This program of gentle yoga stretching is an invitation to enter more deeply into the life of the body.
To experience the mind and body as one,
As a unity.
To bring them together as the meaning of the word yoga,
To yoke or join,
Suggests.
And as with all mindfulness practices,
This yoga is about paying attention,
Moment to moment,
To the sensations,
The thoughts and feelings that arise in your awareness.
The moments in this program are designed to be done on the floor,
Where a yoga mat or blanket may help make you comfortable.
If you are unable to get down on the floor,
You may wish to use a bed,
Preferably one with a firm mattress.
As you go through this program,
Entering into the experience of the body as deeply as you can and without judging.
This is not about performing,
About doing the movements in some ideal way for some critical audience.
It's about doing them to help connect more closely to and to better understand the body.
So not forcing any movement,
Rather relaxing into it.
Not taking on any part of the program that seems inappropriate for you.
Instead,
Using your knowledge of your own body and its limits to guide you and to override the instructions,
Adapting the movements in a way that works for you.
Or skipping them entirely and perhaps imagining yourself doing the movements,
Feeling them in stillness,
Which is a valuable practice in itself.
So let's begin in Shavasana,
In resting pose,
Lying on the back.
Allowing as much of the body to connect with the ground as you were able,
From head to heels.
If you have any problems with the lower back,
Bending the knees instead and placing the soles of the feet on the ground.
Finding the shoulders,
Hips and feet so that the spine is straight.
And if you'd like,
Gently lifting the head and tucking the chin in ever so slightly and setting the head back down.
Noticing the sense of a straight spine from the base of the head all the way down to the pelvis.
Legs a bit apart.
Feet falling slightly outward.
Arms lying alongside the body.
And if it's comfortable,
Turning the hands to face palm up.
Noticing how the ground accepts you,
How gravity works so you don't have to.
And bringing your attention to the sensations of the breath in the body.
Aware of sensations of rising and falling,
Expanding and contracting on the in breath and the out breath.
And with each breath,
Allowing the ground to receive more of your weight.
Working less and trusting and accepting more.
Breathing in and out.
And when you're ready,
Breathing in,
Lifting the arms gently and allowing them to travel in an arc upwards to vertical.
Noticing the sensations as they move through the air.
And then allowing them to descend to rest on the floor outstretched above the head.
Pointing your fingers toward the wall behind you.
And at the same time,
Pressing the heels in the opposite direction.
You're stretching the entire body.
Relaxing the stretch and breathing out.
Allowing your arms to travel back through the arc slowly.
Aware of the sensations of movement without anticipating their return to the floor.
Allowing an element of freshness of experience as they come to rest at your side.
And as you lie still now,
Noticing how you feel in your body after having completed one mindful stretch.
And once again,
Breathing in and allowing the arms to travel through the arc.
Feeling the changes in effort as gravity pulls and assists until the arms come to rest on the floor above the head.
And pointing the fingers in one direction and heels in the other.
Feeling the stretch wherever it can be noticed in the body.
Noticing any thoughts or feelings that may enter awareness.
And as much as possible,
Allowing them to simply come and go like clouds in the sky.
Redirecting your attention to the sensations that you feel in the body.
Now releasing the right side of the body from the stretch while maintaining it on the left side.
Realizing the stretch in the left side and noticing the sensations in the right side as well.
And releasing the left side and stretching the right.
Noticing the sensations in both the right and the left.
Then breathing out,
Allowing the arms to return through their arc and rest by your side.
Aware of how you feel lying in Shavasana again.
Aware of thoughts and emotions and redirecting your attention to your bodily sensations right now in this moment.
Keeping the arms out from the sides to rest outstretched in a T.
And if the knees are not already bent,
Bending the knees and bringing the soles of the feet to rest on the floor.
Aware of the sensations in the body in this position.
Aware of breathing.
Inhaling deeply and on an out breath,
Contracting the lower abdomen and moving the lower back down towards the ground.
Lifting the tailbone slightly and making as much contact with the back of the ground as comfortable.
Feeling the stretch and on the in breath and relaxing the abdominal muscles and pressing the tailbone down to raise the lower back.
Feeling the sensations associated with this arch.
On an out breath again,
Contracting the abdomen,
Pressing the belly button toward the floor and lifting the tailbone slightly.
And on the in breath,
Releasing the abdomen and pressing the tailbone down.
And then your own time following your own breath,
Rocking the pelvis.
Noticing thoughts and feelings arising and allowing them to pass as clouds in the sky as you focus on the sensations in your body.
Then pausing.
Remember now of stillness and sensation.
Then drawing the knees up toward the chest and embracing them with the arms,
Interlacing the fingers perhaps.
Breathing like this.
And on an out breath,
Seeing if you can draw the knees a bit closer to the chest.
Finding a limit where you are comfortable and not going past it.
And beginning with small movements,
Rocking gently from side to side,
Massaging the back.
How much effort does it take to get started?
When does gravity take hold and begin to pull the body too far?
Where are the sensations in the back?
And if it's comfortable for you,
Bringing the head toward the knees.
Again,
Not passing your limit of comfort.
Learning to accept the limitations of the moment.
And knowing that limits change one way and another from moment to moment and over long periods of time.
Lowering your head to the ground and coming once again into stillness.
Then releasing the right leg and extending it along the ground while continuing to hold your left knee to the chest.
Stretching the right heel toward the wall and at the same time drawing the left leg closer.
Noticing how much of the body is involved in this stretch.
Investigating the face perhaps.
Is there tension generated there?
And investigating the need for that tension.
How does the stretch in the right leg feel without it?
Is it possible to work with just the legs and the arms in this posture?
Then releasing the left leg and allowing it to stretch out along the floor.
And bending your right leg up toward the chest and embracing it with the arms.
Starting and stretching the left leg.
What tension and looseness is required?
When you're ready,
Releasing the right leg,
Placing it back next to the left.
There are the sensations in the resting body.
From here,
Bending both knees and drawing them into your chest.
Releasing them with your arms.
Then keeping your knees in that position and releasing your arms and opening them out to the sides in a T position.
From here,
Gently lower both knees to the right side.
If they don't,
You can bring a pillow or a bolster between your knees and the floor.
It's okay for your left shoulder to come up.
Notice where you're feeling a twist.
And noticing if there's any tension being held anywhere in your body.
Maybe your face or your shoulders.
Noticing if you can bring a little bit of softness there.
And then from here,
Gently bringing the knees back to center.
You can give them a little hug once more,
Bringing both knees into the chest.
And then again,
Bringing your arms out to a T and releasing your knees to the left side.
Propping with a pillow if that feels better on your body.
And taking a moment here,
Noticing sensations.
And then once again,
Bringing the legs back to center,
Giving them an embrace one more time.
And then placing your feet on the floor,
Keeping your knees bent.
And from here,
We'll go into bridge pose.
So planting your feet firmly on the floor,
Pressing into them and gently lifting up your hips off the floor.
And checking in with your breath,
Making sure that you are breathing here.
Bringing the effort that it takes to hold your hips up.
Bringing your hips down whenever you need to if you need to take a break.
Otherwise,
Just holding them here for a little bit.
And then gently releasing your hips back down to the ground.
And either keeping your knees bent or straightening your legs out.
And taking a few moments in resting pose and noticing any effects of the work that you have just done,
Any sensations.
And from here,
Carefully rolling yourself over to hands and knees into table position with your back parallel with the floor and the ceiling.
Your hands on the ground,
Knees bent.
If this is a little straining on your wrists,
You can bring your hands to a fist position resting on fists instead of the palms of your hands.
And take a deep breath in here.
And with an exhale,
Round your back toward the ceiling like an angry cat.
So you're pressing your belly button toward the sky.
That position,
Feeling a stretch in your spine.
Breathing here.
And then with your next inhale,
Arching your back the other way.
So dropping your belly toward the ground into cow.
Taking a moment,
Feeling what the stretch going this other way feels like to you.
And then moving with your breath.
So rounding your back with your exhale into cat.
Pressing your back into cow with your inhale.
Or maybe experimenting with using your breath in a different way.
But going back and forth a few times here,
Feel a little movement in your spine.
And then back to a neutral spine,
Into tabletop.
And then from here,
Bringing your hips back toward your heels.
They might not necessarily touch.
We're going into child's pose.
So you can reach your arms out in front of you and rest your head on the ground between your arms.
Or you can make a fist with your hand,
Bend your elbows and place your head on your hands.
If you feel the need to have a little extra support,
You can feel free to place a blanket underneath your knees or in the crook of your legs.
Keeping your breath here.
The expansion,
The contraction.
And then coming back up onto all fours into tabletop.
And shifting your weight to your left knee as you lift and straighten your right leg so that it's parallel to the floor.
Moving away with either your heel or the pointed toe.
When you're feeling steady in that position,
Bring the weight to your right hand and lift your left hand forward,
Pointing your fingers toward the opposite wall.
Noticing what muscles are used in this position.
The types of effort that it takes,
Even the smallest movements.
Knowing you can bring your knee and arm down at any time.
Checking in to make sure that you're breathing.
And then bringing your leg and your arm back down to the ground.
If you'd like,
You can go back into child's pose,
Bringing your hips back to your heels,
Giving your arm and your wrist a break if they need it.
And we'll do the same on the other side.
So this time,
Shifting your weight to your right knee and reaching back with your left leg,
Straight back,
Reaching either your heel of your foot or the toes away.
Left leg parallel to the ground.
And then when you're feeling steady,
Pressing into the ground with your left hand so that you can reach your right arm straight forward,
Fingers pointing away.
And taking a moment here,
Taking breaks whenever you need to.
Coming into right effort.
Not pushing yourself too hard.
Keeping a comfortable edge for yourself.
Maybe there's a little shakiness that is to be known here.
Paying attention to any judgments that might arise.
And releasing your arm and your leg back into tabletop.
And then from here,
I'm going to have you lie on the floor on your belly,
Arranging your feet in a way that's comfortable.
Maybe toes pointing out.
Bending your arms and using your hands as a pillow for your forehead or your cheek.
And taking a moment here.
Using your weight,
Once again,
Gravity pulling you in.
From here,
Bringing your arms to your sides,
You can rest your forehead on the ground here.
And gently lifting up your back right leg up off the ground.
Moving through the heel or extending through the point or toe.
Being sensitive to any low back pain that might be present and releasing if that's the case.
Taking a breath in here and with an exhale,
Releasing that leg back down to the ground.
And from here,
You can bend your elbows and bring your hands to a pillow once more.
And resting,
Noticing sensations,
Maybe a difference in one side versus the other.
And then we'll do it again on the other side.
So bringing your hands alongside your body and this time lifting your right leg up.
And with just the right amount of effort,
Making sure there's no pain anywhere.
And then releasing that leg back down,
Bending your elbows and making a pillow for your head.
And from here,
Rolling over to your right side and propping your head up on your forehead.
Arm.
So bending your arm and resting your head in your hands.
And allowing your left leg to lift and holding it there.
Working with extending through your heel or extending through your toes,
Noticing different sensations when you press away with your heel or your toes.
Using your left arm to keep you propped up too in case you're falling forward.
Checking in with your breath.
Noticing what it's like in this pose,
In this moment.
And then gently releasing back down to the ground and rolling to your other side.
So propping your head up with your left hand and lifting your right leg up.
Noticing what it takes to balance here.
Notice how you need to shift your weight a certain way,
A little too much.
And you tip over one way,
A little too much in the other direction.
You can tip over that way.
Paying attention to how this is for you in this moment.
Then from here,
Releasing your leg and allowing yourself to roll onto your back.
Back into Shavasana.
With your knees bent,
If that feels better on your back,
Or your legs outstretched.
And your arms by your side.
Palms up if that feels okay to you.
And resting now at the end of this session.
Mid-power.
If it feels right,
Acknowledging the effort,
The care,
And the caring for yourself that you bring to this practice.
If it feels right,
Acknowledging the effort,
The care,
And the care that you bring to this
