Moving through Sensation - Inner Phoenix Yoga presented by MESA (with captions)

Transcript

foreign [Music] to Inner Phoenix my name is Janine and I am the director of moving to end sexual assault and the director of trauma services at Mental Health Partners in Boulder Colorado I'm a psychologist and a yoga teacher and I have witnessed the power of yoga to help people heal from the impact of traumatic stress these Yoga practices are intended to facilitate grounding in a connection with ourselves as we move to build a sense of empowerment and resilience as we work through our journey together while I will cue you in different poses throughout the practices feel free to do what's best for your body on this day at this time for today's practice I'd like to work through this idea of sitting with discomfort and moving through that discomfort in a mindful way so when stress hits or some really uh difficult situations arise it's natural to want to escape from it or distract ourselves from it but we know that sometimes that escape or distraction only leads to more problems down the line so this practice in the intention is to work on our ability to literally sit with some discomfort in the body and learn how to use our breath as a resource to help us stay present and grounded and work through that discomfort to get to the other side which is relief and centeredness and presence so with that we'll need a couple props for our practice today again a blanket could be helpful to just lift the hips a bit off the ground and two blocks would be ideal if you have them or Soup cans or books or anything else that could be a substitute works too so with that we're going to begin on our backs so just coming down reclining on our back and bringing the feet wide so the outer edges of the feet are parallel to the long edge of our mat and letting the knees kind of knock in toward each other hands can rest whatever's comfortable for you so maybe on your body or if it feels better to have them at your side just really settling in here just allowing your body to be supported by the Earth maybe taking a nice slow breath in through the nose and exhale slowly and feel the body just get a little heavier and then when you're ready we're going to bring the right sole of the foot to the Earth and cross the left ankle over the right knee and you might feel a lot of sensation right here so if that's the case and you feel that sensation in your hip you can feel free to stay here or you can float the shin so that it's parallel to the Earth and reach the arms through the opening in the legs and interlacing the fingers right behind the right leg and just settle into this figure four shape and for most of us we'll start to feel a lot of sensation in this left hip so just breathing with that notice if your shoulders started to clench or climb up through the to toward the ears just letting them soften down the mat and breathe into whatever might be present in that left hip and when you're ready bringing the right foot back down to the Earth uncrossing the left ankle from the knee and letting the right leg go long as the left foot reaches up toward the sky and from here we're going to just take that interlace of the fingers behind the left leg and maybe the toes turn down any amount toward the face now if this is a lot of sensation for you and it it feels hard to breathe no worries just bring a Bend to the knee bring a slight Bend to the knee and then you can begin to straighten it any amount to where it feels like you can breathe and just notice what happens here right we're we're in the middle of a lot of sensation for some of us with tight hamstrings this could be downright uncomfortable and so how can we breathe how can we soften into this moment any amount without reacting to the sensation just being with it and then when you're ready bending the left knee bringing the left sole of the foot down to the Earth and we'll move to the other side so right knee bends soles of the feet on the Earth crossing the right ankle over the left knee pausing here if this is where your hip opening is today right all of our bodies are different and we're even different from day to day so notice that stay here or float the left shin off the Earth reach for that grip through the legs and just settle in notice if that discomfort in the hip starts to translate up into the neck and shoulders right so soften the shoulders down maybe even soften the jaw maybe the lips part slightly Breathe Here and then when you're ready bringing the Left Foot Down to the Earth extending the leg left leg long as the right leg reaches up toward the sky reaching for the back of the leg and again inviting the sensation and just know that you're in control of this right if this feels like too much always the option to bend the knee you don't have to flex the foot right you can decide how much you want to feel Breathe Here realizing what's still touching the Earth and letting that ground you know your feet is lifting toward the sky and then bending into that right knee drawing the left knee into the chest we're going to find our way back up to that tabletop position so you can either Rock back and forth on the spine or if that doesn't work for you just rolling over to one side and we'll meet in this shape of tabletop so just root it here with the hands and wrists under the shoulders well then step our right foot forward now this is where a blanket could come in the hand in handy if you'd like to pad underneath this left knee just create a little soft Landing for that knee and bring the knee right over your ankle hands crawl up to the thigh here and just settle in maybe the hips sink down any amount feel a kind of rooting a heaviness here as you work into any Sensation that might be present in front of this left hip soften the shoulders away from the ears just notice the tendency are we are we reacting do we want to move out of this quickly what can we do to settle in to stay the breath is an excellent way to help us do that and then when you're ready we're going to reach down for our blocks walk the right foot a little forward and we're going to draw the toes up to the sky and remember with the blocks they have multiple levels right so option to take whatever level works for your body again if this is a lot of sensation option to bend the knee or straighten whatever works for you and if you want to add a little more sensation you can even start to bend at the elbows keeping a long spine to come forward right in to more sensation if you want you can always feel free to try it and back away Bend back into the knee this time we're going to walk the hands to the inside of the right foot and come a little forward of that back knee so we're not right on top of the kneecap but actually a little forward coming into a post called Lizard so if here you might feel a hip opening right here with the arms straight or option to bring the block underneath the forearms for this version of the hip opener or if you'd like and it feels right in your body you can bring the forearms down wherever you land right in whatever variation just breathing into what you notice trusting that you're creating opening in the body and that you are doing the pose right if you're down on forearms you can come back up to straight arms and then bringing the right knee to meet the left back to our tabletop and more work to the other side so left foot comes forward first let's just find this lunge so again the idea is to let the hips sink any amount that feels right in your body crown of the head is rising lower body rooting down from here blocks can be helpful as we walk the left foot forward can remember if today is not the day you want to feel this must sensation in the back of the legs you can skip this all together right you can take another shape that serves your body maybe drawing the toes back maybe bending the knee maybe you hinge forward and breathe into wherever it is you feel the sensation and then when you're ready bending back into that front knee walking the hands to the inside of the foot coming a little forward to the back knee and your hip opener can be right here if it feels up for a little bit more sensation feel free to take that shape and breathe if you come down and you notice that it's harder to breathe that's just the signal that you went a little too far right so just coming back always okay to hit reverse come back breathe and just know that right here right now you are sitting with sensation you're doing the work you're doing the work on the mat that can transfer to the work off the mat come up to your straight arms if you're not already bringing the left knee to meet the right and we'll come back and close our practice with one final pose turn to face you in this shape called Butterfly so bringing the soles of the feet together bringing the legs into this nice diamond shape here so that the heels and ankles are a little bit away from your hips again block handy really love to use my props in the practice and when you're ready you can begin to walk the hands forward to right where the place where the body says that's my Edge that's where I can still feel sensation and breathe option to let the forehead rest on the Block balanced on your ankles if that's distracting to you you can just let the head kind of dangle and breathe knowing that we're literally sitting here kind of in the sensation in the muck together knowing you're not alone as you work through it and then when you're ready just begin to walk the hands back toward the body bringing the ankles in or seating and exiting in any comfortable pose we'll conclude our practice by just bringing the hands to the knees taking a deep slow breath in through the nose and exhale slowly bringing the hands in front of the space of the heart thank you for being part of this practice today [Music] foreign