Gentle Mobility To Start Your Day

Sitting with your spine tall,

Your neck straight and parallel to the mat,

And soften your gaze or close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you,

And just bring your attention to your breath.

Notice how your breath feels,

If it's fast or slow,

Deep or shallow,

Not trying to change it,

Just notice it,

And then see if you can start to deepen your inhales and lengthen your exhales,

Taking deep long breaths through your nose,

And exhaling slowly and fully through your nose if that feels good.

As you breathe here,

Bring your attention to your body,

And just notice how your body feels today.

If there's any part of your body that's maybe a little tight or sore,

That may need a little bit more love during practice,

Just be mindful of that.

If something I say during practice doesn't feel right for you,

Please don't do it,

Come out of the pose,

And take a resting posture that works for you.

Inhale,

Roll your shoulders up towards your ears,

And then down your back,

Exhale.

Two more like that.

Inhale,

Roll your shoulders up towards your ears,

And down your back as you exhale.

Good,

One more.

And exhale,

Shoulders down your back,

Good,

Bring your hands by your side,

Inhale,

Reach your arms up,

Palms touch overhead,

And exhale,

Hands to your heart center,

Good,

Two more like that.

Inhale,

Reach your arms up,

Palms touch overhead,

And exhale,

Hands to your heart.

One more,

Inhale,

And exhale.

Good,

From here,

Slowly make your way to your back,

So just come to lying down on your back,

And bring your knees with you,

Hug your knees into your chest,

Good,

And then keeping your right knee in your chest,

Extend your left leg long,

So your left leg can extend long,

Flex your foot,

And press your heel away,

Or you can bring your foot to the mat,

Bending your knee,

So whatever feels better,

Good,

And just notice where your right knee wants to go,

Maybe it wants to go towards your chest,

Maybe towards your armpit,

Outside your body,

Maybe rock it from side to side,

Or make circles with your knee,

Just noticing how this feels,

So we're gonna be focusing on mobility,

And slow,

Mindful movements,

Just noticing how this feels in our joints,

In our body,

Good,

And just pause in here,

Bring your left hand to the outside of your knee,

We're gonna cross the knee over towards the left side,

Coming to a supine twist,

Maybe extend your right arm to the right,

Or bend your elbow and come to cactus arms,

Good,

So this is the beginning of practice,

I'm not going too deep into this twist,

Again,

Just noticing how it feels,

Maybe turn your head to the right side,

Good,

Take a deep breath in,

And exhale,

Slowly come back to centre,

Keeping your right knee in,

You're gonna bend your left knee,

And then flex your right foot,

Bring your ankle on top of your thigh,

Good,

So come into a figure four,

And you can keep your left foot on the mat,

And gently bring your right hand to your right thigh,

Gently press your thigh away,

So keeping your right foot flexed to protect your knee,

And just making sure that there's no pain or discomfort in your right knee,

Good,

You can stay here,

Or if you like,

You can start to lift the left foot off the mat,

Grabbing the back of your thigh,

Or your shin,

And again,

Just making gentle movements,

Maybe slowly walking from side to side,

From here,

Bring your left foot back down,

Keeping your knee bent,

You're gonna extend the right leg long,

Pressing your heel towards the ceiling,

So you may have a slight bend in your knee,

Just feeling the stretch in the back of your right leg,

And you can keep the back of your thigh,

Or you can walk your hands higher up towards your ankle,

Good,

Maybe lifting your head and your shoulders if that feels better,

Maybe point and flex your foot,

Maybe make circles with your ankles,

And then bend your knee,

And hug both knees into your chest,

Again,

Walking from side to side,

Or making circles with your knees,

In one direction,

And then the other,

When you're ready,

Moving to the second side,

So holding your left knee in,

Extend your right leg long,

You can flex your foot and press your heel away,

Or you can keep your foot on the mat if that feels better,

Keeping your right knee bent,

Wherever you are,

You're pulling your left knee closer to your body,

And just notice where this knee wants to go,

Maybe it wants to come towards your chest,

Maybe towards the outside of your body,

And this side may feel different,

When we're doing different sides,

Don't expect them to look the same,

Because it probably won't,

And that's completely okay,

Make gentle,

Mindful movements,

Maybe rocking your knee from side to side,

Or making circles,

From here,

Bring your right hand to the outside of your knee,

We're going to cross it towards the right side,

Coming to our twist,

So left arm can be extended towards the left,

Or you can come to cactus,

With your left arm,

Maybe turning your hand towards the left,

Breathing into this twist,

Good,

Slowly come back to centre,

Keeping your knee bent,

Bend your right knee,

If your leg is extended,

And then flex your foot,

And bring your left ankle to the top of your right thigh,

And then you can stay here,

And maybe gently press your knee away,

Again be mindful of how this feels in your left knee,

And if this is enough,

Just stay here,

If you want a little bit more,

You can lift your right foot,

And just hug the back of your thigh,

Or your shin,

Keeping both feet flexed,

To protect your knees,

Just gently,

Maybe making movements,

Rocking from side to side,

Or staying in stillness,

Whatever your body needs here,

Good,

Slowly,

Right foot back down on the mat,

And you're going to straighten the left leg,

Extend your leg,

Long heel,

Pushing towards the ceiling,

Grabbing the back of your thigh,

Or moving your hands higher up towards your ankle,

Good,

Maybe pointing,

And flexing your foot,

And making circles,

In one direction,

And then the other,

Hug your knees in,

Gently rock from side to side,

And then from here roll onto your left side,

In a fetal position,

So using your left arm as a pillow on your head,

Just come into a fetal pose,

Hugging your knees close to your chest,

Exhale all the way around,

Good,

And then slowly push yourself up to a seat,

Come to a tabletop position,

So wrists under shoulders,

Knees right underneath your hips,

Spread your fingers wide,

Press your hands down,

Good,

You can keep your toes tucked if that feels better in your knees,

Or come to the tops of your feet,

And pull your belly towards your spine,

You're looking straight down so the back of your neck is long,

Now moving through some cat cows,

Inhale,

Drop your belly,

Open up your heart,

Look up,

As you exhale,

Round your back,

Tuck your tail,

And look down,

Inhale,

Drop your belly,

Open up your heart,

Look up,

Cow pose,

Exhale to round your back,

Tuck your tail,

Look down,

Cat pose,

One more leg back,

Inhale,

Come back to table,

From here extend your right leg back,

Keeping your toes tucked and on the mat,

Front to back,

And just notice how this feels in the back of your leg,

In your ankle,

In your wrists,

Making circles with your wrists in one direction,

And then the other,

And then you can stay here or if you like start to lift your heel up,

Keeping your foot flexed,

Toes pointing straight down,

And then pull your belly towards your spine,

Stay here,

Or if you like you can start to bring your weight onto your right palm,

And extend your left leg long in front of you,

Thumb faces up,

And pull your left shoulder away from your ear,

Down your back,

Good,

Belly to spine balancing here,

And balancing table,

Good,

Still looking straight down,

Take a deep breath in,

And a long breath out,

One more inhale,

And exhale,

Hand and knee down,

Come to tabletop pose,

Good,

Three more cat pose,

Inhale,

Drop your belly,

Open up your heart,

Cow pose,

Exhale to round your back,

Tuck your tail,

Look down,

Cat pose,

Inhale to cow,

Exhale to cat,

Good,

Come back to table,

And do the second side,

So extend the left leg back,

Keeping the toes tucked,

And on the mat,

Just rock back and forth a few times,

Just noticing how this feels in the back of your leg,

And the other,

Noticing how this feels in your wrists,

And then you can stay here if you like,

Or flex your foot and lift your heel up just to the level of your hips,

Toes pointing straight down,

And then again,

Stay here,

Or bring your weight onto your left hand,

And extend your right arm forward,

Thumb faces up,

Shoulder away from your ear,

Good,

Pull your belly towards your spine,

Breathing deeply,

Balancing air,

Good,

Take a deep breath in,

Exhale all the air out,

One more inhale,

Good,

Slowly come back to tabletop,

Bring your knees as wide as the mat,

Big toes together,

And then push your hips back,

Child's pose,

Good,

So just coming to child's pose,

Your arms can reach forward,

Elbows can come down to the mat,

And make sure your head is resting on something,

So you can bring your forehead all the way down to the mat,

Or maybe bring a block up your forehead,

Make sure your head is heavy,

Shoulders are soft,

Your neck is comfortable,

And you're pressing your hips back towards your heels,

Not necessarily touching,

And just feeling your body expand as you inhale,

And melt a little bit closer towards the mat as you exhale,

Inhale to expand,

Fill up with air,

Exhale,

Empty,

Empty,

Empty everything,

And move a little bit closer towards the mat,

Exhale,

Slowly come all the way up to your hands and knees,

Keeping your knees wide,

Big toes together,

Your next inhale,

You're going to lift your right arm all the way up towards the ceiling,

Good,

So stacking your shoulders,

Reaching up,

And then as you exhale,

Cross your right arm underneath the left,

And bring your right shoulder onto the mat,

Good,

Inhale to reach it up,

Stack your shoulders,

Maybe look up towards your thumb,

And then as you exhale,

Cross it under the left,

Bring your shoulder,

Just gently touch it towards the mat,

One more like that,

Inhale to reach up,

And then exhale,

Cross it under the left,

This time bringing your shoulder and the right side of your head on the mat,

And just feeling the stretch in your right shoulder,

Making sure there's no pain or discomfort,

Especially in your neck,

You can stay here,

Or if you like you can start to extend the left leg towards the left side,

And then bring your foot down on the mat,

So using your left foot to press you back a little bit,

You can keep your left hand on the mat,

Or you can bring your hand on top of the right palm,

And gently press your palm away from you,

Just noticing how this feels,

Making sure there's no pain or discomfort anywhere,

Especially in your shoulders and in your neck,

Feeling the stretch,

It should feel really good in your body,

Take a deep breath in,

Exhale all the air out,

One more inhale,

And as you exhale,

Slowly bring your left hand on the mat,

And bend your left knee,

Bring it down on the mat,

And then slowly come all the way back up to tabletop,

So again,

Adjust your knees if you need to,

Your knees are as wide as the mat,

Big toes together,

We're going to do the second side,

So bringing our weight onto your right palm,

Inhale to reach the left arm all the way up,

And exhale,

Cross it under the right,

Just gently tapping your left shoulder on the mat,

Inhale,

Reach it up,

Stack your shoulders,

Maybe look up towards your stomach,

And then exhale,

Cross it under the right,

Bringing your shoulder down to the mat,

One more like that,

Inhale to reach up,

Stack your shoulders,

And then exhale,

Cross it under the right,

And this time,

You're just going to bring your left shoulder,

Left side of your head,

Your temple on the mat,

Again,

Making any adjustments,

Making sure that there's no pain,

And then sit here,

Or if you like,

You can start to extend your right leg towards the right side,

Planting the foot down,

And using your foot to press yourself back towards the left side,

Right hand can stay on the mat,

Or you can bring your hand on top of your left hand,

And just gently press away,

This should feel really good in your shoulder,

So just be mindful of how it feels in your body,

And exhale,

Good,

Slowly,

Right hand on the mat,

Bend your right knee,

Bring it down on the mat,

And then you're going to slowly push yourself up to your hands and knees,

Bring your knees under your hips,

Walk your hands forward,

Tuck your toes,

And push your hips up and back,

Downward facing dog,

So in this downward dog,

Just notice how your body feels,

So maybe start to bend one knee and then the other,

Walking your dog slowly,

And mindful,

Just noticing how this feels in the back of your legs,

In your ankles,

In your hips,

And in your shoulders,

Good,

Maybe walking your feet,

Back distance,

And then back together,

Next inhale,

Lift your right heel all the way up,

And then bend your knee and stack your hips,

And see if you can press both hands down evenly,

And look straight down,

And so hips are stacked,

Take a deep breath in,

And then as you exhale,

Bring your right knee to your right elbow,

Inhale,

Lift it all the way up,

And then come back to downward facing dog,

We're going to do second time,

So inhale,

Left heel,

Reach it up,

Bend your knee and stack your hips,

See if you can keep your shoulders parallel,

So pressing both hands down evenly,

Opening up your hips towards the left side,

Take a deep breath in,

And as you exhale,

Left knee to your left elbow,

Inhale,

Lift it all the way up,

And come back down to downward facing dog,

From here,

Inhale,

Right heel up,

And as you exhale,

You're going to step your foot forward to the top of the mat,

Drop the back knee,

So coming to a lunge,

And you can come to the top of your back foot,

Or you can keep the toes tucked again if that feels better in your knees,

And then check your front knee,

Make sure it's right over your ankle,

So you're stacking your joints to protect your joints,

And from here,

You can stay here with your hands,

Fingertips on the mat,

You can bring your hands to blocks,

Or you can bring your hands to the top of your thigh,

Shoulders down your back,

Just notice where you feel this pose,

Inhale to open up your heart,

As you exhale,

Maybe go a little bit deeper into your lunge,

Just noticing how this feels in the top of your left thigh,

Slowly bring your hands to either side of the front foot,

And then as you inhale,

Pull your hips back,

Flex your foot,

Straighten your knee,

Exhale,

Back to your lunge,

Two more like that,

Inhale,

Pull your hips back,

Flex your foot,

And then exhale,

Come back forward,

One more like that,

Inhale,

Exhale,

From here,

Bring your hands to the inside of your foot,

Just heel toe,

Heel toe your right foot towards the right side,

Maybe letting your toes fall out,

Plant your left palm,

And then bring your right hand to your right thigh,

And gently press it away,

Coming into a twist,

Stacking your shoulders,

Making sure your knee is moving towards your toes,

Deep breath in,

Exhale,

Slowly come back,

Plant your right palm,

Step it back to table,

Inhale to drop your belly,

Open up your heart,

Look up,

Exhale,

Tuck your toes,

Push your hips up and back,

Down facing dog,

Inhale,

Left heel reaches all the way up,

Exhale,

Step it forward,

Top of the mat,

Drop the back knee,

Again,

Adjust your feet if you need to,

You can come to the top of the back foot,

Or keep the toes tucked,

Check your front knee,

It's over your ankle,

Stay here with your hands on the mat,

Or on blocks,

Or you can bring your hands on top of your thigh,

Just breathing deeply,

Shoulders soft,

Your jaw,

Your forehead,

Your gaze is soft,

Slowly bring your hands to either side of your foot,

And then moving with our breath,

So inhale,

Pull your hips back,

Straighten your knee,

Flex your foot,

Exhale,

Bend your knee,

Come back to your lunge,

Inhale,

Pull your hips back,

Straighten your leg,

Flex your foot,

Feeling the stretch in the back of your leg,

Exhale to bend your knee,

One more like that,

Inhale,

Pull back,

And exhale back to a full lunge,

Hands to the inside of your foot,

Heel toe,

Heel toe your foot towards the left side,

Letting your foot come to a slight angle so your toes are spilling off your mat,

And then plant your right palm,

And bring your left hand to the top of your left thigh,

Gently pressing it away,

Stacking your shoulders,

Coming into this twist,

Deep breath in,

One more inhale,

And exhale,

Slowly come back to your hands,

And then bring your left knee down,

Come to tabletop position,

And then walk your knees forward,

Cross your ankles,

And sit back into a seat,

Extend your legs long,

So come into a seat,

With your legs extended long,

Flex your foot,

Pressing your heels away,

And we're going to come to a four fold,

So start by sitting tall,

And inhale,

Reach your arms all the way up,

And then as you exhale,

See if you can keep your spine long as you fold forward,

Hinging from the hips,

And you can have a generous bend in your knees,

Focusing on your spine staying long,

Your hands can come to the mat,

You can grab anywhere on your legs,

Your feet,

Your toes,

With every inhale,

Your spine gets long,

With every exhale,

Maybe you'll lean a little bit closer to your legs,

Deep breath in,

Long breath out,

And then from here,

You're going to come to an easy inversion,

So you can start to extend your legs long,

Keeping your feet flexed,

Press your heels towards the ceiling,

So you can have a slight bend in your knees,

Or keep your legs straight,

And your hands can stay by your side,

You can bring your hands to your belly,

Shoulders soft,

Back to your back,

And we're just going to try to elevate our feet,

To help with blood circulation,

Heart health,

Taking a few breaths here,

And when you're ready,

Just make your way to our final posture,

Shavasana,

So make any other movements that you need here,

Maybe bring your feet as wide as the mat,

And gently rock your knees from side to side,

Maybe come to happy baby,

Anything else you need,

Before getting ready for Shavasana,

So you can extend your legs long,

Arms by your side,

Palms face up,

And then starting from your feet,

Soften your feet,

Your toes,

Your ankles,

Your legs,

Let your hips be heavy,

Grounded,

Soften your lower back,

Your belly,

Soften your upper back,

Your chest,

Your heart center,

Let your shoulders be heavy and grounded,

Arms soft,

Palms facing up,

Fingers gently curled in,

Soften your jaw,

Your lips,

Your cheeks,

Your eyes,

Soften your forehead,

Let your head be heavy,

Let your whole body feel comfortable,

Grounded,

Supported by your mat,

Take a deep breath in through your nose,

And as you exhale,

See if you can soften everything down,

Slowly start to bring something back into your body,

Bring your feet together,

Let your toes reach your arms overhead,

Come to a full body stretch,

Stretching your body,

Waking up your body like for the first time today,

Take a deep breath in,

Exhale,

Let it all go,

Slowly bend one knee and the other,

Curl onto your right side in a fetal position,

Using your bottom arm as a pillow,

Fetal pose when you're ready,

Slowly push yourself up to a comfortable seat,

Sitting with your spine tall,

Your neck straight,

Chin parallel to the mat,

Soften your gaze or close your eyes,

Bring your hands by your side,

Inhale,

Reach all the way up,

Palms touch overhead,

Exhale,

Hands to your heart center,

Bow your head to your hands and thank yourself for coming to your mat today,

For spending this time for yourself,

For your practice,

Thumbs to your third eye,

The space between your eyebrows,

May your thoughts be kind,

Thumbs to your lips,

May your words be caring,

Thumbs to your heart center,

May your heart be filled with love and gratitude,

Thank you for practicing with me today,

Namaste.