Hi Yogis,
I'm Nicole.
Thanks for joining me today.
Today I have a restorative practice for you which is therapeutic for the lung and large intestine meridian.
Now there's no direct anatomical connection between these two organs,
However they share a similar energetic purpose.
Take in the new and release the old.
If we are experiencing an imbalance in these energetic lines,
Then we have an inability to let go.
Could be of relationships,
Emotions or belief systems.
We're generally experiencing grief,
A deep sorrow.
And attachment to the past.
So the intention of this practice is to.
.
.
Clear away the heaviness.
Toxicity that the body might be holding onto to create spaciousness,
Lightness.
So we have two blocks for this practice.
If you've only got the one block,
You can improvise with a rolled up towel as well.
If you don't have any blocks,
Grab yourself a pillow and a rolled up towel.
We'll also use the wall for the first two postures.
So do position yourself close to the wall.
And when you're ready,
Come up to stand for me.
Beginning on the right side,
Step away from the wall so that you can straighten your arms.
So I'll demonstrate sideways first.
I'm taking the palm of the hand to the wall,
Fingertips pointing down.
From there,
Let's bring in a little back bend.
Expand the chest and look back towards your left heel.
Relax the jaw.
Be with your breath.
And let's release.
Step in a little closer now and take that arm directly behind you.
Spread the fingers wide.
Press the pads of the fingers into the wall,
Turn the eye of the elbow to face the wall,
And bring the shoulder down.
Your left arm can cross in front of the torso.
And again,
Look down towards your left heel.
So we're guiding the left hip back a little.
So this is not only therapeutic for the lung and large intestine meridians,
But it's also really therapeutic for the brachial nerve plexus,
Which is a cluster of nerves in our shoulders.
So this posture helps to target that.
And we don't ever want to stretch our nerves,
But they need to be able to slide and glide.
When they get stuck,
That's when we experience pain.
And that's really.
.
.
Give the shoulders a roll.
You might be noticing an obvious difference already from one side to the other.
Take our left palm to the wall,
Palm facing down.
Fingertips pointing down.
Expand the check.
And look back towards your right hand.
And let's step in a little closer now.
Take the hand directly behind you.
Pressing pads of the fingers into the wall.
Turn the eye and the elbow to face them.
Let's release.
Give those shoulders a roll.
Well done,
Yogi.
Make your way down to the mat.
We'll come to a comfortable seated position.
Will practice.
Acupressure points so it doesn't matter what the legs are doing here you can sit yourself up on the block if you need to When you're ready,
We'll begin with lung one and two points.
So the easiest way to find these is to cross the hands.
And we can use our pointer fingers and our middle finger.
Come to the bottom.
Of the clavicle And then on the bottom of the clavicle,
Just trace those fingers out towards the armpits and you should find a little indent.
So inadvertently using those two fingers,
We are most likely stimulating both points one and two at the same time.
You can gently apply pressure or maybe a circular movement.
It is natural to feel a little tender here,
That's okay.
Acupressure point one is set to empower our inspiration And acupressure point number two is said to clear the grief that clouds the heart.
And let's relax those hands down.
Well done yogis.
One more pressure point.
This one is for the large intestine and we're using our hands for this one.
If you are pregnant,
Please avoid this acupressure point.
You can jump ahead to the next section.
So from here,
We'll start,
Doesn't matter which hand you start with.
Just trace your finger from.
.
.
The base knuckle of your pointer finger.
Towards the web of the palm now this point isn't right in the web it's more up towards the bone and again you'll feel a little divot a little depression and quite often it can be tender.
So this is especially therapeutic for constipation.
It will help stimulate that digestion.
And it's also the gateway for clearing toxicity.
These acupressure points,
It's therapeutic to stimulate them anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes.
You can stay longer if you want to,
You can always pause the class.
And we'll change sides.
Well done,
Yogis.
Let's inhale the arms out wide.
Now as you exhale,
Cross the right arm on top of the left.
Now you can either take the hands to the shoulders or eagle arms,
Garudasana,
Binding once or twice.
Whichever arm variation you've come into,
Gently press those forearms together.
Welcome the breath in the upper back and shoulders.
That space behind the heart center.
On your next inhalation,
Open out the arms.
And as you exhale,
Left hand to the floor,
Right hand to cradle the head.
Point the right elbow up to the ceiling.
Inhale to expand the chest and as you exhale round down point the elbow towards the knee Slowly follow the inhalation to come back up.
Exhale rounding down.
Begin the breath.
Before the movement.
And next time you inhale,
Lifting up the arm,
You can reach the hand overhead and gently press down and away through the left palm so you're tractioning here.
You can look down to the mat or up towards the arm.
And let's change sides.
Inhale arms out wide.
Exhale left over the right.
Gently pressing those forearms together.
Relax the jaw.
Welcome the breath in the upper body.
Let's unravel those arms.
Right hand to the floor,
Left hand to cradle the head.
Moving with your breath.
Coming over into your side bend when you're ready.
And coming all the way out.
Well done,
Yogis.
So from here,
We'll use our props.
So if you've got the two blocks.
You'll have one.
On the flat side and the second block you can take to the second height for the head.
If you don't have the two blocks,
It's the rolled up towel you'll have underneath your shoulders and either the pillow or the block underneath the head.
When you're ready,
Come on down.
Lining up that bottom prop.
With the bottom of your shoulder blade.
Ladies,
If you're wearing a bra,
It will be in line with your bra strap.
You might choose to rest here with those knees bent or you can straighten and relax the legs.
Whichever feels best for your back.
If you would like to go deeper,
Then you can lower the prop underneath the head,
Or you can remove it altogether.
And gently breathing into the heart center.
And simply sip the inhalation.
Welcome.
That spaceship.
Lingering pool.
Before gradually releasing the exhalation.
And what no longer share.
Well done,
Yogis.
Let's bend those knees.
You might like to come halfway up to seated or maybe you can roll off to your side just to remove those problems.
And then come to lay on your back.
One phone in your back.
Take a moment with the knees bent,
Hands can rest on the navel.
And feeling the meeting points between the upper body and the mat.
See if you can breathe into any newfound space.
And from here,
Yogis,
Bring the feet a little closer together.
Let's take the right arm out to the side.
Place your left hand on your heart.
Inhaling,
Heal.
And then as you exhale,
Trace your left palm along the inner right arm as you roll onto your side,
Either resting with the palms together or reach your left palm beyond the right.
Look down to the mat or over your shoulder.
As you inhale unravel palm traces along the inner arm back to the heart and change sides.
Keeping as much contact with the palm along the inner arm as you can.
Following the breath.
We'll do three on each side.
And eventually coming back.
Onto your spine.
Once you've arrived,
Reach for your prop once again.
This time we'll come into a supported bridge pose.
So lifting up the hips and you might have the block on the flat side or you can turn it up to the second height.
Take a moment to tuck the shoulders under.
Lengthen the back of the neck.
Let's just bring our fingertips to our chest just below the collarbone and a little tap in here.
Let's gently tap from the stern and out towards the armpit.
And take the hands a little lower,
Fingertips to the diaphragm now,
Just where those ribs start to separate.
And you might like to just gently apply pressure,
Maybe a circular massage or a tap,
Whichever feels best.
You might notice that you're a little tender here.
Find a nurturing breath.
Find a nurturing breath.
As you gently massage the diaphragm.
You can stay longer if you need to otherwise lowering those hands down.
And once you lower your hands out to the side,
You might like to take pran wardrobe.
Connecting the tip of your pinky and your ring finger to the thumb.
So pran mudra.
The mudra of life.
Supports our emotional balance.
Our vitality.
Our inspiration.
Observe the breath.
Gently moving the body.
Feel the front side of the body expand as you inhale.
Navel,
Ribs and chest in all directions.
A little pause before you exhale slowly.
When you're ready to release the pose,
Turn the palms down.
Press down and away through the feet as you lift up the hips and remove the block from underneath you.
Let's lift up those heels as well and slowly feed the spine back down to the mat.
When you touch down to the mat,
Lift up the feet and press your hands into your knees.
Pull your knees back into your hand and imprint your lower back into the mat.
Your next exhalation,
Hug the knees into the chest.
Then as you inhale,
Reach the heels up to the ceiling,
Arms above the head.
Exhale,
Hug it in.
Inhale,
Reaching out.
Last one.
Well then,
Yogis,
Bend those knees once again.
If you've got the two blocks,
Just place them.
Just on the flat side,
Below the bottom.
And then we'll hug the knees into the chest,
Curl up into a little ball.
And on your next inhalation.
Let's lower into Shavasana.
Taking up as much space on the mat as feels good.
I encourage you to take pran mudra once again.
Soften the forehead.
The tongue and jaw.
And let's together.
Inhale.
Smoothly.
Deeply and whole.
And exhale for five.
Pull.
3.
Cheers.
Wow!
Inhale your sense of gratitude.
Find a lingering pause.
Before you exhale for five.
Four.
3.
To.
One.
You Feel the in-breath touch the nostril.
Begin to swallow if the mouth is dry.
You might like to wiggle those toes and fingers.
And following any urges to move or stretch.
In your own time rolling to your preferred side.
And let's gently bring ourselves up to seated.
Well done,
Yogis.
Do set yourself up on one of your blogs.
Or your cushion.
And we'll just do a little pranayama before we close our practice.
I encourage you to take pran mudra through the left hand.
We'll raise the right hand,
Middle finger and pointer finger to the third eye centre.
Ensure that you're sitting nice and tall.
Lift through the crown of the head.
Slightly drop the chin and lean back just a little.
Your heart is held high.
The shoulders relax.
Let's block the right nostril and inhale through the left only.
And then exhale through both nostrils.
Block the left nostril,
Inhale right only.
Exhale through bow.
Continue on.
Inhale left.
Exhale both.
Inhale,
Rise.
Exhale both.
The next time you inhale through the right side is your last time.
And as you exhale through both nostrils,
Lower the right hand down,
Take pran mudra.
Feel the breath touching both nostrils.
Let's bring those hands to prayer position,
Anjali Mudra.
Heart center and then raise the hands to the third eye center.
For clarity of thought.
Lower those fingertips to the lips.
For purity and honesty.
In our speech.
And hands to the heart centre for love and compassion.
In all that we do.
Thank you,
Yogi.
