Namaste.
I'm so glad you're here.
I'm Danya and I'll be guiding you in this restful experience.
Go ahead and gather some props to make your nest of rest.
Whenever you're ready,
Let's start together.
Come to lay on your mat.
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Place one hand on your heart and the other on your belly.
Ask yourself,
What do I feel now?
Allowing everything to be present all at once.
Just notice.
Become aware of everything you're feeling in this moment and allowing it to just be.
Everything is okay just as it is.
Let this be your time to soften,
Breathe and reconnect.
Restorative yoga isn't about stretching.
It's about sensing and cultivating interoception.
Our ability to perceive deeply our own physical body.
Can you put aside thoughts just for now and let your awareness sink into your body.
Feel the weight of your hips and the tug of gravity as you exhale.
Take a full inhale through your nose.
Slow and easy.
Feel the lightness of breath floating up through the back of your body to the crown of your head.
Just for now,
It's enough to be with your own beautiful breath.
This is enough.
As we move through our shapes,
I invite you to bring a sense of compassion to your practice.
Setting aside any expectations so you can accept your experience just as it is with open awareness and curiosity.
Let's prepare ourselves to move into our first pose.
Set up your bolster lengthwise on your mat,
Propping up the far end with a block.
Lie back over your bolster so your back is supported and your heart is gently lifted.
Soles of the feet together,
Knees falling wide for this reclined heart opener.
You may support your thighs with blocks or cushions so your legs can relax.
Arms rest at your side,
Rolling open the shoulders so your palms are facing up.
Or let your hands land on your body.
Let your weight drop into the support.
Feel yourself being held.
With each exhale,
See if you can connect with a sense of ease.
Inhale fully.
Exhale into a deepening sense of release.
What sensations are present?
Is there any area of your body that might be gripping or holding?
Tension is our body's way to protect us.
But here,
Now,
We can let our muscles take a break.
This moment is yours,
A sacred pause,
A space of rest among all the doing of your day.
A time to be instead of do.
Welcome the stillness.
Feel your thoughts drift away,
Sinking awareness into your body and surrendering any effort to achieve something.
For the moment,
Set striving aside and just allow.
The mind begins to fall quiet.
Inhale gently into the low belly.
Feel it expand like a balloon.
Exhale and soften your inner thighs.
Breathe into the ribs.
Notice their rise and fall like gentle waves.
Exhale and soften your abdomen.
Inhale into the back of the body.
Let your exhale spill down through your spine.
Feel the weight of your arms,
Heavy,
Warm against the ground.
Bring breath awareness to your chest.
Does it feel open,
Tight,
Neutral?
Inhaling,
Feel it expand.
Exhale,
Soften your heart.
Feel the gentle rhythm of the breath.
Inhale into sensation.
And exhale into gravity.
Let each exhale bring you deeper into rest.
Just take a moment as you breathe to visualize as you inhale light pouring into the cells of the body.
Imagine your body receiving prana,
Life force energy.
Inhale this healing vitality.
And as you exhale,
Any stagnancy or stuckness in the body is released.
Taking your final rounds of breath before we transition.
Slowly begin to make your way up to a seated position.
Placing your hands on the floor behind your back,
Soles of the feet on the floor,
Let your knees drop to one side.
And then the other side.
Like windshield wipers,
Slowly moving from side to side.
Opening the hips and bringing some movement into your spine.
Let's move into our next pose.
Bring yourself down to the floor and roll to your right side into a fetal position.
Knees stacked and place a pillow or bolster between your knees.
Perhaps it feels nice to roll inward,
Bringing your cheek to the mat and resting your arms in the shape of a cactus.
This pose mimics the position we floated in for nine months.
A shape deeply associated with safety and containment.
Make any micro adjustments so that you feel completely at ease.
We aren't looking for a stretch,
We want to be able to relax the muscles.
So there's no need to go into a deep twist.
Feel the weight of your body on the ground.
Inhale into your side ribs.
Notice the gentle expansion.
And exhale and feel the release in your lower back,
Your shoulders,
The back of your neck,
How does it feel to be supported?
What does it feel like to be held?
With as little movement as possible,
Roll yourself onto your other side.
Feel here the contact points where your body touches the surfaces supporting you.
Let your attention wander through your body.
Allow yourself to sink into the experience of deep and soothing relaxation.
Observing how the body begins to feel heavier and denser.
More grounded with every exhalation.
Feeling this heaviness in the body now.
Imagine that all of the limbs are heavy.
The torso is heavy.
Whole body heavy and relaxed.
Give your muscles permission to take a break.
Can you feel how the fascia begins to unravel?
Allow yourself to sink into the embrace of the surface beneath you.
Give yourself permission to rest.
And relax completely.
Slowly begin to make your way out of this shape.
Coming up to sit.
For our final pose,
We will come into a restorative inversion.
Viparita carini,
Legs up the wall.
Hips can be elevated slightly with a blanket or flat surface.
Place one folded blanket close to the wall and one close by so you can bring it under the back of your head.
Shift your hips close to the wall and as you come to lay down with your sacrum on your blanket,
Swing your legs up the wall.
You may need to roll yourself out to readjust.
Perhaps moving your bottom a little further away from the wall so the back of the legs can relax.
If this shape doesn't feel right for you,
You could try resting the back of your shins over a chair or a bed instead.
Place the blanket behind your head so your neck is supported.
Arms rest by your side,
Palms up.
Let the weights of your legs drop into your pelvis.
Exhale,
Let your pelvis soften.
This is deeply therapeutic and one of the most nervous system calming shapes.
Easing the work of the heart,
We give our hearts a rest.
Breathe into the heart space.
Exhale,
Feel your heart soften.
Notice where you feel any resistance in the back of your legs.
Relaxing your glutes,
Hamstrings,
Back of the knees,
Shins,
Ankles,
Soles of your feet.
Your whole body soft and relaxed.
Feeling relaxation soaking into your skin,
Permeating through all of your cells and all of the fibers of your being.
Your entire body filled with a sense of deep rest and relaxation.
Allowing your mind and your body to receive this rest.
Keep returning to your breath to anchor your awareness in your body.
Breathe deeply,
Feel your heartbeat slowing.
Feel your legs softening from the inside out.
Feel how stillness has a rhythm of its own.
Let your breath be like water,
Filling your body and gently receding.
Let the breath remind you that your body naturally knows what to do.
Without interfering,
Just let yourself be breathed.
Take a slow breath in and exhale.
Settling into stillness.
Let your body be supported.
Let the earth beneath you hold you.
Allowing yourself to pause.
Allowing yourself to soften.
If you wish to remain in this shape,
Stay as long as you need.
If you feel ready to return to your day,
Wrap your arms around your chest.
Fingers moving towards your shoulder blades and give yourself a hug.
Experience the feeling of gratitude for taking time to nourish yourself.
Take a moment to set an intention for the rest of your day.
And slowly roll to your side.
Pausing for a moment in a fetal position.
Press up slowly to a seated shape,
Cross-legged or any comfortable shape.
Place one hand on your belly and one on your chest.
Notice how you feel now compared to when you started.
Does your body feel softer?
Is your mind moving slower?
Or maybe you just feel a little more present.
May you carry this sense of centeredness and balance that you've cultivated throughout the rest of your day.
From my heart to yours,
Thank you for practicing stillness today.
