Today we're starting laying down on our back so you can have a blanket rolled up underneath the knees.
A blanket for underneath the head and then just have your blocks within reach.
I also like to kind of roll the bottom base of my blanket for underneath the neck.
If you have any favorite music you like to listen to,
You can put that on in the background.
And find your way.
Onto your back.
So you can see here This is how I land the neck roll.
And her arms can be.
By your sides,
Legs extended out,
Or in butterfly.
And once you're comfortable.
Eyes can close or take a soft gaze.
Breathe in fully.
And exhale with a deep sigh.
Let yourself settle in the space that you're in.
Let your physical self settle.
Any distractions that arise,
Do your best to allow them to float right through.
Giving yourself this space and time.
To practice.
To be with your breath,
To be present within your body,
With yourself.
Let gravity take over here.
Dropping the weight of your body to the earth.
And then feel your breath moving.
As you inhale,
The navel floats up.
When you exhale,
The navel drops down.
You can also always place your hands on your abdomen.
To feel your body,
Your abdomen move as you breathe.
Gently deepening the inhalations.
Lengthening the exhalations.
And I'll invite you here in the next few cycles of breath to bring in a word for your practice.
A word as your intention or maybe something that you're trying to weave in for your day or for your week.
Something that feels supportive.
Uplifting.
Breathe in this word.
The next time that you inhale,
Inhale all the way to the top to full pause.
Inhale more,
Hold full.
And then drop the mouth open,
Let the breath leave without pushing it out.
Just feel the breath go.
And the breath returns to moving in and out of the nose.
And you can remain here for as long as you need.
If you feel ready to move,
Start by wiggling the toes and the fingers.
Point and flex the feet.
Open and close the hands as if you're squeezing sponges.
Move around the jaw.
Draw circles with closed hands.
Draw circles with feet so you get into the wrists and the ankles.
Reverse direction.
And then rock the head side to side,
The other limbs can drop down,
Getting into the neck.
And relax the head at center and bring your pointer finger,
Middle finger,
Your peace fingers together and go to the joints of your jaw and massage there.
You can let the jaw relax.
Just getting into that place of connection,
Oftentimes where tension sits.
Can move the jaw around,
Up and down.
Open,
Close the mouth.
Another breath.
And then take your pointer finger and your thumb and clasp at the earlobe and gently pull down.
Another breath here.
And take a full body stretch,
Reach the arms up overhead,
Extend through fingertips,
Toe tips.
Make some noise here.
You can sigh,
Yawn,
Hum,
Clear the throat.
Then release the arms alongside the body.
Bend the knees.
Your feet can go to your supportive blanket.
You can also use your feet to move the blanket to the back edge of your mat and then bring the feet back down to the mat.
Have your feet land as wide as your mat,
At least wider than outer hip width.
Maybe arms go out wide depending on your shoulders and your space.
And drop the legs side to side,
Windshield wipers.
Your gaze can go opposite of the knees.
And then let's slow this down.
So when we inhale,
The gaze and the knees come through center.
And when we exhale,
The knees drop to the side.
Bring yourself back to center.
You can continue windshield wipers.
You can drop the knees in toward each other.
They may or may not touch.
Either is fine.
You can also hug the knees to the chest.
Now if you've hugged the knees to the chest,
Rock your body side to side.
Can bring in some knee circles,
Guiding them in the same direction or opposite of each other.
Reverse direction.
Hug the knees to the chest if that feels comfortable for you.
Maybe the forehead floats up towards the knees,
Curling into a ball.
And then full body stretch.
This time,
Slide the legs long.
Pull the toes back.
Interlace the fingers.
Palms press away from the top of the head.
Press out through the heels.
Keep the back of the heels touching down.
Press out through the palms.
Another breath.
And then clasp opposite elbows or forearms and curve your upper body to the right.
Notice my shoulders are still touching down to the floor.
And curve your legs to the right.
I'm working on the same side as you.
Hips stay touching down.
Then maybe stack your left ankle on top of the right ankle.
So we've curved the upper body and lower body to the right.
This is a side stretch for the spine and then taking this a little bit further for the outer hip,
The IT band,
Stacking the left ankle on top.
So two full breaths here.
In your time.
Return to center,
Unstacking the ankles,
Maybe changing how you're holding the elbows,
The other arm on top,
It might feel a little bit strange,
And now curve to the other side.
So hips and shoulders stay flat.
And then we breathe deeply.
Return to center.
Take a full body stretch,
This time star stretch.
Feet to the corners of the mat,
Arms to the corners of the mat,
Stretching in those opposite four corners,
Those directions.
Another breath.
Huh.
.
.
And then release the arms alongside the body.
Readjust the legs so that the knees bend.
Feet to the floor.
If you still have your blanket there,
Your feet can land on the blanket.
And hug only the right knee to the chest,
Holding around the shin or behind the thigh.
Point flex the right foot a little bit,
Draw a few circles.
Maybe you're using one hand or no hands.
And then hamstring stretch.
Now your other leg,
Your left leg can drop open,
Half butterfly.
It can stay as it is or extend all the way down.
Now with the right leg,
Inhale,
Extend up through the heel.
Exhale,
Bend the knee down.
And do this a few more times.
So every time that you straighten the leg to the best of your body's ability,
You're really pressing up through the heel.
Next time that the leg is straight,
Keep it there,
Point flex the foot.
Remember,
You can have both hands behind the thigh,
One hand or no hands.
Draw circles again with your right foot.
And then hug the knee into the chest,
Left knee comes back up to vertical center,
Figure four,
Right ankle to the left thigh.
And then we breathe here.
Maybe interlacing your hands behind the left thigh or around the left shin.
So we find the edge of the stretch where we can meet it with the breath.
And taking note of the word that you're bringing into your practice and how it's showing up for you in your practice,
Right?
So for example,
If your word is kindness,
It's not just about how we're kind to others,
Right?
It's are you being kind to yourself?
Are you honoring where you're at today?
And now slowly stack the right knee on top of the left knee.
Scoot your hips to the right.
And then drop your knees to the left.
You can always use a block here to bring the floor closer to you.
Gays can go opposite of the knees.
Couple breaths here.
Next inhale brings you up to center.
Exhale to unwind.
Both feet plant to the floor.
Knees are bent.
Take a breath.
And now hug only the left knee to the chest.
In a way that feels comfortable for this side,
It's okay if it's different from the other side.
Draw circles with the left foot.
You can point flex.
And then hamstring stretch.
Inhale,
Extend up through the heel.
Exhale,
Bend the knee.
Every time the leg extends,
It's an inhale.
When the knee bends,
It's an exhale.
Now the next time that the leg is straight,
As much as the body allows.
Point and flex the foot.
Draw circles with it.
And then hug the knee to the chest.
Now if the right knee is not already to vertical center,
Readjust the leg and then take your figure four.
Maybe interlacing the hands behind the right thigh or around the right shin.
Navel rises on the inhale.
It drops on the exhale.
Joints of the jaw relax.
Muscles of the face are soft.
Now stack your left knee on top of the right knee.
Scoot your hips to the left and drop your knees to the right.
Gaze can go opposite of the knees.
Remember,
We go to the edge where the breath is accessible.
And if it's not,
We ease off to where it is.
One more cycle.
Inhale floats you back up.
Exhale to unwind.
Plant both feet down.
Knees are bent.
Take a breath here.
Now for the next three to five breaths,
Your choice.
You can hug the knees to the chest.
You can take butterfly.
Or feet as wide as the mat and knees dropping toward each other.
Whether or not they touch doesn't matter.
So find the variation that feels good for you and then check in with the quality of your breath.
Full inhalations,
Navel floats up.
Complete exhalations,
Navel drops down.
Stay tethered to your breathing.
And in your time.
Full body stretch,
Any variation.
I can help to further release unneeded tension.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh And then release the arms by your sides,
Bend the knees,
Roll onto your comfortable side,
And pause in the fetal position.
Deepen your breath here.
And using the strength of your top arm,
Your core,
Press up through your side,
And then immediately bring yourself into table.
So you can use the blanket that was underneath the head for underneath the knees.
If you don't need the knee blanket that you had earlier,
That can go off to the side.
Now lay on your wrists underneath the shoulders.
Your knees underneath the hips and tuck your toes under.
When you're ready,
Inhale,
Tailbone tilts up,
Heart gaze lifts.
Exhale,
Drop the tailbone round the spine,
Relax the head.
Inhale,
Tailbone up,
Heart up.
Now we add something else here.
As you exhale,
Round through the whole back and press your hips to heels.
Good.
A few more.
Inhale.
Exhale,
Round and press back.
Good,
Keep going.
And the next time.
.
.
That you press back,
I'll invite you to stay there.
Keep the toes tucked under.
This is a stretch for the feet.
And breath continues to move on purpose.
Next inhale floats you up,
Table,
Keep the toes tucked under,
Extend the right leg long behind you,
Inhale.
Exhale,
Press back.
So we glide the hips back and we feel the stretch in the back of the leg.
Inhale,
Forward.
Exhale,
Back.
Shoulders return over the wrist,
Keep the toes tucked under,
Release the right knee down,
Left leg extends.
Inhale.
Exhale,
Press back.
Try to keep your hips level to the floor.
Got three more.
Shoulders return over the wrists,
Widen the hands.
You can untuck the toes.
And then drop your hips side to side.
If you have a blanket under the knees,
You might choose to.
.
.
Arrange it so that the back edge of the blanket lands underneath the ankles.
Continue this movement or walk the hands out in front of you.
Your body will find the distance.
Drop the hips forward.
Draw circles with your hips around the knees.
You can drop hip to wrist.
Any organic movement here.
If you're drawing circles,
Reverse direction.
And we find our way to Child's Pose.
Legs can stay touching,
Big toes touch,
Knees can go out wide.
And sit back to the heels.
If you need support for your knee joints,
The extra blanket can land behind the knees.
And slowly lower down.
So your lower body is sitting back,
Right?
So your hips are back and then forehead to the floor,
A blanket or a block.
Check in again on the quality of your breath.
The word that you're weaving in throughout your practice,
How it's showing up for you,
What it means for you.
How it feels.
Maybe it's shifted and changed and that's okay.
Other moment here.
In your time,
You'll press up out of child's pose.
And if you want to stay there longer,
Please stay.
Otherwise,
From table,
Find your way onto your seat.
I always like to sit with The blanket.
Completely up to you what feels better.
Have your blocks within reach just in case.
And then bring the soles of the feet together,
Butterfly.
Knees drop open.
Maybe your blocks go to the outer edges of your legs.
And your hands land at the base of the knees,
At the shins,
Or at the ankles,
Depending on how this feels for you and how you're seated.
Roll the shoulders up,
Back,
And down.
Let the knees drop down.
And full deep breathing.
I'm keeping butterfly with the legs.
You'll release the arms by your sides,
Roll the shoulders up,
Back,
And down.
And do this a few times.
Up,
Back,
And down.
Great,
And I'll stay here or hinge at the hips,
Walk the hands forward.
It can be on fingertips,
On blocks.
If you want more for the hips,
Press the soles of the feet together as the knees drop away.
Maybe swaying side to side.
Come back to center.
Inhale brings you up.
Exhale draw the knees together as if closing a book.
Extend the legs out.
Bounce the knees.
You can check out the arms.
Rock the legs side to side,
Open,
Close the hands.
And then from here,
We find our way to either a meditative seat for the sound healing,
Or you can find your way onto your back,
Maybe legs up the wall,
Depending on your space.
Now for.
Coming down onto your back.
You can also take your blanket.
And depending on your height you might need to go a little bit longer but you'll fold it in half lengthwise.
Place that behind you.
Sit on your mat.
Maybe the other blanket for underneath the knees.
And then recline back.
And the back edge of the blanket.
Rolls up underneath the head.
Or any other position that feels good for you.
Once you found what's comfortable,
Take a moment to land.
Close your eyes.
Take any other stretches that you need.
Once here.
Comfortable,
Take a full breath in.
Audibly let it go.
Release all effort.
Let the breath move through the nose.
Allow yourself to rest here.
You you Awareness slowly comes back to the breath.
Into the body.
Gently deepening the breath and bringing in gentle movements,
Wiggling toes and fingers,
Enjoying a slow awakening.
Moving in a way that feels really good for you.
Only when you feel ready,
Rolling onto your comfortable side.
Pausing in the fetal position,
Deepening the breath here.
Bringing back with you the word that you've weaved in throughout your practice.
Keeping that in your awareness.
And slowly pressing yourself up to seated.
If you're not already there,
The eyes can stay closed.
We bring the palms together at the heart space.
I invite you to join me in closing with a humming OM.
Let's first inhale.
Side out.
Inhale to hum.
Bowing head to heart,
Honoring yourself.
Each other.
These teachings.
Jai Bhagwan.
Namaste.
