Day 3- Yoga with Jason

Hi everyone! Welcome to this session
of what I call energy flow yoga

This yoga class is designed to
support you in your meditative practice

When we're speaking about yoga
we're also speaking about non-duality

because yoga itself is a non-dual system,
which a lot of people,

especially in our modern
culture, don't realize.

where normally our focus is on
the posture, as though the stretch

is what yoga is. But of course if you've
looked into yoga even a little bit

you'll realize that the first limb of yoga
is posture not even necessarily stretch.

Often it's referring to sitting in
meditative posture.

And the other seven limbs are all
pointing to deeper States both within

our energy our psychology, referring to
the breath and ultimately to Consciousness

and so this practice is really designed
around incorporating the Asana,

which we will be doing. Which
will be various postures and flows,

with the most important aspect of the
practice which is concentration

awareness, non-resistance.
Just like in the meditative practice.

So we can learn to actually go
into our yoga postures flows,

whatever it is we're doing,
using the same principle

and so that is the most
important part of the practice

you could kind of say
the stretch is secondary.

So for this session we're going to
go into a format which I often use

starting with breathwork which
in yoga is called Pranayama

and then we'll be moving into
body stretches or holds.

Normally from a Yin perspective. So Yin
stretches and also Yin flows I call them

that build up Prana in the body. Prana
actually refers to Life Force energy

and if you've heard the word Chi,
then it's the same thing except that

would be the word used
more in the Chinese system.

And so as we're working that the
mindfulness concentration feeling

are a priority and then the stretch is
just something that's going to happen

So, we'll laid in, we'll begin lying on
our back so let's just take a moment

and find your mat I'm going to be sitting
while I give you the instructions

when I teach, what I'm trying to do is
teach clearly enough where you don't have

to open your eyes often, that way your
attention is focused inwards on feeling.

So I'll give you another moment here
to just find the mat, lying down

in shavasana posture, you can lie down
with your hands facing up preferably

with an open heart posture, but if that's
not good for your shoulder then just

lie down with whatever position
works best for your body.

In the case of prana, that we're talking
about on a deep level of practice

pranayama sometimes is referred to
only as the very natural breath

that occurs when you're in deep meditation

But for the sake of these practices
Pranyama will refer to any way

of working with your breath. so we'll
be manipulating the breath first

and then we'll eventually be going
into the natural breath.

So as you're lay there, the first thing
you want to do is notice your entire body,

and just feel into what's going on
right now from head to toe

kind of taking in information
not labeling anything

so if there's tension you can
acknowledge that if you feel good

maybe there's something like anxiety
you can acknowledge that and

these things, these feelings, these things
that we're noticing inside the body

and the mind and in the emotional
system are part of our practice.

And so we'll do our very best to just
allow them to be there as we go through.

So let's begin by noticing the breath
rising and falling at the navel,

you're just going to notice the belly
expanding and contracting

like a wave, and just allow your attention
to notice that as you breathe

there's an expansion in the belly and as
you exhale there's a release in the belly

going back down. And we'll just stay
there for a couple breaths

before we begin to deepen it.
So as you're feeling into your breath

now begin to deepen it
towards your collar bone

so you're going to inhale from
the belly, once the belly feels full

you're filling up the sternum and then
the upper chest right to the collar bone

so when you're into a full exaggerated
breath, your inhale feels like a vessel

from the bottom to the top, and the
collar bone being the top of the glass.

now we're going to exhale and release from
the collar bone all the way back down

until you get to the lower belly.
So this is called diaphragmic breathing,

and one of the main areas we want to
hone in on, is the diaphragm itself moving

as you inhale and exhale. So you're going
to feel that underneath your rib cage.

So for this first breath, think about it
more as you're not trying to sink in,

you're trying to unlock the physical
breath structure, by using a little bit of

strength here on the breath. And you'll
feel the ribs opening. You'll probably

notice where you may be holding some
chronic tensions. Let's just take

a couple more of those, helping us get
into the body to prepare for practice

Something that can be helpful while you're
doing this and throughout the practice

is to relax all your face muscles.
So relax your jaw, relax your forehead

and your eyes, your mouth, just let
everything go and try to feel more

into a surrendered state. And then
we'll go into the second breath.

So we've started to get into the body.
The second breath is focused much more

on activating the
parasympathetic nervous system.

This is part of the goal of this practice
because when we're in parasympathetic

everything's working right
and we're in a relaxed state.

So to help augment that, I'm going
to focus on a prolonged exhale

so let's begin still doing
your diaphragm breathing

we start start with the count of 3 3 6.
So the first number is your inhale.

You're going to inhale to the
count of three, filling up.

You don't have to fill it to the
point where you feel strained

and once you fill up, you're going
to hold your breath for three

and let everything relax.
So when you're holding the breath

don't try to force anything
just let it settle and then exhale

to the long count of six out the nose.
So you're inhaling three,

holding for three, and exhaling for six.

And I know there's many of us at
every level of practice here,

so some of you might right away
move up to 4 4 8 or 5 5 10

if you find that your natural
breath control is much deeper,

but the key here is don't move up
by straining, you would only add a number

if it feels like that's softening into your
body, and you're not having to force it.

So inhaling first number, holding the
second number and the exhale

equals the inhale and hold. So let's say
you eventually moved up to 6 6 12

then you would always have the exhale
equaling the inhale and hold.

And this is a great breath to do whenever
you need it. Even during the day

you can take a couple minutes and do this,
and it will help to reset your system.

We'll just stay here
for another minute or so

Noticing where your tension is.
So one of the other key points

of the practice that we're doing
and about to go into is

we want to find the tension.
So it's a little different than

what we're used to, which is trying to
get away from the tension normally.

In this type of practice
you're going to allow yourself

to sink into the tension, and
be present with it as you find it.

So let's finish one more
of those complete breaths,

whatever number you're at
and then you're going to let it go.

Once you let it go, simply notice
the body from head to toe to fingertip

and you will already notice that
you're a little bit more in your body

most likely even after doing this
for about 5 minutes or so

Now as we move into the stretches,
we're going to do this practice

mostly on a lower body sequence
we're going to be working the hips

and the legs and the spinal column and
then we'll be doing another practice

after this, that will focus
more on the upper body.

So you're lined down you're just going
to turn over, or I'm going to turn over

and we're going to bend the knees
we'll have the feet flat

going to have the palms down by my side,
so we're going to work into what's called

spinal breathing. So I've got the shoulder
blades underneath me

now notice where your hip bones are
and you want to have your knees

the same distance apart and your heels
so that creates a straight line of energy.

Another big aspect of this particular
practice is we're going to build up

a lot of energy and Prana
circulating in the body.

I've got the palms down shoulder weights
underneath me I'm going to pull my chin

into my throat slightly,
so the back of my neck is open

and then the last thing is to tuck your
tailbone all the way between your legs

until there's no arch in your back and
you're going to see that's already

a fairly deep internal stretch on the
back of your abdominal cavity.

This position here is what it feels like
when you complete your exhale.

Chin tucked, tailbone tucked, palms and
shoulder blades down

and there's two parts of this breath.
The first part is just the spine,

as I inhale, come into a deep arch in my
spine, pull the breath all the way

to the upper chest and squeeze
your shoulder blades together.

and as you exhale, tuck your chin
and tailbone pull the diaphragm up,

and squeeze the breath out of your body.

Okay so we're going to inhale
expand and arch.

Exhale release, tuck
the chin and tailbone.

Right now you're still working the breath
that means we're not really concerned

with the natural breath yet, we'll be
doing that more in the holds. So here

you're deepening the breath and utilizing
the breath to move your spinal column.

We're just going to do a couple of these

and then we will be adding
the upper body to it.

Make sure I'm not going to
get hooked on the mic.

So on your next inhale,
you've exhaled tucked everything in,

on your inhale I'm going to start
to float the arms up like this,

now as I do, I want to splay the fingers
wide, rotate the palms outwards

and then reach all the way up into
a full arch of my spine like that,

[ this cord is kind of pulling up short ]

We are now going to exhale, as the exhale
happens the palms are down, and notice

that as I exhale further and further down,
I tuck the chin and tailbone,

I flatten everything out and press
the palms into the floor.

And then you release, relax,
inhale, receive the breath.

Expand, open the ribs,
rotate the palms out, exhale.

Palms are facing the floor coming down

Notice how deep of an elongation that is
to your spine as you tuck the chin

and tailbone and
bring the arms down.

It's actually one of the
deepest spinal stretches

because you really can't get
any further on elongation

unlike a forward fold, when you're bent.
When I do this and I draw the chin in

and pull the tailbone through
the whole spine is lengthened

and being pulled up and down,
so you're decompressing the discs.

Let's work that for one more.

Exhaling, tucking and then just relax
everything now and simply notice the spine

So throughout the practice we'll be
checking in and just noticing

what's going on. Feel your body and
be aware of any sensation of

internal energy which normally is going
to feel like flow, expansion, tingling

in the body, sometimes heat. We're going
to go through a full Yin stretch

for each hip now. So from this position
I'm going to take my left knee

and pull it to my chest and I'll explain
one thing here on Yin stretching.

The more you let go, the more you're in a
Yin stretch. So when I'm in a true Yin

stretch, I'm not flexing the target muscle
I'm allowing it to expand and release.

So what that looks like is I would take my
left hand and wrap it around the outside

or the inside of my knee and I'm going to
pull the leg open to the left side

as far out as I can and then just let
everything settle, and then

your right leg is just going to hang over
to the right side on its own

I want my chin tucked in a little bit and
you don't have to do anything here.

You can keep the arm down by your side or
maybe even better would be bring the arm

like that at 90° and it creates
a counterweight for the left leg.

Now my job is to simply focus my attention
on the area that's being stretched

So my awareness is on the left groin
and on the breath at the same time and

this is the most important component
of the practice is maintain

the awareness focused and whenever
you notice that you're back in your mind,

which will happen, find your breath
and find the body part.

So my attention is over here on the left
groin, and what I'm attempting to do

is simply be present with it, and not
resist anything that's occurring

just like you would do when you're
meditating you're witnessing it

and allowing it to naturally unfold
through the weight of your arm

you don't even have to pull the leg down.

And after about 45 seconds or so the
tendons will start stretching so in the

Yin stretch you're actually opening up the
connective tissue not just the muscles.

We're going to draw the left knee in now.
Inhale and just feel that stretch that

just took place in the drawing.
Exhale, pull the left knee to your chest,

and then sit your left ankle on your right
knee and we're going to get ready to go

into the hip opener. So I'll give you two
options here. The first one is slightly

more intense than the second. Your left
hand is going to slide between your legs

and grab the back of your right knee. Your
right hand meets it, you allow

the right knee to hang loosely and then
you pull the right knee towards you

until you hit a level that you think
is a maximum of 95%

So again, you're not forcing any stretches.
This is often a misconception in

modern yoga where it becomes really
more like a competition against yourself

or other people. You want to listen to
your body so if I'm at about 95%

that means there's a little bit of room to
give, that means the muscle is not locked

now my attention goes to my left glut and
immediately I find my breath and I begin

to allow the breath to really take on a
natural rhythm which will be a little

deeper than when you started so you're
both aware of the natural breath

coming and going and you're
aware of the left hip.

Now the alternative if this was
too much for you is to keep

your right foot down, reach up and grab
your left leg in the same position,

like this, and just pull the leg towards
you, so it's almost the same stretch

not quite as intense. And we'll be
here for a few more breaths.

Something else that's helpful is to keep
the chin tucked into the throat

that's always lengthening your neck and
spine. So remember that you're not trying

to change anything, you're simply
allowing the awareness to sink into

the area that's being stretched and over
time that awareness is what will do all

the work for you. As you know, you can't
force yourself to relax and you can't

force yourself to release tension.
You can try with the thinking mind

and normally all it does is the opposite
which is create more tension.

These stretches can easily be held for
5 minutes if you want to do

this on your own and that's
typical in a Yin practice

Then from here I'm going to allow
the right foot to come down and

I'll bring my arms out palms up in tea
posture. I'm going to wrap the left leg

around the right leg and then hook
the ankles. If you can

and if you can't that's fine. When I'm
twisting I want to do it on the exhale,

so I'm going to take a deep breath in and
then exhale drop your legs over to the

right as you turn your head to the left
and just let everything again settle,

surrender to gravity.

In this position now, obviously you're
opening the outside of your hip

but you're also opening up your chest
and your starting especially the chest

on the left side so if you notice your
left shoulder one little thing you

could add here, is to slightly contract
your left shoulder blade towards your

spine opening your chest a little further.
And your head is turned away from the legs

If this gets a little intense on your hips
you would place a pillow under the outside

of your leg supporting, so that you're
not going too far over.

Your awareness is directed to the outside
of the hip and also the left rib cage

or the left shoulder.
So this whole general area.

Always check in make sure you're relaxing
your face muscles they're not clenching.

So remember what you're doing is you're
meditating while you stretch,

and truthfully that's much more clear
definition of yoga, as yoga means to

bring together or coalesce. I'll talk a
little bit more about that later

in another class. From here we inhale
center, unwind the legs, and then we'll

just release them and give the
hips a break there for a second.

You're going to place the hands down
over the hip bones. I'm going to take

a breath into the hip bones, and exhale
down and out my legs like a wave.

Okay so just breathe where you feel
the hip bones and then follow

your attention down your legs and out
as you exhale this is called sweeping,

sometimes it's called flushing, there's
different names for these techniques

and they're all based on your ability to
concentrate. The more that you can

concentrate, the more
you can have an effect.

And notice how different the hip you just
worked on feels to the side you haven't.

Then from here we're going
to bend the knees, feet flat.

I'll begin by opening the right groin.
So pull your right knee to center

and then wrap yourhand around the inside,
the outside or another alternative is

to bring your arm up underneath the leg
like that, so it's really up to you

they're all going to do something
quite similar I'm going to draw

the leg out to the right side and then
allow the left leg to just flop over

and hang, then bring your left arm 90°
palms up, tuck your chin, and surrender

into the floor, surrender to gravity.
begin to be aware of both

the right groin and your breath.

Notice what is a deep but smooth breath,
when you're not controlling it you'll

notice that your breath is slowly taking
on a deeper rhythm without having to do

anything. And you may also notice that
now and again you require a deep breath

so listen to that if all of a sudden your
body wants to take an exaggerated

deep breath. maybe you're aware
of some tension then go with that.

And you'll see that little by little the
longer you hold these the more

that the area opens. So in a future class
we'll perhaps explore during the full

five minute holds. We're going to bring
the right knee back to center now.

And then take your right knee, just bring
it into your chest for a sec and take a

breath and then we'll sit the right ankle
on the left knee, and as you did

on the other side, thread through, put the
right arm between your legs,

grab the back of your left knee,
left hand meets it, relax the left knee,

tuck your chin in, and pull the knee
towards you until you hit a maximum

of 95% then hold steady and begin to
sink your attention and breath into your

right glute. And the alternative is the
same if this gets too much

you have your right foot down and
you're carrying your left leg towards you.

I didn't emphasize this on the other
side but make sure that your knee the

one that you're grabbing is completely
relaxed so you're not tensing up.

If you were to flex your left knee even a
little bit, notice how that starts

locking up your hips so just
keep that leg hanging loosely.

keeping the chin tucked in, you could
also try drawing the shoulder blades

a little bit towards the floor and that
will help open up the chest.

When I'm practicing my eyes are almost
always closed, because then I can feel

much more than when they're open. And
notice that when the eyes are open,

how that might take your attention
away from your body.

And then from here the left foot is going
to come down and then I'm going

to bring the arms out 90° palms up
or down if that's better for you.

Wrap the leg over, the right leg over
the left, take a deep breath in

and then drop over on the exhale just
allowing it to release as you go over.

Your head's going to turn away from
the legs and you want to keep

your right shoulder on the mat.
So if you were to go too far over,

you might see that the right shoulder is
pulling up. Try to use this right shoulder

as a gauge. If it's on the mat I'll allow
myself to go over. And then what will

happen is you'll not just feel the hip
opener you'll feel the stretch

move up to here. And this is where
you can also slightly squeeze

your right shoulder blade
inwards if you prefer.

Couple more breaths here.

Being aware of the feeling in the
stretch and the breath itself.

And then inhaling next inhale we'll
bring the knees back up to center.

Unwind the legs and just let your
legs go here.

Bring the arms down, feel into
your entire body line from head to toe.

What do you notice
different in your body now?

After having done, I believe
probably around 25 minutes.

So 25 minutes goes pretty quick
when you're mindful.

And notice how you can feel your body.

Probably quite a bit more
than when you started.

The most important thing to remember
is that that feeling of embodiment

is not coming really from the stretches,

it's coming from your awareness,
that you've been bringing

and cultivating into the body.

The effect of that, is it opens up all the
Nadis which is another word for meridians

in the system and you'll
be able to feel that.

Notice any areas that you can't feel yet
and that might give you an indicator

where the energy is not flowing as
strongly in the body.

So we're just going to do a little scan
for the next couple minutes

before we finish up.

There're many forms of scanning
and if you've done Yoga Nidra,

I highly recommend it,
It often involves body scans.

Then the deeper ones will go into some
of the energy rhythms in the body

which we'll explore over time.

So let's just do a generalized
scan with our breath.

First thing I'll do, is notice my
right hip and the right hip joint,

and you're going to take a
deep breath into your right hip.

And then exhale slowly down,
and out your right leg.

Noticing all the sensations
and again same thing.

And as you do that pay attention
to what are the sensations .

it's quite interesting. If you've
never felt energy before,

it's not as hard as you think.

Same thing on the left hip. Bring your
attention over and we'll be doing

two breaths into the left hip.

Breathing into the hip socket exhaling
down as though it all just flushes down

and out your foot on the left side.

Finishing the breath you're on now,
notice both of your legs

let the breath just breathe itself now and
just simply notice your hips and your legs

and what do you feel. Do both legs feel
equal or can you feel the circulation

more on one side, which is more common
as the energy circulates in our body often

not in balance. Normally one side we'll
have more energy, and one side

not quite as much. Just like one side
of the body is often weaker

and one side is tighter.

Okay now take one or two hands
and place it over your navel

and bring all of your awareness to the
belly button. The the belly button is

considered the life force center of the
whole body another way that

we learn to ground our energy
is by focusing at the belly.

So as you inhale, using your imagination,
imagine a little ball of energy expanding.

Maybe a little sun and as you exhale,
it just settles there.

And again as you inhale, even
more energy comes to the navel.

We'll do this a couple times.

Always noticing when the Mind tries to
wander. If it does, gently come back

to what you're doing,
or what you're not doing.

So finishing one more breath,
let that go and we'll get ready

to close out the practice, which in this
style that I'm teaching we always do

that in sitting. So if you can, just roll
over into fetal posture on one side.

And then we'll make our way back up to
sitting. If this was a longer practice

then often we would sit in Savasana for
a longer period of time just allowing the

integration factor. but after doing
all that, you probably will notice

that sitting is a little bit easier
than when you began.

So try to find a good stacked posture,
the sit bones are in place,

there's not an exaggerate forward or
rear arch in the lower back.

Shoulders are up and over brought
into place, the chin is tucked in gently.

Looking forward, just feel into
this strong posture for a moment.

Once again, closing the eyes.

Take a couple of deep breaths in
and deep breaths out, letting it go.

And then we're going to finish
with the closing movement,

I'm going to bring my arms out to
the side and we'll do this three times.

Inhaling up, imagine you're gathering
energy between your arms, and exhale down,

sweep it through both your body and
the energy field around the body.

If you want to bring in a visualization,
you could visualize the energy or a color

or just try to be in the feeling center.

The key as always is to be present, and
when you're present then something magical

can happen that normally doesn't happen
when we're stuck in our mind.

And the next time you come up
the palms come together.

When you're ready, then you'll come down
into prayer posture in front of the chest.

We always close focused at the heart.
Taking a moment here, noticing your heart.

Maybe there's an intention or prayer.

And then we'll close taking a bow.

Namaste.
Thank you.