Yin Yoga to Relax and Self Soothe

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, tense, or simply in need of a slower pace, this 25-minute yin yoga practice is designed to help you gently self-soothe and relax.

Using supportive props like a bolster, pillow, or rolled blanket, we’ll move into soft, held postures that allow the body to release tension and the mind to slow down.

This practice may help you:
• calm the nervous system
• release physical tension
• support emotional wellbeing
• create a sense of ease in the body

Transcript

Hello friends and welcome to this short yin practice to help you self-soothe. So this is a perfect little practice to do if you're feeling quite tense, Maybe you're experiencing pain, Or maybe you just feel like you just need a little bit of a rest. What you will need for this practice is either a bolster, But if you haven't got a bolster, Maybe a rolled up blanket or towel and then maybe a bed pillow would be quite helpful just to give you that extra little bit of height and comfort. And then obviously you need yourself and your mat. So grab whatever you need and then when you're ready, Let's get started. So we're going to begin today's practice in a supported child's pose. So popping your props out in front, Taking your knees a little bit wider. Your props are going to support your upper body here. So nice and gently coming down. Now you might hug your props in towards you. You might rest your arms on top. It's really up to you. See what feels the most comfortable. I like to turn my head to one side, But maybe you rest your forehead down. On your props, That's entirely up to you. But just make sure that you feel super comfortable here. Just allowing your props to take that full weight of your upper body. You're relaxing your shoulders. Nice and gently start to bring your awareness to the rhythm of your breath. And allow your breath here to be your anchor. Follow its gentle ebb and flow With each exhale. Body. The muscles. Your joints, They all gently start to let go, Start to release. Maybe you're trying to release the busyness or the stresses of your day or your week. Maybe you've been experiencing pain or discomfort. You just need to give yourself a hug. You need to give yourself some attention. Follow the breath for the next few minutes. I invite you to fully let go. Enjoy the stillness. Wonderful, Whenever you're ready, Nice and gently start to blink open your eyes. Take a deep breath in. Side out. And then just start to move your arms. Just bring the palms down to the floor and gently, Gently start to press yourself into an upright position. Okay, We're gonna take ourselves into a half supported frog. This is really nice because it allows us to rest the upper body, But also just gently open up the hips. So we're going to slide the prop forward. That's if you need space behind you. I do. And then just slowly come up into a tabletop position. Bring your knees underneath your hips just for a moment and then walk your knees back one little step. Then start to lower your hips down to the floor so again you might need to adjust here And your upper body, Again, Wants to be fully supported by your props. So it may take a little bit of adjusting so that you feel comfortable. Now, I always just kind of have my forearms down on the floor, Keep myself elevated just for a moment. And then we're going to take the right knee, Bend it, Bring it out to the side. If you can, Try and have your knee in line with your hips. And then your ankle in line with your knees. You've got like this little frog. Leg and this is notice here it's just kind of opening front of your hip here opening your groin getting into the inner thigh a little bit and then we're going to turn the head to the right So same again. Just resting yourself down. Maybe you hug in your props or maybe. . . You pop your hands underneath your head. We do whatever feels the best for us here. So take a moment to make sure that you feel comfortable. And then just as before, Find the rhythm of your breath. And gently follow it. Allowing your muscles and joints. To gently settle down. Gently we're releasing a little tension from the right side of your hip. Maybe you are someone that holds tension and stress in your hips. So this is a really nice gentle way to maybe release some of that. I'm gonna try and enjoy the stillness again for the next few minutes And if you find that your mind is a little busy today, Finding it hard to switch that off. Remember that's okay. We do our best to just keep bringing it back to breath. It doesn't matter how many times we do this. Wonderful now we want to slowly gently transition to the other side. So just begin by sliding your right leg back. Behind you. And then nice and gently slowly turn your head, Taking it over to the left side. Really take your time here. There's no need to rush. And then when you're ready, Taking a bend into the left knee. So bring in that little frog leg. So again, Ankle in line with the knee, Knee in line with the hip. Toes are turned out. Lovely little Frog position, Frog leg position. And then gently allow yourself to settle down again. Hopefully you've transitioned nice and slowly so you're able to just really let go again here. We haven't caused too much disruption. Find the rhythm of your breath. Just gently following its ebb and flow. Reusing the breath as an anchor. It's allowing. The nervous system to settle. Become calmer. That's allowing your muscles and joints to gently let go. Know that in this moment you feel safe, You are safe. Wonderful. When you're ready, Take an inhale and slowly, Slowly start to send the left leg back behind you. Now we want to come out of this pose nice and gently. We're not rushing it too much. So once the legs are fully extended behind you, We're going to slide the hands. Underneath roughly underneath where your shoulders are and really slowly start to lift yourself up into a little tabletop position. We're then just going to come. To sit down. And then you're just going to. Turn your props around so they're going horizontal now. And then just come to lie down on your back. We're going to take ourselves into a little supported bridge now. So nice and gently. Bring yourself down onto your back. And then. . . Once you get settled, Take a nice big breath, Lift your hips and you're just going to move your prop. Underneath. The sacrum so that flat part of your back get nice and comfortable i always like to have a little kind of shift from side to side make sure it feels okay And then just let your upper body relax here. Your knees are bent, Feet are flat to the floor. Just taking a few moments in this pose. Breathing deeply. Just allowing yourself to settle again. Wonderful. Okay whenever you're ready we're going to draw the right knee in towards the chair. And you're just going to interlace your fingers around your knee or your shin, But then just kind of rest your hands here. So you're not using your hands or your arms to pull the knee in really tight. You're just resting them there, Letting the arms and shoulders relax. And that's just really just holding your knee in place. We're not forcing or pulling or anything here. We're just holding it in place. And then if it feels comfortable, Nice and gently we're going to extend the left leg out along the floor. So let the leg extend, See how it feels. If this didn't feel good for your back. Or for your hips then just slowly come back into that bend again. And once you are in that bend, Your foot can stay flat to the floor or it might feel comfortable to let the knee gently fall out to the side. So you're kind of rolling onto the side of your foot as well. So that might feel nice as well. Again, It's that gentle little hip opener. If your leg is extended, We are just getting a nice stretch into the leg but a little bit more top of the quad muscle into your hip. Again, Another place where we might be holding tension. Close your eyes. And again, Fully letting go here. Wonderful. Whenever you're ready, Nice and gently, We're going to bring the left leg back. To centre so your knee is bent and the foot is flat to the floor. Release your right leg. And then let's draw left knee in towards the chest, Really nice and gently. Same again, Interlacing the fingers. Around the leg and just letting them rest so you're just holding the leg in position. Extend the right leg out. Or again, Maybe you let the knee just roll out to the side, Whatever feels the most comfortable. For you today. Your right leg fully relax, Whichever position you've chosen for it. Eyes stay closed. And just continuing to follow your breath. If you're still finding that a little challenging today, Sometimes. The mind. Just will not be quiet. And maybe think about how you feel in this pose. Notice. Any little sensations you might be feeling. Where those sensations are maybe describe them to yourself Because then that way you're keeping your mind busy, But the mind is still focused on you. Whenever you're ready, Just nice and gently start to bring that right leg back to centre. Release your hands from your left leg and just let that leg come down to the floor. Now we're going to keep the props in exactly the same position and we're going to take our legs up into the air. So just bring your knees and your feet in together. Gently draw your knees in towards your chest. And then just extend the legs up into the air. Now you don't need to have super straight legs here, You can keep a natural bend, But keeping the legs and the feet together just gives them a little bit of support against each other. And then what I like to do is make sure my elbows are connected to the floor and just almost let. The tops of my thighs rest gently on the palms of my hands. They're just kind of holding in position. Now, If this pose doesn't feel particularly great for you, Maybe because your legs are suspended in the air, What you can do is take this to the wall and do legs against the wall as an alternative. So same again, We are just. . . Relaxing here. Letting the leg. Be suspended in the air. And knees are just gently pressed against each other. Notice back of your body here. The back of the head. Feels like it presses a little firmer into the mat. And the same with the backs of the shoulders. Backs of your arms. And then feeling your sacrum, Gentle pressure into your props here. Gently moving the awareness up through your legs. Up to the toes. And this is where you're probably feeling most of your sensations. That blood flow is moving from the toes. Down towards your heart space. If you're feeling a little tingle in the toes, If it feels a little funny. Maybe give the toes a gentle little wiggle. Notice how calm this pose makes you feel. You're activating your parasympathetic nervous system. It's responsible for your rest and digest. And it can bring your body back into its own equilibrium. Wonderful. Whenever you're ready, Take a little wiggle of the toes, Maybe a little rock of the feet back and forth. Take a deep breath in and sigh it out. Perfect. Then when you're ready, Just really slowly take a little bend into the knees, Bringing the lower half of your legs back down. And then let your feet return to the floor. Slowly gently you're just going to lift your hips removing your prop out of the way, Coming down onto your back. Now, If you want to, You could go straight into a Shavasana here. Stay here, Rest that little bit longer. Otherwise, We're going to take a little roll onto the side body. Stay here for a moment. And then nice and gently coming up into a comfortable. Seated. Position. Now once you do arrive in your seat, Just take a moment just to notice how you're feeling now. And set a little intention to carry this feeling with you through the rest of your day or your evening. Or maybe just even for the next hour. And then always taking one last cleansing breath. Nice big inhale through your nose. And a noisy sigh out through your mouth. Gently blink open your eyes. I hope that you enjoyed this practice and I hope to see you in the next video. So take care.