Hi,
I'm Jen Dufour,
And I'm so glad you're here.
This practice is an offering from my signature teaching library,
Created to support you in feeling more at home in your body and your life.
Find a comfortable place to practice today,
Preferably in your bedroom,
With access to a wall,
Some comfortable floor space,
And of course,
Your bed.
Gather some blankets and pillows.
If you have a strap or a bolster,
Those will be useful today as well.
Alright,
Let's get started in Child's Pose.
Come to your knees on the floor,
And then reach your arms forward,
Resting your forehead on the ground.
Close your eyes.
You can allow your hips to sink back towards your heels,
And just start to come aware of your breath.
Slow down the breath.
Allow the breath to expand into your back body.
Allow your exhales to be a little longer,
A little more complete.
Give yourself permission for the next 15 minutes or so to be completely present with yourself.
To allow the stresses of your day,
The busyness of your day,
To melt away,
And prepare your mind and body for a restful sleep ahead of you.
Let's take one more breath here in Child's Pose.
Big breath in through the nose,
And exhale,
Open the mouth,
Slowly sigh it out.
Good.
Now,
Rise up to your hands and your knees.
The hands are directly underneath your shoulders.
Spread your fingers wide.
Let's take some natural movement here through the spine.
You can allow the spine to round,
Tucking your chin in towards your chest.
And then allow your gaze to come forward and up,
The belly dips down,
The sit bones reach up and back.
A couple times like this,
Finding a connection with your breath.
Gradually,
Find your way to a neutral spine.
Let's step the left foot back,
Tuck the toes underneath,
Placing the foot on the ground.
Press through the palms to reach the heel back,
Finding a nice stretch through the back of your leg and your calf muscles.
You can gently rock forward and back,
Or be still,
Focus on the breath.
Big inhales through the nose,
Longer exhales,
Maybe through the nose as well,
Or if it feels more comfortable to exhale through the mouth,
That's fine too.
Good.
Now bring the left knee forward,
And stretch the right leg back.
With the toes tucked under,
Step the foot to the ground,
And press into the palms,
Reaching back through the heel until you feel a nice stretch through the back of the leg and the calf.
Some movement,
Maybe rocking forward and back.
Keep your belly lightly drawing in to support the lower back here.
One more big breath in through your nose,
And slowly breathe it out.
Great.
Now bring both knees to the ground,
And slowly crawl your hands forward,
Allowing your forehead to come to the ground.
Very similar to Child's Pose,
But this time we'll keep the hips lifted high.
Finding a nice stretch in the upper back and the shoulders,
You can rest your forehead on the ground.
Those of you with a bit more shoulder flexibility can bring the chin to the ground.
Some deep breaths here,
Sending your breath to the areas that you feel the stretch the most.
The upper back perhaps,
The shoulders.
Relax the muscles in your neck and your jaw.
We'll take three more breaths here.
Good.
Now come on up again to your hands and your knees,
And then swing your legs around,
Coming into a seated position.
Grab behind your thighs and slowly lower yourself down to the ground.
Laying flat on your back,
Take both knees into your chest.
Give them a hug.
Allowing the arch of your lower back to flatten out a bit on the ground beneath you.
Create some space here around the lower spine.
You can gently rock the knees side to side,
Maybe some circular motions with the knees.
Looking to release the muscles in the lower back.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
And as you exhale,
Draw the knees in a little bit tighter.
Very good.
Now step your feet to the ground,
Knees stay bent,
And reach for your strap or belt,
Something along those lines.
Even a towel will work.
Let's stretch the right leg up and wrap the strap around the bottom of your right foot.
You can keep your left knee bent with the foot on the ground,
Or extend the leg fully on the mat.
Extend your right leg straight up to the ceiling,
And use the strap in your hands to pull the leg in closer.
We'll take about five breaths here,
Stretching the back of the leg.
Allowing the muscles in your hip and your back to soften.
Relax the muscles in your face and your jaw.
Keep your breath moving in and out.
With each breath,
Surrendering a little bit more.
Surrendering a little more tension,
A little more of that grip that you may be finding in your hips,
Or even with your breath.
Release the grip.
Now,
Take your left foot into the strap,
And release your right foot to the ground.
Same thing on this side.
Draw the leg in towards you.
If the back of your leg,
Your hamstrings,
Are feeling really tight today,
Just keep your knee soft.
A soft bend in the knee.
This will help you to find that space through surrender.
Not by force.
Now,
Use your breath.
Deep inhalations through the nose,
Filling up your lungs.
And longer exhalations through the nose or through the mouth.
Remember,
We're finding this space through the surrender.
Through the letting go.
We're softening into this space.
There's no forcing.
A couple more breaths here.
Find one more space,
One more inch in your body that you can soften,
That you can relax.
Good.
Now,
You can release the strap.
Take both knees into your chest.
Give them a squeeze.
Either rocking yourself up to seated,
Or come to one side and use your arms to press up.
Find yourself a clear space at a wall.
And go there.
Coming into legs up the wall.
And it's simply that.
We'll lay on our back.
Get as close to the wall as you can with your hips.
And swing your legs up the wall.
We've spent a little time already opening the backs of the legs and the hamstrings.
So I hope that it's a little easier for you to have the legs straight and reaching up the wall here.
If still it's difficult to have the legs up because of the tightness in your legs,
Scoot yourself away from the wall a little bit.
Once you find yourself settled in here with your legs up the wall,
Take your arms in a comfortable overhead position,
Like goalpost arms.
Or,
If you'd prefer,
You can rest your palms on top of your chest and your belly.
Now close your eyes.
Allow your breath to find a comfortable,
Steady rhythm.
And I'm going to be quiet here and allow you to stay in this pose for a couple minutes.
Slowly allow your heels to move down the wall,
Bending at your knees.
You can pause here with your knees into your chest or allow your knees to fall open,
Bringing the soles of your feet together,
Resting up against the wall.
Notice how cool the legs may feel,
The feet maybe even a little tingly.
Legs up the wall is a very cooling posture,
A great way to end your day,
Especially if you spend a lot of time on your feet.
Now let's bring the knees together and roll to one side.
Bring your hands to the ground and press yourself up.
Come into a seated position with your back up against the wall.
We will now practice a breathing exercise called Chandra Vedana,
Or moon-piercing breath.
This type of breath activates the cooling,
Calming energy in the body.
It can promote deep relaxation by activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
Let's get started.
Sitting with a tall spine with your back up against the wall,
Get comfortable.
Using your right hand,
Place your ring finger and your thumb right at the bridge of the nose.
Feel the bony part there and then slide it down until you feel the softer part of your nostrils there.
This will be the part that we are constricting throughout our breath cycle.
Close your eyes.
Inhale through both nostrils.
Big full breath in,
Focusing the breath in the nostrils themselves,
Not so much in the back of the throat like some other breathing in yoga.
Good.
Inhale through both nostrils.
Exhale through both nostrils.
Exhaling completely,
Close the right nostril and breathe in just through the left nostril.
Full breath in.
Now close the left nostril and exhale through the right nostril only.
Full breath out.
Again,
Inhale through the left nostril.
Close the left.
Exhale through the right.
Good.
Inhale left nostril.
Exhale right.
Inhale left nostril.
And exhale right.
One more time.
Inhale left nostril.
And exhale right.
Release your right arm down and blink your eyes open.
Really good work.
Moving slowly,
Make your way to your bed.
Make yourself comfortable.
Set up some pillows behind you,
Underneath your head,
Maybe underneath your legs and your knees.
Grab some blankets.
Once you get comfortable,
Close your eyes.
As we allow our body to drift towards sleep,
Bring to mind things that make you happy,
Things that make you feel good and peaceful.
Perhaps place yourself in the most peaceful place you can imagine.
Notice the calm,
Soothing energy moving throughout your body from the work that you've done in your practice today.
Allow your breath to slow down.
Allow your senses to turn inward.
Give yourself permission to let go of your day,
To release control of what may happen tomorrow,
And to peacefully drift off into a deep sleep.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
I'll see you soon.
