Upper Body Mobility Hatha Yoga Full Hour Class

Join this gentle Hatha Yoga practice designed to help you loosen and mobilise your arms, neck, and shoulders. This session is suitable for beginners and all levels of experience. You will need a block for sitting comfortably. Please remember to listen to your body and work at your own pace throughout the practice, enjoying the physical release and relaxation.

Transcript

Welcome to today's session we're going to start laying down so let's find ourselves into a nice comfortable supine position And maybe closing your eyes, Perhaps noticing if we would like our knees bent or our legs outstretched, Whatever feels nicest for us today. Let's start to let everything start to settle down. Just getting that sense of everything resting. Down onto the earth. So let's start to allow for a little bit more awareness to come to our breath. To help us settle. Just let in the inhale, Draw in. And allowing the exhale to just gently leave. Inhale, Drawing in. Exhale. Softly leaving. And as we allow for the breath to draw in. Maybe letting that breath make a little bit of space anywhere we feel we want that space on the exhale. Feeling that sense of ease that sense of softness as we release any tension or anything that we want to release and let go of. For the next hour of our practice. Maybe just rest in your awareness with that breath. Allowing the breath to draw in, Perhaps following the path of the breath as it draws in. And following that path as it reverses out on your exhale. Perhaps focusing on the rise and fall at the front of the body, That area just above our belly button, Our solar plexus, As we inhale the rise. As we exhale, Feel it sinking back. Maybe noticing the pace of our breath. Perhaps noticing the depth of our breath. And now with your next exhale. Let's allow for that breath to come all the way down to our feet. We're just going to check in with different parts of the body. Notice how they're feeling right now. So let's bring that awareness to our feet and our ankles, Up the one leg. Shins and calves past the knees and the thighs up to the pelvis and the hips. Scanning all the way up the waist. Up to the chest and the back. And then let's take the awareness down to our hands and gently move the awareness up our hands to our wrists, Forearms, Elbows, Tops the arms. And let's bring that awareness to our upper back and our upper chest. Up to our shoulders, Our neck. Lower jaw and back of the head and take that awareness like a little Scan all the way up to the very top of the head, Past the ears, Past the features of the face, Past the back of the head, All the way to the crown of the head, Right at the top. And then just allowing the exhale to let everything. . . Just relax any effort. So the mind relaxing effort, Letting go of that mental journey up the body. Allowing your breath to be completely natural. Just feeling that sense of ease in the body. Then. . . When you feel ready, Just let in. Awareness come back to the body. If legs are outstretched, You may want to bend the knees. I'm going to invite you to keep eyes closed here maybe. Going to tuck chin towards the chest and start our gentle movement arms by the sides of the body. And we're going to allow our head to gently roll to one side doesn't matter which side on our exhale keeping those shoulders nice and relaxed inhale bring and head to neutral And on the next exhale, Taking the head over to the other side. Inhale, Head back to neutral. We're going to work nice and slowly we don't have to hurry with this one exhales and inhales Exhale as the head turns, Keeping that chin tucked towards the chest a little. As we roll the head, You get that sense of. . . A little bit of a massage into the back of the head as well as movement into the neck. I'm going one more time each side As we exhale and inhale. Taking it over to the other side. So we exhale. Inhale and then. With our next exhale, We're going to go to the first side, But we're just going to pause there. Take a few breaths. With each exhale, Can we soften those shoulders down a little? Really nice. And then on our next inhale, Let's take head to neutral. Keeping that chin tucked. Exhale, Let's take it over to the other side. Just pause in here. Now in breath to flow. And then on that inhale, Gently fly it in that head, Back up. To neutral lovely stuff so from here let's work just a little bit into the back of the body so we're working down the spine let's draw knees into the chest we can hug knees around the shins or between calves and thighs keeping that sense of a length through the spine and taking a little rock from side to side so we're just kind of easing in just massaging in a little And if you like, You can let your head be in line with the rest of the spine. Or you might want to keep your gaze and your head skywards. So we're bringing just a little bit of rotation into that neck to see what feels best for you. And then directing breath towards the back of the body. If there's any way you want a little bit of expansion, Let that happen. When we're ready. Coming back. To the neutral place so from here let's allow arms to sorry arms legs to come down onto the earth so those feet down knees are going to stay bent so from here we're going to work into shoulders a little and when we take this movement we're going to make sure our shoulders stay nicely down onto the earth and we're going to draw solar plexus back so we're not going to really arch into that kind of mid back area so when you're ready let's bring the arms face the earth so with palms down On the inhale, Allow both arms to lift up so fingertips are pointing towards the sky. And then relax shoulders down. Lovely. On our next exhale, Let's allow arms to reach overhead. Maybe they rest down onto the earth above. Really nice. Inhale, Arms back, So fingers are towards the sky. Exhale, Arms down by the sides of the body. Okay so then take a few more of these so let's work with our inhale fingers to sky Exhale, Arms overhead, Keeping those shoulders nice and relaxed. Inhale, Fingers back up to sky. Exhale, Palms down to the earth. Let's work three more times in your own. Ice of breath. So we're not going to hurry through. This is working quite mindfully. Just working with a little bit of shoulder. Mobility and range of movements. But also, Because we're working against gravity, A little bit of strength work too. So when we're working slowly, We are resisting gravity, So we're working with our body weight here. Really good. So I think. We maybe have two more to go. If we haven't, Excuse me, Because I've lost count. Just a little reminder. As fingertips come towards the sky, We inhale. As hands come down, We exhale. I'm gonna take one more. And just allow for the arms to rest down. And from here, We're going to take a little bit of a twist. So let's allow for arms to come out into a big T shape each side. And then we're going to bring our palms together, Fingertips towards the sky. So we're making like a little steeple shape above the chest. Fingers can spread out if that feels good. So we're going to start by just taking a little rocking movement here. So we can interlace hands, Point first finger up if that feels nice or interlace the fingers even. As we take a little twist into the body, Pointing towards one side. Inhale, Back to center. Exhale, Let's take it over to the other side. So it's just a kind of gentle little movement. And if this feels good, You might want to allow your knees to start to move in the opposite direction to your arms. So we're bringing ourselves into a little bit of a dynamic twist. Really nice. It reminds me of one of those kind of desk toys that people used to have in the 80s. I don't know which one, Not the Newton's Cradle, But something kind of that had the motion that went in two different directions. Really nice, That perpetual motion kind of feeling. Very good. Let's take a couple more. And then when we've worked equally, Let's come back to neutral. And allow those arms to just relax. Down and maybe have a little wiggle between the shoulder blades feeling those shoulder blades just kind of or down onto the earth so from here we're going to work into ankles a little so i'm going to invite you to allow one leg to raise up towards the sky we can keep that knee soft and let's circle into that ankle Just move in so we get that sense of. . . Ankle just getting a little bit of a stretch Lovely. And then. . . And we work both directions. We're going to push heel up towards the sky and lengthen our leg as much as feels comfortable. So we're stretching into that hamstring a little. Release. And then we're going to stretch again Release. Stretch again. And then release and let's bend the knee bring that foot down onto the earth and take the other side so drawing the other knee into the chest extending the leg towards the ache keep a soft knee at this point let's move our ankle oh my ankle's really loud today clean if that feels comfortable. Change in direction. Lovely. And then maybe allowing for that leg to lengthen, Pushing heel up to the sky. So flex foot, Stretch through hamstring. Release. Pushing up, Stretching. Release. Let's go one more push and up stretch. And then let's release, Bend the knee, Foot down to the earth. I almost said the elbow then. So from here, Let's give ourselves a nice big hug. So let's allow one arm to come on top of the other, Maybe reach around for our shoulder blades. Feeling that space between the shoulder blades and perhaps having a little rock from side to side with that top of the body. And then coming back to center. Let's swap arms. The other arm is on top. And then let's take that similar movement. Maybe have a little rock with that top body from side to side to see how it feels. Excuse me, That sneeze was coming for a long time then. And then coming back to neutral, Let's allow arms to rest down by the sides of the body. So from here, We're going to come up to a seated position. Now, I'm going to invite you to either rock head to tailbone up and down, Or you can roll to one side with knees bent to find yourself up to seated. Whatever feels good for you. Edge of that block from here we're going to work a little bit more into our neck area so let's start off by getting that length up through the spine so a little bit of engagement in our solar plexus and let's relax our shoulders down so we've got that sense of everything just feeling a little looser in the shoulders From here, We're going to imagine that someone has a custard pie and then we're going to push it in our face. So we draw chin back and then let's drop chin down towards the earth and relax in shoulders at the same time. So let's take a few breaths here. Hands can rest wherever they feel comfortable. And let's see if we can just allow for that sense of length through the back of the neck. Nice inhales and exhales, Keeping those shoulders soft. Lovely. With our next exhale, We're going to allow for our right ear to gently come towards our right shoulder by rolling that head a little to the right. And when we get to the point that feels comfortable or is a nice stretch, Just pause in there. And we're not going to push too far. We're just going to. . . Stay where it feels quiet. Pleasant. But if you want a little bit more stretch, Maybe bringing the left hand down to the earth and just gently walking those fingertips away just a little way. We're going to keep fingertips on the earth. We're not going to float them. This might intensify the stretch if it feels too much. We can just walk those fingertips back in. Let's take another couple of breaths here. Still feeling that length up through the spine so we're not allowing ourselves to collapse. Beautiful, Really nice. And then gently walking fingertips in if we chose to walk them out. And then we're going to roll that head back, Chin towards chest. Okay, Neck might feel different one side to the other. Let's even out. So allowing head to roll so the left ear is towards the left shoulder. Pause in. Going to force anything just allow the shoulders to soften inhales and exhales This is one where I find my eyes automatically close when I do it, So I can really kind of lean in into that sense of stretch. And then if it feels good, Allowing right fingertips to come to the earth. Perhaps just gently walk in those fingertips out to the right. See where you get to. If it feels too much, We can always bring them back in. It's all about moderating between. Nice and the edge of knife. And then over that edge of nice. Take another breath. Really nice. And then gently walking those fingertips back in. Allowing chin to drop down to the chest. Wants more. So from here using your hand we're going to help our head up to neutral. And we're going to get some length through the back of the neck and the front of the neck this time. So you know the fairground, The kind of grabbers. We're going to imagine someone's grabbed kind of the front of our head and is lifting us up a little. So when we're ready, Keep that length up through the spine. Allow chin to lift a little bit. Keep length through the back of the neck too. Almost feel like someone's lifting you. By the head so you get that sense of elongation. You can look up if it feels comfortable in the neck, In the eyes. Let's take another breath here. Really nice. And then on the exhale, Bringing head back to neutral. So from here, We're going to take a little bit of movement into shoulders. So let's allow shoulders to relax down. On the inhale, Shoulders are going to come forwards and up. Exhale back and down. Really nice. Two more inhale forwards and up exhale back and down One more. Really good and then just allow for shoulders to relax down and we're going to change across the legs. Now, From here, We're going to take a little bit of a lateral movement, But we're also going to work into that shoulder mobility. So we're working spine and shoulder at the same time. So let's allow length through the spine. On the exhale, We're going to allow left hand to come down towards the earth and take a little lean towards the left, But we're going to root down through that sitting bone on the right. Lovely. From here, Allow for right arm to sweep down. Up to the right, Overhead to the left and back down. Really nice. So from my point of view, I'm doing anti-clockwise circles. Lovely. Thinking about the arm reaching up on the inhale. That arm coming down on the exhale. And we're really thinking about that range of motion of the shoulder. When we take this movement lovely next time we reach to the sky we're going to reverse that movement this time By your point of view, Going clockwise. It might feel different. Movement isn't always the same in both directions. Lovely. And then when we're ready, Next time we reach the ceiling, Reaching arm up. I can imagine someone's lifting us, Pulling us up to neutral. Arm floats down. Lovely so let's take the other way other leg in front Length through the spine. This time, Right hand comes down. That's the one. Left arm sweeps. In a clockwise direction. Really nice. As you look at it. That's it. So we're going left up, Right down. Really, Really nice. Stay with that breath. And again, One shoulder might feel different to the other. It's kind of noticing maybe. There's any areas that. . . Aren't quite as mobile, Doesn't really matter, But it's always quite nice to just check in. And then next time arm reaches the sky, Let's change direction. This time we're going left down, Right up. Really nice. An anticlockwise circle. It's almost like drawing a big sunshine. And then next time that arm comes up to the sky, Reaching up. Lift in. And then lay our arm. Two float down, And we can take a little jiggle, A little wiggle. Lovely. So if we want to change across the legs for a preferred way, We can. Never remember which way is my preferred way sometimes. So from here, We're going to work with a little bit of cat-cow. Now I'm going to invite you to kind of get arms involved. You might want to give yourself a hug or as if you're diving or just kind of sweep forwards and backwards, Whatever feels good. So when we're ready, Let's inhale, Rocking onto the front of the sitting bones, Chest and tummy come out, Shoulders relax, Maybe chin lifts, Maybe arms come back. Exhale, Slouching down, Rocking onto the back of the sitting bones. Maybe give yourself a hug. Shoulders nice and soft, Belly button draws back. Let's keep working with that breath. Inhale, Length through the front of the body. Exhale, Length through the back of the body. So stay with those breaths. Nice inhales. And exhale. It's important to remember that when we are working into the spine, Sometimes what happens in the neck and the upper back, Can affect what's going on in our sort of lower back. Remember when I had a back injury a while ago, The last sensation that used to tweak the nerves in my lower back was when I bent my head down. So it was something in my neck just saying, Oh, Hello, All those nerves twinging in the lower back. So it's always good to get a little bit of everywhere moving. Lovely, Because everywhere is linked in our bodies. Really nice. Let's take our next exhale when you're ready. And then inhale coming up to neutral. Maybe take a little roll back. Into our shoulders really nice so from here we're going to take one more arm movement and this is going to be an interlacing arms behind the back but in order to do it we're going to take our hands in a particular way so if you're happy to i'm going to invite you to come to kneeling that can sometimes be quite a nice way to practice this if kneeling isn't for you can sit however is comfortable So when we interlace hands behind the back, Sometimes what happens is shoulders come up towards our ears. So we don't want to take that shoulders up towards the ears. And hand position can really change this. So let's allow palms to come together in front of the body. We're going to inhale and take our arms out and start to take the arms behind. And notice what happens with shoulders. Sometimes they want to come up. What we're going to then do is we're going to turn our palms to face each other behind our back. So move from the shoulders rather than just the wrist. Notice shoulders come down let's then interlace our hands so we're going to pull those knuckles towards the earth if that feels good you might have hands clasped you might bring palms together you might be holding onto elbows doesn't matter where we get to but what i'd like you to do is i'd like you to draw back this area here just our solar plexus so we are thinking more about the upper back than going into the lower back with that Let's take another breath here. Nice inhale and exhale. And then let's gently release those arms down and maybe have a little shake out. Okay. Are we all right? Are we doing okay? So from here, Let's find our way up to standing. Don't mind how you get there, But we're going to meet in Tadasana. Let's allow feet to root down. We can have feet hip width apart if that feels good. Find your focal point, Find your dress D, That thing that isn't moving that we can just softly focus on. And let's take a few breaths here. So maybe rolling shoulders back if that feels good. Just letting arms be nice and soft. We don't want to take too much engagement there today. But let's engage solar plexus so we feel that sense of length up through the spine. On the inhale, Can we imagine the breath coming from our feet all the way up to the top of our head, Feeling that length through each of our vertebrae, Especially the ones in the neck. Exhale, Taking them down. That breath all the way to the feet feeling grounded. Take another nice inhale. Moving up the body. Exhale. Feeling it come down. Another two breaths here. Maybe closing the eyes if balance feels good. Really nice. And then gently opening the eyes if we chose to close them. And we're going to allow arms to relax down. So from here we're going to soften knees just a little. So the plexus engages. I'm going to work for some more shoulder mobility. This time we're going to take a little bit of backstroke. So when we're ready, Let's allow one arm to float up. Bring it back. Might not come all the way back. That's absolutely fine. Inhale, Floating up the other arm, Backstroke with the other one. Now because our arms aren't held on internally with elastic, What you may find is a little twist in the shoulder as we bring that arm back. And that's okay, Just as long as we are getting a nice lot of movement. So we're really exploring the range of movement of that shoulder. So it's all different. Ways that shoulders look when we look in x-rays some people have a very long bone that looks like a shoulder pad that comes down over the top of the shoulder and that can sometimes mean that mobility going in certain directions isn't as easy as someone who has a shorter bone there so we are all very different this is why mobility in different areas of our body will be different so if any of these feel a little bit strange don't worry about it it's just the way that we are built Let's take our last movement with that second side. And then maybe take a little jiggle through arms, Shake it. Really nice. From here, We're going to work into some warrior one and then we're going to come to pyramid but we're going to take our really nice arm um kind of behind the back that we took before so let's stand with feet let's go with hip width apart so we get a nice grounding through the feet and we can balance Bringing our right foot back. Now, Keeping on train tracks with those feet. And let's even wait out between front foot and back foot. Hands come to hips and allow the hips to face the front. Okay. You might feel a little bit of stretch into our hamstring. That's why we had a little stretch beforehand. Engage in solar plexus so we feel like we're lifting out those hips too. Let's take a bend into the front knee, Coming no further than our ankle. So we're already set up in our warrior one. Legs from here let's bring palms together then we're going to bring palms away allow them to come away a little then pause palms forward shoulders drop down and then turn them back once more interlace those fingers drawing those knuckles down towards the earth so this brings us into a little bit of a backbend now traditionally warrior one is a little bit of a backbend we can engage solar plexus to take that backbend into the upper back a little bit more and maybe squeeze in those shoulder blades together so we feel that real sense of space from shoulder to shoulder across the front of the chest Lovely. Now from here, We're going to release that little bit of a back bend. So really engage solar plexus. Lengthen through the front leg. And we're going to come into pyramid. Now we don't have to come too far down, But when we're ready, Start hinging forwards with that straight front leg. We can take a tiny bend if we need to, Just until you get to the point where your hamstring is saying to you, Hello, What are you doing? So just pause in there. Let's take another couple of breaths, Reaching those knuckles away. So we get that length through the spine. Beautiful really nice and then on the exhale let's bend that front knee releasing arms finding our way up To neutral. Okay. Lovely work. Let's step forwards. Working the other side. So when we're ready, Stepping back with left leg. Again, On train tracks, Let's set up equal weight between both legs. Solar plexus engaged, Hips forwards. Bending the front knee no further than the ankle. And then we're going to start with palms together. Allow those arms to come backwards. And then when their back was enough and shoulders relaxed, Turning palms towards each other, Let them carry on. Interlacing hands, Knuckles down towards the earth. Now, If it feels good, We can lift up, Squeeze, Shoulder blades together. Really nice. That little warrior one back bend. Let's keep breathing. Lovely inhale. Shoulders relaxed down. And then when we're ready, Releasing that back bend, So solar plexus draws in, Lengthening through the front leg. We're going to find that space between tailbone and crown of the head. On the exhale, Hinging from the hips, Coming into our pyramid. And once again, We don't have to come very far. Pulling those knuckles away from the head and length from tailbone to the top of the head. Nice stretch into those hamstrings. We're not going to take it too far, Though. Let's take another breath here. Really nice, One more breath. And then let's gently bend the front knee. Hinging back up as release arms. And let's step forward so we can take a little shake out into everywhere that we might need to. So from here, We're going to work into a half sun salutation. We're going to take two of these. And normally when we come down, We take hands through the center line of the body. This time we're going to do a big sweep down and a big sweep up. So see how it feels for you today. So let's root those feet down, Starting by finding Tadasana. Little solar plexus engagement. To the hearts of the awfully stars. Inhale, Reaching up. Soft elbows, Soft knees. We're going to allow solar plexus to engage on the exhale, Sweeping the arms out as we hinge all the way down. If that's comfortable, You can go halfway if it feels better. Inhale, Halfway up. Maybe hands come to the sides. Find length between tailbone, Crown of the head. Exhale, All the way down if that feels good. And then on our inhale, We're going to push up, Sweeping arms out to the sides, Really allowing ourselves to push towards the sky. Palms come to touch, Hands to the heart. Let's take one more. Inhale, Reach up. Soft knees, Solar plexus engaged, Sweeping out with the arms as we come all the way back down. Inhale halfway up Soft knee still. Exhale all the way down. And then sweeping the arms out and up as we come back. Palms come to top. Exhale. And float down to the heart. Let's pause here for a moment. Shoulders. Soften down. Really nice. And then when we're ready, Let's release our arms. And again, We can have a little jiggle out. If that feels nice. From here, We're going to find our way into a seated position. I'm going to invite you to come to kneeling if that feels comfortable, Or you can come to any other seated position that suits you. So we've done a lot of across the front of the chest movement. This time we're going to take a little bit of space between our shoulder blades movements. Now we have two or three options here. We're going to take eagle arms. Where we cross one elbow underneath the other and then we kind of hook in. Now, First off, A hug like we did before. My shoulder's not happy with that. Like we did before is one of the options. Second is bringing the backs of the hands and the backs of the forearms together. Third, If you can, Maybe the fingers come into the top palm. See what works for you. So not everybody is built in a way that allows arm length it's to do with chest sizes or shoulders width all sorts of different variables there but hugging works for the majority of people if that doesn't work so let's allow solar plexus to engage let's let arms to come out shoulders relaxed out right arm comes underneath the left and either take that hug or find out eagle arms shoulders relax down here I'm going to invite you to draw solar plexus back so we're not arching through that chest. And on the inhale, Can we inhale so that we are expanding between the shoulder blades, Maybe feeling that sense of our clothing stretching as we take our inhales. Really nice. Exhale, Perhaps little release. And then on our next exhale i'm going to invite you to just hinge forwards So we're going into a little bit of a forward bend and maybe the arms just hang down and you might feel the weight of those arms drawing the shoulder blades. Little bit further apart so you're making even more space into the back of the body perhaps breathing into that space really feeling the expansion. And then gently allowing arms to release. We can press fingertips or hands onto the earth. As we inhale, Allowing yourself to hinge up, Maybe bringing hands to thighs to take the rest of that hinge in. Then maybe roll shoulders back. Okay. So we're going to work the other side. If you want to change position at any point, Then please do. So again, Solar plexus engages, Arms out. This time, Left arm comes underneath the right, Taking our hug or finding our eagle arms. Shoulders relax down. And again, Drawing solar plexus back. You may want to take that awareness to the area between your shoulder blades again. Inhale, Feeling that expansion. Exhale, Maybe that softness. Let's go with a few more breaths here. Inhales X. And then on our next exhale, If it feels good, Hinging forwards, Allowing those arms to kind of hang. Shoulder soften. Then maybe breathing into the area between the shoulder blades where you might feel that expansion. And then on the exhale, Releasing those arms. Hands to the earth. Just helping yourself hinge up. Maybe hands onto thighs to hinge up for the last bit. And then let's roll shoulders back, Maybe have a little jiggle into the arms. So from here, We're going to lengthen our legs out. And we're going to sit with legs in a little bit of a V shape. I'm going to be slightly off center just so that I can take the movement I need to here. So I might have to swap over. Let's make sure sitting bones are down. If you want to, You can lengthen through the hamstrings by pushing heels away. But we can have soft knees otherwise. We're going to bring ourselves into a little bit of a twist here. So when we're ready, Let's inhale coming up through the crown of the head. Twist so that the chest is pointing towards our right leg and then maybe our left arm comes over and holds on to the side of that thigh the other arm we're going to allow palm to face forwards take it behind the body turn it round and then maybe take the arm behind the back so that same movement that we took when we were taking our clasped hands so you might feel that shoulder quite Inhale up through the crown of the head. Exhale, Maybe there's a little bit more twist to happen. Take another couple of breaths. Inhale Exhale. Inhale long through the spine. Exhale. And then release now back on. Coming back. To neutral. Okay, It's going to work the other side. Let's just adjust where I am. So when we're ready, Lengthen up through the crown of the head. This time, Chest turns towards our left leg. Maybe that right arm comes onto the outside of that left leg. We're going to allow our left arm to come out to the side, Palm facing forward. Take it back as far as feels good. Turn palm back, Taking that hand behind the back, Palm facing out. And once again, Let's inhale, Length up through the crown of the head. Exhale, Shoulders soften down. Another couple of breaths here, Finding the length on the inhale. Exhale, Find that softness. One more breath. Lovely. Then unwrapping the arm, Inhaling, Coming back to neutral. If you feel like you want to just a little derotation over to the right, Please do. And then coming back to center. Okay. So from here, I'm going to invite you to come to a supine position. We're going to take just a couple of poses before Shavasana. But if you want to pop on any extra layers, Now is a great time to do that. I'm going to pop my socks back on. So when we come down, Having anything like blankets and things near you, It's a good time to adjust a playlist, Adjust lighting if you like to have that differently for Shavasana. But when we come down, Let's allow for space between the shoulder blades so i'm going to invite you to bring fingertips up towards this guy and have a little wiggle kind of work into that area Maybe lifting our own head up with our hands and then gently placing it back down with chin tucked towards the chest. So we find that length through the back of the neck. And you might want to really draw back solar plexus and that kind of upper back to get that sense of really pushing down onto the earth for a moment. So we get that real kind of support feeling. Then let's allow arms to come out into either a big T shape or cactus arms. Either way, We're relaxing those shoulders down, Keeping them nice and soft. On the exhale, Let's allow both of our knees to move over to one side. And we're just going to pause there. So we're coming into a twist here. If you want to shuffle bottom a little bit over to the opposite side, You can, Just finding that easy kind of place to be in the twist. So the shoulders still down onto the earth. Maybe you'd like to gently turn head in the opposite direction to the knee. And let's allow ourselves to breathe there. Nice inhales and exhales. Steady breaths. No real effort required right now. And then gently bring and head to neutral. Little engagement through solar plexus, Drawing those knees up to centre. Realign in if we took our bottom to one side. And then on the exhale, Keeping those shoulders relaxed down, Taking knees over to the other side. Shuffle if we need to. And then just pause in here for a moment, Making sure shoulders are down without forcing them, Just relaxing them down. And then deciding if we want to turn the head in the opposite direction to the knees on this side. And again, Let's allow for that breath to flow here. The inhales, The exhales. Steady, Steady breathing. And then gently bringing the head back to neutral. Little solar plexus engagement, Drawing those knees up to centre, Realigning. And from here, Hugging knees in towards the body, Finding that length from tailbone to crown the head so they're not hugging in too far. Let's take a little rock from side to side. You might feel like things feel slightly different when we first took this movement. You might not even remember what it felt like then. Doesn't matter really anyway. Let's just allow ourselves to kind of massage a little bit everywhere into that back of the body and if there's an area that you want to just pause and sort of take a little bit more time in that area, Then by all means, Please do. And then come into neutral. I'm going to invite you now to make any movements you feel you want to. Be stretching. Whatever you feel like you would like to do. Oh, Stretch definitely in order for me. And then when you're ready, Finding your way into the position that you'd like to adopt for Shavasana today. So it can be legs up onto a piece of furniture or against the wall. It can be. . . Legs outstretched, Maybe. You would like to allow for your knees to be bent. Perhaps taking feet wide so that you get that sense of being able to rest knees onto each other if your knees are bent. Whatever feels good. So let's just cover ourselves over, Make those last few adjustments just to feel nice and comfortable. For our relaxation today. Let's make sure that everything kind of feels nestled down. If you want to have a little shoulder wiggle, If you want to readjust head. And then Let's start to allow eyes to close if that's comfortable. We're going to bring ourselves to our breath. Just gently allowing the inhale to draw in. Allowing the exhale to gently leave. Stay with those breaths. The inhale coming in. Exhale, Softly leaving. And as you let that breath start to wash over you, Each inhale perhaps drawing in. And he added spaciousness. Exhale. Any residual tension just draining away. Maybe as we inhale, We draw space into. The chest. On the exhale, Just allowing any effort to leave and softness to remain. Our next inhale. Drawing space into the arms. And on the exhale, Allow intention to drain away down the arms into the fingertips and then into the earth. Tension leave in the body. Allow shoulders on the next exhale to feel like that tension is just washing away. Allowing the neck to soften. And let in your lower jaw and the features of your face feel soft and at ease. As you exhale. Releasing any effort. Maybe allowing the bottom half of the body to start to let any effort release and tension drain away down into the earth. So from here. Perhaps just let in your breath. Come and go, That flow of breath. Or maybe you'd like to stay with that sense of bringing space into body. And maybe bringing space into mind. Exhaling any tension, Any effort, Any clutter. So either staying with that sense of spaciousness and ease, The breath. Or just allowing yourself to be here. Completely effortless. Without any particular breath focus at all. Just letting the breath flow freely. Whichever you choose. Just let yourself be at ease for the next few moments. Now just allowing for that sense of ease to stay with you but allow for your breath to deepen and draw in a little bit more energy to your body Preparing for movement by taking a little wiggle into fingertips and into toes. Just gently reawakening that sense of movement in the body. From here starting to make any stretches any movements whatever feels good for you it's just preparing to allow for yourself to come back to your day. And then when you're ready, Just gently finding your way back up. Into a seated position to close our practice today. There's no rush. So let's sit nice and tall. As soon as we've worked into shoulders, We're going to take one more nice movement. Let's allow hands to come to the heart. As we inhale, Let's reach up and out, Taking our nice inhale. Exhale, Following that same pattern down to the heart. Namaste. Thank you so much for practicing with me today.