Mat for Stress Relief

Hi everyone. Thanks for joining me for this class today. It's more of a movement session than a workout. It's soft, it's to music, and it's intended to bring us down a notch in our nervous system. Bring in some more of our parasympathetic nervous system response and a relationship. Really, we're filming at the beginning of December. Uh, but this class will be evergreen. You can do it any time. And my intention here is to just allow us all to move together. I'll be giving some imagery, uh, that works for me when I'm in movement, especially with the music that I've chosen that really supports the intention of the movement itself. So let's, let's just try to enjoy it and I'm really hoping that you can refer to this class often when you're feeling stressed and you need something to do, give yourself 30 to 35 minutes, which is what this will be. And um, play and explore and breathe and move, which is what we're about to do.

So let's go ahead and get started to stand. I've got two mat spread out and just have your feet apart. So it has a little bit of fascial focus to it. And I want everybody just to start with their arms reaching nice and high. I'll also say let's put our um, kind of expectations on hold in terms of Palladio's queuing.

Okay. So let's just set that aside. Let's just be here together. So taking your body and LinkedIn in your arms up, I want you to focus on the elongation of your spine, your arms, your legs, your skin, and then move a little bit as you're going to see you right arm and left arm moving singly. And so because this class has a bit of fascial stretch focus to it, we'll be moving in lots of angles, some rotation. It's kind of a perpetual motion, um, request if you will. So we'll try not to stop, feel free to move in a way that feels really nice for you. So we're really working on opening up our lines.

Take a nice deep breath with your arms, reaching up as you lower your arms, bring them right down in front of you. Step one of your feet behind you. So a split stamps, Ben, both of your knees gently take your hands to your pelvis and let's do a little posterior tilt of your pelvis. You can probably right away already feel the stretch come into the front of your hip, which is where I'm hoping that will be for you. Add those arms to take those arms up again. And because it's perpetual movement, um, and lack of politeness queuing, you're kind of free to do your own thing.

Just great [inaudible] so in two to focus on your breath a lot in this class [inaudible] and it feels like you're up against some shallow breathing. Slow yourself down and know that you might have gone too far in your stretching attempt. Okay. It'll be a few directions like this one. Take those arms up. Whatever your leg is behind you. I want you to lean your body away from the leg that's behind you, keeping that pelvis and that posterior angle and just let those arms come down and a soft flection of your spine roll yourself up.

You're stretching that back line of your back. Step your feet together and we'll change legs. So you're in a split stance. Your pelvis comes to a posterior angle and you're taking a breath. Feel the length of the arms, maybe waking up some stretch in your hip.

[inaudible] oftentimes when we get stressed, our body is holding a lot of tension that it doesn't need, that it's not helping do anything positive for us. It's actually limiting mobility and potential cause we often stop breathing fully [inaudible] keep that body in motion. So I visualize liquid a lot in this type of movement, sequencing for myself. So the oceans behind us can be in a pool of water. Take your arms reaching opposite of the back leg.

Spiral your torso a little bit round your back, slumped forward. Wiggle your hands. Step your feet side by side. Roll yourself up. Well, we're going to roll all the way down now. So your choice of a roll down, however you'd like it. I'm going to soft my knees today. I want you just to get yourself down onto your needs and continue moving back into what you would feel is like a a little mini rest pose.

Let's take three breaths here together. I remember there's perpetual movement, so I don't want you to actually just stop, maybe play with shifting side to side on your knees. The intention here is to give a little response to your end. Focus to your lower back. [inaudible] elevate your torso up off of your leg. Play with swaying a little bit from left to right, leading you with your rib cage to the side and your ribs leading you to the sigh.

[inaudible] it's a perpetual movement. [inaudible] okay, we're going to move on with that. I want you to take your arms to your right or your left in a diagonal line to your knees. Let's use this floor. Push your hands against the mat or your ground as like you're pushing something away from you. At the same time, the opposite hip is reaching back away from what you're pressing. Do that a few times, kind of rock your way forward.

Reshift press your hands on the ground like you're moving the ground away and reach the opposite hip away and ribs as well. Two more of those and you'll hit you do hear me? Cue the skin a lot. And I, I like that because it, it's, it is really what I'm trying to feel like. I'm stretching, not necessarily muscles, but skin and connective tissue. [inaudible] take a deep breath and to kind of sway a little bit and we'll go to the other side. So hands to the right or left, whichever you didn't do. Okay. And again, you're using the floor and you're pushing it away at the same time.

That opposite hip is reaching diagonally from that play with letting your head come down. Sway. Inhale, exhale, reach back. Emphasize your hip, reaching away from your hands two more times. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] and then one more time through the center. And I want you just to kind of sway again from right hand to left hand. Let your ribs way can a very uh, liquid like image for me is this seaweed in the ocean or the kelp. We've got a lot of it out there, but just liquid like right, very fluid filled.

Find your way down onto your tummy. And just for a moment, and we know our Swan is not really a Swan right now, but I want you to press up on your arms if you can keep shifting your weight from one arm to the other arm. Do whatever feels good with your feet, your legs, they stretch your tummy. Stretch your abdominal muscle in the skin and the front from your pubic bone up to your chin. [inaudible] that works to lift your chin and lift your chest higher. Okay, remember we're perpetual motion here. So now if you can lean to one are more bend one knee slightly.

As you're looking back toward it. [inaudible] Oh man, she see the cloud cover back here. It's beautiful. And then switch it to the other side. [inaudible] so we've got a wispy cloud line outside right today. So maybe your movement quality is more like that.

[inaudible] very airy and breathy. Well, a couple more of these. Each side can change your arm angle. Your arms are externally rotated and if you want to add a little trunk rotation and neck rotation, [inaudible] leaning one hip down, stretching that stomach rotating. Looking back to the back leg. I'm going to take it one more time guys. [inaudible] [inaudible] last time.

And then from here, push yourself back again into that almost rest pose like position and keep the sway going. We're going to do a little bit of cat motion. So walking those hands out, pressing the shins down, lift that body up through a cat line. [inaudible] undulate pull this toward hands. I am going to have you rise the chest looking up. No, let's just reverse that. Cats will take her head in our spine and our low spine and pelvis back into flection.

Nice breath in and again, just gently moving your body through, gaining mobility, ease and breath. Not one more here. [inaudible] find your way to a seated position facing me. [inaudible] however it feels comfortable for you to sit. Place your hands on your chest lightly.

Want you to elevate your shoulders and your elbows and then let your elbows weight down. Your hands are easily touching your chest skin, but enough that there's a sense of almost like you're dragging your hands down to feel some stretch in through the collarbone muscles, the neck muscles here. We're going to do that a couple of times, so the shoulders and collarbone lift, elbows lift, and then they drag down. See if you can match that with a breath. [inaudible] I just saw the jellyfish [inaudible] that image of the billowing of the jellyfish body that just billows up and open and naturally comes lower and down, right? So staying with that, everybody look up with your chin and your nose.

Feel some stretch in these scalene neck muscles here, which might feel really tight or not. So okay if they're not good, if they're not, keep your hands just subtly dragging down on your chest and use your eyes right now. I really look into your space and around and notice that every time you're moving that head and neck around, you're feeling some stretch in your neck, around your neck. [inaudible] keep those hands there. You might want to switch them from time to time. [inaudible].

Let's make a gentle circle of the head and ear to a shoulder, the nose down to the chest. You're to a shoulder [inaudible] and nose up again the same direction. [inaudible] if one area feels particularly yummy to stay there, you can of course stay there and breathe into that space. That feels really nice to stretch. I'm going to reverse a twice. I want to keep that breath beautifully fluid and [inaudible] [inaudible] as you make your way around that last time, that second time, and ask you to release your hands and just place them on your legs for a moment and just recognize what you feel in and around your chest and shoulders and neck. And then we'll take our hands, interlace them, place them right behind your skull.

Gently lift the skull up, narrowing the elbows. And of course we're doing a stretch for the back of our neck. So we will close those elbows and gently flex the spine forward as low as feels comfortable for you right now. [inaudible] feel the stretch in your back. [inaudible] as you start rolling up, it's this most subtle press of your head into your hands.

I won't do that again. [inaudible] take a breath. Exhaling. It was very slow. Deliberate, intentional, soft. [inaudible] take about three breath cycles here. Let's do the billowing [inaudible] but in that inhalation almost pick us up off of our legs and float us. So the XL brings this lower one more of those [inaudible] and as we roll back up again, it's that head that lightly presses against the hands.

[inaudible] wonderful. Moving into some hips stretching. So take one of your legs behind you, something like this. Okay. And I want you to put your hands behind your body right now and actually let your shoulders glide up. Just rest here for a moment. Take some breath in it and you might already be feeling some stretch in this front thigh. I kinda hesitate to tell you where to feel things, but you'll feel okay.

Now we'll take both of our hands. The next thing we'll do and we'll, we're going to put them on front of this front knee so you can just follow along. Just come on up and set your hands in the front. Move him back. Let's put them in front of the other knee. Now it feels better. [inaudible] so now we're taking a nice, I'm going to rise up on my fingertips and lift the chest to get the inhale. Walk your fingers forward.

Want you to reach your chest as far forward over your thighs. You can [inaudible] and as you roll up, you're leading with your lower back. [inaudible] your ribs, shoulders, and finally the head. Let's do two or three more. So we lifting [inaudible], gaining mobility in our hips, our glutes or spine [inaudible] going back, lead with your pelvis, your sacrum. You can use those hands and slightly press yourself back. [inaudible] should feel pretty yummy. Let's do it one more.

[inaudible] all the way out. How far can you go? [inaudible] lead with your pelvis. [inaudible] Oh, all the way out. Now the hands will come back in front of that knee, but I want you to walk your hands around you to a place where it feels comfortable. You'll all know where that is in pause where you feel like that's your stop. [inaudible] if it works, can you look up to the ceiling behind you?

[inaudible] and we're transitioning. We're going to come forward. Walk your hands forward where they were. Go low chest toward the front leg. Turn and listen down toward the ground. [inaudible] take a billowing breath.

[inaudible] let that initiate your walk back up and around. [inaudible] and again the hands walk around the front. [inaudible] you can really look into your environment and see where you're at. Let that head come down. Maybe it feels good to look at your feet. Billowing breath in.

[inaudible] walking around. [inaudible] yeah, and one more time. Go as low as you feel comfortable. If it doesn't feel comfortable to go low, you don't go low. [inaudible] little breath in and we take our elbow down to the floor. [inaudible] my elbow is in a straight line out from your hip here.

Just take a moment and put your hand on the back hip that pelvis and see if you can rock that pelvis forward and back a couple of times and then your arm is going to do a swimming movement. But before we move the arm, I waned to those ribs also up toward the arm. That's a nice place for a breath. Swim that arm. If you can turn your torso all the way face down. That's what I'm trying to get to here. If not, you just go as far as you can.

Two more of these. Adjust your elbow if you need to on the mat. Arm is up, but it's those ribs here. How high can you reach them? Expand them and turn your torso and rich. One more time guys. [inaudible] swim the ribs. Okay, one of we've just do the other side, so put the other knee forward and the other one behind and as we started, just sink back and kind of pause right and just recognize the stretch in your hips.

[inaudible] hands are going to go in front of that knee. [inaudible] some perpetual movement. Little shift. Now we're working some stretch of the back, uh, hip. You feel it? Go ahead and take that front line, lift your chest up and we're going to walk her hands far for rudeness. We can chest, chest, chest.

The head will be the last thing that comes down. And then moving backward with your sacrament, pelvis, ribs, shoulders, and the head. Two more times, all the way out. [inaudible] one last time far. Can you go low? Can you go lead with your sacrum and your hell vis and your low back?

K. now we walk our hands forward and around. If you're going up a staircase, looking at the very top, come back down. And as you walk your hands around, you're going kind of low and listening to the floor. Chicken, ice, billowing breath in. That kind of motivate the lift. So good walking around.

Keep coming back to your breathing. Walking your hands around the front. Let me turn and look at your feet. Okay, one more then stretch, stretch, stretch up in a back up and back. One more around nice and low and transition onto your elbow. Reaching your arm up and your ribs up and turn the ribs. Take an inhale. Here is a beautiful place for it and arm and ribcage and rotate and how far can you reach? How easy can your breath stay?

[inaudible] one more time with the arm and the ribs. Turn and lengthen and go low. [inaudible] definitely in my parasympathetic system. Now this is a delightful, okay, hope you're feeling wonderful as well everybody. Just get yourself on your back. Now it yourself down on your back and I'd like you to just to separate your feet wider than your hips and very softly, allow both of your thighs to sway toward the ground to your right or left and continue to switch that from side to side.

[inaudible] focusing on the breath. Okay, this next one, let's turn to face each other. When you're just going to roll onto your side. You've seen these before. These are Eve. Gentry feel good. Arms circles such a nice pattern to do for your body, your shoulders and your spine.

So your top arm makes a nice long journey, reaches past the bottom hand and I want you to drag the Kenna dress circle above your head. Don't worry if your knees come apart, just a nice circle round. Your arm is like the the hand on the clock and you're going to do three each direction. [inaudible] thank you. If reaching out of your body, expand your yourself on your floor surface. Take up a lot of space. If anyone's feeling a pinch in their shoulder, you can minimize the circle just by taking your hand fingertips to shoulder this way and continuing to do the motion in this manner.

I used to be that person with a pinch every time. It's taken a long time to not pinch. Okay, so I'm going to do one more in that full circle because I showed you the modification time to reverse it three times. Just the arm goes the opposite way. [inaudible] member keep coming into your breathing. [inaudible] they allowing us spine and shoulder girdle to partner. [inaudible] one more direction. One more circle.

Use your eyes to help you go in the direction you'd like to go. Well then I'd like you to use your hands here. Everybody help you come up. We're gonna face the other direction. I still want to look at you and have you look at me. So coming down on your shoulder [inaudible] and slide your hand past the bottom hand.

Just going to start tracing your circle all the way up around your [inaudible] head around again. You can watch those hands. Gosh, just got a great image of being in inside a big bubble. So be inside that, that orb, that big circle, and you're tracing delicately the inside rim of that circle. Let's do one more in that direction. [inaudible] that partnership through your breath and your movement.

Case arm the other way. Now out and up. Ooh, over your head. [inaudible] hop over your hip. [inaudible] one. Okay. Using those hands. Walk yourself up to seated.

Just for a moment, turn sideways. Put your hands behind your knees and just ease yourself back down to the mat. Letting your back round coming all the way down. Okay. Renew a little fun hip stretch. Now crossing an ankle over knee instead of our traditional figure four.

It's similar so you have my ankle on my knee and I'm going to use my other leg to just kind of help me rock my legs toward me as well as taking my hands to this shin here. Hold this position, use your hands and roll your shin toward you, which is actually also helping roll your pelvis up off the man. Some of you might be feeling that broad stretch through your hip. That's what I was hoping for. Two more like that. You'll have the breath supports your movement and exploration for more mobility. Okay, I'll stay here. It's my secure embracing this shin. Let's feel your hands on that bone and start to sway a little bit from right to left. It's really easy.

Keep it that breath fluid and if you can everybody start to lean so far over that you're kind of a little supine twist your foot will feel the floor and bring yourself into a soft supine twist. Hug your knees toward your chest and let's swap that out. Cross the other ankle on the knee, and first it's the bottom leg that helps lead the legs toward the torso. Here we go. Hands, catch the shin. Use your hands on that shin.

Rock your body toward your legs, towards your torso. This one, keep that embrace. Keep those hands holding your shin or start to rudder yourself from side to side. [inaudible] last one. This foot's could just going to keep falling toward the floor. [inaudible] playful and then a last very easy supine twist. Nice billowing. Inhale.

We're going to stretch our calves very minimally here. I want everybody just to come on up onto your hands and your knees. Chuck your toes and lift your knees up. Reach your hips back and again, you're just shifting your weight from hand to foot. I'm going side to side and easing the heel toward the floor. If it goes no need to push it. If it doesn't, let your hip sway a little bit.

[inaudible] then pause in-betweens. You've got hands, your hands have weight, your feet have weight, and if it works to send both heels down, do a little up and down. Walk your hands towards your left or right. Stand on one leg with your knee bent. Just hold the stretch. Ideally you're feeling it in that calf line there. Other side.

[inaudible] he's trying to get some mobility back in that ankle down there. Yeah, standing on two feet. Walk your hands backwards towards your feet. Slowly roll yourself up. Notice how you feel. I'm going to face you again everybody and lean one hip out.

Bend your knees and really sit that hip out. [inaudible] switch to the other side. Just notice we got most of our body parts well focused on. Take those arms up one more time. Restretch your left side and right side. Bring your feet together and just lower your arms.

Okay, I'll take one more. Nice deep breath, everybody. Thanks for moving with me and do this for yourself often because it's good for you. Okay. See you later. Bye. Bye.