Restore & Relax: 59-Min Yin Class for BJJ Recovery

Yes and it can be really challenging for people to get told that this class is not about trying to accomplish anything it's not about trying to get somewhere because very many people are very ambitious so it's hard for them and it may take a while. And also that it's a very still class can be challenging so I have some tools that we will be working on today that helps me with people that are new to this type of yoga. But let's just start and we'll talk underway so just find a comfortable seat you can cross your shins we're just going to do a little bit of movement before we hold the poses for three minutes at a time. So just start to grab onto your knees start to roll around open the chest around the spine just move in any direction that feels good.

If your neck is tight maybe you roll the neck from side to side. Just do whatever movements that feels good that you feel like you need to do before you're going to be more calm and quiet. So I'm adding into this class so just keep moving and I'll explain a little bit so I'm adding into this class something that is called a loving kindness meditation. So Yin yoga stems more from Buddhism than the other types of yoga which is more from Hinduism.

So I feel like it's appropriate to add that type of meditation into this class and what it does is that it helps people to have their mind focus on something instead of thinking about something that is out of context to what we are doing. So your next meal doesn't have so much to do with the pose you're in or what we're trying to do here so we're trying to give you something to focus on. It's easy to say just don't think about anything just breathe but it's very hard to do in practice. So when you're ready just start to release your legs and place the soles of your feet together and try to figure out the distance from your feet and your hips.

Some people like to have them in tight that may make your spine round more. You can move them further out. Just find a place where your knees and your low back and your hips can be relaxed. For some people they feel like they're falling back then you can scoot over to the wall use the wall as support and lean against the wall.

Just find your way to be in this butterfly position. Take a nice deep inhale. And as you exhale slowly just lean forward and see if you can drop your head. So you relax the neck and the shoulders and the whole head.

Just keep tuning your awareness into your breath. And bring yourself to mind and say to yourself may I be happy. May I be safe and free from harm. May I be free of my suffering.

May I be free from my suffering. May I be free of my suffering. May I be healthy. And may I be full of everlasting joy.

Just sit with those thoughts for a while. Is this something you wish for yourself? Notice if your breath is shallow. Is it possible to bring it down to your belly?

Down to your low back? Down into your hips? And also allow yourself to take time to relax. Some days it's easier than others.

Now one more deep inhale. Inhale all the way down into your belly. Maybe open your mouth and release the exhale. And then slowly start to roll up your spine if you're far down.

You can place your hands behind you and just allow the legs to move out. Maybe move the knees from side to side or just wiggle the toes around the ankles. Again just do any movement that feels good. But try to not activate your body too much.

You want to remain soft. For some people this was probably easy to wish yourself all these good things. Maybe for some people it wasn't that easy. Maybe it was new to think of yourself in that way that you deserve all these things.

So for next pose we're going to move to someone we care about, someone we love. Try to think about either your wife, husband, child, relative or friend. Someone you have a really strong and good relationship with. And as you do that we're moving into half hero.

Into the front side of the body. So stretch your legs out in front of you. And then knee to the left and bend your right knee. And place your right foot behind you on the outside of the right hip.

And then your left knee and place your foot on the floor. Wherever it feels good to have that left foot. So there's no rules here. Just a place where you feel comfortable and a place where you can relax.

Your hands can be behind you. Fingers can be pointing towards you or out. Whatever feels okay on your wrists and shoulders. If you want to add a little bit of front shoulder and chest you can roll the shoulders back.

And maybe a slight bend in the elbow. So just place yourself where you can stay comfortable for three minutes. Try to be heavy in your hips. Take a big inhale through the nose.

And maybe out through the mouth. And just tune your awareness into the breath. And bring this person that you love to mind. And in your mind say to that person, May you be happy.

May you be safe and free from harm. May you be free from suffering. May you be healthy. May you be full of everlasting joy.

And just sit with this for a few moments. And just observe if this is easy for you to wish on this person. Or if it's already challenging. It's also possible to notice anything that you feel in your physical body.

Any tension somewhere. Anywhere you can maybe relax and soften up a little bit more. Maybe it's just your jaw that you can release. Maybe it's your hips.

And again just make sure you're breathing in a way that is helping you to relax. Okay. And then take a nice deep big inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth.

And then slowly just stretch out your left leg and lean over to the left. And release your right leg. And just wiggle around. Notice how you're feeling from side to side.

And when you're ready lean over to the right. Bend your left knee and place your foot on the outside of the left hip. And bend your right knee, place your right foot to the floor. And choose again the distance where you want to have your right foot.

So you feel like your hips can drop. And place your hands and your arms where you feel like it's good for your back, for your chest, for your shoulders. And then inhale through the nose. And maybe you exhale through the mouth.

And on this side also just tune your awareness into the breath. And on this side you can take the time to observe your own thoughts on the theme we are having. And at the same time just be aware that you're bringing your breath all the way down to your belly. All the way down to your hips.

And trying to relax. This person that you love and care for, is it something you wish on this person? And you wish them all these good things. And I think this person probably is in your life.

And I think there are many ways you can think of how you are contributing to this person's safety, happiness and health. Thank you. And again just one more big inhale through the nose. And exhaling through the mouth.

And then slowly start to walk your hands in, lean over to the right. Release your left leg. And just wiggle around your feet, ankles, head, shoulders. And notice that you're not bringing more tension into your body.

Remain soft. So our next pose is pigeon pose. So for those with healthy knees, they can come into the seated version. For those with ankles or knees that this is not suitable for, can come onto the lying version where you're lying on the floor.

So this is a good idea for taking the right ankle over the left knee. And if this is a lot to hold behind the thigh, you can use the wall again. Place the foot on the wall and use the wall to support your leg. So just choose whatever version you want.

So we start with the right foot either in front, left leg behind you, or right foot over the left thigh, left foot on the wall if you're using the wall. And then nice big inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Try to soften the whole body.

And again, remember to give yourself between 60 and 80 percent, so not too intense. And tune your awareness into the breath. And this time might be more challenging for a lot of people. I'm going to bring a stranger to mind, so someone you don't have this built relationship with, but someone you maybe see from week to week.

It's the person that serves you coffee in the morning or the receptionist at your gym, just something someone you know of, but don't know too well. Bring this person to mind. Now in your mind, say to that person, may you be happy. May you be safe and free from harm.

May you be free from suffering. May you be healthy. May you be full of everlasting joy. Just be with this person in your thoughts and see how you can picture yourself wishing all of these to this person.

Remember to soften your body, your faith. Now big inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth, release. And take your time, slowly start to come out of the pose and just do any type of movement that feels good without activating your muscles too much.

Just take a moment in between the sides, maybe you're taking the time to observe how it feels from one side to the other. And you're on time finding your way to the other side. So now it's the left leg either in front if you're doing the seated version, right leg out behind you. So again there's not any rules here where you place your body, just wherever it feels good and where you can relax.

If you're using figure four version, you're on your back, you're taking the left foot over the right thigh, either holding on behind your right thigh or placing the right foot on the wall. So when you're comfortable, nice deep inhale through your nose. Exhale through the mouth and release into the pose. See if you can this time, this side, picture this person again and this stranger.

Have you ever contributed to this stranger to make sure there are experiences, experiencing joy, happiness, health? Can you think of anything you've done to make this person smile or anything similar? Notice if your breath is shallow. If it is, just deepen it, bring it all the way down to your belly, all the way down to your hips.

Allow your face to relax. Is there anywhere in your body you can soften a little bit more? Again, big inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth.

Take your time slowly start to exit the pose. Take your time to move around softly. So next up in our meditation might be even a bigger challenge for a lot of people. We're going to bring to mind a person that we have a difficult relationship with.

It doesn't have to be your worst enemy, but someone you have either a disagreement with or are disagreeing with. Someone you lost a final to sometime. Whatever you can think of a person you're having a hard time liking. If you're having a hard time, you can choose to have your legs straight out or you can open them in a straddle.

Just find whatever works for you. If it's hard to sit on the floor, you feel like you're rounding your low back a lot, you do this on the wall. So you place your hips close to the wall and you take your feet off the wall and just rest your heels on the wall. You can do the same with the legs in the straddle.

And whatever you want to do, it's nice if it gives a release into your low back and doesn't bring tension to your low back or hips. So just find a way that works for you to be here for these three minutes. Then deep inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth.

Relax your whole body. And tune your awareness into the breath. Now bring this person that you have a difficult relationship with to mind. And now in your mind say to that person, May you be happy.

May you be safe and free from harm. May you be free from suffering. May you be healthy. May you be full of everlasting joy.

So just be with this for a while. Just observe how you are dealing with thinking about this person and wanting all these good things for this person. At the same time, relax your body. Relax your face.

And bring the breath all the way down into your belly. Notice if it might be easier to think of this person in a good way now that you are relaxed. Relax your body. Relax your body.

Relax your body. Relax your body. And then big inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth.

Release. And again, take your time. So our next pose is on our backs. So if you're already on your back, you can just kind of scoot away from the wall.

So you have space on each side of your body. If you are seated, just take your time. Do whatever you need to find your way on to your back. And we are bringing the knees to our chest, holding on to the knees.

Just wiggle around for a little bit, maybe roll the head from side to side. So our next pose is just a twist, just lying on our backs, just twisting. And our theme is a group of beings, so it might be a little easier than the last one. When we're moving into the twist, you want to do a little hip escape to the right and bring your knees over to the left.

And then your right arm can rest out to the right. It can be underneath your head, whatever feels good. Again, no rules here. You just want to feel like you can relax in the pose for about three minutes.

So somewhere your hips and spine, head and neck are okay. And then take a nice deep inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. And tune your awareness into the breath.

And bring to mind this group of beings. Today I chose all children everywhere. May all children everywhere be happy. May all children everywhere be free from harm and suffering.

May all children be healthy. And may all children know joy. And just be with this for a while. For most people, it's simple to wish this for children.

But there's no rules, so just observe yourself wishing this on all the children. At the same time, make sure your body is still relaxed. Your face is still soft. Your breath is still deep.

And then take a deep inhale through the nose. And bring to mind this group of beings. Today I chose all children everywhere. May all children everywhere be happy.

And bring to mind this group of beings. Today I chose all children everywhere. And bring to mind this group of beings. Today I chose all children everywhere.

And bring to mind this group of beings. And then again, deep inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. And then it's time to slowly bring yourself back to center.

Moving however you feel is right. And then we're moving into the other side. So you may want to escape over to the left. And bring the knees over to the right.

Your left arm resting over to the left. However it feels good for your shoulder. Noticing you're in a place where you can relax. And then taking a nice deep inhale through the nose.

Exhaling through the mouth. Allowing your body to be heavy. And the breath to be deep. Now if you wish this on all children everywhere.

To have happiness, safety, health and joy. Can you think of somehow how you can have done anything for that to be? In any way, shape or form, how have you contributed to that for maybe not all the children everywhere. But some children somewhere.

And if there's anywhere you can relax a little bit more. If it's your belly that can soften. If your legs can become heavier. If your jaw can relax a little bit more.

Just allow that to happen. And then nice deep inhale through the nose. Exhale, release through the mouth. And take your time slowly coming back to center.

And now we're just preparing for last pose, last stop in Savasana. So just do any type of slow movement that feels good. And then stretch your legs out. If this does not feel good and relaxing for your low back, you can have the feet on the floor wider than your hips.

And rest the knees toward each other. If it feels okay for your low back, just stretch out the legs. Do so. Rest your arms next to your body.

You can have some space between the arms and the body. And then just pull the shoulders away from the ears. Lengthen the neck. And then one more time, just big inhale in through the nose.

Exhale through the mouth. And release the whole body down to the floor. So legs are heavy. Hips are heavy.

The back is heavy on the floor. The belly is soft. Hands are relaxed and soft. Arms are heavy.

Chest is light. Shoulders are relaxed. Neck is relaxed. The head is heavy on the floor.

Relaxing the jaw. The forehead. The whole face is soft. Just resting here in shagasana.

And I will share my last bit of the meditation. May all beings everywhere be happy and free. And may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and freedom for all. Now you're just going to be here with your own thoughts and your resting body for a couple of minutes.

Observing. Relaxing. Relaxing. Relaxing.

Relaxing. Relaxing. Relaxing. Relaxing.

Relaxing. Relaxing. Relaxing. And then slowly start to deepen your breath.

Start to bring some awareness back into your hands and feet. Arms and legs. And just move in whatever way feels good right now. It can be nice to give yourself a nice stretch.

And then just go right up into a ball. And in your own time when you're ready, finding your way up to seated. Draw your hands together, roll your shoulders down into your back. And one last breath.

Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Okay. I hope you feel a little calmer, a little kinder.

And we're going to have a little talk about what we were doing here. So obviously the poses is for our very tired physical bodies. Giving some time both for stretching but also just releasing and relaxing. It's just as important as lengthening or strengthening.

Why I chose to add the loving kindness meditation is like you may have noticed that it's when it's quiet, it's so easy to think about other stuff. So it's to give you something that are in context to what we are doing. We're doing yoga and we're adding a Buddhist meditation to our yoga poses. And we should all aspire to be a little bit kinder.

And it's a practice like everything else. So you can practice relaxing and doing yoga. At the same time practicing being more kind not only to yourself but the people in your life and the people you may just see here and there. You want to add something here?

Yeah. When I didn't focus on the subject of the class, my mind drifted to the power of what other people do. Because I can force myself to smile ten times but when someone smiles to me that has a much more profound effect. So if I can open a hundred doors but when someone opens the door for me it has a different quality.

The action is the same but when someone else is doing it to you it's so much stronger. You can have a really shit day and someone else can change it by just being kind to you. So kindness and compassion is so powerful and the Buddhists are basically the blackboard world champion of compassion. Because they have understood over the course of thousands of years how much power is in practicing compassion.

And for us Westerners it might seem like some people are just kind and other people are just unkind. We tend to drift to assume that because society looks like this most people are unkind. But in Jiu-Jitsu we have to practice a lot. You're either good at half guard or not good at half guard.

We don't ever think in terms like this. You have to drill half guard if you want to get good at it. And you have to drill or cultivate like they call it. It's a gardening metaphor.

So maybe drilling. They are drilling compassion a lot to develop it and cultivate it just like Steene helped us do here. It was an attempt to cultivate and drill our compassion and make it something we can practice on. Because maybe we're white belts at compassion.

Like we can scream at someone just because they stole our parking spot or whatever. And it's also if we do this meditation more often in the beginning it might be hard to separate how we feel different about imagining different people. But for some people it's really obvious. Oh it was easy.

I want myself to be happy. I want myself to be safe. I want myself to feel joy. And of course I want this for Sebastian.

I want this for my children. I even want this for the coffee lady that gives me coffee. But when I have to think of a person that I don't really like it's much harder. But maybe that's the most important thing.

Because for me to be happy if I'm walking around and I dislike people. Of course you're allowed to dislike people and dislike actions of other people. But it's so important to learn to want the best for others no matter what. And that may change that whole relationship if you're able to want the best for that person instead of wishing them to have a really bad life.

Just because you disagreed with them one time or whatever it was. Yeah and it's very hard for your mind to separate. If I wish someone harm and lack of health. It's very hard.

Indirectly it's hard for me to wish it for myself. And I was thinking when you said for some people it might be easy to feel like I deserve to have soft hips and a good life. But for some people it might be much easier to wish it for others but they don't feel like they deserve it themselves. And the opposite.

So it doesn't really matter where you start but I believe maybe I'm wrong. But the goal of this practice is you can start anywhere and wish for it's probably easier for most people to like you said Steen wish all the children in the world to be safe and free from harm. That's very uncontroversial. So maybe you can work yourself backwards from there to like okay but if I was a child once and I deserved happiness then.

And I'm still a child. Some days I'm just like a child so I deserve happiness. In some days at least you know it doesn't really matter where you start but the goal is to cultivate and drill and practice whatever it is in this case compassion so that we improve on it. And I think it's a much more worthwhile endeavor to practice loving kindness meditation instead of for example cold politeness or political correctness.

Those are not really things you cultivate that's just things that you pretend to you know cope with society but but this is a way to kind of change yourself and change society in a very profound way over time. Yes and this this meditation was just an example because I think kindness is important and I think it has a lot to do with yoga. So for me it's easy for me to combine these two and I believe in it so that's right for me for you it might be something completely different. It can also be that you're just if you're really into breath or you're really into affirmations or whatever you can you can use that for each pose.

But I think with yoga it's very common that we just have this this whole wish a lot of chanting a lot of mantras are wishing wishing wishing and then we're happy if you feel good about ourselves after we've been sitting in the circle wishing or singing good things. And we forgot to we forget to bring it into action when we step out into the world. So I think this meditation it's important not just to wish it and then leave the yoga mat and go and be rude to the coffee lady but next time you see her or him or that person remind yourself how can I contribute to a change in in this person's life for the better in some way. And just keep adding to that every day and then it will actually be a big change for your life and other people's lives as well.

So this is a very common thing in yoga that we talk a lot but we do very little and I think that needs to change. Yeah and I think I think from our perspective if we can plant the seed in jiu-jitsu people around the world something like we did today with with loving kindness and compassion to have to make you believe that this is something we can practice and that we can you know we can achieve compassion because most people that get good at jiu-jitsu they are high achievers like this is a big guy he's trying to smash my guard. I'm not going to let him do this. This is a very unique a group of people jiu-jitsu people are kind of unique compared to many other people in that you believe in yourself and you believe in that you can achieve something and you do it.

So if we can you know plant the seed for each other yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna be a compassionate person I'm gonna be nice to strangers. That's a that has a huge effect for you and for everybody that that you meet so so I really hope that it does that especially if you do this regularly and you make it a habit it's gonna have very nice effects. Yeah and you can try to do a class like this with complete silence some very few people it will be great they will feel calm and empty and all of that most people in my experience teaching classes like in is that when it's just quiet and you don't guide people get restless I even see people like lying like this on the floor with their hands because they're getting anxious because it's so unusual for them to be that quiet. And be so still so I think it's better in the beginning at least to to give something to think about for for the people in your class.

Jiu-Jitsu analogy if you have a whole room of people and you say okay everybody go out and free sparring that free sparring is kind of you know just random free sparring without any injuries and you people all people having fun and enjoying themselves that's black belt level Jiu-Jitsu. But when you're new you need you know things to catch on to anchors and you know you need to you need to guide white belts if you don't want them to hurt themselves and have a good time and it's the same here people are usually white belts of silence so so you you fill the silence with something worthwhile to ponder so that there is a little bit of silence. The goal may be complete silence but yes the way there is long. So this this holds were only three minutes long so not too long but that's also something you can add into five minutes and and so on but I think in the beginning when you start to introduce classes like this more guiding and less quiet and silence until people get used to it.

And background music can help yes to fill the silence as well. Slow background music soft music. I really enjoyed the class thank you very much. So we'll be going more through this when we meet up live.

Yes. Hope you enjoyed the class. Bye bye.