Hello, my loves.
Welcome to a relaxing stretch routine by Lavendaire.
Let's get into our first pose.
We're gonna start out in child's pose.
You can get into a regular child's pose,
but I am getting into a wide-legged child's pose,
which just means that my knees are wide and my big toes are touching.
Take some time to take some deep breaths in this pose,
settle in, and ground yourself.
Breathe in through your nose, fill up your belly,
and make an audible exhale through your mouth.
Do this a few times because you wanna bring fresh air into your body
and breathe out any stagnant air and energy in your body.
Next, we're moving into a tabletop position,
and we're gonna do some cat and cow stretches.
First, a cat stretch is when you do this.
You bring your belly down and you look up.
And then, cow is when you round your back so that your spine is going upwards.
Visually I'm better at showing you than explaining to you
so just watch what I'm doing.
Deep breathe.
Breathe in during a cat and breathe out during the cow.
Now, we're gonna look to your right
and move your hip towards your shoulder,
making a C curve on the right side of your spine.
And then, move to the left side and make a C curve on the left side.
You're gonna do this three times just slowly.
Remember to deep breathe throughout, kind of just stretching gently.
Don't try too hard.
We're just getting warmed up here.
Now, take some time to do some hip circles,
or move however feels good to you.
I feel like there's always some back muscles that I like to stretch,
some hip muscles.
I'm doing some circles clockwise a few times.
Remember to deep breathe throughout,
and then we're gonna switch over
and do some circles counterclockwise.
Again, there's no right or wrong way to really do this.
Just move, listen to your body, and stretch the parts of your body
and your back and your spine that want to be stretched.
This is really great, especially if you're someone who sits all day like myself.
I'm just loosening up my neck here.
Feel free to just, you know, listen to your body.
Next, we're gonna do thread the needle.
Bring your right arm up and follow your hand.
Then, thread it through that hole.
Your left arm is straight, your right shoulder is on the floor,
and you are looking left.
Make sure that your hips are square on top of your knees
so that you have the right form.
Just remember to deep breathe.
With each breath, you sink deeper into the stretch.
Okay, we're gonna switch sides.
Now, we're gonna raise the left arm up,
and then we're gonna thread that through that hole.
Put your head down and bring your right arm up.
This thread the needle pose stretches and opens your shoulders,
your chest, arms, upper back, and your neck.
It releases a lot of the tension that's commonly held in your upper back
and between your shoulder blades.
Okay, so going back.
Yes, I finished the form,
which I realize now I didn't do the previous side.
It's okay.
Now, we're gonna move into a down dog.
This is yoga's favorite pose.
Take some time to warm up into your down dog.
They call this pedaling out your dog.
Make sure that your hips are high.
You're looking between your legs,
and feel free to just stretch your arms.
Move however feels good to you.
Now, we're gonna walk our legs up towards our hands.
If you can't touch your toes or the floor, it's okay.
What I'm doing now is ragdoll pose,
which you're just hanging basically.
You're releasing tension from your spine
because you spend all day standing up and being upwards,
your spine is never often upside down.
I like to just gently swing and bounce
and release all of that stickiness in my back.
You can even bend your legs.
You don't have to have straight legs for this.
It's more for your spine than it is a leg stretch.
Move into a halfway lift.
And then, we're going to squat and curl.
This is a pose from yoga
that really helps stretch the upper back area.
Let me know if you feel it.
Make sure you're looking down,
and squat and curl so that you feel that stretch.
Then, we're gonna go back into a halfway lift.
Make sure you make an L with your body.
And then, back down to your toes.
Stretch out your legs now.
Now, we're gonna move into a standing pose.
Take your arms and circle them upwards.
Once you reach the top, clasp your hands,
or make something called a steeple grip,
and I'm bending to the right.
This is a side stretch on your right.
Deep breathe, don't forget.
In through your nose, out through your mouth,
or you can do both in and out through your nose.
Back to center.
And then, we're gonna move to the left.
I love side stretches.
I do this every single day.
I feel like I need a lot of side and spine stretches personally.
I'm sure you might be in the same boat as myself.
On your next inhale, come back to center.
And, you're going to cactus your arms back
and look up while opening your heart.
Reach your heart up towards the sky.
This is a heart's opener.
You're stretching the front side of your body as well as your upper back.
And then, come back up.
Exhale and bow down into a forward fold again.
As you can see, I really love this forward fold ragdoll pose.
We're gonna move into a lunge stretch.
Bring your left foot forward, right foot back into a lunge.
Take two of your hands,
make sure they're framing the front foot.
You can look forward and just feel that stretch along your legs.
Bring your back knee down and try to reach for your toes.
It's okay if you can't reach as far as I can,
it's not a big deal,
but the purpose of this is a quad stretch.
You're looking back
and just bringing that foot close to you
as close as possible.
Bring that foot down,
and then we're gonna straighten the front leg,
flex your foot,
and stretch forward.
This is a front leg stretch.
Breathe deep.
This one is a very deep stretch
because you're stretching those hamstrings
and it's a big muscle.
Now, back to your lunge,
and we're gonna switch sides.
I'm just bringing one foot back and the other foot forward.
It's right foot forward, left foot back.
Again, feeling that stretch in that lunge position.
We're gonna do the same where you put your knee down
and reach for that foot to get some good quad stretch in.
Make sure you're looking backwards and breathing deeply.
Just feeling and sinking into that stretch.
Now, we're gonna bring that leg down.
Straighten the front leg, flex that foot
and bend over that leg to get that really good stretch
along the back of your front leg.
Remember to breathe in and out deeply.
With each breath out,
allow yourself to sink deeper into the stretch.
Don't force yourself,
but just allow you to gently go deeper and deeper.
Now, we're going back to that lunge position.
And then, we're gonna move into the next pose,
which is the up dog,
but this is more of a lazy up dog.
I'm not sure if this is the right name for it,
but you're facing belly down
and you push your body up with your arms.
Look up.
You're stretching the entire front side of your body again.
And, take some time to look over your right shoulder.
And then after that, you can try looking over your left shoulder.
This is a really good ab stretch.
I'm not sure if anyone does ab exercises.
If you do this stretch with your ab sore, it feels so good.
Then, just come back down
and we're gonna move into a position,
lying on our back.
Turn over on your back,
and now we're gonna do a figure four stretch.
Put your right foot on top of your left knee.
You can hold wherever feels comfortable
behind your thigh or on top of your knee.
It's up to you.
The goal of this is to really stretch out your hips
and that gluteus maximus muscle.
This is one of my favorite stretches
because I always feel like this muscle–
I mean, it's a big muscle.
It's always tight, you know?
And it feels like such a good release,
when you do this stretch.
It's a little bit difficult, but it feels good.
Like a good challenge.
Remember, breathe in and out.
Breathe very deeply.
Allow yourself to sink deeper into the stretch.
Release all of that tension that you might hold
in your hips and in your butt.
This is a really good stretch
because I feel like so many of us hold so much tension in these areas.
And so, it's really good to just close your eyes,
breathe into the stretch
and release with each exhale.
Now, it's time to switch sides.
Place your left foot on your right knee,
and bring that knee close to your body.
Whether you wanna hold onto your thighs or your shins, it doesn't matter.
The goal is to just bring that knee as close as you can to your body
to get that really good and really deep left hip stretch.
Remember to breathe in.
And on your exhale, imagine you sinking deeper into the stretch.
You can even challenge yourself by pulling that leg closer to your body.
You can also imagine
as you stretch this area and as you exhale,
you are releasing both physical and emotional tension that you hold in your bodies.
Our bodies are tense,
not just because of the physical stress,
but also because our emotions cause our bodies to tense up.
Imagine you letting go of any physical and emotional tension.
Now, bring your legs down.
Next, we're gonna do spinal twists.
Take your right leg and cross it over your left leg.
Make sure that your shoulders are both on the ground
and you are looking to the right.
You can even stretch out your right arm horizontally.
Don't try to force this stretch too much.
You really let gravity do its work.
Allow your right leg to hang,
kind of like your knee is following gravity.
It's naturally pulling towards the floor,
and you are naturally getting a really good spinal twist.
Feel free to close your eyes,
and just relax in this pose.
This is really a de-stressing, decompressing type of pose.
You are kind of rinsing out any stuck energy from your spine,
and just allow yourself to enjoy this moment.
Now, we're gonna do the other side.
Extend your left arm,
bring your left leg up and across to the other side
and look to your left.
Again, try to keep both shoulders on the ground,
and don't try to force this stretch too hard.
Just allow gravity to do its work
and help you twist your spine naturally, gently.
This should feel very relaxing.
Keep your eyes closed and keep breathing,
and just feel your body.
Feel your spine, releasing any stagnant energy,
and enjoy yourself.
Enjoy this moment.
Bring your body back and reset.
Next, we're going to do happy baby pose.
Try to reach for your feet.
You can reach for the outside or the inside of your feet
and pull your feet to the ground,
keeping your knees bent.
This is one of the poses that we always end our yoga sessions with.
I'm sure you've done it before.
Feel free to have fun with it.
Rock your body left and right.
If it feels good, you can stretch one leg,
and then stretch the other leg.
I personally love that stretch.
Just getting that really good leg stretch on the back of your legs.
Next, I am bringing my legs together,
straightening them and reaching for my toes.
Don't be afraid or worried if you can't touch your toes, it's totally fine.
Reach for whatever you can,
whether it's your thighs or your calves or something else.
Maybe you can use a rope or towel to kind of get your legs straight
so you can stretch out the back of your legs.
Breathe deeply into this stretch.
This is really good
because you're stretching the entire backs of your legs.
Just keep breathing in and exhaling,
releasing all of that tension.
Now, release the stretch.
Bring your knees to your chest and squeeze yourself into a little ball,
and then release.
Lay down, let your legs be wide, and your arms out.
This is Shavasana.
Shavasana is where you simply lay there with your eyes closed,
and you don't do anything else.
There's nothing else for you to do,
but to simply relax and completely let go.
Allow your breath to rise and fall naturally,
and enjoy this moment of peace.
Feel free to thank yourself for nourishing yourself today.
Your body is your home
so you have to remember to treat yourself well.
Take care of this home that you have to live
for the rest of your life.
It's always so deserving of your love.
Feel free to stay in Shavasana for as long as you'd like.
Thank you so much for doing this stretch with me today,
and I hope to see you again next time.