Shadow Work Yoga | 🌑 🕊 30 Min Yin Yoga for the Shadow Self

Transcript

Namaste welcome and thank you for your yoga practice today today we will be doing a Yen Yoga sequence to honor the shadow side so the shadow side is the more unconscious repressed side of being so we're going to talk a little bit about how to connect to that area and move the unconscious into the conscience as a way to connect and heal physically what this is going to look like is some deep hip opening postures as well as getting a little bit into the shoulders as well sort of those big cavities of the body that really become emotional sort of junk drawers for the body so we're going to work out clearing those areas just a bit and then talk a little bit more about what the shadow side is and what shadow work really looks like in our yoga practice so let's get started we'll meet together in child's pose so start by bringing the knees open wide big toes together and as you're ready sit down onto your heels and stretch your arms out long in front of you and just take a minute here to really settle in your seat and into your body maybe taking a few deep breaths to start inhaling through the nose and exhale side out let it go take two more just like that inhale exhale so really allowing your body to begin to settle into your practice here this may be your first yoga pose of the day so just come into it with a little bit of awareness as you just notice the body start to slowly wake up maybe beginning to relax across the muscles of your face letting the eyes fall back into their sockets as the jaw all relaxes feeling this bit of extension through the tips of your fingers but then at the same time can you soften and melt the shoulders down your back arriving into this space arriving into your body let's take your next inhale to press into the Palms gently begin to lift the Gaze towards your fingers staying here in your child's pose we're just going to take a thread the needle hybrid so as you exhale take your right hand thread it underneath your left bicep crawling the fingertips away from the body so you can eventually relax down onto the right shoulder and your right cheek and letting that left elbow come back down to the floor letting your whole body just really open up to the sense of gravity here let's breathe into the back of the right shoulder blade you start to create some space there maybe you can begin to start deepening your breath here lengthening inhales all the way down to the base of your belly and feeling the exhales fully contract drawing your belly button in your rib cage back towards the spine getting rid of all the air and let's press into the Palms gently unwind coming back through Center traditional child's pose and before we come into the second side if you need to give your hips and maybe the backs of the knees a break you can lift the hips up and come out of the child's pose for a few breaths if you even wanted to take a traditional thread the needle with lifted hips and open knees on the second side that's available to you as well but if you're still enjoying child's pose keep the hips on the heels and as you're ready let's thread the left arm underneath the right let that left palm open up towards the ceiling softening down here so we'll start by just bringing some awareness into the rhythm of your breath notice the texture the quality behind your breath noticing if you feel a bit more high energy or if you're feeling a bit softer me just start with this observation just by observing taking the time to slow down and observe what's really going on inside our bodies this this first step towards beginning to work with the shadow side let's press down into the right palm to slowly unravel come back child's pose take a breath you can rest down on your elbows and just let the spine and the shoulders come back to neutral as you're ready let's slowly lift up out of the child's pose we'll come into tabletop pose so draw your hands underneath your shoulders your knees underneath your hips we'll take a few breaths in cat and cow so feel free to add any little Wiggles and shakes that you might like here as you inhale your belly drops your heart and tailbone can lift up towards the sky exhale round it in good take three more rounds just like that on your own I really like to add in some side to side movements as well feeling free to release out the neck maybe shaking the head no and nodding [Applause] yes good two more breaths just let your breath guide your movements here wonderful as you're ready inhale back to neutral spine bring your palms to the top of the mat spread your fingertips out wide tuck your toes we'll come back to our first downward-facing dog as you press into the toes lift the knees drop the heels feel the shoulder blades wrap away from the ears broadening across the backs of your shoulders and Firming up through the arms nice and strong here pressing the hips towards the back of the mat and up towards the ceiling let's take two full deep breaths inhale lift the left leg up behind you high in the sky reach out through the tips of your toes now bending the knee we're going to come forward into to Pigeon pose so bringing the knee to the left wrist ankle towards the right go and release down onto the back knee untuck your toes now if you have a bit more space in the hips you might be able to walk that back knee further away from you to settle down deeper into the hips or you might need to go in the opposite direction bring the ground a little bit closer to you you can do that by adding a block or maybe a bolster underneath that left hip so just find the depth that best works for you here as you're ready start to settle down into your pigeon pose take a breath to inhale lift up through the chest pressing the floor away from you sink down into your hips and then if you'd like you can lower down onto the elbows but feeling free also to stay lifted if that's preferable for you you may even be able to come all the way down onto your belly here just take take the pose that best honors your body if you are on your elbows go ahead and grab for opposite elbows so bringing the forearms parallel out in front of you this just helps to broaden The Back Body a little bit and take some of the stress out of the shoulders let's relax down into the back of the neck start to find your breath maybe taking a few of those open mouth exhales as we first come into the posture signaling to our body that it's okay to to let go and release a little bit here and then as you settle in here start to really notice the reactions and the responses in your body and in your mind here you can start with a broad view noticing your physical reactions right are you inclin to tensing up through the hips maybe the glutes does your body sort of have an initial reaction to tighten and pull away and then working with the breath always on honoring your own personal Edge but see if there's any way that you can consciously acknowledge that reaction in the body and then use the exhale to maybe soften just a little bit remind yourself that it's okay to relax it's okay to let go it's okay to not be in control for good let's inhale begin to gently lift bring your palms back down to the floor and lift the chest we're just going to take two full breaths here in Lifted pigeon pose so pressing the floor away from you open the chest up towards the ceiling open the throat breathe in breathe out one more breath here clearing out the heart space wonderful now to release we're just going to roll onto the left side so if you have any props there go ahead and move them out of the way roll onto your left hip you're going to swing the right leg all the way around bending the knee up towards the sky bring the right foot to plant on the outer edge of the left knee I'll turn to face you so we're sitting flat on the floor that left ankle is by the hip but not directly underneath it take an inhale to lift the chest up towards the ceiling hugging the knees in and as you exhale twisting to the right hug the knee into the chest bring the right palm behind you gazing back over the shoulder only if it feels good for the neck if it doesn't you can bring the Gaze to neutral gazing towards that bent knee if you'd like to add a little Nuance here you can bring the thumb and the pointer finger of the left hand together bringing the three other fingers away creating this Yana mudra or this seal of innate wisdom breathing around the pose to start allowing yourself to relax around the shape so don't feel the need to really press or strain into the twist just allow the shape to do the work for you so much like in our physical practice this work with the shadow side calls for us to bring these reactions or these responses in the body into our conscious ious but rather than just noticing the physical responses in the body which are much more tangible and usually easier to catch Shadow work calls for us to notice the more subtle body reactions as well sort of those inclinations that we have to react really harshly or to get really irritated for sometimes reasons that are unknown or unseen to us a lot of times those reactions or responses have to do with innate and deep set wounds or traumas or past histories that we have and so much like our breath or our physical practice that first step is just to notice right notice when we respond in those ways in our day-to-day life let's go ahead and bring the Gaze forward first unraveling from the top down as you're ready gently unwind just take a moment here at Center you can rest the hands onto the knees wonderful and beginning to slowly unwind we're just going to come into pigeon pose on the second side so you're going to thread the left leg out from underneath you bring the left leg behind you setting up for Pigeon pose on the second side it's not the most graceful transition but as you're ready walk the left leg behind you and your right knee is going to come forward knee towards right wrist ankle towards the left again maybe walking yourself further back or padding underneath that right hip take a breath to lift the chest up press the floor away from you big open heart open throat and exhale gently lower down grabbing opposite elbows if you're on your elbows and then relaxing into the back of the neck closing the eyes just breathing deeply so much like our physical practice when we begin to notice these reactions that we have in the body and in the mind once we call those into our Consciousness we can become more aware so that we can release the grip of those patterns those reactions that are maybe keeping us at a lower vibrational State than what we're meant for right the moment you start to question why you get so irritated at your partner for silly little things the moment you question why you react so defensively when you feel like someone's telling you you're wrong like the moment that we can begin to hold those patterns under a microscope start to acknowledge the truth that maybe those aren't really us at all and give ourselves the power to begin to let them go maybe some things are coming to mind for you here that you know you're ready to let go of let's inhale gently begin lift up through the chest you can press into the Palms again taking two full breaths at the top and lifted pigeon here so press into the hands open heart open throat drop into the hips Breathe Into Your Heart give yourself permission to Let It Go clear it out and again and rolling over to the right side now this time coming into our Twisted pose second side so bringing that left leg all the way up and around foot plants to the outer right knee as your right ankle comes around to the edge of your seat hugging that left knee in towards the chest big inhale sit up tall and exhale hugging the knee in towards the chest left hand can come behind you good find your breath maybe again finding that Yana mudra thumb and pointer finger together three fingers away calling in the insight and the Divine wisdom to help us to be able to see these patterns or these shadow sides that we're ready to let go of for soften through the shoulders soften through the jaw maybe closing the eyes here releasing the mudra gently bring the Gaze forward first as you're ready you can slowly unwind through the rest of the spine and releasing hands around that front knee closing the eyes take a breath to neutralize and settle and let's release both the legs unwinding stretch both legs out long in front of you we'll come into caterpillar pose to seal our practice and so here you have the option to bend the knees as much as you need to you could even bring the feet all the way flat on the floor if you know that you have a little bit of strain in the low back in the hamstrings today and then rounding forward on the spine and resting the forehead on the knees if you have a bit more space in your body this evening or want a juicier stretch you can extend into the legs soft Bend in the knees to start inhale sit up nice and tall and exhale begin to round forward can let the Palms face open Towards the Sky as a symbol of release or maybe try I like to place my Palms underneath my calves and then I can lengthen into my calves a bit pressing down into the Palms to get that extra sense of groundedness go ahead and breathe into the back body here soften the [Music] shoulders one of the things that I've had to learn more recently about this idea of Shadow work is the misconception that it's all about sort of picking apart the bad or the negative aspects about our being I know it's so hard just to be a human already and we doubt and we shame ourselves so much and just that idea of focusing on the negative really didn't sit well with me and so I think instead taking this look at ourselves in the sense that we are already whole right and it's not so much working to cut off or let go of these aspects of us that are bad but it's more about just restoring ourselves to our true nature sort of dusting off some of the dirt and the grime that we've picked up along the way so give yourself these next few breaths here restoring yourself inhale slowly start to lift look up towards your toes begin to stack the shoulders back over the hips and as you're ready we'll come down into our shavasana so just extend the legs go ahead and lay yourself all the way down to the mat you can take the Palms open up towards the sky let the toes turn out wide if you'd like to maybe take a moment bring the knees in towards the chest at first and massage the low back that's an option for you too as you're ready releasing the body fully to the floor allowing yourself to wiggle and shake until you get comfortable until you have that sense of full release and restoration for yourself for for for [Music] all gently beginning to come back into the [Music] breath come back into the body maybe allowing some soft trickle of movement to flow in through the tips of the fingertips and the tips of the toes giving yourself the time and the space to reawaken as you're ready we'll roll ourselves over to whichever side feels intuitive to you and eventually pressing ourselves back up into our seated pose let's bring the Palms up to the heart actually making physical contact Palms against the chest lengthening into the back of the neck bowing the chin in towards the heart just take a breath of compassion for yourself here reminding ourselves that there is nothing about us that needs fixed we rather just are working to find our way back to what is always with us but we may have forgotten thank you so much for your practice it's been my honor to guide you namaste