Hello,
Hello,
Hello,
Welcome.
My name is Vivian Wolfe and this is Zen X Yoga.
Today we're going to do an active release and balance class.
It's very simple,
Very,
Very simple.
And I'm going to do it on my yoga mat,
But really you can do it seated up in a chair.
You can do while you're standing upright while you're waiting for your coffee to brew.
Whatever works for you.
I'm all for the idea of adapting these sequences so that they fit your life and fit your situation so that you can thrive right where you are.
Right?
Let's get on the mat,
Okay?
Okay,
Okay.
So I'm going to start seated,
Just real easy here.
And you can,
Again,
You can sit up on a chair if that feels good.
You can cross your legs,
Or you can bring the soles of your feet together.
I'm going to sit up on a folded blanket.
I like to do that.
So just find what feels good here.
Let the hands rest on the knees or in the lap and just pause here for a moment.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
Just take a few rounds of breath,
Just watching your breath.
Simply noticing whatever is present in the body now.
Maybe you can feel places that feel warm or cool.
Maybe there's some areas that feel tense or tight.
Maybe you feel some tingling or some vibration.
And if it feels good,
Keep your eyes closed or you can lift the gaze.
And with your next inhale,
You're going to pull the heart forward.
Let the shoulder blades come together behind you.
Lift the chin,
Opening up the front of the body.
As you exhale,
Reverse it around the back.
Make a C shape and tuck your chin to your chest.
All the air out.
Inhale,
Lift the heart,
Lift the gaze,
And exhale round.
A little seated cat-cow.
Let's just keep going.
Use your rhythm of breath.
Maybe two more times.
Beautiful,
Beautiful.
When you've had enough of that,
Come back into a little stillness and just notice what this one movement,
This one sequence,
Cat and cow,
Can do for you here now.
Any changes that are happening?
And then when you're ready,
We're going to do a little spinal twist.
So you can keep your legs like this if you like,
But I like to take my left leg out to the side here.
So a little deer pose.
The right knee out in front,
The left knee to the side a little bit.
And then just take the right hand behind you,
Look over your shoulder,
And if this left hip lifts a little,
That's okay.
Just breathing around this twist,
And it might feel nice as you inhale just to soften a little bit,
To come back forward,
Exhale a little deeper into the twist.
A couple of times like that.
And when you're all done,
Let's do the other side.
So you'll switch your feet,
Take your left foot out in front of you,
Your right leg to the side,
Take that left hand behind you,
Right hand comes either to the knee or to the floor,
To the side of it,
And you can lift that hip if that feels good.
Look over your shoulder,
Breathing here,
And if it feels good,
Soften as you inhale,
And exhale,
Deepen into the twist.
Again,
Inhale,
Exhale.
When you've had enough of that,
Gently come back to a seated position,
And just notice here what is coming up for you just a little bit here.
Good,
Good,
Good.
We're going to move into a supported low lunge.
So when I say supported,
I mean use props.
So for me,
I like to use a blanket underneath my knees,
And I like to use blocks underneath my hands,
Just to get a little extra space here.
We're going to do a low lunge.
So you can bring your right foot in front,
And you want to make sure that your knee isn't too far in front of the toes.
If your heels lifted up,
Then just scooch that foot a little further forward.
We're going to stay in this low lunge,
But again,
We're going to soften out of it.
So come into what feels good here.
Find your posture first.
And then when you're ready,
Just inhale,
Lift a little higher.
As you exhale,
Let the hips sink just a little lower.
A couple of breaths like that.
And when you're ready,
Lift up the hips,
Take that right foot back,
Bring the knee down,
A little table pose here.
And then we'll bring that left foot in front,
Shimmy that foot forward just as far as it feels comfortable,
Finding your low lunge to begin with.
And then as you inhale,
Lift a little higher.
Exhale,
Sink down.
Take a few breaths like that.
Beautiful,
Beautiful.
When you're ready,
Come on back,
Table pose,
And then all the way back to a seated position.
So we're just going to take a couple of moments in stillness as we come into seated position.
So I like to,
Instead of being cross-legged or anything like that,
I like to sit back on a block with my knees bent,
And you can have them a little wide,
Just whatever's comfortable for you here.
You can also sit up in a chair if that's more comfortable for you.
Just take a pause.
We're going to hold this for maybe a minute,
So close the eyes and just observe the breath going in and going out.
When your mind wanders away,
Just come back to the breath going in,
Breath going out.
When you're ready,
Lift the gaze,
Lift the eyes.
Inhale,
Sweep the hands up,
Reach high into the sky,
And exhale,
Bring your hands together over your heart.
With our hands here,
Let's take one last deep breath in together.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Thank you so much for sharing this practice with me today.
From my heart to yours,
Peace.
Thank you.
