10 minute Stress Relieving Stretch // Somatic Chair Yoga

Hello and thank you for joining me for this 10-minute stress relieving stretch. I've incorporated some somatic elements in this quick stretching workout, so I really want you to think about connecting the mind and the body. So think about what's bothering you, feel where you hold that tension in your body, maybe it's your shoulders, maybe it's your lower back, putting the mind where the muscle is and allowing yourself to relax. So as we begin, sitting in our chair, feet are at a 90 degree angle, knees bent at a 90 degree angle right underneath and then sitting up nice and tall and then sitting a little bit in front of your chair as well so your back is not pressed up against the back. Grow long and then engage your core, belly button is pulled into the spine, shoulders down and back. Big inhale, arms come up, flip your palms to the sides, exhale, push down. So think about big dynamic flow here. Inhale, exhale, push down. As we inhale, think of positive thoughts, exhale, push the negative ones away. Inhale, negative energy, push it away. Last time, inhale, exhale, push down. Hands on top of the thighs, we're going to come in a little circle with our waist or torso here. So leaning to the side, coming forward, tucking the pelvis, coming all the way back. So think of like a, I like to think of like we're stirring a pot of motion with our torso. As you lean back, you tuck the hips. As you lean forward, proud chest, hips go back. That should feel really good on the lower back, shoulders stay down and back. Let's reverse that direction. Make this as big as you can. Maybe hold an area that feels good to you if you're noticing some tension and allow it to release. Last time. Okay, coming back to a seated tall position, hands on the side of the chair. I want you to allow your knees to fall to the side, coming to the sides of either foot and then to the other side. So you're feeling a nice stretch on the outside of the legs. It's a great workout for hip mobility, supporting yourself again on that chair. Keep the shoulders pressed down and back. And just like a little windshield wiper movement here for our legs. You might notice you're more flexible on one side and that's totally normal. Inhale and a few more. And let's come back to center and readjust. So again, knees straight up from the hips, ankles underneath those knees. Holding onto the side of your chair with your left hand, right hand comes up, big stretch over to the side. And then I want you to bend the elbow and squeeze it down and back behind you. So we reach over and squeeze back. Inhale. Exhale. It's like you're putting your elbow in your back pocket. Inhale. Exhale. One more time. And lower the hand other side. Inhale, reach up, big stretch over. Slide it down. Inhale. Feeling that stretch in front of the shoulder as we squeeze that back muscle, elbow down and back. And last time. Releasing both arms down to the side, out to the side. Then I want you to round forward. Again, tuck your pelvis, round the spine, maybe gazing at your navel. And then open up, hold onto the sides of your chair, the proud chest or chin up. And again, come forward, reach back and stretch. Let your heart shine forward. Proud chest, we come forward. Open and stretch. Again, round forward. Open and stretch. Hold here. Again, maybe with some tension on the sides of your chair. Chest again, proud and happy. Drop your chin. If it feels good to you, kind of shake your head side to side. Or yes and no. Whatever feels good to you. Your shoulders are down and back. And that comes back to neutral. And we lift it and relax the arms down. Fingertips on top of the shoulders. Again, as tall as we can. Navel pulled into the spine. We twist to the side. Come back to center. Twist and center. Think of like wringing out a dishcloth, right? Squeezing. All right, lower the hands to the side, keeping that same movement. But now, let's lose that control. And we're going to pick up speed. And I just want you to kind of swish your arms side to side, twisting that torso, still pulling up nice and tall. Just let it go. Loosey goosey. It's like you're flinging or washing away, right? Making something new, whole again, or clean. Just let it go. Whatever negative thoughts or bad feelings that you're harboring, don't even think about it. Just twist side to side. Continue breathing how it feels comfortable for you. And then let's slow it back down. Hold the twist over to the right. A little pressure on the outside of that knee. And hold that twist to the side. Maybe your arm comes back to make it a little bit deeper. Inhale. Exhale. Come back to center. Let's hold the other side again. Maybe the arm comes back like you're trying to turn around in a seat to talk to someone behind you. Inhale and exhale. Return to center. Okay, taking our leg now, crossing in a figure four position. So either at the ankle or if you're able to, above on that thigh, making sure that knee is square to the front. From here, we're going to do like a little rippling cat cow motion in this figure four to really get into that hip. So we're going to lift our chin. Our chest comes forward, deeper into that stretch. Then we drop the chin and round the back starting with that tailbone. Roll it up. So again, think of a nice, fluid, dynamic movement here. And round. Forward. And last time. Same thing. Other side. Cross at the ankle or help above that knee. Shoulders down and back. Lift the chin. Proud chest. We come forward. Releasing into that stretch. Lose the tension. This is great for the lower back and the hips. Again, big dynamic movement here. Making these as big as you can. Forward. And release. Take a moment here to think about, mindful of where you're feeling. How are you feeling? Are you loosening up? Are you letting it go? I want you to take a big inhale. Arms come up and shake everything out. So shake the arms as you bring down. We inhale up. Exhale. Shake it off. Whether it's an icky feeling, a negative thought, something that has not been serving you well. Inhale. Control what we can control. Inhale. Throw away the object, worry, or thought that is not serving you. Last time. Inhale. Exhale down. Hands on top of the thighs again. Drop the chin. Heavy neck. Roll to the side. Ear to shoulder. Shoulders pressed down and back. Come back to center. Roll to the other side. Again, think heavy neck. You come back to center and lift the chin. A couple shoulder rolls back. I know sometimes it can feel like you're holding the weight of the world on your shoulders. You're not. Loosen it up. Give me two more. And last one. Let's finish with a big inhale. Arms come up and come down to prayer. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope you feel better. Let me know in the comments. I love hearing from my viewers and we'll see you next time.