Welcome to your practice today. Come and settle down on the ground. Get comfortable. Be here together for the next 10 minutes. Cultivating some soothing, calming energy through a practice today. So let’s begin by settling into this space, serving the breath, and just beginning to slow everything down.
So this is a great opportunity to perhaps draw the hands to heart center and just turn inwards for a moment or two in whatever way you choose, perhaps to set a simple intention for your practice today.
Maybe something that you’re working with right now, something that resonates for you in your life. I’m just taking this time to come to your match day with a feeling of Grace, of connection, compassion, using this space to support you from the inside out. Then slowly, with your eyes closed, if it feels nice, as you start to connect with the feeling of your breath, that pulsation of breath move around in a circle so you’ll feel this connection through your sitting bones and you start to stir the body around in one direction, really soft, subtle, gentle movements. The more that you’re able to tune in here, the more this movements becomes a part of you, a feeling within you, rather than thinking about how you’re moving, and then draw yourself back to center and reach your hands all the way up overhead, pointing the fingers and then release the grip. Lovely wide release of your arms all the way down to the ground and then press your palms back together. Hot center again, inflation fingers and press your fingers, steeple grip all the way up towards the sky.
And then again, release. Take up lots of space here. Release the hands all the way back down once more, press the palms together. And then this time take your circle around in the opposite direction. And so maybe this is the way that feels less fluid in the body after we move in the direction initially that feels else, more familiar, more comfortable. So perhaps you find yourself taking circles here in a different direction, maybe feels less fluid, less organic. So just stick with it to use the breath, inhaling and exhaling, coming all the way back to Santa, keeping the eyes soft, nice.
Taking a moment to settle into a neutral spine position and then interface your fingers, press your hands all the way forwards and then start to arch your spine. So thinking cat pose here as you press back and then inhale. Draw yourself up, heart space shining forwards, exhale, soften the belly, arch through the spine. Nice. And then release. Just shake out through the hands, start to rotate through your wrists. I’ve still got my eyes closed, so you can do the same. Or you can blink your eyes open. I love to make my practice feel meditative by closing down the eyes as much as I can.
Now press your palms to the ground and release onto the hands and knee. So you can do this by taking your legs to one side or rock over your knees and come and find yourself into a tabletop position. And then again here in tabletop, we start to take that circular motion again, so beginning to stretch into the wrists as we plant the hands to the ground and we start to move the body. So waking up that energy in the hips, in the spine, feel this rotation through the pelvis and then sink your way back to child’s pose. So you can have your toes tucked here like me, or you could release the tops of your feet onto the ground.
I stretch through the spine and then slowly draw yourself back up to tabletop. There are some integrity through your core and then start to take that circle around in the opposite direction. So here the movement feels very soft, very fluid, and there’s a little bit of strength coming through the core. I’m just beginning to notice how the body feels today in this present moment, releasing back down to child’s pose again.
Lovely, big, wide breath in and maybe here, trailing, coming all the way back up onto the hands. Nice stretching back. Child’s pose. Come right up onto the toes. Take a moment here to release into the feet. Sweep the arms all the way up. I’ve had lovely big stretch, especially through the side of the body. You might be really feeling this in your toes as the weight through the tailbone sinks down into your fates.
And take a roll of your shoulders one way and the other, and then release all the way back to Charles Pose. You can tap your feet against the ground if you need to, and now walk your hands over to the right side of your mat. And again, stretching here, opening up through the other side of the body, really breathing into the space.
Left hand side. Nice. Then come all the way back through sensor again, stretch through your palms, release your body down to the ground. Nice. Inhale, bring yourself back to your tabletop, and then extend your right leg and exhale. Reach your right foot all the way up to the top of the mat, help it through and then inhale, lift and sweep your body into angina or lunge, Crescent lunch, hands to Heart, center. Connect with your breath, feel this pulsation of breath.
And now sweep the hands around behind the back of the body, interlace the fingers, draw your knuckles down past your tailbone, feel that beautiful stretch across the front of your body. Then left palm to the ground, right fingers reach. We find ourself in our revolved twist, and then all the way back, palms to the ground, tabletop, and another release to child’s.
Take a breath in here, side the breath away and then slowly find your way back to tabletop over to the other side. The left leg extends. Nice big breath in, exhale. Turn that leg out to the side and draw your left foot all the way towards your left hand. Find your way into your lunge. Inhale, sweep the arms up overhead. Find that strength and support in this pose.
And then hands are coming to heart center. Keep hugging in through the low ribs. Good. Release the hands around behind your body again, insulate your fingers, draw your knuckles down towards the ground. And then taking a twist on the other side, right hand down, left fingertips reach up. You can press into your back leg. Make it more of an active pose or stay down on the ground. And then release your left leg all the way back, finding your way into downward facing dog. Make this a really nourishing downward facing dog, perhaps exploring something new, something different in the body, noticing the part of the body that needs some love. And then when you’re ready, release into wide leg child’s pose. So take your knees to the edges of your yoga mats, think your way back. Get cozy, get comfy, turn inwards and soak up these last moments of your practice. Perhaps pressing your palms overhead, taking some lovely breaths. Coming back to this feeling of intention in the body, in the mind, cultivating a supportive space to explore what you need to today. Releasing the hands to the ground. And resting here.