Hello,
Hello,
Hello,
Welcome.
This is Your Yoga Life,
The channel for people moving through perimenopause,
Menopause,
And postmenopause who are looking for holistic self-care and ways that you can help manage both the challenges and the transformation that is available at your time,
At this time.
I am Vivian Wolfe,
And I am a yoga therapist.
I'm a life coach.
I'm an Ayurvedic nutritionist.
And today we're going to do a spring-themed yin yoga class that particularly pays attention to some of the issues that arise for people in menopause,
Perimenopause,
When this transitional season happens.
So spring can be kind of chaotic.
So we're moving out of winter.
Out of winter,
We're actually moving towards summer,
And spring is what happens in between.
And so there can be a lot of like kind of flip-floppy kind of feeling,
Like some days feel closer to winter and some days feel closer to summer.
And so we want to make sure that our bodies and our minds are grounded and stabilized so that they can handle whatever we wake up to each and every day.
So with that in mind,
Let's get on the yoga mat.
All right.
All right.
For this practice,
Let's start in child's pose.
So if you like,
You can put a blanket underneath your knees or underneath your shins.
If you're a little sensitive,
You're always welcome to create the support that you need for your practice.
So maybe you take your knees a little wider,
Bring the big toes together.
Take the hands forward,
Let the forehead come down onto the mat,
Or maybe even onto a block if that feels better.
And take a few long breaths in through the nose,
Out through the mouth,
And allow yourself the opportunity to settle down a little.
Just sink down into the mat to come fully into this moment.
In yin yoga,
We hold these poses for a little bit longer,
And so there'll be some periods of silence as we move through this practice.
Just allow yourself to stay with the sensations that you're experiencing in your body,
To stay with the rhythm of your breath,
Just feeling the gentle rise and fall of your inhale and your exhale.
Let's gently make our way up to our table pose.
Bring the wrists underneath the shoulders,
Knees underneath the hips.
From here,
We're going to take our left leg out behind us,
Stretch that leg back,
And then we're going to walk that foot over to the right side of the mat.
Bend that knee and set it down behind your right knee.
You're going to flick your feet to the outsides,
Like kickstands,
And start to walk your hands back,
Or you can take your hands to the outsides,
Like kickstands,
And start to walk your hands back,
Bring your hips down,
Making your way into shoelace pose.
Now,
You can always make adjustments here.
Maybe you need to plant your foot.
Maybe it feels better to stretch that lower leg out into half shoelace.
Either way,
You're totally welcome into whatever variation of this pose that works best for you.
You can also put some support underneath your right hip,
If you need to,
So that you feel like you're even up and down.
And then walk the heart forward.
Maybe the hands come down.
Maybe you tuck your chin to your chest.
We're going to stay here for just another minute or two.
Yoga,
We like to practice observation.
So as we stay in this pose for just a little while longer,
If you notice that you have the urge to squirm,
If you need to constantly tap your toe or make adjustments,
Feel free to do so.
But observe what is causing this distraction for you,
And see if you can minimize the cause behind it.
Settling into stillness whenever you can,
For however long you can.
Returning again and again,
Making your adjustments since being still,
Until you find that stillness lasts a little longer,
A little longer,
A little longer.
Beautiful,
Beautiful,
Beautiful.
Slowly lift yourself up.
Take the hands behind you.
Remove any props if you've got them here.
And then unravel your legs.
Plant the feet.
And do a little windshield wiper of the knees,
Side to side.
Take your time.
Just observing what it feels like to put a little movement into the hips.
And then we're going to make our way back to our table pose.
So take your time,
Bringing the wrists underneath the shoulders,
The knees underneath the hips.
And this time take your right leg out behind you,
Curl the toes under.
Start here.
And then walk that foot over to the left side of the mat.
Bend your right knee and place it to the outside of your left knee.
And swing your legs to the outside.
Start to walk the hands back,
Bring the hips down.
Coming into your variation of shoelace on the other side.
And again,
You're welcome to put some support underneath your hip if you need,
Just to get,
So that you feel like you're even,
Seated and rooted downward.
Grounded down.
And then when you're ready,
Let the heart drape forward,
Just as far as it feels comfortable.
Maybe you just tuck your chin to your chest.
We're going to stay here for a couple of minutes.
Good,
Good,
Good.
Slowly lift the heart.
Remove any props.
Take the hands behind you.
Unravel your legs.
Plant your feet and do a little windshield wiper of the knees,
Side to side.
Good.
And then let's make our way once again to our table pose.
Take your time.
Now once you arrive here,
In your table top,
Curl your toes under,
Lift the hips up into downward facing dog.
And we'll just take a few breaths here.
So spread the fingers wide and press down into your fingers.
The biceps are by the ears.
The heart melts towards the back of the mat.
Tailbone is reaching high into the sky.
Maybe it feels good to walk out your dog.
Bend one knee,
Send the opposite heel down and switch.
Maybe it feels nice to rock the hips a little side to side.
We'll take one more breath here.
Good.
And then we're going to take this right foot forward,
Bring the knee down,
The left knee down.
We're going to make our way into swan pose.
So walk this right foot over to the left side of the mat,
Then rotate through your thigh,
Bring your knee down through your thigh.
Coming into our,
It's pigeon or swan.
And again,
If you need to use some support here underneath your right hip so that you feel even.
Should be able to lift up a bit and then start to walk the heart forward.
Bring the hands down.
Maybe you bring your forehead down.
Making our way into our sleeping swan.
We'll stay here for a few moments.
Good,
Good,
Good.
Let's bring the hands underneath the shoulders to start with.
Remove any props.
Curl your back toes under.
And we're going to make our way back to our downward dog.
So lift the hips,
Pull that right leg back.
Come into your downward dog again.
See if you can find some stillness here.
We'll take a few breaths.
Good,
Good,
Good.
Now let's start to make our way into the other side.
So bring that left foot up.
Bring your right knee down and take that left foot over to the right side of the mat,
Rotating through the thigh.
Bring that knee down and make adjustments.
Maybe that heel comes closer to the hip.
Maybe you bring up some props underneath your left hip so that you feel nice and upright.
You can sit up tall and then start to take the hands forward.
Bring the heart down.
Maybe you bring the forehead down.
Totally up to you.
We'll stay here a few moments.
So just breathe here.
Slowly start to lift yourself up.
Bring your hands underneath your shoulders.
Remove any props.
Curl those back toes under.
Make your way back into your downward facing dog.
We'll pause here just for a few breaths.
Take your time.
Slowly bring your knees down.
Flick your feet to one side or the other.
Bring your hips down.
Bring your feet in front of you and start to make your way up to the front of the mat.
Reach your hands up.
Imagine someone's holding your hands and slowly lower the spine down.
Pull the knees in towards the chest and give yourself a little hug.
Maybe you rock a little side to side.
Maybe you make circles with your knees going one way or going the other way.
Then we're going to take the knees wide.
Bring the arms between the knees.
Find the outsides of your feet and start to stack your ankles over your knees as your knees are wide.
You can always hold on to the back of your thighs if that feels better.
Or you can put a strap around the soles of your feet.
We're going to stay here for a few rounds of breath.
And with an exhale,
Release just the left foot.
Just the left foot.
Place it on the mat.
We'll take a breath here and half happy baby.
Then we're going to take this whole right leg over to the left side of the mat for spinal twist.
Take your right arm out long.
Feel free to use blankets or blocks underneath that right leg so that you can rest in this spinal twist.
We're going to stay here for two or three minutes.
So breathe deeply here.
Slowly,
Slowly start to make your way back onto the back.
Pull the knees in towards the chest.
Give yourself a little hug.
Take the knees wide and find the outside edges of your feet and stack ankle over knee for happy baby.
We'll take a breath or two here.
And then release the right foot.
Half happy baby.
Breath or two here.
And then let's take the whole left leg over to the right side of the mat.
Coming into spinal twist.
Reaching that left arm out long.
Again,
Make adjustments so that you can feel really supported in this pose.
Breathe deeply and let go.
Slowly,
Slowly start to make your way onto the back.
Pull in the knees and towards the chest.
Give yourself one last little hug here.
Rocking a little side to side if that feels nice.
And then let's make our way into our final pose,
Shavasana.
If you have back pain,
Plant your feet,
Bring your knees together.
Or if you like,
Just stretch your legs out long.
Let the toes rotate out.
Bring the arms to the side,
The palms face up.
Soften the gaze or close the eyes and just take a nice long deep breath in through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Really give yourself this gift,
This time of conscious relaxation.
Allow the body to become still and let the mind become quiet.
Let each breath take you deeper into yourself and I'll guide you back in just a moment.
So enjoy your Shavasana.
So you can stay in your Shavasana for as long as you like.
When you're ready to come back,
Start by bringing your awareness into your breath.
Take a nice long deep breath in through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Repeat that if it feels good and start to welcome the body back.
Start with soft movements in your fingers and toes.
Allow that movement to grow into your wrists and your ankles,
Your arms and your legs,
Your shoulders and your hips.
Gently making your way over into a fetal position on one side or the other.
It doesn't matter which.
Just let your head rest on your arm or on a pillow or a blanket.
And then when you feel ready,
Use your hands to help lift you up.
Come into an easy seated position.
Any position that's comfortable for you.
Maybe you sit up on a blanket or a bolster as well.
Let the hands rest on the legs or on the knees.
Soften the gaze or close your eyes.
Take just one more moment to check in and notice.
Notice sensations that are happening right now in your body.
Notice your breath.
And notice how you feel.
Good.
Good.
Let's go ahead and close this class.
Inhale,
Reach your hands up into the sky.
And as you exhale,
Bring your hands together over your heart.
And with our hands here,
Let's take one last deep breath in together.
Thank you so much for taking this time for yourself today.
My heart to yours.
Peace.
