Are you struggling with physical or emotional pain?
Maybe just the discomfort of your restless mind?
Or perhaps you just feel cut off from these sensations altogether?
If so, this Yoga for Healing class is for you.
Hi, I'm Melissa with Yoga with Melissa.
This is real yoga for real people.
Yoga you can do so you can move better, feel better, and connect with your true nature.
In a culture that wants us to do more, be more, and consume more,
this is deeply transformational Hatha Yoga
that allows us to bring self-awareness and self-acceptance to ourselves,
our relationships, and the world we inhabit.
I put out a new full-length yoga video every Friday at 9 a.m. pacific.
So if you like my videos, be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss a
single class. And if you like this class, remember to press that like button
and let me know what you liked about it in the comments.
If you're feeling particularly anxious and stressed today,
I encourage you to press the mute button and follow along visually
until the spoken teachings become less overwhelming.
My intention here with these classes is to keep the teachings as open and spacious as possible.
So to find out where you can receive more, be sure to listen all the way to the end.
I have two testimonials for you today, very short ones from Facebook.
Marjorie says about Yoga with Melissa 374, the Take One Seat class.
Love this practice, Melissa, staying, grounding, and gently opening our hearts.
And Madeleine says, peaceful beyond measure.
So thank you, Marjorie and Madeleine, for your testimonials.
I love hearing from you on Facebook, on YouTube, on Instagram, and Twitter, my website.
And as always, the most in-depth conversations happen in our membership community.
I want to thank Squeeze Yoga Clothing for my clothes today.
Today, I am wearing purple leggings and a green bamboo racerback tank top
with a vine on it.
Thanks to Dusky Leaf for my props.
Today, you are going to need two blocks and one bolster.
Let's center with our peace mantra.
Om Sahana Baba Thu, Sahano Boonak Thu, Sahavir Yam, Karbhava Hey,
Tejasvina, Vaditha Mastu, Mavid Vishava Hey, Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
So that mantra means protect us together, student and teacher.
May our studies nourish us together.
May we work together for the union of the good of all.
May we come together in peace and harmony, peace, peace, peace, be unto all.
So we're going to begin with a guided relaxation.
I'm just noticing my voice is almost non-existent today.
So I'm apologizing for that.
I was up a lot of the night with my daughter.
She has the flu right now.
So I'll just try to stay hydrated and it's just really raspy.
So I apologize for that.
So you're going to lie down on your back for guided relaxation to start.
If you have any low back issues, you can bend your knees and place your feet on the floor
or even place that bolster that you have underneath your knees here.
So start by feeling the support of the earth underneath you.
And then feel into your physical body.
Notice what's happening in your body right now.
There's no right or wrong or better, best answer here.
You're just noticing what's true for you about your physical experience right now.
Now tune into your emotions and check in and see what emotions are present.
How are you feeling right now?
And then notice what's on your mind, what thoughts are present for you
as you're resting back here and feeling the support of the earth underneath you.
As we open to the sensations in our body and as we turn towards our emotions and the thoughts
in our mind, we gradually include all that we have previously shut out of our awareness and
our body has the opportunity to heal.
So go ahead and form an intention for what it is that you would like to receive from your yoga
practice today. What is it that you are trying to create, sustain, release or rebirth in your life
and how can your yoga practice help you to do that today?
Once you've formed your intention, you're going to take your right leg and bend your right knee
in towards your chest. You can leave the bolster here or if you don't, if you're not using it,
that's fine too. You're going to draw your right knee in and you're going to just start to circle
it in the knee joint, keep feeling the support of the earth underneath you. And you're going to
take it into the crook of your right arm and your left arm. We're just going to do some rock the
baby here lying on your back. Keep breathing into your right hip joint.
And then release your right hip down. Pause here, feel the difference between your right
and your left hip joint. When we start with opening our hips, we begin to open to the physical and
emotional sensations without struggling against them. So let's go ahead and do that on the other
side as well. So you bend your left leg in, hold on behind the knee, just warm up that joint a little
bit to begin. Put your left knee in the crook of your left elbow and then we rock the baby on this
side. Opening to physical and emotional sensation without struggling against it.
And then release your left hip down.
Feel the support of the earth underneath you.
And I'll give you two options here. You can just leave the bolster where it is,
not use a bolster, or you can take the bolster underneath your hips. If you struggle with
half half, if you struggle with happy baby pose like I do, then you can place the bolster underneath
your hips. So you just place it underneath your pelvis so it supports your pelvis. Lengthen your
left leg long. This gives a really nice opening through your psoas as well. Then draw your right
leg in and you're going to hold on through your right foot, drawing your right knee down towards
your right armpit. So half happy baby pose here.
And then release your right leg down. Pause in the center.
Opening the doors of awareness to our thoughts, emotions and physical sensations,
including all our pleasure and pain, requires our tender and gentle attention. So let's shift to
the other side with tender and gentle attention. You're going to draw your left leg in,
drawing your left knee towards your armpit, holding on on the bottom of your foot,
filling the opening along your right hip, all the way through your right psoas.
Tender and gentle attention here.
And then release this pose from your body. Just take a moment here,
allow the fronts of your hips to open. You may even want to take your arms overhead to
lengthen all the way through your psoas on both sides.
I know we could all stay here for the rest of the class quite happily. Shall we move on?
Let's bend your knees, gather yourself up and find a way off your bolster.
Roll to your side and we're making our way towards lunge pose now.
So you may want to either put a folded blanket or develop your mat,
so you have padding underneath your knees here and then you're going to walk your left leg forward
for lunge pose.
So sink down through your front left foot and open up the front of your right hip.
When we practice yoga and set the intention to
turn our attention towards the physical sensations of our bodies,
the feelings that arise to the surface and the memories that may have long been buried,
it takes awareness to open to the experiences without struggling against them.
So shift back and we'll do this on the other side. Step your right leg forward.
Lean forward.
Letting go of the struggle on the pose.
And then coming back and we'll come back to downward facing dog.
So spread your hands. You may want to take downward facing dog against the wall.
This is too much weight bearing through your wrist or your upper body in general.
You're going to turn your toes under, inhale, exhale,
and come into downward facing dog. We're going to do a few variations here.
Okay, in downward facing dog, spread your fingers nice and wide, plant your hands,
even bend your knees and just feel really good and solid in the pose.
Let's start with some hip openers with your legs and then we'll move on to some
rotation through your spine. So you're going to lift your right leg up and behind,
open your right hip, drop your left sit bone, and then bend your knee.
Come back to the center and then you're going to do this on the other side.
Take your left leg straight behind, open your left hip, drop your right sit bone,
open your left hip up, and then we'll come back to the center to take a little break in the center.
So we'll come into child's pose or you can even just sit in hero's pose,
whichever feels good for you right now. We tend to tighten our bodies in response
to painful situations in our lives. And this is why our yoga practice is so good,
because we can just notice where the tightening happens in our bodies even in response to our
yoga practice. Our shoulders lift up to our ears, our neck and our jaws tighten.
So just notice how that starts to happen even in your yoga practice.
So let's come back into downward facing dog.
And this one you want to be really solid through your upper body, your lower body.
Plant your right hand firmly and then rotate and hold on to the outside of your opposite leg.
And then let's do that on the other side. Plant your hand firmly and rotate outside of the opposite leg.
Come back to center. Find the length in your spine again, bend your knees a little.
Look forward at the space between your hands and then walk your feet in.
Roll up to standing.
From standing, we're going to do some of the warrior poses and continue to reflect on what it is to
open without struggle. So take a step back with your right foot.
Turn your hips to the front edge of your mat. And if this is too difficult with your hips,
if it's causing torquing in your knee, you can always come up on your back toes. So do what's
right for you and your body sink down through your front left sit bone and bring your arms straight
up. So as we practice our yoga, we can stand on the ground and openly face whatever is present
in our lives.
Find a way to let this posture fall out of your body and let's come up to the top of our mats
and take this posture on the other side of your body. You're going to take a step back with your
left foot this time. Turn your hips to the front of your mat. Remember you can come up on the balls
of your feet if that makes it easier through your knee and your hip joint. And then you're going to
bring your arms straight up being open to whatever is present in our lives.
And then come up, turn both your toes towards the long edge of your mat. And here,
you're going to turn your left toe out, your right toe in, sink down through your left sit bone,
bring your arms parallel to the ground for warrior two. So through our practice,
we are cultivating the capacity and the strength to open to all the painful,
there was a Freudian slip for you, the painful and the unpleasant situations that we normally
block out from the past. And know that we have the strength to face whatever unfolds for us in the
future. So here, when you look over your left hands behind you, you saw your right hand behind
you, that's your past, your left hand in front of you is your future.
And then drop your right hand down, and your left arm up coming into reverse warrior here.
And then release this from this side, you're going to turn your left toes in your right toes out.
We'll take the sequence on the other side. So sink down through your right sit bone,
bring your arms up to parallel to the ground again. So you're looking over top of your right
fingertips now and then dropping your left arm back,
your right arm up and over, you're sinking into reverse warrior here.
So in reverse warrior in peaceful warrior through our yoga practice, we release the layers of
tightness, the contractions, the knots, the physical, the emotional and the mental tension,
and it gradually begins to dissolve as our hearts heal and open.
Okay, and then you're going to release that we're going to come down to the ground,
and you're going to need your blocks for this next one.
So you'll probably also need to, for this one, you might want to double up your mat
underneath your knees. And then this is a really nice variation on camel that is just accessible
and creates a lot of openness in your low back compared to the normal version of camel that just,
I don't know, but you just freaks out my back. This is the heart stabilization series. So
we're just trying to keep it not so you'll need your block for this. You can, we'll do both sides.
So put one block by your ankle. And let's start with your right leg up. So you have two right
angles here. And all you're going to do is inhale, lift your left arm up and over, feel your right
foot on the ground, feel your left shin on the ground. So there's the stabilization, right?
We're never going to try and open until we're grounded. And then inhale, lift your left arm up
and look over at that block by your left ankle and reach your right arm up.
So we're stable on the ground and then we can open our heart with ease.
You could even take your right hand and place it behind your neck and then slowly come out of this
and let's switch sides. So the more we honor our bodies with attention, the deeper the healing.
So let's do that again and honor our bodies with attention, the deeper the potential for our healing.
Two right angles through your legs, stabilize through your left foot, through your right shin,
feel the earth underneath you. Inhale, take your right arm up and over to your right block
and lift your left arm up. And if you want that extra support behind your head for your neck, then
give yourself that tender attention and then find a way out of this posture
and we're going to come to seated with your legs in front of you and you may want either a
folded blanket or a meditation cushion to sit up on here. So you can put your blocks off to the side.
Either sit on the edge of your folded blanket or meditation cushion just so that you can have that
tip of your pelvis forward so your back can be long and not rolling under when you sit forward
and then bend your left leg in so the sole of your foot comes to the inside of your right leg.
Feel the back of your right leg on the ground. Feel your sit bones connecting with the ground.
Turn towards your left leg and rotate.
Come back to the center. Inhale here. Exhale, roll your pelvis over your leg bones
and fold forward over your right leg until you feel sensation along the back of your right leg.
Through our practice we notice clearly the rhythm and the needs of our bodies.
And then you can come up to seated and we'll lengthen your left leg out long now.
Bend your right leg in. Open your right leg out to the side.
Feel the back of your left leg on the ground and feel the length of your spine,
the sit bones on the ground and turn towards your right leg coming into the twist on the other side.
And then come back to center. Roll your pelvis over your leg bones
until you feel sensation along the back of your left leg here.
And then make your way up to seated.
You're going to come to a comfortable seated position that can be kneeling, sitting in a chair,
sitting cross-legged with one leg in front of the other.
And we're going to do some alternate nostril breathing, a clearing practice here for you.
Take your left hand, your thumb and index finger together. Extend the other fingers.
You're going to take your right hand, extend your first two fingers, rest it on the center of your
forehead and you're going to close your right nostril, breathe in through your left nostril.
Then close your left nostril, breathe out through your right nostril.
Breathe in right,
close right, breathe out left,
breathe in left,
close left, breathe out right,
breathe in right,
close right, breathe out left.
And let's continue with that in your own breath rhythm just for a little while longer.
Next time you breathe out through your left nostril or your right hand down,
pause there and feel the effects of your practice.
We clear the confusion, hearing more clearly each day the physical, mental and emotional needs of
our body.
Go ahead and respite for Shavasana.
And you can stay here to receive the healing effects of your practice and I will set up and
read you a poem.
This is called A Time Passed by Denise Levertal.
The old wooden steps to the front door where I was sitting that fall morning
when you came downstairs just awake and my joy at the sight of you emerging into a golden day,
the dew almost frost pulled me to my feet to tell you how much I loved you.
Those wooden steps are gone now, decayed, replaced with granite, hard, gray and handsome.
The old steps live only in me, my feet and thighs remember them
and my hands still feel their splinters.
Everything else about and around that house brings memories of others,
of marriage, of my son and the steps due to. I recall sitting there with my friend
and her little son who died or was that the second one who lives and thrives
and sitting there in my life often alone with my husband yet that one instant
you're cheerful, unafraid, youthful. I love you too.
The quiet broken by no bird, no cricket, gold leaves spinning in silence down without any
breeze to blow them is what that twines itself in my head and body across those slabs of wood
that were warm, ancient and now wait somewhere to be burnt so gradually allow your breath to
deepen, wiggle your fingers and toes and then you're going to bend your knees
and roll to your right side and pause there for a moment.
And then slowly make your way up to seated.
We'll finish our practice with our mantra and mudra series gathering the fruits of our practice
first into ourselves and then offering them out into the world.
May all beings be happy and free and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life
create happiness and freedom for all.
So did you receive some physical or emotional healing today? If so, please give this video
a thumbs up and if you have a friend or family member or somebody that you know who could
benefit from some physical or emotional healing, please do feel free to share this video with them.
I want to thank you for your donations. I want to thank Page, Hannah,
Darina and Donna. Thank you so much for your contribution to our weekly show. We really
appreciate your support. It means everything to us. It helps us to keep going and offer
this class to people just like you all around the world. And I hear from so many of you
every single day about how much these classes make a difference to you. So
your contributions are making a difference to so many people around the world. So thank you.
Thank you. You can make a donation below or if you'd like to donate of your time, you can always
leave your comments below. And the comment today is which part of the class was most healing for
you. Let me know in the comments. At the beginning of the class, I told you I was going to tell you
where you could go to get more healing practices. If that's something that you're looking for in
your life right now, our membership community is focusing on Ahimsa non violence in April. It's
called Ahimsa April. And we have over 50 yoga classes in our membership community that focus
on healing your heart. So if you're a member in our show notes this week, I'll link to those 50
heart healing yoga classes, our daily yoga connection, we'll be focusing on those. I'll
be focusing on that theme through the live classes every Monday, there are two of them every Monday.
And that will be our focus for the book club, for the meditations, for the devotional section,
for the moon phases, the moon structure section, everything in our whole community will be focusing
on Ahimsa. So if that's something that appeals to you, then there's a link to our membership
community. We'd love to welcome you and support you in your practice. I'm sending you much love
from beautiful British Columbia. May your joy be as deep as our Pacific Ocean. May you be as rooted
as the trees in our forest and may you be as grounded as our mountains. Om Shanti Namaste.
