Yin Yoga For Self Confidence (Yoga Class)

Encourage trust and confidence in yourself through releasing tension and stimulating the flow of energy in the spine. This is a great class for those of you feeling a bit insecure at the moment, or anyone wanting to deeply stretch out the back. Let's lose the fear and look forwards instead of losing ourselves in negativity, shall we?

Poses in this class are Butterfly, Caterpillar & Square - find images of most 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 and welcome.

My name is Vicky from Achela Yoga and I'm a Yin Yoga teacher in Swansea,

Wales the UK.

Welcome.

Today we're going to be doing a short session helping us regain our confidence and trust in ourselves if we feel we've lost it.

There are many reasons this might have happened,

A common one being,

As is often the case,

Feeling pressurised,

Feeling stressed.

So one important area we'll be working on today is the backline of the body,

Particularly the spine,

Where we can release any tension that's there,

Creating space between the vertebrae,

Stressing the tissues of the back and also stimulating the many,

Many,

Many nerves that we have there.

In an energetic sense,

The idea of working the backline of the body,

Including the backs of the legs,

Is to stimulate the flow of energy within what the Chinese would call the urinary bladder meridian.

It's said that an imbalance in the flow of energy,

So not running smoothly and easily through this channel,

Through this meridian,

Can contribute to a lack of confidence,

A lack of trust,

Existential trust actually.

Also,

If you're someone who has problems making decisions,

Then this could also be potentially an imbalance in the energy within this meridian.

So this is another reason that we're focusing on the backside of the body today.

Yin yoga,

For anybody who hasn't done it before,

Is a passive practice.

We relax the muscles and we resolve to stay relatively still in our poses for several minutes.

The idea is to calm the body,

Particularly through releasing the long-hail tension and stress,

And consequently calm the mind.

As with any yoga practice,

It's essential that you listen to your body.

I will give you suggestions,

Variations of things that you can do,

And I want you to feel your body working.

But if anything doesn't feel right,

If it hurts,

Stinging,

Pinching,

Stabbing,

Then please move out of the pose.

Your body is your responsibility.

We can use props to help us with the practice.

So for this session you may need a blanket,

Two blocks or maybe two books,

And a cushion may be helpful.

If you enjoy this session and you're listening on Insight Timer,

Then please feel free to make a donation.

I'm not going to say no.

Also,

You can check my profile to find out who I am and what I do,

Including a sign up to a newsletter if you're interested.

So let's begin the class in butterfly pose.

If you aren't already sitting on the floor,

Then please make your way there now.

When you're there,

Bend your knees and place the soles of the feet together.

Now,

Fall forward,

But only to your natural stopping point,

And allow the body to relax.

So as the focus here is on the back,

I want you to get into a position where you're feeling that stretch,

But it's not too much,

Nor too little,

And particularly in the lower back.

That may mean,

For example,

That you want to try pushing the feet further away from you,

Or perhaps closer to you,

Towards the groin.

It may be that you separate the feet a bit.

Try those options now if you feel like you need to,

Separately,

Maybe a combination.

Do they help you with that stretch?

If so,

Stay.

If it's still not working for you,

You can also try sitting up on something,

Your cushion,

Your block,

Anything at all really,

Just raising the hips up.

Don't worry if you aren't folding very far forward,

That's irrelevant,

As long as you're feeling a stretch in the back,

And that's all we need.

If you're feeling this in the knees at all,

Try those three variations I just gave,

Or perhaps put something underneath the knees,

Blocks,

Cushions,

Or maybe under a different part of the leg.

When you find the position that suits your body,

Then we're going to stay for another two minutes.

We want to stretch the whole of the spine,

Relaxing the muscles,

The lower,

The middle,

The upper,

And the neck.

So as long as it's okay with the neck,

You can allow the head to drop,

Maybe gently moving it from side to side to relax the neck.

Take a deep breath in through the nose,

And then as you breathe out through the mouth,

Allow yourself to drop deeper into the pose without pushing,

Slowing down the breath,

Using it to help you passively relax without pushing,

Noticing that stretch on the back of the neck.

Perhaps for this last part you might want to experiment a little bit with really small,

Small micro movements,

Moving the torso a tiny bit to the left,

Relaxing,

Noticing how the stretch changes to a slightly different part of the body,

The back,

And then very,

Very slightly to the opposite side,

Tiny movement.

Notice how the stress changes,

Where do you feel it now?

Now we're going to come up to the centre,

So slowly,

Slowly straighten the body up,

Take hold of the knees and gently guide the knees in.

You can keep the feet on the floor with the knees bent or you can straighten them out,

You choose.

And let's just stay for a few moments,

A very short rebound,

Noticing the effect of the pose on the back,

Maybe the legs.

Our next rebound will be a little bit longer,

But for now we're going to go straight into the next pose because we're still continuing to stretch the back.

This time we're going to add the backs of the legs in caterpillar pose for the full urinary bladder meridian.

So just put your legs out,

Extend them straight in front of you and once more fold forward.

So again,

I want you to try and get a good stretch in the back and the backs of the legs,

But naturally and without pushing.

So first,

Relax the body in the shape that you're in and see how it feels.

If it's not enough,

You can again try sitting up on something.

You can also try separating the legs and you can try rotating the legs,

Allowing the toes to go out and allowing the toes to go in.

See how that feels.

Remember we want to stretch the back and the backs of the legs,

But not too much,

Not too little,

But enough so that we can stay here for just under three minutes.

Play with the variations if you need to and when you've found the one that suits you,

Close your eyes,

Bring your attention to the physical sensations in your body and ask yourself,

Am I feeling the stretch in the same place as I did in butterfly?

Do I have as much rounding or less rounding in the back?

How far forward am I falling?

There's no right or wrong answer,

It's just observation,

Curiosity.

Your legs were in a completely different position before,

So I'd like you to notice today in particular how the position of the legs affects what's going on in the rest of your body,

Particularly in this case,

The back.

We're going to be here for another minute or so and if you find at this point or any point today that those sensations have got too intense,

Then back off,

Come up a bit for example,

Or just come out of the pose completely and lie down.

Alternatively,

If you find there's too much stretch in the backs of the knees or the legs,

You can always bend the knees a little bit,

Perhaps placing a rolled up blanket underneath them if that's helpful.

If you feel just for this last part you'd like a little bit more stretch,

Then we can bring a tiny bit of yang in.

Gently,

If you want to,

Take hold of the legs somewhere.

Or the feet,

Just to give yourself a tiny natural pull and using the traction of the arms a little bit of muscle to give ourselves a bit more stretch in the back,

The legs or both.

What we're doing here is keeping the target area,

The back line of the body,

Passive,

Yin by making something else in the body,

In this case the arms,

The shoulders,

A little bit more active,

A little bit more yang.

So slightly activating the muscles of the arms and the shoulders here but not activating the back or the backs of the legs,

Keeping those passive and relaxed.

Okay,

So if you're holding onto anything,

Let go.

Slowly bring the torso up and then we'll have a minute or so of a rebound before we move into the next pose.

This time lie down on your back and just notice the effect,

How it feels in the back,

In the legs,

Perhaps sensing your breath and your mind.

And then LOOK AprON edge LIFTS And then as a yang counter pose,

Let's bend the knees and place the feet on the floor.

Now bend the elbows,

Separate the fingers and activate both the arms and the hands.

Now push the feet into the floor,

Activate the hips and the legs and slowly,

Slowly push the hips up to around the same level as the back.

Hold and then slowly come back down again vertebrae by vertebrae so the hips are back on the floor.

Relax and then let's do that again.

Push the feet,

The arms,

Activate then push up the hips,

Maybe going slightly higher this time but keeping the legs and the arms active.

And then coming back down again slowly,

Slowly with the hips coming down less.

Rest.

Then one last time.

Activating the legs,

Pushing the elbows into the floor,

Separating the fingers,

Gently bringing the hips up,

Maybe again bringing them slightly higher to extend the back a little if you wish.

And then coming down again vertebrae by vertebrae with the hips coming down last.

This time straighten out the legs and let's stay here for a few moments before we move to the next position.

For this next pose we're going to move the legs into a different position in square pose.

So again I want you to notice how your back acts when your legs are in another shape.

Let's start by crossing the legs,

Then keeping the legs where they are,

Briefly lift the hips up and sit back a little.

Your legs should now be in a roughly square position and of course the shape will vary a lot from person to person so I'd like you to play with some variations and see what suits you.

So first,

Let's try moving the knees further apart from one another,

Folding forward,

Seeing how that feels in the back and the sides of the legs.

Now bring the torso up and bring the knees closer,

Slide them closer towards each other.

Move forward,

See how that feels.

If you've found your position already then of course stay.

But I would suggest playing with these different variations not only for the stretch but also if you're feeling this in the knees or maybe the groin.

One final option is to simply cross the legs instead,

That's fine if it works better for you.

Again,

If you feel like you need to put anything underneath the bum,

The knees or the thighs for support or to adjust the pose then please do.

Now relax into your version of the pose for just over three minutes.

Again,

I'd like you to notice what happens in the back here,

Not only the sensation but also how the different positions of the legs in these three poses make a difference to how far forward you can comfortably fall.

In butterfly the legs were externally rotated with the feet together.

In caterpillar pose the legs were straight and the hips flexed.

In this one we're also externally rotating but abducting i.

E separating the legs as well.

For me personally,

This final arrangement in square suits my skeleton better and I can fold forward a lot more in this pose than in the other two.

Also,

If I'm trying to simulate the back stretch,

This pose also works better for me.

However,

We all have completely different skeletons as well as tension in our bodies and of course this means what works for one person may not work at all for the next.

So bear that in mind,

Observe and see how it is for you.

There's no right or wrong,

Just different.

There's no right or wrong.

Okay,

So then we're going to come back to the centre and go directly to the other side.

So this time cross the legs with the left in front of the right.

Play with the position of the legs again if you need to,

Sliding the knees closer together,

Taking them further apart,

Perhaps bringing the feet closer to the groin or further away.

And then when you find your position,

Fold forward.

Be aware that it can feel very different on this side.

We're going to be here for around four minutes,

So I'm going to be silent for this.

Close your eyes,

Keep the body relaxed and see if you can feel that energy moving through the urinary bladder meridian,

Both sides of the spine and down the backs of the legs,

Releasing the spine in a physical sense,

Stress,

Tension,

But also aiding a release of tension,

Stress in your mind,

Helping you with that self-confidence and regaining trust in yourself once more.

Take a deep breath in,

Breathe out,

Allow the body to relax a little bit more.

And again,

Breathe in,

Breathe out,

And sink.

Breathe in,

And as you breathe out then slowly,

Slowly bring the torso back up to the centre,

Straighten the legs out and let's just sit for a few moments.

Now we're going to move into the final pose of shavasana.

Choose how you want to do that.

You can either lie down on your back or on your front,

Or if you prefer,

You can sit and finish the practice with a small meditation,

As long as you're neutral,

Neutral.

Close your eyes and either bring your attention to your breath or simply relax the birds in the background for as long as you like.

I hope you enjoyed this short session.

Please do try some more of my audio classes and come along to one of my live sessions on Insight Timer,

Generally on the last Saturday of each month.

Feel free to make a donation if you wish and please do check my profile to see who I am and what I do.

I'm going to leave the birds going for 10 minutes in the background,

So just enjoy your shavasana.

Thank you for joining me.

Namaste.

Thank you.

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Thank you.

Reviews

Lovely as always! Wonderful way for me to start getting back into yin!

One of my favorites, particularity Square.
As always, thank you! 🙏