Seated Side Body Flow

Seated Side Body Flow is a gentle, accessible movement practice designed to create space and mobility through the sides of the body. From a comfortable seated position, you’ll move through slow, flowing stretches with attention to the breath.

Transcript

Hello everybody, Let's find a comfortable seated position. Just before we start, We'll do a short grounding exercise just to get settled into the space. So I'll invite you to find a comfortable seat, Pressing the sit bones into the mat, And then lifting up out of the pelvis to keep the spine tall. And once you've found your seat, Soften the shoulders, And then gently close the eyes. I'll invite you to find your breath, Breathing in through the nose, Noticing the body expand. And as you exhale out through the nose, Notice the body soften without collapse. Continue to notice the speed of your breath, The pace of your breath. Notice how the body feels when you begin to tune inwards. We'll take a few more rounds of breath to wrap up this short grounding exercise. When you are ready, You can slowly open the eyes and return back to your space. Let's start with a few shoulder shrugs. So I'll invite you to bring the shoulders up towards the ears. And as you exhale, Soften, Allow expansion and space between the ears and the shoulders. Two more like this, Shrug the shoulders up, And release. One more time, Shrug the shoulders up, And fully release out. Shoulder rolls up, Back and down. And shoulder rolls forward, Up, Over and down. Okay, Interlace the fingers, Press the palms forward, Really stretch the arms straight, Keep the spine tall. Now take the arms over your head. Inhale, Reach up tall. Exhale, Draw a big circle up and around. Two more like this, Interlace the fingers. Take the arms up and around. Last one, Interlace, Stretch forward. Arms come up and all the way around. Take the arms up, Inhale, Reach up tall. Exhale, Hinge forward, Fold forward. Allow the elbows to stay off the floor, And walk the fingertips as far as you can. Now in this position, Try to breathe into the back of the body. So send the breath into the lower back. Send the breath into the mid-back. Send the breath into the sides of the body, Right and left side. From here, Let's walk the hands towards the right knee, Folding over the right thigh. Return back to center and switch. Walk the hands towards the left knee, Fold over the left thigh. Return back to center and come all the way up. Take both arms over your head, Inhale, Reach up tall. As you exhale, Let's twist to your right side. Release the left hand to the right knee, Right hand behind you for an easy seated twist. Notice where the breath is doing. Notice where the breath is going. Keep the shoulders away from the ear. Come back to center. Keep the left hand on the knee. Take the right arm over your head for a side stretch. Allow the head to follow. And here, Draw the awareness to the right side body. Can you send the breath into this area? Now take the spine back to center. Cross the arms over, Right hand to left knee. Chin to the chest, Rounding the back. Come back up to center, Sitting tall. Release your left hand behind you for your twist. Again, Sitting up nice and straight, Shoulders away from the ears. Breathing here. Return back to center. Take the left arm up and over for a side stretch. Breathing into the left side body. Notice how this feels. And return back to center. Take the left arm over, Catching onto the right knee. Chin to the chest, Round the back. Slowly come back up, Spine tall. Release the arms, Interlace the hands behind you. Stretch the body, Chin up, Chest up. And return back to center. Okay, From here, Let's take your left leg out. Right foot to your left thigh. So we're going to do some single leg stretching work, Seated. Sit tall, Take both arms up. Inhale, Reach up tall. Exhale, Hinge forward. And this should be your inner thigh stretch for most of you. Just notice your range. So we're not looking for how far you can fold. Just notice the stretch in the inner thigh, The left inner thigh. And just hold at a place that feels comfortable for you. Breathing here. Notice your back. Notice if you're rounding or if your back is straight. And for this position at this time, Can we keep a straight spine? As straight as you can. Slowly come back to center. Take both arms up. Inhale, Reach up tall. Exhale, Twist to your left. Inhale, Reach up tall again. Exhale, Let's fold the body over. Catching onto the ankle or the shin. Just wherever you can hold. If this is still okay for you, Can we create a slight arch in the upper back? So bringing the chest up. If this is still okay for you, Can you bend the elbows, Bending down lower? Try to slide the forehead towards the ankle. Keep the left leg active by pressing the muscles of the thigh down to the mat. And see if you can slide the body over the left leg. Slowly release. Come back to center. Take both arms up. Take the left hand to the right thigh. Reach up tall with the right hand. Exhale, Side stretch. Now if you can catch the foot, Go ahead and catch the foot. Otherwise, Just stay where you are. Notice the right shoulder. Can we roll the right shoulder out? Up and out. So that the chest stays open. So we don't want to be too collapsed for this one. For this one, We want a side stretch. Allow the side stretch to be more open, To be more spacious. And just breathe here. Okay, Slowly release. Come back to center. Take the feet into butterfly position. Both of the feet touch, Just to reset. Inhale, Reach up tall. Exhale, Hinge forward any amount. So again, No need to force anything. We're not looking for range. We're looking for a feeling. Looking to keep the body in good formation, In good position. And seeing whatever range you can come to today. Noticing the connection with your body and your breath. Keeping this as the most important thing. Come back to center. Take the right leg out. Flex the foot to keep the leg active. Inhale, Take both arms up. Make sure the sit bones stay rooted on the floor. Inhale, Reach up tall. Exhale, Hinge. Place the hands down, Then walk forward. Keeping the spine as straight as you can. Holding here. Very nice. Coming back to center. Let's take both arms up. Inhale, Tall. Exhale, Twist to the right. Reach up tall again. Exhale, We fold. Catching onto the ankle or the shin. See if you can arch the upper back slightly. Exhale, Bend the elbows. Fold forward. Slowly return back to center. Take both arms up. Take the right hand to your left thigh. Lift the left arm up and side, Bend over. On this side, Let's roll the left shoulder up and out. Keeping the chest open. Breathing into the left side of the body. Come back to center. Take the feet into butterfly. Again, Inhale tall. Exhale, Hinge forward. Coming back all the way up. Let's find a cross-legged position. Hands onto the knees. We just finish with the eyes closed or gaze lowered. Just noticing where the body is at this point in time. Thank you so much for joining me with this short little mat class. I wish you a great day ahead.