Welcome to your yin yoga practice.
Before we begin just take a moment to make sure you have everything you need for your practice today.
You'll need a yoga mat and if you're in a cooler climate make sure you have a blanket to cover yourself with during the relaxation at the end.
You may also need to support your body with props in some of the postures.
If you have yoga blocks those are great but you can also use cushions or pillows or a folded blanket to support yourself.
So make sure that you have some of those with you in case you need them.
Yin yoga is a passive practice where postures are held for several minutes to stretch into the connective tissues.
These tissues are delicate and can be injured if they're stretched too forcefully or intensely.
It's good to be able to feel that something is happening but you should never be forcing a stretch or pushing yourself into a position and you never want to be feeling any physical pain as you practice.
Pain is a signal from your body that the position that you're in is not safe or beneficial for you.
So if you do feel any pain at any time come out of the pose.
You can come into a resting position until the next posture or you can move back into another posture from the class that you didn't experience any pain in.
If you have any injuries or health conditions make sure to consult with your doctor before starting a new practice.
Yin yoga can have many benefits for health and recovery but it's important that your body is suitably recovered that the stretches will benefit the tissues and won't potentially make the injury worse.
So do please check with your doctor first for your safety.
As this is an audio session I'll talk you in and out of the postures verbally but if at any time you're unsure of a posture and don't know if you're in the right position you can always pause the recording and do a quick internet search to bring up a picture.
I've included names for all of the postures so that you can easily do this if you need to.
We're going to start today's practice in child's pose.
So from kneeling bring your big toes together and open your knees out to the sides of the mat.
Sit back onto your heels and bring your chest forwards between your legs,
Reaching your arms out to the top of the mat.
If you would like to support your body here you can take a block or a cushion onto your heels to sit back onto or you can place a block under your head.
Or if it feels best stack your arms and rest your forehead onto your forearms.
Once you've found where your body wants to be scan over your body to see if there are any parts that you can relax here.
Make sure that your thighs are relaxed,
Your shoulders are relaxed and feel into your body.
Take a moment here to feel into how your body is feeling today.
There may be some places which feel a little tight today that are ready for some release.
And there may be some other places which feel more relaxed,
More comfortable.
Just observe.
Yin Yoga is a practice of being,
Feeling,
Observing and breathing.
We don't need to do anything or try to make anything happen.
Once we arrive into each of the postures all we need to do is just be here and be with whatever is happening in our bodies.
And just by surrendering into the postures,
Feeling and observing we make space for all of the magic to happen.
Continue to observe the sensations that arise in your body as you rest in this position.
There's no need to think about why anything feels the way it does or why anything in your body is the way that it is.
Just watch and feel.
You're welcome to stay here if this posture is giving you what you need right now.
Or to come into a twisting child's pose,
Just lift your upper body here and walk your hands over towards the right,
Bringing your chest over your right thigh and relax back forwards resting the chest onto the thigh.
You can support your forehead here with a block or with your stacked forearms if that feels best for you.
Observe the new sensations that arise now that your body is in this different position.
If there are any areas that feel a little tighter here,
That feel more uncomfortable,
Use the breath to help those areas to release.
Inhale into the tension or discomfort and allow the exhalation to carry some of that tension away.
Yin yoga can be considered to be a meditation on your body.
As you rest in each of the postures your body becomes your mantra as you simply observe.
So in your practice today,
Keep your mind on your body.
Continue to feel,
To observe.
And it's natural that at times your mind will wander away and you'll start to think about different things.
But whenever you notice that happening,
Just very gently come back to your body.
Come back to the sensations that the posture is bringing up for you.
And we'll go to the other side.
So lift your chest and walk the hands towards the left,
Bringing the chest over the left thigh.
And relax the chest down over the leg.
Support your head here if that feels best for you.
Often our two sides are very different,
So feel into the new sensations that arise for you on this side.
Keep breathing into any tension.
We'll just take a few more breaths here.
And walk your hands back to the centre and slowly walk the hands in to bring your spine back up to straight.
And from here,
Make your way down to lying on your belly for Sphinx pose.
For Sphinx,
Bring the elbows under the shoulders and the forearms parallel to the sides of the mat,
So that your chest lifts.
If this feels too intense for your back,
Walking the arms forwards will reduce the intensity.
And you can also stack the forearms and rest the forehead onto the forearms.
And this will still give you that gentle backbending shape.
If your chest is lifted,
You can keep your head looking straight forwards or drop your chin to your chest.
And relax into the posture here.
Observe the new sensations that come up in this position.
Keep breathing into any tension.
If you find that your mind has wandered away,
Very gently come back to your body.
Back to your breath.
Back to the feeling of being in this posture.
We'll just stay here for a few more breaths.
Bring the hands under your shoulders to push yourself back up onto your hands and knees.
And let's come back into Child's Pose.
Bring your toes together again.
Open your knees and sit back onto your heels.
Bringing the chest between the legs and the forehead to the mat.
And taking any support that you need.
Often it's when we come back into a posture that we were in previously that we can really feel some effects from the practice.
So observe what you feel in this position this time round.
Any time your mind wanders away,
Gently come back to your body.
Slowly walk the hands in to come back up to kneeling.
And make your way down to lying on your back for your relaxation.
Make sure that you're going to be warm and comfortable.
You can support your head with a block or take a rolled up blanket under your knees or your ankles.
And you can lie in Shavasana with your legs extended and your feet resting towards the corners of the mat.
With your arms at your sides and the palms facing upwards.
Or if it feels better for your back,
Bring your feet to the mat at hip distance apart.
And let the knees fall in together.
Allow your body to completely relax here.
Notice how every exhalation guides your body a little more deeply into relaxation.
And these next few minutes are yours to simply be.
To enjoy the feelings that arise inside your body as a result of your practice.
Slowly begin to reawaken your body.
Make some small movements with the fingers and the toes.
Circle the wrists and the ankles.
And bring the arms up over your head for a long stretch down the sides.
Bend the knees,
Bring the knees into your chest.
Hug the knees.
And rock gently from side to side.
Massaging out the lower back.
And when you're ready,
Roll over to one side and make your way back up to sitting.
Come to sitting with your eyes closed and take a moment to feel into your body.
To notice any effects from your practice.
And when you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes to return to your day.
This brings us to the end of the practice.
Thank you for joining me.
