The expert in anything was once a beginner.
Hello and welcome to episode 333 of Namaste Yoga.
Today is a complete beginner yoga class. So I have a couple of testimonials for
us to start today so that you know you're in the right spot.
This is one from Elizabeth via YouTube on our beginner yoga how to do Sun
Salutation class which was Namaste Yoga 2.94 and she said I love this very
clear explanation of a popular series of poses. Excellent adaptations suggested
for various possible levels. Sun salutations can be intimidating in my
opinion for the beginner. Melissa showed me how to start with confidence and
patiently practice to improve. Stacy said just finish this class and my whole
body feels amazing. I can really feel the improvement in my circulation and in my
joints as you said. I've struggled and powered through a couple of rounds of
Sun Salutations before but this step-by-step approach made it much easier
for me to keep up and fully receive the benefit of Sun Salutations. I think I
might make this a regular part of my practice. One of my favorites of your
classes, Melissa. Thank you. So thank you to Stacy and Elizabeth for your
testimonials. I really appreciate it when you leave your comments on YouTube,
Facebook, on Instagram, on my website, in our membership community, or on Speakpipe
in my website. It's always great to hear from you. So thanks to Squeeze Yoga
Clothing for my clothes. Today I'm wearing a red bamboo long-sleeved hoodie and I'm
also wearing gray leggings. And thanks to Dusky Leaf for my props. I've got a
yoga mat today. If you don't have a yoga mat, that's fine. You can do it on your
floor. You are going to need a chair today for today's practice to help you
with balance or and you're also going to need a chair for the inversion. Today
we're going to do legs up a chair. So a chair and a mat or if you don't have a
mat, you can probably just do this on your floor or a soft surface. Something
that has a little bit of padding and that'll be good. So before you do a yoga
class, you need to just check in, know about what injuries you have, any medical
conditions you have, and you need permission from your doctor to participate
in a exercise program or a yoga program. So check in with your doctor and just
see are there any movements that will make my conditions worse or are there
any conditions that will make any movements that will make my conditions
better. So just make sure that you check in with your doctor and see if there's
anything that you shouldn't be doing if you have a medical condition or an
injury so that when you come to your first yoga class you know that if there's
anything that you shouldn't be doing. So you are your own best teacher and you
need to be looking after yourself together with your doctor and making
sure you're taking care of your own injuries and medical conditions in a
yoga class. So I want to give you a preview of what to expect in today's
class. We're going to start with a guide of relaxation and centering. Now I'm
going to go through this quickly just so that you can know what to expect and
know if this is a class that's going to be doable for you. But rest assured when
we go through this class I'll be showing you step by step nice and slow with
lots of modifications all the way through. I just want you to know what's
going to be happening and what's coming up all the way through the class so that
there are no surprises. So we're going to start with a guided relaxation just to
translate transition from your the busyness of your day-to-day life. So
that will look like lying on your back probably with your knees bent and your
feet flat on the floor. Then you'll have your arms up to the side and you'll go
into some nice ways and then you're going to come into a hip stretch that
looks like that and from there we'll come up onto all fours and you're going to do
a pose called cat pose where you'll be stretching out your spine. I'll give you
lots of modifications for your wrists here and then we're going to be coming
to the part where we'll be using a chair. You're going to be doing lunge pose
which you might use the chair for and then we're going to come into parj-votsna
again you might use the chair for it and then we're going to come up to standing
we're going to do from standing we're going to do chair pose to strengthen
your legs then we're going to do tree pose a balancing posture and then we're
going to come back down you're going to use that chair again we've got a chair
up over on the rock up there you'll use the chair and you'll have your legs up
on the chair like this and then from here you'll be coming onto your stomach and
we'll do a little back bend for your back
so you'll be like this and then you're going to come up to seated and from
seated you're going to do a little twist like this and then you're going to do a
forward fold and then you're going to lie down on your back and I will talk you
through how to do all these things okay so that's what you can expect so we'll
get you started with a guide of relaxation and that is lying here on
your back with your knees bent in your feet flat on the floor so when you lie
down and place your knees bent in your feet flat on the floor I'll get you just
to press in your feet tuck your tailbone under so that you lengthen out through
your low back and then tuck your shoulder blades under so that your shoulders
rest on your ground and then check in with your chin in your forehead and make
sure that your tune if your chin is way higher than your forehead you want to
just place a little cushion underneath your head so that the two are level so
the back of your neck is long your palms will turn up beside you so you're going
to stay here and I'm going to sit up and guide you through a guide of
relaxation here just to transition you from the busyness of your day-to-day life
into the single focus of your yoga practice here take a deep breath in
through your nose let it fall out of your mouth and take as many breaths like
that as you need to arrive here now
and then breathe in and out through your nose and just notice what's happening
with your breath take a deep breath in through your nose let it fall out of your
mouth and tune into your physical body notice your feet your legs your hips
your low back your belly your upper back your shoulders your arms your hands your
wrists your neck your shoulders and your head and from all of that notice what
stands out about your physical body
take a deep breath in let it fall out of your mouth become aware of your thoughts
what's on your mind right now
and take a deep breath in let it fall out of your mouth
notice how you're feeling what emotions are present right now
and then bring all of that together your breath what stood out about your physical
sensations your thoughts your emotions and begin to form an intention of what
you would like to receive from this yoga class so why are you here what would you
like to receive from taking this yoga class today
and then stay lying on your back and with your knees bent in your feet flat on
the floor take your arms out to the side you can take your feet about hip with a
parter a little bit wider and you're just gonna sway your knees from side to
side and this is just going to release and lubricate your hip joints and it
should feel nice in your low back as well keep breathing
and then come back to the center
and take your right ankle cross it over the top of your left thigh open your
right knee out to the side and from here you're going to draw your left knee in
towards your chest keep your left knee fully bent and you're going to reach
through the space between your right knee and hold on behind the back of your
knee and if you can't reach there you can take a yoga strap I'm actually going
to move down because my head is on that the rocks there so if you can't reach
you can either take a yoga strap or you can take the strap from your bathrobe
and use that to help you reach through
and then release this leg down and you can place your right bent knee on the
ground cross your left ankle over the top of your right thigh open your left
knee out to the side draw your bent right leg in towards your chest until you
feel something happening on the outside of your left thigh and into your left
buttocks and you can reach through and hold on on the back of your right ham
string the back of your right thigh or if you can't reach you're going to use the
strap from your bathrobe or if you have a yoga strap you can use that and use
that to draw your leg in
so this pose is great for releasing your piriformis muscle that's your tight
glute muscles your tight buttocks which gets tight from sitting but also from
just being a human being walking running going up and down stairs so your
glutes your buttock muscles get tight from being active but also from being
inactive and so this is an important stretch to do important stretch in yoga
and this pose is called sleeping pigeon pose so it's already a modification of a
yoga pose
okay you're gonna release that down and from here put your strap off to the side
if you're using one and roll to the side and you're gonna come up onto all
fours and on all fours we're going to do a stretch for your spine you're gonna
release your spine and I'm gonna see if I can put my hat back on so I don't get
sunstroke you're gonna start here with your hands underneath your shoulders and
your knees underneath your hips so let me give you some modifications for your
wrists one would be to come up onto your fists that will keep your wrists nice
and straight so it doesn't your wrists aren't in a flex position the other would
be to come down onto your forearms so either of these positions will work
well what we're going to be doing here is exhaling and rounding up for your
back and then inhaling and arching through your back breathe out and round
through your back and breathe in and arch through your back so you can do this as
I said again on fists that works really well if you have wrist issues or you can
also do it on your forearms
so try and see what works best for you in your body today
okay so from here we're going to do some lunge pose or adhanayasana as we call
it in yoga it'll open up the fronts of your hips and I'm gonna show you a
modification with chair so we're going to move to where we have a chair okay so
for lunch pose I'm gonna show you a couple of modifications one is your
knees can feel a little bit tender on the ground so I've rolled up the mat here
for extra padding you could put down a blanket underneath your knees that would
help cushion your knees as well you're going to come up onto your knees and
you're gonna start by walking your left leg through and then you can use the
chair for balance so here you're opening up the front of your right hip and this
is great because we spend a lot of time sitting like this in chairs and it
really shortens our so as muscle here and so this pose opens up your so as
muscle so using the chair really helps with balance here
and then you're going to curl your back right toes under and straighten out both
your legs so now you're in standing forward folding triangle or pyramid
pose and you're using the chair here which creates a modification instead of
having your hands on the ground makes this a whole lot simpler for opening up
the muscles along the backs of your legs your calves and your hamstrings which
tend to get quite short so for lengthening these as a beginner using the
chair really modifies this pose up for you this is a great pose for your ham
strings and your calves
and then we'll come back down and do this on the other side so bend your knees
and we'll switch sides so this time you'll have your right leg walking
forward and then lean forward until you feel an opening in the front of your
left hip using the chair for balance
and then from here we're going to curl your back toes under and you're gonna
straighten out both your legs and you can bring your back foot in as much as
you need to as well depending on how tight your hamstrings are your calves are
so we just did this huge long hike on Saturday and my calves are still really
tight from this so I could bring my feet closer together I could shorten this gap
and that would also make it easier so you can you can play around with the
distance between your legs as well so if you wanted to make it more challenging
you could increase the distance between your legs as well or shorten it so so
see what works best for you and your body today
and then you're going to come all the way up to standing we're going to do a
standing pose to strengthen your legs and then we'll do a balancing pose where
we'll use the chair to help us with our balance and then we're going to use the
chair again for the inversion before we go back down to the beach so we'll stand
here stand with your feet underneath your hip bones and bring your arms
straight out in front of you take a deep breath in exhale and you're going to sit
back as though you're sitting down into a really low chair and you may want to
put a cushion between your knees to create good alignment between your hips
knees and your ankles
sit back into your heels and then slowly come up to standing and you can shake
out your legs and from here I think I'm just gonna come around to the other side
of the chair so you use the back of the chair for this one I would say and just
gonna be really careful because there's a lot of broken glass around here okay so
at home you probably just be able to move your chair but this is a little bit
permanent so I'm gonna move around to the back of the chair and you can use the
chair for balance so you're gonna stand on your left foot turn your right toes
out to the side I'm gonna give you lots of options so closely keep your feet to
the ground the easier balance is going to be you're gonna find something on the
ground that's not moving and focus on that you can either keep your toes on
the ground you can hold on to the back of the chair for help with balance you can
take your foot off the ground and leave it below your knee or you can pick it up
and bring it above your knee but just don't put it on your knee joint you can
hold on to the chair the back of the chair for balance or you can bring your
hands to your heart center and then again the more challenging for the balance
would be to take your arms overhead you could also hold on to the chair so see
what works best for you today in your body remember you have that chair here
for balance
you could maybe even try you know you've got five fingers on four three two one
none so you can challenge yourself like that and then we'll switch so this time
we'll stand on our right leg turn your left toes out to the side and again you
can keep your toes on the ground if balance is a challenge or you can pick
up your foot and keep it below your knee or above your knee but not on your knee
joint and then you can bring your hands to your heart center or overhead remember
we've got the chair there to help you with balance if you need it so this pose
is to for balance to help you with balance and then you can release that and
bring your arms and legs down and probably switch your chair around to
configuration where you've got your mat perpendicular to this part of the chair
so I'm gonna move my mat back around to the front of the chair okay so you'll
have your mat set up like this and you're gonna sit I recognize that this
chair is much higher than your chair is going to be and that's totally fine
don't worry about that your chair is probably gonna be lower so you're going
to sit on the edge of your mats and then you're going to swing around this
chair so high and play sure oh my gosh this I feel like a like this is a giant
chair okay so your this chair will meet you at your chair will meet you at your
knees because it won't be elevated up on a on a brick or something like that okay
and you may even find that you want to put a blanket on your chair so that it
like I find when I do this at home the chair is actually a little low I also
have very long legs so and then it can be it will also make it softer and nicer
for you too if you put a little blanket there so trust me this will work at home
you'll tell me in the comments this works just fine so this pose is an
inversion to put your head below your heart your and it elevates your legs and
it's really nice for your immune system and it's very restorative so it builds
energy in your body it's good for your adrenal glands okay so we're just going
to rest here and breathe here for a few breaths
okay take a deep breath in through your nose let it fall out of your mouth so
this pose if you're wondering why I didn't give a modification it's because
it is a modification for legs up the wall where your legs would have been
straight so that's not a great pose for people that have back issues because
your legs are straight so it modifies it by making your legs bent so this just
becomes safe for pretty much everybody okay so we're going to roll to your side
and make your way up to seated and you can leave your mat here or move it back
to its original space
okay so now you're going to come down onto your stomach for our back bend so you
lie down on your stomach and take your arms straight out in front of you and
just wiggle your low back to create some space in your low back and then from here
you're going to walk your elbows underneath your shoulders so you'll
feel a shortening in your low back and it might feel like a little bit of
pressure but it shouldn't feel like anything sharp or shooting or electric
it feels like that then you need to come out so this is a great posture to
strengthen your upper back build bone density in your upper back and also to
tonify your kidneys so it's great for building energy building energy it's
also where you're it builds energy in your adrenal glands as well because where
you feel that pressure in your low back that's where your adrenal glands are
situated so that's partly what we're doing with Sphinx pose it's a posture
that we often do at the beginning of a Yin yoga class to build the energy that
you need for your yoga class so it's a nice little back bend that's great for a
lot of reasons and if you need to modify it you can back off by bringing your
elbows forward a little bit more you can even take your elbows a little bit
wider okay so do what you need to to make this pose work for you and your body
and you can always come out at any time take a break
okay and then we're going to come out of this so you can take your hands
underneath your shoulders push yourself up onto all fours and draw your knees
up underneath you sit back under your heels with your arms forward so this is
child's pose that will stretch out your low back now if this bothers your if you
feel like your belly is getting in your way you can open your knees and if this
bothers your knees or your ankles you can lie on your back and hug your knees
into your chest instead
then you're going to slowly roll up through your spine and come up to a seated
position you're going to sit with your legs straight out in front of you and if
you find it difficult to sit with your legs straight up in front of you with
your back straight because you roll onto the back of your pelvis and your
back rounds then get a cushion or a folded blanket to elevate your pelvis
and sit on the edge of it and that will allow you to sit with a flat back from
here you're going to bend your right leg in hold on to your right knee wrap your
left arm around it turn towards it take your right arm behind you lengthen up
through your spine for the twist now this might be uncomfortable because your
belly might get in the way here so we've got an option for that if that feels
uncomfortable then you can go to an open twist where you take your right
arm to the inside of your right leg and twist open so there's lots of space for
your belly
and then come back to the center open your right knee out to the side and if
your right knee is hanging way up in the air like this then put a cushion
underneath it so that it's supported and if you're rolling back like see I'm
actually on a decline like this then you want to sit up on a folded cushion or a
blanket so that your pelvis is elevated and then you're going to lean forward
into a seated forward fold
so you're on this one you're opening up the back of your leg again so lengthening
those tight hamstrings
very calming for your mind as well
so let's do that sequence on the other side so put both legs straight out again
bend your left leg in I'm going to wrap your right arm around your left leg turn
towards it take your left hand to the base of your spine lengthen up so you're
in the twist now if you find that way is uncomfortable because your belly gets in
the way too much then you can always modify it by doing an open twist where
you put your left arm to the inside of your left leg and you turn towards it
so that you're in an open twist and then there's lots of room for your belly and
it's easier to breathe this could also be a good modification for large breasts
too
come back to the center open your knee out to the side if your knees hanging in
mid-air because your hips are tight feel that space with a cushion inhale here
exhale and hinge forward
then slowly come back up to seated and you're going to lie down now for Shavasana
the slopes downward so much is practically an inversion okay so you're
going to lie down on your back and to come into Shavasana this is a pose where
you're going to be able to receive your practice allow your body to receive what
you've just done so it's similar to how you started you're lying with your legs
out long your palms turned up beside you and I get you to bend your knees press
into your feet lengthen out through your tailbone and rest your sacrum down on
the ground again if you have any low back issues keep your knees bent and your
feet flat on the floor if it feels comfortable you can lengthen your legs
out long and I just take a moment to tuck your shoulder blades underneath you so
that your shoulders are resting towards the ground check and see if your neck is
long if your chin and your forehead are on the same level if your chin's way
higher than your forehead then you want to stick a cushion underneath your head
to bring those two level and you are going to stay resting here to receive
the rest of your practice and I will sit up and read you a poem while you are in
Shavasana.
This is a poem by Rimi and if it resonates with you then I'm happy and if it
doesn't work for you then that will not hurt my feelings you can just let it go
be empty of worrying think of who created thought why do you stay in
prison when the door is so wide open move outside the tangle of fear thinking
live in silence flow down and down into always widening rings of being be empty
of worrying think of who created thought why do you stay in prison when the door
is so wide open move outside the tangle of fear thinking live in silence flow
down and down into always widening rings of being gradually allow your breath
to deepen wiggle your fingers and your toes bend your knees if they aren't
already bent and roll to your right side pause here for a moment use your left
hand to push yourself up and come up to a seated position so thank you so much
for joining us for episode 333 of Namaste Yoga the hat keeps me from having
a sunstroke out here if you like today's show give it a thumbs up if you're new
to our channel subscribe we put out a new show every Friday and if you know
somebody who would benefit from today's class then feel free to share it with
them and I want to thank Victoria and Hilary for your donations you can make
a donation to our show right here and if you would like to donate of your time
you can donate through the comment section and I have a question for you
to answer in the comment section how are the modifications for you today and
were there any poses where you could have used better modifications so I asked
people on my Facebook page this week what they needed in a beginners class when
they came to I would do in a beginner's yoga class I'm looking for and better
modifications was something that people asked for so I tried to make sure there
were lots of modifications and in fact in a lot of cases I was doing just the
modified versions of poses so let me know how I did with modifications and
where you thought I could have done better with modifications I'd like to
hear that in the comments if you benefited from today's yoga class
beginners yoga class then we have over 30 more beginners yoga classes and then
I will link to that in the show notes as well so that you can find those I'm
sending you much love from beautiful British Columbia may your joy be as
deep as our Pacific Ocean may you be grounded as our trees in our forests and
may you be as strong as our mountains Om Shanti Namaste
Melissa would love to hear your questions and thoughts please leave your
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if you have a question for Melissa you can leave a voice message at Melissa West
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