Yin for Digestion

Welcome. This is a grounding yin practice designed to support digestive health and encourage a downward flow of energy. It'll be nice to have a blanket on your mat and perhaps two blocks and a bolster. We'll start in a child's pose with blocks underneath the hands. So placing your hands on the blocks, you might bring your blocks shoulder width or even wider.

Finding the placement of your body as you settle back into your child's pose. Maybe you bring the forehead towards the earth and customize the shape for your body. You might bring the big toes to touch and the knees slightly wider. You might even gently sway a little bit from side to side. As you soften the hips back towards the heels.

You might play here with pressing the hands into the blocks a little bit. Then taking a nice full breath into the back of the heart, feeling the fullness of the back lungs, the kidneys, down through your lower back. And with the exhale relaxing the belly, healing the belly softening towards the thighs, towards the earth. Breathing here into the shape and spreading your awareness through the body. Notice how it feels through your shoulders.

Down through the spine into your hips. Softening through the mouth and the jaw. New more moments here. Feeling yourself, gradually arrive in your practice. Settling, perhaps offering yourself to the earth.

When you feel ready to slow on the inhale rise, you might round your way up. Walking your knees and hips over the knees, shoulders over the wrists. As we explore Cat, how you might keep your hands on the blocks, you might prefer to bring your hands to the earth, letting your background and stretch. Feel how you can tuck your toes under, draw your hips towards your heels, and then inhale lead with the heart, feeling into your extension and length. And softening your gaze inward as you curl around, stretch your back, draw your hips towards your heels.

Nice full rounded shape through the spine, and then inhale lower the belly. Lift the heart. Couple more rounds at your own pace. You might tuck the toes under. You might release the tops of your feet to the floor.

Feel how you can warm and wake up. Here's spine. And then from here, we'll move into a dragon shape shape. So you might bring your blocks up onto the highest setting, and we're gonna step our left foot all the way through between the blocks. You might readjust your back knee, and we'll find a dynamic lunge to begin with. So as you inhale draw your hips back, feel the length, through your hamstrings, and then exhale, sink into your lunge.

As you inhale draw your hips back, lengthen, exhale sink in. Let's find three more with a breath. Feeling into the landscape of sensation between the hamstrings. The front of the hip, hip flexor. Now hips draw back and exhale will sink now into our drag and lunge.

Might lean a little bit from side to side. Back toes might be tucked or untucked. You might keep your hands on the blocks. As you sit upright. You might choose to release your hands down around your front foot and allow the weight of your head to get heavy.

If and as you want a bit more heat through the body, a bit more intensity, you might come upright, bring your hands onto the front thigh, or even bring the hands behind the back. Finding your shape. Again, we're offering ourself to the shape of drag and passively for a length of time. With the intention of awakening the connective tissues, right, more specifically the fascia, the ligaments. Feeling and sensing the bones of the body and finding that appropriate edge of sensation.

Breathing into the shape. With each exhale softening the face the jaw, the throat. Now from the drag, an option to transition towards the shape of lizard, adding in a twist. So bringing the hands, the blocks on the inside of your left foot, and then toe heel your left foot wide. You might turn the left foot out as you bring your right hand or forearm to the block, left hand onto the thigh and twist.

Allow for an inhale, exhale soften. Find a place where your neck feels good. It feels at ease. Notice the quality through your hands. Notice where you can soften and relax any muscular effort. Notice how the shape and the sensation change with time.

So allowing for any adjustments as you deepen into the shape. Taking your time releasing the left hand down. As you're ready, slow, draw your hips back. You might bring the blocks on either side of your front foot as you tow heel, the front foot back into the midline, and then let's draw the hip back again, finding a hamstring stretch half split, and then release, draw the knee back. Find the other side, right foot forward, or opposite leg forward easing into our drag and with some dynamic movement.

In how draw your hips back extend through the front right leg and exhale, sink low through the hips, lifting up. And now hips draw back, lengthen, and exhale, sink low. You more with the breath. Might soften your gaze and word as you feel into sensation. Moving slow enough to feel and track. Eventually dropping into the shape of dragon and customize it for your body.

You might stay upright on the blocks. You might bring the hands to the upper thigh or bring the arms behind you. Might choose to release the hands down. Notice what you choose to do with the back foot. Allow for an inhale, exhale softening.

Again, most likely the side will feel a bit different in your hips and your thighs and your hamstrings. Might stay here or transition towards lizard pose, adding a twist. Bring the hands or the blocks on the inside of your front foot, toe heel, that front foot wide, turn the toes out. You might bring blocks underneath you as you ease in. Lowering the left forearm to the Earth or block and right hand on the right thigh as you twist.

Malal for an inhale and exhale relaxing the belly. You see in the eyes, the hands. Can you feel and sense the bones? Rather than the muscles. You feel and sense the fascia.

Round the hips. Last few moments here. Oh, this how the sensation changes morphs with time? And slowly bring the hands back to the blocks or the floor. Draw your hips back to heel, the front foot back into the midline, if you'd like.

And then let's draw the hips back. Extend through the front of the leg. And release. Let's pause again in a child's pose with or without the blocks underneath the hands. Taking a moment to rest in a asymmet in a symmetrical shape.

Now take a nice full breath into the back of the body, exhale soft in the belly. As you're ready, slow round your way up, You can bring your blocks off to the side, and we'll transition towards prone position, moving into sphinx and seal. If you'd like, you can experiment with a bowl stir or a folded blanket, supporting the lower abdomen. And you might take a moment to let your elbows go wide, rest your forehead on your hands, feeling the pressure and the abdomen. I'm just allowing the weight of the bones to drop.

You might stay here or return to this shape. Might ease your way up onto your forearms for sphinx pose. And arms are about shoulder width apart. Elbows might be slightly in front of your shoulders. You might experiment with bringing your legs a little closer together, which tends to draw the sensation evenly up through the spine.

You might play with widening your legs. Towards the edges of the mat, feeling how that sensation is kinda wide through the lower back. Failing into your neck. You might support the weight of your head with a block. You might surrender the weight of your head.

Nice. We'll exhale. If and as it feels safe for your lower back, softening the grip through the buttocks, right, through the glutes, the legs, the belly. Exploring a more passive backbend here. New might stay in the shape of sphinx. You might begin to press up onto your hands and explore the shape of seal.

The palms turn out. The arms straighten. You can experiment here with dropping into your shoulder joints if you'd like to find a place where your neck feels good. Now the further the hands are away from you, it tends to bring the feeling the sensation more into the mid back, the thoracic spine. If and as it's appropriate for your lower back, you might experiment with walking the hands in closer towards your pelvis, which can bring the sensation more into the lumbar spine, offering a bit of compression around the sacrum.

Nice full exhale. Again, customize the shape for your body, your energy. Notice where you can soften and relax any unnecessary effort or gripping. Yoga is a practice of inner listening. We're trusting the feeling.

The sensation. And as we trust the feeling, it helps us really align with the truth. Feeling is a pathway to truth. So as practitioners of yoga were discerning between that, I feel good, curious, achy sensation. Like in a passive backbend versus something that might feel sharp, painful, nerve like, in which case we'd wanna come out of this shape.

We find a bit more support or Another shape. Really trusting the feeling over the form. And the form will look different depending on your anatomy, depending on your bones. If you're in seal gently ease your way onto your forearms for sphinx. And then gradually elbows wide mouth.

Your forehead to the earth. My goodness. Pause notice. If you'd like, you might bend your knees and just let your legs go side to side. And then sliding the palms underneath you as you press up and back towards a child's pose.

And that bolster might be in just the right place as you soften your forehead towards the support elbows wide. Take a nice, full nourishing breath into the kidneys. Into the back body. Now option to stay here. Finaz, a Milasana squat pose would feel good for your lower back and hips.

You might move in that direction in your own way. That's safe for your joints. You might bring a block underneath your sitting bones. Feed nice and wide, heels, and toes out. Inhale, exhale soften the jaw, soften through the shoulders.

Few more moments. You are welcome to stay in the shape longer. Whereas you're ready, just find a slow safe exit route for your knees and hip I'm gonna bring my hands behind me, finding the sitting bones. From here, we're gonna stretch out on our back. So roll onto your back.

Have a bolster nearby. We're gonna draw the knees into the chest to begin with and just rock from side to side. From here, if you'd like, bring your bolster between your, knee and your ankle bones. I love this. And then inhale, exhale, we're gonna bring the knees over to the right. And let's go ahead and stack the knees, stack the arms, stack the hips.

And then as you're ready, let the top arm open, finding your spinal twist, inhale lengthen and exhale soft in the belly. Might bring your right hand on top of your collar left knee, and finding some ease in your neck. You might roll your head gently as you find that in a natural resting place. You'll have a belly can soften with the exhale in the back of a left, long, and shoulder get heavy towards the earth. Right? Spinal twists are designed to really promote digestion.

So we're stoking the fire of digestion, creating a bit more circulation. Flow of blood, flow of subtle energy. Your own timing as you're ready and how Lee with the top leg, and you might grab ahold of your bolster with your hands, come back to the center, inhale, and then exhale over to the left. And you might roll onto your left side stack the knees, hips, and shoulders. And let your top right arm open. Again, inhale, find some length and exhale softening the belly.

He's in the neck. And spacious, between the eyebrows and the base of the skull, You feel and sense how the organs are being massaged in the the abdomen and the belly. Take your time as you feel ready. On your inhale lead with your top leg. You might reach the bolster with your hands as you come up, and we'll bring the bolster off to the side, hug your knees into your chest.

From here, you might reach up for your feet. Happy baby. Let your hips open. Find the position of your hands that feels right. Maybe it's the inner legs.

Outer or inner edges of your feet and rock from side to side. Feeling your shoulders drop. Massaging the lower back. Massaging the spine. Malau for an inhale, and then slowly release the feet knees, draw in. You might take a moment to lift up, curl up. Forehead towards the knees, and then exhale releasing towards the earth.

From here, you might stretch out for Shavasana. You might ease your way up towards a seat for a short seated meditation rolling to your side. Slowly pressing up. If you're coming into a seat, let's get the alignment of your body just right for you. Softening the gaze and word.

I'm allowed for an inhale. Nice grounding exhale. Whether you're supine or seated, let's consciously rest in the space you've created. You've cultivated. In your practice. Eeling how the neck can lengthen.

The base of the skull can gently float back and up. Oh, this when the mind starts to wander and gently come back, rest in the experience of being here. In this present moment awareness. You're seated joining the hands together, breathing in. Reething out with a soft bow forward and in.

Namaste. Thank you for being here.