And once you feel comfortable,
Eyes can close.
Take a full breath in,
Drop the mouth open,
Let it go,
And feel yourself fully settle into stillness.
Let gravity take over the weight of the body,
Softening the edges,
Relaxing the eyes,
The joints of the jaw,
The base of the neck.
And feel your breath moving.
On the inhale,
Navel floats up,
And on the exhale,
Navel drops down.
And right now,
The breath moving in and out of the nose,
If that's accessible to you.
Gently deepening the inhale and lengthening the exhale.
And take a moment to scan your body from the top of the head to the soles of the feet.
If there are any other areas,
Spaces in the body that need a little more awareness,
Maybe some breath.
And we scan without judgment,
Without expectation.
Just really being present with any sensations you're noticing.
Any tension,
Gripping.
Give it all your awareness.
Give it your breath.
A few more cycles.
And when you feel ready,
Try to wiggle your toes and your fingers,
Maybe rocking the head gently side to side,
Moving around the jaw.
Lay on the feet to the floor as wide as the mat.
Knees are bent.
And you can even have the feet go wider.
So we want them at least outer hip width apart.
And then drop your knees side to side,
Windshield wipers.
And if you'd like to bring a gentle twist in through the neck,
Have your gaze go opposite of the knees.
Continue this,
Or hug the knees to the chest,
Holding around the shins or behind the thighs.
And if your glutes float off the ground here a little bit,
That's completely fine.
And then rock your body side to side.
So we still want to explore keeping the blanket underneath the back.
It can offer support if we're struggling with back pain,
Arthritis,
Or if we just need to give ourselves a little extra cushion,
A hug for the nervous system,
Per se.
And then come back to center.
And if the knees are drawn in,
Bring in some knee circles.
Or you can continue your windshield wipers.
Reverse direction.
And draw the knees to the chest and take a full body stretch.
Slide the legs long.
Reach the arms up overhead,
Extending through fingertips,
Toe tips.
Keep stretching.
Keep breathing.
And now keep the arms up overhead and stretch more through the right arm and the left leg so it feels like a diagonal opposite stretch.
And then switch left arm,
Right leg.
Stretch.
Keep breathing.
Once more,
We switch right arm,
Left leg.
And left arm,
Right leg.
And then stretch evenly through the limbs.
Breathe.
Sigh.
Move around the jaw.
You can stick out the tongue.
Draw circles with your hands,
With your feet.
You can wiggle toes and fingers.
And then slowly release the arms down alongside the body.
Readjust if you need to.
And then bend the knees,
Feet to the floor,
Hip point width apart so your thighs are relatively parallel to each other.
And draw only the right knee in towards the chest.
And then point and flex the right foot.
So again,
Notice my glutes here are completely off the blanket that's supporting the back.
Draw circles with your right foot.
Reverse direction.
And then pause here.
Now your left knee can stay bent.
You can drop the left knee open,
Maybe supporting with a block.
You can also extend the left leg all the way down.
Now bring your awareness back to the right knee,
The right leg.
Draw circles with the right knee around the hip.
You can use your hand to help or no hands.
Left hand can rest on the left hip point or out by the side with the palm up.
Reverse the direction of your knee circles.
And squeeze the knee in towards the chest.
Interlace your hands behind the right thigh.
Hamstring stretch,
One hand or no hands is also an option.
Keep your shoulders dropped down.
Inhale,
Extend up through the heel.
Exhale,
Bend the knee in towards the chest.
A few more.
And the next time the right leg is extended,
Keep it up.
And then point flex the foot.
Draw circles with it.
Reverse direction.
And now have the sole of the foot parallel to the ceiling to the best of your body's ability.
Keep pressing up through the sole of the foot.
Take both hands or one hand to the front of the right thigh and gently press into it as you continue to press up through the right heel,
Deepening the stretch in the back of the leg and going only to the edge where your breath can still meet the stretch,
Where the joints of the jaw are able to stay relaxed.
Muscles of the face are soft.
Keep the breath moving.
One more breath cycle.
And then hug the right knee to the chest,
Releasing the breath.
Half happy baby.
Right knee can drop towards the right armpit,
Staying here holding the outer edge of the thigh.
You can also hold the outer edge of the shin or the outer edge of the foot as long as you're not compromising your shoulder.
So finding the variation that feels good for you.
Tailbone stays anchored down.
And the breath is moving.
The inhale,
Navel floats up.
And the exhale,
Navel drops down.
About two to three more cycles of breath.
In your time,
Guide the right knee towards the chest.
Give it a squeeze.
Extend the left leg all the way down if you're not already there.
Setting up for a twist,
Land your right foot to the floor.
Press down through the right foot.
Scoot your hips to the right just a few inches.
And then land your right foot on top of the left thigh without weight-bearing.
Left hand to the right knee.
And slowly guide the leg across the body into your twist.
Bottom leg turns with you.
Hips stack.
Maybe the top foot lands to the floor.
And then your gaze can also go opposite of the knees.
Few more moments here.
Next inhale brings you back to center.
Right foot lands to the floor.
Readjust your hips to midline.
Hug only the right knee into the chest.
Maybe the forehead floats up towards the knee.
Whether or not they touch is fine.
And slowly release the head.
And then take a full body stretch.
This time interlace the fingers.
Roll the palms open away from the top of the head.
Pull the toes back.
Press out through the heels.
Keep stretching.
Keep breathing.
And with your next exhale,
Release the arms alongside the body.
Re-bend the knees.
Check in that your legs are about hip-point-width apart.
Glutes are on the floor.
Back is supported by the blanket.
It's okay if the low back doesn't touch the blanket.
It's just depending on your body.
And then hug the left knee in towards the chest.
Point,
Flex the left foot.
Draw a few circles with it.
Reverse direction.
Then keep the left knee bent in towards the body.
Right leg can stay as it is.
You can drop the right knee open into Half Butterfly.
Support with a block.
Or extend the right leg all the way down.
Awareness returns to the left leg with one hand or no hands.
Draw really big circles with the left knee around the hip.
So we get into the hip joint.
Reverse direction.
And then guide the knee in towards the chest.
Hamstring stretch.
Both hands behind the thigh.
One hand or no hands.
Inhale,
Extend the leg up.
And exhale,
Bend the knee down.
A few more.
Muscles of the face stay soft.
Only working within a range of movement where the breath is accessible.
This is really important.
So this signals to the body that we're safe to move.
The nervous system can remain calm.
It helps us to release unneeded tension.
And next time that the leg is extended,
Keep it there.
Point,
Flex the foot.
Draw circles with it.
Reverse direction.
And then have the sole of the foot parallel to the ceiling.
Both hands or one hand to the front of the left thigh.
Gently press into the thigh as you pull the toes down towards their knee.
Keep pressing up through the heel.
Breath is happening on purpose.
Another breath.
Then we draw the left knee down towards the chest.
Half happy baby.
Take the variation on this side that works for this side.
It's okay if it's different.
Pelvis remains settled.
Tailbone is anchored down.
So we want to make sure that we're not rolling the pelvis in towards the front ribs.
So that's why I cue the tailbone anchored down.
Because that's the tendency.
Is that we tend to roll in.
And this way,
When the pelvis stays leveled,
Then the stretch moves into the leg.
Another breath.
And guide the knee towards the chest.
Give it a squeeze.
Extend the right leg down if you're not already there.
And then place the left foot to the floor.
Press down through it.
Scoot your hips to the left a few inches.
And then place the sole of the foot on top of the right thigh without weight bearing.
Right hand to the knee.
Left hand relaxes down.
And slowly guide the leg across the body.
Bottom leg turns with you so that the hips can stack.
Gaze can go opposite of the knees.
Keep the shoulders relaxed.
Muscles of the face soft.
Two more breaths.
Inhale brings you back to center.
Readjust the hips.
Hug the left knee to the chest.
Maybe the forehead towards the knee.
Full body stretch.
Slide the legs long.
Interlace the fingers.
Roll the palms open away from the top of the head.
Point and flex the feet.
Keep stretching.
Keep breathing.
As you release the arms by your sides,
Re-bend the knees.
Feet to the floor.
Your choice here.
Soles of the feet touch.
Knees drop open.
A little bit more yin style this time without the blocks unless you need them.
This is for a deeper stretch.
Or draw both knees to the chest.
And then dropping them away from each other,
Taking happy baby.
You can hold the outer edges of the thighs,
Shins,
Or feet.
Tailbone stays anchored down.
If your glutes float off the ground here a little bit because of the support underneath the back,
That's fine.
Just try to do your best to keep the pelvis from rolling in.
This again will help the stretch to move towards the legs.
Maybe pulling one knee down towards the floor and then the other by pulling on the leg.
You can also straighten one leg at a time.
About two more breaths.
When that feels complete for you,
We all meet with the knees drawn in towards the chest.
Land the feet to the floor.
Then have the legs hip-point-width apart.
Taking your palms to the thighs at the hip creases.
We want the base of the palms to land at the hip creases.
Then gently press the thigh bones away from you.
You're pressing horizontally.
Your hands are sliding parallel to the floor.
That's the effort that's happening.
It's just enough to feel a little bit of lengthening in the back.
Again,
Being really mindful of your body's own safety stops.
Drop the ribs down.
Another breath.
Then release the arms down.
You can drop the knees side to side.
Hug the knees to the chest or take a full body stretch.
Move slowly.
Release the arms down.
Pause here for two breaths.
However the body lands,
Let the whole body drop.
Full breath in.
Maybe you sigh it out.
One more breath.
Stay here longer if you wish.
Otherwise,
Bend your knees.
Then roll onto your comfortable side.
Pause in the fetal position.
In your time,
Press yourself up through your side.
Make your way into table.
You might choose to have a blanket underneath the knees.
Maybe blocks go to the front two corners of your mat.
Your wrists underneath your shoulders.
Knees underneath your hips.
Tuck your toes under.
Inhale.
Tilt the tailbone up.
Heart reaches forward.
Gaze lifts.
Exhale.
Drop the tailbone.
Round the spine.
Relax the head.
A few more.
Bring yourself back to neutral.
Stretch the right leg out long behind you.
Calf stretch.
Keep the toes tucked under on the floor.
Inhale.
Then exhale.
Glide the hips back so you feel the stretch in the leg.
Keep the hips level to the floor.
Inhale.
Shoulders return over the wrists.
Exhale.
Press it back.
One more.
Shoulders return over the wrists.
Cross your right leg over midline to the left.
I'm working on the same side as you.
Look over your left shoulder.
Lift the right hip just a little bit.
One more breath.
Extend the right leg long behind you.
Release the right knee down.
Press back for a second to release the wrists.
Then bring yourself back into table.
Other side.
Left leg extends back.
Level the hips.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Press back.
Two more.
Shoulders over the wrists.
Cross the leg over midline to the right.
Look over the right shoulder.
Extend the leg behind you.
Return to table.
Press back again for a moment to release the wrists.
Bring yourself back up to table.
Widen the hands.
Bring the legs into touch at midline as close as the body allows.
Then drop your hips side to side.
You can untuck the toes.
Bring yourself back to center.
Child's pose.
Legs can stay touching or big toes touch.
Knees go out wide.
If you have the blanket under your legs,
You can have the back edge of the fold just underneath the ankles.
That can be really supportive,
Really nice.
Sit back to the heels.
Maybe a blanket between your hips and heels if you need that additional support.
Then slowly bring your forehead down to a blanket,
Block,
Or the floor.
Full deep breathing.
Another breath.
Bring yourself up to table.
Readjust wrists under shoulders.
Knees underneath the hips.
Toes can tuck back under if you need that extra stretch for the feet.
A twist here for the upper body.
Start to twist to the right and place your right hand on the right hip,
Opening up to the right.
Then bring your right arm out and up,
Going only as far as the body allows.
If you're here,
That's completely fine.
Keep the shoulder blade on the back.
Gaze can be down the direction the heart is facing or up towards the top hand.
Two more breaths.
Reaching out through the fingertips.
Exhale.
Release the right hand down.
Other side.
Start to twist to the left.
Left hand goes to the hip.
This ensures that we're twisting from the core,
From midline.
Then the arm reaches out.
This way,
More of the spine is involved,
Rather than twisting from periphery,
Rather than leading with the hand.
So we want the hand,
The arm to move last.
One more breath.
You've got this.
Exhale.
Releases you down to table.
Press back for a moment.
And again,
Child's Pose.
Another breath.
When you feel ready,
You'll press down through the hands.
Bring yourself up to table and then find your way into a comfortable position for the sound healing,
Taking any other stretches you need along the way.
So you can lay flat on your back.
You can lay the same way we started.
Another option here that I want to offer you is taking your blanket in this fold,
Folding it in half lengthwise,
Placing it long ways on the mat.
And then the back edge of it will be for underneath the head.
And same as we did earlier,
Your glutes are on the floor.
Maybe the other blanket lands underneath the knees.
And then you lay back on the support.
So glutes are on the ground.
Arms can open out.
And again,
Any other stretches,
Movements that you need,
Maybe you're taking butterfly,
You can support with blocks.
So take a moment to make any other shifts,
Adjustments that you need for your comfort.
And once you feel comfortable,
Take a full breath in.
Easy breath out.
Let go even more.
Awareness slowly comes back to the breath.
And the breath brings awareness back to the heart.
And awareness back to the body.
Only when you feel ready,
Wiggling toes and fingers,
Moving hands and feet.
Maybe rocking the head side to side.
Taking the stretches,
The movements that feel really good for you.
And if you're moving,
Eventually rolling onto your comfortable side and pausing in the fetal position.
And deepen the breath here.
When you feel ready with the eyes closed,
Bring yourself up to a comfortable seated position.
And maybe the palms float together at the heart space.
I invite you to join me in closing with a humming om.
Let's first inhale.
And inhale to hum.
Bowing head to heart,
Honoring yourself,
Each other,
And these teachings.
Jai Bhagwan.
Namaste.
