Hello!
Hello,
Welcome.
This is Zenex Yoga and I am Vivian Wolfe.
We are moving through 48 lessons for self-transformation in midlife,
For Generation X,
Especially if you are someone moving through the different stages of menopause.
Menopause,
Perimenopause,
Postmenopause.
And I'm a yoga therapist.
We use the tools of yoga and Ayurveda to help find transformation,
To reduce challenge,
And just to thrive,
To reduce our personal suffering,
And just to live a little happier,
A little more contentedly,
Body,
Mind,
And heart.
That was rambling.
So,
Welcome to the live stream.
This is lesson number two.
Lesson number two of our 48 lessons.
And right now,
We're in a section of our work in which we are addressing physical discomfort or even pain management.
So,
As we move through all of these lessons,
I want to make it very clear that none of this is supposed to take the place of medical treatment from your doctor,
From your physical therapist,
Or occupational therapist,
Any of that.
This is all meant to support your care plan,
The one that you already have.
So,
If you have chronic pain,
If you have arthritis,
If you have an injury,
Chronic injury,
Pain,
Or anything like that,
This is not meant to supersede anything that your care team may have prescribed for you.
I just want to make that very clear.
With that in mind,
Today,
We're going to do just a very short practice that you can do while seated that's going to work on the joints in the neck,
The shoulders,
And the spine.
So,
You can do this while you're at work.
You can do this even if your space is limited,
Sitting on the edge of your couch,
Sitting on your bed,
Sitting,
I mean,
Really in the bathroom on the edge of your tub or the toilet.
I mean,
Let's be real here.
Okay,
Okay,
Let's do it.
I'm going to use my stool here,
But you use whatever works for you.
And if you happen to be watching this live or even in the replay,
In the comment in the comment section below or in the chat,
Let me know.
Do you often do stretches while you're seated?
If you have a desk job or a driving job or any other long-term seated situation going on,
Do you ever do stretches?
And if you do,
What are they?
I want to hear about it.
But first,
Let's go ahead and get started.
So,
I'm going to come onto my chair here,
Onto my stool,
And just settle in,
Make yourself comfortable.
If you need to move some real estate aside,
So you feel more comfortable,
Feel free to do that.
Legs are just,
Feet are planted,
So legs are about hip width apart,
Wider or more narrow,
Whatever's more comfortable so that you can feel nice and stable here.
Take just a couple of breaths,
Into the nose,
Out to the mouth,
But allow yourself to settle in.
Just feeling the sensations that are present right now in your body.
Maybe you notice feelings of temperature,
Maybe parts of the body feel cool or warm,
Maybe you notice any places that feel tense or tight,
Maybe you feel some tingling,
Some vibration.
Then notice your breath,
Notice how your breath feels.
Is it fast or slow,
Even,
Uneven,
Shallow or deep?
Knowing you don't have to fix or change anything.
And then when you're ready,
Just dip your right ear to your right shoulder.
You don't have to do anything more.
Notice here,
If you start to pull that chin down,
You don't have to fix it if this feels better for you,
It gets into the tight places.
But just take another breath here,
Opening up the left side of the neck,
Breathing into that space.
As you inhale,
Lift the head back to center,
And exhale,
Let that left ear tip down towards that left shoulder.
You can just notice here,
If there's an urge to pull that chin down or up,
Just finding that place where this feels the best.
Sending your breath into the space on the right side of your neck.
And with your next inhale,
Just lift that head back up.
And then as you exhale,
Just bring your chin to your chest.
I'm going to give you an option here,
You can take your hands behind you,
Interlace your fingers together,
Or even clasp the outsides of your elbows,
Whatever feels better here.
Sending the breath now to the back of the neck.
Good,
And then releasing this as you inhale,
Lift the head back to neutral.
Last thing with the neck,
Interlace your fingers and bring your hands to the base of your skull,
We're just going to keep a little space here.
As you inhale,
I want you to lift your chin just as high as you can,
Using your hands to keep some space in the neck,
So your head's not falling back,
You're lifting up.
Breathe into the front of your throat.
And as you exhale,
Release all the way back down.
Good,
Maybe some shoulder rolls here,
If that feels good.
Take them one way a couple of times.
Ah,
And then take them the other way a couple of times.
Good,
You're good.
And I'm going to take our right arm up and over,
Bending that elbow,
Placing your hand on your spine,
And then your left hand goes the opposite way.
So they don't have to touch,
But think about opening your elbows.
Again,
I'm going to turn to the side so you can kind of see.
So if your elbow is pointed towards the front of you,
See if you can open it to the side.
And we'll stay here just for a couple of breaths.
Maybe you even do a little side bend here,
If that feels good.
Ah,
Then let's do the other side.
So release that,
Take the arms wide,
Big T-shape,
And then bring your right,
Your left arm up,
Excuse me,
Left arm up,
Right arm comes down,
Little cow face,
Your hands don't have to touch.
If you want to use a strap for them to touch,
You can do that.
Or you can just place your hands on your spine,
That's enough.
And then open that left elbow to the side,
A little deeper,
You can take it over to the right,
A little side bend.
Another breath.
Beautiful,
Beautiful.
Release that,
Take those arms wide again.
And this time,
Take the arms in front of you,
Right arm over left arm,
Give yourself a hug,
Creep those fingers back towards each other behind you as close as you can take them.
And you're welcome to stay here if that feels good.
This hug is so good for us,
Body,
Mind,
And heart.
If you want to take this in a different direction,
You can wrap the forearms around each other so that your,
Your fingers and your palms face towards each other,
Fingers up.
And then from here,
Lift those elbows so that they're in line with the shoulders.
Another deep,
Taking this a little deeper,
Just tuck your chin to your chest.
We'll just take a couple of breaths here.
Beautiful,
Beautiful.
Unravel,
Take those arms wide,
Little stretch back.
And then let's do the other side.
So left arm over right arm,
Start with this hug,
Creeping those fingers back as far as you can take them.
And maybe you stick here,
This is a great place to be.
Or maybe you wrap those forearms around each other into eagle arms,
Fingers point up,
Lifting the elbows so they're in line with the shoulders.
Maybe you tuck chin,
Chest.
Good.
Unravel,
Take the arms wide and high,
And then let them come down,
Resting on the knees.
Take a breath here and just notice what this little bit of movement is already doing in the sensations in your body.
And then let's creep to the edge of our chair,
If we're not there already,
So that the sits bones are right there on the edge,
Hands are on the knees.
We're going to do a little cat-cow here.
So just real easy,
Inhale,
Lift the heart,
Lift the chin,
Feel your tailbone tuck back,
So you're,
The top of your pelvis tilts forward,
Lift the chin,
Exhale,
Reverse this,
Make a c-shape with your body,
With your spine,
Tuck your chin,
Tuck the tailbone,
Inhale,
We lift the heart up,
Look up,
Exhale and round.
Let's do a few more rounds,
Just following your breath,
Inhaling forward,
Exhaling back,
Doing two more rounds on your own.
No rush here.
When you're all done,
Find a little stillness.
Maybe it feels nice to close your eyes or just take the gaze down.
And notice again,
Sensations in the body,
What feels warm or cool?
Do you still feel areas of tension or tightness or have those shifted?
Do you feel any tingling or vibration?
What does your breath feel like now?
Fast or slow,
Even,
Uneven,
Shallow,
Deep?
Observing what thoughts are present now,
Allowing them to pass as they arise,
Just observing the thoughts,
And letting them go.
Staying here for as long as it feels good for you.
And then when you're ready,
Open the eyes,
Bring your hands together over your heart,
Anjali Mudra.
Here I would like to say thank you very much for taking this time for your self-care,
For your practice.
Thank you for sharing this time with me.
And from my heart to yours,
Peace.
