Advertise on podcast: Yoga with Melissa

Feeling scattered, overwhelmed, or like your nervous system is on high alert? Are you feeling ungrounded or dysregulated, like it is impossible to find a sense of safety within your own body? YMaybe you feel "tired and wired" or you have a racing mind, or a persistent sense of anxiety that makes it hard to be present.  This somatic meditation will welcome all of you, including the parts that feel anxious and dysregulated In this guided somatic meditation (YWM 772), we focus on: Connecting with Support: Realizing that you don’t have to carry it all alone. We explore the support that is already present beneath you and around you. Grounding through Presence: Moving from your "thinking" brain into your "feeling" body to find stability. Emotional Regulation: inviting your nervous system to move from a state of high alert into a state of reassurance and ease. The Power of the Pause: Cultivating the confidence to stop, notice, and simply exist in the present moment without judgment. If you are navigating a stressful season or just need a moment to reset your nervous system, this practice offers you reassurance and emotional regulation. No previous experience with somatic work is required. If you found relief in this practice, you might also enjoy: Somatic Meditation for Daily Nervous System Regulation |YWM 769 https://youtu.be/ik3yDGbvdWQ?si=Zr-EuCnynyRIVinS  Join the Community: Subscribe to Yoga with Melissa for weekly somatic practices, restorative yoga, and tools for a regulated life. Take Your Practice Deeper: Join Our Membership Community If you are ready to move beyond daily regulation and create lasting change, I invite you to join our Yoga with Melissa membership community. When you join, you’ll gain immediate access to our comprehensive two-month nervous system reset: Month 1: Settle Your Nervous System – Focus on calming the "tired and wired" state and finding your baseline of safety. Month 2: Expand Your Capacity – Learn to grow your nervous system’s resilience so you can handle life’s stressors with more ease. In addition to these programs, members enjoy an extensive library of somatic movement education classes designed to help you inhabit your body with more freedom and less pain. Join us here and start your journey: https://melissawest.com/membership

Are you feeling stiff and tight? Many of us have achy hips, tight hamstrings, and a feeling of being overwhelmed. When your nervous system is on high alert, it’s hard to find your center. In this Hatha yoga class, we use the story of Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, to help you move through the physical and emotional blocks holding you back. Through deep hamstring stretches, hip openers, and the stabilizing challenge of Half Moon pose, you will: Release Chronic Tension: Ease the physical "grip" in your hips and legs that contributes to lower back pain. Regulate Your Nervous System: Shift from a state of burnout or shock into a grounded, calm presence. Cultivate Inner Stability: Use balancing poses to build the inner resources needed to handle life’s obstacles with ease. This practice will help you feel more centered, focused, and ready for your day. In this video: Ganesha storytelling for overcoming life’s hurdles Deep hamstring and hip opening sequence Step-by-step guidance into Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana) Calming Hatha flow for stress relief

When lower back pain makes it difficult to sit, stand, walk or even lie down comfortably, it can feel as though there is no safe way to move. Maybe the pain returns every morning, flares “out of nowhere,” or has left you carefully monitoring every bend and twist. Perhaps you have tried stretching, strengthening, physiotherapy or chiropractic care and still feel at your wit’s end. This gentle 35-minute yoga practice offers a simple place to begin, with easy-to-follow movements to help ease tension, mobilize your spine and hips, and help your body feel less guarded. At the end, I will guide you through a short somatic experiment that may reveal how much effort you are using to protect your back and what else might be possible. ✨ The real gold is inside my Inner Radiance Membership, where we move beyond temporary relief and explore how to rebuild comfort, movement choice and confidence. In Lower Back Pain Relief | Somatic Movement Education, our new 60-minute class, you will discover how to move so your lower back does not have to do everything. In Lower Back Pain Flare-Up Relief | When Every Position Hurts, you will receive a gentle 30-minute practice for those difficult moments when sitting, standing and lying down all feel uncomfortable.  Join the membership to access both complete classes and learn how to inhabit and move with your back differently: https://www.melissawest.com/membership #yogaforbackpain #lowbackrelief #gentleyoga

If you are feeling overwhelmed by chronic stress, physical tension, or just "tired and wired" you are not alone. Especially in the summer heat, heatwaves, and hot weather most of the world has been experiencing this summer. When your nervous system is stuck in a state of high alert, it can manifest as persistent anxiety, chronic pain, and a mind that won't shut off. This somatic meditation is designed to find safety in your body, helping you move from a state of survival into deep, restorative rest. By the end of this class, you’ll experience a sense of inner calm, reduced physical discomfort, and a more regulated vagus nerve, leaving you feeling grounded and resilient for your daily life. Take Your Practice Deeper: Join Our Membership Community If you are ready to move beyond daily regulation and create lasting change, I invite you to join our Yoga with Melissa membership community. When you join, you’ll gain immediate access to our comprehensive two-month nervous system reset: Month 1: Settle Your Nervous System – Focus on calming the "tired and wired" state and finding your baseline of safety. Month 2: Expand Your Capacity – Learn to grow your nervous system’s resilience so you can handle life’s stressors with more ease. In addition to these programs, members enjoy an extensive library of somatic movement education classes designed to help you inhabit your body with more freedom and less pain. Join us here and start your journey: https://melissawest.com/membership

30 min Somatic Pilates for BEGINNERS: Build Core Strength with Ease | YWM 768 Link to Become a Member https://melissawest.com/membership Experience a 30-minute Somatic Pilates class designed specifically for beginners who want to build core strength without the traditional "burn" or unnecessary tension. In this class, we move away from high-intensity precision and instead focus on ease, coordination, and relational movement. Many traditional Pilates classes focus on isolating muscles, which can often lead to aching shoulders and neck strain. Through my somatic lens, I’ll show you how to distribute effort throughout your entire body, allowing your core to strengthen naturally as part of a whole-body symphony. In this 30-minute somatic pilates session, you will: Learn to move with ease rather than force. Widen participation across your body to reduce muscle over-recruitment. Improve coordination and find your natural alignment. Build sustainable core strength that feels good in your body. Whether you’re new to Pilates or looking to rediscover it through a gentler, somatic approach, this class is for you. We start with total body awareness, ensuring every movement is easeful and effective. If you enjoyed this somatic approach to strength, let me know in the comments! How did your body feel moving with ease today? #beginnerpilates #corestrength #somatics

This Yoga Nidra is designed to help you meet exhaustion with loving acceptance. By shifting your nervous system out of activation and into a parasympathetic "rest and digest" state, you allow your body to prioritize recovery over vigilance. Studies suggest that just 1 hour of Yoga Nidra can provide physiological rejuvenation comparable to multiple hours of conventional sleep. This practice gently leads you through alpha and theta brainwave states, mimicking the deep, restorative repair processes of sleep. In this session, you will: Shift from "doing" to "being." Release the grip of exhaustion through gentle, easy attention. Support your nervous system’s natural recovery. Experience deep rest that refreshes your energy. This is a practice of total permission. Over the next 30 minutes, you have nothing to do and nowhere to be. Whether you stay awake or drop into sleep, you are exactly where you need to be. All parts of you, including your exhaustion, are welcome here.

Standing Vagus Nerve Rest | Gentle Yoga Flow for CALM | 30 mins| YWM 766 Check out my two month long programs on calming your nervous system https://melissawest.com/membership Feeling overwhelmed, over-stimulated, or just need a vagus nerve reset? This 30-minute standing gentle yoga flow is designed specifically for Vagus Nerve regulation and nervous system support. Most vagus nerve exercises look like the same few techniques repeated over and over. In this standing yoga practice, we'll explore lesser-known nervous system resets that combine movement, breath, vision, sound, and sensory awareness to help you feel calmer, more grounded, and more connected to your body. When stress, anxiety, and overwhelm leave you feeling disconnected from yourself, your nervous system needs a reset. In this standing yoga practice, we'll explore creative movement, breath, sound, eye yoga, and awareness practices designed to help you shift out of survival mode and reconnect with a greater sense of ease, presence, and regulation. Why Subscribe to Yoga with Melissa? I specialize in science-backed, somatic yoga and nervous system regulation. My goal is to help you move from a state of "survival" to a state of "thriving" through nuanced, compassionate movement. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly classes!

Qigong Yoga Flow for Summer Insomnia: Release Heat & Anxiety to Sleep Deeply |YWM 765 In this nourishing Qigong yoga fusion, we focus on the Fire element to help you release the accumulated heat and restless energy that often lead to summer insomnia. When the Fire element is out of balance during these long, hot days, it can manifest as a "tired but wired" feeling, racing thoughts, and a literal physical heat that makes deep rest feel impossible. This class is specifically designed to soothe the Heart protector and calm the nervous system through gentle, cooling movements and rhythmic breathwork, allowing you to transition from the active "Yang" energy of the season into a restorative "Yin" state for the night ahead. We will move through a series of yoga flows and traditional Qigong clearing exercises to vent excess heat and dissolve the anxiety that keeps you awake. By focusing on the meridian lines associated with the heart meridian, this practice helps ground your energy and quiet the mind, making it the perfect "apothecary cure" for those struggling with seasonal sleep disruptions. Whether you are dealing with a busy mind or a restless body, join me on the mat to exhale the day’s tension and prepare your entire being for a night of profound, cooling, and uninterrupted sleep. For more nourishing practices to support your seasonal well-being, our Yoga with Melissa membership offers a library of Qigong yoga flows and a dedicated 4-week Fire Element course to help you stay balanced all summer long. If you’d like to dive deeper into the theory and practice of the seasons, my book, 5 Element Yin Yoga, features an entire section on the Fire element with specific sequences for the Heart and Small Intestine meridians. Explore more here: Book: melissawest.com/book Membership: melissawest.com/membership

Yoga Nidra Quiet Your Mind & Rest Your Body | Yoga with Melissa 764 🌙 If your body is tired but your mind keeps going… this Yoga Nidra is for you. This practice is an invitation into quiet. You are already whole and complete. You have the inner resource of quiet and rest within you.  In this Yoga Nidra we explore: ✨ quieting mental noise ✨ resting the nervous system ✨ sensing opposites ✨ receiving support ✨ allowing the breath to soften naturally If you practiced today, I’d love to hear: What shifted for you during the practice? 💛 And if you want more support for deep rest, sleep, nervous system regulation, and restoration… Inside my membership community there are over 100 downloadable Yoga Nidra recordings you can listen to anytime in your earbuds 🌙 ✨ Join us here: https://melissawest.com/membership

12 Daily Standing Yoga Poses for Vagus Nerve Regulation & Morning Calm Join the Yoga with Melissa Membership Community here: 👉 https://melissawest.com/membership Reset your nervous system and find instant morning calm with this daily standing Hatha yoga routine. In today’s prop-free outdoor class, we’ll move through 12 essential standing yoga poses designed for Vagus nerve regulation and somatic release.  This is a yoga mat free and wrist free yoga class.  If you’ve been looking for a somatic yoga flow to soothe anxiety or a daily standing routine for longevity, this Qigong-inspired fusion is for you. We focus on gentle, rhythmic movements that follow the natural rhythm of the day, making it perfect for practicing in your garden, a park, or even during a travel break. In this video, you will experience: Vagus Nerve Reset: Specific standing movements to transition from "fight or flight" to "rest and digest." Prop-Free Mobility: A full-body Hatha flow that is entirely wrist-free and no-mat friendly. 12 Essential Poses: An updated look at the daily poses you’ve told me have become a cornerstone of your practice. Somatic Grounding: Techniques to help you feel centered and connected to nature. This practice is ideal for those who prefer standing yoga or have limited mobility. Whether you are a beginner or a long-time practitioner of Hatha yoga, these movements will help you maintain balance and vitality every single day. Resources mentioned in this video: My Original 12 Poses Routine: https://youtu.be/5R1CG84aRkI?si=smjXJfVZrWz6ndp9  More Nervous System Support: https://youtu.be/tvceg8unRPQ?si=amM7NBZHKPTqe3ET  Join the Yoga with Melissa Membership Community here: 👉 https://melissawest.com/membership

Yoga Nidra for High Functioning Anxiety and Burnout Recovery YWM 762 Join the Yoga with Melissa Membership Community here: 👉 https://melissawest.com/membership Do you feel "tired but wired"? Like you’re constantly "holding it all together" while your nervous system is screaming for a break? If you identify with high-functioning anxiety or feel on the edge of burnout, your body doesn't just need a nap, it needs a neurological reset. In this Yoga Nidra session (also known as NSDR or Non-Sleep Deep Rest), we move beyond simple relaxation into deep nervous system regulation. In this 30-minute practice, we will: Reset your Vagus Nerve: Transition from "fight or flight" into the restorative "rest and digest" state. Release the "Armour": Gently soften the physical tension in your jaw, shoulders, and eyes that high-functioning anxiety leaves behind. Practice NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest): Use science-backed protocols to replenish your cognitive energy and reduce cortisol levels. Your body is allowed to soften. It is safe to let go of the effort. Whether you use this as a midday "Nidra nap" to save your day or as a deep evening recovery session, this practice is your safe space to land. ✨ Ready to go deeper into Nervous System Regulation? ✨ If you are looking for long-term resilience, I have two comprehensive, month-long programs inside our Membership Community specifically designed to heal your nervous system and recover from burnout. Join the Yoga with Melissa Membership Community here: 👉 https://melissawest.com/membership

Stop Stretching Your Shoulders Like This | Yin Yoga for Real Relief Feel Incomplete & Curious? 👉 https://melissawest.com/membership If your neck and shoulders keep tightening even though you stretch, do yoga, and try to relax… you’re not alone. For years I’ve taught yin yoga classes focused on deeper stretching and long holds, and I found in my own body those same strategies were actually creating more tension and even triggering migraines. In this class, we use a simple yin yoga shape to slow things down and notice how tension is being created in your body. You’ll explore small changes in how you use your shoulders, arms, and head so the tension in your neck and shoulders can reorganize. The result is not just temporary relief, but a different way of moving that reduces how much tension builds up throughout your day. If this felt different, this is the somatic movement education approach we return to inside my membership, where you learn how to build this into your everyday movement: 👉 https://melissawest.com/membership

Get my Yin Yoga Book 🙏👉https://melissawest.com/book/  💕Join Our Membership Community 💕http://bit.ly/ywmmembership  If strength training leaves you sore, depleted, or needing days to recover, this class is for you. You can build strength without burning out. You can get stronger. You can build strength without burning out. In this 30 minute gentle yoga class, we work with strength in a way your body can actually take in and respond to. You will move in a way that stays within your energy envelope, so you are building strength without triggering tension, over-effort, or flare ups. This class is for you if: strength workouts leave you exhausted or needing long recovery your body tightens when you try to build strength you are managing fatigue, pain, or low capacity you want to feel stronger in a way that supports your nervous system What you may notice after this class: your body feels stronger, but not depleted stronger joints with more integrity less gripping in your neck, shoulders, and jaw a gradual building of energy rather than crashing This is a different way of approaching strength. I love teaching my students to build capacity over time, instead of pushing through the messages of your body. If you want more support with this approach, including somatic movement education and myofascial release, you can join me inside the membership here: https://www.melissawest.com/membership   Poem: Almost Effortless by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Full Body Yin Deep Tissue Release for Pain & Tension YWM 759 Get my Yin Yoga Book 🙏👉https://melissawest.com/book/  💕Join Our Membership Community 💕http://bit.ly/ywmmembership Tension and pain in your body often builds slowly. Hours at the computer. Tight hips from sitting. Neck and shoulder tension that creeps up into headaches. A jaw that never lets go. Over time your body starts to feel stiff, compressed, and tired. This Full Body Yin Yoga Deep Tissue Release for Pain & Tension practice gives your body the time and space it needs to soften those patterns. In this class we stay in poses longer so the deeper connective tissues of the body can respond. We allow your body to gradually release holding in the hips, spine, shoulders, and feet. As the muscles relax, the deeper tissues begin to rehydrate and regain resilience. You may notice: less tension in the neck and shoulders • more space in the hips and spine • relief from chronic tightness patterns • a calmer nervous system • your body feeling more open and supported This is a slow, grounding practice that helps unwind the accumulated effort we carry through the day. If this class helps your body feel better, inside our membership we go deeper with myofascial release and somatic movement education. These practices help you get to the root of the tension patterns so they do not keep returning. 💕 Join the membership here: https://www.melissawest.com/membership For members: Myofascial Release Classes https://www.members.melissawest.com/connective-tissue-practices-2/ Somatic Movement Education Classes https://www.members.melissawest.com/courses/somatics/ You can also find my Yin Yoga book here: https://melissawest.com/book/ Thank you for practicing with me.

Get my Yin Yoga Book 🙏👉https://melissawest.com/book/  💕Join Our Membership Community 💕http://bit.ly/ywmmembership  Spring invites energy in the body to rise and move again after the quiet stillness of winter. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this upward movement is governed by the Wood element and the Liver and Gallbladder meridians. When this energy flows smoothly we experience clarity, creativity, and inspired action. When it becomes constrained, it can show up as stress, headaches, irritability, migraines, neck tension, or PMS. This Spring Yin Yoga practice for the Liver and Gallbladder meridians gently opens the inner legs, hips, and side body where these pathways run. As you settle into longer held poses, the nervous system begins to downshift and space is created for qi to circulate more freely. Many students notice that pressure in the head softens, emotional tension settles, and the body feels lighter and more spacious. This class was taken directly from my book Five Element Yin Yoga and offers a seasonal practice designed to help you move with the natural rhythms of spring rather than pushing against them. You will experience: Release of tension along the side body and inner legs • Reduced pressure in the head, neck, and shoulders • Support for hormonal balance during spring • A calmer, more spacious nervous system • A sense of clarity and forward movement When we practice in harmony with the season, the rising energy of spring becomes supportive rather than overwhelming. Props Needed: Yoga Strap, blanket, bolster, Poem: Instructions on Not Giving Up - Ada Limón Continue the Practice This class is part of a complete 6 week Wood Element Yin Yoga course inside my membership where we explore the Liver and Gallbladder meridians in depth. 🌿 Wood Element Yin Yoga Course: https://www.members.melissawest.com/wood-element-course/ 💕 Join Our Membership Community: http://bit.ly/ywmmembership   My Book: This practice comes directly from my book. Get Five Element Yin Yoga here 🙏 https://melissawest.com/book/