Christmas mini flows

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY ROUTINE
The Christmas period can be a busy time of year for most. Finding time to step on your mat, to keep up your yoga practice, can be a bit of a challenge. But busy times like this are when you need all the benefits of your practice the most. My gift to you this year is a ‘little & often’ Christmas mini flow sequence to help you to maintain your practice over the coming weeks. Each of the mini flows are designed to support different needs that you might encounter over the festive period. Put aside 15 min each morning to kick start all the systems of your body and blow away the cobwebs. Giving you lots of energy to enjoy your social gatherings, keep you calm in the face of family mayhem and give your digestive system a little helping hand. 

THE BENEFITS OF ENERGY FLOW
Who doesn't need a little bit of extra energy over the Christmas period! Work parties, get-togethers with friends and family, pressie shopping, decorating Christmas trees and endless to-do lists all take extra energy. Use this yoga mini flow to give you extra energy so you can enjoy all the Christmas activities. This sequence has standing poses to boost your circulation and standing balancing poses to shake you up just enough to wake you up! Backbends and twists are very energising poses too. They warm up the muscles of the respiratory system, helping you draw in extra oxygen for energy production.

THE BENEFITS OF STRESS FLOW
The busyness of Christmas can sometimes tip into stressfulness. Extra queues everywhere you go, saying yes to more than you can manage and having everything done by the big day can all take their toll. Use this sequence to create space for you to breathe, release tension and give you a bit of distance from the causes of your Christmas stress. The hips are connected with the sympathetic nervous system, fight or flight stress response. When we feel stressed the muscles at the front of the hip tense ready for action. This sequence has plenty of hip openers and gentle spinal manipulation to ease this physical tension, and in turn release emotional tension too.

THE BENEFITS OF DIGESTION FLOW
At this time of year we are often eating and drinking more than we usually do or foods that are either different or richer than our digestive system is used to. Use this sequence the morning after as your ‘go to’ practise to help keep your digestive system moving if it is feeling a bit sluggish. This sequence has lots of gentle backbends and prone poses to compress and stimulate the gut and help get you back on track. Similarly it has gentle twists to stimulate the walls of the intestines to push the food along and keep it moving in the right direction. Use your breath to create a softness in the abdominal region so that the twists and backbends can penetrate to the digestive system.

EXPLORING CHRISTMAS MINI FLOWS IN YOUR PRACTICE
Each mini flow will take around 15 mins. They start with 2 rounds of Surya Namaskara C, or Sun Salutation C to get you warmed up and link your breath with your movement. When flowing through the mini flows indicated between the arrows, start with the right leg forward first, and then repeat this group of poses on the left side. For a longer practice you can add 2 rounds of Surya Namaskara C between the right and left side. Keep your transitions simple and when in doubt link pose through a Downward Dog or come back to Tadasana at the top of your mat and step back into your next pose. You can rotate the three flows each day or depending on what you need that day, you can repeat the flows that you find you need the most. If there are poses that do not suit your practice, skip them and move to the next pose.

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Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Evening wind down

THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
The autonomic nervous system has two branches – the sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic system, or the ‘fight or flight’ response, is our ‘doing’ – it helps us get up in the morning and gives us the drive to get work done. The parasympathetic system, or the ‘rest and restore’ response, is our non-doing – it helps us relax and creates optimal conditions for the functionality of the body to rebuild and replenish. Both systems are vital and have their role within a balanced nervous system. But often we get stuck in ‘doing’ mode and find it hard to adjust to ‘non-doing’ in the evening when the body needs time to regenerate. The autonomic nervous system is ‘automatic’. We can’t switch it on or off but, with practices like yoga, we can stimulate the ‘rest and restore’ response to ensure we shift towards parasympathetic dominance in the evening to prepare for a good night's sleep.

The body works on a 24hr sleep-wake cycle, known as the circadian rhythm. When the sun rises, we are exposed to light and the sympathetic system releases cortisol to give us energy for the day ahead. Throughout the day we move from one system to the other with periods of overlaps where both are working together. As the sun goes down, we are exposed to darkness and the parasympathetic system releases melatonin to make us drowsy and ready for sleep. Sleep is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. Good sleep routines help with focus and concentration, mental health, a strong immune system, lower inflammation, a healthy metabolism, weight maintenance, and muscle repair. It is also important to avoid screen use (4hrs before sleep), caffeine (8hrs before sleep), alcohol (8hrs before sleep), and big or heavy meals (4hrs before sleep), which all inhibit evening melatonin production.

PARASYMPATHETIC SYSTEM ACTIVATION
There are many nerves responsible for the parasympathetic response, most of them come from the cranial nerves with just three coming from spinal nerves. The main cranial nerve associated with 75% of the parasympathetic nerve fibres, and for regulating the parasympathetic response, is the vagus nerve. It travels to and from the brainstem straight to the throat, heart, diaphragm, stomach, kidneys, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, sphincter and reproductive organs. It initiates the parasympathetic responses to slow heart rate and reduce blood pressure, relax our airways, stimulate digestion and reproductive organs, inhibit adrenaline production, stimulate endorphin productions and relax the muscles.

​​The vagus nerve can be stimulated with deep breathing, gentle movement, meditation, singing, chanting and laughing, cold water therapy and gut health. The fastest way to stimulate the vagus nerve is with a deep breath, particularly the exhale. The vagus nerve travels through an opening in the diaphragm. When we breathe the diaphragm rubs against the vagus nerve which activates the nerve fibres and sends messages to the brain to initiate the parasympathetic response. The breath is one of the most important elements of a yoga practice, making it a very effective method for down regulating the nervous system. In this sequence I have combined deep breathing, gentle movement and restorative yoga to help you settle into relaxation. Restorative yoga is the king of all yoga when it comes to targeting the parasympathetic system. The poses are held for longer periods of time and are supported with props to create effortless comfort.

EXPLORING EVENING WIND DOWN IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence starts with a gentle seated upper body mobility flow, linked with the breath. Start with the right side and repeat the flow on the second side, twisting to the left binding with the left elbow lifted. If binding the hands behind your back is not in your practice, you can either use a yoga strap to bridge the gap or just reach the hands towards each other. The second half of the first row is a child's flow version – slow your movement down and lengthen your breath to meet your adjusted speed. The second row gives you a series of mini flows to release any mental or physical tension from your day. You’ll notice the third has not got a breath guide. In this row stay in the series of poses for as many breaths as you need as you start to shift into the parasympathetic nervous system. Continue with a gentle extended breath with more of a focus on your exhale. You then transition into your restorative practice. It is important to make sure you are completely comfortable. Adjust and add more props and blankets if needed to find complete comfort. You will see the suggested hold times in the sequence for each pose. Props needed and alignment cues for your restorative poses are below:

You can learn more about how the nervous system works in my recent articles The vagus nerve & The nervous system. You can also try my Restorative sleepy flow sequence and any of my restorative sequences to help you build your evening wind down routine.

ALIGNMENT CUES
Below are the restorative techniques used in this sequence. The props you’ll need are:
1 x bolster - or 2 towels, wrapped around a horizontally rolled pillow and tied to secure.
2 x yoga bricks - or 2 two thick similar sized dictionaries.
2 x yoga blankets - or any wool, thick cotton or fleece blanket with density.

No.1 - Supported childs
Come into a kneeling position with your hips on your heels. Nestle a bolster between your knees, vertically along your mat with a folded blanket on the far end. Place your hands either side of the bolster. With an inhale lengthen through the whole spine and on an exhale gently place your front spine along the centre of the bolster. Place your right cheek on the bolster. Feel the breath in the back of the ribs and lungs. Swap to your left cheek half way through the pose.

No.2 - Resting side bend
Place a folded blanket at the top of your mat. Place your bolster horizontally on your mat with a space between your bolster and pillow. Sit with your right hip along the long edge of the bolster, knees bent. Lengthen your right side along the mat and nestle the bolster into the curve of your waist. Place your head on the blanket and reach your arms overhead. Feel a gentle opening all along the top side of your body. Repeat on the left side.

No.3 - Reclined seated
Place two bricks horizontally at the top of your mat, One at its highest height and the other at its mid height. Lie your bolster over the bricks along the centre of your mat and place a folded blanket on the far end of your bolster where your head will rest. Sit with the back of your hips along the short end of the bolster. Roll up a folded blanket and place it under your knees. Gently lie back onto your bolster. Feel a gentle opening across the chest.

No.4 - Mountain brook
Half roll a four fold blanket and place it at the top of your mat. Accordion fold the other blanket and place it below your top blanket where your shoulder blades will lie. Place the bolster towards the bottom of your mat where your knees will be. Lie supine on your back, nestle the rolled part of the top blanket in the curve of your neck, place the accordion folded blanket under the lower tips of your shoulder blades and the bolster under the creases of your knees. Legs and arms extended, palms facing up, feet fall out to the side. Feel the rise and fall of the props supporting your back body.

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Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Shifting stress

STRESS & THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response). In this state the brain sends signals to the body to increase heart rate and blood pressure, open our airways, inhibit digestion and reproductive organs, stimulate adrenaline production, open our sweat glands and tense the muscles ready for action. When the stress has eases the body clears out the stress hormones and resets the organs and systems. This is a natural part of our physiology and is part of life. It gets us up in the morning and drives us to be productive. But when we are unable to balance periods of stress with relaxation the body gets stuck in the sympathetic nervous system cycle and gets flooded by stress hormones it can’t flush out quick enough. In an ongoing state of stress the digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular and reproductive systems of the body are not working optimally – reducing its functionality and eventually leading to health issues.

YOGA & STRESS RELIEF
Yoga is unanimously regarded as one of the best ways to manage stress in both a therapeutic and preventative way. Yoga stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (rest & restore response). In this system the brain sends signals to the body to reduce heart rate and blood pressure, relax our airways, stimulate digestion and reproductive organs, inhibit adrenaline production and relax the muscles. This creates optimal conditions for the functionality of the organs of the body and relieves symptoms of stress, anxiety and tension.

When we are practising yoga we are focusing on transitioning from pose to pose, and the poses themselves. This shift in focus works as a distraction which is often the best cure to help relieve stress, tension and anxieties. The repetitive flow of yoga creates a moving meditation which is very soothing to the nervous system. Taking time to switch off, and being present on our mat, breaks the stress loop and initiates a positive mindset. Yoga also makes us more aware of our breath. The breath is one of the fastests ways to stimulate the vagus nerve, which is the main cranial nerve associated with 75% of the parasympathetic nervous system response. This wandering nerve is the longest nerve in the body and travels through many of the organs of the body including the diaphragm. When we breathe, in particular an extended exhale, the diaphragm stimulates the vagus nerve and causes a chemical reaction which initiates the parasympathetic response.

EXPLORING SHIFTING STRESS IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence starts with a gentle warm up and then moves into a meditative flow, linking breath with movement, to help shift the unease of stress and give you enough of a distraction to soften into the idea of allowing yourself to relax into the second half of the practice of restorative poses. Restorative yoga is considered the king of yoga when it comes to stress relief. It downregulates the sympathetic nervous system and enhances the malleability of the nervous system – which is our capacity to move easily from activity to rest, and similarly from rest to activity. In your restorative practice, hold the poses for the suggested minute on the accompanying illustrated sequence. Remember to do both sides in an asymmetrical pose. Stay warm and be completely comfortable throughout your practice. The sequence finishes with my favourite relaxation technique of MFR on the back of the skull. You will need two blankets, two bricks and a bolster for this practice. You can learn more about how the nervous system works in my recent articles The vagus nerve & The nervous system, and you can try more of my restorative sequences here.

ALIGNMENT CUES
Below are the restorative techniques used in this sequence. The props you’ll need are:
1 x bolster - or 2 towels, wrapped around a horizontally rolled pillow and tied to secure.
2 x yoga bricks - or 2 two thick similar sized dictionaries.
2 x yoga blankets - or any wool, thick cotton or fleece blanket with density.

No.1 - Prone twist
Place your bolster vertically along the top centre of your mat. Sit with your right hip up against the short end of the bolster. Place a folded blanket between your legs. Place your hands either side of the bolster. With an inhale lengthen through the whole spine and on your exhale gently place your front spine along the length of the bolster. Place your right cheek on the folded blanket and let your arms gently hang either side of the bolster. Repeat on the left side.

No.2 - Reclined bound angle
Place your bolster vertically along the top centre of your mat. Sit with the back of your hips against the short end of the bolster. Bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees drop out to the sides. Prop your legs with a rolled blanket under each thigh or use a yoga belt to secure your feet and support the legs. Gently lie back onto your bolster.

No.3 - Resting pose head massage
Lie on your back and place a brick on its lowest high just below the curve at the back of your skull (occipital ridge). Extend your legs out, arms slightly away from your body, palms facing up. Legs slightly apart and feet fall out to the side, soften your shoulder, back of the neck long. Gently roll your head from side to side to ease out tension in the muscles at the back of the skull. Roll your head mid way to your right, pause and make small circles, repeat on the left side. Remove the brick, soften the muscles across your forehead, your temples, the back of your skull. Let the whole body become heavy and melt into the support of the ground. 

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru