Breathe in fully.
And exhale with a deep sigh.
Feel yourself settle in the space that you're in.
If there are any current distractions or any that arise.
Do your best to allow them to float through.
Let them kind of fall into the background.
Feel yourself settle into your physical body evenly weighted across the sitting bones.
From their support.
Extending out through the crown of the head.
Holding this posture,
Soften the edges,
Soften the skin.
Soften at the joints of the jaw.
The base of the neck.
And the thighs.
And feel yourself breathing.
On the inhale the navel drops forward.
And on the exhale,
The navel gently pulls back.
Gently deepening the breath now so the next inhale the navel drops forward the breath builds into the ribs maybe the chest And as you exhale the chest,
Ribs,
Navel,
Gently draw in.
Few more cycles.
And the next time that you inhale.
Gently suspend the breath at the top.
And then drop the mouth open,
Let the breath leave.
And the breath returns to moving in and out of the nose.
You can remain here in the seated meditation for as long as you need.
If you feel ready to move start to wiggle the fingers.
Open,
Close the hands a few times as if you're squeezing sponges.
This is really active on the hands with the hands.
And then float them up off the lap.
Make light fists and draw circles with your closed hands.
In the reverse direction.
Release the arms heavy by your sides,
Shoulder rolls,
Float the shoulders up,
Exhale them back and down.
Two more.
And reverse direction,
Draw the shoulder blades toward each other,
Float them up,
Exhale forward down.
But one more.
Great.
Reverse once to reset.
Up,
Back,
And down.
And then bring the hands together at the heart space.
Interlace the fingers so the right thumb is on top.
Inhale.
Exhale,
Press the palms forward.
And then slide the shoulder blades away from each other,
Tuck the tailbone round the spine,
Drop the chin.
Try to keep the shoulders stacked over the hips.
Two breaths here.
Next inhale floats you up to a neutral spine shoulder blades draw toward each other palms touch bring the hands in towards the heart space release the arms heavy by your sides two shoulder shrugs squeeze them up Let him drop.
And one more.
And if you seated cross-legged,
Change the cross of your legs.
Readjust on your sitting bones if you've shifted or moved.
Sitting up tall,
Again,
Extending up through the crown of the head,
Shoulder rolls,
Float them up,
Exhale them back and down.
Now,
If you want to go a little bit further,
A little bit of a different variation,
Palms face up,
Fingertips to the shoulders,
And then draw the circles with the elbow point.
So we're still getting the movement in the shoulders.
About two more in that direction.
And then reverse.
One more.
Reverse once to reset.
Up,
Back,
And down.
If you're doing the variation with the elbows,
Elbows drop down towards the ribs.
We all release the arms heavy by our sides.
And then bring the hands together at the heart space.
I just imagine everyone's shoulders just dropping.
Interlace the fingers,
This time left thumb on top,
Press the palms forward,
Let the shoulder blades slide away from each other,
Tuck the tailbone round through the spine,
Drop the chin.
Another breath.
Shoulder blades slide toward one another.
Palms touch,
Release the hands towards the heart space and then by your sides.
Shoulder shrugs,
Squeeze them up as high as they go.
Let them drop.
And one more.
Wonderful extend the legs out in front of you bounce the knees for a moment you can make light fists again with the hands and bounce them on the thighs on the outer edges inner thighs glutes About two more breaths.
And then release the hands by your sides to the blanket floor or blocks point and flex the feet a lot as far as they go in each direction These are some of our everyday joint releases.
The body will thank you.
Just circles with your big toes.
Right,
So we're leading with the big toe so that we feel it in the ankles.
Reverse direction.
And then rock the legs side to side.
Now bring the legs in toward midline to touch or as close to touch as the body allows.
Imagine that there's a hinge between the inner side of the foot,
Between the big toe mount and the inner edge of the heel,
And then open close your feet as if you're opening and closing a book.
This is a side stretch on the ankles.
Couple more.
So if at any point there's discomfort in the knees,
You can either skip this,
Keep wiggling the toes or ease off to where you're not adding pain to the body.
One more.
It's OK to laugh at yourself as you figure this out if this is new.
And then widen the feet,
Bend the knees.
Feet go as wide as the outer edges of your hips are wider.
You can go as wide as your mat,
Depending on how that's orientated,
And then drop one knee in and down at a time.
One-legged windshield wipers.
About two more with each side.
When that feels complete either bringing yourself back into a cross-legged position with the ankle in front that you don't usually sit with in front or you can sit in a modified heroes pose taking a block or a folded blanket and then placing that between the ankles.
And then sitting down onto that block,
Right?
So from the back,
It looks like this and you can always stack two blankets,
Two blocks.
Blanket and a block,
Right?
So taking the variation,
Excuse me,
That works for you.
Sitting up tall.
Pause for a moment,
Check in with your breathing.
Then eagle arms bring the arms out wide letter t and then float the right arm out in front and i'm mirroring you left arm goes on top and then back to back hands,
Stacking the elbows,
You can go palms to shoulders,
Or from back to back hands,
You bind the hands.
Alright so palms touch.
Keep the breath moving.
And maybe.
.
.
If you're back to back hands or palm to palm.
Your fingertips start to point forwards.
Keep extending up through the crown of the head.
Now fingertips point up towards the ceiling.
If you're doing palms to shoulders,
Stay where you are.
For all of us doing our best to keep the elbows in line with the shoulders.
Full breath here.
Slowly drop the chin towards the chest.
Inhale the head back up to neutral exhale to slowly unwind the hands release them by your sides take a shoulder roll up back and down and then actively reach the arms behind you as if you're holding an imaginary beach ball between the palms keep reaching out through the fingertips reach that ball behind you lift the heart the gaze take a breath slowly release the arms down another shoulder roll up back and down and then other side the arms go out letter T this time your left arm goes underneath they're right on top Back to back hands,
Palm to palm.
Or you can do palms to shoulders.
Okay,
So find the variation that works for you.
One side might be totally different than the other.
Elbows as high up as possible in line with the shoulder.
So try not to pass the shoulders.
Remember,
We're not adding pain to the body.
So if you're finding it difficult to breathe.
If you're finding that there is an area where the body is saying stop,
Ease off to where you can breathe.
Now,
If you're in the variation where the fingertips are pointing up,
Start to reach them forward.
So forearms start to tilt forward.
Breathing into the stretch,
The sensation.
And fingertips point back up,
Take a breath.
Keep extending up through the crown of the head.
And then drop your chin to chest.
And then your chin comes up to neutral.
Slowly unwind the arms.
Release the arms by your sides.
Roll the shoulders up,
Back,
And down.
And then reach the arms behind you.
Again,
As if you're holding an imaginary beach ball,
Keep reaching out through the fingertips.
Lift the heart,
The gaze,
A gentle back bend with a full breath.
Release the arms by your sides,
Another shoulder roll,
Up,
Back,
And down.
Wonderful,
Taking a breath here.
And then transition to table.
You can put your blocks at the front two corners of your mat.
Maybe a blanket underneath the knee.
And landing your wrists relatively underneath the shoulders,
Landing your knees underneath the hips.
And then tuck your toes under to add a stretch for the feet.
Cat cows inhale tailbone reaches up heart gaze lift Exhale,
Drop the tailbone around the spine and drop the head.
Inhale tailbone up heart up gaze lifts Exhale,
Drop the tailbone,
Round through the spine,
Chin towards chest.
A few more.
And return to a neutral spine with your next inhale.
Release the breath here.
Calf stretch,
Extend the right leg long behind you,
Level the hips,
Inhale.
Exhale glide the hips back press the mat away from you so you feel the stretch in the back of the leg inhale shoulders over wrists Exhale,
Press it back.
And keep the leg extended,
Shoulders return over the wrist.
And then cross the right leg over midline to the other side.
And I am working on the same side as you right now.
Gaze over the left shoulder.
And with your next inhale,
Extend the right leg back behind you.
Lower the knee down.
Other side.
Left leg extends back.
Level the hips.
Inhale.
Exhale press them out away from you keep the hips leveled get the stretch in the leg Inhale,
Shoulders over wrists.
Exhale,
Press it back.
Your leg stays extended shoulders return over the wrist cross the leg over midline to the right look over the right shoulder Keep the breath moving.
And then leg returns behind you,
Lower the knee down.
Take a breath here and table.
Widen the hands,
Bring the legs into touch at midline as close as the body allows.
Untuck the toes and then drop your hips side to side.
Elbows can bend as needed,
Hands and knees stay connected to the floor.
Few more to each side.
Can let yourself linger one edge or another.
And when that feels complete for you,
Child's pose,
Legs can stay touching or big toes touch,
Knees go out wide.
If you have the blanket underneath the knees,
Back edge of the blanket under the ankles can feel really nice.
And then lowering your upper body down.
So you've sat back to the heels.
Extra blanket can always go behind the knees or between the hips and heels.
Forehead to the floor.
A blanket or a block.
Maybe a sigh of breath.
About one more breath.
Stay here longer if you need,
Otherwise inhale to press yourself up,
Exhale at table.
And find your way onto your back.
Can have a blanket underneath your head.
Keep your blocks within reach just in case.
As always,
You'll see me take the bottom edge of the blanket and roll it in underneath my neck.
I find that to be nice little added support.
The knees are bent,
Feet to the mat,
Arms can go by your sides,
Letter T,
Letter W,
Or cactus with the palms facing up,
Back of the hands to the floor or some type of support,
Just depending on your shoulders and your space.
And widen the feet,
Windshield wipers,
Drop them side to side.
If you ever need the floor closer to you,
Or if you need to support your body stopping a little further away from the floor,
You can always put blocks on the outer edges for the legs.
Continue this or hug the knees to the chest.
And if the knees are drawn in,
Maybe rocking the body side to side.
Continue windshield wipers if that's where it feels best for you.
Otherwise,
If the knees are drawn in,
Draw knee circles.
So using your hands on the knees.
To draw circles with the knees around the hips.
So feet are relaxed.
Knees stay bent.
So we get this movement in the hip joints.
This direction.
Reverse.
Right.
So for this variation,
I have the knees moving opposite of each other.
They're marrying each other.
About two more.
And then hug the knees to the chest and full body stretch.
Slide the legs long,
Reach the arms up overhead,
Interlace the fingers,
Palms open away from the top of the head,
Pull the toes back,
Press out through the heels,
Keep the back of the heels touching down to the ground.
And stretch,
Breathe and stretch.
And release the arms by your sides,
Re-bend the knees,
Feet to the floor,
Setting up for a twist.
So option one is just keeping the knees bent as they are.
Option two is taking your right knee,
Stacking it on top of the left knee.
I'm working on the same side as you.
For either variation,
You'll scoot your hips to the right,
Drop your knees to the left.
And then gaze can go opposite of the knees.
Again,
If you need the floor closer to you,
Place a blanket or a block underneath the knees.
A couple more moments here.
And your next inhale brings you up to center.
Exhale to unwind.
Take a breath at midline.
And then other side,
So if you're stacking,
This time left knee goes on top.
We all scoot our hips to the left,
Knees drop to the right,
And gaze can go opposite of the knees.
Two more breaths.
Next inhale brings you up to center.
Exhale to unwind.
Take a breath here.
And then take any other stretches that you need.
And settle down for a little bit of rest some integration So you can put a blanket underneath your knees.
You can rest on your side or sit in meditation.
So once you're settled,
Take a full breath in.
Side to let go.
Awareness comes back to the breath And as the breath deepens,
Awareness comes back to the body.
And your time bringing in gentle movement.
Enjoy a slow awakening.
Eventually Finding your way to a comfortable seated position and only when you feel ready.
The eyes can stay closed.
We'll float the palms together at the heart space.
And I invite you here to join me.
And closing with a humming OM.
Let's first inhale.
Side out.
And inhale to hum.
Bowing head to heart.
Honoring yourself.
Each other.
This practice.
Chai Bakwan.
Namaste.
