Yin Yoga For The Back

In this session, we stretch the muscles and connective tissue of the spine through forward folds, then compress them through backbends. This reverses the hunched posture that we quite often find ourselves in, particularly when we're inside and sitting a lot. A natural reaction for many of us against stress can also be to tense up the shoulders, so this class is great if you have any problems with your back or if you have bad posture. The poses are two forms of Butterfly Active & Sleeping Swan - find images on my website (see profile).

Victoria's Yin Yoga classes are designed to release tension and bring presence to body & mind. Bring a bolster (or pillow), some blocks (or books) and a blanket. Please make sure to listen to your body during the class and if anything doesn’t feel right, come out of the pose and rest. Your body is your responsibility.

Transcript

Hello everybody,

This is Vicky again.

Today we're going to do a class on backs,

And we're going to be moving the spine both backwards and forwards,

So stretching the muscles and the connective tissue of the spine through forward folds,

Then compressing them through backbones.

This reverses the posture that we quite often find ourselves in,

Which is basically hunched forward.

This is particularly the case for many of us at the moment because we're inside and sitting a lot.

Also,

A natural reaction for many of us against stress can be to tense up the shoulders,

Which of course brings that curve in the spine as well.

So this class is great if you have some problems with your back,

And if you have bad posture.

As always with yin yoga,

We'll be in the poses for a few minutes,

So try to relax into the pose as much as you can.

Props you might want to help you do this are a blanket and some cushions,

Blocks or books.

If you don't have any of these things,

It doesn't really matter,

As I'll give you adjustments and variations as well.

So let's start first of all by lying on the floor and closing your eyes.

We're going to begin with a short mindfulness exercise to bring us into our bodies and away from the day.

Find yourself in a relaxed position,

Adjusting yourself if you need to.

Just any points of contact with the floor,

Where the feet are,

The hands,

The bum,

The upper back,

The back of the head.

Bring your attention to those places one by one.

So I'll say them again,

The heels,

The bum,

The hands,

Backs of the shoulders and the back of the head.

Notice these points of contact,

Then bring your attention to your face.

Now we'll scan down the face and if you notice any parts that feel a bit tense,

A bit tight,

Then see if you can relax them by sending the breath there.

So starting from the top of the face,

Scanning down the forehead,

Over the eyebrows,

Noticing how it feels between the eyebrows,

The eyes,

Muscles around the eyes,

Moving down the nose,

And the tops of the cheeks,

Down to the middle of the cheeks,

The mouth,

Down to the jaw,

Maybe opening the mouth a little to loosen the jaw,

And then breathe or imagine sending the breath into the face.

Imagine you're breathing into the skin,

Softening the face with each out breath,

Then noticing the rise and the fall of the body as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

And now I'll leave you for around 3 minutes or so,

Just noticing the breath where you feel it in the body as it goes in and out.

Let's see you rest a little longer,

See you talking a little.

.

Notice the small pauses at the start and the end of each breath before you breathe in and before you breathe out again.

The moment of stillness,

That small moment of stillness.

.

Okay,

So we're going to start moving into the first pose.

So bend the knees and bring the soles of the feet together.

Bring them as close to you as is comfortable,

Then let the knees drop out to the sides.

Now,

Place the elbows on the floor behind you and lean back onto the elbows.

If it's okay for the neck,

Then also drop the head back.

And this is our first backbend today.

The head is very heavy and you might feel that this is quite a lot of strain on the neck.

So if it's too much here,

Bring the head up a bit or even completely.

We're not looking for anything too dramatic,

But we do want a bit of a backbend and also a stretch on the inside thighs.

If you're finding that this isn't good in the knees,

Then you can either put something underneath it or try moving the feet away from you.

And now I'll leave you to have your own experience for around two and a half minutes.

Notice if you feel like you're holding any tension in the legs or the hips.

And if so,

Just soften them and allow gravity to bring them down without making too much of an effort.

We're going to be here for another minute or so.

And as I said,

If this is too much on the head,

On the neck,

Then you can bring the head up.

All right.

You you Now we're going to start moving up so slowly bring the torso back to the center again Gently help the knees in and straighten the legs out in front of you with the hands on the floor behind you Now close the eyes and feel the after effect Noticing the areas that were being stimulated and sensing what's happening there Maybe it's warm It's cool Maybe it feels a bit tingly or a bit achy Just notice And as a counter pose then breathe in and stretch the arms up towards the ceiling And stretch the arms up towards the ceiling Then breathe out and stretch them forward rounding the back Now breathe in and open the hands out to the sides Then breathe out and bring them to the front again rounding the back and again breathe in stretch the arms up Then out and stretch them forward rounding the back In and open the hands out to the sides Then out bring them forward again repeat in Stretch the arms up Out stretch them forward rounding the back In open out to the sides Then out bring them forward again one more time in arms up in arms up Out stretch forward In open out Then out bring them forward again Now come back to the center again and bring the arms down to your sides just noticing the effect So for the next posture swan Then move on to your hands and knees Now bring the right knee towards the hands then move it out to the right side of the right hand Keep the foot approximately where it is doesn't matter if it moves a little bit You can also stretch the left leg straight back,

Although keep it quite passive So those of you who've done yoga before will know this is pigeon And what we want to feel here is a bit of a stretch in the side of the right leg Particularly the glute area at the top If you're not feeling it try taking the right knee out a bit more and Remember that you're tool so doesn't need to be right in the center.

So don't worry if it's a bit squiff If you're still not feeling the stretch Then drop your fun down to the outside of the right hip so just sit down on the floor and Then very gently bring the right foot forward a little bit Now being really careful of the knee Push yourself back up to the center slowly and see if you can feel the stretch in the right leg a bit more If you still can't feel it then you can try again But again,

Just make sure you're aware of anything that doesn't feel right in the knee or anywhere else for that matter So we're going to start in an upright version of this one so basically what we're looking for here is an arch in the spine You can keep the hands on the floor or go up on the fingertips Or if you've got something to put underneath the hands like blocks or books Then you can do that too if you want more of a backbend then you can walk the hands closer to your body But if you're feeling that's not working for you Maybe it's too much of a backbend or you're feeling a stabbing in the lower back for instance then walk the hands forward Play with these adjustments so you're in a position that you can stay in for about a minute and a half Now dropping the head back or keeping it straight Remember we want to feel stimulation in one two or ideally all of the target areas The opening in the front of the torso Compression in the back And stretch in the side of the right leg in this case,

But you don't want to be in pain so if you are Feeling something in the knee for example or the lower back or in fact anywhere Then do you make sure that you adjust yourself?

Then do you make sure that you adjust yourself?

You You You So now we're going to fold forward Perhaps you can go down onto the elbows Rest the head on the hands or even stretch the arms out completely to the front Again adjust the legs if you need to You're trying to get a mild to moderate stress in the target areas that you can stay with for a few minutes without straining or hurting anywhere And again Now I'll leave you with your own experience for around three minutes You You You You Notice if you're feeling any tension and if you are Then send your breath to that area and see if you can soften it You If the stretch is too much on the hip flexor of the left leg here Then you can always put something underneath that thigh to support it Alternatively you can go up on the toe of the foot that may help You You Now we're going to come up So push yourself gently up and walk the hands towards you Now sit down on the outside of the right hip and Straighten both legs in front of you Now as a rebound before we go to the other side Then make sure you're as comfortable as you can be and your legs and spine are neutral Now again bring your attention to the areas that we just stretched And see if you can notice anything physical that's happening there You might also want to see if it's had any effect on your energy your energy levels your mind Perhaps your emotion Perhaps your emotion And then when you feel any sensations pass go onto your hands and knees again This time bring your left knee forward and stretch the right leg back Now move the left knee out to the side to the outside of the left hand And then again if you're not feeling too much stretch down the side of the left leg and the glute area Just try moving it even further out to that side If that still doesn't work then go down onto the outside of the left hip sit down there Bring the foot forward a bit and then very gently paying attention to the knee Come up and see if that's giving you more stretch As I said before you don't need to be in the center here Which means you can actually move the torso a bit to the right or the left either to intensify the stretch or maybe to lessen the stretch And then we're going to get that arch in the back again so either put your hands on the floor or on props or go up on the fingertips Push that right foot back the right leg back if you want more of a stretch on the right hip flexor Or if you want less then either push it less or perhaps go up on the toe or perhaps put something underneath that back thigh to support it Then if you're experiencing anything that doesn't feel right in the lower back you might want to try walking the hands forward away from each other or perhaps closer to each other Play with these adjustments until you find what suits you what suits your skeleton And then allow yourself to relax into the pose and notice if it feels any different on this side than the other side And now we'll stay for around another minute or so Notice any sensations going on and allow the body to deepen and let go of the sensation Notice any sensations going on and allow the body to deepen if you need to adjust slightly at any point then please do but try to do it with attention But try to do it with attention And now we're going to fold forward again for slightly more of a stretch And now we're going to fold forward again for sleeping swine So walk the hands forward and drop the chest forward,

Fold forward You can go down on the elbows,

Rest the head on the arms or stretch out the arms in front of you Again make sure to adjust the body particularly if the sensations are too strong or too weak Or if you find that something is not right somewhere,

Stabbing,

Pinching,

Tingling,

Something that you feel is actually hurting rather than stimulating And now we'll stay in the pose for around two and a half to three minutes And now we'll stay in the pose for around two and a half to three minutes And now we'll stay in the pose for around two and a half to three minutes Notice any difference in the left leg this time Notice any difference in the left leg this time Is there more stimulation there?

Is it the same?

How does it feel?

Is it the same?

Is it the same?

And then we're going to come up again So slowly walk your hands backwards towards you very gently When stimulating connective tissue as we do in yoga,

You can feel it quite intensely quite soon after the pose Now drop down to the outside of the left hip and now we'll move into shavasana So then again very carefully move into a reclined position lying on your back Now take a deep breath in allowing the body to relax and adjusting the body so that you're comfortable Maybe moving the hips,

Moving the feet,

Whatever you need to And then again the same as we do at the start Notice the contact of the heels with the floor or the mat Feel the weight Now move up the body to notice the connection of the sitting bones against the floor Feel the weight of the hip against the floor Feel the weight of the pelvis Sense the hands What's the temperature?

What are they touching?

Which part of the back is against the floor,

Against the mat?

Which part is not on the mat?

And the shoulders And then finally notice the back of the head And the weight of the head against the floor Relaxed attention,

Soft focus So please stay here in shavasana for as long as you want to,

At least a couple more minutes I'm going to leave you now,

So thank you so much for joining me again today I hope you've enjoyed this practice and I hope to see you again next time Namaste

Reviews

Challenging for me but I will use regularly for bad posture

Great class with enough time and encouragement to make my own small adjustments and variations 💛

Some lovely stretches there, Victoria. And your voice and the birdsong together are very calming. The fact that this is a recording is also useful, not just because the class I was supposed to take today was cancelled, but because I didn't feel constrained by time. I still prefer live classes where I can look and see if I'm doing what you are doing, but being in very different time zones, that isn't about to happen soon. Gratitude for your work and you're being.

Just a few poses, held for enough of time for there to happen shifts for the body, mind and emotions. This was great!

This was truly amazing, thank you 🙏🏼

Lovely yoga way to end my day - without screens. So restful for the eyes! 🙏

I’m really enjoying Victoria’s yin sessions. I’m also a yin teacher and I really appreciate the space she allows within the shapes and the different moderations and options. Thank you and namaste 🙏🏼