25 Minute Evening Yoga Ritual | Full Body Slow Stretch

Namaste. Welcome. This is a 25 minute evening ritual yoga class. A gentle, grounded, slow practice that you can do right before bed to help you unwind and relax after a long day. No props are necessary for this class. We'll begin in a comfortable cross-legged seat, sitting tall through the spine and resting your hands either in your lap or on your knees. Soften the shoulders down. Relax your face and close your eyes. Beginning to create space between the day you just had and arriving on the mat in this moment right now. Take a couple deep breaths here, giving yourself time to ease into your practice. Take a big breath in and as you breathe out, let go of your day. Let go of any lingering thoughts. Breathing in smooth and really emphasizing your exhale. Big breath out. One last big inhale here and as you exhale, take a big sigh out. Clearing out and letting go. Now begin to breathe in and out through the nostrils. Become aware of your physical body. Become aware of how you feel. Mentally preparing to give yourself these next 20 minutes or so to be fully present. This is your time for yourself, so enjoy it. Gently blink the eyes open. We'll begin with neck stretches. Interlace your hands into a fist behind your back and bring your hands over to the outside of your left hip. Hug your elbow in towards your midline and drop your left ear toward your left shoulder. Feel a stretch along the right side of your neck as you keep breathing. Stay here or you can gently start to find neck rolls. Moving your chin towards your chest and then lifting your chin up. Repeating this if it feels good and just listening to your body and take a moment to come back to stillness. Bring your head back to center and then we'll switch sides. Bring your fist over to the outside of the right hip. Hug your right elbow in and then drop your right ear to your right shoulder. Allow the left shoulder to press down, opening up the left side of the neck. Nice full breaths. Keep the head still or find gentle half rolls. Lowering and lifting the chin. Just finding what feels good for you. Bring your head back to center. Release your hands to the side. As you inhale, extend the arms out wide and up overhead. Palms touch. As you exhale, bring the hands down to heart center. Again, inhale. Extend the arms out and up. Palms touch. Exhale. Cactus the arms. Bend the elbows. Draw the arms back and push the heart forward. One more breath. Eagle arms. Wrap your right arm under and around your left arm. Bring the right fingertips to press into the left palm. Squeeze the arms together. Now if you can't wrap the arms all the way around, another option is to simply cross the right arm under the left and place your hands on opposite shoulders. So find your variation. Sitting up tall through the spine and then actively draw the elbows down, stretching the tops of the shoulders. Take three breaths here. As you inhale, lift the arms up. Exhale. Cactus the arms. Bend the elbows. Draw the arms back. One more breath. Eagle arms. Wrap your left arm under and around your right arm this time. Bring the left fingertips to press into the right palm. Squeeze the inner arms together. Again, option is simply cross the arms and place your hands on top of the shoulders. Feel the shoulder blades draw apart and then draw the elbows down towards your belly, stretching the top of the shoulders. Take three breaths. Inhale. Reach the arms up. Exhale. Cactus the arms. Plant the hands down. Come through tabletop pose on hands and knees. Tuck the toes. Press into the palms and lift your hips for downward facing dog. Spread the fingers wide as you lift through your pelvis. Keep your left leg straight by pressing your left heel down and then bend your right knee, lifting your right heel up off of the mat. Keep your toes on the ground or lift your right foot up completely and start to find circles with the ankle, rolling your foot in one direction and then the opposite. Good. Place your right foot down, pressing into the heel. Bend your left knee, coming up on the left toes. Stay here or start to lift your left foot and roll out the ankle, moving in both directions. Left foot comes down. Press evenly into both heels. Take two deep breaths here. Keep your feet where they are. Walk your hands towards the back of your mat, meeting your feet. Fold over your legs for ragdoll. Bring hands to opposite elbows. Bend the knees and let the head and neck hang heavy. Take a big breath in. Open the mouth. Exhale the breath out. Let go of any tension. If you'd like a little bit of a deeper stretch, you can wrap your arms around the back of your legs, maybe bringing hands to opposite elbows here and drawing your belly closer towards your thighs. Ground down through the feet. Continue to breathe and slowly release your hands out in front of you, walking back out to down dog. Drop your knees to the ground for tabletop. Stack your joints and move through cat and cow, stretching the spine. As you inhale, drop the belly, lift the gaze. As you exhale, round through the back. Bring your chin to your chest and continue to move at your own pace. Flow with the breath. It might feel nice to shift your weight back and forth, rolling the spine as you transition back and forth from cat to cow. Pay attention to how your body feels here. Come back to a straight spine in a neutral tabletop. Bring the knees slightly wider than hip width and then flip the hands so the fingers are facing towards you. Start to move through your cats and cows again, getting a stretch in the wrists and creating more space in the hips. A few more rounds here. Come back to tabletop. Flip the hands and bring the knees under the hips. Extend your left leg behind you. Tuck your toes and then kickstand your right foot for gate pose. Hips and chest facing the left side. Ground down through your left foot and right hand. As you inhale, extend the left arm up towards the ceiling. Pause here. On your next exhale, bring your bicep towards your ear, reaching your fingertips for the front of the mat. Big side body stretch. Round through the upper back. Plant your left hand down. Come back to tabletop with your left leg still extended. Lift your left foot up and then draw your left knee into your chest and step your left foot forward for a grounded low lunge. Hands framing your left foot. Press your hips down and feel a stretch in the front of your right hip. Take one more breath and then take a gentle twist to the left. Place your left hand on top of your left thigh. Chest opens up to the left as you gaze to the side. Plant your left hand down, hips facing forward, half split. Straighten out your left leg for a hamstring stretch. Inhale to lengthen through the spine and as you exhale, fold forward. Let your head and neck relax. Take three to five breaths here. Lift your gaze. Walk your hands forward. Come back into a grounded low lunge. Tuck your back toes. Lift your back knee and come into downward facing dog. Two to three breaths here. Drop your knees down for tabletop. Extend your right leg behind you. Tuck the toes and then kickstand your left foot for gate pose. Place your left hand down and reach your right arm up. Take a big breath in. As you exhale, bring your bicep towards your ear, reaching your fingertips to the front of the mat. Breathe into the side body. Feel your ribs expand and then round through the upper back. Plant your right hand down. Come back to tabletop with your right leg still extended. Lift your right foot up and then draw your right knee into your chest. Step your right foot forward for grounded low lunge. Hands framing your right foot, press your hips down. Feel a stretch in front of your left hip. Take one more breath. Gentle twist to the right. Place your right hand on top of your right thigh. Chest opens up to the right as you bring your gaze to the side. Plant your right hand down, hips facing forward, half splits. Straighten out your right leg for a hamstring stretch. Inhale, lengthen through the spine. As you exhale, fold forward. Let your head and neck relax, bringing your forehead to your knee or your shin. Take three to five breaths here. Lift your gaze, walk your hands forward, come back into a grounded low lunge. Tuck your back toes, lift your back knee, and step your foot back into downward facing dog. Take two breaths. Drop your knees, come into tabletop pose. Keep the hips stacked over the knees and walk the hands out for melting heart pose. Press your forearms into the ground and rest your forehead on the mat. Opening up the shoulders, the chest. Relax the neck and the jaw come back to tabletop. Cross the ankles, come into a seat and make your way all the way down onto your back. As you lean back, hug the knees into your chest and wrap your arms around the shins, giving yourself a hug. We'll come into reclined pigeon pose. Place your left foot on the ground and cross your right ankle on top of your left thigh, actively pressing your right knee away from your body. Pausing here, or you can lift your left foot up off of the mat, interlacing your hands behind your thigh or your shin, hugging your legs closer in towards your body, still pressing your right gently release your grip, placing your left foot on the ground. Keeping your right leg crossed, we'll come into a twist. Extend the arms out wide and just drop your legs over towards the left side. So the bottom of your right foot will come down onto the ground, coming onto the outer blade of your left foot. You can bring your left hand on top of your right ankle for support if you'd like, or just keep the arms out wide. Take a couple deep breaths here in your twist and then gently bringing your legs back to center. Plant your right foot on the ground and cross your left ankle on top of your right thigh, pressing your left knee away from your body. Stay here or lift your right foot up off of the ground, interlacing your hands, hugging your knees closer in towards you, focusing on the stretch in your left hip, coming into a twist, bringing the legs over towards the right side, left foot on the ground. Right hand will come to your ankle or you can reach the arms out wide. Keep pressing your shoulder blades down into the ground. Breathe into your twist and with your next breath, slowly bring your legs back towards center, uncrossing your left leg, coming into happy baby, bringing your arms inside of your legs, wrapping your fingers around the outer blades of the feet, and then drawing the knees towards the outer ribs, opening up both of your hips, maybe rocking from side to side. Whenever you're ready, you can slowly release your feet, preparing for our final resting pose, Shavasana. Bring your legs wider than your hips and let your feet fall apart. Bring the arms away from the body, palms facing up, shoulders relaxed and away from the ears. Close your eyes down. Take a big, deep inhale. Open the mouth and take a long, slow exhale. Again, big breath in and a big breath out. Once more on your own. As you lie here, notice your breath moving in and out of your body. Let your breath follow its natural cycle. Don't try to control it. Just be aware of how naturally it occurs. With each inhale, experience a sense of expansion and openness in the body. With each exhale, a feeling of relaxation and peacefulness. Every time you exhale, let go of any tension in your muscles. See if you can let go of the weight of your arms, legs, head, the whole body. Allow yourself to melt further down into the earth, letting go completely to the gravity. As you lie here breathing, notice the aliveness in your body, the blood flowing into your veins, your heart beating, your breath slow and calm. Allow things to be just as they are. Find a sense of coming home to your body, a sense of everything being connected. Allow your body to be just as it is. And allow yourself to be just as you are. You are whole and complete, perfect, breathing and alive. Feel free to stay here in this state for a few more minutes, allowing the body to feel the effects and the benefits of the practice. And this is where I will leave you here for now. Thank you so much for joining me on the mat for this evening ritual flow. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your night and I'll see you again soon. Namaste.