Beginner's Yoga - 15-minute Relaxing Practice from Yoga Journal & Jason Crandell

This relaxing sequence will help you increase your flexibility while retaining a calm state of mind to begin line your back in Shawana and have a belt nearby , separate your legs as wide as your sticking out , take your arms 45 degrees away from your body .

Palms up and close your eyes , allowing your body mind and nerves to rest is essential to your health and wellness .

So give yourself permission to let go and tune your awareness to the subtle sensations of your body and breath .

Set aside daily thoughts and tune your attention to your legs , releasing into the ground to the arms dropping into the sticky mat .

Feel a sense of quiet and calm , gently , bend your right knee into your chest , take your belt lasso it around the arch of your right foot and slowly extend your top leg up towards the ceiling .

Use enough belt that you can straighten the top knee without struggling , practice finding a balance between effort and relaxation by gently lengthening through your right hamstrings and calves while softening the jaw , relaxing the eyes and deepening the breath , continue just a little bit longer .

And as you open the right leg and you feel the reach of the bottom leg and arms keep a soft internal releasing state .

Take one more deep inhalation .

Then as you exhale , release the right leg , straighten it on the sticky mat and draw your left knee into your chest .

Pause for a moment , lasso your left arch and extend the left leg up to the ceiling .

Create a combination of effort and relaxation by elongating the top leg up until your hamstrings are at their maximum stretch without overdo and getting into a tug of war , take three slow calming breaths and learn to slow your breath and deepen your breath as you come into restriction in your body , take one more slow deep inhalation .

Then as you exhale , release your belt , bend your left knee and place both feet on your sticky mat .

Roll to your right side , roll into your hands and use your arms to sit up nice and slowly sit cross legged on your sticky mat .

Cross your right shin in front of your left shin and step your shin bones forward until they're parallel with the front edge of your mouth .

Rotate your pelvis forward over your thighs , walk your hands in front of you and spill your torso into your legs .

Focus on keeping the spine long without becoming rigid as you sense whatever restriction is present in your lower back in your hips and in your groins rather than fighting without resistance .

Breathe into it .

Feel as if you're slowly and deeply untangling , whatever knots exist inside the body , observe the sensation of your breath , observe the sensation of your hips as they unravel and allow the head and neck to soften and let go place your hands underneath the front of your shoulders , press the hands down and slowly roll all the way up to sitting .

Gaze forward with relaxed eyes .

Now across the left shin in front of the right shin rock the pelvis forward and walk your hands forward into a fold .

Again , focus on keeping your spine elongated without becoming rigid or unnecessarily tense in your body .

As you observe any tightness in your hips , relax your face , relax your jaw , relax any judgment of your body and simply breathe into whatever binding is present .

Press your hands underneath your shoulders , slowly roll up to sitting and gaze forward , soft temples , soft eyes , practice a simple twist by taking your left hand to your right knee , your right hand behind you elongate up through the trunk and then just take a simple easy twist to your right .

Focus on drawing the inhalations down into your body and feel the sense of unraveling and reducing tension in your back as the breath seeps into the back body and the spinal muscles begin to release , firm the shoulder blades against the back and turn the chest just to touch more .

One more long , slow , calming and rough , then exhale , release back to center , cross your right shin in front of your left shin and take the second side by placing your right hand on your left knee and supporting your back with your left fingertips on the floor behind you gently draw up and turn to your left .

As you rotate the belly ribs and chest , feel the body ring out any tension that's present in the torso , soften the breath , relax the eyes and simply practice focusing on the sensation of your body .

Inhale one more time , exhale , release back to center place the fingertips behind you and extend your legs wide out to the side in with the fingertips pressed down behind you lengthen up through your waist and stretch out through your heels , root down through the back of your legs and lengthen up through your trunk .

Walk your hands forward , rock the hips over the thighs and keeping your back elongated , come forward into a gentle forward bend just enough to awaken and stretch your inner legs .

Observe whatever restriction , whatever obstacle , whatever tension is in your body and rather than fighting with it or judging it , practice breathing into it as you take two more cycles of breath .

Don't worry about your flexibility .

Simply work to your edge and focus on letting go of unnecessary restriction in your body .

Learn to be attentive patient and focused in the midst of a challenge .

Press your hands down and slowly lengthen your spine back up to vertical .

Pause for a moment and take a deep calm breath .

Now , fold the bottom of your feet together , extend your legs forward and lengthen through your heels , bend your right knee and draw your heel bone back towards your sitting bone .

Then for another nice calming twist , wrap your left arm around your right knee , place your right fingertips behind you elongate up through the spine .

Take the left elbow to the outside of the right knee and turn to your right .

Observe whatever restriction or holding is in the spine .

Breathe into it with soft , smooth , deep breath , continuing to lengthen up through the spine .

Draw your shoulder blades down , let the chest , the heart , the lungs rise up and gaze gently towards your right shoulder , relax your eyes and take one more calming inhalation as you exhale , release and face forward , take your second side by straightening your right knee , bending your left knee and drawing your heel towards your sitting bone , wrap your right arm around your left knee , left fingertips behind you and lengthen up through your trunk , slide the right elbow to the outside of the left knee and deepen the twist by turning .

But see again that you're just finding a balance between effort and relaxation .

We want to coax the body into opening rather than forcing it to comply .

Feel the sensations of your body , feel the sensations of your breath and observe the mind state .

Practice letting go of mental chatter and feel the sensations of your body as you twist , as you exhale , come back to center and bring the bottom of your feet together .

Pause for a moment , press the fingertips down behind you lengthen up through your trunk .

Extend your right leg forward , slide your left foot to the inside of your right thigh and draw the heel bone back towards the grind .

Inhale , lengthen up through your spine .

Exhale , walk forward with your hands and hold on to your right foot .

If you're not able to hold on to your right foot , without straining your hamstring or over rounding your spine , simply take a strap and wrap it around the arch of the foot .

Remember being skillful and attentive to the needs of your body is much more important than stretching your hamstrings root down through the back of your right thigh , reach forward through your right heel and spread your toes .

Feel the length of your back body and breathe into your bottom ribs .

Continuing to breathe slowly smoothly and calmly lengthen the crown of the skull forward and deepen your right hip crease , root down through the right thigh .

Inhale , rise all the way up to sitting vertically , bring the bottom of the feet together and switch sides by extending the left leg forward , right foot to the inside of the left thigh , draw the heel back towards its own groin .

Inhale , lengthening up , exhale hinge forward , hold the foot or grab your belt .

Focus on the integrity of your back's length and the smoothness of your breath .

As you continue to practice , your body will become more supple , but it's essential that you're patient with the body .

Breathe slowly and smoothly into your bottom rims , calm the mind , soften the temples and practice sensing and feeling your body root down through the back of your straight leg , lengthen your spine and inhale , come back up to sitting vertical , pause hands behind you fingertips on the floor and take a calming breath .

Now , swing your legs to the side and step back into downward facing dog in down dog , use your arms and legs to elongate thoroughly through your entire body .

Observe the combination of effort as you reach through your limbs and relaxation .

As you keep your breath , mind and facial muscles soft , allow the head and neck to drop below the arms , allow the eyes to close and allow the mind to quiet .

Take one more in breath , using your legs to draw you back as you exhale , bring your knees to the floor and sit back in child's pose , bring your sitting bones to your heels , release the forearms and the heads of the ground and exhale through your mouth to release any vestige of pressure that has been built up inside your body or mind .

Take shelter in the pose and appreciate this rare state of quiet place your hands underneath the front of your shoulders , root down through them and then slowly rise up to sitting continue to sit on your heels or if this isn't comfortable , sit with simple cross legs , interlace your fingers and extend your arm .