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Yoga for Nervous System Regulation | Spring Class 6
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New here? Read this first!
Yoga for Nervous System Regulation is a unique program combining yogic tradition with neuroscience to help students engage with the nervous system, calm stress responses, and cultivate peace and resilience in body and mind. Learn more about the program here.
Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of this practice.
- Please complete the entire Spring Series in order before moving on to subsequent series, regardless of the current season. Each series builds upon the material covered in previous seasons, so doing them in sequence is important for your understanding and your safety.
- Yoga is best practiced on an empty stomach, which means no food for 2 hours prior and no beverages for 30 minutes prior. Follow your practice with food and plenty of water. Review the complete Yoga Safety Tips here.
- Each weekly class consists of a playlist of 3 practices to be completed in order. The asana (yoga poses) prepare us for pranayama (breathwork) which prepares us for meditation, which prepares us for life!
- This course is designed to accommodate a range of learning styles. Below the video playlist you’ll find additional visual aids and links to resources that enhance the learning experience.
- Yoga is a very individualized experience, and it’s normal to have questions or concerns. I would love to hear yours! Please submit a comment at the bottom of the page, or follow KMKyoga on Instagram, where I share additional insights, support, and resources with a growing community of fellow practitioners.
Thanks for being here!
Today, we’ll be working with the concept of aparagraha – “impermanence” – and practicing a maitri meditation to direct loving kindness towards ourselves, the people in our lives, and the whole world.
Remember, yoga is best practiced on an empty stomach. Review the complete Yoga Safety Tips here.
Please don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comments section at the bottom of the page, or by sending me an email at kath@kmkyoga.org. I’m happy to help with clarifications or modifications to ensure your practice is safe, comfortable, and enjoyable.
Find a quiet space with room to move. You may wish to pause notifications on your digital device. Gather your mat, a sturdy chair, some water, and a blanket. When you’re ready, hit Play on the first video in the playlist – asana – to begin.
Enjoy your practice!
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Spring Class 6 Video Instruction
Each class playlist consists of three videos to be practiced in order:
Asana ➙ Pranayama ➙ Meditation
The purpose of asana (yoga pose or “seat”) and pranayama (breathwork) are to prepare the body and mind for meditation, where the real magic happens! I strongly suggest you try the classes in sequence, but after you’ve completed the entire sequence at least once, feel free to revisit individual parts as you’d like.
Once you complete a video, the player will automatically advance to the next one in the playlist. You can skip to the next video at any time using the next/previous arrows at the bottom of the player window, or by clicking the icon in the top right corner.
Asana (Pose) Descriptions
The following diagrams are offered as a supplement to today’s asana practice. Use them to quickly reference specific poses in the video, review verbal instructions in written form, and clarify details from the class. Scroll within each text box for transcript excerpts with time stamps indicating when each pose is demonstrated in the Asana video for today’s class.
00:01:37:18 – 00:02:12:03
So find your seat. Same old seat, sits-bones on the chair, knees and feet hip width apart, knees over top of heels. Pull your feet in a little to feel your pelvis. Adjust your spine angle, your pelvic diamond, sitting on the chair, and then take a long, gentle inhale that makes you a little taller. And on exhale, close eyes.
00:02:12:05 – 00:03:03:02
Bring your attention to the breath in your nose, throat, chest, belly. And then that all important triangle where you can feel your diaphragm moving with breath. Remember, it’s okay to use your palm, the center of your palm, to feel it, or you can feel it with interoception. Remember each one of those breaths, each time the diaphragm strokes down, strokes back up,
00:03:03:02 – 00:03:35:11
it’s stroking your vagal nerve and helping to regulate your nervous system. With your next inhale, bring eyes open. Okay, So let’s make sure our shoulders are ready. Same old, same old, not too far forward, not too far back, hanging arms are hanging from your shoulders. Exhale here. Turn your palms and inhale up. You don’t want your hands visible in your periphery, your peripheral vision.
00:03:35:13 – 00:03:55:17
Exhale back down. Inhale always moves away from the body. Almost always. And exhale moves toward the body. Please pause your video and try a few of these on your own.
So let’s check out our low backs. Wide legs, whatever’s comfortable.
00:04:58:21 – 00:05:25:20
You don’t need to exaggerate it. Keep in mind when you see my postures that I have really long legs. I’m tall, so whatever’s most comfortable and easy for you. Hands on your thighs. Softer ribs, long torso, and you’re going to bend at the hips. Inhale here and exhale, hinging at the hips as long as you can remain straight.
00:05:25:22 – 00:05:38:16
And then when you need to curve down and let your head hang freely, we’re not only releasing the spine with the next few breaths,
00:05:40:07 – 00:06:05:12
but you’re learning how to use breath to soften part of your body. And we’re going to use that a lot in the asanas today. So inhale and bring your attention to your low belly and on exhale, soften belly and feel your low back lengthen and stretch a little from the tailbone.
00:06:05:14 – 00:06:54:03
Breathe into your mid back on exhale, soften upper belly, let your mid back and low back hang from your tailbone with your next inhale. Focus on your chest and shoulders and then on exhale soften chest, shoulders. Let your neck be limp and your head hang freely. Inhale all the way down to your tailbone. Exhale, releasing the spine from tailbone to the top of the head, and then press down with the feet and inhale up.
00:06:54:05 – 00:07:21:13
Remember that long breath that we take at the end is also that breath that helps you to not be dizzy coming up because our head was lower than our heart. It’s just kind of mechanics.
So bring your feet back to hip width apart. Knees are over top of heels and we’re just going to check in with the forward bend just one more time.
00:07:21:15 – 00:07:57:13
Inhale here and exhale forward, lying on your thighs this time. Once you’re lying, you can let your arms and head hang down and then inhale here all the way to the tailbone and on exhale, soften lower belly, upper belly, chest and head. Big inhale, exhale and inhale up.
00:07:57:15 – 00:08:22:07
Let’s go back to something we did in session three. We’re going to go back to our standing forward bend and lunge to get ready for our new pose. I’ve been giving you about a new pose every class. And this one is a lot of fun. And the best way to warm up towards it is to use that half sun salutation, which is forward bend and lunge.
00:08:22:09 – 00:08:47:06
So I’m going to move my chair. You don’t need to move your chair unless it helps you see your screen a little better. I’m putting my mat under my chair, anchoring it with the front legs and then rolling it out. So we’re going to start coming in really close. You’re going to get so used to me saying the same things.
00:08:47:06 – 00:09:21:01
But I’m tall and being close is not going to cause me to bump my head on the back of the chair because we’re balancing by sticking the bottom out. Let’s try that once. Inhale here, exhale. Stick the bottom out, hold the chair when you can. And down you come. Use that trick, you know, inhale to your tailbone. Exhale, soften
00:09:21:01 – 00:09:47:16
as the breath goes up the spine. You’ll probably find yourself a little closer to your chair. When you’re done, press down with the feet and inhale up by bringing the hips back in again. I’d like you to pause the video and try a few of those on your own. Remember, you’re using your breath pace, and if you’re halfway down and run out of breath, just stop.
00:09:47:18 – 00:09:54:10
Get another breath and keep going. So pause and try a few at your breath pace.
00:10:02:16 – 00:10:31:18
We’re going to add the lunge now without the arms going up. We don’t really need them for what we’re doing this time. So inhale here. And you might want to watch one of these because we haven’t done it since I think it was class three.
00:10:31:23 – 00:11:04:07
So watch one to make sure you’re safe and you have all the parts sort of together in your head. Inhale here. Stick your bottom out, exhale down, take hold of the chair, and really take the time to hang before you do anything else. Shift your weight onto your right foot, lift your left foot and bend the knee, and then place that foot as far back as you can, shoulders away from ears.
00:11:04:09 – 00:11:32:04
Front knee comes over the heel, back leg, stay straight. You can feel probably some sort of lengthening in the front of your hip and that’s good stuff. So from here, I’m going to lay on my thigh, my head close to the chair, and straighten the front leg and then bend the front leg and the chest comes up.
00:11:32:06 – 00:11:58:08
So you probably guess this is the inhale and I’m coming close to my body, my leg, that’s the exhale; back and forth. I’d like you to try a few of those at your pace before we switch to the other side. So this isn’t the place to notice. Welcome back. But this isn’t the place to notice, because I need to get you out of this position.
00:11:58:10 – 00:12:42:04
So we’re going to straighten the front leg again. Head comes down, bend the back leg and jump and place your feet hip width apart and down you come. Inhale up. Let’s do the other side. Exhale down, hold your chair, soften your belly, let every exhale be a softening. Shift your weight to your left foot, bend your right knee and throw that foot back shoulders away from ears, bring the front knee over top of the heel.
00:12:42:06 – 00:13:19:16
Then your chest comes up, your face comes up, then lay on your thigh and straighten that front leg, as much as you can, Remember, we’re experiencing the change as it happens. Inhale up. Exhale down, inhale up, exhale down. I’d like you to try a few of those at your pace, your breath pace. So pause your video and come back, and then I’ll get you out of this position.
00:13:27:22 – 00:13:59:18
So to come out, we do it the same way. But I want you to really think about how we’re not symmetrical creatures. It might be different on this side. So go slow, go gentle, lay on the thigh, straighten the front leg, bend the back and jump. Keeping the head low and hang. Inhale up to standing. Now you can notice how you feel after doing the back and forth a couple of times.
00:14:07:07 – 00:14:30:06
So we’re going to transition to lying on our backs on the mat with knees bent and feet flat. And if getting from standing to lying down is a struggle for you, maybe you have knee replacements or hip replacements. You can use the chair as a support. Both hands on the chair. Bring one knee down.
00:14:30:06 – 00:15:03:03
Bring the other knee down. Bring your bottom down. From there, we scooch around like kindergartners on the happy mat. So find your spot, lying on your back, knees bent, feet flat. And just notice. Notice how you feel. Is your head comfortable? Is your neck comfortable? Okay, let’s take our arms out in a T position. So my arm is straight out from my shoulder on both sides
00:15:03:05 – 00:15:41:01
and my palms are down. The palms are down because that will keep the ribs flat and also allow the shoulders to be in a more comfortable position at this point. Walk your knees and feet together. Imagine that you’ve glued your knees and feet together. We don’t want them sliding apart from each other while we move. So we inhale in this position and on exhale, both knees go down to one side.
00:15:41:03 – 00:16:16:09
They might not go all the way down. That’s okay. Soften your belly at the bottom. You know how to do that at the end of exhale. And then inhale back up again and continue with the other side. Soften your belly at the bottom and inhale back up. Couple of reps. Let’s just try one more together and I can maybe troubleshoot a couple of the things that might happen.
00:16:16:11 – 00:16:50:09
Inhale here and exhale down to one side. Soften your belly at the bottom. If your shoulder on the opposite arm is coming up that’s okay. If your hips and knees, if your knees don’t come all the way down, that’s okay. Just give it a go. Inhale back up and exhale down to the other side. Soften that belly when you get there.
00:16:50:11 – 00:17:16:22
And inhale back up. I think you know what I’m going to say. I want you to try a few of those at your pace. Take your time. Use your breath pace and try a few of… people call this the windshield wiper pose. You can call it whatever you like. Try a few, please.
00:17:23:19 – 00:17:43:08
Let’s put those feet back to hip width apart and bring one knee over your chest. And then also the other.
00:17:43:10 – 00:18:22:14
Rock yourself side to side a little to get your lower back flat. This is a very easy pose. And it really, really, really is very important. We’re going to inhale until our arms are straight and then exhale the whole time you’re bringing your knees toward your chest. Your arms are not pulling. They’re along for the ride. And then as you inhale away, the arms are the brakes
00:18:22:16 – 00:18:48:10
for, how far do I go? And exhale back in again. Keep in mind that you can’t see from your angle, maybe, but my knees and feet are still hip width apart. Or at least my ankles and my knees are hip width apart. So please try a few of those at your breath pace.
00:18:56:13 – 00:19:28:03
So notice how you feel. And then be sure you only bring one knee down at a time and use those fingers in the knee crease to ease it down. And then do the same with the other side. How we get up is really important. We’ve just twisted and loosened up and increased both the strength and the flexibility of our abdominal muscles.
00:19:28:05 – 00:20:05:14
So we don’t want to add a burden to them. Let’s roll over almost always onto our right side. Use your head, your arm, to cradle your head. From there, tip forward. Put one hand down, put the other hand down, draw it in and walk yourself up to a seated position. That is, in my experience, the gentlest way to go from lying to sitting without putting any strain on the spine, without putting a lot of extra work on any part of the body.
00:20:05:16 – 00:20:24:06
And then from there you can come back up to your chair in any way you like. If you need to come over and use the chair, that’s cool. But it is important to come up smooth and slow. I’m going to move my chair back
00:20:30:20 – 00:20:31:15
and put the mat aside. So take a moment to notice how you feel after the whole practice, and then we’ll close with our breath rotation.
00:21:00:08 – 00:21:36:09
So find that good seat again. Sits-bones hip width apart, over top of your heels. Let your hands rest somewhere in your lap. Palms down is a little easier on the shoulders, but make your shoulders happy. Take a long, gentle inhale and exhale. Close eyes. Bring your attention to the breath in your nose.
00:21:36:11 – 00:21:56:20
And on exhale, soften your cheeks, forehead, and those little muscles around your eyes. Bring your attention to the breath in your throat.
00:21:56:22 – 00:22:11:12
And on exhale, soften the space between ears and shoulders. Let your neck be long. Your chin might come up a little. And that’s okay.
00:22:11:14 – 00:22:30:11
Bring your attention to the breath in your chest. And on exhale, soften the connection between shoulders and arms. Let your arms be more limp.
00:22:30:13 – 00:23:19:12
Bring your attention to how breath moves your belly. And on exhale, soften that hip-leg connection. Feel yourself balanced on your pelvic floor, and then come in to the little triangle where it’s the easiest place to watch your diaphragm. You can use your hand. You don’t have to if you don’t need to. And watch your diaphragm go down on inhale and up and exhale, stroking your vagal nerve.
00:23:19:14 – 00:23:40:08
And then watch your whole torso breathe, softening as you go with that exhale. And then with your next inhale, bring eyes open.
Comments or questions?
I’d love to hear about your experience with this week’s class and address any concerns you may have. If you’d prefer to reach out privately, send me an email at kath@kmkyoga.org.
Hi, I’m Kath. I teach yoga, breathwork, and meditation as a path to greater somatic awareness and nervous system regulation. Through this practice, I have learned to care for myself so that I can live more peacefully and more purposefully in my body, my mind, and the world. Read my full bio here.
I created KMKyoga for people like me, who can benefit tremendously from yoga but need an option that doesn’t break their bodies or their budget. All KMKyoga classes and learning resources are funded by donations. Learn more.