Permission to Relax

Welcome, everyone. This is your permission to relax. You'll need a bolster and two blankets to practice today. You're gonna place one of the blankets like a square on your mat, and then we're gonna lie down on top of that blanket. So when you're ready, please join me in crocodile pose.

You'll stack your hands so that you can rest your forehead on top of the hands. And the blanket is there as a reminder, not only to receive the support, but also to soften. So just feel into the softness of your blanket and allow your abdomen to soften. Let's inhale together. Breathe slowly through the nostrils and exhale slowly through the nostrils.

And bringing your mind's eye to the back of your body when you inhale visualize and even feel the backside of your body expanding. It's not as obvious as when we're observing the front side of the body. There's more mobility in the front of our body. So it might feel very subtle. Just notice, pay attention.

Feel the breath filling the back body as you breathe in. Relax and soften your abdomen as you breathe out. We'll do this three more times. Breathing in, feel, perhaps even visualize the back of your body, filling up with breath. Exhale and notice the space around your naval softening all the abdominal muscles softening as you exhale.

This is truly one of the more regulating poses that we can do for the nervous system. Laying on the belly and relaxing the belly. So now remove the hands from underneath your forehead. And just slide your arms alongside your body, place your forehead on the mat. It's like your hands are in a cobra position for a moment.

We're gonna slide that right arm out to the right resting the hand on the floor, resting the forearm and the elbow on the floor. And then your left hand's gonna slide slightly forward. You're gonna push into the mat into the floor and roll over to the right side. So your left hand stays where it is just to help your body roll to the right. And the more you press your left hand into the floor, the more it's gonna stretch that top and the front of that right shoulder, that right arm that's extending to the right.

So your the left side of your body is rolled on top of the right side. You're rolling to the right, stretching the front of that right shoulder. And then some of us might feel if you have the space for it and in your body it works, you can pick up your left foot and just place it behind your right leg like a little kickstand. It's just gonna add a little more intensity to the stretch on the right shoulder. Inhale slowly.

Exhale and relax the body. Notice any gripping anywhere in the body, soften. If your left foot's in a kickstand, just again rest that left leg on top of the right, roll back onto your belly. And come back into crocodile pose for a moment. So hands are going to stack underneath the forehead once again.

And notice the right side of your body, that right arm. The front of the right shoulder. Great. So slide your hands back again as though you were to do a cobra pose. Rest your forehead on the mat. Straighten and extend your left arm out to the left.

You'll slide your right hand forward a little bit and start to push down into the floor with your right hand roll over that left side of the body, left, hip, and stack the right side of your body on top of the left. I'm just breathe here. Openening and stretching the front of the right shoulder now and across the front of the chest. In your right foot, you can always bring it behind the left leg as a kickstand, opening up even more. Don't forget about the breath.

If it starts to feel intense, This is our permission to relax. So in, he'll slowly exhale deeply. And bring your right leg on top of the left. Roll back onto your belly. Back into crocodile pose.

Resting your forehead on your hands. One more breath. And from here, tuck the toes Bring your hands back as though you're setting up for cobra and push on to all fours tabletop position. You won't need the blanket anymore. So you can slide it off the mat for a moment. We'll use it again.

For Shavasana. We'll do a few rounds of cat cow, so on your inhale draw your chest forward. Exhale and round the spine. Pause and the rounding, feel it in your low back and the space between the shoulder blades. And again, inhale, chest forward, breathing in.

Exhale around the spine. Three more. Moving a little slower. Notice your breaths are a little longer. So let your movement match your breath.

And come back to a neutral spine. Bring your hands in front of your shoulders a few inches, separate your knees just a little wider than your hips. We'll take the right arm out to the right, opening it to the right, maybe even spin your chest a little open to the right inhale. And as you exhale thread the right arm through between the left wrist and left knee. So we're coming into variation of thread the needle for the shoulders.

Breathe in. And as you exhale, press the left hand into the floor, revolve a little more open to the sky. Perhaps even sliding your left hand forwards. Straightening your left elbow. So notice if there's any resistance to relaxing.

Continue to give yourself that permission and gift to relax. If your left arm is straight, slide that left hand back, press into the floor. Come on up. We'll do the second side, inhale. The left arm reaches left.

Open the chest to the left. XL as you thread the left arm through between the right hand and knee. You can press your right hand into the mat even more to revolve a little more. And perhaps your right arm slides forward. Notice the parts of you that want to stay in the doing mode, but this is very much a practice of being There is a little effort as we're in the pose and holding and breathing, but it really is a practice of complete relaxation and surrender.

Slide your right hand back. Press down to lift up. And we'll come into a child's pose. So I'm gonna ask you to stack your hands once again. So your hands are beneath the forehead.

Just allowing the forehead to rest. Like you did in crocodile pose, can you feel and even perhaps visualize the breath? Filling the back body? As you exhale, allow the front body to soften. The front body softens onto the thighs the thighs onto the shins and the shins onto the earth. So come back on to your hands and your knees, and we're gonna set up for a very supportive Shavasana.

You'll take one blanket and fold it into a rectangle. This is gonna be for our head. And then you'll grab your bolster now and place the bolster underneath your thighs. And the other blanket is going to rest over your belly. So you can decide if you wanna open it up just a little more. That's fine.

If you wanna place the rectangle on top of the belly, it'll just feel a little heavier, which might feel nice. That added weight. Now a reminder of your crocodile pose earlier, we want to have just a slight weight on top of the belly and the hips. So make all the necessary adjustments here. You feel fully supported.

And when you're ready and you've found that comfortable place in Shivasana, you can close your eyes. Right away, notice the different touch points of the body that are making contact with the earth. So feel the heels, feel parts of your back, the shoulder blades, the shoulder heads, the back of the shoulders. Perhaps your elbows, parts of the arms, and just let those parts become heavier. And now notice the naval and the chest rising and falling as you breathe.

Can you let the naval soften even more and any armor around your chest or heart soften even more. Relax the big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe and pinky toe. Relax your ankles. Knees and hips. Feel both legs and both feet, fully relaxing.

The center of the pelvis. Navel, relax, center of the heart. Center of the throat. Both shoulders, elbows, wrists, all of the fingers. Both arms fully relax.

The center of your throat. Mouth and tongue relax. Center of the eyes and the center of the forehead. Notice your whole body. Notice The whole body relaxing.

Just taking your time to deepen your breath again. Bring your attention back down to the toes as you move your toes. And to the fingers, move your fingers. And moving at 50%, start to bend your knees, placing your feet over the bolster. We'll make our way to a seated position.

However, you want to get there. Once you are seated, we'll join the palms together in front of the heart. Just taking this moment to really honor ourselves for showing up and for the permission to relax. Take a deep inhale through the nose. Full exhale.

Namaste.