Nervous System Yoga to Relax into the Window of Tolerance and Love on Your Hips

Transcript

Begin by coming down onto your hands and your knees once you get on your hands and your knees spread your fingers out wide position your knees about hip withth distance apart and start to Circle your knees around slowly Begin by coming onto your hands and your knees position your hands underneath your shoulders spread out your fingers Place knees hip withth distance apart start to Circle your hips around nice and slow pay attention to how this movement pattern feels in your body and try to move through the whole circle it's very normal for part of it to feel a little less natural and so I want you to go a little slower in those areas and be more intentional let's go ahead and switch that up so you're still circling but now in the other direction bring some breath work in into it so you're going to breathe in a mindful way breathe slowly take your time all right gradually tuck your toes sit back on your heels if that works for you if that's a little bit too much you can kneel instead and then shake out your wrists for a moment move forward onto your hands and knees again step your right foot out to the right it's going pretty wide here your right toes are off your mat your right heel is on your mat it's in a half squat notice your breath inhale shift wide into your right leg so you're squatting out exhale move your hips back to where we started moving with your breath inhale shift out into a half squat lengthen your spine and then as you exhale ease back inhale shift out and lengthen exhale shift back keep going inhale shift out and lengthen exhale shift back one more slowly shift your right knee down step your left foot forward but onto the middle of your mat for a low lunge shape and then on an inhale send your hands up over your head so you're going to reach long and Tall through your body notice what is happening down here in your hips and if you're like way leaning into that I want you to pull pull yourself back some so we're getting some lengthening we're getting some stretching and extending on the front of your hip at the end of your next exhale ease your hands down and then shift your left foot out to the left so your toes point out and your heel turns in and then moving with your breath inhale lean out into half squat lengthen out out through the crown of your head exhale back to Center inhale lean out into half squat exhale back to Center and then just like that you're going to go slow and you're going to let your breath set the pace this next time that you have exhaled back to the center shift your left knee down step your right foot forward put it onto the center of your mat and then inhale come up for a low lunge reach your hands high overhead remember not to overcommit in your hips you want to have you want to have yourself pulled back and up out of this a little bit so you can get this lengthening and extension it's undeniable that sometimes fear responses in your body can translate into tightness in your hips trauma responses in your body can translate into this tightness down in your hips so we want to notice this part of you and we want to lovingly and patiently let it unwind ease your hands all the way down shift your right knee back gradually move your ankles off to one side and come and sit down on top of a blanket in fact you might even want to sit down on more than one blanket here so you have extra height bring the soles of your feet together and your knees out wide and bring your feet pretty close into you take an inhale stretch up long and Tall through your spine and see if this is your sweet spot if this is where your body would like to stay right now or if you would like to hinge forward any amount notice what you feel in your body what s stions you notice in your body perhaps the feeling of the soles of your feet pressing together next in Alee gradually ease yourself up slide off of your blankets and into dear pose so in dear pose we're going to start by taking your right leg in front of you you've got your right knee in front of your right hip your right ankle is to the side of your right hip so this forms a 90° angle and then you're going to do that again with your left leg knee in line with hip ankle in line with knee press your fingertips down Lift Your Heart Center up high and then eyes open or closed we're going to Breathe Here pause here even in the midst of the effort of this pose notice if there's some place where you might relax a little bit more one more cycle of breath then so slowly go ahead and switch and I do mean like go like you were in slow motion dear pose here on the second side you have your left knee in front of your left hip you've got your left knee lined up with your left ankle in that 90° position right knee right hip right knee right ankle press your fingertips down your hands down inhale lengthen up and then pause and breathe with me here and just like before I want you to observe and then play with inviting your body to relax into this a little bit more to find points of softness maybe it's your eyes maybe it's your face your jaw slow motion just like before gradually come out of this you're going to come and lay onto your outer hip and then lay onto your side and rotate over onto your back once you're on your back bring your knees into a bent position and cross your right ankle over your left knee pull your legs in towards you and then thread your hands through your right hand through the inside of the left leg your left hand around to the outside you're coming into reclining pigeon pose and then we're going to hold and breathe here this is a more active way of doing this if you want a more restful way you can always have your left foot down and let your body have that support soften your face your shoulders soften your mind slow motion we're going to gently lift legs up towards ceiling and switch to come into the other side of reclining pigeon remembering that you have this active option where you're pulling your legs in you have a more supported variation where your right foot is down both are good in different ways breathe slowly and wholesomely gradually release your right foot down uncross your legs and then stretch your body out for shias which is that classic position relay on your mat with your arms and your legs extended notice if you would like to cover your body up in any way if you feel the desire to do that lay your blanket over the part of you that wants to be covered otherwise Lay Your Arms out to the side of you in this middle territory where your arms are not too close to you and they're not too far away from you they're in this spot where you feel like you're arms can really relax your your collar bones and shoulders can relax and then do the same thing with your legs have your ankles a little bit wider than your hips and you'll find that there's a sweet spot there too where it feels like your hips can really spread Spread spread across the mat keep breathing in that slow steady way and you might and you might not give your hips one final invitation to release anything that they are holding I'm going to rest here for about another minute to a minute and a half just let your bones release knowing that there's nowhere for them to go right now just for now for start to move a little wherever it feels good to do so your fingers your toes your wrist your ankle gradually bend your knees and then roll over to one side and bring yourself all the way up and into a seated position and once you're seated bring your hands together in a prayer shape and press your thumbs into your lips start to sway gently back and forth from side to side keep that pressure of your thumbs on your lips you're activating your rest and digest response in your nervous system by touching that part of you and this gentle sway you might just notice how that feels to you come back to Center great work today was lovely to be with you I'll see you soon