Unwind Your Day

(waves crashing) Namaste. Let's unwind it. So this practice is nice and relaxing, get you back into your body after your long, possibly stressful day. So we're gonna begin by taking the arms overhead, and you clasp your elbows, and as you clasp the elbows anywhere that feels comfortable, you're gonna just reach and get as tall as possible. The pelvis feels heavy.

So we've been talking about the benefit of gravity, so we like to use gravity in yoga. I'm gonna do a little turn to one side. And then a little turn to the other side. And back to center. Arms will float down, and as you inhale, really open the chest, so you inhale, and as you exhale, (exhales) fall forward.

One more time. You're gonna inhale, spread those collarbones, and exhale. Soft fold forward, letting the low back stretch out. Excellent. Now, let's turn to the side, take advantage of your full yoga mat.

This sequence will challenge the core body just a little bit, but we'll start out by flexing that right hip. So you'll grab your leg, bring it in as close as you can to your body, reach up and to the chest. Take a breath or two here. If you like, you can maybe straighten the leg, just a thought. Not necessary.

And then if you'll notice, I'm gonna counterbalance a little bit my body, drop it back a little bit, and I'm gonna float that straight leg. Now if you've got a really super skinny badonkadonk, this is not gonna be helping you any. So hopefully you can hold your balance here. And if you want to straighten the leg again, do that. And then the leg comes down.

The leg you've been holding comes down, and we're gonna move into a little twist. This twist I want you to feel like you're lifting up as you move, you're opening the chest, everything should feel free. The neck should feel free, the spine should feel like it's unwinding itself. Kind of pay attention to the legs. And then come back to center, and lay that leg to the side, and make your way forward over the straight leg.

A few breaths here. I'm sure you're already feeling the effects of all of this unwinding taking place. Such effortless experience for the body. And then up you come. And we'll straighten that leg that's been bent and fold forward one more time.

Up we come, you're gonna bring that other leg with. Again, you're looking for that fold, that comfortable fold, lifting up into the chest. Might straighten the leg maybe, if it feels good, go ahead and straighten it. Probably make it have a happy leg then. Then I'm gonna counterbalance this a little bit, here we go, I'm gonna lift that leg.

You don't have to lift it much, you can lift it, I don't know like three sixteenths of an inch, just get off the ground. And then if you want to straighten this lifting leg, you can, it's kind of fun. And so you find out if you have a big badonkadonk, then you really like this one. You lower back down. Foot comes down, and we move into the twist on the other side, again, I'm getting my spine to lengthen, oh god, feels so good.

So we're unwinding any stress that we might have taken in throughout the day. Nice inhalation, nice exhalation. And then as you unwind, on the exhalation you unwind, lay this leg out to the side, continue that exhalation right into the fold. And up you come. Straighten both legs again, just as we did before.

And forward we go. Breathe into the back body. And all the way up. Bring yourself around to downward dog, however that works for you, and in that downward dog, it's gonna be a very mild downward dog, so not a lot of straining, but definitely letting the weight settle in all the right places for downward dog, legs pressing back. Neck is nice and relaxed.

And lower yourself down, all the way down to your knees. Uncurl the toes, and sit back, we're gonna compress the calves, so the compression of the calves is really helpful to the body, particularly if you've been doing a lot of sitting today. And then forward again. So from hands and knees, my right leg is gonna come forward and I'm gonna straighten the back leg and come to a nice lunge. Now the lunge and how deep it is really depends on what's comfortable for you.

So if you need to sit up higher, sit up higher, that's fine to do that. Lower is also fine. Two breaths. And lower down you go. Back knee comes down, front leg stays where it is, and arms float up, a nice modified warrior here.

I've got my kickstand on, that's my toes curled under. And then down, forward I go. Back into that yummy downward dog. Down to hands and knees. My opposite leg comes forward, and I move into that lunge again.

So how high you are is up to you, you could even be up here if it's more comfortable for you. Nice long length of the back leg. Two breaths. Back knee comes down, arms float up, opposite side, another little warrior posture, a little modified warrior posture, you can interlace the hands and open the chest a little bit more. And the hands come down.

Make your way into that nice delicious downward dog. You can walk through the legs a little bit. Lower yourself down. And as you lower yourself downwards, keep the toes curled under and press back. I'm gonna feel this a little bit in the toes.

And then let's roll up, we're gonna shift forward, as we shift forward, I'd like to lift the feet, so this feels really nice. And from here, a little release to the spine, a little lift to the chest, only if it feels natural to you and comfortable. Back to that downward dog. Back down to the knees, this time, all the way to the floor, for a little cobra. In the cobra the legs press towards one another, the spine lengthens, I press through my hands.

I also feel a little like I'm trying to pull myself forward in the cobra. Lower down. Turn your head. Lay flat for a moment. Slide the hands back, one more, hands press down, and pull back, up you come.

Nice inhalation, keep the breath moving. And down you go. Turn your head to the opposite side. Rest in a prone position. Last cobra.

Plant your hands, it's like you're trying to drag yourself forward, legs are firm. Keep the breath moving through the body. Turn your head to its most comfortable side for this last one. Now gather the hands under you, curl the toes under, inhaling, bringing yourself up to hands and knees. And sit back one more time and let's compress the legs.

You can kind of wiggle a little bit too. Ah, now we're gonna go a little lower. Roll around, come to lie on your back. When you lie on your back, take the feet a little bit wider than your hips and kind of wiggle the body in just a little bit. My feet are pressing down and they're gonna be pulling towards me just a little bit to let my pelvis lift.

Be sure it's comfortable for your knees. You're not lifting to your maximum, but you are feeling like the feet are pressing down and pulling, you're feeling everything sort of coming into the center. And the pelvis comes down. Arms and legs stretch. On the inhalation I stretch.

On the exhalation I relax. Bend the legs again. Feet press down and pull back slightly. If it feels good to you you can take your arms overhead. Exhale and bring yourself down.

Inhaling, again, stretch yourself long. Exhale, relax. One more bridge, planting the feet, I'm gonna move my hands to my belly this time. Feet press down, pelvis lifts, feeling like everything is drawing to the center. Exhaling, pelvis comes down, inhaling, full body stretch.

Exhaling, full relaxation. And now let the legs bend, and shift yourself around, bring yourself up one last little mild downward facing dog. The more you do it the more restorative and restive this posture feels. And then down to your knees. And bring yourself around to sitting.

Letting your eyes close. Feeling the effects of this practice, this unwinding practice. Three breaths, recognizing each exhalation. Then the palms come together. Hope this helped you to unwind.

Peace out, see you next time. Namaste.