Yin Yoga - A Heartfelt Reference

The following yin yoga practice taps into the broad intelligence of a heart connection.

For this practice we need a soft or supporting ground surface,

A mat or carpet,

A rolled up beach towel,

Like a bigger towel,

Or a rolled up blanket and a meditation cushion or any other pillow,

Like a pillow from the couch for example.

So to prepare ourselves for this practice we might want to gather this material and then get ready for an opening practice where we will breathe into the diaphragm.

So find yourself a comfortable but upright seated posture,

Maybe crossing the legs any way body allows.

Noticing both sitting bones grounded,

Shoulders over the hips and the head over the shoulders,

Where we will rest the attention on the breath while resting the body into gravities and praise.

Maybe starting with a deep inhalation through both nostrils and a long exhalation through the mouth releasing the jaws and arriving into a natural space of breathing.

No matter if the breath is high or low,

Fast or slow,

Noticing its manifestation,

Its form,

Its presence.

And then starting to guide the thumbs of the hands to touch the area of the lowest ribs.

So searching with the thumbs on the outside of the diaphragm to rest the thumbs on the lowest ribs.

Then resting the pinky fingers on top of the hips and the other fingers in between where we will start guiding the breath deeper into the diaphragm.

So an inhalation brings movement into the diaphragm like a ball expanding.

And an exhalation smaller,

Ball arriving,

Softening.

For around 4 heartbeats we breathe in through the nose,

Directed into the diaphragm.

And the same amount around 4 heartbeats out through the nose or through the mouth.

Seeing the moving under the fingers,

Inhaling,

Expanding,

Sidewards.

And exhaling,

Softening,

Coming back.

And 3 more conscious breaths here,

Deepening the breath,

Fully filling up the lungs.

And fully emptying the lungs again.

Two more here.

And one.

Waiting to the full exhalation,

The emptiness,

The pause.

Then we release the hands back down,

Relaxing the shoulders.

When we turn the palms up we can bring the 4 fingers in and the thumb closes around.

So we make fists with both hands.

Present but gentle.

We can start tapping onto the chest space.

This is gently tapping,

Tapping on the top part of the chest,

Both hands,

The lower part,

The diaphragmal part.

Tapping around naturally on different areas of the chest and diaphragm.

From a pulse movement we keep on tapping.

We can tap around towards the shoulder,

The left shoulder and the right shoulder.

Noticing the rhythm,

The intensity that comes from a choice or unconscious choice.

Tapping the heart space.

Just a few more breaths here.

And slowly releasing the hands when you are ready.

Allowing the fingers to open again.

And we inhale,

Make fists again,

Bring some strength to the arms.

Keep the hands low.

Exhaling opening,

Releasing the fingers.

Now we can rest the hands on the knees.

And we are going to curl open,

The chest moves forward,

You might notice the hips moving back,

Lifting the chin.

And curling,

Rounding,

Noticing the chest closing in,

The back rounding,

Chin moves towards the chest.

And again opening,

Noticing the spine here,

The curl,

The opening.

And the spiral when we close.

Guiding on the breath,

Inhale opening,

Shoulders move back,

Chest expands.

And closing like a protective layer wrapped around the heart,

Two more times.

Inhale,

Exhale.

And again inhale,

Exhale moving back,

Full exhalation,

Moving back to the centre where the spine is upright.

And we can start rotating,

So we move the shoulders to the left side,

We lean a bit into the left side,

Move open to the front,

Towards the right side,

Towards the back.

And again into the left.

Circles,

Rotation around the axis.

And towards the left,

To the front,

To the right and back.

You might even notice a connection between the breathing and the movement here.

And starting to change directions,

Towards the right side,

To the front,

Leaning in the left,

Into the back,

Towards the right side.

And again this rotation.

Breath on the foreground once again and noticing the spiral,

The rotation and the all spinal response around.

And slowly coming back to the centre.

From here we will move into a forward fold so we can start to release the legs.

So stretching out the left and the right leg until the heels,

The calves and the back of the hamstrings,

Sitting bones are connected into the floor.

You sense some tightness here in the hamstrings,

You might want to bring a rolled up towel or blanket under the knees so we can be more straight into the spine.

And we can use the meditation cushion or any other pillow under the belly while we fold over into a forward fold,

A caterpillar.

So we might start becoming aware of the whole back of the body.

A gentle pressure into the kidney region.

The kidneys create a meridian circle with the heart,

Leading from fear into trust and wisdom.

Can relax the neck and fold as much forward as the body allows.

And we are now doing things that there is support of the material that we gathered to lean on.

So we can start softening in the watery tissues,

Relaxing the arms,

The hands can drop next to the body.

The more we relax the muscul tissues,

The deeper the practice feels.

When we are used to a yin yoga practice and we have more material we might even rest the forehead on the block.

But there is no need for now,

Just one more minute here.

Not to think there is long sensations along the back of the legs,

The sides of the spine,

All the way to the top of the head.

And now the same breath by breath,

How we are,

So close to the heart at this moment.

So protecting,

Like a caterpillar wrapped into a cocoon.

Getting close to this beating heart.

Noticing the safety in this space,

The natural protection we offer the heart in times that it is needed.

Another three more conscious breaths here.

Where we can inhale and sense and exhale,

Drop a little bit more,

Exhaling longer.

And as every caterpillar transforms we will move out of this cocoon into a space that is more open.

So we can walk back with our hands to an upright position of spine.

We can place one by one the feet into the floor,

Allowing the arms to be supported.

And then just maybe shake a little bit into the legs.

Just a gentle shaking,

Noticing the watery elements,

The softer tissues of the calves,

The hamstrings.

Some gentle movement to release the sensations.

And then slowly coming back to a seated posture of choice.

So we can go back into a meditation posture that is accessible or seated underneath,

Maybe even with a cushion underneath the buttocks,

The pelvic floor.

So finding our way to a seated posture where we can allow the spine to be upright and the shoulders to be relaxed.

Dropping the sitting bones down.

And then stretching out the left arm towards the left,

Parallel to the floor,

Turning the thumb down.

And on an exhalation bringing the back of the hand onto your own back,

Maybe in between the shoulder blades or a bit lower.

And on an inhalation,

Right arm parallel to the floor,

Stretch it out.

Turning the thumb down and on an exhalation bringing the right hand with the back of the hand towards the spine.

Now there's options here.

Could place the hands with the fingers pointed up into prayer position,

If accessible.

Or interlace the hands around the elbows,

Gently holding the arms with the hands.

Bounding.

And here we arrive into a heart space that has a strong element with bonding,

With healthy referencing relationships to feel connected.

Allowing the gold of the heart to crack through gently breath by breath.

Where we will feel usually sensations along the arms,

Chest and shoulders.

Might be feeling a bit like a blue spot.

As long as it's not a pain,

We're able to experience compression here.

Every in breath sends oxygen through the heart,

Through the blood,

In all directions.

And every out breath is a letting go,

An expel of deoxygenated blood.

And the arriving and the letting go.

The invitation is to allow the breath to be as a good friend.

Always here when we need it.

Just holding space like big wings wrapped around the experience.

And from that space of connection and awareness can become curious about physical sensations.

Any emotions that suddenly want to flash through come with physical sensations.

Noticing the tingling,

The push,

The pull.

Any pulsation.

The heart can hold it all.

And three more conscious breaths here.

Softening the touch of the fingers.

Dropping in this space of awareness.

And slowly releasing the right arm and the left arm.

Watching the change.

Sensations blurring out like a mist rising up over the horizon,

Disappearing out of sight.

It's these few moments that we really notice the impermanency of these sensations.

The intensity that has gradation.

And from here we might want to just shake from the pulses the hands.

Just shaking the hands like you have water on your fingers and you want to shake it off.

Just like that.

We can allow the shoulders to move into this shaking.

Maybe some rotation,

Gentle rotations for the neck.

Just a few more breaths here with this movement.

Then moving back into the stillness for the last pose where we will start to place again the buttocks in contact with the floor surface.

So without any cushioning.

And we can have the feet in front of us.

Knees moving up to the ceiling.

And then rolling onto the rolled up blanket.

So the invitation is to open the chest while we lay on the floor.

What you need for this is a rolled up towel or blanket which we will place behind us so it will end up right under the shoulder blades leaving the lower back free and the neck free.

So once you have set up the rolled up blanket behind you,

You can start to lay over it.

So lean back,

Dropping the shoulders,

The shoulder blades onto this rolled up blanket and it should be soft enough that the head can just lean back.

If it is still too strong for the neck,

You might want to place another blanket under the head.

And from that moment on we will feel that elevation of the chest.

We can drop the arms along the body,

Palms open or leave the hands on the belly.

And from here we feel the connection of the hips into the floor.

Which invites us to stretch out the legs,

Just let them drop.

Or even placing the soles of the feet together in butterfly,

Allowing the knees to fall to one side,

Each opening the right and left.

It's all welcome.

It's the last minutes of practice where we will notice the openness again in the chest area or just relaxed enough to surrender.

Noticing if there is any resistance,

Any holding on or any sharp sensations that ask for conscious choice to adapt.

Noticing the shift between thoughts,

Impulses and appropriate response which will be invited here from a place of empathy and love.

Letting off the harsh voice with forgiveness and noticing that each breath is a new arrival,

Like a door opening.

Each out breath letting go,

Moment by moment.

And here is a present connection to the abdominal space,

You might feel that opening.

Where the heart opens into the quality of small intestine.

The one that is sorting out what is important and what to eliminate and this counts for body and mind.

How do we allow as nourishing and how do we choose to eliminate,

To let go?

In the form of thoughts,

Judgements as well as in the form of nutrients.

And that doesn't mean that all elements won't arrive.

But this means that this body is a guest house.

Where emotions that are present at this moment are welcome to arrive,

Manifest and to go,

Release.

Same with thoughts,

Because when they are welcome they will be recognized,

Not pushed away.

And that's the moment we realize what's important and nourishing and what to let go.

Just a few more breaths here,

Releasing physical tensions anywhere that are still squeezing or holding on.

From the feet,

The knees,

The glutes,

The buttocks,

Shoulders,

The face,

The neck,

Arms and hands.

Slowly we can do the opposite,

So we can start connecting with our ground,

Our surface and safety to come out.

So my invitation is to bring the feet into the floor,

Allowing the knees to turn up towards the sky,

Feet connected to the ground and simply roll off the blanket to one side of the body,

Maybe to the right side,

Keeping the space open towards the heart.

And staying there for a while in this child's pose,

Where we come back to this inner child.

And the protectiveness.

Getting on the one side of the body for a few more breaths here.

And then we can choose to remove the blanket all the way,

So we can roll back flat into Shavasana,

Resting pose,

Or roll up to seated to conclude our practice.

Breathing a slight smile into the corners of the eyes.

And on an exhalation a drop,

A drop of this breath ripples circles towards the heart,

Into the belly,

Releasing the belly,

Into the hips.

Roll a slight smile in and outside.

May the practice benefit your wellbeing and therefore other beings wellbeing.

Namaste.