Day 16 | Digestion & Processing | Samana Vayu | 30 Days of Morning Yoga (Melissa Wick)

Transcript

good morning everyone my name is melissa wick and welcome to day 16 of 30 days of morning yoga this morning's practice is yoga for digestion and processing so we will be working with samana vayu which is the circular energy in the abdomen so yes this is great for digesting and processing food but also experiences and situations and helps us eliminate that which is not useful so we're going to stabilize and bring some awareness into the core into the abdomen and we'll invite in some twists and we'll finish the practice in a beautiful savasana tapping into our resilience so this practice as is this journey is for all levels if you're here with me welcome back i am so grateful to be here with you and if you're here just for this one practice that is also great welcome and if you want to learn more about the journey head over to day zero no props are needed for this class maybe have a blanket there is a a couple postures there are a couple postures on the knees and other than that get into something comfortable and let's get this practice started let's begin on our backs this morning so go ahead lay yourself down and we'll begin in constructive rest so knees bent feet wide knees fallen to touch your hands could be placed on your belly or by the side palms up adjust maybe slide the shoulders under inviting in an open chest settle in here closing your eyes inviting in two deep cleansing breaths together to arrive big inhale through the nose let your belly and your chest expand fill up and a big exhale out through the mouth let it go one more like this fully inhale exhale release all the air out closing the mouth and return to your natural rhythm of breathing in and out through the nose and let your awareness rest in the abdomen in the belly feeling the belly softly rise and fall as you breathe in and as you breathe out today we are focusing on samana value the circular energy in the abdomen so this will help to increase our capacity to extract what is good not only out of food but also out of experiences and situations and eliminate that which is not useful if you are amidst processing an experience ask what am i learning from this am i being reminded of my resilience you're going to bring your three fingers place it on the abdomen the belly and just start to tap clockwise in a circular motion almost like you're tapping like it's a bouncy ball and continue to focus your breath here in the abdomen stimulating seminar value circular motion clockwise so and then gently release let yourself feel this is a valuable practice when we need to ground and it helps us find the silver lining so as we move through our practice today maintain your awareness in the abdomen as you breathe and as you move we're going to slowly bring the knees in towards the chest keep the belly pulling in towards the back of the spine ribs in flip your palms down onto the ground and then as you inhale you're going to extend your legs up towards the sky and the arms are going to reach all the way up and back back so the hands will reach the ground behind you ribs in belly in and then as you exhale bend your knees back in arms slowly lower back down so we're gonna move smoothly and slowly in sync with the breath inhale extend the legs arms reach up and then exhale bend your knees arms lower you can add in a lift and a crunch keeping the shoulders and chest open just lift chin in and release lower down inhale arms and legs lift exhale bend the knees arms lower crunch collarbones wide and just two more like this inhale extend the legs arms reach up awareness in the abdomen exhale lower the legs and the arms and lift last one inhale extend starting to warm up the entire body exhale lower and lift release your head back down interlace the hands behind the back of the head rest the hands the head and the hands elbows stay wide we're just going to invite in some bicycles because we're going to bring more awareness to the core and warm up the obliques so we're going to extend the right leg out keep the left knee bent and bring your right shoulder right into the center elbows stay wide and then switch left leg extends right knee bends you can point your toes or flex the feet left shoulder into the center and then switch so the exhale is your switch you can go slow so you can feel the whole way through just a few more like this bringing more awareness to the abdomen we want to maintain this sense of ease and calm as we practice one more on each side and then really slower wrap your arms around your knees give yourself a little hug now we're gonna meet in tabletop position so you could roll to one side and meet me there or if you'd like to rock and roll hands behind the backs of the thighs or the the knees and we'll meet on all fours wrists underneath the shoulders knees underneath the hips and a few cat cows to warm up the spine inhale we're going to release the belly down tilt the pelvis head lifts soften the shoulders and exhale pull the belly in round round round push the floor away and then two more like this inhale front extension [Music] exhale rounds pull in one more like this inhale open exhale round pull in good and then we'll tuck the toes underneath and push up and back to downward facing dog ground down through all 10 knuckles bend your knees a lot find length in the spine release any excess tension in the neck broaden the upper back heels behind the toes the long spine sit bones up and back good on your inhale you're going to come forward to high plank and then on the exhale your belly stays pulling in just drop your heels over to the right and then inhale heel center exhale heels to the left inhale center exhale to the right awareness in the abdomen inhale center exhale left inhale center and now we're going to exhale bring the knees down bend your elbows towards the back of the mat point your toes and lower down onto your belly let's come on to our forearms elbows underneath the shoulders really push down through your forearms so you're not collapsing in the shoulders hug your elbows in towards the chest as the sternum reaches forward and up we're going to invite in some more strength and stability and awareness in the core deeply into the core so tops the feet pressing down inhale is when we come forward opening the chest elbows hug in towards you and then as you exhale you're gonna draw the chin in and start to pull the belly in pull pull pull and tuck the tailbone under under so tuck tuck tuck tuck tuck so you're feeling this doming action in the back and start to feel your core turn on keep tucking under and then smoothly release the hips down inhale open the chest again hug the elbows in towards the body and then a couple more times like this chin in exhale pull the belly in tuck tuck tuck tuck if you want to tuck more you can maybe lift the knees tops the feet press down so really pubic bone in towards the chin and then release the hips down inhale open and we'll do one more like this this is super intentional exhale pull the belly in tuck tuck lift finding ease and then slowly release knees down open the chest exhale lower the chest down hands by your upper chest elbows in tuck your toes under inhale push up through tabletop or high plank and exhale downward facing dog inhaling here and a soft exhale side out let's step the right foot through between the hands and the left knee can come down low lunge arms reach up thumbs back pinkies forward drop that right hip down anjanayasana now we're going to bring the palms touch in prayer torso is going to come forward we're going to invite in a prayer twist so we'll start to twist from the navel the abdomen over to the right and then the left elbow can hook to the outside of the right thigh push the palms into one another opening the chest drop that right hip collar bone super wide chin in now you can stay here with the knee down if you'd like a little more tuck the left toes under and lengthen the back leg magnetize the inner thighs toward one another and then long spine chin in breathe into the abdomen [Applause] shoulders away from the ears and then release high lunge breathe in arms reach up your knee can be down or lifted and then exhale hands come down look forward hands in front of you waiting to the right foot inhale left leg rises just for a moment standing split and exhale lower the left leg beside the right forward fold inhale halfway lift chin in shoulders back belly in long spine exhale forward fold inhale we're going to rise all the way up to stand tail lengthens down low belly zips in as you exhale right arm back left arm forward twist hip bones stay facing forward and then inhale arms reach up exhale twist the left right arm forward left arm back and inhale arms reach up as you exhale arms either come through center or swan dive forward fold you can bend the knees as much as you need inhale halfway lift shoulders back belly and chin in exhale forward fold now let's step the right foot back to your low lunge right knee down arms sweep up drop that left hip thumbs back pinkies forward low belly zips in soften the shoulders hands into prayer torso comes forward and then you're going to twist from the core over to the left keep dropping the left hip down hook the right tricep the outside of the left eye push the palms into one another to find more opening in the chest soften the shoulders collarbones wide chin in stay here breathe into the abdomen if you want a little more and you can maintain ease and stability tuck the right toes under power up the back leg magnetize the inner thighs finding your breath here focus your eyes on one spot with lots of care and control slowly unwind either high lunge with the back leg strong or knee down arms reach up breathe in and exhale lower the hands down and step back downward facing dog let's lift the heels slowly come on to the knees here and we're going to make fists with our hands so the thumbs are just wrapped on the outside and what we'll do here is i'll just demo first we're going to reach the arms up we're going to stand on the knees as we exhale we're going to make fists with the hands and bring them to the low belly here just going to hold them there and we're going to fold over the knuckles the fists chin in bringing more awareness and stimulation in the belly and for summon a value now this is not to feel any pain so you don't want to push too hard just bringing awareness here okay so let's inhale arms are going to reach up come to stand on the knees as you exhale make the fists and start to hinge forward fists into the lower belly and fold forward letting the head touch the ground if you can whatever is the most comfortable you can always release the pressure by taking the weight off as much as you need close your eyes and breathe in and out through the nose beautiful and let's come to rise flip your palms up close your eyes let yourself feel beautiful we're gonna come on to our backs let your legs come forward and we're going to lay down preparing for a twist before we close our practice so let's either have the knees and legs together and let your legs fall over to the left for supported twists like this or left leg extends out long right knee in and twist over to the left you can try both and see which one is going to serve you the best this morning can always support your thigh or knee with a block or a prop underneath rolling onto the left side right palm is up and open closing your eyes again awareness in the belly neutralizing equalizing and balancing our practice beautiful let's come back to center and invite in the same variation of your twist to the other side find a comfortable spot for your head breathe into the abdomen softening the shoulders close your eyes go inward good come back to center we're going to prepare for shavasana so maybe lift and lower your hips so they're even on the mat extend your legs out long inviting in any props that you like for your final resting shape let's invite in one cleansing breath inhale in through the nose soft exhale let it go out through the mouth let your awareness just rest here in the abdomen releasing that which is not of service to you that which is not useful and release the effort whole body rests let yourself rest and bathe in your resilience tapping into it feeling into it and see if you could stay here for at least a few minutes to receive your practice thank you so much for your trust for sharing your practice and this journey with me from my heart to yours namaste hi yogi's if you're looking to add on a meditation practice to your yoga journey or just to your yoga practice in general you can select from one of these short but potent meditation practices you can pick one to suit your needs you can try the same one for the whole 30 days or try different ones depending on what you need in the moment the meditation practice will help to deepen your yoga practice and it'll help to deepen your connection with yourself strengthen your awareness and learn some tools on how to self-regulate and to find that place of ease and calm within you on and off the mat namaste you