Gentle Somatic Awareness Yoga - Sequence 1

Transcript

hi my name is barbara and today we're going to do a very gentle sequence lying on the backs of our bodies followed by a deep stillness and relaxation it is a gentle practice however it is important that you listen to your body at all times and only do what feels right for your body and i'd like to thank the lovely collette for demonstrating for me today so when you're ready come to your mat and lie down on the back of your body with your legs bent your knees up and the soles of your feet flat on the floor with your arms by the side of your body with your palms either facing up or your palms facing down with your arms completely relaxed or if you prefer you can bend your arms and have your hands resting gently on your belly if your arms are by the side of your body you may want to move your hands slightly further away from your body if that feels more comfortable for your shoulders and lying on the back of your body invite your body to relax as much as possible you will be using a few muscles in your feet and your legs to keep your knees in a vertical position but invite all the other muscles in your body to relax as much as possible in their own sequence invite your arms and legs your feet and your hands your shoulders your spine your back and rib cage to relax as much as possible in their own sequence and especially all the little muscles of your face scalp mouth and throat to relax as much as possible soften the muscles between your eyebrows and your eye sockets relax your jaw with your lips in soft gentle contact and your tongue heavy wherever it lies and draw softness down the core of your body down your throat down to your pelvic floor and invite your pelvic floor to relax as much as possible as well as all the muscles in and around your pelvis and invite your breath to flow completely freely let go of your ability to manipulate your breath in any way so that when you inhale you are not pulling your breath in and when you exhale you are not pushing your breath out allow your breath to flow as freely as possible and as you invite your body to relax as much as possible feel as clearly as possible any sensations that you can feel anywhere in your body and keeping your feet and your legs arms and hands as relaxed as possible after your next exhalation as you inhale softly roll your pubis and just a little way away from your navel towards the floor and as you exhale let go of that activity so you come back to a neutral spine and on each inhalation softly roll your pubis away from your navel towards the floor and on each exhalation let go of that activity to come back to a neutral spine and continue to flow between these two movements as softly and sensitively as possible allowing your breath to flow as freely as possible invite your spine your back and your rib cage to be as relaxed as possible and feel as clearly as possible any sensations that you can feel anywhere in your body especially the sensations in and around your pelvis and your groins and your lower back and as you softly roll your pubis away from your navel on each inhalation you may feel your sacrum lifting a little way away from the floor and as you exhale and relax that movement you may feel your sacrum coming back a bit closer to the floor but don't do anything to deliberately lift your spine or back in any way keep your back and spine as relaxed as possible and just softly roll your pelvis on each inhalation and relax back on each exhalation and next time you exhale come to stillness there allowing your breath to flow as freely as possible and check that your feet are more or less hip width apart and are as parallel to each other as comfortably possible and that your feet are a comfortable distance away from your bones so that the sensations in your groins and in and around your pelvis are soft and bring your arms down by the side of your body with your palms facing down if they're not there already and softly broaden your feet softly softly broaden the balls of your feet so that your feet become active but don't broaden your feet so much that you can feel any hard sensations in your feet or your legs your pelvis or knees and also softly broaden your hands into the contact that they have with the floor so that your hands feel alive but don't broaden your hands so much that you can feel any hard sensations in your hands or your arms or shoulders or elbows and feel the sensations in and around your shoulders and invite your shoulders to relax as much as possible and softly lengthen from your relaxed shoulders to your fingertips and soft length and back from your relaxed fingertips sorry from your fingertips to your relaxed shoulders and relax your spine and back and rib cage as much as possible and as you continuously broaden your feet into their contact with the floor and continuously broaden your hands and lengthen your arms in two directions on your next inhalation softly lift your right arm up and over so that the back of your hand comes towards the floor and as you exhale bring that lengthening arm back down by the side of your body to next lift your other arm up and over as you inhale with the back of the hand coming to or towards the floor and continue to alternate to your right and your left arm there's absolutely no need to bring the back of your hand anywhere near the floor feel the sensations in and around your shoulders and only bring your arm as far as feels completely comfortable for your shoulders so that the sensations in your shoulders still feel soft and as you continue to flow between these two movements invite your back spine and rib cage to remain as relaxed as possible and feel as clearly as possible any sensations that you can feel anywhere in your body especially the sensations in and around your shoulders and next time you bring one of your palms back down by the side of your body so that both your palms are down by the side of your body next time you inhale lift both of your arms up and over so that the back of your hands come to or towards the floor and as you exhale bring both your arms back down by the side of your body and inquire into the possibility of refining this movement to soften the sensations in and around your shoulders you may find for example that if you move your hands slightly further away from each other as they come up and over so your arms are slightly wider that the sensations in your shoulders may become softer and as you continually flow between these movements as softly and sensitively as possible continually broaden your feet to stabilize the contact that your feet have with the floor and continually broaden your palms and lengthen your arms and invite your breath to flow as freely as possible and next time you lift your arms up and over also softly roll your pubis away from your navel towards the floor just a little and as you bring your arms back down by the side of your body let go of that soft rolling of your pubis away from your navel so that you come back to a relaxed neutral spine and on each inhalation every time you lift your arms up and over softly roll your pubis away from your navel towards the floor and next time you lift your arms up and over and softly roll your pubis away from your navel towards the floor perhaps also softly lengthen from your sacrum to your throat to support your lower back and feel as clearly and continuously as possible any sensations that you can feel anywhere in your body from these very gentle soft movements especially feeling any sensations in and around your pelvis and your lower back and inquiring to the possibility of refining your movements including the soft rolling of your pubis away from your navel to soften the sensations in and around your pelvis you may find by reducing the range of your movement that the sensations in and around your pelvis become softer and invite your back spine and rib cage to be as relaxed as possible so that each time you lift your arms up and over which softly rotates your shoulders this allows your ribcage to freely respond to the movement of your arms [Music] and next time you bring your arms back down to the side of your body relax your arms and also relax your feet and legs you may want to bring your um arms slightly further away from the side of your body if that's more comfortable from your shoulders you can turn your palms up or keep your palms facing down whatever is more comfortable for you or if it's more comfortable you can bend your arms and bring your hands to rest on your body perhaps your belly and feel as clearly as possible any sensations that you can feel anywhere in your body following these very small soft gentle movements and invite your breathing to flow as freely as possible and feel the sensations in and around your shoulders and feel the sensations in and around your throat and your neck and invite your shoulders neck and throat to relax as much as possible and keeping your head in contact with the floor at all times next time you inhale softly roll your head just a little amount in one direction to the side and as you exhale bring that head back to a central position and as you next inhale roll your head softly in the other direction exhaling back to center and continue to roll your head very softly in one direction on each inhalation and back to center on each exhalation as softly and slowly as possible with your breath inquire into the possibility of refining this rolling of your head to encourage softer sensations in and around your neck throat shoulders and invite your back spine and rib cage to remain as relaxed as possible invite your breathing to flow as freely as possible okay and next time you bring your head back to a central position come to stillness there and bring your arms back down by the side of your body if they're not there already with your palms facing down and move your arms a little bit further away from your body so they're about 45 degrees but feel free to move your arms a bit further away or a bit closer to your body if that supports softer sensations in and around your shoulders and bring your knees together and your feet together with the soles of your feet still flat on the floor in contact with the floor and softly broaden your feet into the contact that they have with the floor to stabilize the contact that your feet have with the floor and softly broaden your palms and lengthen your arms in two directions from your relaxed shoulders to your fingertips and from your fingertips back to your relaxed shoulders and keeping the soles of your feet in contact with the mat at all times and keeping your knees together at all times next time you inhale softly roll your knees a little bit to one side and as you exhale bring your knees back to a vertical position to next inhale and take your knees softly to the other side and then back to center as you exhale and continue to alternate between moving your knees softly to one side and then the other side as softly and sensitively as possible but keeping your feet in contact with the mat at all times softly broadening your feet and keeping your knees together softly and support this movement from the soft lengthening of your arms and the broadening of your palms and as you move your knees softly from one side to the other feel as cleanly as possible any sensations that you can feel anywhere in your body especially the sensations in and around your pelvis and your groins and your lower back and next time you roll your knees a little to one side perhaps also roll your head softly in the opposite direction just a little and then as you bring your knees back to vertical bring your head back into a central position and on your next inhalation roll your feet and head softly in opposite directions again and continue to flow between these two movements as softly and sensitively as possible invite the muscles of your spine back and rib cage to relax as much as possible and feel as clearly as possible any sensations being generated from these gentle movements especially the sensations in and around your neck and your shoulders and inquire into the possibility of refining this soft rolling of your head to soften the sensations in and around your shoulders and your neck and your throat you may find by moving your head just a little that this softens the sensations in and around your neck and your shoulders next time you roll your knees over in one slowly start to reduce the range of your movement of your knees and your head until eventually you bring your knees and your head back to a central position in your own time and when you come back to stillness separate your feet so that your feet are hip width apart again more or less and turn your palms over and relax your arms and hands as much as possible and put your hands on your belly if that's more comfortable for you and feel as clearly as possible any sensations that have been generated in your body from these very small soft gentle movements inviting your breath to flow as freely as possible we have now come to the last part of this sequence which is a deep stillness and relaxation so you may want to put some more clothes on to make yourself feel warm but move as softly and sensitively as possible you could cover yourself with a blanket or put more clothes on and then lie in whatever position feels most comfortable for you you may want to lie on your back with your legs bent and your feet flat on the floor or you could put a support under your knees a cushion or a bolster or revolve a blanket or mat but if you put a support under your knees just check that your heels are in soft contact with the mat or you can extend your legs out along the mat with your heels in soft contact with the mat just make yourself as comfortable as possible in your own time if you do not feel comfortable lying on the back of your body feel free to lie on one side by gently rolling over to the side of your body or if you prefer feel free to lie on the front of your front of your body take your time to make yourself feel as comfortable relaxed and warm as possible allow your eyes to close softly perhaps or feel free to cover your eyes with something or you can just have your eyes in a soft gaze let go of any importance that you may be giving to stillness or symmetry and if you feel like you need to move at any time feel free to do so as softly and sensitively as possible and as you settle invite the whole of your body to completely relax relaxing as deeply as possible in your own time and sequence invite your legs feet arms hands spine back and rib cage to relax in their own sequence as much as possible especially also invite the soft muscles of your face scalp mouth and throat to relax as much as possible invite feelings of softness in and around your eye sockets and in the muscles between your eyebrows and in your jaw with your lips in soft gentle contact and with your tongue heavy wherever it lies and invites softness into the core of your body softening the muscles of your throat and the muscles in and around your pelvis invite your pelvic floor to relax completely and as you invite your body to relax as much as possible also invite your mind to relax as much as possible invite your mind to relax as deeply as possible into your body relaxing as much as possible allow your restless mind to be free without judgment but nevertheless invite your mind to become as intimate as possible with your body by continuously recognizing any sensations being generated by your body invite your mind to let go of its ability to imagine or plan or determine into its ability to simply recognize what is happening in your body by feeling as much as possible invite your body and your mind to relax as much as possible into your ability to feel as you feel as clearly as possible the sensations being generated by your body softening perhaps allow your mind to clearly recognize the presence of any sensations anywhere in your body that are in any way unpleasant or unwelcome such as hardness or tightness pressure or tension or perhaps even pain and if you feel any such sensations feel those sensations as deeply as possible so that within your ability to feel those sensations they may soften and may even dissolve and as you feel as clearly and deeply as possible the many changing sensations being generated by your body and the sensations generated by your body become quieter perhaps invite your mind to become as intimate as possible with the sensations being generated by your body continue to feel any sensations as intimately and deeply as possible as you continue to feel as deeply as possible any of the many changing sensations being generated by your body become as intimate as possible with the sensations being generated by your breathing and from the awareness of your breathing when you are ready bring a little gentle movement into your body perhaps softly moving your fingers and your toes and your hands and your feet are walking your body softly and sensitively in your own time and when you are ready softly roll over to one side of your body and come to stillness there making yourself as comfortable as possible perhaps by resting one resting your head on one of your arms inviting your breathing to flow as freely as possible and when you're ready in your own time i softly and sensitively as possible come up to a seated position maybe with your feet loosely crossed your your legs loosely crossed and your hands and arms relaxed and softly lengthen your spine from your sacrum to the base of your skull and feel free to stay in this seated position as long as it feels fruitful for you and when you're ready to move from this position move as softly and sensitively as possible to continue with the rest of your day you