Yin And Shavasana Practice - Breathing Into The Moment

Ian and Shavasana.

It is a slow,

Stretch,

Relax type of class.

So no need to be gearing up for a thing.

Yes,

Yes.

All right,

As people are filtering in,

Some housekeeping,

Some things.

Again,

I'm Lisa.

I'm in Colorado.

We just had a beautiful snowstorm and the sun is out today,

So happy for that.

Today we'll need some props,

Some things,

Or not.

It's up to you,

But this class is more of a supported adventure in,

I don't know,

Stretching,

Receiving some things to chew on.

It's just what you need it to be.

So if,

And we're not using muscle strength,

We're laying around.

So if you need to be in a chair,

In bed,

On the floor,

If you're on the floor,

If you're in bed,

Grab some things to have around you to bring whatever closer to you so that we're not struggling or engaging a muscle to be in a shape.

Make it your own.

Yes,

Shavasana is our time to rest and regroup.

Maybe,

Excuse me,

Zoning out or falling asleep or just a moment of pause in your day if you don't have too many of those.

All right,

Donations.

Thank you in advance for the donations.

I know our money is going in all different directions,

But yeah,

Keeping it within the community is appreciated,

And I think that's it.

That's not it.

That's just the start.

So yes,

Collecting some stuff,

Whatever it is.

Please,

I usually say this every time,

But I had forgotten for a moment,

You don't need yoga,

Westernized yoga labeled stuff,

So you don't need a sticky mat or the things or the stuff.

Grab whatever from around your house.

Couch cushions,

Pillows from your bed,

Blankets,

Books,

Stuff.

Yes,

And that's where our first direction we head in is a seat or maybe lay down,

Remembering to make all of this your own,

A time to arrive in our bodies and let the snow settle in our snow globes or glitter,

Hopefully glitter too.

What's a snow globe without glitter?

Everything settling in and finding kind of how our body is checking in,

Arriving.

So let's do that now.

Find a space.

Maybe you're like,

I'm going to my couch now.

This is not what I thought it was gonna be.

I'm gonna get comfy,

Warm,

Wherever you need to be,

Do it.

So finding your spot and allowing yourself to settle,

To support yourself to get warm,

And remember it doesn't have to be,

You don't have to be flat on your back.

Wherever feels nourishing to your body,

Allow yourself to start to arrive there.

Maybe the eyes close,

Maybe the gaze kind of blurs out,

Perhaps some deep clearing breaths queuing to the body.

That is time to notice.

Perhaps some parts of the body are louder or needing more attention than others,

And this is the time to arrive.

Maybe you've been going and doing all day,

So find maybe how the body is in this moment,

Without the story,

Without the why.

A little nod and acknowledgement,

And notice right here if you've been holding your breath,

Take a fuller breath that can really support that journey around the body.

The breath might turn into a sigh or a audible exhale.

Again,

Taking the time to arrive,

Feeling everything,

Settling,

Noticing how can the breath support wherever you're arriving from.

Awareness around the breath now,

How does the breath feel,

How,

What sensations might be attached or sounds or whatever is coming across throughout your breath.

Bringing more awareness to the inhales and exhales,

Perhaps extending the breath on each end,

Finding a little longer of an inhale and a smidge longer of an exhale.

Notice if body parts started to get stiff or to forget that they were softening and arriving when we brought attention to breath.

Allow the breath and the body to be soft and nourishing here.

Maybe the face,

The jaw started getting a little bit more rigid.

Find some softness,

Maybe swallow,

Maybe swirl the tongue around the outside of the teeth.

Feeling into maybe the sensation or the flavor in the mouth,

Perhaps it shifts,

It does something.

Just a few times a swirl and then letting the tongue soften,

The jaw be soft.

Breath again is nourishing as the exploration is happening.

Maybe the breath is where you stay in those full long inhales and exhales.

Perhaps adding,

Just depending on you and your day,

An inquiry into the mood,

The mind,

The spirit,

The entirety of you versus one specific thing.

Treading lightly and bringing the breath full and soft with you on that journey.

Softening the space between the eyebrows as well as you breathe and soften.

And again without narrative or story,

Checking in with maybe even a sensation of how you are in your entirety.

How are you today?

Letting the why fall away and allowing the breath to be there for you as you find whatever bits in your exploration.

A couple more moments here.

And perhaps adding attention to the breath and extending the exhale a little bit longer than the inhale here without force.

Face is still soft as you're taking these longer breaths.

Jaws soft.

Shoulders soft.

Another breath or two.

Feeling into the sensation of the breath,

The softness,

The strength.

And then slowly lower your chin towards your chest,

Blinking the eyes open,

Pausing,

Allowing the breath to still be strong and true to the outer experience as it was the inner.

And then allow yourself to merge those two experiences.

Lift your gaze,

Maybe a blink or two if it's bright.

And then slow motion,

Really giving yourself the time to move like you're moving through mud.

With breath,

We'll come into a butterfly variation.

So if your legs have already been in some sort of twisty business,

Unwind,

Rewind or find something different.

If you're on a big mountain of things,

Allow yourself to gently come down to whatever's appropriate.

And we'll find the soles of the feet together,

Knees open wide.

Now remember,

You can be in any shape doing any of these things or not.

You can bring anything underneath the knees,

Especially if the knees are here.

Maybe you move to a chair and feet are wide,

Letting the knees fall open.

Maybe you're on your back.

Knees rest against each other.

Right?

There is no right or wrong.

We're not in front of a mirror or in a heated room.

We're finding just a moment to breathe and arrive.

Period.

Well,

Maybe not period,

But as far as body shape goes,

You can be upright.

You can bring a mountain of stuff out in front of you,

Build a little tower,

Long spine,

Rounding forward.

You can fold forward,

Bring the ground closer to you.

All of the options know that it's one of creativity and how you're feeling within your own body.

So start to arrive,

Find whatever maybe you cover with a blanket or lean up against something like I'm about to do.

You can lean all the way back with some things back behind you for a supported butterfly.

Again,

Making it your own.

So supported would have about a fist width in between whatever's back behind you if you're laying up and over some things so that you have some room.

And as we started to experience earlier where we situate the body,

Find where it says,

This,

This will be okay.

And we situate if it changes its mind and we come into breath.

Maybe a little bit of how is the entirety,

The whole of me.

And we keep going.

So find the arrival.

And as a reminder,

It doesn't need to look a specific way or feel a specific way.

Giving out some ideas of,

You know,

We could do this or that.

It's the practice of arriving over and over again.

The practice of coming home.

Maybe an added stretch or two or breath,

But we're finding that internal practice versus how can I add to the heat,

The chaos,

The stoking the fire when maybe the fire wants to be on a slow burn.

Each time when the mind starts to fill in the blanks of that next moment,

Starting to bring ourselves back to this moment,

To the breath,

The falling away of all the things from the outside.

Notice how the breath can be supportive here in this exploration.

Let's take three more full body breaths,

Just as you are softening where you feel.

Could use a little bit of softening.

After that last breath or whatever breath you choose,

Depending on where you are,

Well,

Let's all of us come back to our bodies if we've been drifting and traveling and noticing within our yin shapes.

We're taking our time within the shape,

Coming out,

Going into.

So really being mindful of we've been opening,

We've been taking this long stretch.

So just as much time to come out.

So wherever you are in the stretch,

If you're on your back,

You can slowly work the knees together,

Let them rest together.

If you're forward,

Bringing yourself up and then one leg at a time comes back into center.

And wherever you are,

Extend the legs,

Find a little bit of a stretch.

Each leg acting independently,

A little wiggle through the toes,

Finding the borders of your body.

And then when you've had that little exploration,

Take a moment here,

One at a time,

And then move the legs together.

So a little bit of movement,

Side to side together,

Maybe a circle in one direction and checking in with mobility,

Switching directions.

Again,

Like,

Hey,

How's it going,

Body?

And body might have been talking very loudly before we even began.

So again,

Taking the time to let everything else fall away.

All right,

Whatever other movements come into the toes,

A little wiggle,

A little squeeze,

A little movement,

Again,

Checking in with mobility.

And then pause here.

So where we're going next,

I mean,

If you're already on your back,

We'll be staying there.

But if you're not,

We'll be coming down into a pontoon or supported fish.

So taking your time to grab whatever you need.

We'll be placing or not,

Blocks,

Props,

Whatever you have underneath along the spine.

So it's either going to be horizontally shoulder blade wide or spine.

Vertically,

Words,

You know,

Up and down or side to side.

OK,

So then we'll have another pillow or something for your head.

Some people like to hang their head down.

I think it's a lot of action in the neck that doesn't need to be there.

So you get to choose what feels right to you.

You can come down with this holding on if that's in your ability or you can aim for it and adjust.

You can also just be on a pillow.

You can have another pillow.

It doesn't have to be blocks.

It doesn't have to be a book or things like that.

So find what you need here and then you'll see what I mean.

Maybe you switch it out.

All right.

Make sure you have a little bit of space.

So finding what works for you and then aiming again for that.

If you're a bra wearer,

Kind of that bra strip strap line and then slowly maybe coming back.

Elbows supporting and then finding whatever prop you had back behind you.

Pillow to rest the head on.

This can be intense if you're using blocks.

Notice if you can breathe.

If you can find the relaxation in your glutes.

Glutes might be really holding on.

That might be a sign to lower your props and pause here.

Is this sustainable?

Can you breathe and allow that softness again to arrive?

Maybe the knees soften towards each other and pause.

Remember you are advocating for yourself.

So if this is not sustainable,

Come out.

There's all the different variations.

Okay,

Pause.

And then if you would like to extend the legs,

If you have the space,

Extend the legs and find that softness in the front of the hips.

Can you soften the shoulders?

And allow everything to relax here to the best of your ability.

So remember we're checking in with the body.

Is this sustainable?

Can the breath help?

Is the mind frantic?

Giving the self constant and forever permission to advocate,

To move,

To shift.

And it's the constant arrival after we've been out in the ethers.

Maybe the body is ready to rest and maybe even sleep.

But checking in with what you need,

How does the breath best represent that?

And we won't be here for too much longer.

So allow yourself to be.

Let's take a couple breaths here.

And then we'll come back to the center.

Quite intentional breathing into whatever you're laying on,

What's underneath you.

And whenever you're ready,

If the legs have been extended,

Slow motion,

One knee at a time,

Bends until the foot is planted and repeat.

Rest the knees and pause here.

So again,

Taking our time to very much intentionally move in and out of these shapes.

Elbows come by your sides,

Tucking chin towards chest.

Slowly bring yourself up enough to maybe move your stuff to the side.

Maybe you move all together and then roll back down to your back so that you're flat and find that length in the spine.

Maybe a little movement,

Walking the shoulder blades away from the hips and then feeling everything soften,

Arms rest,

Knees rest together.

So without the rush into a next shape or the next thing,

Allowing everything to pause,

Breathe,

Notice,

The outside world will still be there as we're pausing to notice how things are moving.

What we need,

How to fill our own cup.

Body,

Breath,

Spirit.

Coming back together,

Finding that regrouping.

One knee at a time coming into the chest and pause here a little bit more of a tuck of the chin,

Resting the arms,

Maybe you interlace fingers and just letting everything be heavy.

So I'm not pulling down,

I'm letting my hands rest if that's available to you.

Maybe you're on top of the knees and letting the arms be soft there.

Whatever your situation,

The tuck of the chin allowing the spine to be long,

The shoulders soften towards whatever you're resting on.

Soften the gaze and come back to your breath,

Belly and thighs pressed together and let everything exhale softening.

One more big breath in and exhale,

Let it all soften.

And then from wherever you are,

Depending on your situation,

Rolling over to a side as gracefully as possible.

It doesn't have to be graceful and pressing your way up,

Being mindful of how you whip your head,

Your precious head up.

Bringing up in one fluid movement,

Maybe.

Let's come into a half butterfly this time.

So we took the full butterfly,

This time one knee in,

One knee bends,

One foot in,

One leg extends.

Again,

You can have all of the props,

All of the things helping wherever they need to be.

You can have a mound of things out in front of you.

You can choose to find a little bit more of a twist,

Establishing your sitting bones firmly wherever you choose to be.

But I'm not cranking myself over my knee.

I'm rounding forward if that's where I want to be.

So again,

Make it your own.

Find a stack,

A magical tower,

If you will.

Let everything soften.

Take the moments to arrive,

Breathe,

Check back in,

Drop back in.

So whatever leg you chose,

Starting to soften the gripping,

The tension.

Perhaps the eyes close,

But notice if there's effort involved here.

Can you release the effort-ing,

The doing?

Checking in with the breath and the sustainability piece of the asana,

Of the shape.

Is this entailing softening,

Melting,

Creating space,

Or is this more tension,

More gripping,

Bracing?

Notice if you're leaning to a side.

Are you in the center?

Perhaps you could use more support than you recognized or was available.

Starting to release some of those agreements,

Some of those past agreements that might no longer be valid in your experience.

Another moment,

A breath or 10,

Whatever is calling to you here to feel complete on this side.

And when you're ready,

If you're folded over,

Slowly making your way up with that long,

Beautiful,

Spacious spine,

Upright,

Remembering top of the head,

Little string lifting.

And then with hands,

With grace,

And I don't mean like graceful,

I mean full of grace,

Where you're really appreciating and tending to the care of your body,

Pulling that knee up,

Setting your props to the side,

Extend the leg for a moment.

Again,

A little pedal,

A shimmy,

Checking in with mobility one side at a time,

Maybe both sides in conjunction,

And then pause.

Maybe you notice the difference in the sides or the,

I don't know,

Whatever your experience might be.

So for me,

I'm feeling just more aliveness,

More embodiment on the side that was just bent as it's coming back.

So notice the things that,

Oh,

But I was stretching my other side.

That's great.

So finding that kind of conversation in the body,

What do you notice first?

What were you breathing into?

Just ideas,

Maybe not,

Maybe you're just here for the stretch and you're like,

Mute.

All right,

Let's go to the other side.

Bringing that side in that was extended,

And again,

You don't need to be touching,

I have different proportions than all of you,

Because we're all different.

So find whatever support that allows you to be centered on your seat.

Find where you need to be.

If you want a little bit of that openness,

Bringing that magic tower to you so that you can then round forward with space between the vertebra.

Maybe you need a little something underneath the knee.

Okay,

You've got the ideas.

So find you,

Arrive,

Breathe,

Notice,

Maybe we drift away and we start again.

And as I briefly mentioned,

Those agreements,

Those are coming from the four agreements,

The things that we have taken in to be part of our personality,

Our habits,

The culture,

Our society,

The world,

The rules,

That some,

Usually some dude made up,

That we're starting to kind of unwind,

Like,

What is me?

Who is that?

And then who's doing the asking?

It's all in,

Just raveled in.

So one breath at a time,

We get to come back to,

Do I still agree with this?

Is this something that is part of me,

My core value?

And then the breath supports those findings.

Checking in with the gripping,

The bracing,

The preparing for the next thing,

The armor,

Taking a moment to practice the softening where it might be a little bit safer to do so.

So just one breath at a time is where we get to rest into those findings,

Those moments to be.

And then let's take a few more breaths here.

Whatever feels the best,

Maybe it's those long,

Audible exhales.

Maybe it's more of a lion's breath where your tongue is out and you're making,

You're pulling the face,

Full exhale,

Allow something to be released here.

Some sort of steam,

Some,

A giggle,

Whatever it is.

And then wherever you are coming back into awareness as you unwind from wherever you've been,

Gentle escort of the bent leg towards the extended leg,

Little pedal,

Little coming back together.

Maybe the toes start to move.

You feel how when everything goes soft,

What happens?

Maybe you were bracing or gripping.

I don't know.

Whatever's happening on your end,

Finding that information,

Movement,

Pedal,

And then some stillness here.

Maybe the sides feel more similar,

Not twins,

Maybe distant cousins.

And then a little bit of movement options here as we're starting to move on.

You can stay on your back.

So rolling back down onto your back,

Finding a moment that feels good to you,

Or you can come onto your belly.

So options,

Options.

If you're coming onto your belly,

We're going to come onto our elbows.

And I might get a little muffled here in my mic,

But allowing elbows to support you.

You can also have a pillow,

A bolster,

Something under your belly,

Coming down to your elbows.

Notice the softening away from the ears,

Maybe a little bit of length as if you were laying on a skateboard and sliding the chest forward.

So then you can lift,

But check in with the shoulders.

If this isn't for you,

You will know right away.

And you can come down to your belly,

Go to your back,

Soften the glutes,

Soften the legs,

Move the stuff out of the way,

And pause here in this moment.

Chin slightly tucked,

Keeping the crown of the head lengthening versus dumping everything down or really tipping it back.

Where can you soften?

Notice the armor,

The old agreements,

And then all of the life that you've lived in your body.

Another moment or two,

Taking full deep breaths into,

Especially where you're feeling lots of feedback.

And either staying here or gently pressing up into the hands,

Extending the legs,

Shoulders,

Down.

Unclench your butt and find that length,

That lift,

The softness for just a moment,

And seal,

Lifting through the heart and then slowly coming back down.

Bend and then stack the hands.

Rest onto the back of the hands for just a moment in crocodile.

Notice if you can soften the glutes,

Soften everything,

And then maybe staying there or pressing back into a child's pose,

Finding a child's pose.

Knees are wide,

Toes to touch,

Big toes to touch.

Maybe the upper body drapes forward in between the thighs.

Maybe you have all of your pillows and things so that you're more at an angle.

Maybe you're on your back with the knees hugged in.

Maybe you're staying on your belly in that crocodile.

So checking in and if you're still in crocodile,

In a moment,

Inviting you to come up and maybe take a cat shape,

Expanding the spine a little bit.

So find wherever you are doing your variation.

And if you're in a child's pose,

When you're ready,

Shifting forward,

We'll all come to a seat and then melt onto your back.

However you want to get to your back,

I should just say.

Sometimes we follow the instructions and go,

Well,

That was a weird way to take me.

So find your way to your back and gather in the things,

The stuff that will make you comfortable,

Cozy,

Calm,

Collected,

Whatever it is or whatever we're aiming to be.

As we start to prepare for our rest as I lead in a little bit of a meditation or again,

Some things to soften into the idea of,

If you need a cushion under your head or move to a comfy,

Cozy place,

Do it.

Reminding the body that it's okay to be resting in this moment.

Falling asleep is only means that you need more rest or you're needing some rest in that moment.

Find the ultra cozy and then maybe five or 10% more.

Is it sustainable?

Maybe you're stretching out those last bits as you start to then arrive.

Again,

Find you,

Find what needs to be acknowledged and encouraged versus always the dire.

What are we encouraging that we want to flourish and to nourish?

So starting to soften into that idea of rest,

Of your right to rest.

Settling the body a little bit,

Maybe some sighs,

A cue to the body that it is time to be softer,

Quieter.

Eyes can close if they're not there already.

An audible exhale,

Letting everything that's touching,

Whatever's supporting you,

Soften in a little bit more,

Releasing any muscle tension to the best of the ability in this moment.

Coming back to the advocacy of the breath,

But to notice what the breath is telling me as it's softening and quieting down.

Maybe the body,

The mind will follow suit.

And letting go of those agreements,

Habits,

Personality,

Culture,

Rules.

Letting everything go except that which lights you up from the inside.

Peeling back the grief,

The trauma,

The access.

And notice what's shining through.

The physical body continues to get heavier and rest.

And the spirit lighter and floating,

Illuminated from within.

The shoulders heavy along with hips and heels.

The skull rests deeply.

The spirit elevated by breath.

Coming back to the core of who we are from the inside,

That is love,

Joy,

Beauty,

And awe.

The breath nourishing that lightness.

The tiny muscles in the face soften.

The jaw soft.

The glutes soft.

Releasing the grip and the bracing so that the illumination can help us rise above to see more clearly.

The body releasing anything that's been taken personally.

Remembering the lightness of being as we pause and breathe.

Before we respond,

Before we react,

Before we divide.

The lightness of being calls us in to the inquiry,

To the self-study.

So that we may be in community,

Recognizing each other's lightness of being.

The breath deepens here.

Allowing the lightness of being to be felt within the physical body.

That illumination shining outward that those in the know recognize and those who don't feel the pull.

Starting to stretch that lightness,

That golden beam through the toes and fingers as you stretch and bring yourself back to this plane.

A little stretch,

Full body,

Arms over the head,

Reaching,

Stretching,

Moving the fingers and toes,

Taking up some space.

Maybe the eyes blink open.

Arms come down by your side for a moment,

Feeling that movement,

That aliveness.

And then take your time,

Roll to one side or the other.

Let the eyes close again,

Head supported.

Pause in this remembrance,

In this idea of taking that light with you,

Shining it forward.

Especially in the darkest of times.

We are more than our labels,

Our habits,

And what has been given to us.

We are the light from within,

The love that connects us all.

When you're ready,

In this remembrance,

Gently press your way up in that sustainable way,

Coming to a seat,

Spine as long,

Gathering hands in front of the heart,

Anjali Mudra.

A big breath in as community,

As bearers of light,

And exhaling,

Bowing to one another out in the ether,

A whisper of gratitude.

Thank you,

Friends.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for taking the ride with me,

Coming back,

Dropping back in,

Calling back in,

All of the things.

So thank you so much.

Again,

I'm Lisa,

And I'm here this time,

This place,

Weekly.

I'm adding some things to my library here on the platform,

So make sure you give me a follow.

You can see all the ways to get ahold of me,

Get in touch with me,

What else I do,

All good stuff.

So thank you,

Thank you.