"Hi, I'm Lin," "And I'm Leo. Welcome back to our channel, 'Yoga with Lin and Leo'."
"And today, you're in for a treat. [Laughter]. We're coming for Savasana, which is Corpse
Pose. So we're going to go through a simple relaxation today. And Leo's going to be demonstrating
for us. So you're going to need two blankets, preferably. You can practice this flat on
the floor, no problem. But it is quite nice to have the softness of maybe something underneath
your head and this lovely support which goes along the spine." "Yes, absolutely. And I'd
like to just say before we start that if you are somebody who suffers from insomnia, or
who is someone for whom nerves are a bit of an issue, then Savasana sometimes is difficult
when you, to come straight into without having done anything else. So if that is you, then
have a look at the other poses in this Playlist, 'The Insomnia Series,' and do those before
your Savasana. Otherwise you might find it difficult to rest and relax." "Yes. Quite
right. It's a wonderful pose at the end of our sequences which we practice, but also
it's very restorative. But we have to get into the right mindset for that." Yes." "Alright.
So sitting on your mat and becoming aware of alignment at this stage. Be aware that
you are in a straight line. Very important. Quite often in the classes, we know that if
we don't give this instruction then sometimes the bodies, go all over the place on the mat.
Yeah. [Laughter]" "Just a demonstration - of what not to do!" "Yeah. That can happen. So
what i want you to do is to just assess that and you can see that Leo's lifting the buttocks
so that the tailbone can come towards the heels which is a very important instruction.
As you go down, into your Savasana action, then be mindful that you're lengthening your
spine, opening your chest and then releasing either to your support or to the floor. And
be sure that, if you're placing a blanket underneath your head, to have it reaching
to the top of the shoulder area. Okay, so we work with just making a few adjustments
to start with. Particularly the upper body, You can see that Leo's got her elbows digging
into the floor and the palms straight up to the ceiling. So if you're lying doing this
with us, I'll try to give you as much of the verbal instruction as possible. So press strongly
into your elbows and lift the back body. So the back body is supporting the chest. And
as you do so, see that you bring those shoulder blades deeply down towards the back waist.
You're getting the rolling action of the shoulder itself. Now keep your arms in that position,
keep your fingers up because we're going to straighten our legs before we sort out the
arms. So as you straighten the legs, straighten until the knees are still fairly soft but
not completely straight. So just be in this position. Now dig into your elbows again,
and lift out of your pelvis. And then finally straighten the legs completely. And at this
point, as you've got this two-way direction, the north and south pole. You've got to make
sure that the legs extend towards the heels, and you're lengthening away from the legs
through the abdominal lift. When you get to this stage, then as long as there is sufficient
opening in your lower back then you can let the legs roll from inside out. Yes, good.
So the feet are relaxed, and the legs are relaxed. You may find that one leg, outwardly
rotates a little bit more than the other but that's something we sort out in our general
practice. When you release the arms down now, see you rotate in the upper arms so that the
palms face up towards the ceiling. And then just coil the fingers and bring the thumb
towards the fingers. So that you've got this really nice, very passive action in the palms.
And close your eyes. So when we're going through our Savasana, for our relaxation and our deeper
meditative practice, then we do need to engage with what's happening in the body. And firstly,
we're going to start with releasing around the very top of the head. The forehead region
and release. Dissolve any frowns, or any lines that may be there. Just completely dissolve
and release any tensions. Release between the eyebrows, and let the temples completely soften.
And the eyes now, just naturally dissolving, deep within. Release around the face. Release
the back teeth. Soften around the jawline. So where the jawline greets the earlobes,
just see that whole area completely softens and releases. Let the throat release. So the
front throat, softening towards the neck spine. But also see that this area is nice and broad
and soft. Try not to narrow your throat. Just let the breath extend through that area so
that there's a really nice pathway for your breath. It's soft, it's broad. Release across
the shoulders. Let the outer shoulders completely release. And now, observe your breath. Let
your breath unclip. And what I mean by that is just see that it finds its own pathway,
its own direction. So just watch what's happening on a physical level as you inhale and exhale.
Be aware of the breath as you breathe in, what happens with the ribs. Just watch the
ribs, how they expand and broaden. And then letting the ribs release on the exhalation.
And this is our first introduction to taking our senses inside and focusing on one thing.
So our concentration is deepening as we observe our breath on a deep level. You may find and
notice, with your observations, that the breath now is a little bit deeper than surface level.
And now take your attention back to that breath, and follow it. So as you breathe in, be aware.
As you breathe in, the intercostal muscles, in between the ribs, are broadening and opening.
And then just let the breath release. And gradually, as you observe the breath, you
will notice that the breath gets naturally deeper. So we're not trying to create a depth
of breath, it's just something that happens organically as we take ourselves, deeper and
deeper within. So just be in this space, creating this peaceful environment. And be in this
position for as long as you wish to. So it may be that before your Savasana, you have
a timeless time for your Savasana. It may be that you need to have some indicator, some
timer, that will give you a little bit of a nudge when you've finished. But for now,
just be in this beautiful, quiet space. And just remember, when we learn to release the
nerves in this way, when we come across things in life, stresses of life, then this is where
we need to come. Just take a step back. And just go inside and find that peace and tranquillity.
And let everything else, happen around you. We're going to leave you in this position
now. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Namaste.