Stress Relief Gentle Yoga and Meditation | Accessible Yoga

Welcome,

My name is Laia Bove.

Take some time to grab water.

Maybe if you want to practice on the ground,

Maybe you grab a yoga mat or a blanket or sometimes maybe you have a rug that's soft enough that will do.

You could also sit on a chair or lay down on your bed if you're at home,

Right?

So just give yourself some time to grab anything that you may need.

Also start lying down if you want to lie down.

If you'd rather stay sitting up,

You can stay sitting up.

Maybe you bring yourself to lean against a wall or something.

And again,

If you have pillows,

Maybe you bring some under your head or under your knees.

And again,

I'll just be giving some suggestions and ideas,

But feel free to do whatever works for you.

So maybe you bring yourself to lie down and you bring something underneath your head or maybe you'll bring your head to the ground.

Feel free to stretch your legs or maybe you'd rather keep your feet on the ground,

Maybe a little bit wider than your hips and let your knees fall in a little bit toward each other.

Maybe you keep your hands resting on your abdomen or you can also take them out to the sides or maybe overhead.

And if you're sitting up,

Just take a nice seat.

Let your shoulders relax and your spine lengthen.

And you can close your eyes if you want to,

Or if you'd rather just take a moment to move your head side to side.

Looking at whatever you see wherever you're at.

So maybe you're indoors or outdoors.

Either way,

Just notice the shapes,

The colors,

The textures.

And then slowly stop the movement and let your gaze soften or maybe close your eyes.

Just take a deep breath in through your nose.

Notice your belly expand.

Exhale to let go.

Two more times.

Inhale.

Notice your belly expand.

And let go.

One more deep breath in.

Open your mouth,

Sigh it out.

Maybe for a moment you hear the sounds around you,

Whether they are of people or nature.

Maybe you hear traffic or construction or maybe you hear birds,

Whatever it is.

Give yourself a moment to listen.

Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Let your body relax just a little bit toward the floor or toward the seat beneath you.

And just become aware of any physical sensations.

Maybe there's tension in some parts of your body,

Discomfort,

Pain.

See if you're also able to notice any spaces that feel particularly open or good.

No matter if it's the beginning of your day or the middle or the end.

Just observe whatever you can observe.

How are you showing up in this moment?

What is your capacity for being present?

Take a deep inhalation through your nose.

Open your mouth and let go.

Whether you're seated or lying down,

Start to move your head gently from side to side once again.

If you're lying down,

Maybe you notice that it kind of massages the back of your head.

If you're sitting up,

Just notice can you keep your spine a little bit longer.

One more breath,

Inhale.

And exhale.

Stop the movement at the center.

Feel free to keep your hands next to your body or on your belly or maybe on your inhalation.

You take your arms overhead.

They can go as wide as you want them to go.

And then start to move your knees from side to side.

So keep your feet fairly wide.

And depending on how much space you have,

Maybe move more or less.

And if you're sitting up,

Same thing.

You can be seated on a chair or you can be seated on the ground.

And you simply move your legs a little bit side to side.

Just notice what your breath is like.

One more breath,

Inhale.

And exhale.

Stop the movement.

If you're lying down,

Start to walk your feet toward one another.

Bring your arms next to your body.

If there's anything underneath your head,

Maybe move it out of the way so your spine is a little bit more aligned.

Press your feet and your arms into your body and lift your chest and maybe stay here.

Or maybe lift your hips up.

If you're seated,

Whatever shape you're seated in,

Press your hands onto the ground or maybe the back of your chair and lift your chest up.

Take a couple more breaths wherever you are.

And then slowly,

If your hips are lifted,

Lower them back down.

Bring your spine to neutral.

Take a moment to find alignment through your spine,

Whether you're seated or lying down.

Inhale.

And exhale.

If you're lying down,

Start to roll toward one side.

Perhaps toward your right side.

And then as you bring yourself up,

Keep your knees toward the side so you can stagger your legs here.

And then just take a moment to bring your fingertips to the sides.

If you had blocks,

Maybe you bring your hands to blocks.

And then start to lean toward the side where your feet are.

So take a gentle bend to the side body.

If you're seated,

Simply take your,

In a chair,

Take your feet to one side just a little bit.

You could stay here or on your inhalation.

Take your right arm up.

Move your palm faces down toward the floor and you stretch the side body this way.

You could also let the hand rest behind your head and let your head rest on the floor.

Or let your head go back a little bit.

And again,

Just notice what serves you.

These are just some ideas of what you could do.

Feel free to modify,

To change,

To leave what doesn't serve you.

To expand something else.

One more breath.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Come back to center.

Take your right hand down.

Take your left arm overhead and you could stay here and lean toward the other side.

Or if you want to,

Press into your bottom hand a little bit more and lift your hips up.

And stretch a little bit to the side body.

One more inhale.

And on your exhalation,

Slowly lower yourself back down.

Bring your right foot a little bit more in front of you.

And you can keep your left knee down and inward.

Or maybe you extend your left leg to the side a little bit.

You can bend the knee.

You can straighten it.

And then bring your fingertips in front of you.

Relax your shoulders.

Inhale.

And on your exhalation,

You can stay here or start to walk your hands a little bit forward.

Maybe you let your elbows bend.

And find a block or the floor and relax your head.

Let yourself breathe in and out.

Noticing any tension that you're holding on to.

Maybe just habitually.

Because you're used to carrying it all the time.

So how could you not?

But maybe you realize that some of it you can just let go of for a moment.

One more breath.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Slowly bring yourself back up.

Relax your shoulders.

Lengthen your spine.

Take a deep breath in.

And then exhale.

And then on your exhalation,

Take a twist toward your right knee.

So your left hand comes toward the right knee and the right hand comes behind you.

And again,

Maybe your left leg is extended or maybe your left knee is forward.

Keep your spine long.

Your breath deep.

Your mind as present as you can at every moment.

When you notice yourself thinking about rather random things,

It's okay.

Let's see if you can find your breath again.

One more breath.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Come back to center.

Start to bring both legs in front of you.

And maybe you extend them for the moment.

Stretch them out.

If you're seated in a chair,

Stretch one leg.

Maybe roll your leg around and then the other.

And again,

Just do as much of intuitive movement as you can.

And maybe intuitively you're like,

I just don't want to move right now.

That's okay.

Don't move.

Take one more breath.

Inhale.

And then start to take your knees toward the other side.

Toward the outside of your right hip if you are able.

If you are doing the same side as I'm doing.

If you're doing the other side,

That's okay.

And then take a moment to ground through your sit bones.

If one of your sit bones is floating a little bit,

That's okay.

Maybe your knees are floating a little bit.

You can bring your pillows to support.

And then start to bring your right hand toward the top of your right leg.

Or perhaps toward the outside.

And then start to slowly slide down and down and down.

Until you find a space where you want to explore and breathe.

You can stay there or on your next inhalation.

Take your left arm up and let it stretch to the side and overhead.

Making sure that your heart continues to open up forward.

Instead of caving back and away.

Maybe your top hand lands in the back of your head and you let your head go back a little.

Just breathe.

Let any chance that you get to let the breath get a little deeper.

One more inhale.

And exhale.

Bring yourself slowly back to center.

Release your hands.

Lean a little bit toward the left if you want to.

And then start to extend your right leg in front.

Take a moment to notice your sit bones.

Maybe you bend the knee,

Maybe you keep it extended.

Just give yourself a moment.

Take a deep breath in.

And on your exhalation feel free to stay here if the sensation is sufficient.

Or if you rather,

Maybe you walk your fingertips forward.

Maybe let your elbows find a surface to rest on.

And notice that maybe on one side you had access to certain variations of the posture.

And on this side you have access to something else.

Is there any space within you to let go of the hierarchy of what's best or what's worst?

And maybe you just do what feels right in this moment.

One more inhale.

And exhale.

And then take a moment to notice your left arm.

And let it stretch to the side.

And then start to let go of the tension.

And then start to let go of the tension.

One more breath,

Inhale.

And exhale.

Start to bring yourself back up.

If you went forward,

Relax your shoulders,

Breathe in.

And as you breathe out,

Sort of take a twist.

Toward the knee that's bent.

So toward the left knee perhaps.

You can keep your right leg extended.

Or again,

Maybe your right knee is also forward.

Let your breath become more and more expansive.

One more breath,

Inhale.

And exhale.

Come back to the center.

Again,

Take both hands behind you,

Take both feet in front.

Maybe you bring your hands behind,

Press your feet into the floor.

Lift your chest and stay there.

Or maybe lift your hips.

If you're doing this on a chair,

Make sure that the chair either has the wheels absolutely locked.

Or that it doesn't have any wheels.

Or it folds,

Right?

So if you choose to lift your hips,

Make sure it's safe.

One more breath,

Inhale.

And on your exhalation,

If you lifted your hips,

Lower them back down.

Now whether you're sitting on a chair or on the floor.

Take the outer edges of your feet toward the floor.

Maybe the soles of the feet come toward each other,

But it's not necessary.

And you could absolutely choose to bring the soles of your feet really close to you.

That's a way to do the pose.

Another way to do the pose may be to keep your feet farther away.

And again,

If you're sitting on a chair,

The outer edges of the feet are on the floor.

And then your knees are just gently dropping outward.

And you can stay here and relax your shoulders.

Or as you inhale,

Lift your chest a bit more.

And as you exhale,

Leading with your heart.

Slowly lower yourself down,

Down,

Down.

Down as you want to go,

No more,

No less.

Letting the head release last.

Draw your nose toward the center line as you slowly lift your spine up.

Vertebra by vertebra.

Last thing to lift is your head.

Inhale.

Exhale,

Take it forward.

And down,

Down,

Down,

Down.

You could choose to stay at any point.

Or again,

Continue with this flow of inhalation as you lift your chest.

Lengthen your spine.

Let your shoulders relax.

Exhale,

Take it forward and down.

And maybe you do two more like this.

Maybe at whatever point again,

You can stop and stay.

Once you choose to stay,

Your hands can rest on your knees or thighs,

On your shins.

Or maybe you thread your hands underneath your calves and you take your hands toward your feet.

But again,

Just consider what serves you and why you choose what you choose.

Consider what would be a better wellness or self-care practice for you right now.

To maybe help you relax and let go of all the stress.

To let go.

Perhaps to focus.

What do you actually need?

Two more breaths.

And then slowly come out of whatever pose you chose.

Lift yourself up.

Draw your knees toward each other.

You can bring your hands to your thighs or your shins.

Lift your chest,

Relax your shoulders and take a couple of breaths here.

One more breath.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Sit however you'd like.

Maybe cross-legged,

Maybe on your heels,

Maybe one leg stretched and the other one bent.

Inhale,

Take your shoulders up toward your ears.

Exhale,

Roll them back and down,

Making more space for your neck.

Two more.

Inhale,

Roll your shoulders up.

Exhale,

Roll them back and down.

A couple more times.

Inhale,

Maybe your shoulders and your elbows also get involved.

Exhale,

Back and down.

Two more.

Inhale.

Exhale,

Roll them back and down.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Let your shoulders relax,

Let your elbows soften,

Let your hands rest anywhere that you would like.

Maybe you soften your gaze down,

Maybe you close your eyes.

Noticing the way in which you're seated.

The support beneath you,

Around you,

Behind you.

Noticing how you feel in your body.

What's going on in your mind right now.

And also observing the way in which energy flows through you.

Maybe you take this moment to consider a seed that you can plant of intention.

What will bring you closer to what self-care means to you.

Take a deep breath in.

And sigh it out.

Inhale,

Lift your chin,

Open up through the front of the neck.

Exhale,

Lower your chin down toward the chest,

Open through the back of the neck.

Inhale,

Lift your chin.

Exhale,

Lower it down.

Inhale,

Lift your chin.

Exhale,

Lower it down.

Inhale,

Lift your chin.

Exhale,

Lower it down.

Keep your chin a little bit lower.

Maybe you stay here and move your chin from clavicle to clavicle,

From side to side.

To add a little bit more sensation,

Perhaps you interlace your hands behind your head,

And draw your elbows inward as you keep the movement from side to side.

Let your breath be the leading force in the way in which you choose to move.

One more inhale.

And exhale.

Keep your hands behind your head if you'd like,

And on your inhalation draw your elbows wide.

Lift your chest,

Lift your gaze.

Let your shoulder blades come a little bit closer toward each other.

And on your exhalation release the hands behind you.

And on your inhalation,

Draw your elbows inward.

And exhale.

Maybe you interlace your hands behind you.

Maybe your fingertips find the floor or the chair that you're sitting on.

Find more space to lift your chest.

Maybe you stay there.

Or again,

If you'd like to,

Lift your hips as little or as much as you would like.

One more breath wherever you are.

Inhale.

And on your exhalation lower it down,

Bring your hands in front of you.

Just right there.

Or maybe you start to lower down a little more.

Relax your head.

Maybe you make fists and you pile up the fists one on top of the other.

And that is sufficient for you to put the forehead down.

Or maybe you need the help of some more stuff to make the pile a little bit taller.

So again,

Do you give yourself permission to use as many elements of support as you need?

Or do you actually want to?

One more breath.

And then start to slowly come up.

Let your hands rest on your lap or your knees.

Inhale here.

Exhale,

Bring your right ear to your right shoulder.

Stay or take your right hand across toward your left ear.

Again,

Just creating a little bit more sensation.

You could even extend your left arm out.

Breathe.

One more breath.

And slowly release your hand.

Bring your neck to neutral.

Notice how it feels.

Maybe you move your head side to side.

And then inhale to unclench your jaw.

And then inhale to lengthen again.

Exhale,

This time bring your left ear to your left shoulder.

And maybe you stay here or again you take your hand overhead and across.

And you can stay there or stretch out.

To your opposite arm.

And just breathe.

Notice if your mind wanders or it suggests whatever it suggests.

See if you can just let it go and stay with your breath and with this moment.

One more inhale.

And your exhalation.

Release your hand.

Bring your neck to neutral.

And again,

Maybe you move a little side to side.

Maybe look over one shoulder and then the other.

And start to bring yourself to child's pose.

If you are seated on a chair,

You can bring your chest down toward your knees.

You can bring your feet up.

You can also lay on your back and bring your knees to your chest.

Or if you rather take a more traditional version of child's pose.

You can bring your knees separate.

And bring your toes toward each other as you send your hips back toward your heels.

They don't necessarily need to come all the way back.

But then just consider if you also want to again make a pile with your hands to rest your forehead.

And then just bring your knees to your chest.

And then just bring your hands to your forehead.

Which is whatever you need there to let yourself relax.

And maybe you stay in stillness.

Or maybe you bring a little bit of movement with your hips from one side to the other.

And your forehead from temple to temple.

And again,

If you are lying on your back,

You can keep your knees into your chest.

And move side to side.

If you are seated on a chair,

You can keep your chest down and move side to side.

Or you can bring your knees up and move side to side.

Take two more breaths.

And then start to slowly bring yourself up.

Now you can choose here.

So if you are in child's pose and it felt comfy enough,

Let's say.

You can start to bring your right hand toward the left side of the mat.

And then your left hand threads under.

And you can just walk forward and let your chin rest on your arm.

If you rather do this sitting up,

You would cross your right arm over your left.

Hands toward your shoulders.

Maybe you stay there.

Or you can bring the backs of your hands toward each other.

Or the palms of your hands toward each other.

And you can just stay seated on your heels if that's comfortable.

Or you can take any other seat.

Again,

If you want to.

Take this variation of child's pose with your arms crossed.

One over the other.

Where is your mind going?

And how quickly do you notice?

One more breath.

And then slowly unravel the arms.

Maybe you roll your shoulders for a moment.

Maybe move your head side to side or your spine.

And then slowly bring your arms back.

Maybe move your head side to side or your spine side to side.

And then we'll do the other side.

So again,

Maybe your arms are out as you sit up.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Left arm over right.

Hands toward the shoulders.

Maybe you bring the arms into eagle by bringing the palms together.

Or if you rather,

Again,

Left hand over right.

Chin down.

Or forehead down.

Become aware of any space in which you can relax into or soften into.

Two more breaths.

And then start to come up.

Let yourself stretch out in any way that you would like.

If you're lying on your back,

Maybe you stretch your arms and your legs.

If you've been sitting on your heels,

Stretch your legs in front of you.

And then you can just sit up.

Maybe you can lay your hands in front of you.

Maybe you shake them out a little bit.

Maybe you wiggle them from side to side.

Now you can start to bring yourself to lie down on your back again.

If you want to stay seated,

Feel free to stay seated.

And again,

I'll just be giving a couple of options,

But feel free to be as creative as you want with the next few moments.

So if you're lying down on your back,

Maybe you bring your feet back to the floor and knees point up.

You could stay here for a few moments,

For a few breaths.

You could also play with maybe stretching one leg up for a few moments and then lowering it down and doing the other.

Or maybe you take both legs up.

You could take this to a wall.

So you could take one hip against the wall and then kind of help your legs up the wall.

Stay there.

And just let yourself notice what it's like to look at things from a little bit of a different perspective.

Stay with your breath.

And then slowly start to bring your knees back toward your chest.

You can perhaps catch underneath your knees or over your shins,

Move side to side.

Keep your spine as long as feels good for you.

Two more breaths.

And then let your toes lower back down toward the floor.

Move your arms,

Come up to the sides or overhead and then shift your hips a little bit to the right and then let both knees go toward the left.

Now,

If there's any variation of a twist or a bend,

Notice that you would like to take,

Feel free to take it.

If you're seated on a chair,

Lengthen your spine on your inhalation and on your exhalation.

Take your hands over to the right,

Making a twist.

Let your shoulders relax a little bit more.

Let the space between each rib expand.

One more breath.

And then slowly come back to center and then take it to the other side.

So start to take your knees to the right.

Maybe you ground your left shoulder a little bit more.

You shift or arrange anything until you can soften into the twist.

And then slowly come back to center.

And then take it to the other side.

Notice where you're holding tension.

Maybe it's your jaw.

Maybe your fists or your toes.

Let some of it go.

Two more breaths here.

And then slowly come back to center.

And then slowly bring yourself back to the center.

Maybe you move a little bit once again.

Maybe you give yourself a stretch or perhaps there is a pose that you would like to do that would help you feel like your practice is a little bit more complete.

And then depending on what you have coming up after,

Whether it's the end of your day or the middle or the beginning,

Consider if you do want to start doing some more of this.

Consider if you do want to stay lying down for the final few moments or if you'd rather bring yourself up to a seat.

But either way,

Do so mindfully.

And as you find a posture to relax into,

Give yourself time to really make yourself comfortable.

Use as many props as you have or as you want to to get a little bit cozy.

Take up a little bit more space if you can.

And in the same way in which you show up to take care of yourself and everyone around you,

Show up now to rest,

To let go,

To soften,

To come into a little bit more harmony with yourself.

So take a really deep breath in.

Let your belly,

Your ribcage,

Your chest expand and relax.

And as you exhale,

Let your belly,

Your ribcage,

Your chest expand.

Perhaps hold at the top and let it all go.

And just rest just for a few moments,

Just for a few minutes.

Take a really deep breath in through your nose.

Let it fill up your entire body.

Hold at the top.

Take another small sip and let it all go out through your mouth.

Give yourself one more moment without having to move anything at all.

And then once you feel ready,

Whether you're seated or lying down,

Start to bring movement into your head,

Your extremities,

Maybe your spine,

Your shoulders.

Stretch yourself out if you'd like,

Yawn if you'd like,

Breathe in.

And as you breathe out,

If you've been lying down,

Start to roll onto one side and eventually come into a seat.

If you've been sitting for a while,

Maybe you switch the way in which you're seated by crossing the opposite leg in front of the other by sitting differently.

And just come into a tall spine.

Observe how your shoulders can perhaps soften a bit more.

The crown of your head can reach a little bit higher.

Take a deep breath in.

Notice the expansion from the tailbone through the spine and all the way up and out of the crown of the head.

And as you exhale,

Let your energy go down,

Down,

Down to the ground.

Deep breath in.

Let it go.

Now you can stay here or maybe you bring one hand to your chest and the other hand to your abdomen.

And you take a moment to notice your heartbeat.

Notice the cadence of your breathing.

Notice the cadence of your breath.

Rhythmically moving your body.

Maybe there's something you can think of that you want to be grateful for.

Maybe you'd rather think of the most beautiful thing that's happened to you today,

Even if your day has just started.

It doesn't have to be anything magnificent.

It can be very simple.

Take a deep breath in.

And let it go.

If you want to,

You can keep your hands resting on your chest.

Maybe bring your palms together in front of your heart as a gesture of humility and gratitude.

It's up to you.

Just take a moment to maybe bow your head to be grateful for your body,

For your mind,

For your life.

To remember to take care of yourself first so that then you can lead not only by caring for others,

But by example.

Take a deep breath in.

And let go.

Once you're ready,

You can release your hands.

You can start to open your eyes.