Yoga To Relieve Stress & Anxiety

Welcome.

Thank you for joining me today.

My name is Pamela and we'll be moving through a practice today to help reduce anxiety and stress.

These poses that we'll be moving into today that you can do at any time.

You can maybe pick the ones you like best and use them whenever you're feeling anxious or want to de-stress.

We're going to start today's practice in a standing position.

The props you might need today,

If you have them available,

Are one or two blocks.

And perhaps a chair if you don't have blocks.

And maybe a blanket or cushion to sit on.

So remember this is your practice.

Always listen to your body,

Listen to your breath.

If something I suggest today doesn't work for you,

Feel free to find a variation or opt out.

Really honor where you are right now.

So when you're ready,

Come to a standing position.

Maybe feet are about hip distance apart.

And maybe lift the toes,

Spread the toes,

Lower them back down.

Coming into a Tadasana position,

Mountain Pose.

Rest through your feet,

Grounding into the earth as you lengthen through the spine and reach the crown of your head up towards the sky.

Heart gently lifts as if there's a hand on your upper back,

Gently lifting your heart.

Take a few breaths here and notice how you feel.

Hands might be at your side or in prayer position at your heart.

And then we're going to get into a little movement here.

Reach the arms out and up.

And on your exhale,

Bend the elbows,

Open the heart with a ha.

Feel that stretch through the upper back and shoulders.

And then again,

Inhale,

Reach your arms straight up and exhale,

Bend your elbows,

Open your heart.

Again,

Inhale,

Reach your arms up.

Exhale,

Bend your elbows,

Open your heart.

And then release your arms down beside you and roll your shoulders a few times.

Notice which direction you're going.

Just notice how your shoulders feel.

We often hold a lot of tension in our shoulders and upper back.

And then reverse direction.

Observe how one direction might feel compared to the other.

And then relax your arms by your side,

Maybe shaking them out a little bit.

And if it feels comfortable to do so,

Maybe interlacing your hands behind your back.

If this doesn't work for your shoulders or arms or feels uncomfortable in any way,

Just leave your arms back like wings,

Spreading through your fingers.

Otherwise,

Clasp the hands behind your back,

Extend the arms out as far as feels comfortable to you until you feel a stretch and lift through the upper back and shoulders,

A little lift of your heart,

Reaching the arms and hands away from you only as far as feels comfortable to you.

Take a few breaths here.

And slowly,

If your hands are clasped,

Release the hands,

Bring them down by your sides once more.

Notice how you feel.

And then if you're using blocks,

You might have them handy.

Or if you don't have blocks,

You could have a folding chair or other chair nearby.

You're going to widen your feet as wide as feels comfortable to you,

Maybe just a foot and a half,

Two feet,

Or maybe three feet wide.

We're going to come into a wide leg forward fold.

So you might place your hands on your hips and take an inhale,

Lengthen through your spine.

On your exhale,

Long spine as you hinge from your hip crease,

Coming forward halfway.

So your hands might be on that chair or you might be using blocks.

Pause at this halfway lift position and notice how you feel.

If it feels appropriate to do so,

On your next exhale,

Hinging from your hip crease to go a little bit deeper.

From here,

We're going to find some support for the head.

If you're using the chair,

You might stack your arms and rest your forehead on the back of your hand.

If you're using blocks,

You might position them in such a way that your forehead is supported on the blocks.

If you're just within an inch or so from being comfortable in the neck,

You may need to bring your feet in a little closer or move them out slightly.

Keep your hands on the floor if you're using blocks so that your hands are also supporting you.

Breathe normally here,

Maybe just a soft normal breath,

Or maybe use that ujjayi,

Ocean breath if that feels comfortable for you.

Having the head supported in forward folds is very calming to the central nervous system.

You could stay in this position for as long as you feel comfortable doing so.

Just another breath.

Then slowly on your next inhale,

Come up to that halfway point once more.

Begin to bring your feet slightly closer together,

And you're going to make your way back onto your mat.

Come into tabletop pose,

Hands and knees.

Knees are about hip distance apart,

Wrists under your shoulders,

And just take a little bit of movement here.

Maybe a cat cow,

Exhaling to round the spine in cow,

And inhaling to arch into cat,

Or any other movement in the body that would feel good to you.

Now we're coming into makrasana,

Or crocodile pose.

So come all the way onto your belly,

Bring your elbows out,

And stack your hands on top of each other,

And rest your forehead on the back of your hands.

Begin to tune into your breath.

You might notice the soft sound of your breath.

Make sure the head and neck feel very comfortable,

That your shoulders are relaxed,

And notice the belly as you breathe here.

Notice how the belly expands as you inhale,

Gently pressing into the mat.

Each exhale is an invitation to soften and release a little bit deeper.

You can visualize the breath going to the areas where you feel the most tightness or tension,

And allow the breath to soothe those areas.

Invite each exhale to help you release a little bit more,

Melting into the mat or blanket,

Whatever you're laying on,

Letting go a little bit more with each exhale.

A few more breaths here.

And then slowly on your next inhale,

Bring your hands under your shoulders.

On a next inhale,

Push yourself up onto your hands,

Passing through that table pose,

And then maybe bringing a block with you.

Widen your knees slightly,

Toes touch,

And we're going to come into a child's pose.

One option here is to have the elbows sort of close to the knees,

And have the block in between your hands.

If you're not using a block,

You can just stack your hands either on fists or flat on top of each other,

And support your head on your hands or the block.

So you can also just have your forehead to the mat.

This is just another variation.

Find whatever variation of child's pose feels most comfortable to you.

Notice your breath.

Breathing through the nose,

Lips are closed,

And it produces that soft ocean sound.

This breath is very soothing to the central nervous system,

And it helps us stay focused on the present moment.

A few more breaths here.

And then slowly begin to press yourself up through table once more.

From here,

Either just pausing in table pose,

Or some of you may want to find a downward dog.

If you want downward dog,

Gently tuck your toes,

And lift your hips up and back,

Lengthening your spine,

Heels towards the earth,

Head and neck relaxed.

Find your variation.

And if you found downward dog,

Whenever you're ready,

Lower the knees back to the mat,

And make your way to a comfortable seat with your legs out in front of you.

If you have tight hamstrings and this position feels uncomfortable,

You might bring a blanket or cushion to sit on.

It's also totally fine to bend the knees.

You might use a rolled towel up under the knees if you have really tight hamstrings.

And then we're going to come into a forward fold,

Pashimottanasana.

And you may want a block or another prop to support the head as just an option here as well.

You can always hold one or two blocks.

Again,

In whatever position works for you,

So the forehead could come onto the block and just be supported there.

Make sure you find your position first so you know how far forward you're coming.

Use the props to meet you where you are.

Again,

You're going to hold this position for a few breaths.

With each exhale,

Soften the shoulders.

Imagine with each exhale,

Your breath is taking away the stress,

Any tension.

You can also use those open-mouth sighs of an exhale.

Open-mouth sighs of exhales are great for helping to release tension and stress.

So let's take a few of those now.

Nice,

Deep inhale.

And an open-mouth sigh,

Let it go.

Nice,

Deep inhale.

And open-mouth sigh,

Release.

Once more on your own,

Nice,

Deep inhale.

And with an open-mouth sigh,

Let it go.

Slowly on your next inhale,

Use your hands and arms,

Bring yourself back up to a comfortable seat.

Find any position that works for you.

Gently close your eyes and notice how you feel.

Take a few moments here of silence,

And you'll hear the singing bowl when our practice is over.

Thank you for joining me today.

Enjoy these moments and let go.

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