Spring Ayurveda Yoga Challenge Artwork
Season 1 - Episode 5

Day 4: Rooted in Presence

55 min - Practice
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Description

Notice what it’s like to be rather than to do. In Day 4, Melina leads a sweet, slow Yin practice to compliment the dynamic flows in this series and move us closer to the nurturing earth. We explore supported Pigeon and Frog to move more deeply into the hips, as well as Banana and Sphinx to find space in the side and front body, while navigating pairs of opposites to find balance and encourage the water element to move more freely through the system and unite the entire being. You will feel grounded and whole.

Your Self Care Homework Challenge for Day 4:

Consider how you can be of service to others and support your local community.

What You'll Need: Mat, Square Bolster, Blanket, Block

About This Video

Jan 21, 2021
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Transcript

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Hello, everyone. Welcome to day four of the Spring Ayurveda and Yoga Challenge. I'm grateful you're here with me today to do a more nourishing slow practice to complement all the work we've done so far, doing all the outer leg work, inner leg work, and all the fun flows and balance poses we've done. So now we get to be a little closer to the floor for this series and dial in a little bit deeper to some of the hip openers that to me are really fun to do for the spring season to target those inner outer legs. For class, it'll be really helpful to have a bolster or big pillow, kind of a firm pillow if you don't have a bolster. One block and one blanket is what we'll use. So let's go ahead and start with a bolster and we'll be on our back for the beginning of the practice. If you make your way onto your back and get your hair just right so your head's nice and neutral, chin parallel to the floor, we're going to put the bolster on top of your torso. Depending on the type of shape of bolster that you have, we're going to turn it to the narrow, tall edge so it's not the big flat wide side but the narrow. And we'll slide the bolster as best as you can up towards the top of the sternum and then you would kind of hug this top end with your arms and then wrap your legs around the lower ends so the ankles cross. This is one of the ways I use child's pose. For some folks, if we have knee injuries or knee sensitivity, it's nice to find a pose like child's pose here on your back. So I also love this as you hug the bolster, the weight of the bolster on your front body. I hope you can start to feel how that helps connect you a little bit more to the ground. And if we can start to maybe tip a little bit side to side so that you feel perhaps a little bit massaged through the muscles on your back sides, more receptive to when you're off balance and you're on the right or the left. And we're going to try to eventually tip ourselves to the center where we can stay and let's root ourselves here as we hug that bolster maybe more firmly in towards your body. And then when everything is in the right place, often it's pretty easy for the eyes to drop back into the face. And maybe you can already feel a little bit of the tension, leave the shoulder area or the back or the hips. And maybe we're inclined to take fuller exhales and maybe even audible exhales to help you get to that place where you feel really complete, perhaps at the end of that exhale feeling more grounded. I thought we'd explore what the yogis call the gunas or in Ayurveda we call the gunas to describe different qualities in nature, but also different qualities we might be experiencing moment to moment. So basically they're pairs of opposites. And I think what's interesting is we observe our opposites. Sometimes when we're aware that we might feel really ungrounded, that if we're looking to do some of the opposite, we might do some pose like this to get more grounded if we were ungrounded. So rather than standing and balancing on one leg, we come down to the floor where we feel the actual earth solid floor underneath us. So it kind of weaves in the sutra of like increases like opposites balance that we can discover again, are we feeling grounded in certain areas of our body or ungrounded? And if we wish to be more grounded, where might we send a little bit more awareness or energy to help make the places that are ungrounded a little bit more heavy or dense? So if we seek feeling more grounded, we can become aware of maybe some parts are grounded, and some might take a little bit more time. So in this kind of floor oriented practice, like it's really helpful to find a shape that encourages grounding and invites us to move more slowly. So then we can eventually feel again, maybe some more softening that encourages more of the water element to move more freely through our system to unify all of our divided parts. And if we're thinking about this element of water for a moment, and you're breathing in and out mindfully, notice, so there's some tissues or areas that feel dry. Some places that might feel more hydrated. What's the general state of your being right now? Do you feel hydrated? Or is there a sense of dryness? You might even be noticing that in the throat or the mouth as you're breathing in and swallowing. You might even notice that in certain tissues that might feel a little bit stiff or brittle. Or do we feel pretty flexible? If we're thinking about that element of water flowing deeper into our tissues, are we noticing generally good circulation and warmth? Or do we feel like maybe there's some areas where there's some stagnation and maybe not the best flow just yet? So I love this idea of the qualities and these pairs of opposites just to help us get to know ourselves a little bit more moment by moment. Let's take maybe one more moment just noticing the qualities present right now for focusing on earth and grounding, water softening, hydrating. When you're ready, let's uncross your legs and release the bolster with your arms and let's take the bolster and send it behind you and you might slide yourself down so you're more at the middle of your mat and you've got that bolster back behind you for potentially your arms. Some of you might like this where you take your arms back and you'd rest your arms, maybe your wrist on top of the bolster. If that feels like it's in the way or a little bit awkward you could always slide it out of the way or some might like tucking your hands underneath it and then slide your arms straight. Okay so with or without a bolster, let's move your feet to the edge of your mat and let's do a little bit of tipping, mindfully side to side for a windshield wiper pose as if it's sort of that time if it was just starting to maybe drizzle a little bit or maybe it's just that chance of rain so there's not a lot to clear from the windshield so we're not moving fast. Trying to create a little bit more hydration and range of motion and mobility in your spine, your hips and down into your thighs. Now when you're ready let's keep your legs over onto your right side and when you tip your legs to the right you might want to add a block underneath your right knee or maybe your left knee as the case might be. I'm going to wedge one under my right leg just to show again how to use that. I'm going to adjust your legs so this feels safe in particular in your knees. Adjust the angles of the feet further apart or just sense if things don't feel quite like you can settle here. Trust that keep making little wiggle adjustments until you feel like your legs are comfortable. Shoulders are relatively comfortable here connected to the ground and then let's hang out here and perhaps the eyes close if you feel comfortable so you tune in a little more now to your inner alignment and we feel perhaps now one half of your body is more grounded, more supported by the floor and the other half is less supported and of course there's that space between we're aware of there's always the space between we're still trying to pay attention what's happening in our center and see as we maybe start to soften a little bit more into the places we're supported that the muscle tone might actually change and as the muscle tone changes the skin gets a little smoother and then we might be witnessing a little bit more change and transformation through that left side of our body that's not getting support right now and that's typically where more of that fiery or tingly sensations might arise is that area that's a little bit more floating. We try to find that reasonable amount of sensation so it's not in any way overwhelming or creating any future suffering but just starting to feel like it's waking up or slowly changing the quality of sensation you're experiencing on your left sides and eventually we might feel like we have equal attention from right to left that things kind of even out as far as sensations go and then we might focus a little bit more on the subtle body rather than the gross outer superficial body and we get to use this time to maybe clear out more the inner pathways that have congestion or stagnation from the winter from maybe sitting at home a little bit more for some of us with the COVID and pandemic or perhaps even from overuse of certain muscles and now we're discovering by doing a little bit less that there's some new sensation hidden a little bit deeper and muscles that we don't use all that often. So let's settle into that subtle body for just a few more moments to witness what's here the sensations feel mellow are they more intense they dull or sharp yourself just be a little more curious about how you might describe your body in this moment as a way to become more present all right now often it's kind of exciting when we start to come out of that pose and we tip our knees back to neutral perhaps wiggle your feet now back together so your knees touch and let's gather your knees in towards your chest and squeeze them in and with your hands holding the knees make a few circles we're kind of massaging and creating hopefully better flow in between some of our longer holds and let's go the opposite direction with those circles all right so the second side always has the advantage of knowing kind of what's ahead because we just did so when you're ready let's set your feet down if you're using the block you might transfer it to your new side now with your feet on the edge of your mat let your legs tip over to the left and the first place that your legs drop might not always be the best spot so you want to give yourself a little time to explore if more prop is going to be helpful under one knee versus the other you're always welcome to make up some other shapes here too and then maybe your arms are back by your ears or hands could be on top of that bolster or under see if we can find again that one half of your body this would be your right side in this case is more as less supported and your left side is closer to the floor the right side of your body is a little bit less supported so just noticing the difference of where you feel contacts and maybe the willingness of that side of the body to soften and drop back versus that right side might be a little bit more stiff left side more soft and see once we feel like we're in a safe spot as we hope to drop back a little bit more into our shape with every exhale dropping into the grace of gravity here can we sense maybe that water quality moving through our body to unify our parts and being aware that some parts of our body might have more sensation more intensity particular the parts less supported and we're trying to pay attention now more on the subtle level moment by moment being willing to make adjustments shift your body or change the breath so that you feel like you're heading into clear space so as pathways start to clear in our more subtle bodies the hope for me anyway as I drop in is that there's more clarity in my mind that ability by navigating between the extremes of hot cold tight or loose dry or hydrated set somewhere in between I find that sod fixed states that we describe where there's harmony and balance sort of a reconnection to my whole self rather than the parts we know this is the dynamic practice even though it looks like nothing's going on it's quite dynamic on the inside from moment to moment watching the activity of the mind different sensations and perhaps using this time to notice again the different qualities you're experiencing maybe name them as a way to identify what's going on and rather than hanging out in one extreme for too long what adjustment might we make to get more towards center towards our balanced place and we know when we're in that balanced place where there's clarity and maybe that moment where we're really present there's no thought of the future and there's no thought of the past be mindful again adjustments are welcomed here so that you're not hanging out in a heavy space for too long that might lead to an imbalance so is the heavy also balanced with some lightness we'll take just a few more moments navigating from right to left to perhaps a moment where we feel our center let's start to gradually tip back to centers your arms come down to your side and all kinds of things can be happening as you navigate back towards your center and pause for a moment with your feet on the ground and then from pausing in that center let's one more time tip your knees and towards your chest and this time we're going to separate the knees apart hand hold each knee and as you move your knees forward bring them back together we'll circle around a couple times again just finding that little bit of flow some of us will find a little more ease and flow rather than stillness and let's go the opposite direction kind of interesting to find that we can both find that calm and equanimity whether we're moving or rather when we're still we learn to cultivate equanimity in both you know let's keep the knees together and put your feet back down on the floor for a second so now in this one let your knees be parallel let our arms come out to the side in goal post shape and drop your arms back at 90 degree angles as best as you can you might have to slide your hands further out if the shoulders are tight but try to find a good connection under your arms now let's send your feet a little more to the edge of your mat tilt your knees open away from each other and then turn your toes out so you fall to the pinky edge of each foot like you're doing goddess pose on your back so you might find that your whole pinky side of the foot doesn't fully connect we're kind of generally oriented to tipping into goddess pose on your back so these are really wide we're opening through that inner groin area and shoulders press back into the floor they kind of feel from right to left are you more on the right side or more on the left where's your center stay here and take a moment and let the weight of your back body settle a little bit more towards the floor so it's a little preparatory pose for what we'll end up doing not too long from now our famous frog pose so this is one way to do frog pose would be on your back you can envision that shape take two more exhales just tuning into this shape and moving with gravity towards the earth let's slide your right leg straight all the way straight and when your right leg is on the right edge of your mat take your left ankle cross over the right and let's sweep your left arm overhead as you shift your shoulders to the right let's come to our crescent moon shape on your back so maybe we catch your left wrist with your right hand and take a moment to now stretch that left side of your body so you're in charge of how much you're arching to your right side and intensifying the sensations down your left side and we'll notice maybe there's more contact with your body on the right side versus the left can we feel our breath move in and down towards where sensations arise and as you exhale is there maybe a willingness for your back body to drop towards the floor take another big breath in and out and noticing do tissues now on this side of your body do we feel dry or hydrated mobile or stiff we able to notice some sensations deep in the body or are we mostly feeling sensations on the surface does this feel pleasant or unpleasant and perhaps as we navigate between some of these opposites that we find our way a little bit more in the center and maybe we get closer to that center as we dial in to the breath something more subtle to focus on as we go into maybe quieter space together content following the breath in and out as a way to become more mindful of ourselves in this moment as we become more mindful these are simple ways that we take these rest periods throughout the day and by becoming present and pausing in this moment my hope is that at the end of the day when you try to fall asleep that you fall asleep more easily as we take the time to pause and rest and nurture ourselves throughout a day that prana that we speak of gets to gather more in towards our center rejuvenates us and perhaps to some degree even helps us focus more clearly which allows us to be more efficient when we are being productive or in our working time of the day we have more focus if we take periods of rest still light and three more breaths as you are here right now when we release the left arm if you're ready down by your side we'll gradually undo this shape put your left foot on the floor and then your right foot on the floor and drop both of your arms down at your side so we're going to get the arms arrest and the legs arrest back in neutral you take a moment here and now let's go ahead and tip your knees back in towards your chest let's raise your legs up and arms up and give arms and legs an opportunity to make little circles then these are bent so we're not working all that hard go in the opposite direction with rotations so just little movement breaks which might give your mind a little break from focusing now maybe just a tiny shake out legs and arms let's come back down feet to the floor stretch your left heel when you're ready to the corner of your mat and then take your right ankle on top of your left let's sweep your arms back by your ears and catch your right wrist with your left hand and then scoot yourself a little bit more to the left as you're arching in this way to your new sides can we feel now maybe there's more contact with the ground under your left sides and the right side of the body is a little bit less supported and maybe this gives us an opportunity to do a deeper sink a deeper dive into your left side and we invite a little bit more clearing of stagnation down this right side and as we start to notice the sensations again does this side of the body feel more mobile or more tight muscles feel long on this side or some muscles feel more short this is area feel more dry where's this area feel again really kind of more hydrated more flexible as we bring our awareness a little bit deeper in we start to work with the breath and noticing does the energy chi flow circulation feel mobile on this sides or just in a few areas as we stay focused on this right side of your body can we hope that eventually the pathways clear so we feel kind of a subtle wind of breath moving up and down along that left ridge of your body sorry the right ridge of your body up and down as we maybe imagine that water element unifying all the parts on the right side and then dialing in so that we feel the exhale take us a little bit deeper in toward the more subtle body whereas we move away from maybe the extremes of the opposite we find our center in our center we find that clarity that clarity might be a result of us being present and not thinking about the past or the future really rooted in this moment and if we like the way that feels we might notice the calmness and the nervous system the mind feel like the way that feels let's choose to maybe stay here longer acknowledging some days are a little easier to focus than others so maybe with the extra rest and self-care you've been treating yourself to maybe today it's a little easier to just stay still if not today the next time we'll be moving into some quieter space as we move into quieter space we have the breath as our main teacher to follow in and out we know we're pretty human if the mind wanders that we lose track of that breath we just simply start again to partner with the breath and follow it in and down until eventually we find some space see what it feels like to be here together for about three or four more your breath cycles nothing to change nothing to fix just be if you're near the end of maybe that breath cycle for yourself let that right arm start to sweep down and then the left shoulders we're doing so much work uncross your ankles and bring your knees to the bent position feet on the floor all right let's go ahead from here one last time let's get those knees a hug and a tip side to side all right after doing our little tipping here this last part on our back let's put your right foot down on the floor and bring your left foot up into the air externally rotate and grab your right foot with your hands sorry grab your left foot with your hands like you're doing pigeon with your left side and we might keep your right leg bent so your lower back is a little more stable and some of you might enjoy that deeper immersion into the side by stretching your right leg a little more straight it could still be a bend of the knee or all the way straight and just see what it feels like to work that shape of pigeon here on your back is there a different angle for your left leg that would create better flow and circulation to that left hip that would decrease any discomfort in that left knee okay so we're gonna take just a few more moments this is not a full proper yin pose but just a little bit more time to energize that left leg hold the pinky edge of that foot or your ankle and take a moment to stretch your right arm straight back by your ear or scoot your bolster out of the way and take one big full breath stretching through your full right side keeping that left leg and maybe more happy baby shape now all right let's go ahead and switch out and let's reach forward for your right leg as you switch and put your left foot on the floor grab your right foot into your pigeon shape with your right leg so that external rotation we're holding the right foot with your hand and notice if you need to make any little adjustments some folks will do better here with your left leg staying bent so your backs were stable others might slide your left leg to the floor and the left leg doesn't have to be all the way straight you're just kind of working towards that straighter leg and see if you like that sensation do you need to make any adjustment with your right leg to kind of be mimicking pigeon pose on your back and then maybe the left arm stretches all the way back by your ear and you take a moment to stretch that whole left side let's move your right heel a little bit more above your right knee you're holding your foot or your ankle so now it's like you're doing happy baby on that right side one more second there and now let's swing your left foot up and reach your left hand to catch your left foot and do a moment in your happy baby where you're holding your ankles shins or your feet and maybe minor tipping side to side massage the back body and so we get to that place where we might drop into the pose just for a few more breaths with the knees to the sides of your chest okay while you're here again just a little preparatory for frog which we'll do shortly a similar like shape except we have the wonderful ground underneath us and see if you can kind of work towards a sense of ease adjusting the angles of your legs and the heels while you have support under your back so that we might remember what it feels like when we tip around and we face the floor doing the same shape one more moment here let's drop your heels down and we can move the feet down to the floor and we'll start to turn over to your side and we'll work our way out of that shape and off the floor as we come up and around to grab a hold of some new props okay so now if we will grab a hold of your blankets and we're gonna put the blanket down underneath the center of your mat so you've got a little bit of padding for your hips little padding for the hips and we're gonna start on the belly so we come down to belly and hips and when you're down in this position let's go ahead and have your elbows in front of your chest kind of our classic sphinx pose for a moment with your elbows in front of your chest palms together let's check into the spine for a moment as we support our front body in a position where your feet are wide enough that you're comfortable belly draping towards the floor and a little lift of your head up towards the ceiling let's take a moment and pause as we look down over maybe the tip of the nose as you elongate through the curves of your spine and if you feel the need to make any adjustment here to bring more of your front body toward the floor for support you just inch your way forward that feels better for you to be face down more come to full face down with hands stacked and others might continue to appreciate being lifted here in this way to just do a little bit more tending to the curves of your spine maybe this is a nice place to feel your belly soften in towards the ground and noticing as we're here again can we feel the places that feel heavy and supported legs the pelvis the forearms elbows and root into our supports as we encourage a little bit more lightness and spaciousness through the spine through the neck foreheads and as we're breathing in and out in this way do we feel again that the pathway feels dry through the center of the body or hydrated we feel good circulation and flow or more stagnation and imagining that water element again unifying all the parts as we drop our attention a little bit deeper in towards our center line as we take our attention a little bit deeper to the bottom of the inhale the bottom of your exhale so that between state might we notice just more clarity surrendering into the moment and then feel the shift in energy as you potentially discover little moments of clarity how that fills your tank it gives you a sense of more vitality versus the mind rushing into the future or dropping into the past just a few more breaths to see if we can feel the energy here in this moment let's everybody slide the elbows wide if you're lifted stack your hands and once your hands are stacked forehead down let your hips now tip and rock a little bit side to side and you can move whatever speed feels good for you as you tip a little bit hip side to side forehead down loosening up along the spine alright so now as we start to lift your head back up let's grab your slide the hands beside your chest and let's come up into your kneeling tabletop position and as I alluded to many times the frog pose I'm going to have you grab your bolster to do this hey Mingus everybody meet Mingus passing through grab a hold of your block and let's set that around so it's a little bit of a wedge that we put under our bolster tip your bolster up slide it towards you so I'm going to put my hands back like tabletop I've got a bolster in between the thighs and a block under my bolster a little ramp so I can move my knees to the edge of the blanket separate my heels and turn the toes out and what I usually find helpful and sometimes I got to work into it where I put my pubic bone on the prop the bolster put the chest down kind of like we did when we were on our back and then I bring the elbows in front of me if you bring your palms together and look down sometimes we can tip the hands up and if you want a little support for your heads we tip the hands up and catch that forehead as you allow yourselves to ease into the bolster so again I've got the bolster basically at the pubic bone the whole front of my body and my toes turned out like we did on our back and I pose we call frog you are welcome to take away any of the props if you want a little more intensity sometimes if you're on the harder floor you definitely want to have more padding under your knees so you're not distracted by the hard floor against your the thin skin in the knees now for here we haven't done frog in a while perhaps we kind of notice certain areas that have a little more intensity some places that might be appreciating the prop underneath you and I always like to feel like I'm just kind of melting over the shape of the prop at some point I can stack maybe my fist and allow my head to tip a little bit more forward and if you've got the bolster kind of in the right position or your torso is the right length to work with your bolster my chin rest right at the top of the bolster and as the head tips forward into my stack fist my shoulders relax more there's a wide wider space across my upper mid back and shoulders so finding whatever shape allows us to sink forward and down to root into this pose without overwhelming yourself you think of this as like the beginning of that spring cleaning you're just pacing yourself starting at the surface working our way towards the deeper tissues moving in again where we're not trying to work too hard that makes us more restless or anxious we're not in the pose that's maybe putting us to sleep if it feels too easy maybe get rid of a block or get rid of the bolster where's that sweet spot a place where a little more centered more likely to move into the spaciousness of now take just a few more breaths slowly tip your head up away from the floor hands beside your chest and now let's stretch your leg one at a time straight back behind you curl your toes under your legs are parallel as you press yourself off your bolster and then let's go ahead from here and slide the block out of the way and turn your bolster now to face that short front end of your yoga mat or maybe even put it on your blanket we might use that block now we'll put the knees on the blanket come to tabletop for just a moment and let your hips make some little circles uniting all those parts have been stretching let's go the opposite direction a few times circle around up through your ribs and hips and shoulders and get rid of any stiffness in any of those different corners of your body now we're going to slide the bolster again so maybe it's on your blanket that'll make more sense with your arms and hands forward to the front of your sticking mat lift your knees up and let's drop the left outer hip onto your bolster and then swing that left leg all the way forward you adjust the angle of the bolster so that it supports your left hip and the front of your right thigh as we come into our bolster version of pigeon so we have a lift in the torso you adjust the angle of the bolster so it works for your left knee you can always do the thread the needle variation or come to a chair to do this shape of pigeon and in that upright version look towards the wall in front of you for a moment and lengthen through that right side of your body might come down if you'd like elbows to the floor and tilt forward and maybe that brings you into a good spot in the outer left hip and really trying to encourage that right thigh to drop into the bolster head tilting maybe forwards and then as you dial into this shape again noticing the parts that feel supported by the earth grounded and what parts are a little bit less supported ungrounded can we sense again where the sensations are and where our breath is and can we bring our breath to meet the sensations to clear this new path to hydrate those deeper tissues and as your senses turn inward maybe we notice there's some room for a little bit more pause ability to hold attention right here feel the vitality of this present moment three more breaths here just to do a little check in there and I'll lift the head up walk your hands back so they're under your shoulder line and then from here let's lean to the left and take that back leg and just swivel it to the front and we're going to tip to your right and swing that left leg back and as that leg drops back adjust your bolster to follow so you're making this right knee safe by turning that bolster to whatever angle you need to lift up turn have the right hip supported by your bolster and the left front side supported by the bolster hands walk forward and maybe we make some minor adjustments here with straight arms long spine and then as we bring ourselves potentially from there down to forearm position if you prefer and might this be a nice place to turn your head or try to let go of some tension that might live across the shoulders or upper back and what variation works for you to encourage a little more dropping into this moment like you're clearing the pathway in the outer hip as we do our pigeon pose and maybe there's some sensations that invite our attention deeper insides away from the surface of the body into deeper tissues as we orient to that more subtle space and maybe we notice that pause clarity a sense of ease in this moment see if we can stay here for maybe three more breaths just as you are here when you're ready lift your head up let's go ahead and bring your hands under your shoulder line and reinvigorate the upper body as you press up we'll lean to your right side and swing that left leg from the back all the way forward I'm gonna turn so I can see you so now you're sitting on your blanket sorry sitting on your bolster sit up tall bring the bottoms of the feet together hold on to your shins or your ankles as you try to sit up nice and tall align yourself here looking maybe forward with your eyes to your horizon and then if you're comfortable close your eyes or soften your gaze as we align ourselves here I want to invite you to have this option to sit with the bottoms of the feet touching holding the knees you're welcome to stay here or some of you might appreciate crossing your ankles to come into meditation seat slide to the front of your bolster so the knees drop lower than your hips and hands face down as a grounding gesture on your knees or thighs instead of tall perhaps you look to your horizon and soften your eyes or again maybe we close the eyes let's feel the effects of our practice now sensing the breath do we feel the breath is full deep or is the breath feel a little more shallow and soft just noticing we acknowledge the places we feel grounded supported heavy and the places that feel light and spacious tune into your center front to back left to right where's the center and tune into the vitality running through the center of your spine as you root between the earth and sky take a few moments for quiet contemplation notice what it's like to be rather than to do you Let's refresh your awareness with a full inhale through your nose and exhale any way you're comfortable. Take a moment to notice how we feel as we draw the hands up towards the heart center and acknowledge the efforts you put into your practice again today to stay present, maybe some of the self-care wellness steps you've brought into your practice this week. Just a moment to acknowledge that.

And may others always continue to benefit from our practice. Namaste. All right, thanks for being here for day four. I hope you enjoyed a little bit slower movement today for day four after our active practice. In addition now to the health and wellness pieces I've introduced earlier this week, in spirit of what I often say at the end of class, may others also benefit from our practice.

I feel like when we're in good health and our energy is strong and we feel lots of vitality from taking good care of ourselves, something that's really wonderful to do and maybe part of yoga practice, the bigger picture of yoga practice, is to be of service to others. So I'm wondering now at this point of your spring journey and adventure if you feel inspired maybe to consider how we might contribute in our community, how we might love our pets even more, if that's even possible, how we might be of service. And one of the things I was thinking of that's important in community is to support the communities maybe now more than ever by buying local foods or supporting local shops as part of your yoga practice to see again that how our health starts to extend out to help other people feel better. And then from taking care of a few other people, we've got this healthy community that then goes out and actually starts to change the world and to see the value of the health of your community financially or for the farmers that you get to support by buying the food that's grown locally and the other benefit of that is the food will typically taste the best as it's grown near you and will be best for the environment because it hasn't flown from far away to get to your table. So I hope you appreciate taking the time to consider maybe the health of your community and local businesses and supporting them if you feel up for that this week as part of our health and wellness challenge.

So thanks so much for being here for day four and I look forward to being with you tomorrow. Have a great rest of the day. Namaste everybody.

Comments

Jenny S
8 people like this.
What a beautiful treat this was...I really needed this today! Here’s my plug for a whole season of Melina Meza Yin classes. Slowing down is so vital for our health. PS loved sweet the animal companion cameo! ❤️🐈
Sharon McGuire
Yummy delish!!! 
Melina Meza
1 person likes this.
I'm thrilled Day 4 was a positive experience and that some new insights were revealed or highlighted! Here's to a well-paced life. ( :
Karen G
4 people like this.
I was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer, I decided to rededicate myself to a yoga practice. My body is stronger but the healing of my psyche has been the real gift. Melina is a true teacher in all ways. 
Lorraine Marek
Thanks for this yin practice. It was just what I needed today. Your kitty was very calming as you are..
Melina Meza
Karen, what an honor to have you here in the community, and I love that yoga has been both healing for your body and mind. I hope these practices continue to bring you to joy and connect to your true nature. Wishing you much health in the seasons ahead. 
Melina Meza
Lorriane ~ Also nice to meet you here and Thursdays always a good day for a little Yin right? Mingus thought so too! ( :
Summer
3 people like this.
Absolute perfection! I loved this practice so much! And the kitty visit too 😻
Donna L
3 people like this.
Enjoyed this yin practice..powerful!,so right to say the support we give to our community makes a big difference.
Diane C
3 people like this.
Wonderful class. My body was very receptive to these poses, and I felt more at ease and fluid afterwards. Thank you.
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