November 22, 2023 • 94 mins
Experience the profound connection between the universe within you and the world around you as we journey through an exquisite exploration of yin yoga, mindfulness, and the incredible power of gratitude. This is a 90-minute yin yoga practice that fosters a profound sense of appreciation for your body. Designed to bring tranquility, connection, and a space exclusively for you, we anchor our attention on the breath and the internal movement of light within the rib cage.
In this episode we unravel the marvels of cellular respiration, the universe within your cells. With each breath, nourish and support the teeming life within you, The experience of cellular respiration, will profoundly deepen your sense of self and body connectivity.
With each pose, take a moment to appreciate the sensations, the echoes of movements and the hard work of your cells. We conclude with a reflective Shavasana, inviting you to contemplate the remarkable journey of evolution, and your place in the universe. This practice is a loving reminder of the miracles within us and our bodies' phenomenal ability to evolve, exist, and flourish. Tune in for this enriching adventure of self-discovery and appreciation.
Transformational Self Care
A Late Winter Wellness Retreat in the Dominican Republic
March 3-10, 2023
Join me for a 7 day Caribbean wellness retreat. Each day we will focus on a pillar of self care. By the end of the week you will have a group of new friends, some unforgettable memories and a personal self care strategy to enhance your life back at home. Learn More
Let's connect! Follow me on:
Facebook
Instagram
TicToc
YouTube
Free Resources:
Master the Yin Yoga Pose Repertoire: 7 Day Email Course
Introduction to Pain Care Yoga
Practice Gallery Workbook - 6 go to sequences with pictorial instructions
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, foryour pod practice.
This week, I'm actuallybringing an episode back that I
first published last year justafter Thanksgiving.
This is a really specialpractice, which is a beautiful
blend of mindfulness, gratitudeand movement, and I am really
(00:24):
hoping that sometime in the nextcouple of days here as we
approach Thanksgiving, that youmight have an hour, an hour and
a half, to really immerseyourself into this practice.
I will fully introduce thepractice in my intro for the
original episode, so I won'trepeat myself here.
(00:45):
I do want to say, though, onthe eve of Thanksgiving in 2023,
how grateful I am for you andyour continued support of the
podcast and for your enthusiasmfor evidence-informed practice.
Thank you so much for being alistener.
(01:06):
If you receive value from theYin Yoga Podcast, I humbly ask
you to consider becoming apatron.
Patrons support the greatpractices and education on the
podcast and also get access tothe entire video practice
library.
In my online community, theShip School, my practice library
(01:27):
contains a huge variety ofmovement, mindfulness, strength
and even meditation practices.
The library is searchable forpain care practice resources to
address the most commonmusculoskeletal pain issues,
including back pain, neck andshoulder pain and hip pain.
The Yin teachers out there willlove a newly added feature the
(01:49):
experiential anatomy practicesection, where you get to dive
into learning anatomy throughyour very own body and breath.
This is all at your fingertipsfor a $15 donation each month.
You can cancel your patronageat any time.
Become a patron today.
I'll leave a link in the shownotes for you to get started.
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
(02:20):
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, forthis week.
I wanted to offer something alittle extra special, as it is,
after all, the day afterThanksgiving.
We have all kinds of amazingscientific evidence that's
coming out in the last decade orso about gratitude.
I think it's irrefutable.
(02:40):
Now.
I think we can all agree on thefact that gratitude is really,
really important, whether thingsare going great in your life,
or maybe especially when thingsaren't going so great.
For those of my clients and mylisteners who have chronic pain,
gratitude is important for youas well.
My friends, this practice willask you to practice gratitude on
(03:05):
a very, very deep level, asdeep as the cell.
Rather than looking outside forreasons to be grateful, we will
look within.
Your practice is suffused withthe meditation, which has been
designed to help you tocultivate a deep embodied
(03:25):
gratitude for the body.
This is an extended practiceand it's also a live class that
I recorded for you.
It's 90 minutes.
To be honest, I've neverpublished a 90-minute episode.
I don't know if you guys aregoing to like it or not, but I
figure let's give it a shot,because this is an important
topic and I want for you to havelots of time to really marinate
(03:49):
in these poses, in thesemovements and indeed in this
meditation.
You will want to have some propsaround you.
You'll need some kind of yogastrap could even be the strap
that you use to keep your matrolled up.
You will want to have a bolster, a blanket and maybe a block or
two.
I really hope you enjoy yourpractice.
(04:11):
Yogi, let me have you begin bysetting up your props for
yourself.
I would like for you to have ablanket at the back of your mat,
all the way at the back of yourmat.
Unless you're someone who needsa blanket to sit on in a seated
(04:32):
position, then you can sit onyour blanket.
Take your bolster and yourblocks just to the left of you
but still very much within reach.
Your strap can just sit by theside of your mat Once you've got
(04:56):
your props set up.
You've got all your props.
I'm going to have you actuallystart seated at the top of your
mat.
Go ahead and smudge forward alittle bit you can leave some
space at the front of your mat,of course and find a crisscross
applesauce, a sucrasna, withyour left ankle in front.
If now you're changing yourmind about sitting on your
(05:17):
blanket, go ahead and drag itover and sit on it if you need
to.
If it's okay, close your eyes.
Don't worry about finding thesuper straightest posture.
Instead, find a posture whichfeels stable to you but also is
(05:42):
full, a posture where you canfeel yourself breathe.
(06:17):
And as you're feeling yourselfbreathe in your steady but
easeful posture, you mightnotice that your breath sort of
moves you around a little bit.
You might notice some expandingin places as you inhale.
(06:40):
Perhaps as you exhale, younotice that, in the absence of
that pneumatic pressure, otherthings kick in to help keep you
stable and start to slow thebreath down a little bit
(07:19):
Slightly longer.
Inhale Slightly longer, exhaleand tilt forward to plant your
palms onto the mat, or you mighthave your hands on a block.
(07:39):
Yeah, so if your hands don'teasily reach the floor with the
palms fully pressed into thefloor.
Grab a block and use thatinstead and just slightly,
pulling back with the hands,draw your heart forward on your
in and then poke your ribs overto the right a little bit, so
you're almost side bent a bit tothe left and then poke your
(08:01):
ribs backward and then over tothe left and forward again.
So imagine there's a ball oflight and it's pressing into the
front ribs from the inside andthen it's pressing into the
right side ribs and scrapingaround to the back and then over
(08:24):
to the left, this ball of lightjust gently expanding as it
moves around in these circles tothe right and back to the left
and forward.
And if you haven't already, tryto incorporate your breath into
(08:44):
this movement and then slowdown, slow way down, like 50%
slower, feeling that ball oflight roll around the inside of
(09:07):
your rib cage, guiding,orienting, and the next time
your heart is forward, stay andthen come all the way up to a
(09:27):
vertical position again and sendthe left leg out.
Send the left leg out.
It's probably going to be offthe mat Now if you're one of
those people like me who getscranky when your heel is on the
flat floor.
You could move.
So your heel is on the mat withyou.
Okay, so all of the right footis to the inner left thigh.
Once again, your hands comedown in front of you and let
(09:52):
your ribs poke over to the rightand, as they go turn, walk your
hands to the right.
You might even walk your handsso far back that your heart
turns to the back of the roomand then do the opposite.
So we're going to come backaround forward and as you move
to the left, poke your ribs backround.
(10:14):
Maybe your right foot movesflat to the floor, the kneecap
pointing up or slightly to theleft, and then poke your heart
forward, move it to the right asyou twist, make a big circle
all the way around to the right,off for your heart, and then,
as you come back around to theleft, you're going to sink your
heart.
You're going to draw your ribsin.
(10:36):
The ball of light is pressingbackward into the ribs.
Now Do a couple more.
Go really slow, go really slow.
Feel that ball of light guidingyou.
Maybe your eyes close, maybethey stay open.
There's benefits to both.
Can you go slow enough now thatyou have the gist of the
(11:02):
movement, to feel the body, feelwhat's happening.
Yeah, so don't just go throughthe motions.
It's time to feel it now, timeto experience it.
Let's do one more to the right,50% slower for this last one.
(11:27):
Like how slow really could yougo?
Yeah, and one more time to theleft so slow.
I'm not here to rush you.
Got 90 minutes for once I don'thave to rush you.
And this time stay to the leftwith your heart drawing backward
(11:48):
, pulling your ribs into yourbody.
Your chin has dropped, hold andthen, as you begin to emerge
from that rounded shape, bringyourself back around, framing
that left leg with your twohands, framing the leg with your
pelvis tilted forward slightly.
Fold over the left leg.
(12:11):
Now here's where the blocks andthe bolster might be handy.
So you're welcome to stay inthe fold with no props, but
you're also welcome to gatheryour props and use them.
In this practice, we hold posesfor a fair amount of time.
So if there's something thatyou need to feel more supported,
(12:34):
take it and as you'reestablishing yourself moment by
(13:08):
moment in this pose, let thebreath partner with you.
Use the breath somehow.
I trust you Allow the breath tomove into the pose with you,
(13:58):
for you Allow the breath tosuffuse into the tissues
(14:19):
themselves, as if these hungrycells were soaking it up.
(15:36):
And as you take the final threebreaths in this first pose of
your practice, consider maybe asmall shift in your intention
from finding a deeper pose,finding a stronger stretch, into
(15:59):
finding a deeper sense ofexperience, experiencing the
whole body, the whole self inthis pose.
And then your hands press downto help you rise up.
(16:32):
And as you come up, I'd likefor you to just find a vertical
or verticalish posture, with thehead just beautifully softly
perched at the top of the spine,eyes perhaps closed, just feel
the echoes of that pose in you.
And if you were using any ofyour props, they can go back to
(17:02):
the left side of your mat nowand once again you'll plant your
hands in front of your shinagain and walk them to the right
this time.
Lean into the right hip, walkthem all the way out to the
right, lean to the right, leaninto your hip.
And you may find it easier tolean into your hip if you slide
(17:22):
your right knee toward your leftwrist.
So point your right knee to theside of the room rather than to
the front of the room To theside of the room, completely To
the side of the room, completely, yeah, and then swing this left
leg around and cross the anklein front of the right thigh
Cross.
So you're looking at a figurefour.
If your blanket was under yourbutt, bring it to the back of
(17:43):
your mat now so that, with yourknee and your toes pointing to
the right side of the room, youcan lay down with your head on
that blanket.
Lay down on your side, comedown to your side and you might
find that the blanket right outof the box is not thick enough
or it's too thick for you torest your head on.
(18:04):
As you lay on your side withyour left ankle across the front
of your right thigh and boththe knee and the toes pointed to
the right, like veryassertively pointed to the right
, please, yeah, I like to holdmy ankle with my right hand here
.
So the left hand will be free,but the right hand could hold
(18:24):
the ankle.
So, rather than being underhead, maybe this hand comes and
finds the ankle.
Yeah, and then reach your leftarm up to the sky.
Reach the fingertips all theway up, yeah, turn the palm to
face the back of the room andjust bend the elbow so that your
fingers come down to theblanket just above the top of
(18:45):
your head.
Fingers just rest on theblanket and I have, like, really
long arms.
So if you don't have such longarms, this may not be an issue
for you, but I kind of have tocurl my hand under and rest on
the back of my hand.
Yeah, some of you will haveyour fingertips just barely
touching right.
Others of us with gargantuanlymonkey arms will have a curled
(19:05):
up arm.
Okay, and then think about thatbarrel, scraping ball of light.
Poke your ball of light forwardout in front of you, to the
right, yeah, and then allow thatball of the light to roll to
the left as your left arm opens,your chest opens to the left.
(19:29):
Keep your arm as it is, thoughroughly It'll move a little,
opening your heart to the skyand then even poking ribs to the
left, and then allow that ballof light to reverse course,
coming back up, poking yourheart to the sky and over to the
right so that you may round andtuck, and let that ball of
light roll around the right ribsto the back so you find a nice
(19:49):
expanding position of the backbody and then back to the right,
up to the front of the chestwall and over to the left as you
open your heart and thenreverse course again.
So it's not just opening andclosing, my friends, it's a ball
(20:09):
of light.
Some of you might be familiarwith the Sufi grind.
It's a Kundalini Kriya, wherewe do this kind of movement
right, although in the Kundalinitradition it's like pretty
aggressive, in here it's notaggressive at all, not
aggressive at all.
It's an exploration.
(20:30):
Exploration of your ribcage, ofyour breath, of your shoulder,
of your hip.
Yeah, beautiful, let's just doa couple more, friends.
(21:02):
So we'll roll and close.
Oh yeah, pull those ribs backand then start to poke your ribs
up to the sky More.
Poke your ribs up, roll yourheart open, open, open, open,
open.
Do it three more times, eventhough we're gonna start to move
into the pose.
Okay, yeah, the next timeyou're open, your left arm is
(21:25):
out to the left.
Go ahead and reach it all theway to the left and we'll hold
in the twisted pigeon.
Find a comfortable position foryour arm, a heart that is
pointed to the sky, perhapsholding your ankle, maybe not.
If your foot stays like that,lucky you, you don't have to
hold your ankle, but for most ofus it slides around and you'll
want to hold it.
Heart is wide open and sharethis pose again with your breath
(21:58):
Suffusing the pose with thisbenevolent breath, each cell
soaking up the nourishment thatcomes from out there to in here.
Even a very casual breath can dothis.
(22:19):
Imagine all of the tiny, tinylittle universes within you,
called cells, and each of themgetting exactly what they need
from this pose, from this breathsoftening and yielding in
response.
When I think about cellularrespiration yes, this is
(22:51):
something I think about I thinkof billions of tiny little
twinkling universes humming andthrumming with their own
activity, a universe within asimple cell wall, diligently,
(23:20):
independently, doing its work,its activity every moment.
And it just needs a little helpfrom me.
I need to breathe, okay, okay,let's just take two more cell
(25:49):
twinkling breaths.
(26:16):
Take your time as you roll ontoyour back and you plant the
right foot, maybe centering thehips, and draw your left thigh
into your chest, use your handsto hold it and then please find
(26:51):
your strap and loop it over thisleft foot.
Loop it over your foot so thatthe strap is kind of where the
ball meets the arch and thenpoke that foot up to the sky.
(27:12):
I like to hold a little bithigher on the strap and then
just let my arms kind of hang,so I'm not really pulling so
much, as just sort of relaxing alittle.
Yeah, and if you prefer to holdwith just one hand, I would say
the left hand would bepreferable, and if you're
(27:32):
holding with both hands that'sgood too.
Let's just take one more breathhere and the Padangasthasana,
(27:56):
and then you will actually holdthe strap in the left hand.
Keep your hips pretty steady onthe mat, but let your left leg
just open out to the left andgive yourself lots of space with
that strap so that your leg caneither come down to your
bolster or, for some of you,it'll come all the way to the
floor.
For some of you it'll come allthe way to the floor, but I
(28:22):
would like for it to come allthe way down.
And then find a way to loopthat strap around your hand and
wrist and then just poke yourfingers into the loop so you're
not using your grip the wholetime, because you're going to be
here a little while.
So find a way to be holdingwithout a lot of extra effort.
(28:43):
Reach your right arm up to thesky and, as you roll onto your
left side, keep your right kneepointing up or pointing to the
right a little bit.
Roll onto your left side andthen just bend your right arm
(29:03):
and once again place the back ofyour hand, the back of your
fingertips, the back of yourknuckles, onto that blanket as
you are rolled onto your leftside.
Yeah, go to your left side, doit?
Go to the left side, roll tothe left side.
That's it.
Some of you haven't quitedecided to roll onto your left
(29:25):
side yet, but I would like foryou to do that if possible.
So you're going to roll all theway onto your side with your
arm overhead and your knucklesresting, and now your leg is
like yay, I'm super comfy on thefloor now.
Yeah, your leg is super comfyon the floor.
Always yes.
(29:46):
And poke your ribs to the leftside and then allow that ball of
light to roll into the rightribs as you once again open your
chest.
Your right arm is going to openout a little bit, good.
And then ball of light comesback up into the center of the
chest all the way to the left.
So when you roll to your leftside, this time you really
(30:08):
commit, almost like your upperbody is finding a fetal position
, rounding so that ball of lightrolls around the left into the
back body and then back left,forward, right, open up, open up
, still finding that Sufi, grindright, go again, do it a few
(30:31):
times.
So, my friends, it's not justopening and closing, is it Gosh?
No, you're coiling and tuckingas you round and roll to the
left side and you're opening,expanding, with that arm still
bent, yeah, go, really slow.
And of course, your right kneeis going to be moving too.
(30:54):
So it'll point to the left whenyou roll onto your left side
and it'll point up when you rollto your right side.
Well, when you roll on yourback, I should say, ah.
(31:17):
So fusing each cell with thebenevolence of the breath, the
benevolence of your attentionand intention in this pose, come
this way.
Yes, do a couple more.
Yeah, couple more.
(31:42):
And the next time you are open,you're going to stay open,
you're going to stay open.
That right arm maybe reachingout to the right now, and here's
where you might be like, ah, no, this is too much for my left
(32:04):
thigh.
And so you'll grab your bolsteror you'll wave your hand around
and get our attention.
So you have some help.
Okay, see if your right hip canbe steady on the floor rather
than lifting up and floatingright.
If your hip, your right hip,can't be steady on the floor,
you might need something underyour left leg.
That's a choice you can make,and some of you may even like to
(32:27):
extend now the right leg long,so two legs will be long.
You're almost at a right angleright, yeah, 90 degree angle.
So on average, you are composedof about 37 and a half trillion
(33:19):
cells.
37 and a half trillion cells,each its own little universe in
a cell wall, each requiring cellrespiration.
(33:46):
The cell is life.
All living things have cells.
And yet you're not just cells.
There's a lot of you which isnon self water, lots of
(34:12):
different fibers, a whole heapof bacteria, but the cell is the
true representation of life.
(34:34):
Sometimes, when I do thismeditation, I imagine the cells
breathing with me, almostglowing on the end and slightly
dimming on the out.
We'll take three more breaths,three more benevolent breaths.
(37:28):
So the left knee will bend asyou roll again to your left side
(37:59):
.
Just curl up there for a moment.
Curl up on your side.
Just release your strap.
Breath is completelyspontaneous here.
This is a moment for you to donothing.
You're not meditating, you'renot spending a lot of effort on
(38:25):
feeling and experiencing, you'resimply resting and then roll
into your hands and helpyourself up again to your seat
(38:48):
your criss-cross apple sauce,this time with your right ankle
in front, and even as you'restill arriving, you'll kind of
shift around all of your props.
So now your blocks and yourbolster are to the right.
Your blanket is either underyour butt for now or to the back
of the mat.
(39:08):
Your strap is to the right sideof your mat, yeah Good.
And once you get done doing alittle housekeeping, everything
to the right, yeah Well, thatwas quite a production we had.
That was more than I expected.
(39:29):
I'm going to have you just sittall for a moment and just
re-enter.
Come back.
Come back, re-entercontemplating these 32 and a
half trillion cells which areyou.
(39:51):
Then plant your hands in frontof your shins.
Your palms need to be fullyflat, either to a block or to
the floor, fully flat, please.
Then poke your heart up forward, find that ball of light
(40:11):
pressing your ribs forward andthen to the left.
Allow that ball of light toroll along the inside of the rib
cage to the left, and thenbehind the back, left shoulder
blade, right shoulder blade,right side armpit, and then all
the way around again to thefront to go again.
(40:34):
Go as slow as you can and pleasedo share this experience with
your breath, your head and yourneck are kind of noodling around
.
It's hard to sort of figure outwhat exactly the right place is
(40:55):
, so just let it be reallynatural, whatever feels right to
you.
The only thing I wouldabsolutely discourage is a neck
that is very, very stiff and notmoving at all.
Okay, there are just a couplemore now.
(41:31):
Really slow.
And the next time your ball oflight is forward it's in front.
You'll stay.
Come all the way up to verticalspine.
(41:52):
Send your right leg out, sendyour right leg out, long
shoulder to the left foot, tothe inner right thigh.
Feel free to shift yourself soyou're on your mat.
If your heel gets cranky, yeah,plant your hands once again in
front of your shin.
Allow the heart to draw forwardas you walk the hands now to
(42:14):
the left, that's an offering andas the hands come back around
to the front and over to theright.
This is a closing.
The ball of light is at theback of you and it's pressing
backwards.
It's this lovely pressurerounding, drawing your ribs in
(42:37):
and tucking, and then, when youbegin to emerge, ball of your
light travels to the left.
This is where your heartpresses back.
The ball of light is to thefront of you, uh-huh, and then
it comes around, spins aroundthe inside of the rib cage and
(42:58):
it finds the back of you.
This is the last time you'lltravel to the left.
(43:22):
Go all the way to the rightagain and when you get there,
just take a beat, just take amoment with the ribs drawn in
and the back expanded and theball of light shining out the
back of you.
And then, as you come back tothe front, you're just going to
(43:43):
frame the leg with your handsand fold.
With or without the use of props, I will tell you that this pose
is one of the longer holds inyour practice.
Yes, of course.
(44:04):
So what I would say is let'sbring it in really close like
this.
And then long spine.
Turn to me.
Okay, elbows.
Good, how's this?
Some stretch already, right?
Yeah, you don't really needmuch more.
If you feel like it kind ofripens a little bit you could
bring your head like that.
(44:38):
Trillions of little universeswithin you and, just like any
living thing, any universe,cells are perpetually dying and
being replaced, and dying andbeing replaced.
Cells are learning.
Your body has a multitude oflittle nurseries for different
(45:03):
kinds of cells where they learnto be what they will become.
This happens in your intestines, this happens in your immune
system and your thalamus.
And, of course, there isn'tjust one kind of cell.
(45:25):
Not at all.
We have about 200 types ofcells in our body.
We have blood cells which bringoxygen to our tissues, white
(45:48):
blood cells.
Of course, those are primarilyassociated with our immune
system.
We have intestinal cells.
We have skin cells which aredesigned to protect you 24 seven
and keep your water in you,which is quite important, not
designed, evolved.
You have sex cells, which arelife itself.
(46:20):
You have sex cells which aredesigned to protect you.
(47:01):
We'll take another minute here.
What will you do with thisminute?
Can you share the pose with anice casual breath?
Contemplate trillions of littleuniverses working in service to
(47:24):
you, every moment of every day.
Empty, one final breath.
(48:09):
Press your hands down to riseup, find vertical or vertical
ish.
Make sure you're untwisted andmaybe for a moment, if it's okay
, you'll just close your eyesand just feel that.
(48:30):
Feel that soaking in.
If you were using props.
They need to be to the right.
Think about how you'll set themup in a moment for your
Parangushna Sina B.
And then your palms come down infront of your shin again, your
heart pokes forward and emergesto the left.
(48:53):
As you walk your hands to theleft, all the weight of the left
Rocking into that left hip.
You will find it easier to rockinto your left hip if your left
knee points straight out to theleft rather than pointing to
the left corner.
So slide your thigh back to theleft, please, yeah, good.
And then swing your right legaround and cross your right
(49:16):
ankle in front of your leftthigh.
Make sure that the right toesand the left knee are pointed to
the left.
No, I'm not negotiating on this.
They need to be pointed to theleft.
Yes, come down to your sidewith your head resting on your
blanket.
Your left arm is in front ofyou, not under you.
Maybe your left hand is holdingyour ankle.
Your right arm reaches up tothe sky.
(49:39):
The palm fades back and thenallow the arm to bend and just
rest your hand somehow on thatblanket.
I prefer to be on the back ofthe hand or fingers and find
your ball of light.
Allow that ball of light topress your heart to the left and
then to the right.
As you open your heart, yourright arm will probably open to
(49:59):
the right as well, but keep itpretty bent.
Yeah, keep the elbow bent.
And then that ball of lightcomes back up to the left and
then to the back of you to roundand tuck, almost like you've
created a little fetal positionfor yourself.
Good, let's do it a few moretimes.
My friends, it's not justopening and closing right, it's
(50:23):
the Sufi grind, it's the ball oflight and it's so slow.
This is hip, it's hip, it's hip, it's hip, it's hip, a little
(51:01):
tender.
Oh, on the bottom side.
Okay, this is okay though foryou.
Okay, the next time your ballof light rolls up and out to the
right.
Your heart is wide open, yourright arm opens out to the right
(51:26):
and you'll stay with your rightankle crossed in front of your
left thigh through the twistedpigeon.
What's that?
Oh, got it.
Yes, we have one critical error.
It's the blanket.
(51:47):
Yeah, okay, try again.
That's gonna feel so muchbetter.
Good, and then, why not?
Yeah, let me see this if youdon't mind.
(52:15):
Okay, pretty good, is it okay?
Yeah.
(53:06):
So cells, even though they are abit of a universe within a cell
wall, don't work independently.
Cells have a really fascinatingstrategy for communicating, and
when they communicate and theycome together, they create
systems a reproductive system, amusculoskeletal system, a
(53:28):
cardiac system, a pulmonarysystem, a nervous system, each
of these systems composed ofspecialized cells, amazingly
sophisticated.
A cardiac cell will continue topulse outside of the body for a
(53:51):
period of time.
Some cells just flow throughthe interstitium, the internal
network, and some have to crawl,have to pull themselves through
(54:11):
the body.
Some cells create life almostout of thin air.
Let's take two more breaths inthe twisted pigeon and then
(55:53):
carefully unwind.
Come back to your back, centeryour hips, gather your right
knee in your right knee in thistime and when you're ready, with
(56:17):
your left foot flat on the mat,find your strap and loop it
over the foot where the ballmeets the arch.
It's right there.
Yes, the ball meets the archwith the left foot flat.
Still, we'll just take a fewbreaths here.
Go ahead and poke your foot allthe way up to the sky.
Find a way to be reallyeffortless here, like maybe you
(56:38):
just grip lightly and allow thearms to just hang and, if fully
extending your knee is notpossible for you, it's
absolutely okay.
What I would suggest is thatyou bring your heel forward and
then straighten your leg, ratherthan trying to have your leg
straight up.
So for now, the left foot isflat.
(57:10):
Both ends of the strap, please,in your right hand.
Loop that strap around theright wrist in hand and then
pull your fingers into the loopwith your foot so you have a
locking loop, and then bringyour right leg to the right as
you roll onto your right side.
(57:30):
We're going to do it a littledifferently this time, so bring
your leg all the way down to thefloor, or possibly a bolster,
as you roll onto your right side, and probably your left knee
will be turned a little bit tothe right as well.
Yes, and if there's a personthere, then you just have to
shift a little bit away, and ifthere's a wall there, it's the
(57:51):
same.
You'll figure it out.
Reach the left arm up overhead,bend your elbow, allow the back
of the hand or knuckles to reston the floor and then find your
ball of light and noodle around.
Start with the forward, liftingthe heart as you open your
chest.
Allow that ball of light toroll to the left just about as
(58:13):
far as you can, and then ball oflight reverses course, comes
back to the right.
You will roll onto your sideand tuck your ribs into your
body.
Arm is going to stay mostlyoverhead, elbow bent throughout
as you roll that ball of lightaround your rib cage.
Yeah, are you okayparticipating in the Kriya?
(58:34):
So we'll start here and then weroll and close.
No, no, no, you stay where youare dear, you stay.
I'm going to have you roll ontoyour side, pull your ribs into
your round like a fetal positionand then allow your ribs to
lift and emerge.
Open up, now, open up.
Oh, yes, I'm going to do itagain, but I'm going to adjust
(58:55):
this.
Lift your head, please Do itagain.
Mm-hmm.
Yep, you can keep your head onthat blanket, just rolling it
around.
That's why I provided theblanket for you.
Your leg is on the floor or on aprop, your right leg on a floor
or on a prop.
When you breathe in service ofeach kind of cell, so often in a
(59:24):
movement practice, we thinkabout the cells of the
musculoskeletal system, quiteimportant cells that are
designed to support or resist orcontract.
Let's do two more rolling thatball of light around your rib
(59:46):
cage and the next time you'reopen You'll stay and your right
leg may be on the floor and asyou stay here, you might be like
it's not going to be able tostay on the floor.
I want to need to put somethingunder it.
(01:00:07):
Okay, so you decide what'sneeded.
Let's try that and let's doanother thing.
Let's do a little externalrotation.
So start here.
Yes, there it is.
Now, once you've established theposition of your right leg, you
may like to extend your leftleg as well.
(01:00:28):
If you have someone right nextto you and you're like worried
about your foot touching them,stop worrying, it's totally fine
.
Maybe you can use theirshoulder for your foot.
That'd be nice, right?
That'd be a great neighbor.
I want to take this, if youdon't mind.
We're going to start here andthen we're going to externally
(01:00:49):
rotate and then let's see whathappens.
Different.
Yes, is it okay?
Okay, can I have this?
Yes, come up, turn out, comedown.
(01:01:18):
Are you okay?
We turn out.
(01:02:02):
This Cells, specialized cells,create systems.
Systems create you.
(01:02:23):
Systems in service of you, eachchugging along independently
and yet in communication withevery other system.
None of these systems can existwithout what's outside of you
(01:02:55):
Oxygen, carbon dioxide, minerals, protein, fat, carbs oh carbs,
yes carbs.
Any of these systems requirethe presence of other systems,
(01:03:28):
for example your nervous system.
It simply cannot survive in ahealthy state without other
nervous systems around.
(01:03:54):
So have you changed your mindabout letting your neighbor rest
their heel on your shoulder?
Just kidding, spearhead.
(01:04:29):
Just one more breath and soyou'll bend the right knee,
(01:05:42):
release the foot from the strapand roll onto your right side.
Curl up there for a full andcomplete rest, and so you'll
bend the right knee, and soyou'll bend the right knee, roll
(01:06:08):
into your hands and rise up toyour seat Once again, finding
Sukhasana crisscross applesauceleft ankle in front.
Feel free to sit on the blanketif sitting tall is a little
challenging.
Take a moment and stillness.
A nice, stable but easefulposition to breathe, perhaps in
(01:06:40):
appreciation for this incrediblyelegant, sophisticated self.
Once again, the palms need tobe touching the floor or the
block.
Allow the ball of light topress your ribs forward and roll
(01:07:07):
it to the right and to the backand then stop, then reverse
course, go back to the right andforward.
We're not going to make a fullcircle, we're just going to do a
half circle.
We'll go forward, rolling tothe right and back.
We're just going to do two more.
(01:07:28):
Take your time, keep it soft.
It's going to get a little bitmore intense in a moment.
Keep it soft right now.
The next time your heart ispoked forward, you're going to
come up to vertical.
Send your left leg out to theleft, full of that right foot
(01:07:51):
might be to the inner thigh, itmight be a few inches apart.
You'll know more in a moment.
Reach your right arm up, bendyour elbow and just let your
fingers just rest or your palmrest on the top of your head.
We're not pushing on the head,it's just resting.
Poke your ribs forward and outto the right.
(01:08:13):
Then come back again to thatrounded position, poking your
ribs back Forward, right, uh-huh.
Then forward to the left andpress back.
(01:08:34):
Crunch those left ribs into you, forward, rolling to the right,
forward all the way to the leftarmpit and then, even behind
the left shoulder, crunch thoseribs into you.
Do two more.
You may be finding that you'restarting to drift to the left,
(01:08:56):
so your left forearm is mayberesting towards your left thigh
and that would be okay.
That's kind of where I end upto.
Okay, nope, you got it.
Sweetie, you're doing great,you're doing awesome.
Yes, the next time you findyourself in that open position,
your elbow is pointed to wherethe wall meets the ceiling, on
(01:09:18):
the side of the room, your sidebent Go ahead and allow yourself
to just drop into that sidebend.
Maybe your left forearm restson a block, maybe it rests on
your thigh.
Then bring the right hand down.
You could rest it on your thigh.
You could rest the back of yourhand on your lumbar spine.
Turn your face, excuse me, firstlift your chin and then turn
(01:09:43):
your face to the left.
Chin drops into the left armpitArm is resting.
Now, sweetheart, yeah, comingdown.
Good, you got it.
You're doing awesome like this.
Turn your face down, up anddown, yeah, good.
(01:10:04):
And if there's something youneed from your collection of
props to be more comfortablehere in your side bend your half
butterfly side bend then do it,grab it, get what you need this
way.
Okay, now let your shouldersdrop to the left.
Okay, yeah, let it go.
(01:10:32):
Let it go all the way down, allof these systems working
(01:11:02):
perpetually your whole lifetimein service.
Something you have is becauseof this body.
You have nothing that didn'tcome from your relationship with
(01:11:24):
this body.
Lift your chin and then turnyour face and drop so much
better right For the last minute, in this half butterfly side
(01:11:56):
bend.
Is it possible for you to be anysofter?
How could you express gratitudein this moment to this body?
How would that change your pose?
Or would it be exactly the sameif your intention shifted to
(01:12:19):
gratitude, appreciation, finalbreath in and then to exhale.
(01:12:53):
Don't pop up.
Instead, just walk yourselfaround in front.
You're just going to fold downthe middle.
Any amount You've got props.
If you need to put your elbowsor your forehead on a prop, fold
down the middle Just for a fewbreaths.
This is just a resting position.
We won't be here very long.
A bow, an earnest bow, aheartfelt bow in gratitude.
(01:13:35):
Press into the hands, rise up,cross the ankles again, this
(01:13:57):
time right in front.
Take a moment in stillness.
Feel the echoes of that littlesequence.
That was intense, right.
So the echoes of that in you.
Sometimes we find that theechoes are not great, and
sometimes it's fabulous.
We're practically purring.
(01:14:18):
Either way, this is theexperience that has been
cultivated in the self.
Pay attention to it.
Bring the palms in front of youon the block or the floor.
Right ankle is in front of left.
(01:14:40):
This time your ribs pokeforward and they go to the left
and they come around to the backand you stop and you reverse
course.
You go back to the left andforward and just noodle around.
You've got two more of thosenoodling around on the left side
(01:15:03):
.
Keep it gentle, because youknow now it's going to get a
little more intense in a moment.
Keep it gentle Next time yourheart is forward, you'll stay.
Rise up to vertical, send yourright leg out.
(01:15:25):
Remember it's a little wider.
I hope you recognize that it'swider.
So maybe the left foot is inall the way to the inner thigh,
maybe the right leg is evenwider.
Your left arm reach up, yourelbow bends, your hand just
rests and maybe you start withthat closing position, bringing
your left elbow down, your facedown toward your right arm and
(01:15:45):
then poking your heart forwardinto the left, opening once
again and find that nice tuckribs draw into you as you round,
good, and then you open upagain and it's really your ribs.
Okay, it's this ball of lightwhich is guiding you.
(01:16:06):
Yeah, it's not I'm opening andclosing.
Yeah, it's this ball of lightand it's soft.
It's benevolent.
This light, it's trying toforce you into anything that has
your interested heart.
Two more, two more.
(01:16:37):
Try not to let the neck do toomuch.
Okay, yeah, respect.
The neck Doesn't always want tobe totally in control.
Next time your open, your heartis open, your side bent to the
right, maybe your right forearmneeds to come down to something,
(01:16:58):
comes down to the thigh, abolster, a block.
Yeah, let your left arm soften,bring it all the way down
somewhere, somewhere where youfeel soft.
Lift your chin away from yourcollarbone and then arc your
chin down towards your rightside shoulder.
I'll take your arm out of theway.
(01:17:27):
This way, you can rest yourhead in your hand.
Yeah, that's an option.
You want to make a littleplatform for your right elbow?
You could rest your head inyour hand.
Chin is pointed down.
Make it gentle, make it soft Ingratitude.
(01:17:48):
I think I would like to havethis so that we're opening more
right.
Maybe the hand can come down tohere though.
Yeah, good, keep it soft andthen side bent this way.
Good Chin down, very nice.
So often, when we're confrontedwith the extraordinary
(01:18:25):
complexity and sophistication ofthe body and its systems,
there's awe.
But having taught these thingsbefore, I can tell you that
often people feel a little bitguilty, like, oh gosh, maybe I
(01:18:47):
need to be providing more thingsto this amazing body that's
taking care of me all the time.
It needs my help, and what Ifind is that, instead of saying
(01:19:17):
I'm sorry, say thank you.
Thank you.
(01:19:47):
We're taking two more breads,and you won't pop up.
You'll just sort of swingforward and come into that bow,
that fold.
(01:20:08):
Maybe some props support youthere as you bow In earnest
thanks and gratitude.
You'll press your hands down torise back up to vertical.
(01:21:07):
Take a moment and just listento the echoes and swing both
legs in front of you.
You might like to just dragyour bolster back with you as
you roll onto your back Headcould be resting on a blanket,
(01:21:37):
but let's have the blanket nottoo thick so that the normal
curves of your spine areobserved.
But you have a nice cushionbehind your head and the blanket
will be under the head, not theshoulders.
Now drag your bolster so thatit's going to be sort of under
(01:22:08):
your thighs, but you're actuallygoing to stand on it with your
feet, and if the bolster is tooclose to you when you stand on
it, your feet are going to slideoff of it, right?
So have it a little furtheraway, yeah, a little further
away from you, so that yourheels can easily drop down to
(01:22:32):
the space between your butt andyour bolster.
So your toes are almost pointedup a little bit and your heels
are pointed down.
Bring the soles of the feettogether with your heels pointed
down, your toes pointed up, andallow the thighs to open up
into the butterfly with thatlittle extra bolster support.
And if the feet are slidingforward, your bolster might be
(01:22:58):
too close to you.
I got you.
I got you, this is going tocome into you, and then we go
here.
Oh, that is too close.
Now, there we go, and if youneed something under your thighs
to be here comfortably, by allmeans grab some blocks.
How do you feel about being alittle bit closer?
A little bit closer, try this.
(01:23:19):
Okay, is that okay?
Right?
Soles of the feet together,maybe something under the thighs
, this breath suffused into eachof these loyal cells, perfect.
(01:24:31):
Over 95% of all of the speciesthat have ever existed on this
planet are now extinct, andsomehow, improbably.
(01:24:51):
With lots of twists and turns,lots of false starts, some
difficult moments.
Certainly you, your body, hasevolved to exist.
Not just to exist, but really,truly to be the dominant species
(01:25:17):
.
It started with a cell, whichbecame more and more specialized
(01:25:40):
Systems, emerged Creatures.
(01:26:01):
Now, somehow, you find yourselfright here in this body, this
extraordinary body.
(01:27:06):
Some of your bodies are very,very comfortable here in this
pose, and some of your bodieswish they could get out of this
pose.
So if you are so supremelycomfortable that you could be
here for hours, I invite you tostay here for your Shavasana,
but if you're not supremelycomfortable, it's now time to
(01:27:28):
send your legs out long overthat bolster.
If you have any other propsthat you would like to use for
your Shavasana, now is the timeto gather them.
And for your Shavasana.
I won't ask you to payattention to your breath, but
(01:27:57):
maybe instead just contemplatethis thrumming universe within
you.
We're going to go all the way.
We're going to do the wholething.
Yeah, we're going to do thewhole thing.
This is closer to yeah.
Good, Is that enough this wayOk?
(01:31:12):
Yogis, it's time to deepen thebreath, time to restore movement
to the body and when you'reready, find your way onto the
(01:31:39):
side of your choice and rest.
Rest, roll into your hands,rise to your seat, face the
(01:32:08):
front as you come up, press thepalms together in front of your
heart, allow the head to bow andthanks Namaste.
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, foryour pod practice.
This week, I'm actuallybringing an episode back that I
first published last year justafter Thanksgiving.
This is a really specialpractice, which is a beautiful
blend of mindfulness, gratitudeand movement, and I am really
(00:24):
hoping that sometime in the nextcouple of days here as we
approach Thanksgiving, that youmight have an hour, an hour and
a half, to really immerseyourself into this practice.
I will fully introduce thepractice in my intro for the
original episode, so I won'trepeat myself here.
(00:45):
I do want to say, though, onthe eve of Thanksgiving in 2023,
how grateful I am for you andyour continued support of the
podcast and for your enthusiasmfor evidence-informed practice.
Thank you so much for being alistener.
(01:06):
If you receive value from theYin Yoga Podcast, I humbly ask
you to consider becoming apatron.
Patrons support the greatpractices and education on the
podcast and also get access tothe entire video practice
library.
In my online community, theShip School, my practice library
(01:27):
contains a huge variety ofmovement, mindfulness, strength
and even meditation practices.
The library is searchable forpain care practice resources to
address the most commonmusculoskeletal pain issues,
including back pain, neck andshoulder pain and hip pain.
The Yin teachers out there willlove a newly added feature the
(01:49):
experiential anatomy practicesection, where you get to dive
into learning anatomy throughyour very own body and breath.
This is all at your fingertipsfor a $15 donation each month.
You can cancel your patronageat any time.
Become a patron today.
I'll leave a link in the shownotes for you to get started.
Welcome to the Yin Yoga Podcast.
(02:20):
I'm your host, mandy Ryle, forthis week.
I wanted to offer something alittle extra special, as it is,
after all, the day afterThanksgiving.
We have all kinds of amazingscientific evidence that's
coming out in the last decade orso about gratitude.
I think it's irrefutable.
(02:40):
Now.
I think we can all agree on thefact that gratitude is really,
really important, whether thingsare going great in your life,
or maybe especially when thingsaren't going so great.
For those of my clients and mylisteners who have chronic pain,
gratitude is important for youas well.
My friends, this practice willask you to practice gratitude on
(03:05):
a very, very deep level, asdeep as the cell.
Rather than looking outside forreasons to be grateful, we will
look within.
Your practice is suffused withthe meditation, which has been
designed to help you tocultivate a deep embodied
(03:25):
gratitude for the body.
This is an extended practiceand it's also a live class that
I recorded for you.
It's 90 minutes.
To be honest, I've neverpublished a 90-minute episode.
I don't know if you guys aregoing to like it or not, but I
figure let's give it a shot,because this is an important
topic and I want for you to havelots of time to really marinate
(03:49):
in these poses, in thesemovements and indeed in this
meditation.
You will want to have some propsaround you.
You'll need some kind of yogastrap could even be the strap
that you use to keep your matrolled up.
You will want to have a bolster, a blanket and maybe a block or
two.
I really hope you enjoy yourpractice.
(04:11):
Yogi, let me have you begin bysetting up your props for
yourself.
I would like for you to have ablanket at the back of your mat,
all the way at the back of yourmat.
Unless you're someone who needsa blanket to sit on in a seated
(04:32):
position, then you can sit onyour blanket.
Take your bolster and yourblocks just to the left of you
but still very much within reach.
Your strap can just sit by theside of your mat Once you've got
(04:56):
your props set up.
You've got all your props.
I'm going to have you actuallystart seated at the top of your
mat.
Go ahead and smudge forward alittle bit you can leave some
space at the front of your mat,of course and find a crisscross
applesauce, a sucrasna, withyour left ankle in front.
If now you're changing yourmind about sitting on your
(05:17):
blanket, go ahead and drag itover and sit on it if you need
to.
If it's okay, close your eyes.
Don't worry about finding thesuper straightest posture.
Instead, find a posture whichfeels stable to you but also is
(05:42):
full, a posture where you canfeel yourself breathe.
(06:17):
And as you're feeling yourselfbreathe in your steady but
easeful posture, you mightnotice that your breath sort of
moves you around a little bit.
You might notice some expandingin places as you inhale.
(06:40):
Perhaps as you exhale, younotice that, in the absence of
that pneumatic pressure, otherthings kick in to help keep you
stable and start to slow thebreath down a little bit
(07:19):
Slightly longer.
Inhale Slightly longer, exhaleand tilt forward to plant your
palms onto the mat, or you mighthave your hands on a block.
(07:39):
Yeah, so if your hands don'teasily reach the floor with the
palms fully pressed into thefloor.
Grab a block and use thatinstead and just slightly,
pulling back with the hands,draw your heart forward on your
in and then poke your ribs overto the right a little bit, so
you're almost side bent a bit tothe left and then poke your
(08:01):
ribs backward and then over tothe left and forward again.
So imagine there's a ball oflight and it's pressing into the
front ribs from the inside andthen it's pressing into the
right side ribs and scrapingaround to the back and then over
(08:24):
to the left, this ball of lightjust gently expanding as it
moves around in these circles tothe right and back to the left
and forward.
And if you haven't already, tryto incorporate your breath into
(08:44):
this movement and then slowdown, slow way down, like 50%
slower, feeling that ball oflight roll around the inside of
(09:07):
your rib cage, guiding,orienting, and the next time
your heart is forward, stay andthen come all the way up to a
(09:27):
vertical position again and sendthe left leg out.
Send the left leg out.
It's probably going to be offthe mat Now if you're one of
those people like me who getscranky when your heel is on the
flat floor.
You could move.
So your heel is on the mat withyou.
Okay, so all of the right footis to the inner left thigh.
Once again, your hands comedown in front of you and let
(09:52):
your ribs poke over to the rightand, as they go turn, walk your
hands to the right.
You might even walk your handsso far back that your heart
turns to the back of the roomand then do the opposite.
So we're going to come backaround forward and as you move
to the left, poke your ribs backround.
(10:14):
Maybe your right foot movesflat to the floor, the kneecap
pointing up or slightly to theleft, and then poke your heart
forward, move it to the right asyou twist, make a big circle
all the way around to the right,off for your heart, and then,
as you come back around to theleft, you're going to sink your
heart.
You're going to draw your ribsin.
(10:36):
The ball of light is pressingbackward into the ribs.
Now Do a couple more.
Go really slow, go really slow.
Feel that ball of light guidingyou.
Maybe your eyes close, maybethey stay open.
There's benefits to both.
Can you go slow enough now thatyou have the gist of the
(11:02):
movement, to feel the body, feelwhat's happening.
Yeah, so don't just go throughthe motions.
It's time to feel it now, timeto experience it.
Let's do one more to the right,50% slower for this last one.
(11:27):
Like how slow really could yougo?
Yeah, and one more time to theleft so slow.
I'm not here to rush you.
Got 90 minutes for once I don'thave to rush you.
And this time stay to the leftwith your heart drawing backward
(11:48):
, pulling your ribs into yourbody.
Your chin has dropped, hold andthen, as you begin to emerge
from that rounded shape, bringyourself back around, framing
that left leg with your twohands, framing the leg with your
pelvis tilted forward slightly.
Fold over the left leg.
(12:11):
Now here's where the blocks andthe bolster might be handy.
So you're welcome to stay inthe fold with no props, but
you're also welcome to gatheryour props and use them.
In this practice, we hold posesfor a fair amount of time.
So if there's something thatyou need to feel more supported,
(12:34):
take it and as you'reestablishing yourself moment by
(13:08):
moment in this pose, let thebreath partner with you.
Use the breath somehow.
I trust you Allow the breath tomove into the pose with you,
(13:58):
for you Allow the breath tosuffuse into the tissues
(14:19):
themselves, as if these hungrycells were soaking it up.
(15:36):
And as you take the final threebreaths in this first pose of
your practice, consider maybe asmall shift in your intention
from finding a deeper pose,finding a stronger stretch, into
(15:59):
finding a deeper sense ofexperience, experiencing the
whole body, the whole self inthis pose.
And then your hands press downto help you rise up.
(16:32):
And as you come up, I'd likefor you to just find a vertical
or verticalish posture, with thehead just beautifully softly
perched at the top of the spine,eyes perhaps closed, just feel
the echoes of that pose in you.
And if you were using any ofyour props, they can go back to
(17:02):
the left side of your mat nowand once again you'll plant your
hands in front of your shinagain and walk them to the right
this time.
Lean into the right hip, walkthem all the way out to the
right, lean to the right, leaninto your hip.
And you may find it easier tolean into your hip if you slide
(17:22):
your right knee toward your leftwrist.
So point your right knee to theside of the room rather than to
the front of the room To theside of the room, completely To
the side of the room, completely, yeah, and then swing this left
leg around and cross the anklein front of the right thigh
Cross.
So you're looking at a figurefour.
If your blanket was under yourbutt, bring it to the back of
(17:43):
your mat now so that, with yourknee and your toes pointing to
the right side of the room, youcan lay down with your head on
that blanket.
Lay down on your side, comedown to your side and you might
find that the blanket right outof the box is not thick enough
or it's too thick for you torest your head on.
(18:04):
As you lay on your side withyour left ankle across the front
of your right thigh and boththe knee and the toes pointed to
the right, like veryassertively pointed to the right
, please, yeah, I like to holdmy ankle with my right hand here
.
So the left hand will be free,but the right hand could hold
(18:24):
the ankle.
So, rather than being underhead, maybe this hand comes and
finds the ankle.
Yeah, and then reach your leftarm up to the sky.
Reach the fingertips all theway up, yeah, turn the palm to
face the back of the room andjust bend the elbow so that your
fingers come down to theblanket just above the top of
(18:45):
your head.
Fingers just rest on theblanket and I have, like, really
long arms.
So if you don't have such longarms, this may not be an issue
for you, but I kind of have tocurl my hand under and rest on
the back of my hand.
Yeah, some of you will haveyour fingertips just barely
touching right.
Others of us with gargantuanlymonkey arms will have a curled
(19:05):
up arm.
Okay, and then think about thatbarrel, scraping ball of light.
Poke your ball of light forwardout in front of you, to the
right, yeah, and then allow thatball of the light to roll to
the left as your left arm opens,your chest opens to the left.
(19:29):
Keep your arm as it is, thoughroughly It'll move a little,
opening your heart to the skyand then even poking ribs to the
left, and then allow that ballof light to reverse course,
coming back up, poking yourheart to the sky and over to the
right so that you may round andtuck, and let that ball of
light roll around the right ribsto the back so you find a nice
(19:49):
expanding position of the backbody and then back to the right,
up to the front of the chestwall and over to the left as you
open your heart and thenreverse course again.
So it's not just opening andclosing, my friends, it's a ball
(20:09):
of light.
Some of you might be familiarwith the Sufi grind.
It's a Kundalini Kriya, wherewe do this kind of movement
right, although in the Kundalinitradition it's like pretty
aggressive, in here it's notaggressive at all, not
aggressive at all.
It's an exploration.
(20:30):
Exploration of your ribcage, ofyour breath, of your shoulder,
of your hip.
Yeah, beautiful, let's just doa couple more, friends.
(21:02):
So we'll roll and close.
Oh yeah, pull those ribs backand then start to poke your ribs
up to the sky More.
Poke your ribs up, roll yourheart open, open, open, open,
open.
Do it three more times, eventhough we're gonna start to move
into the pose.
Okay, yeah, the next timeyou're open, your left arm is
(21:25):
out to the left.
Go ahead and reach it all theway to the left and we'll hold
in the twisted pigeon.
Find a comfortable position foryour arm, a heart that is
pointed to the sky, perhapsholding your ankle, maybe not.
If your foot stays like that,lucky you, you don't have to
hold your ankle, but for most ofus it slides around and you'll
want to hold it.
Heart is wide open and sharethis pose again with your breath
(21:58):
Suffusing the pose with thisbenevolent breath, each cell
soaking up the nourishment thatcomes from out there to in here.
Even a very casual breath can dothis.
(22:19):
Imagine all of the tiny, tinylittle universes within you,
called cells, and each of themgetting exactly what they need
from this pose, from this breathsoftening and yielding in
response.
When I think about cellularrespiration yes, this is
(22:51):
something I think about I thinkof billions of tiny little
twinkling universes humming andthrumming with their own
activity, a universe within asimple cell wall, diligently,
(23:20):
independently, doing its work,its activity every moment.
And it just needs a little helpfrom me.
I need to breathe, okay, okay,let's just take two more cell
(25:49):
twinkling breaths.
(26:16):
Take your time as you roll ontoyour back and you plant the
right foot, maybe centering thehips, and draw your left thigh
into your chest, use your handsto hold it and then please find
(26:51):
your strap and loop it over thisleft foot.
Loop it over your foot so thatthe strap is kind of where the
ball meets the arch and thenpoke that foot up to the sky.
(27:12):
I like to hold a little bithigher on the strap and then
just let my arms kind of hang,so I'm not really pulling so
much, as just sort of relaxing alittle.
Yeah, and if you prefer to holdwith just one hand, I would say
the left hand would bepreferable, and if you're
(27:32):
holding with both hands that'sgood too.
Let's just take one more breathhere and the Padangasthasana,
(27:56):
and then you will actually holdthe strap in the left hand.
Keep your hips pretty steady onthe mat, but let your left leg
just open out to the left andgive yourself lots of space with
that strap so that your leg caneither come down to your
bolster or, for some of you,it'll come all the way to the
floor.
For some of you it'll come allthe way to the floor, but I
(28:22):
would like for it to come allthe way down.
And then find a way to loopthat strap around your hand and
wrist and then just poke yourfingers into the loop so you're
not using your grip the wholetime, because you're going to be
here a little while.
So find a way to be holdingwithout a lot of extra effort.
(28:43):
Reach your right arm up to thesky and, as you roll onto your
left side, keep your right kneepointing up or pointing to the
right a little bit.
Roll onto your left side andthen just bend your right arm
(29:03):
and once again place the back ofyour hand, the back of your
fingertips, the back of yourknuckles, onto that blanket as
you are rolled onto your leftside.
Yeah, go to your left side, doit?
Go to the left side, roll tothe left side.
That's it.
Some of you haven't quitedecided to roll onto your left
(29:25):
side yet, but I would like foryou to do that if possible.
So you're going to roll all theway onto your side with your
arm overhead and your knucklesresting, and now your leg is
like yay, I'm super comfy on thefloor now.
Yeah, your leg is super comfyon the floor.
Always yes.
(29:46):
And poke your ribs to the leftside and then allow that ball of
light to roll into the rightribs as you once again open your
chest.
Your right arm is going to openout a little bit, good.
And then ball of light comesback up into the center of the
chest all the way to the left.
So when you roll to your leftside, this time you really
(30:08):
commit, almost like your upperbody is finding a fetal position
, rounding so that ball of lightrolls around the left into the
back body and then back left,forward, right, open up, open up
, still finding that Sufi, grindright, go again, do it a few
(30:31):
times.
So, my friends, it's not justopening and closing, is it Gosh?
No, you're coiling and tuckingas you round and roll to the
left side and you're opening,expanding, with that arm still
bent, yeah, go, really slow.
And of course, your right kneeis going to be moving too.
(30:54):
So it'll point to the left whenyou roll onto your left side
and it'll point up when you rollto your right side.
Well, when you roll on yourback, I should say, ah.
(31:17):
So fusing each cell with thebenevolence of the breath, the
benevolence of your attentionand intention in this pose, come
this way.
Yes, do a couple more.
Yeah, couple more.
(31:42):
And the next time you are open,you're going to stay open,
you're going to stay open.
That right arm maybe reachingout to the right now, and here's
where you might be like, ah, no, this is too much for my left
(32:04):
thigh.
And so you'll grab your bolsteror you'll wave your hand around
and get our attention.
So you have some help.
Okay, see if your right hip canbe steady on the floor rather
than lifting up and floatingright.
If your hip, your right hip,can't be steady on the floor,
you might need something underyour left leg.
That's a choice you can make,and some of you may even like to
(32:27):
extend now the right leg long,so two legs will be long.
You're almost at a right angleright, yeah, 90 degree angle.
So on average, you are composedof about 37 and a half trillion
(33:19):
cells.
37 and a half trillion cells,each its own little universe in
a cell wall, each requiring cellrespiration.
(33:46):
The cell is life.
All living things have cells.
And yet you're not just cells.
There's a lot of you which isnon self water, lots of
(34:12):
different fibers, a whole heapof bacteria, but the cell is the
true representation of life.
(34:34):
Sometimes, when I do thismeditation, I imagine the cells
breathing with me, almostglowing on the end and slightly
dimming on the out.
We'll take three more breaths,three more benevolent breaths.
(37:28):
So the left knee will bend asyou roll again to your left side
(37:59):
.
Just curl up there for a moment.
Curl up on your side.
Just release your strap.
Breath is completelyspontaneous here.
This is a moment for you to donothing.
You're not meditating, you'renot spending a lot of effort on
(38:25):
feeling and experiencing, you'resimply resting and then roll
into your hands and helpyourself up again to your seat
(38:48):
your criss-cross apple sauce,this time with your right ankle
in front, and even as you'restill arriving, you'll kind of
shift around all of your props.
So now your blocks and yourbolster are to the right.
Your blanket is either underyour butt for now or to the back
of the mat.
(39:08):
Your strap is to the right sideof your mat, yeah Good.
And once you get done doing alittle housekeeping, everything
to the right, yeah Well, thatwas quite a production we had.
That was more than I expected.
(39:29):
I'm going to have you just sittall for a moment and just
re-enter.
Come back.
Come back, re-entercontemplating these 32 and a
half trillion cells which areyou.
(39:51):
Then plant your hands in frontof your shins.
Your palms need to be fullyflat, either to a block or to
the floor, fully flat, please.
Then poke your heart up forward, find that ball of light
(40:11):
pressing your ribs forward andthen to the left.
Allow that ball of light toroll along the inside of the rib
cage to the left, and thenbehind the back, left shoulder
blade, right shoulder blade,right side armpit, and then all
the way around again to thefront to go again.
(40:34):
Go as slow as you can and pleasedo share this experience with
your breath, your head and yourneck are kind of noodling around
.
It's hard to sort of figure outwhat exactly the right place is
(40:55):
, so just let it be reallynatural, whatever feels right to
you.
The only thing I wouldabsolutely discourage is a neck
that is very, very stiff and notmoving at all.
Okay, there are just a couplemore now.
(41:31):
Really slow.
And the next time your ball oflight is forward it's in front.
You'll stay.
Come all the way up to verticalspine.
(41:52):
Send your right leg out, sendyour right leg out, long
shoulder to the left foot, tothe inner right thigh.
Feel free to shift yourself soyou're on your mat.
If your heel gets cranky, yeah,plant your hands once again in
front of your shin.
Allow the heart to draw forwardas you walk the hands now to
(42:14):
the left, that's an offering andas the hands come back around
to the front and over to theright.
This is a closing.
The ball of light is at theback of you and it's pressing
backwards.
It's this lovely pressurerounding, drawing your ribs in
(42:37):
and tucking, and then, when youbegin to emerge, ball of your
light travels to the left.
This is where your heartpresses back.
The ball of light is to thefront of you, uh-huh, and then
it comes around, spins aroundthe inside of the rib cage and
(42:58):
it finds the back of you.
This is the last time you'lltravel to the left.
(43:22):
Go all the way to the rightagain and when you get there,
just take a beat, just take amoment with the ribs drawn in
and the back expanded and theball of light shining out the
back of you.
And then, as you come back tothe front, you're just going to
(43:43):
frame the leg with your handsand fold.
With or without the use of props, I will tell you that this pose
is one of the longer holds inyour practice.
Yes, of course.
(44:04):
So what I would say is let'sbring it in really close like
this.
And then long spine.
Turn to me.
Okay, elbows.
Good, how's this?
Some stretch already, right?
Yeah, you don't really needmuch more.
If you feel like it kind ofripens a little bit you could
bring your head like that.
(44:38):
Trillions of little universeswithin you and, just like any
living thing, any universe,cells are perpetually dying and
being replaced, and dying andbeing replaced.
Cells are learning.
Your body has a multitude oflittle nurseries for different
(45:03):
kinds of cells where they learnto be what they will become.
This happens in your intestines, this happens in your immune
system and your thalamus.
And, of course, there isn'tjust one kind of cell.
(45:25):
Not at all.
We have about 200 types ofcells in our body.
We have blood cells which bringoxygen to our tissues, white
(45:48):
blood cells.
Of course, those are primarilyassociated with our immune
system.
We have intestinal cells.
We have skin cells which aredesigned to protect you 24 seven
and keep your water in you,which is quite important, not
designed, evolved.
You have sex cells, which arelife itself.
(46:20):
You have sex cells which aredesigned to protect you.
(47:01):
We'll take another minute here.
What will you do with thisminute?
Can you share the pose with anice casual breath?
Contemplate trillions of littleuniverses working in service to
(47:24):
you, every moment of every day.
Empty, one final breath.
(48:09):
Press your hands down to riseup, find vertical or vertical
ish.
Make sure you're untwisted andmaybe for a moment, if it's okay
, you'll just close your eyesand just feel that.
(48:30):
Feel that soaking in.
If you were using props.
They need to be to the right.
Think about how you'll set themup in a moment for your
Parangushna Sina B.
And then your palms come down infront of your shin again, your
heart pokes forward and emergesto the left.
(48:53):
As you walk your hands to theleft, all the weight of the left
Rocking into that left hip.
You will find it easier to rockinto your left hip if your left
knee points straight out to theleft rather than pointing to
the left corner.
So slide your thigh back to theleft, please, yeah, good.
And then swing your right legaround and cross your right
(49:16):
ankle in front of your leftthigh.
Make sure that the right toesand the left knee are pointed to
the left.
No, I'm not negotiating on this.
They need to be pointed to theleft.
Yes, come down to your sidewith your head resting on your
blanket.
Your left arm is in front ofyou, not under you.
Maybe your left hand is holdingyour ankle.
Your right arm reaches up tothe sky.
(49:39):
The palm fades back and thenallow the arm to bend and just
rest your hand somehow on thatblanket.
I prefer to be on the back ofthe hand or fingers and find
your ball of light.
Allow that ball of light topress your heart to the left and
then to the right.
As you open your heart, yourright arm will probably open to
(49:59):
the right as well, but keep itpretty bent.
Yeah, keep the elbow bent.
And then that ball of lightcomes back up to the left and
then to the back of you to roundand tuck, almost like you've
created a little fetal positionfor yourself.
Good, let's do it a few moretimes.
My friends, it's not justopening and closing right, it's
(50:23):
the Sufi grind, it's the ball oflight and it's so slow.
This is hip, it's hip, it's hip, it's hip, it's hip, a little
(51:01):
tender.
Oh, on the bottom side.
Okay, this is okay though foryou.
Okay, the next time your ballof light rolls up and out to the
right.
Your heart is wide open, yourright arm opens out to the right
(51:26):
and you'll stay with your rightankle crossed in front of your
left thigh through the twistedpigeon.
What's that?
Oh, got it.
Yes, we have one critical error.
It's the blanket.
(51:47):
Yeah, okay, try again.
That's gonna feel so muchbetter.
Good, and then, why not?
Yeah, let me see this if youdon't mind.
(52:15):
Okay, pretty good, is it okay?
Yeah.
(53:06):
So cells, even though they are abit of a universe within a cell
wall, don't work independently.
Cells have a really fascinatingstrategy for communicating, and
when they communicate and theycome together, they create
systems a reproductive system, amusculoskeletal system, a
(53:28):
cardiac system, a pulmonarysystem, a nervous system, each
of these systems composed ofspecialized cells, amazingly
sophisticated.
A cardiac cell will continue topulse outside of the body for a
(53:51):
period of time.
Some cells just flow throughthe interstitium, the internal
network, and some have to crawl,have to pull themselves through
(54:11):
the body.
Some cells create life almostout of thin air.
Let's take two more breaths inthe twisted pigeon and then
(55:53):
carefully unwind.
Come back to your back, centeryour hips, gather your right
knee in your right knee in thistime and when you're ready, with
(56:17):
your left foot flat on the mat,find your strap and loop it
over the foot where the ballmeets the arch.
It's right there.
Yes, the ball meets the archwith the left foot flat.
Still, we'll just take a fewbreaths here.
Go ahead and poke your foot allthe way up to the sky.
Find a way to be reallyeffortless here, like maybe you
(56:38):
just grip lightly and allow thearms to just hang and, if fully
extending your knee is notpossible for you, it's
absolutely okay.
What I would suggest is thatyou bring your heel forward and
then straighten your leg, ratherthan trying to have your leg
straight up.
So for now, the left foot isflat.
(57:10):
Both ends of the strap, please,in your right hand.
Loop that strap around theright wrist in hand and then
pull your fingers into the loopwith your foot so you have a
locking loop, and then bringyour right leg to the right as
you roll onto your right side.
(57:30):
We're going to do it a littledifferently this time, so bring
your leg all the way down to thefloor, or possibly a bolster,
as you roll onto your right side, and probably your left knee
will be turned a little bit tothe right as well.
Yes, and if there's a personthere, then you just have to
shift a little bit away, and ifthere's a wall there, it's the
(57:51):
same.
You'll figure it out.
Reach the left arm up overhead,bend your elbow, allow the back
of the hand or knuckles to reston the floor and then find your
ball of light and noodle around.
Start with the forward, liftingthe heart as you open your
chest.
Allow that ball of light toroll to the left just about as
(58:13):
far as you can, and then ball oflight reverses course, comes
back to the right.
You will roll onto your sideand tuck your ribs into your
body.
Arm is going to stay mostlyoverhead, elbow bent throughout
as you roll that ball of lightaround your rib cage.
Yeah, are you okayparticipating in the Kriya?
(58:34):
So we'll start here and then weroll and close.
No, no, no, you stay where youare dear, you stay.
I'm going to have you roll ontoyour side, pull your ribs into
your round like a fetal positionand then allow your ribs to
lift and emerge.
Open up, now, open up.
Oh, yes, I'm going to do itagain, but I'm going to adjust
(58:55):
this.
Lift your head, please Do itagain.
Mm-hmm.
Yep, you can keep your head onthat blanket, just rolling it
around.
That's why I provided theblanket for you.
Your leg is on the floor or on aprop, your right leg on a floor
or on a prop.
When you breathe in service ofeach kind of cell, so often in a
(59:24):
movement practice, we thinkabout the cells of the
musculoskeletal system, quiteimportant cells that are
designed to support or resist orcontract.
Let's do two more rolling thatball of light around your rib
(59:46):
cage and the next time you'reopen You'll stay and your right
leg may be on the floor and asyou stay here, you might be like
it's not going to be able tostay on the floor.
I want to need to put somethingunder it.
(01:00:07):
Okay, so you decide what'sneeded.
Let's try that and let's doanother thing.
Let's do a little externalrotation.
So start here.
Yes, there it is.
Now, once you've established theposition of your right leg, you
may like to extend your leftleg as well.
(01:00:28):
If you have someone right nextto you and you're like worried
about your foot touching them,stop worrying, it's totally fine
.
Maybe you can use theirshoulder for your foot.
That'd be nice, right?
That'd be a great neighbor.
I want to take this, if youdon't mind.
We're going to start here andthen we're going to externally
(01:00:49):
rotate and then let's see whathappens.
Different.
Yes, is it okay?
Okay, can I have this?
Yes, come up, turn out, comedown.
(01:01:18):
Are you okay?
We turn out.
(01:02:02):
This Cells, specialized cells,create systems.
Systems create you.
(01:02:23):
Systems in service of you, eachchugging along independently
and yet in communication withevery other system.
None of these systems can existwithout what's outside of you
(01:02:55):
Oxygen, carbon dioxide, minerals, protein, fat, carbs oh carbs,
yes carbs.
Any of these systems requirethe presence of other systems,
(01:03:28):
for example your nervous system.
It simply cannot survive in ahealthy state without other
nervous systems around.
(01:03:54):
So have you changed your mindabout letting your neighbor rest
their heel on your shoulder?
Just kidding, spearhead.
(01:04:29):
Just one more breath and soyou'll bend the right knee,
(01:05:42):
release the foot from the strapand roll onto your right side.
Curl up there for a full andcomplete rest, and so you'll
bend the right knee, and soyou'll bend the right knee, roll
(01:06:08):
into your hands and rise up toyour seat Once again, finding
Sukhasana crisscross applesauceleft ankle in front.
Feel free to sit on the blanketif sitting tall is a little
challenging.
Take a moment and stillness.
A nice, stable but easefulposition to breathe, perhaps in
(01:06:40):
appreciation for this incrediblyelegant, sophisticated self.
Once again, the palms need tobe touching the floor or the
block.
Allow the ball of light topress your ribs forward and roll
(01:07:07):
it to the right and to the backand then stop, then reverse
course, go back to the right andforward.
We're not going to make a fullcircle, we're just going to do a
half circle.
We'll go forward, rolling tothe right and back.
We're just going to do two more.
(01:07:28):
Take your time, keep it soft.
It's going to get a little bitmore intense in a moment.
Keep it soft right now.
The next time your heart ispoked forward, you're going to
come up to vertical.
Send your left leg out to theleft, full of that right foot
(01:07:51):
might be to the inner thigh, itmight be a few inches apart.
You'll know more in a moment.
Reach your right arm up, bendyour elbow and just let your
fingers just rest or your palmrest on the top of your head.
We're not pushing on the head,it's just resting.
Poke your ribs forward and outto the right.
(01:08:13):
Then come back again to thatrounded position, poking your
ribs back Forward, right, uh-huh.
Then forward to the left andpress back.
(01:08:34):
Crunch those left ribs into you, forward, rolling to the right,
forward all the way to the leftarmpit and then, even behind
the left shoulder, crunch thoseribs into you.
Do two more.
You may be finding that you'restarting to drift to the left,
(01:08:56):
so your left forearm is mayberesting towards your left thigh
and that would be okay.
That's kind of where I end upto.
Okay, nope, you got it.
Sweetie, you're doing great,you're doing awesome.
Yes, the next time you findyourself in that open position,
your elbow is pointed to wherethe wall meets the ceiling, on
(01:09:18):
the side of the room, your sidebent Go ahead and allow yourself
to just drop into that sidebend.
Maybe your left forearm restson a block, maybe it rests on
your thigh.
Then bring the right hand down.
You could rest it on your thigh.
You could rest the back of yourhand on your lumbar spine.
Turn your face, excuse me, firstlift your chin and then turn
(01:09:43):
your face to the left.
Chin drops into the left armpitArm is resting.
Now, sweetheart, yeah, comingdown.
Good, you got it.
You're doing awesome like this.
Turn your face down, up anddown, yeah, good.
(01:10:04):
And if there's something youneed from your collection of
props to be more comfortablehere in your side bend your half
butterfly side bend then do it,grab it, get what you need this
way.
Okay, now let your shouldersdrop to the left.
Okay, yeah, let it go.
(01:10:32):
Let it go all the way down, allof these systems working
(01:11:02):
perpetually your whole lifetimein service.
Something you have is becauseof this body.
You have nothing that didn'tcome from your relationship with
(01:11:24):
this body.
Lift your chin and then turnyour face and drop so much
better right For the last minute, in this half butterfly side
(01:11:56):
bend.
Is it possible for you to be anysofter?
How could you express gratitudein this moment to this body?
How would that change your pose?
Or would it be exactly the sameif your intention shifted to
(01:12:19):
gratitude, appreciation, finalbreath in and then to exhale.
(01:12:53):
Don't pop up.
Instead, just walk yourselfaround in front.
You're just going to fold downthe middle.
Any amount You've got props.
If you need to put your elbowsor your forehead on a prop, fold
down the middle Just for a fewbreaths.
This is just a resting position.
We won't be here very long.
A bow, an earnest bow, aheartfelt bow in gratitude.
(01:13:35):
Press into the hands, rise up,cross the ankles again, this
(01:13:57):
time right in front.
Take a moment in stillness.
Feel the echoes of that littlesequence.
That was intense, right.
So the echoes of that in you.
Sometimes we find that theechoes are not great, and
sometimes it's fabulous.
We're practically purring.
(01:14:18):
Either way, this is theexperience that has been
cultivated in the self.
Pay attention to it.
Bring the palms in front of youon the block or the floor.
Right ankle is in front of left.
(01:14:40):
This time your ribs pokeforward and they go to the left
and they come around to the backand you stop and you reverse
course.
You go back to the left andforward and just noodle around.
You've got two more of thosenoodling around on the left side
(01:15:03):
.
Keep it gentle, because youknow now it's going to get a
little more intense in a moment.
Keep it gentle Next time yourheart is forward, you'll stay.
Rise up to vertical, send yourright leg out.
(01:15:25):
Remember it's a little wider.
I hope you recognize that it'swider.
So maybe the left foot is inall the way to the inner thigh,
maybe the right leg is evenwider.
Your left arm reach up, yourelbow bends, your hand just
rests and maybe you start withthat closing position, bringing
your left elbow down, your facedown toward your right arm and
(01:15:45):
then poking your heart forwardinto the left, opening once
again and find that nice tuckribs draw into you as you round,
good, and then you open upagain and it's really your ribs.
Okay, it's this ball of lightwhich is guiding you.
(01:16:06):
Yeah, it's not I'm opening andclosing.
Yeah, it's this ball of lightand it's soft.
It's benevolent.
This light, it's trying toforce you into anything that has
your interested heart.
Two more, two more.
(01:16:37):
Try not to let the neck do toomuch.
Okay, yeah, respect.
The neck Doesn't always want tobe totally in control.
Next time your open, your heartis open, your side bent to the
right, maybe your right forearmneeds to come down to something,
(01:16:58):
comes down to the thigh, abolster, a block.
Yeah, let your left arm soften,bring it all the way down
somewhere, somewhere where youfeel soft.
Lift your chin away from yourcollarbone and then arc your
chin down towards your rightside shoulder.
I'll take your arm out of theway.
(01:17:27):
This way, you can rest yourhead in your hand.
Yeah, that's an option.
You want to make a littleplatform for your right elbow?
You could rest your head inyour hand.
Chin is pointed down.
Make it gentle, make it soft Ingratitude.
(01:17:48):
I think I would like to havethis so that we're opening more
right.
Maybe the hand can come down tohere though.
Yeah, good, keep it soft andthen side bent this way.
Good Chin down, very nice.
So often, when we're confrontedwith the extraordinary
(01:18:25):
complexity and sophistication ofthe body and its systems,
there's awe.
But having taught these thingsbefore, I can tell you that
often people feel a little bitguilty, like, oh gosh, maybe I
(01:18:47):
need to be providing more thingsto this amazing body that's
taking care of me all the time.
It needs my help, and what Ifind is that, instead of saying
(01:19:17):
I'm sorry, say thank you.
Thank you.
(01:19:47):
We're taking two more breads,and you won't pop up.
You'll just sort of swingforward and come into that bow,
that fold.
(01:20:08):
Maybe some props support youthere as you bow In earnest
thanks and gratitude.
You'll press your hands down torise back up to vertical.
(01:21:07):
Take a moment and just listento the echoes and swing both
legs in front of you.
You might like to just dragyour bolster back with you as
you roll onto your back Headcould be resting on a blanket,
(01:21:37):
but let's have the blanket nottoo thick so that the normal
curves of your spine areobserved.
But you have a nice cushionbehind your head and the blanket
will be under the head, not theshoulders.
Now drag your bolster so thatit's going to be sort of under
(01:22:08):
your thighs, but you're actuallygoing to stand on it with your
feet, and if the bolster is tooclose to you when you stand on
it, your feet are going to slideoff of it, right?
So have it a little furtheraway, yeah, a little further
away from you, so that yourheels can easily drop down to
(01:22:32):
the space between your butt andyour bolster.
So your toes are almost pointedup a little bit and your heels
are pointed down.
Bring the soles of the feettogether with your heels pointed
down, your toes pointed up, andallow the thighs to open up
into the butterfly with thatlittle extra bolster support.
And if the feet are slidingforward, your bolster might be
(01:22:58):
too close to you.
I got you.
I got you, this is going tocome into you, and then we go
here.
Oh, that is too close.
Now, there we go, and if youneed something under your thighs
to be here comfortably, by allmeans grab some blocks.
How do you feel about being alittle bit closer?
A little bit closer, try this.
(01:23:19):
Okay, is that okay?
Right?
Soles of the feet together,maybe something under the thighs
, this breath suffused into eachof these loyal cells, perfect.
(01:24:31):
Over 95% of all of the speciesthat have ever existed on this
planet are now extinct, andsomehow, improbably.
(01:24:51):
With lots of twists and turns,lots of false starts, some
difficult moments.
Certainly you, your body, hasevolved to exist.
Not just to exist, but really,truly to be the dominant species
(01:25:17):
.
It started with a cell, whichbecame more and more specialized
(01:25:40):
Systems, emerged Creatures.
(01:26:01):
Now, somehow, you find yourselfright here in this body, this
extraordinary body.
(01:27:06):
Some of your bodies are very,very comfortable here in this
pose, and some of your bodieswish they could get out of this
pose.
So if you are so supremelycomfortable that you could be
here for hours, I invite you tostay here for your Shavasana,
but if you're not supremelycomfortable, it's now time to
(01:27:28):
send your legs out long overthat bolster.
If you have any other propsthat you would like to use for
your Shavasana, now is the timeto gather them.
And for your Shavasana.
I won't ask you to payattention to your breath, but
(01:27:57):
maybe instead just contemplatethis thrumming universe within
you.
We're going to go all the way.
We're going to do the wholething.
Yeah, we're going to do thewhole thing.
This is closer to yeah.
Good, Is that enough this wayOk?
(01:31:12):
Yogis, it's time to deepen thebreath, time to restore movement
to the body and when you'reready, find your way onto the
(01:31:39):
side of your choice and rest.
Rest, roll into your hands,rise to your seat, face the
(01:32:08):
front as you come up, press thepalms together in front of your
heart, allow the head to bow andthanks Namaste.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!