Healthy Spine 12 min Christian Yoga Practice

Transcript

Hi friend, welcome to this short yoga video all about spine health. This video is part of a series called the shot of truth where we confront a lie that we've been believing with the truth from God's word. So the lie that we're confronting in today's short practice is the lie that says God is far from me and doesn't care what happens to me. The truth is that God is for you and he's even in a good mood. So we're going to move through some scripture today as we practice to help remind our hearts of that truth. In our practice today, we're going to move our spine in six different directions, forwards and backwards, right and left, and then twisting from right to left to help build a strong, healthy spine. We're going to start seated on our mat. Feel free to grab a blanket if you like to slide under your knees. Otherwise, let's get started. Beginning in just a simple seated posture. You're welcome to sit on a blanket or cushion if you have it with you. Let's see if you can sit up nice and straight here. Notice where your spine immediately pops into action and see if you can soften and lengthen a bit more. So lengthen that tailbone, the very bottom of your spine down towards the mat. Instead of sticking your ribs forward, can you knit them in slightly and reach the top of your head up towards the ceiling? Chin draws in. So your ears stack right on top of your shoulders. And notice your breath up and down the length of your spine here. Notice the feelings that come up where discomfort or tiredness start popping up and just be with it. The lie says that God is far from me and doesn't care what happens to me. But the truth is God is for me and he is in a good mood. Psalm 118:6 says, "The Lord is for me so I will have no fear." What can mere people do to me? Bring your hands together in prayer at your heart. Reach that prayer up to the ceiling and then take your right hand to the mat and your left arm is going to reach up and over stretching your spine over to the right side. Take a breath here as you reach those fingers across the room. And then on your next inhale, open your chest up towards the ceiling, shoulder blades back, but a really gentle back bend here. Beautiful. And then on your next breath out, round your spine forward. That right hand is going to slowly find the floor in front of you. And your low back will feel a stretch. Take a breath here. And then slide that right hand, that left hand, I'm sorry, to your right knee. Your right hand's going to come back behind you. Sit up nice and tall here. Lengthen that spine again. As you exhale, twist it over to the right. Breath in to grow tall. Breath out to twist a little bit deeper. Beautiful. Return to the center. Hands come back to prayer at your heart. Inhale. Reach them up overhead. Exhale. Left hand lowers down. Right arm is going to reach up and over. Shoulder soft. Right hip pressing down towards the floor. On your next inhale, roll your chest open. Back of the heart presses up towards the ceiling. Beautiful. And then on your next exhale, round that hand all the way down to the floor. Really pressing your low back down towards the mat. Beautiful. Right hand slides up to your left knee. As that left hand comes behind you, sit up nice and tall. Take a breath in. Take a breath out. Twist it over to the left side. Looking over that left shoulder. Inhale to grow tall. Exhale to twist a little bit deeper. Return to the center. And let's roll over our shins, finding your hands and your knees on a tabletop position. Three gentle rounds of cat cow to continue warming up your spine. So take a breath in, draw your heart towards the front of the room, your low belly to the mat, and your tailbone to the ceiling. Exhale, round it back for cat pose. Belly button hugs in. Hands press into the mat. Inhale forward for cow. Exhale cat. Breath in. Heart forward for cow. Breath out. Hug it in for cat. Return to a neutral spine. And let's see if we can isolate the different sections of our back. Our low back, our midback, and then our neck. also known as your lumbar spine, the very bottom, your thoracic spine, the midspine, and your cervical spine, your head and neck. So, starting at our lumbar spine, see if you can take little circles with your pelvis here. Really small hip circles here. Beautiful. And then switch directions. An old teacher once said, "Imagine you had a paintbrush in your tail." So, if that imagery helps you, go with it. Let's continue these circles up to the middle of your back here. So, your chest and your heart get involved as they rotate up and down and side to side along with your low back. So, your whole torso is involved in these little circles. Good. Your lumbar and thoracic spine are going to come still. And let's just take our neck and circle it side to side, forward and back. as big or as small as feels good for you. Beautiful. Return your neck back to the center. And then walk your hands forward in front of you. Your hips are going to stay high, but your chest is going to sink down towards the mat for what's called puppy pose. Forehead could be on the mat. Take a big breath into your armpits here. And see if you can let your heart soften towards the mat a little bit more. This is a big opening across your chest and also a slight back bend. Gorgeous. With your hands where they are, slide your chest forward until your hands come underneath your shoulders. Belly on the floor, finding your baby cobra pose. So chest is rolled up. Feet stay on the mat. And then as you exhale, press your hips back to your heels. Child's pose. Psalm 91:es 4-7 say, "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, or the plag that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. Because the truth is God is for you. He is in a good mood. Rise up to your shins. Bring your hands to your hips. Use those hands to help lengthen your hips down towards the mat as you reach the top of your head up to the ceiling. Gentle baby camel pose here. Heart reaches up to the ceiling as you gently bend backwards. Big breath in here. Exhale. Return back to the center. Your right leg is going to stretch out to the side. Now toes are going to point up to the ceiling. Lengthen your spine up to the ceiling. One more time. Then slide that right hand down your leg and reach your left arm up and over. Requires a little bit of balancing. See if you can use your core to stabilize your low back. Beautiful. Now this left hand is going to come all the way down to the mat. Right on your left side. Your right toes are going to find the floor. So your foot is flat and that right arm is going to reach up to the ceiling and over your head for this big supported side plank pose. Really press down through that right foot here as you reach for those right fingers. One more breath in here and then return to the center. And let's repeat it on the other side. That left leg is going to stretch out. Toes point up to the ceiling. Slide that left hand down your leg as you reach your right arm up and over. Good. spine is bending and your legs are getting a bit of a stretch. Right hand now is going to come all the way down to the floor and that left arm is going to sweep up and over as you plant that left foot on the mat for a supported side plank pose here. Beautiful. Return back to the center. Place your hands on the mat in front of you and come to a downward-f facing dog. Nice and gentle here. So, pedal your heels, sway your hips, making some space in your back body and the back of your legs. Take a look at your hands and walk your feet forward for a forward fold. Grab your elbows here and with soft knees, gently sway side to side, gorgeous. Release your elbows. And with your low belly drawing in always your knees are bent, roll up to stand. Inhale, sweep your arms up overhead. Slightly bend back as you look at your fingers. Exhale. Dive all the way back forward. Inhale. Slide your hands up to your shins. Lift halfway up. And let's hold it here for a couple of breaths. See if you can lengthen your spine here. Draw your chin in. Gorgeous. Release it back down to the mat. Step your feet as wide as your mat here. Maybe even a little bit wider. We're going to come into a squat. And I know we haven't done a whole lot of work to warm this up. So, so gentle, but it's a really great spine lengthener. So, begin to lower your hips down to the mat. Maybe your elbows come on the inside of the knees. Maybe your heart reaches for your thumbs and makes contact. Wherever you are in this pose, see if you can find some length in your spine, letting gravity help draw your lumbar spine towards the mat as the crown of your head reaches for the ceiling. Gorgeous. And then let's sit our hips to the floor and swing your right leg out in front of you. Take that left foot, cross it over your right thigh. Sit up nice and tall here. Take a breath in and then sweep that left hand behind you as that right arm either hugs that left knee in or that elbow hooks on the opposite side of the knee for a twist. Inhale to grow tall. Exhale to twist deeper. Good. Return to the center and take your hands like goalposts over to the right side just for a gentle counter twist. And then return to the center and stretch your left leg out in front of you. Bend your right knee. Cross that foot over your thigh. Right hand is going to come behind your back. As you inhale, sit up really tall. And exhale. Twist over to the right side, hugging that knee or hooking your elbow. Your breath helps you make space in that spine. So use it to sit up tall and then twist a bit deeper. Good. Return to the center. And one last counter twist over to the left side. Gorgeous. Return to the center. Place your feet on the floor and lie down onto your back. Heels are going to be close into your hips. So you could feel them with the backs of your with your fingertips. And let's take two bridge poses here. So as your feet press into the mat and your knees hug in towards the center, roll your hips up towards the ceiling. Press your heart up towards the ceiling as you roll your shoulder blades underneath you. And take three deep breaths here. Psalm 91 verses 10 and 11 say, "No harm will overtake you. No disaster will come near you, for he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Roll your hips back down to the mat. Find a sense of stillness here as you take a breath in and out. Take a breath in and roll your hips back up to the ceiling for one last bridge pose. You're welcome to interlace your fingers under your back or grab the edges of your mat and pull them away from each other to help get a bit more of a chest opener in here. See if you can roll those hips a little bit higher. And then as you exhale, use that breath to control your movement and lower those hips back down to the mat. Beautiful. Hug your knees into your chest now and just gently rock from side to side on the back of those hips. Hugging your right knee into your chest. Stretch your left leg out to the floor. Take your right knee over to the left side and open your right arm out. Looking over towards those fingertips for a spinal twist. The truth is that God is for you. He is in a good mood. Bring it back to the center. And now stretch your left knee into your heart and your right leg out to the floor. Twist that left knee over to the right side as you reach your left arm out. Beautiful. Return to the center. Hug both knees in. One last spine massage here. Roll up and down the length of your spine. Maybe three or four times. We're going to end in a seated position. So, take your time getting there. Seeing if you can rock the length of your back. Beautiful. Ending in a seated position here. Hands to your heart. Take a big breath in and a big breath out. Thank you for practicing with me today. I will see you back here on your mat soon.