Let's open our palms to the sky with our elbows up so the back of your hands are on the floor.
And then maybe gently move them out a little bit.
Until you feel that nice stretch,
No discomfort.
And once you're in the position,
Relax all of your muscles and breathe.
I embrace my truth with an open heart.
Now let's take some deep breaths,
Breathing in through our nose and gently sighing them out.
And every time you sigh out,
If there's anything heavy on your heart,
Feel like you're releasing and letting go.
So deep breath in through your nose.
Gentle release.
Feel your chest expand as you inhale.
And release it out.
Three more on your own.
Now let's slowly make our way up.
Removing the block.
You're done with the blocks.
We're going to come back down with our straps.
And place it around the ball of our right foot.
Bringing it up towards us one last hamstring stretch so reaching your heel up.
Maybe you feel a little more open.
Now that we have stretched and moved.
And now let's take that strap in our left hand and guide our leg to the left.
Getting an IT band stretch with a little twist,
So maybe you are looking right.
Keep your legs completely relaxed.
And slowly release.
Let's go to the other side.
So reaching that left heel up as you gently pull your leg towards you.
Noticing where you feel the stretch in your leg,
Maybe in your low back.
And we'll guide that leg to the right as we look left.
Relaxing both of our legs.
And release.
Let's take our peace fingers and our big toes.
And do a little happy baby to end class.
So rotating side to side.
And then we'll take our time moving into our final resting pose,
Shavasana.
Letting your toes fall out.
Palms facing up.
Enjoy this time to rest your body and your mind,
Completely surrender and relax.
When we stop to breathe,
We are not wasting time.
Western capitalist civilization says time is money.
And that we should use our time to make money.
We can't afford to stop and breathe or enjoy a walk.
Or marvel at the setting sun.
We cannot afford to lose time.
But time is more precious than money.
Time is life.
Coming back to our breathing and becoming aware that we have a wonderful body.
This is life.
Thich Nhat Hanh.
Let's find some movement in our fingers and toes.
And bend one knee at a time as we turn to come up to our easy seated pose.
Place our hands on our knees,
Shutting our eyes,
Relaxing our shoulders.
Taking a few moments here to notice how our body is feeling.
And notice how you feel emotionally.
Mentally.
And spiritually.
And let's take one final deep breath in through our nose.
And a soft release.
Bringing our hands to heart center and bowing 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.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I hope you are feeling very relaxed.
