Gentle Stretch with Scripture | Psalm 103 | 15 Minutes

Slow down and connect with your body and spirit through this 15-minute gentle stretching practice woven with calming scripture. I'll guide you through restorative stretches paired with God's Word to help you release physical tension while finding spiritual peace and grounding. Perfect for any time you need to reset, breathe deeply, and remember what matters most.

Transcript

Hi friends, Welcome to this gentle stretch. We're just going to stay low to the mat and open up all areas of the body. This is all levels and no props are needed. Let's begin in child's pose. So bringing your hips to your heels, You can take the knees as wide as the mat to get a little more into the hips if that feels okay. And allow your chest to melt between your thighs, Bringing your forehead down to touch. And just take a few grounding breaths here, Breathing in deeply. Release fully. Inhaling And exhaling. And one more. Just allowing yourself to land and come into your practice. From here, Activate your child, So lifting up through the elbows and walk your hands to the left side of the mat. Maybe the right hand comes on top as you feel a stretch through the right side of the body. Breathe here. Inhale back through center, Take it to the other side. So walking hands over to the right, Maybe left hand comes on top. Create length and space along the left side of the body. And returning back to center, Lift up to tabletop position. So coming to all fours, Hands under your shoulders, Knees under hips. We'll begin to move through a couple of rounds of cat and cow. So as you inhale, Belly drops, Gaze goes up. Exhale round, Press the ground away, Tuck chin to chest. Inhale, Pull your heart through. Exhale to round and just move back and forth between these two movements, Waking up the spine. And take one more round. And when you're ready, We'll meet back in a neutral spine. From here, Extend the right hand out in front of you. We'll turn it up to the sky, Sweep it back and around. And right back forward. So creating full arm circles with that right. Creating space in the shoulder. Take one more round, And the next time the hand reaches up, Keep it there. Open up the chest. Pull the right shoulder back. Exhale thread the needle so release the right shoulder down to the mat option to walk that left hand forward maybe you reach it up and behind for a bind grabbing hold of your right Breathe here. And if you have the bind gently released, Placing it beside the face. Inhale, Right hand sweeps high. Return to tabletop position. Find one round of cotton cow. And return to center, Take it on the other side. So left hand reaches forward, Sweep it up and around. Finding those full arm circles with the left arm. And maybe just notice if you feel any differences in the sides of the body, Like this is my stiffer side. So just notice. We'll take one more round and next time the arm reaches up, Reach it high, Open up, Create a little bit of space. Exhale, Thread the needle, Release the left shoulder down. Again, Option to walk the right fingertips forward or you can sweep it up and around for a bind, Creating space here. And if you have the bind gently released, Everyone planting their hands beside their face. Inhale to open. Reach the left hand high. Return to tabletop. One round of cat and cow opening through the chest. And exhale to round. So exploring the lower half of the body. From here, We'll extend the right foot behind you, Toes pointed down at the back of the mat. Gently rock back and forth in the hands, Finding a stretch for the back of the leg. And then finding stillness, Shoulders over your wrists, Float the toes away from the mat. We'll draw the knee in and around, Finding some hip circles here. So we'll take it a few rounds in one direction. Before switching it up and going the opposite way. After your last round, Extend the foot behind you and place it on the outside of the left ankle. Look over towards that heel, Creating space in the right side of the body. Take another breath here. And gently unwind lizard pose. So bringing that foot to the outside of your right hand. Option to help it along if needed. You can also slide that left knee back if you need a little more space. Releasing the hips down as you create space in the hip flexor. Option to come onto the knife edge of that right foot. Allowing the knee to fall open if you need a little more space. And breathe. Notice what you can soften. Notice what you can release and let go. Take another breath here. And then gently unwind, Returning to tabletop position. Take it on the other side. So extend the left foot behind you, Toes tucked under. Press into the hands for a stretch. Option to find some gentle rocking back and forth. And then floating the toes away from the mat, Find those hip circles. The knee draws forward towards the elbow and around and extend back. A few times in this direction. And then switch directions when you're ready. After your last round, Extend the foot behind, Place it on the outside of the right ankle, Look over the right shoulder. Breathe. And from here, Bringing the foot to the outside of the left hand, Coming into our lizard pose. So sinking the hips low, Creating space in the left hip flexor. Breathe. And gently release, Returning to tabletop position where we'll find puppy pose. So begin walking the hands forward, Melting the chest down to the mat. Will soften in this heart opener. And when you're ready, Gently walking your hands in, We'll come to find a seat and make your way down to your back. So coming to lie down. You can bring the knees in towards the chest, Maybe rock side to side. And then allowing the feet to come down. Supine pigeon, So we'll cross the right ankle over the left knee. Option to stay here if this is enough, But you can pull that figure four towards your chest. Interlace the fingers behind the left thigh. Creating space in the right hip flexor. Take a few breaths here. Continuing to flex through the right foot. And notice what you can soften. Take another breath here. And gently release. Keeping your feet, Your legs where they are, We'll drop everything over to the left side of the mat. You can grab hold of that right ankle with the left hand. Maybe extend the right hand out to the side and take a gaze over that shoulder. And gently return back to center. We'll take it on the other side. So crossing the left ankle over, Finding that figure four. Option to stay here or interlace your fingers behind the right thigh, Drawing that finger forward and towards your chest. Take a few breaths here. Creating space in the left hip flexor. We'll take another breath or two. And releasing, Keeping the cross of your legs, But dropping that figure four over towards the right. An option to grab hold of the ankle with your right hand, You can extend the left hand out to the side for just a little twist. And we'll take another breath or two. Gently releasing, Lifting that figure four back through center. And extend the legs where we'll find rest and scripture. Listening to the words of Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Praise the Lord, My soul. All my inmost being praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, My soul. And forget not all his benefits. Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses. His deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and gracious. Slow to anger, Abounding in love. He will not always accuse, Nor will he harbor his anger forever. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth. So great is his love for those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west. So far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are death. The life of mortals is like grass. They flourish like a flower of the field. The wind blows over it and it is gone. And its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting, The Lord's love is with those who fear him. And his righteousness with their children's children. With those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. The Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord, You his angels, You mighty ones who do his bidding, Who obey his word. Praise the Lord, All his heavenly host. You his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, All his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, My soul. And just taking another breath here. For introducing small movement back into the body, Wiggling fingers and toes. Drawing the knees into the chest. Rocking over to one side. Pressing your way up, Returning. To a easy seat. And we'll close our practice with one cleansing breath. So inhaling, Reaching hands high. Exhale, Hands down, To your heart center. Ceiling in your practice. Thank you so much for joining me. I'll see you in the next one.