Yin Practice For Release

The following guided yoga practice is a yin-type practice to invite in release within the body. As a yin practice, various poses will be held to further facilitate release and relaxation. You will be led in a meditation practice at closing.

Transcript

Hello,

My greetings to you as you enter into this practice today.

Making our way gently to the earth,

We'll begin this practice by entering into Sukhasana,

Or seated easy pose,

With our legs crossed in front of us.

You may use a yoga mat,

Or simply sit on the floor or the earth,

Whatever ground surface is available to you.

I invite you to place your palms gently over the tops of the knees,

And perhaps begin to rock gently side to side,

Forward and back,

Until we find our center of gravity.

And once we have found the space where we feel most centered,

Begin to invite in some stillness.

Coming into a tall spine,

Drawing the crown of our head towards the sky as we lengthen through our spine,

Drawing our back upright.

Now begin to turn the awareness to the breath by noticing the inhalations and the exhalations,

Noticing whether there are any catches or pauses in the breath,

Or noticing whether the breath feels smooth and without strain.

Seeing no judgment or trying to change the breath,

Just witnessing as it is in this current moment.

And as we enter further into this practice,

I want to ask that we honor ourselves and our bodies by listening to our body and noticing where there is strain,

Not pushing past those places of strain,

But instead only welcoming in our deepest stretch without pain.

And as we continue to witness the breath,

I'd like to ask that we invite in another layer into our practice by calling in a pranayama,

Or breathing practice,

Of kaki pranayama.

To practice this breath,

Take an inhale in through the nose,

And on the exhale breath make a small beak-like formation with our lips,

Almost as if we are blowing the air out through a straw.

Inhale in through the nose,

And again exhale,

Blowing the air out through that straw-like formation with our mouth.

And continue breathing with this breath as we inhale and exhale,

And allow that exhale to naturally lengthen through our lips until all of the air is expelled from our lungs.

The intention behind this practice today is to invite in release,

Using movement and the holding of postures to explore the spaces in our bodies where we find resistance,

And then softening through these spaces,

With every exhale breath through kaki pranayama allowing us to release further,

Sending anything that no longer serves us out through the breath.

We'll begin to warm up our spine by moving into some seated cat-cow postures,

Keeping our palms on our knees with an inhale breath arching our spine and turning our gaze to the sky.

Inhale rounding our spine,

Our chin to our chest.

Inhale arching our spine,

The gaze ascends.

And exhale rounding our spine,

Gaze at our navel.

And continue with this back and forth motion with our breath.

Inhale as we lift our heart space to the sky.

Inhale as we round through our spine.

If we have allowed the practice of kaki pranayama to release,

Perhaps allow it to come back in.

And continue this motion for two more repetitions in each direction.

Once we have returned back to a neutral position,

We'll begin to move into seated arthachandrasana or seated lateral bend.

With an inhale breath drawing our arms up to the sky as we lengthen through our spine.

And exhale dropping our right palm to the right side of the earth as our torso dips to that lateral side and the left arm extends over to the right.

Inhale returning both arms and torso back to center,

Extending our arms up to the sky.

And exhale as we drop our left palm to the left side of the earth as we create a lateral bend,

Crescent moon-like shape with our side body,

Our right arm extended overhead to the left.

Inhale returning the torso and arms back to center.

And exhale dropping into the lateral bend on the right side,

Right palm to the earth,

Left palm drawn over to the right.

Inhale return torso and arms back to center.

And exhale dropping into the lateral bend on the left side.

Inhale returning back to center.

And continue with these lateral bends dynamically on each side with the breath.

Allowing the movement to be as slow as the breath.

And not allowing the movement to speed up the breath.

Staying slow and steady with the breath.

And as we continue to warm up our spine,

And if it's in our practice today,

Continuing this movement with that pranayama breathing practice.

And continue releasing any thoughts or feelings with that exhale breath.

Continuing this motion for one more time on each side.

Once our spine has returned back to center,

Allow our palms to rest back on our knees as we begin to move into some seated spinal twists,

Opening our spine in all five directions with this practice.

On an inhale breath raise the arms back up to the sky as we lengthen through the spine,

And exhale beginning to turn our bodies towards the right as our right palm falls behind us onto the earth.

Left palm falling down to our right knee.

Inhale turning our torso back to center as our arms lift back up to the sky.

And exhale turning our torso open to the left.

Left palm falls behind us as the right palm falls to our left knee.

Inhale turning our torso back to center,

Arms extended back overhead,

Lengthening through the spine.

And exhale turning our torso back to that opposite right side,

Right palm behind us,

Left palm to that opposite knee.

Inhale returning back to center.

And exhale into the spinal twist to the left.

Inhale return to center.

And continue these spinal twists on each side with the breath.

Warming up our spine as we continue with these movements.

Focusing our attention on the breath.

Completing one more repetition on each side.

Once we have returned to center,

Begin to draw both of our legs straight out in front of us and then bend the right knee letting it fall to the right side of the earth.

And draw the bottom of that right foot to press against the inside of the left thigh.

With an inhale breath lengthening through our spine and exhale keeping our back nice and long begin to hinge forward at our hips down towards that left leg.

Inhale as we draw our spine back upright to a neutral spine.

And exhale again hinging our torso at our hips as we begin to draw our torso to the earth.

Inhale back to center.

And exhale lowering our torso again back towards our leg.

Inhale back to center.

And continue this motion for two more full repetitions with the breath.

Once we have returned back to center,

Begin to straighten out our right leg as our left knee is bent.

And the base of the left foot to plant on the inside of the right thigh.

Inhale drawing our torso upright into a tall spine.

And exhale hinging forward at our hips as we draw a long spine towards the earth.

Inhale lifting our torso back to center.

And exhale keeping our spine long as we lower it to the earth over that front leg.

And continue this motion three more times with the breath.

Once we have completed our final repetition and our torso has returned to center,

With our legs extended out in front of us,

Begin to slide the legs open to either side as we come into a wide legged forward fold,

Otherwise known as dragonfly and yin yoga.

If on a yoga mat,

Allow the legs to open off of either side of the edges of the mat.

And once our legs are open,

With an inhale breath again lengthen through the spine.

And exhale as we hinge forward at the hips,

Drawing the torso down towards the earth,

Keeping the spine long instead of rounding,

And settling into our best stretch.

Arms may slide down our legs or meet in front of us on the earth to support ourselves in this posture,

Being aware of whether we may have gone too deep into the stretch.

And if so,

Allow ourselves to back slightly out until we are comfortable,

As we'll be here for three minutes.

And as we hold this asana,

Return back to that pranayama that we began at the start of this practice of kaki pranayama.

Taking that inhale in through the nose,

And with the exhale breath,

Breathing out that straw-like formation of the lips,

Allowing the exhale to naturally lengthen as we slow down the breath.

Looking back in the intention of inviting in release,

Noticing whether there is any tension or holding in the muscles of our jaw or the muscles of the face.

Tension being a sign of resistance.

And just invite in softening to further facilitate release.

With every exhale breath,

Releasing any thoughts or emotions that flit to the surface of the mind,

Releasing them without judgment,

And allowing ourselves to just be in the present moment.

Three more seconds.

With our next inhale breath,

Drawing our legs back to center,

And then begin to swing them beneath us as we meet on hands and knees in table pose,

With our palms stacked beneath our shoulders,

Our knees stacked beneath our hips,

And our spine long.

Moving into a thread the needle posture,

With an inhale breath sweeping our right arm off the earth and up to the sky as we open our torso up to the right,

And exhale rounding our spine as we draw that right arm between our left leg and left arm,

Allowing the right shoulder and ear to draw down to the earth,

Right palm facing the sky.

Inhale pressing into that left palm on the earth as we draw that right arm back out and raise that arm up to the sky,

Opening our torso to the right,

And again exhale as we round our spine,

Drawing our right arm between our left arm and leg,

Right shoulder and ear to the earth.

Inhale pressing into that left palm again as we draw that right arm back out into the sky,

And exhale rounding as we draw it back through between our left arm and leg,

Resting our right shoulder on the earth,

And hold,

Allowing ourself to breathe in this pose.

And with our next inhale,

Pressing back into the left palm as we draw our right arm out again and raise it up to the sky,

And exhale returning our palm back to the earth to meet and table pose.

Balancing out the opposite side of our body,

With an inhale breath,

This time raising our left arm up to the sky,

And exhale rounding our spine as we draw the left arm between our right arm and leg,

Dropping our left shoulder and ear to the earth.

Inhale pressing into that right palm as we draw our left arm back out and sending it up to the sky,

Opening our torso to the left,

And exhale rounding our spine as we again draw our left arm back between our arm and leg,

Resting our shoulder on the earth.

Inhale pressing back into that right palm and drawing our left arm out and up to the sky,

Opening our torso,

And exhale drawing it back through our right arm and leg,

And resting our left shoulder and ear to the earth,

And hold.

Breathe,

Sending the breath back into that pranayama,

Releasing any tension with our body with every breath.

With the next inhale breath,

Pressing back into that right palm and sending our left arm up to the sky,

Torso opening up to the left,

And then exhale left palm back to the earth as we return to table pose.

From here we'll begin to transition into sphinx pose by dropping our forearms to the earth,

Keeping our elbows stacked beneath our shoulders,

Lifting our back knees and drawing our legs straight out behind us into a forearm plank.

From here lowering our hips down to the earth,

Forearms still planted on the earth as our heart space is lifted to the sky for a mild back bend,

Supported by our forearms,

And breathe as we'll be here for three minutes.

Bringing our shoulders down and away from our ears,

And continue to invite in release,

Scanning our bodies for any signs of tension or holding,

And allowing those space to soften and relax.

Scanning our mental self,

Acknowledging the presence of chatter in our minds,

And if present,

Allowing this too to release,

Allowing our physical and mental self to release as much as possible.

Through the practice of holding a pose we begin to further open and release our bodies,

Opening up the deep connective tissue,

Fascia within our bodies,

And continuing to breathe.

Just 30 more seconds.

And with our next exhale breath,

Drawing our elbows out to the side as we stack our palms on top of one another in front of us,

And then lowering our forehead down on top of our stacked palms.

Breathe,

Coming back into the breath,

Releasing into this pose.

Taking a few more breaths here.

With an inhale slightly raising our head as we change the order of our palms,

Stacking the bottom this time on top,

And then lowering our forehead back down to our palms and coming back into the breath.

And taking a few more breaths here.

And we'll begin to transition into a deep shoulder opener,

Often referred to as broken wing pose,

By drawing our right arm out into a T-like position,

Out to the side of our right body,

Drawing our left palm to our left side,

Alongside the left shoulder,

And begin to tent up on those left fingertips,

Lifting the palm away from the earth.

And ever so gently and as slow as possible,

Using those left fingers to roll our body over onto our right hip,

Being aware of any tension in that right shoulder,

Being aware that we are not entering too deep to cause any strain or pain in that shoulder,

But merely invite in a stretch.

Bending that left top leg and just place the toes of that left foot on the earth behind us to help support us in this shoulder opener.

And once we have found our deepest stretch,

One that is also comfortable and brings ease,

Settle into this pose and we'll be here for two minutes.

Centering back into the breath,

Calling in that cocky pranayama if we have allowed it to release,

And just using that breath to invite in further release with every exhale,

Releasing thoughts and tension with the breath.

And we'll be here for one more minute.

Once we're just fifth person,

Hold it out for another door time.

With our next inhale breath,

Begin to roll back down onto our belly.

We'll begin to balance out the opposite side,

This time drawing our left arm out into that T-like position on our left side and drawing our right palm alongside the right shoulder,

Tenting up onto those right fingertips,

Lifting our palm away from the earth,

And begin to gently roll over onto that left hip,

Only going over so far until we feel our best stretch,

Bending the top right knee and drawing the toes behind that straight left leg,

Allowing our toes to touch the earth behind us as we support ourselves in this pose,

And coming into the stretch,

Settling in as we begin to hold this pose for two minutes.

And as we hold this pose,

Again scan the chatter of the mind.

Scanning any tension in the muscles of our face.

Through yin practices of holding poses,

We begin to play with our edge and find those places where there is resistance,

And the longer we hold the pose,

The greater we find the release our bodies need.

We'll be here for one more minute,

Continuing to release,

Continuing to breathe.

And coming out of this pose,

Begin to roll our torso back down to the earth,

And then draw our palms next to each shoulder,

Returning to hands and knees to meet in table pose by pressing up into each palm,

Lifting our torso,

And drawing our knees back down to the earth beneath our hips.

With our next exhale breath,

Begin to make our way into downward facing tag by tucking our toes,

Keeping our palms planted on the earth,

And lift the hips up to the sky,

Drawing our shoulders down and away from our ears,

And allow a few breaths here in this space,

Perhaps stretching our legs by bending one knee and then the other,

Perhaps nodding the head yes,

Nodding the head no,

And with our next exhale breath,

Begin walking our feet forward on the earth to meet our palms into Uttanasana,

Or forward fold.

Allow our torso to fall down towards our thighs,

Our head and arms drawing down to the earth.

Invite a gentle bend into the knees to further allow the head and neck to release deeper down to the earth,

Visualizing our head almost as if it is as heavy as a bowling ball,

Weighted and drawing down to the earth.

I'm taking a few breaths here.

With the next inhale,

Lift our torso just halfway,

Palms on our shins and our back flat and parallel to the earth,

And exhale,

Fold towards the earth,

Forward fold.

On our next inhale,

We'll transition to standing by drawing our arms out to the side as we hinge upwards from our hips,

Extending our arms up to the sky,

And then exhale,

Allowing our palms to touch and lowering them to heart center,

And then allowing them to drop open on either side of our thighs,

Tadasana,

Mountain pose.

Bringing some heat into our practice now,

With the next inhale breath,

Raising our arms to the sky as we draw our right foot off the earth with our knee bent at a 90 degree angle,

Almost as if our right foot was resting on a box,

Balancing on our left leg.

With our next exhale breath,

Moving into a modified high lunge by sweeping both our arms down along our side and stepping that right leg behind us,

Toes on the earth.

Left knee is bent and stacked over our left ankle and begin to tilt our torso forward over that bent left knee,

Our torso and back leg making one long diagonal line with our body.

Inhale,

Drawing our torso upright and drawing our arms into a cactus-like shape on either side of our torso,

Our arms bent at a 90 degree angle,

Heart lifting up to the sky,

And with the next exhale,

Moving into a spinal twist as we turn the torso open to the left side over that front bent left knee.

Inhale as we turn our torso back to center and then exhale,

Drawing our palms down to the earth into a runner's lunge.

Inhale in this pose and with the next exhale breath,

Stepping the back right foot forward to meet in a forward fold.

Inhale,

Half-lift,

Palms on our shins and raising our torso halfway,

And exhale forward fold,

Drawing our head back down to the earth.

Repeating the sequence on the opposite side,

Inhale as we hinge upwards at our hips,

Drawing our torso and arms up to the sky,

Allowing the palms to touch,

And exhale hands to heart center and falling through to open at the sides of our legs.

Tadasana,

Mountain pose.

Inhale as we sweep our arms up to the sky and draw our left leg in front of us off the earth,

Bending the left leg at a 90 degree angle,

Almost as if we are resting that foot on a box.

Exhale as we sweep our arms alongside our torso and step our left leg behind us,

Resting on our toes in a modified high lunge.

Right knee bent and stacked over that front right ankle and tilting our torso over that front bent knee,

Arms alongside our torso as we create one long diagonal line with the body.

Inhale,

Drawing our torso back upright and moving our arms into that cactus-like shape as we bend our elbows and forearms at a 90 degree angle,

And coming into a spinal twist as we exhale and turn our torso open to the right over that front bent knee,

And inhale as we turn our torso back to center.

Exhale,

Lowering both of our palms down to the earth as we come into a runner's lunge,

Taking an inhale here and then exhale,

Stepping our back foot forward,

Forward fold.

Repeating this sequence one more time on each side,

Inhale,

Half lift,

Palms on our shins,

Flat back,

And exhale,

Forward fold.

Inhale,

Sweeping our arms out to the side as we draw ourselves up into standing,

And then exhale,

Hands to the heart center and fall through to open our palms against our side,

Tadasana Mountain Pose.

With our next inhale breath,

Raising our arms up to the sky as we draw our right foot off the earth with our knee bent at a 90 degree angle,

Balancing on the left leg,

And exhale,

Moving into a modified high lunge by sweeping both our arms down alongside our body and stepping that right leg behind us,

Toes on the earth.

Begin to tilt our torso forward over that front bent left knee,

Torso and back leg,

Making one long diagonal line with our body.

Inhale,

Drawing our torso upright,

Creating that cactus-like shape on either side of our torso with our arms bent at a 90 degree angle,

Heart lifting up to the sky,

And exhale,

Coming into a spinal twist as we turn our torso to the left over that front bent knee.

Inhale as we turn our torso back to center,

And then exhale,

Drawing our palms down to the earth into a runner's lunge,

Taking an inhale here,

And with our next exhale breath,

Stepping our back right foot forward into forward fold.

Inhale,

Half lift,

Flat back,

Palms on our shins,

And raising up just halfway,

And exhale,

Forward fold,

Drawing our head back down to the earth.

Inhale as we hinge upright at our hips,

Raising our torso and arms up to the sky.

Exhale,

Palms together and drawing to our heart center,

And then falling open at the sides of our legs,

Mountain Pose.

Inhale as we sweep our arms up to the sky and draw our left leg in front of us off the earth,

Bending the knee at a 90 degree angle.

Exhale as we sweep our arms alongside our torso and step our left leg behind us,

Resting on our toes in a high lunge,

Tilting our torso over that front right bent knee,

Arms alongside our torso as we create one long diagonal line.

Inhale,

Drawing our torso back upright and creating those cactus-like arms as we bend our elbows.

Exhale,

Spinal twist,

Turning our torso open to the right over that front bent knee,

And inhale as we turn our torso back to center.

Exhale,

Lowering both our palms down to the earth as we come into a runner's lunge.

Taking an inhale here,

And then exhale,

Stepping both of our feet back,

Dropping our knees to the earth,

Falling down into Table Pose,

Making our way down onto our seat by drawing our legs out in front of us,

And sitting on the earth,

Begin to roll our spine down to the earth one vertebra at a time,

Moving with intention.

Next,

Drawing our legs down to the earth,

Laying our full body on the earth.

From here,

Drawing our arms on the earth behind our head,

Allowing the palms to meet.

We'll begin to come into a supine crescent moon shape,

Also known in yin yoga as banana asana.

Keeping our hips grounded into the earth,

Begin to walk our heels just a few inches over to the right side of the earth.

Next,

Slightly lift the upper torso and head as we draw the head and torso a few inches to the right side as well,

And then settle down onto the earth,

Creating a banana-like shape or crescent moon-like shape with our side body,

And we'll settle in here for three minutes,

Making sure that we are in the pose just at the place where we feel the greatest stretch.

If we have perhaps gone too deep into the pose,

Just allow the self to come out just a little,

And begin to call the awareness back to the breath,

Practicing that kaki pranayama with that exhale out that straw-like formation with the mouth,

And giving ourselves permission to be here in this space,

Knowing that we are serving ourselves when we are here for ourselves.

We'll be here for one more minute.

You you We'll begin to come out of this pose by first walking our feet back to center,

And then walking our torso back to center,

And just taking a moment to make sure that our body is realigned,

And then we'll move into this posture on the opposite side by walking our feet just a few inches over to the left,

And then walking our upper torso to the left,

Creating that banana-like shape or crescent moon-like shape with our body,

And we'll settle in here for three minutes as we open and release our side body.

Being aware to breathe being aware of any resistance that we can detect by what we feel in the walking or tension in our muscles,

Being aware of resistance in the mind as the mind chatter may increase,

And once any resistance is found,

Just allow it to wash away.

We'll be here for one more minute.

You you We'll begin to come out of this pose by first walking our feet back to center,

And then the upper torso,

And just taking a moment to realign our body so that it is centered,

And then drawing our knees into our chest.

Allow our arms to come out into a T-like shape on either side of our body.

Allow the knees to fall about hip-width distance apart as they are stacked over our torso,

And with the next exhale breath allow both knees to fall over to the right side of the earth.

Inhale,

Drawing our left knee back to center as it pulls the right knee with it,

And exhale allowing our knees to fall down to the left side of the earth.

Inhale,

Returning our knees back to center,

And exhale dropping our knees back over to the right.

Inhale,

Returning to center,

And exhale allowing the knees to fall to the left,

And continue this dynamic motion with the breath on either side,

And if you are continuing with Kaki Pranayama you may allow this breathing practice to release at this time,

And just breathe normal.

Continuing with one more repetition on each side,

And once we have completed our final repetition and our knees have returned to center,

Allow them to fall gently down out in front of us on the earth,

Allowing our arms to come against our thighs,

Our palms rolling up towards the sky as we make our way into our final resting posture of Shavasana,

Tucking our shoulders beneath our spine and allowing our feet to fall slightly open,

Closing our eyes,

Taking one final scan of our body as we search for any residual areas of tension or holding,

And invite in release by scanning the corner of our eyes,

The space between our brow,

The muscles along our jaw,

And as we are laying on the earth with our eyes closed,

I would like to invite you into the following practice to further facilitate deep relaxation.

I'll begin to ask that we tend to relax the following areas,

Just tightening our muscles without strain,

And then inviting a release as we relax those muscles.

To begin,

Taking a slow deep breath in through the nose,

Deep within,

And then hold,

And exhale releasing the breath.

Taking another deep slow inhale in through the nose and hold,

And then exhale releasing,

Repeating this for one more time as we inhale in through the nose and hold,

And then exhale.

Now continue to breathe normally but notice how relaxed we feel after those breaths,

Moving our attention to our feet and toes,

Curling our toes down towards the soles of our feet,

Tensing through both feet,

And hold them in this position while we continue to breathe,

And then relax,

Letting the feet fall back into their natural position,

Feeling free of tension.

Next,

Moving our attention to our lower legs as we draw our toes towards our shins,

Feeling the stretch through the back of our calves as we tighten these muscles,

Tightening our thighs,

And holding this pose,

Yet continuing to breathe,

And then release,

Relaxing our legs,

Feeling softness and ease.

Next,

Drawing our attention up to our belly and tense the muscles in our stomach,

Drawing our navel down inward towards our spine and holding this tension,

And then release,

Feeling the belly soften as our body relaxes further,

Feeling tension slide away.

Now drawing our attention to our hands and arms and tightening all the muscles within each upper limb,

Clenching our fists and tightening through the muscles of our forearm and upper arm,

And hold this tension,

And then release,

Feeling relaxation wash through our arms.

Next,

Tensing the muscles of our face by scrunching all of the muscles inward,

Squeezing our eyes shut,

Squeezing our lips together,

Drawing our eyebrows down to our nose,

Tightening all the muscles around our nose,

And hold,

Continuing to breathe,

And then release,

Feeling all tension leaving the body,

Feeling completely relaxed from our head to our toes.

You

Reviews

Lovely afternoon practice 😊