Hello,
My name is Shannon.
Thank you so much for joining me today for this meditative yin practice.
Where we'll be holding the poses anywhere from two to four minutes.
So before each pose,
I will give options for props.
And then while we get in the pose,
I will stay very quiet so we can all achieve the meditative stillness of yin.
And so today we're going to start in a supported bridge pose.
So some people like to put like a little hand towel over the block just because it makes it softer.
I have pretty soft blocks here,
So I don't really need one.
But if I was using my cork blocks,
I would want a little a little hand towel just to make it softer.
So let's come on down.
We're going to take this block and place it under our sacrum.
So not on our low back.
And you can keep your feet bent.
Or you could straighten your legs with your toes falling out as long as there's no pinching or pain in your back.
And you could also have your feet wide with your knees together.
Your arms could be by your side.
You could open them up to the side.
Or you could even have them overhead.
So as you find the position you want to stay in.
We want to soften all of our muscles.
Start to become aware of our breath.
At any time during the practice if you find your mind wandering off.
Just lovingly guide yourself back to your breath.
Let's very carefully remove our block,
Bringing our bottom down to the mat.
After each pose,
We're going to pause for a few breaths in neutral.
And bring our awareness to how our body is feeling.
And let's do some very gentle windshield wipers,
Letting our knees fall right and left.
So supported bridge was a low back extension pose.
Now we're gonna take that into another low back extension pose,
Coming on our bellies,
Coming into our sphinx pose.
So for this pose,
We're going to be having our elbows under our shoulders,
Letting our low back sink,
Getting that nice arch.
And if you have any discomfort,
You can move your elbows a little bit forward,
Which will make the arch a little less.
And we want to really relax our legs,
Our bottom,
So you can decide if your legs are completely together or maybe a little bit apart.
And we're lightly pressing our forearms down,
Tractioning them towards us.
As we reach our shoulders forward.
And relax our face.
And you can keep your head in neutral,
Or you could even drop your head.
We just don't want to have our shoulders come up like we're scrunching them together.
So really soften your belly down.
Enjoy this healthy extension in your low back.
We are approaching the last minute of the pose.
You can stay exactly as you are.
Or if you'd like,
You could bring your hands to the corner of the mat,
Slowly raising your elbows,
Keeping a slight bend.
Letting your back sink down.
If you have any discomfort,
Come back into Sphinx.
This is called seal.
Now we'll very slowly lower our weight all the way down,
Turning our head to the side.
Pausing here,
Relaxing.
Now let's bend our knees and let our feet very gently fall right and left.
And very slowly we're going to press up.
Our next pose is going to be butterfly pose.
So for this pose,
We're gonna have the bottoms of our feet together and you can decide how close or far they are from your body.
Different options could be to place blocks under your knees for support.
You could also sit on a blanket.
You could have a block on your feet.
We're going to be folding forward,
Maybe for your forehead.
You could also have blocks for your forearms.
And lastly,
You could use a bolster and a block,
Both of them together.
And with all of these poses,
You don't have to use any props either.
So you decide.
What feels right in your body,
But we're gonna be softening,
Getting this lengthening in the entire backside of our body.
Let's gently walk our way back up.
Maybe you want to help your knees up,
Placing your feet flat.
Sometimes I like to lean forward slightly for a little pause.
After those first two extension poses,
That forward flexion felt Really nice.
Now we're going to go into half butterfly.
So we'll start with our right leg straight and our left knee bent.
If you'd like,
You could put some support under your knee like a blanket or a rolled up towel.
We're going to be turning towards our right leg and folding down.
This is another good pose for.
.
.
A bolster or a pillow and you could fold your forearms placing your forehead on your forearms You could also take a block for your forehead.
And the other option would be to use block.
For your forearms as you come forward.
Or just a block somewhere on your leg.
But we want to soften both of our legs,
Our toes.
Everything down.
And you can adjust how much or little you bend your left knee.
Now let's very gently walk our fingers back.
Coming up into neutral,
Taking our little pause.
And you may want to bend your right knee,
Placing your foot flat and just get a little movement in here.
After this,
We're gonna make our way into deer pose.
So for this pose,
We're gonna have our right hip in internal rotation with our knee facing our left foot.
And I keep my knees about 90 degrees,
But you can adjust as needed.
And we'll be returning to the left.
And coming down.
This is a pose I love using my bolster.
You could use a pillow.
You do not have to use anything.
But I like to soften down with my head to the side.
And once you come down,
Kind of check your legs and make sure everything is completely relaxed.
Let's very carefully press our way up.
Gently turning towards our legs,
Bringing our feet flat.
I like to place my hands a little bit behind me,
Taking our pause.
And then we'll move our knees a little bit right and left.
Now let's make our way into our butterfly on the other side.
So this time we're going to have our left leg straight.
And once again,
If you want some support under your knee,
The other thing you could do is have a block as well.
I think I mentioned that before.
And I also wanted to mention,
As you're in this pose,
If you feel like you're opening up,
You can always walk out a little bit.
Sometimes you'll see me walking out.
A little bit.
And if you ever have discomfort or tingling,
You can always back out a little bit as well.
So keep that in mind.
Now let's very slowly walk our way up.
Pausing in center.
This is called the rebound.
Where we.
Come out of the pose and feel that chi,
That life force energy.
Moving through our bodies.
Let's bend the left knee,
Find a little bit of movement here.
Before we make our way into deer pose facing the other way.
So this time we'll have the left knee facing the right foot.
And turning to the right.
Coming down with nothing or perhaps grabbing a pillow or a bolster.
And if you find your mind is wandering,
Another little tip is you could say to yourself silently,
I am breathing in,
I am breathing out.
That can help bring your awareness to your breath.
Let's gently come up turning to the left.
Placing our feet flat with our knees up.
Taking a few breaths.
And then we'll move our knees a little right and left.
The next pose we're going to go into is supported fish.
So this is a heart opening pose.
Now,
If you don't have blocks,
You could use your bolster,
Placing it behind your shoulder blades up to your head.
You could also roll up a blanket and place it right in the middle of your spine.
Starting right behind your shoulder blades.
If you have your blocks,
One block will be behind your shoulder blades,
One behind your head.
And you can keep them both on the lower level.
You could have them on the higher level.
You could also have your head lower than your shoulder blades.
But if you do that,
If you try that and it doesn't feel comfortable,
Make them the same height.
So we'll slowly come back.
And with our legs,
It's kind of the same with the first pose we did,
Supported bridge.
You could keep your knees bent.
You could straighten your legs with your toes falling out.
You could bring your knees together.
And the other option I like to do with this pose is reclined butterfly.
So bringing the bottoms of your feet together,
Letting your knees fall out.
And you can adjust how much or little you bend your knees.
With your arms.
It's nice to open them to the side to really get that heart opening pose and that stretch in your pectoral muscles which attach to your chest.
Humerus,
Your arm bone,
And come over to your sternum.
So this will give a nice stretch there.
If that's uncomfortable,
You can always bring them closer to your body.
If your knees are in reclined butterfly,
You can gently bring them up.
And maybe pressing with your elbows as you come up to remove the block.
And then come all the way back down on your back,
Pausing here.
Really noticing how your body's feeling.
Your thoracic muscles.
Now we'll do a few more little windshield wipers.
And we're going to go into a reclined twist for our final two poses before Shavasana.
And I always say whatever option of a reclined twist you'd like to do,
You can choose.
Today I'm going to do cat pulling its tail.
So I'm going to take my bolster and place it on the right side.
So the right leg is straight,
Toes falling out.
I'm going to bring my left leg to the bolster.
Just to have some support,
You don't have to use a bolster.
And I'm gonna bend my right knee enough so I can grab my foot.
So we're the cat and the foot is the tail.
So if that's not comfortable,
You don't have to do that.
You can keep your right leg relaxed.
And some people even grab their right toes,
But I'm going to place my,
I mean their left toes,
But I want to place my right hand on my left thigh.
So we're getting this twist,
So I like to look to the left.
Now we'll take our time very slowly returning to our backs with our knees bent and our feet flat.
Taking our little rebound pause.
Now we'll find a little movement in our knees.
And then we'll make our way to the other side.
So bringing that bolster or pillow or even a block you could have to the left.
As you place your right leg on it.
And bending your.
.
.
Bottom leg enough to grab your foot or you can just relax it you don't have to grab your foot you don't have to Pull your tail.
Get to the point where you can really soften.
Relax your legs,
Your arms,
Your face.
Enjoy this twist.
Now we'll carefully return to our backs.
Placing our feet flat on the mat.
Noticing our breath.
Now let's bring our knees and our hands.
And do some gentle circles with our legs.
And switch directions.
Feel that nice massage on your low back,
On the mat.
Then we'll raise our legs in the air,
Keeping a bend in our knees.
You can relax your hands on your thighs.
Feel your low back pressing into the mat.
Let's do some circles with our feet.
And switch directions.
And then we'll hug our knees in towards our chest and rock a little right and left.
And then we'll make our way into our final resting pose,
Shavasana,
Taking our feet a little wider than our hips,
Letting our toes fall out.
Palms facing up.
Softening our muscles,
Our body,
Our mind.
Enjoying this peaceful,
Quiet stillness.
Now let's start to deepen our breath.
Finding some movement in our fingers and toes.
Maybe you want to bring your legs together and do a long body stretch.
And we'll take our time making our way up to our easy seated pose.
Let's take a moment here.
With our hands on our knees.
And you can either shut your eyes or lower your gaze.
Let's return our awareness to our breath.
Maybe you feel the subtle rising and falling of your chest as you breathe.
Maybe you feel the cool air.
As it comes in your nostrils.
In the slightly warmer air as it exits your nostrils.
Now let's take a full,
Deep breath in through our nose.
And a gentle sigh out.
One more time,
Full deep breath in.
Soft release.
To bring our hands to heart center,
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.
