Winter Solstice Yoga

The longest night of the year is a time to rest in the stillness and the dark. Shore up your energy for the light that you know will come. Work on your digestion with twists which heat us up from the inside and build heat to slough off sluggishness.

Transcript

Welcome to our winter solstice yoga session today. In this week of maximum darkness, The darkest period of our year. How can our practice give us a little rest? And sustenance for the cold months ahead. That's how we'll look at it today. A time of rest and peace and stillness perhaps. Can you revel in the darkness? And find ease in stillness. While maybe holding faith that there is more light ahead. Once we pass December 21st, It gradually starts getting lighter, Doesn't it? The thing that's great about yoga in the winter. Is it heats us up from the inside out. We can stimulate our digestive system with twists. Which brings natural heat. It's like a fire within us. So as we breathe. We'll just let our practice be a light in the darkness. Let's take a breath together. Bring your arms by your sides. Inhale, Reach up. You can follow your hands with your gaze. Exhale, Release them. And let's bring ourselves to our back to start. Symbolically. If we pull our knees into the chest, It's like a little protection, Right? We're as small as we can be. But we can heat up the middle of our body if we just simply lift our head. So take an inhale here. Exhale, Lift your head up and feel how that squeezes your abdominals and presses the low back to the floor. Do it again, Release, Inhale. Our low back is still nice and calm. Exhale, Squeeze in. Inhale. Exhale. Once more, Inhale. Exhale Lift your legs up to the center and take your hands just underneath your hips so there's a little bit of support for your low back. Again, We'll take a breath here. Inhale. And exhale, Lower down just to a hover. Inhale, Lift it up. Actually, Take an exhale right here. We should lower on our inhale, Shouldn't we? Here we go. Inhale, Lowering it down. Filling up with air. Exhale, Squeeze it out. That release. Good. Inhale. Exhale. Nicely done. Pull your knees into your chest again. Take your arms out to a T with the palms to the sky and just let the legs fall over to the right just at a hover. This is twisting our back but it's also engaging our abdominals so we're trying to bring that heat. Turn on the heat. Come back to the center. Twists are good for digestion as well. Exhale, Lower down. Just to hover, Right? Come back to the center. Inhale here. Exhale. Inhale, Center. And exhale. Inhale, Hover one more time. Exhale. Inhale Exhale, Release your legs to the floor. Keep your hands where they are. Just maybe turn your palms and press them down. Lift your hips up. Inhale, Lifting, Squeezing there. And exhale, Lower down as you tilt your pelvis, The curve of the spine will connect to the floor. Inhale, So we're doing slow steady movements. We're just keeping moving at a slow pace. Exhale, So building up a little bit of heat. But not too much intensely. Inhale, Lift. Feel that squeeze. Exhale, Lower. Hopefully we can build up strength as we go. Let's do one more. Inhale, Lift. Exhale, Lower. Bring your knees into your chest. We're going to rock back and forth along your spine. If this is not comfortable to you, Just rock up once and stay up. If you like it though. . . I like how it feels to roll along our back. Sometimes in the darkness, We get feeling sluggish, Right? Our energy levels kind of drop. It's easier to have energy high when it's sunny. So movement like this that we're doing might lift our energy a little bit. Kind of manipulating into that spine. Let's do it one more time. Good, As we come up. Adjust into Navasana. So the abdominals once again, You can be on your elbows with the knees bent. Or straight. You can lift up with the knees bent or you can lift up with your legs straight. Choose your way. Inhale, Move into it. And just hold there. For a few breaths. This not only engages the abdominals but also the psoas. Along the front of the hips here. One more breath. Inhale. Exhale, Pull your knees in, Bring your hands forward, And let's just shift back to all fours. Stretch out your torso through puppy dog. Reach your arms forward and press your shoulders, Your elbows to the floor, Forehead to the floor. This arches our back. We feel that reach into the ribcage. Sides of our body. And come up onto hands and feet for Adho Mukha Svanasana. If you find this to be uncomfortable, You can come back down again here. Certainly that's fine. Take the position as you can. Pedal the feet if you need to. Loosening up. There's all sorts of ways to honor our body. Good. Now bend your knees, Look ahead and walk yourself forward. So we let ourselves hang down. Forward bends are also really good for the digestion. We lift up through the center of our body and let ourselves hang forward. Roll up through your spine, Keeping your shoulders heavy. Your neck heavy I'm gonna come up. And lift. So that we can start Surya Namaskara A. We're already warm. We're starting to be warm and we'll just keep going. Let's begin. Inhale, Reach your arms up to the sky. Exhale, Swan dive forward, Reaching down as far as you can go. Inhale, Look up, Halfway lift. Exhale hands down, Step or hop back to plank. You can drop to your knees here if you want. Chaturanga Inhale, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Upward Facing Dog. Exhale, Adho Mukha Svanasana. Downward Facing Dog In this pose here, We might take a minute to pause. To feel our breath, Feel the stillness in the air that comes with dark. Quiet and peaceful. Bend your knees, Look forward, Inhale, Step or hop up to the hands. Exhale fold down into your legs. Inhale, Reverse swan dive or reach up to the sky. Exhale, Arms by our sides. Let's take it one more time, Then we'll move on. Inhale, Lift. Exhale, Fold. Inhale look up pathway lift Exhale, Hands down, Step or hop back, Drop to your knees if you want, Chaturanga. Inhale, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Exhale, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Downward facing dog. Good. Let's move on. Lift your right leg. Inhale, Up and back behind you. Exhale, Bring it through in between your hands and drop that left heel down. Raise up to Warrior II, Virabhadrasana B. Nice and open through the hips and the inner thigh. We'll just hold here for a moment, Being still. In calm. Can you tap into the stillness of the season? Even in a time of fierce holiday preparations like we're in. The sun is offering us the gift. Of stillness. As it set, Gives us an amount of downtime, Right? Drop your left hand down, Reach your right arm up. And feel that pull. Through this horsoe, Through that side body. Really lengthening into the spine. Inhale, Straighten up through the legs. And your torso too. Exhale, Move into Trikonasana. Reach your hand down. Now here's a moment that we might use the block. You can place the block on the floor by your foot, By the big toe. And that just helps you to not have to reach so far down if you are not able to grab your toe. You may also just have your hand along your leg. That's a great option too. Reaching for your toe. All of the choices are great. Look up if it's comfortable for your gaze. Look down if you feel like you need a little help and support with the balance. Now lift up once again, Keeping both knees straight. We'll tilt back one more time. And with our leg straight, Our right leg straight, It feels a little different on that right hip. Everything is open. Everything is lengthened Inhale back to the center. Exhale, Bend into Virabhadrasana B, Back where we started. Inhale. Exhale, Windmill the hands down to the mat. And step your right foot back. Let's lower all the way to our stomach. Keep your hands right by your sides, Tops of the feet on the floor, Elbows pulled back, Cobra pose. Inhale, Lift up. Feeling that squeeze in the back, But rising out of the ground. Exhale, Lower. Let's take it two more times. Inhale, Lift up. Exhale, Lower. One more time. Inhale, Lift up. Exhale, Lower. Nicely done. Like a wave, Come onto your knees, Let your knees open, Sit back to a child's pose. And then keep going, Lift up to Adho Mukha Svanasana. Downward facing dog. Beautiful. Let's move into our left side. Lift your left leg, Inhale, Up and back behind you. Exhale bring it forward in between your hands drop that right heel down windmill your arms around I'm going to turn so that I'm still facing you here. Good, Good. You can feel that hip. Feel the strength. Can you find a glimmer of light in this pose? Can you find a glimmer of light in the movement into the pose? The breath that happens through the pose That's like a candle in the window of the dark. Reach your right hand down, Left arm pulls up. Keep that left leg bent and feel your side body lengthened. Stretched. Good. Inhale, Straighten through both legs and the torso. I'm sliding. Step it in a little. Exhale, Fold down to Trikonasana. Remember your option of utilizing the block. Right in front of your foot feels really great. Or your hand on your leg. Or just reach for the toe if that's an option for you, A possibility. And you can look up. Or you can look down. Play around with it, What feels right. Traditionally looking up, Sometimes we have to make adjustments, We have to modify. For each day our needs on our map. Now lift up. Great job. Drop your right hand down, Reach your left arm up and over. And feel that side body length. It's rejuvenating to lengthen our side body. It makes us feel taller. Greater reach. Lift up, Inhale. Exhale, Bend into that hip back into the warrior two. Windmill the hands down to the mat. Step your left foot back. And let yourself lower onto your stomach. Once again. This time we'll bring our arms by our sides, Lift up and hold in place in Salabhasana. So lift your chest first, If that feels okay, Try lifting the legs as well. Gaze down the bridge of the nose so you're not straining at the neck. Feel that squeeze. Beautiful. Inhale. Exhale, Calm down. Nicely done. For a moment, Relax your head, Relax your neck. I'm gonna try it one more time with a different variation if you choose. So you can keep the same one lifted here. Or if you want to reach back and grab your feet. Do so. Then you'll press into the feet and lift up. So you're here. Or you're here, Right? Either way is fine. Both choices are great. Just keep looking down the bridge of the nose. And feel that lift. This is going to stimulate our back. Our glutes, Hamstrings, Hips. And stretch the front of our body. One more breath. Inhale. Exhale. Good job, Come down. Let your knees open a little bit. And sit back, Once again, Child's Pose. Nourish yourself with the stillness. Close your eyes, Embrace the dark. Good Lift up into Adho Mukha Svanasana. Shifting back, Feeling the release through the back of the neck. Then bend your knees, Look forward, Step, Hop, Or walk through. To sit. With our legs straight in front of us. Let's keep working on our digestive system with some twists. So start by first bringing the right foot over the top. This might feel just fine, Just enough for you. If you want to go a little deeper into Ardha Matsyendrasana, You would cross. The left leg underneath as well. Extend your left arm, Inhale. Exhale hook it onto your knee or you can just hug the leg that's fine too right hand to the floor pull back on that right shoulder. So this is a twist, Getting our digestive system ramped up. Sometimes around the holidays we eat different kinds of foods, Sweeter foods, At least in the US. Different kinds of things that maybe we're not used to eating, It can do a number on our digestive system. So with yoga, Hopefully we can work some of that out, Yes? That's the idea. Bye bye. Inhale, Come forward. Exhale, Release, Twist the other way for just a moment. So take your hands down. Just kind of unwind. Come back up. Nice. And reset the legs. Other side. So start by just placing your left foot over the right, Maybe you're bending that bottom leg, Either way. Extend your right arm, Inhale. Exhale, Hook it onto the knee. Left hand to the floor. Sit tall. Gaze back at that left shoulder. So we're definitely squeezing the center. I think it feels kind of like a dishrag, Squeezing up the middle. We're also opening our chest space. How open and free do you feel? Now come forward, Lean, Unwind yourself toward that right side. Just press down. And lift it back up. Extend your legs forward once again. Nicely done. Take your hands. I'm going to turn, Actually, So you can see. Take your hands behind you, Fingertips face the hips. We do a lot of forward bends in yoga. It's beneficial to strengthen our back body as well. So you can either just press into the hands, Point your toes, See how my chest presses forward. Or you're welcome to lift up. And let your body extend. Purva Uttanasana, Back plank maybe. You might call it, Take a breath, Inhale. Exhale, Come down, Nicely done. Roll onto your knees, We're just being mobile and fluid. And onto the right hand and the right knee. Extend your left leg out, Rotate on your side. Start here. This is for the obliques. Again, Working on the abdominal sides of the bodies now, So the obliques run along the side. You might feel great here. You might feel like you want to stack your feet. It's a little bit more intense. If you want to, Hover that foot, The top one. So many options, Choose your way. One more breath, Inhale. Exhale. Put everything down, Come through the center, Back on the knees. And shift to the left leg, Left hand. Side body opens up. Extend. Stay here. Or stack. Keep lifting that hip like someone's pulling a string upward. Maybe you're lifting your foot, Letting it hover once again. Inhale. Exhale, Release it down. Nicely done. Everybody come to a child's pose. Sit back so we can rest. In our stillness. For a moment, Our work is done. For a moment, We're going to honor the breath and honor the rest. That we might find. And being on the floor. Lift up onto all fours. If you're like me, You might need an attitude shift in the darkness. I'm saying I like light. But flipping ourselves upside down can help us have a little attitude shift and we're recognizing the stillness and the rest that comes with dark. But first to build a little energy with a headstand. We'll take it through steps. Don't get worried. So hands are on the mat. I'm pulling back just a little bit. I'm bringing my knees forward just a little bit. So when I bend my elbows, My head comes to the floor. And I can see my elbows here. This in and of itself is a headstand, Can feel really nice. You've got your back rounded, Your hands are really stable, Fingers spread wide. Elbows strong, Giving you support. Feel free to stay right here. If you want a little more, Then lift onto your toes and perhaps bring one knee to each elbow. And you're balancing in tripod headstand. You are certainly welcome to stay here. If you feel like going further still, You might pull your legs up. And extend them. Up to the sky. All options are fine. Keep your breath steady. And strong. Let's take one more breath here. Inhale. Exhale. If your legs are extended, Bend them, Use the abdominals for control and place them on your elbows once again. Maybe you're on your elbows already. We've all met up there. Maybe we're on the floor. Let's all put our knees back down on the floor. And come to a child's pose once again the forehead on the mat and just notice the change of perspective. And when we close our eyes, It's dark. And that's comforting, That's peaceful. Nicely done everybody Let's lift up and just roll onto our back. So we can finish off with a spinal twist. One more twist to ease tension. One more digestive system little kick. Pull your right knee into your chest. And guide it across to the left side. So pull over. Take your right arm out. And send your gaze over that right hand. We're trying to find our balance between the shoulder. And the knee. So the right shoulder pulling to the floor, The right knee pulling to the floor. Having a balance somewhere in the middle. You're also breathing deep. But the breath slows down, Especially from that inversion. We're now laying on the floor. We're just gonna let everything slow and still for a bit. Almost like you're taking a deep inhale and an exhale to release. Release tension in the body. Release tension in your mind. Let it go. One more breath here. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, Come back to the center. And exhale, Release that right leg. Inhale, Pull your left knee into the chest, Guide it across with your right hand and extend out that left arm. Find the balance, So we're trying to pull the arm to the floor, Press the knee to the ground. They may not both reach, But they're reaching. Pulling down. The longer we stay, The more our body relaxes. That's why we don't move quickly through these poses. And move slow. We're definitely honoring our rest. In this position here. Take one more breath. Inhale. Exhale. Bring your leg back to the center. And lay it down. Set up for your Shavasana. One leg to each edge of the mat, Arms by our side, Shoulder blades rolled underneath, Palms facing the sky. Close your eyes. And let yourself rest. Definitely reveling in the stillness. I'll let you rest here for a few moments. Have no concerns. For the rest of your day. For this moment anyway. And just let yourself rest. I'll read to you this poem by Mary Sutton. It's called New Year Resolve. The time has come to stop allowing the clutter. To clutter my mind like dirty. Like dirty snow, Sorry, Shove it off and find clear time, Clear water. Time for a change. Let silence in like a cut. Who has sat by my door. Neither wild nor strange. Hoping for food from my store. And shivering on the mat, That cat. Let's silence in. She will rarely speak or mew. She will sleep on my bed. And all I have ever been, Either false or true. Will live again in my head. Or it is now or not. As old age. Silts the stream. To shove away the clutter. To untie every knot. Take the time to dream. Come back to still water. Start to wake yourself up. Rotate through your wrists and your ankles. Point and flex your feet. Stretch your arms overhead to lengthen through your entire body. And roll over onto one side, Fetal pose. Resting in this moment. Press up to a comfortable seated position. And bring your hands to heart center. To finish off a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience. For now, It's dark. But there will be light if we are patient. Thank you so much for your practice today. Namaste