Good morning everyone. Welcome to the new york model of the yoga for arthritis and chronic pain class. This is how we set up our drop in class. Everyone comes into the room comes into a restorative pose and has an opportunity to drop into parasympathetic engagement. It often takes a lot of effort, especially in New York, to get to class. And this pose gives you an opportunity to settle in and let go of all of that.

Reducing the pain response before class begins. By bringing everyone into this posture, it also allows the teacher to walk around the room and check in with each student, some new some returning, and find out how they're doing on that particular day if anything has changed, and if there's anything, any kind of information that would be important for the teacher to know. We're going to spend just a few more moments in this restorative posture. Before we begin In this position we'll begin class with three ohms together. Notice how the sound vibration feels just a little bit different when you're lying in this position as opposed to our usual position of sitting upright. Allow the sound vibration to reverberate throughout the body breaking up muscular tension.

Allowing a nice long exhale to calm the nervous system and bringing us together in community. Oh feel the effects of that own in your body and in the space around you. As you're ready, begin turning the head side to side allowing the head to rest on the bolster and just rolling side to side. You'll notice that this is a bit of a massage of the back of the head. only go as far as feels comfortable for you just starting to warm up the neck, the cervical vertebrae a little bit and then as you're ready, bring the head back to center. From here, draw the shoulder blades up and let them slide down along the sides of the bolster.

You do that a few more times drawing the shoulder blades up and and then give a little roll to the shoulder Feeling the shoulder blades sliding along the bolster, and then come forward alternating one shoulder and then the other as quickly or as slowly as feels good for you this morning as small or as large of a movement as you're ready for. I'm here begin to roll the wrist one way and then the other way. We go the fingers. Spread the palms wide and then bring the fingertips close to each other. You can make fists or bring the finger Tips toward the thumb. And then bring one finger at a time toward each toward the thumb.

And then shake out the hands and let them rest. Take a nice deep breath in and exhale with a sigh. Ah. Remove any support that you have from underneath the knees and bring the soles of the feet flat on the floor. Notice how this changes the alignment of the lower back and the pelvis. Ground through the feet, pressing the feet into the floor and give a little wiggle of the toes.

Rock back onto the heels and then lower the toes down. So you're tapping your toes in unison. And then alternate tapping one toe at a time. Again as quickly or as slowly as you'd like, as if the foot is pushing down a pedal. Notice the tracking of the hips, knees and ankles as you go. And then bring the feet to stillness.

Allow the legs to lower to the left side. You can bring a pillow underneath the lower knee, you can take your other pillow and bring it back Between the knees. If that feels good for you, getting just a little bit of a twist, feel the right shoulder dropping toward the bolster as the legs fall over to the left side. Notice any places where you're feeling this twist and send a nice breath of loving kindness to those places, encouraging them to soften and relax. If you'd like you can turn your head to the right or you can leave the head neutral and then as you're ready, bring the legs over to the other side. side, moving the pillows as needed to support you, shifting the pelvis if that is warranted.

Being mindful of your neighbor and then if you'd like you can turn the head toward the left. Arms can be resting on either side or you can bring the right hand to the outside of the left thigh. Find the breath and notice is it still full and deep? Notice where you feel the breath in the torso. Do you feel the ribs moving against the bolster in the back body? Do you feel the whole torso expand as you breathe?

Diaphragmatic Lee And then as you're ready, remove that and bring the knees back up to center. in your own time, allow that now to be a dynamic movement, allow letting the knees fall from one side to the other. Like windshield wipers. Notice as you do that, how the soles of the feet roll along the map, giving you a little bit of a foot massage as you go. If you'd like to turn the head with this, you can moving the head in opposition of the legs allowing the head to be supported by the bolster as you roll it from one side to the other. Now integrating the breath, inhale as the knees come up to center, exhale as they fall to one side.

And hell up to center and exhale to the side. And then as you're ready, bring the knees back up to neutral, feet flat on the floor. Just for a moment, notice the effects of that sequence on the body. Notice if there are any places in the body that are speaking to you. What are the messages that are being sent? And what might you do in response From here, lift the right toes up off the floor, keeping the heel pressing down into the mat and slide the heel away from you extending the leg on the floor.

Feel the extension in that right hip. And imagine that there's a wall in front of you that you're pushing away with that foot. And then slide the heel back towards you, bringing the foot flat on the floor again. Moving to the other side, lift the left toes off the floor, keeping the heel down, slide the heel away from you as though you're pushing a wall. And then stay there for a moment. Engaging all the muscles of the leg as if pressing away from you.

And then slide the heel back and bring the foot On the floor, moving through that in your own time with the breath, exhale as you press the hill away. Inhale as you draw the leg toward you, and then the other side, exhale as you press away and inhale as you draw it toward you. Now allow you a few moments to move through that at whatever pace feels right for you. Be mindful of the tracking of the hip, knee and ankle, it's an opportunity to pay close attention to that while gravity is not interfering. And then As you're ready, bring both soles of the feet flat on the floor again. Take a deep breath and let it go.

And then roll over to one side. Use the hands to support you as you bring yourself up to setting. You can continue to have the support of pillows or blocks underneath the knees. If you're sitting cross legged, you can also stay in Bound Angle keeping the soles of the feet together or move into any other position that's comfortable for you. sitting up nice and tall, find your seated to dossena or easy pose. Just check in with the body for a moment notice your alignment, shoulders back and down.

Over the hips nice long spine, chin and back and parallel to the floor. Crown of head reaching up toward the ceiling sits bones grounded into the floor. We'll share three ohms again in the seated position and held together Oh Allow that a moment to resume and then let it go into a little bit of side bending, bringing the right fingertips to the floor, taking a little bit of weight into the fingertips as you curve to the right side. Thinking about bringing the ear down toward the floor while keeping the shoulder relaxed. And some of you have taken the arm up alongside the ear and that's fine. If you're ready for that this morning.

It's also fine to keep your arms relaxed. Stacking shoulder over shoulder, feeling a nice side stretch in the left side body. And then use that right hand to press yourself up to center and come over to the other side fingertips to the floor on the left side, opening the left side body as you reach the left ear toward the floor. Perhaps adding the arm in whatever way feels comfortable for you this morning. breathing into that right side body, keeping the shoulder relaxed. And then press up to center.

Moving now dynamically, one side to the other, integrating with the breath, exhale to the side. Inhale up to center. Exhale to the other side and held up to center. Perhaps just this gentle sway of the torso one side to the other. And perhaps you take the arms with you and make that a larger motion. Swing from one side to the other.

Taking one arm and then the other overhead, whatever feels best for you. Right now. If it feels right for you, you can spend a little bit of extra time on one side, really feeling that side bend opening. And then as you're ready, settle on to center. Again, give a little roll of the shoulders and settle into stillness for a moment lengthened through the spine. Look over to one side.

Coming into a bit of a spinal twist here. Again, just a gentle warming up, twist. And then come back to center look over the other side. Keeping that nice long spine and then if you like moving dynamically from one to the other, you can take your arms with you as you twist and you can move through this without stopping in between on one side or you can spend a little while on one side, getting deeper into the twist. Again, exploring your twist this morning. being sure to protect the head and neck, making sure that this feels comfortable for your low back You might find that you want to take hand to the opposite knee as you go.

Explore the relationship between the movement and the breath in your body this morning. And when you're ready, settle back to center. roll the shoulders again, find the length in the spine, sit up nice and tall. And we'll move into seated cat cow. So drawing the belly button in toward the back wall behind you, allowing the back to round so that you come behind the sits bones as you curve the upper body forward. Take taking the nose toward the floor and then reverse that coming into cow lift.

The Solar Plexus forward as the shoulder blades draw back, opening the heart and throat, coming to the front of the sits bones. And moving through that with the breath, exhale as you round and inhale as you arch. Feel the massage of the shoulder blades as they slide along the back. Making this as deep or as shallow as you're ready for. Again, hanging out in either of these positions. If that feels like what's right for you right now You might find the hands resting on the knees here.

You might find them sliding down the legs as you move between cat and cow. And then as you're ready, settle into stillness. Again. Bring the palms together and create a little bit of friction and heat warm between the phones. And then separate the hands and feel that energy, the prana between the hands and then again, bringing the palms together. And now think about what part of the body would be most excited to get a little bit of this loving, warm When you feel enough warmth generated between the palms, bring the hands to wherever in the body is asking for a little extra loving kindness today.

Allow the body to absorb that loving kindness to soften. response to that healing energy emitted from the palms, the loving energy of the heart. And then bring the palms together again. And then think of one other place in the body that would love a little bit of warmth and attention. And when you're ready, bring the hands to that place. sending your love with the breath, thanking your body for all that it does for you.

All that it allows you to do in life and then release that. Shake it out and let the hands rest sit up nice and tall. Deep breath and just feel the effects of that experience on the body. As you're ready, move the support from underneath the knees and come over onto the hands and knees so you can just come forward onto hands and knees. You're not going to need the bolster set up behind you. So if you want to knock that down and move it out of the way, that's fine too, making more room We're only going to be here for a moment but you do have two blocks there.

So if your wrists are bothering you and you'd like to use the blocks under your forearms, or come on to fists. The knees are lined up underneath the hips. Again, you also have a blanket and a pillow there so you can rest the knees on those if that feels good. Find your table post. lengthen the spine, drawing the shoulders back and down. Engaging the core as you reach back behind you with the tailbone.

The feet are relaxed, extended straight behind the knees. And moving into a cat cow in this orientation, draw the belly in, round the back reaching the mid back up toward the ceiling. And then arch the back belly toward the floor had entail lifting up, and again, exhale around. Make sure that the elbows aren't locked. The insides of the elbows look toward each other instead of locking forward. moves, moving through this with the breath, exhale as you round and inhale as you arch.

And then find a neutral spine. Your table pose, shift the weight into the right knee, extend the left leg behind you, you can come into forced arch, tucking the toes under if you'd like or you can just rest the toes on the floor and find that length from that left foot to crown of head. If you'd like you can play with lifting the leg up behind you Either dynamically raising and lowering it or lifting and holding in that position. You can also play with a bit more of a balanced pose here by extending the opposite arm if you'd like to do that, or you can just let that left foot, rest on the floor. Find the right version of this for you this morning. And be sure that you're still breathing fully and deeply.

And then when you're ready, lower that down. Come back to table. Find the length of the spine here, the strength of the limbs and as you're ready, shift over onto the left side extend to the right leg. Again, either tucking the toes under or letting the foot rest on the floor. You can stay here or you can play with lifting and lowering or lifting and holding You can also play with extending the opposite arm if you'd like. And it's okay if your version of this pose is different on this side than it was on the other side.

We are asymmetrical beings. And then as you're ready, lower that down. Come into your version of a child's pose. So that may be sitting back on the heels. It may be puppy with the hips up in the air, you might want a little bit of support behind the knees. You might want a pillow under the forehead.

Your arms may be extended out in front of you, or they may be in cactus, or alongside the body. In any of these positions. Allow yourself to surrender to drop into the pose and to Take a moment to reflect on how you're feeling. Mind, body and spirit. Let it be a moment of surrendering anything that you might be able to surrender. And then from here, press up with the hands to sitting.

Come up onto the knees and you have a chair behind you. So if you haven't already move the props out of the way behind you and we're going to use the chair to come to standing so the chairs in front of you You might have a pillow or blankets underneath your knees. You're gonna take the weight of your hands into your chair and you have a few options here. You can tuck the toes under, and press up into a Down Dog at your chair, or you can step one foot forward and then step the other foot forward and come up to standing. Okay, so your two options are toast tucked under, down dog, and come up or step to the side. And step up.

Wonderful. We all made it. Okay, so come behind your chair. Did your chairs get to the front of your mats? Oh yeah, you had to look away from. Well, now you're in now you're all in a great orientation here.

So that works perfectly well. Oh, good morning. Let's find two dossena here. Guys to standing behind the chair. roll the shoulders back and down with the arms relax at your side, roll front and back on the feet. And just noticed the distribution of your weight here.

You might want to come all the way up onto your toes and back. Playing with that a little bit. And then when you're ready, settle on to center so that the weight is evenly distributed. from front to back, and then rock side to side, shifting the weight from one foot to the other. You feel a little sway of the body here. So we come on to our feet for the first time this in this morning's class.

And then as you're ready, settle into that place where your weight is evenly distributed between your two feet. And then close the eyes and bring your awareness in order to scan the body and notice any places that are talking to you. Notice not just the place but what do you feel could you name that sensation? Do you feel tingling? Do you feel fatigue Do you feel energized you feel heavy? And where are those sensations in the body and then gently open the eyes.

We'll do a sun salutation sequence here with the chair we've done a few times before. So if you want the gentler version of this, you're going to have the back of the chair facing you. If you'd like to go a little bit deeper with this, you can turn the seat of the chair to face You know, I'm going to do the gentler version. Make sure that there aren't any props behind you. I think most of them are off to the sides. So you're only going to need the mat and the chair.

From here, bring the hands to the heart. Take the arms out and up overhead arch slightly back. hinge at the hips full for bring the hands to the chair Step the left foot back, come into alignment. And spend a moment here. Dropping that heel toward the floor, feel a stretch in the calf, feel the opening in that left hip. Open the heart.

Looking out and up. And then from here, step the front foot back come into downward dog. Reaching the tailbone toward the wall behind you keep the knees soft. And then look toward your chair. For a shallow version of this, you're going to step close to your chair for a deeper version. You'll keep the feet further away as you bring the hips toward the chair, open the heart, into your Cobra and then back again into down dog.

Step the left foot forward come into a lunch on the left side Watch the tracking of the knee right over the ankle. The left heel is dropping back, stretching the calf, opening the right hip. Nice, tall, long spine. And then step the back foot forward hang over and forward fold. reach the arms out and up. Arch back.

Take the hands to the heart. Now moving with the breath, inhale up arch back. Exhale, fold forward, hang over and held the right leg steps back into a lunge. Exhale the left leg steps back downward dog. Inhale, come forward into Cobra. Exhale, back to down dog.

Inhale, step the right foot forward. Exhale, step the left foot forward, hang over. Inhale, take the arms out and up, arch back. Exhale, bring the hands to the heart. And again, inhale up. Exhale falls in her left leg back into a lunge.

Exhale, right leg back downward dog. Inhale, come forward for Cobra. Exhale, back to down dog. Inhale, right left leg forward lunge. Exhale, right leg forward hanging over. Inhale, arms up, arch back.

Exhale, hands to the heart. One more time. Inhale up. Exhale, fold. Inhale right leg back to lunge exhale left leg back down dog in helpful or to Cobra. Exhale back to down to inhale right leg forward to lunge.

Exhale, left leg forward hanging over. Inhale arms up arch back. Exhale hands to the heart and release the arms fine to death and settle into this for a moment just feeling the effects of that sequence. We've warmed up the whole body moved it in all planes lubricated all joints. Notice your heart rate notice a blood flowing through the body Notice your breath pattern. Notice any fluctuations of the mind.

Notice how your body is making constant adjustments here in this Tadasana to stay stable and balanced just as in life and then release. We're gonna do tree pose standing behind the chair here, okay? So start playing with shifting the weight side to side. noticing your center of gravity shifting from one side to the other. And then as you're ready, let the weight settle into the left foot. Imagine that you're spreading that foot and pressing it down into the mat.

Imagine that that foot is growing roots. The knee is soft, there's space between the thigh bone and the hip socket. And then the right hip rotates out the ball of the foot on the floor. You can draw that foot in coming into a little bit of a kickstand. And if you'd like you can bring the foot higher up on the leg. From here, lengthening through the spine, drawing the shoulders back and down.

Being sure that the knee isn't locked, that you aren't sinking into the hip, creating length through that whole left side body. If you'd like you can play with taking one arm off of the chair bringing the hand to the hip or the shoulder or up overhead. You might choose to stay there or you might choose to With your balance a little bit more by taking the fingertips off of the chair even for just a moment or coming into whatever position of the arms. It's available to you this morning. Notice in this pose how the adjustments that you make in order to stay stable, are more noticeable. We are never still always adapting and adjusting to the moment as it arises.

You can do this with eyes open or if you want more of a balancing challenge. You can try it with eyes closed. Knowing that the chair is always there to support you and you always have the option of putting the foot down when you're ready Lower. Shake that out find to dossena again and now notice any differences between the two sides of the body. Notice if you feel lighter or heavier, cooler or warmer. And then as you're ready, start to shift the weight over onto the other side.

Spreading that right foot, pressing it down into the floor, growing roots on the right side, lengthening in the right hip. Opening the left hip to create your kickstand. Perhaps bringing the foot in toward the opposite leg. Finding a position for that foot that feels right for you. Creating length on the left side lane through the whole spine. And as you're ready, you can play with whatever position you'd like to use for the arms.

Perhaps keeping one arm on the chair. Perhaps playing with taking it off for a moment or for a while. Maybe even playing with eyes open or eyes closed. Allow yourself to feel playful with this curious, let it be an exploration and then as you're ready come out of that. Shake it out and find yourself on two feet. Give yourself a little wiggle, shake out the legs.

Shake out the arms. shake out the voice. Ah Take a deep breath and sigh a guy standing at the chair here want to step a little bit wider than you normally do. And we're going to do a forward fold here you can choose to have the back of the chair facing you, or you could choose to turn it around and bring this seat toward you which is going to go a little bit deeper. Okay. And again, you can, you can keep a slightly wider stance or you can choose a much wider stance.

Just make sure that You're mindful of your neighbor. So in this position, we're going to hinge forward at the hips and bring the fingertips to the chair. Keeping a nice long spine and you might stay here. Make sure that the knees are soft and not locked. If you'd like to go a little bit deeper, you can come down further and lower the forearms. If you want something in between that, you can put a block down on the seat and lower the forearms to the block and then it won't be quite as deep as forearms on the seat of the chair.

If you feel like you still have more room available here, you can lower the forehead down to the chair. These are padded seats. So and then when you're ready, bring the hands back to the chair if they've come down to the floor. Lengthen through the spine, open the heart, bring the hands to the thighs. Keep a nice long spine as you walk yourself back up to standing, walk the feet back in and shake that out. We're going to come to sitting in the chair now.

So you can flip the chair around. Take hold of the right side, driving toward you set up nice and tall. And then lower that down. Take hold of the other thigh, draw it in toward you sit up nice and tall. So imagine that you're drawing the sternum toward the knee and the knee toward the sternum. boulders backing down, full deep breath and lower.

And again to the right side dried up. Find the length in the spine, this time rotate the hip externally, bring the ankle to the knee. If this is not available, you can bring the block next to you and drop the foot down to the block. Just make sure that your ankle is comfortable here, that you're not putting too much pressure on that ankle. We've all done different legs somehow. I think that's going to be fine.

So your supporting leg you want to make sure that the ankle is right underneath the knee. That the knee is in line with the help that you're sitting up nice and tall. And then I want you to hold on to your for stability as you begin to lean forward. If you feel stable and secure here and you want to bring the hands to the thighs, you can do that. Just make sure that you're safe. And if you've gone pretty deep into this and you'd like to release forward and let the head hang, that is also an option.

And then as you're ready, lengthen up, take hold of that leg and lower it down to the floor. And then the other side, hold on to the thigh, draw the knee in, sit up nice and tall. And then externally rotate that hip, bringing the foot onto the opposite knee or bringing the foot down to a block. And then from here, you can hold on to the chair or you can bring the hands to the thighs, hinge forward and hang all over. If you'd like to release the whole upper body forward, that's an option too. And then from here, lengthen up, take hold of that lag and lower back down.

Give yourself a little massage and lower legs, the calves, the hamstrings. Thank them for what they're about to do. Okay, so come all the way to the edge of your chair and we're going to start just by taking The torso backward and forward. And then take it around in a circle like you're stirring a pot of soup with your spine. I like the musical chairs and go the other way. Yeah, it's like a little percussion ensemble.

And then come back to center where all the shoulders shake the arms out, bring the hands to the thighs. We're going to move into a version of chair. But we're going to do it by making use of momentum. So we're going to rock backward and forward with the tour. So like we just did Then we're going to integrate the breath so that we can use both that momentum and the breath to bring ourselves up off of the chair. Remember, we talked about how the difference between living independently and not living independently is often a reverse half squat.

So this is a reverse half squat. Okay? It's a major life skill. As we age, we want to make sure that we maintain the ability to do that. So, let's start again by rocking back and forth. And now we're going to start to integrate the breath.

So every time you go back, inhale, and when you go forward, exhale and then make your exhale a little bit more forceful. Make your movement bigger so that the weight is coming into your feet and out of them on your feet may even come off of the floor. And then as you're ready, we're gonna make this a big one. And come up. Stay here, share posts. Okay, feel the quadriceps muscles here.

Can you feel them engaged. See if you can sit with that and breathe. Take the arms into any position that feels good for you. The tailbone is reaching back. And then find the chair behind you. And come back again.

Whoo. Thank you legs for that. We're not done. All right, we're gonna do that again with a little less momentum and breath. So we're just going to go backward and forward one time, and then come up. So it looks like this.

And back down. Okay, ready? inhale, exhale. Inhale, up and down. Again, inhale, exhale. Inhale, up and stand.

Lower the arms down all the shoulders. Shake it out. Okay. All right. Wonderful. Okay, reach back.

Come to sitting down again. Let's do a heart opener. So now we're going to slide all the way back in the chair, feel the support of the chair behind you. You can take the hands to either side of the chair Or you can take them all the way to the back of the chair. Open up the heart and gaze up toward the seam where the ceiling meets the wall or as high as feels comfortable for your neck, feeling an opening in the throat and opening in the sternum. And you can go as deep into this is feels good for you this morning, sliding the hands down if that feels good.

Ensure that the back is protected and supported by the chair behind you. If you'd like to deepen this, you can take the arms up overhead and reach back a little bit higher as long as that's not too much compression. And then gently bring yourself back up. Take the right thigh, bring it up, cross it over. Sit up Tom And then gaze over the right shoulder. So you can keep the left hand on the knee, you can take the arm to the outside of the leg.

If you have that available, you can hold on to the side of the chair or the back of the chair. Just be sure that in this twist, you're not forcing or pulling into the position. That that the work that you're doing here is using the core muscles surrounding the spine, not the strength of the arms. Reach the crown of head up toward the ceiling. And then released and come back to center. Take hold of that leg lifted up, lower it down.

And let's switch to the other side. Hold on to that thigh. Cross the leg over sit up nice and tall. You can place the hand on the knee You can bring the arm to the outside of the leg, you can hold on to the side or the back of the chair in any of these positions. Be sure that you find the length in the spine, the space between the vertebrae turn and look over your shoulder. And then release.

Come back to center. Come forward just to touch so that you can reach around back behind you. Take hold of opposite wrist or elbow, bring the hands to the lower back, just reaching around behind you. You can bring the soles of the feet together if you'd like or you can keep the feet flat on the floor. Tuck the chin toward the chest, just bringing your focus inward. seal in the benefits of this practice.

Thank yourself for your practice. thank yourself for all that you're able to do. All that you do do. And take a moment to be grateful for anything else that arises in the moment. Count just a few of your many blessings. And then as you're ready, lift that up, and then release that.

We're gonna move into relaxation, and you have a few options. You're already sitting in a chair. You could do the relaxation ship sitting in the chair, you can bring the chair to the wall so that you can rest your head against the wall. You have the chair available so you could come to lying on the floor and bring your feet onto the chair where you can lie all the way down to come to the floor. Stand at the chair, hinge at the hips. Bring the hands to the seat of the chair, lower one or both knees to the floor and then come to sitting.

Okay, we have an array of props available. So, consider what you might like to use to get into your most lovely relaxation. And I'll come around to cover you adjust you bring you anything you might need. In this position, lengthen the left to leg lifted just to touch off of the floor or the chair. Squeeze all the muscles of the leg tight, tight, tight. let it drop.

Rocks I decide and let it go. Length The left leg lifted up, squeeze it tight, tight, tight, tight. Let it go. Drop it side, roll it side to side, and release. Notice the pelvis, squeeze the muscles of the pelvis, lift the hips up off the floor, and drop. Rock the hips side to side and let them be.

Take a deep breath into the belly. Let it expand in all directions. Hold the breath for a moment. And let it go. And then draw the belly and toward the spine. Squeeze the belly toward the spine and release.

Draw the shoulders up toward the ears and drop. Draw them up toward the chest and drop. Draw them back shoulder blades in and release. Let the shoulders relax. lengthen the ride Arm reach it out, spread the fingers. Make a fist, squeeze the arm tight.

Let it go rocket side to side and leave a B. lengthen the left arm out, spread the fingers, make a fist, squeeze it tight and lower. Let it rock side to side and let it be lifted the head just an inch off of the floor and lower it down. Spread the muscles of the face wide and release. scorn the muscles of the face toward the tip of the nose and really make any adjustments to the body. Allow it to be settled and still Become aware of the tips of the toes and let them soften. Feel a wave of relaxation that moves from the toes to the balls of the feet tops of the feet, arches, heels and ankles.

Let it move up to the calves and shins, softening the knees, the thighs, the hips and pelvis. The whole lower body is relaxed. Feel the relaxation move up the sides of waist, soften meaning the abdominal organs below back. Let it move up to the rib cage relaxing The heart and lungs, the shoulder blades and the collarbone. The torso is relax. Become aware of the fingers and let them soften and feel the relaxation move from the fingertips up to the palms, the backs of the hands the wrists.

For arms, elbows, upper arms and shoulders. The arms are relaxed. Soften all the muscles of the face. All the muscles surrounding the skull, head and face are relaxed. The whole body is relax. Become aware now with the breath.

Full, deep, easy breath. Trying in what you need letting go of what you don't. each exhale is just a little bit longer than the one before. each exhale allows you to sink deeper into this relaxation. Become aware now of the mind. Notice any thoughts moving through the mind and allow the mind to relax.

Let go of any unnecessary thoughts. Mind has nothing to do right now except to be allow it to be open and clear free of concern. resting in contentment with the breath and the body enjoying a few moments here In your natural state of deep inner peace slowly become aware of the breath again and allow it to deepen on New Energy into the body that moves to the fingers and toes, allowing them to wiggle. You might turn the head side decide, reach overhead or stretch and whatever way feels good as you become aware of your body and the space around you again. When you're ready, gently roll over onto one side for a few more breaths. If you're lying against an elevated bolster, be mindful as you come off of it.

Coming on to one side without toppling over and take a few more breaths there. As you're ready, gently push yourself up to sitting using your arms for support. You have a chair there you can choose to sit in the chair or on your bolster or pillow. Finding a nice long spine, shoulders back and down. For the breath, clear open mind will chant Ohm Shanti responsively and then share a minute in silent meditation with the focus of your choice on Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti The entire universe be filled with peace and joy, love and light Namaste Thank you