We're going to start with some neen shapes and then we'll move a little bit to get the kinks out and we'll settle for shavasana.
You're going to need some props for yin yoga.
We absolutely need those props.
You're going to need two blocks.
And either bolster or a bunch of pillows whatever you have at home and then something to cover yourself with in shavasana and that is important so don't skip it Right now we're going to start with our two blocks.
And our bolster in a shape that's called dragonfly and so it's a forward fold.
A wide-legged portful.
You're going to open one leg out.
And the other leg out.
I will say this is a pretty intense shape,
So you want to make sure that you're being really mindful and kind with yourself.
The way I like to set up my Dragonfly is I'm going to grab the blocks and you can use them at various settings,
Right?
So you might want to play a little bit with this here.
The way I'm going to start is with this one at a high setting and this one at a low setting.
And then I'm going to put my bolster.
On it.
I'm gonna bring my timer closer to me.
And you want to make sure you're really,
Really cozy in this shape because we're going to be here for three to four minutes.
And the bolster comes really to my belly.
And so you could do that with a few.
.
.
A few pillows.
And.
.
.
I'm gonna help rotate the.
.
.
Legs so that they're nice and even.
Right the toes are pointing straight up and usually we would actually flex the feet and engage your legs and in yoga i'm going to ask you to just kind of let the legs be what they are and then fold forward.
So you might stay very high because you're feeling a lot of tension in the inner thighs and in the hamstrings.
Or you might feel okay going a little bit lower.
If you have more props you could have another block on your bolster.
And we're going to be here for a few minutes.
You can also make some fists with your hands.
I'm going to get a little quiet here.
And I'm going to encourage you to notice what is happening in your body.
And also what starts to happen in your mind when.
.
.
Things get a little uncomfortable.
A little or a lot of them.
So in yin yoga,
We're disengaging muscles completely.
So see if you can completely disengage any muscle in your leg.
And the reason for that is we're accessing fascia and connective tissues.
And allowing hydration in those tissues,
Allowing movement of prana in those tissues,
Prana that might have been stuck or stagnant.
Through compression and tension.
So to come back to the mind,
What happens in the mind is.
.
.
Often more challenging in these shapes than what happens in the body.
So as practice,
For real life.
I'm going to encourage you to stay with whatever is going on.
As far as the body's concerned,
You're trying to find an edge.
Of feeling.
That feels sustainable for the next two to three minutes.
So nothing sharp,
Nothing painful.
Just achy-doll.
Thank you.
And if at any point in the next few minutes you feel that you can go a little lower you're very welcome to adjust your props We'll be here together relatively quiet for the next two minutes.
This is your opportunity to soften your face.
Tune in crunches up.
To invite rest.
To receive rejuvenation.
Just a few.
And back to tension in your legs,
If you're engaged muscles,
Can you disengage,
Can you soften anywhere.
Are you holding and gripping?
We'll be here another minute.
And again,
If you feel that.
You know,
Props can come down a little bit or you can adjust anything.
How do you do that?
Give yourself room to explore.
What less or more support would look like.
And feel like.
30 seconds.
And it's not about going further.
It's not about how far can I go in the next 15 seconds.
It's about.
.
.
Can I surrender?
And that doesn't necessarily mean going further.
An interesting concept to chew on.
Go ahead and press yourself up with the help of your hand.
Okay,
Don't go out of it yet.
Move your props out of the way and then we're going to help because this was so intense.
We're going to help the legs.
So go ahead and use one hand to bend the knee.
And the other hand to bend the other knee.
And I'm literally lifting my leg.
And You can give yourself a moment.
I usually like to bring a little movement.
For a prana to flow.
And energy to flow.
The next shape we'll take is a half butterfly.
And so we'll still use the bolster and block.
Health Butterfly looks like Jamsha Shasana.
So you're going to extend your right leg in front of you.
And you're gonna bring your left knee to your chest and then open your left knee out.
There's a lot less structure in yoga because it's not about what it looks like,
It's about how it feels like.
So,
You know,
You have your right leg straight,
You have your left knee bent,
And it's not so much angles and adjustments.
It's more about How,
What am I going to feel?
So I'm going to place my blocks on medium settings.
You might need a different setting.
And then I'm going to put my bolster or you can use your pillows on top.
I'll open the chest and I'll just start to melt down and we'll be here for about three or four minutes.
For me i realize this is a little bit high right now so i can even move my props forward so that i have a little bit more space or i can lower the props so see where you want to go you're going to want some tension in that right hamstring some compression in the front of the right hip.
Compression in the belly too.
And again,
Notice if you can disengage any muscle.
Work in the right leg.
Well as the upper body.
It's been a very very long haul but just seeing here and noticing.
For the next few minutes.
How the mind reacts,
How the body is experiencing the shape an act of surrender.
An act of release,
Of softening.
One more minute here.
I just noticed,
Oh,
It's still holding my right leg,
So.
See if that's true for you too.
Are you still holding in any.
.
.
It's still gripping in any capacity and can you soften that?
Maybe a sigh out of mouth.
About 30 seconds Very slowly bring your torso back up.
A little movement if you want it,
You don't have to.
For me it always feels really good to get.
Just my legs,
Left leg long,
Right knee to chest,
Right knee opens out.
Again you know my tendencies are engaging i'm just going to kind of let my legs soften Bring my blocks on each side.
And ring bolster.
And so what's tricky when we do two-sided poses is we want them to look the same and we want them to feel the same.
They will not because our bodies are not symmetrical.
Each side has its own energetic background.
And so be open to notice what happens on this side.
We'll be here for three to four minutes.
You can take a moment to lengthen the spine and just kind of melt down and forward after that.
You come into a place of Do a key.
Sensation,
Nothing sharp.
Nothing tingly.
If you do feel that,
Come out of the pose and readjust.
It's never within yoga about pushing our limits or going beyond our limits.
It's about.
.
.
What happens when I let go?
Of my expectation,
What happens when I let go of.
.
.
What I want the shape to feel or look like,
What happens when I let go of the mind chatter.
What happens when I just hear breathing?
Can I be here just breathing?
How can I invite that if it's.
.
.
Hard rather than try harder.
Once the other way.
Let's try harder and never work.
Another minute.
Maybe a sigh out of the mouth.
Is there any place in that left leg where you're still holding?
Is there any room?
To let that go.
Very slowly make your way back up.
And you won't need those props anymore so you can place them to the side unless you want your blocks for.
.
.
Or we're going to go to Surinamaskar and then we'll have a warrior two,
Peaceful warrior and triangle close.
So you might want a block for triangle close or you may not.
Hold you down,
We're facing that,
Please.
If you need any other movement before down dog,
Feel free to find that in your own practice.
Notice how this down dog feels in the legs especially.
And then when you're ready,
Walk your hands to your feet.
So hands to the back of your mat.
And fold forward at the back of your mat.
Just halfway up,
Big breath in.
Bring your hands to your hips and then tie it back all the way up.
Work yourself all the way to the family mat.
Bring your hands to a prayer.
We'll go through three rounds of sand salutations and then just a little bit of.
.
.
Open hip movement.
Reach your arms up,
Big breath in.
And then fold forward a big breath out.
Lift halfway up,
Inhale.
Plant your hands and then step back to plank pose.
Take a moment in plank pose.
Inhale,
Get strong,
Reach your heels back and lift your head.
You can go to Chauranga or you can have knees down on your exhale.
And then Abdurgo Cobra,
Depending on how it feels in your body.
Big breath.
Downward facing dog is your breath out.
Take an inhale in your down dog,
Adamukashonasana.
And then exhale,
Look forward,
Step both feet to the front of your mat and fold Uttanasana.
Inhale,
Lift halfway up.
Exhale,
Hands to hips,
Clap back.
All the way Inhale,
Reach your arms.
Exhale,
Fold forward.
Inhale,
Lift halfway.
And then exhale,
Point your hand,
Step back to plank pose.
Take a breath,
Stay.
Exhale make your way down.
Inhale,
Upward facing dog or cobra.
Big breath in,
Open the throat,
Widen the collarbones.
Exhale,
Downward facing dog.
Big breath in.
Exhale look at your hands you can jump if you feel the energy or you can step and fold.
Lift halfway up.
Inhale.
Hands to hips,
Flat back all the way up.
Inhale,
Reach your arms.
Exhale,
Fall.
Lift halfway.
Plant your hands,
Step back to plant.
Inhale,
Pause here.
And then exhale,
Chaturanga down.
Inhale,
Avdraga Cobra,
Udva Mukha Svanasana.
Adonkashvanasana,
Down facing dog,
Exhale.
And exhale look at your hands step or jump in Helen's house,
Please.
Exhale,
Hands to hips,
Flat back all the way.
Read your arms up,
Inhale.
Bend the knees in the same direction as your toes and drop the hips with katasana.
Reach your arms up,
Big breath in.
And then exhale,
Fold forward.
Lift halfway up,
Inhale.
And set your left foot back into a lunge.
Anchor your left heel down,
Come all the way out to your abdrasana 2.
You're going to want front heel aligned with the arch of your back foot and you might adjust that on your Matt,
Take a moment.
Lengthen the right leg.
We adjust the hips so the hip points are even.
Reach through the arms and then keep that and then the right knee.
Virabhadasana too.
Drag the heels towards each other.
Engage a little bit through the inner thighs.
Peaceful warrior.
Flip the front palm.
Reach up and back.
Inhale.
And then lengthen the right leg and come for trikonasana.
So you should have your block.
You're going to want your block on the outside of your right foot so that you can reach that right hip back.
More as you reach the left arm up.
See if you can press on the right big toe and engage the left leg so the left leg is really,
Really strong.
We bend the right knee and then come back up to your eyebrows in the tube.
Legs on your right leg,
Parallel your feet.
Heels and toes out.
Guard us both.
Then knees and drop the hips.
And you can kind of move from side to side or you can be still,
You can have hands on the body or you can have hands to your heart.
Take a moment,
Big breath.
Big breath out.
Reach your arms up as you lengthen the leg.
Parallel your feet and then fold forward strong legs.
In that paratonasana.
Lift halfway up,
Inhale,
Long spine.
Re-engage through the legs and fold forward.
And then stay here for two cycles of breath please.
One more.
Lift halfway up,
Inhale.
Hand on the hips and flat back all the way up.
Exhale.
You're gonna open the left toes.
And bring your right heel back a little bit more so heel front heel to arch of the back foot adjust the hip points and then bend the knee for Virabhasana too to the back of your mat.
Big breath.
Big breath out drag the heels towards each other engage for the inner thighs open the chest Flip the left palm,
Reach up and back,
Peaceful warrior.
Lengthen the left leg.
You can grab your block on your way.
Outer edge outside of your left foot.
And then right arm up for Trikonasana Triangle.
And then you can kind of manually Place a hand here so that the hip crease.
Of the left side reaches back.
And then I noticed my right knee was disengaged,
Or was bent a little bit.
My right leg was disengaged,
So I'm pressing back through.
The right heel into the ground.
Big breath in.
Big breath out.
We better let you let go of the blog.
Same thing that we did,
Lengthen the leg,
Heels and toes out.
God is close,
Big breath.
Ah.
Stick your tongue out,
Lay in this breath.
Let's do that again in there.
Raise your arms up.
Air low on your feet.
Paddhanasana,
Fold forward over your legs,
Strong legs.
Lift halfway up,
Inhale,
We press down.
And fold.
Two breaths.
One more.
Lift halfway up,
Inhale.
And then exhale,
Hands to hips,
Flat back all the way up.
And then you can step to the front of your mat hence to a prayer.
Great.
Let's make our way to to the back.
Have your blanket nearby?
We're going to go to a twist and then straight to Shavasana.
So make sure you have your blanket with you.
Feet down,
Knees bent.
Make your way down to your back please.
I like palms of the hands up.
I have more space in my shoulders,
But you're very welcome to have palms of the hands down.
You can experiment with both actually.
And then bringing these to your chest.
Give them a big squeeze.
Open your arms in a cactus shape.
You're going to move your hips a little to the right so that you have more space as you drop your knees to the left.
And initially this feels a lot awkward.
Always feels a little awkward for me.
And so I need to.
.
.
We left our book.
So I can start to rotate my torso back to normal.
More and less.
The feet can be closer to you,
They can be a little further away from you.
And if you'd rather have something between your legs,
You could have block or blanket.
See if you can create more space on the left side.
I know it's counterintuitive.
Then the left side is actually the side where we want to stretch and open.
So by pressing that left elbow down.
Maybe you bring a little bit more space to the left side of the chest and then breathe in.
And breathe out.
Stay here for two breaths,
Please.
When you're ready,
Come back to center,
Feet down and knees up towards the ceiling.
Take a moment in between.
Bringing knees to your chest,
Give yourself a big hug.
Cactus your arms next to you and then move your hips to the left.
And drop your hips,
Drop your knees to the right.
And again,
The movement of The placement of your feet can be adjusted.
Press your right elbow down so that you can rotate almost like a bite.
Can rotate your torso.
From the pelvis all the way up to the shoulders.
So ideally you want that left shoulder down towards the earth and that might mean placing some props on your legs,
Under your legs,
In between your legs,
It depends.
Start to soften here.
And take more,
Two more cycles of breath.
Come back to center,
Feet down.
Knees up towards the ceiling.
Hug your knees into your chest.
And then this is where it gets a little fun.
You're going to unfold your blanket and drape it over your feet.
And that way when you start to lengthen your feet you can grab drag and take the blanket with you and cover yourself completely.
Do not skip that,
It's really important too.
Support the body with this little bit of.
.
.
Clothing it could be a light blanket it could be a heavy blanket if you need that extra groundedness today.
And then breathe through.
A few moments,
Let yourself land in transition.
You won't be here very long,
So see if you can draw it right in.
And if you can't,
If you're noticing restlessness,
Make some love and compassion there.
That's.
.
.
Will help you soften,
Not forcing and trying harder or judging yourself.
Soften your face.
Relax your jaw.
We have another minute here.
Completely relaxed.
Try not to think about what's next.
Be right in this moment.
Bring some small movements to your fingers and your toes.
If you can,
Keep your eyes closed.
As you start to come back to life after corpse pose.
Pull to one side.
Press yourself up and find a seat.
Take a moment to lend.
And when you feel ready,
Open your eyes.
Great practice.
