Hello,
Hello,
Welcome.
My name is Vivian Wolf and this is Zen X Yoga.
And I'm doing this series,
The 48 transformative lessons for Generation X through yoga and Ayurveda.
Today we are on lesson six.
It's going to be a restorative,
Gentle practice.
We're going to do some affirmations as we lay in a very supportive Shavasana.
So if you need to,
Go ahead and prepare your space now for this practice.
You might want to,
Like I did,
I put down a blanket so it'd be a little warmer,
A little more cushy.
I have a bolster and a blanket for underneath my knees.
I've also rolled up a blanket for my neck here.
So get whatever you've got handy,
Couch cushions,
Pillows off your bed,
Your favorite comforter,
Whatever you like.
You can cover up,
You can,
You can choose your adventure as far as this very soft practice goes.
Softness can really help us out.
So why,
Why are we doing stillness today?
So I just wanted to go over that.
There is benefit in mindfulness.
So whenever you use comfortable stillness and affirmation to,
To occupy your mind as you are in stillness,
What it does is it helps to deepen the comfort that you're experiencing and it calms the nervous system.
So we move out of the sympathetic nervous system,
The place where we are stressed out,
Where we are always just a little bit in fight,
Flight,
Freeze,
Or fawn.
Whenever we're just a little bit,
You know,
Just a little bit in that space,
Whenever we move into like comfortable stillness and we start to tend to our breath,
We start to tend to the stream of thoughts that are in our mind,
Then we move out of that place and into the parasympathetic nervous system where our body can start to recover and rejuvenate.
It's really important if you have,
If you are working through pain management,
If you have chronic pain,
If you just have an old injury,
Or if you have the type of career or job in which there's just a lot of stiffness,
A lot of tightness,
Aches and pains,
All of this can be benefited by a movement,
A practice in stillness.
So let's try it out.
See what you okay.
Let's get in it.
Let's get into it.
So come on down,
Lay on your bed,
Your couch on the floor with a lot of support.
You want to make sure that you have true comfort,
Not just good enough comfort.
So in this case,
I'm using a bolster with an extra blanket underneath over it.
I've got blocks underneath my heels.
I'm taking this blanket underneath my head and rolling the edge just a little bit so that my neck even has a little bit of support.
And your arms can come down.
Sometimes people like to put folded blankets or shallow blocks or maybe like some books underneath the arms or underneath the hands.
I'm comfortable here.
I'm very comfortable here.
Once you arrive in this place,
If you need to shift around a little bit,
Move real estate aside,
Bring the shoulder blades together,
Whatever you need to do to find your way into this comfortable stillness,
Get just 5% more comfortable and close your eyes or just soften your gaze.
You can always practice this in a room that has less light,
Maybe just a lit candle or a lamp or even darkness if that feels good.
You're not afraid of falling asleep.
And if you do fall asleep,
That's okay too.
Your body probably needs it.
Start to let your awareness settle into the rhythm of your breath without needing to fix or change it.
Just start to follow the breath,
Air going in.
Give the body permission to breathe itself as you sink just a little deeper down.
Scan through your body and notice any places of gripping or holding.
Start with the feet and move your way up.
See if you can release that tightness just 5% more.
Moving up the body or eventually arriving in the brain.
Let the brain relax.
I've chosen an affirmation for this practice today.
You can use it or you can use a different one if it feels better for you.
For me today,
My affirmation is my body moves toward comfort and ease.
My body moves toward comfort and ease.
My body moves toward comfort and ease.
Silently repeating this to yourself for just a moment or two longer.
Or if you choose to watch this later,
You can hit pause and stay here for as long as you like.
You can stay in this supported Shavasana for as long as you like.
When you're ready to come back,
Start to deepen your breath.
Inhaling fully through the nose.
Exhale completely through the mouth.
Maybe it feels good to repeat this and exhale with a little sigh.
Slowly begin to move the body in any way that feels nice.
Keeping it soft.
And easy.
Slowly,
Slowly finding your way into a fetal position on one side of the other.
It doesn't matter which.
Maybe you rest your head on a pillow or you can use your arm if that feels better.
And eventually finding your way up into a seated position so that you can transition out of this practice and into the rest of your day.
So pause here.
Hands resting on the legs or on the knees.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes and just observe.
Whatever changes,
Whatever transformations are present now in the body.
Changes in the sensations.
Changes in your breath.
And then just notice how you feel.
And when you feel ready,
Bring your hands together over your heart.
Take a deep breath in once again through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
Ah.
Thank you so much for sharing this practice with me today.
From my heart to yours,
Peace.
