Regulate Your Nervous System | 15 Minute Yoga Practice

Transcript

right my darling friends let's come into a nice comfortable seat I'm up on my blanket lifting the hips a little if you like to join me there please do otherwise just come to the ground take your time getting there right away I will invite you to sit up as tall as you can just in this moment so don't feel like you have to force a tall spine but just imagine a little bit of length between the vertebrae I love that image maybe you can imagine a little string gently lifting you up from the crown and if none of that imagery is your jam today that's great too just give yourself a little space and time we're taking the time here I'll invite you to soften your gaze down gently past your nose or if you want to go ahead and shut down the eyelids here as we tune in that would be wonderful too so you have lots of options here today really inviting that we listen to our body like your individual body my individual body throughout this practice and every practice but really highlighting that today so just taking a moment to settle [Music] in inviting length in the spine maybe softening The Gaze or closing the eyes and as we arrive here in this moment together just notice what feels better Palms face down on your legs or Palms face up you can make your choice based on what feels more [Music] grounding what feels not necessarily most comfortable but what feels safe and for me it's Palms face down today then as best you can without changing a thing just start to notice the quality of your breath and again don't change it try not to don't Al alter it just notice what it's like quick or slow deep or more shallow and as we bring our attention and awareness to the breath it will likely change or want to change but again best you can try not to alter the breath here just residing in the role of the Observer [Music] noticing it's current Rhythm current flow current qualities begin to notice if the breath feels like it's more in the upper body the chest the upper back as you breathe in or does it feel like it's more in the lower lower torso excuse me the belly a lower back there's no right or wrong here simply noticing and then if you feel pretty darn good just in this moment where your hands currently are feel free to keep them there otherwise we'll bring the left hand to the heart the chest and the right hand right on top of the left hand and still just noticing the breath sometimes the placement of your hands here on the Heart Center can gently encourage a slight lift in the heart space if that comes easy today enjoy that if not it's okay I'm just noticing where your natural breath may move your hands it may not relaxing the skin of the face here just noticing if you're gripping the forehead or the mouth the jaw and then sliding the hands now down to the belly the lower belly maybe just below the navall and especially if you've been practicing for a while it might be hard to resist the urge to just do a big belly breath here and if that's coming easy rock on but let's see with the hands now here on the lower belly if we can just observe when in our natural breath cycle do we feel the breath in the [Music] hands and of course as we get super inquisitive here and still the mind will wander different thoughts will come up just just know let me remind you it's all a part of the exchange it's all good just keep coming back to the seat of the Observer stay curious and then release the hands back to the tops of the knees or thighs Palms face up or Palms face down that the eyelashes open and we're actually going to take our gaze up now careful not to Crunch at the back of the neck so you don't want to create any tension to the neck just send your gaze up almost like we we do in in Lion's breath up towards the third eye and we're going to take our gaze and our nose and draw a line up and over to the right past our right shoulder Eyes Wide Open Big Stretch of the neck and then all the way back to Center and then same thing to the other side eyes up and over turning to look past the left shoulder and then all the way back up to Center we're going to do that two more times just in your own time Heart Is Lifting if you can staying nice and tall in the spine nice natural rhythm with your breath nothing forced and then when you're done here bring the head back to Center Stillness we'll tuck the chin into the chest take a moment here to pull the elbows back in line with your side body and feel your shoulder blades come together inhale exhale lift the head now we're going to start to deepen the breath so bring the hands to the rib cage now we're going to activate some lateral breathing so for this you can close your eyes soft gaze or keep Eyes Wide Open we're going to bring the hands to the waistline here imagine the elbows coming back a bit so you can keep this lift in the chest I often notice when I do this this practice with myself I tend to start to collapse here my shoulders want to naturally come forward so we're going to resist that urge to collapse in the front body and here we go inhale breathing into the hands breathing into the rib cage feeling that wide expansion as you breathe in and then exhale it softens inward as you breathe out again big inhale breathing downward feeling that expansion and exhale it's all softens in and I love the image of an umbrella here inhale the umbrella opens and exhale it softens and closes in let's do one more nice beautiful release the hands left hand comes to the Earth right fingertips reach up and over ground B down through your right hip hug those low ribs in breathe in nice side body stretch here super soft and easy here so not pushing or forcing and then sweep it all the way through Center and take it to the other side and then slowly release come back to Center Palms come together anel mudra take a deep breath in here and a long breath out and then slowly we'll bring our blanket if you brought one if not no biggie if so if you didn't bring one just come to lie flat on your back if you did bring one we'll roll it lengthwise like so and then lay The Spine down on it here now if you're in a place with your nervous system where this is being feeling un unwell not good then let's come to back to a comfortable seat or extended child's pose you have options and then for those laying down on the blanket or on the earth you can extend the legs out long you can bring the souls of the feed together basana or last option would be to bring you have lots of options but last option I'll offer you is to bring the feet as wide as the mat and then allow the knees to come together softening through the bowl of the pelvis so find what feels good in your body here today and this is our last shape and again looking to see if the Palms face up or Palms face down feels best we'll take one big Collective inhale in [Music] here big smooth Smo subtle breath and then exhale again smooth soft and when I say subtle meaning we're tapping into those subtle Body Sensations not pushing or forcing really listening and then just allowing yourself to relax here allowing the Earth or the bolster to hold you you can stay here as long as you like maybe you take a moment after the session to sit in meditation to journal or perhaps move into more Yin practice or Yoga Nidra but if this is it for today let's all be sure to just say thank you thank you to ourselves for taking the time and the space I am certainly grateful that you share your time and energy with me if you like we can bring the thumbs to the third eye here and then we'll close this session with one last big inhale [Music] in and then exhale out repeat this session keep coming back to it whenever you need it Benji and I will be here for you thanks again take good care [Music]