A quiet gratitude and body awareness practice to support rest.

Designed to close the day with ease and attention.

What you will experience

• Time to get comfortable and supported
• A brief gratitude reflection
• A slow body scan from feet to face
• Simple breath counting to steady attention
• A gentle transition toward rest

Practice highlights

• Add blankets or eye covering as needed
• Recall one small thing that helped you yesterday
• Choose eyes open or closed
• Scan the body from feet to forehead
• No effort or fixing required
• Count exhales from one to five
• Return to one as needed
• End by rolling onto your side

Key guidance used

• Nothing to fix
• Nothing to do
• Awareness over effort
• Breath as it is

When this practice helps

• Before sleep
• After a long or demanding day
• When the nervous system feels busy
• As a closing practice after movement

Try this after listening

• Name one small support again tomorrow morning
• Use the exhale count during nighttime waking
• Let your body choose its most comfortable side

Reflection question

What shifted when you focused on one small thing that helped you?

Release Tension When Stress Builds Up

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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A full body mindful movement practice.

Built around choice, breath, and steady pacing.

Accessible seated, kneeling, or standing.

What you will experience

• Progressive warm up for arms, shoulders, spine, hips, and legs
• Breath led movement
• Frequent pauses to notice sensation
• Multiple options using a chair, blocks, or the mat
• A gradual transition to standing balance and strength

Practice highlights

• Arm circles and shoulder warm ups
• Forward fold with side variations
• Cat and cow for spinal mobility
• Gentle posture booster for the upper back
• Seated and kneeling twists
• Lunge and hamstring stretches on both sides
• Downward dog or chair supported version
• Slow transitions through forward fold and chair
• Standing balance in mountain pose
• Squats and gentle twists to finish

Guiding themes woven throughout

• Hydration and self pacing
• No forcing through pain
• Respecting body boundaries
• Options over perfection
• Breath before depth

When this practice fits

• When the body feels stiff or restless
• As a midday reset
• Before longer standing or walking
• To reconnect breath and movement

Try this after listening

• Choose one movement that felt supportive
• Repeat it later today with three slow breaths
• Notice how your shoulders and spine respond

Reflection question

Where did choice change how your body experienced the movement?

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yoga Design Lab

A short intention setting practice to focus attention and guide action.

Simple. Direct. Grounded in choice.

What you will experience

• A clear definition of intention
• Examples of present tense statements
• Space to choose what fits today
• Repetition to reinforce commitment

Practice highlights

• Learn what makes an intention effective
• Use short, positive statements
• Speak in the present tense
• Treat the words as already true
• Repeat the intention three times
• Say it silently or out loud

Examples shared

• Cigarettes no longer serve me
• Soft drinks are a thing of my past
• I bring positivity to every situation
• I have all the tools I need to succeed today

When to use this practice

• At the start of the day
• Before a difficult task
• During habit change
• When focus feels scattered

Try this after listening

• Write one intention for tomorrow
• Keep it short and specific
• Read it once in the morning
• Repeat it again before bed

Reflection question

What shifts when you speak your intention as if it is already true?

Release Tension When Stress Builds Up

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yoga Design Lab

Episode Summary

In this heartfelt episode, Adrianne shares a gentle reflection on love, loss, and intention. Speaking from her winter stay in Portugal — after intentional planning and in the midst of unexpected storms — she offers a grounding reminder: even when hearts feel broken, love remains accessible.

This episode includes:

• A reflection on grief and missing loved ones

• A short self-directed loving-kindness meditation

• Breath awareness cues

• An affirmation and daily intention practice

• A simple three-breath reset you can return to anytime

Whether you are grieving a parent, partner, sibling, child, friend — or simply feeling alone — this practice brings you back to what is steady and available within you.

Based on transcript

• Missing someone deeply

• Choosing intention during hard seasons

• Love as an internal state

• Breath awareness as regulation

• Gentle self-affirmation

• Bringing love into daily interactions

Notice your breath:

• At the nostrils

• In the throat

• In the rise and fall of the chest or belly

Observe how memory shifts sensation.
Does recalling love change your rhythm?
Your temperature?
Your weight in the body?

Instead of beginning with others, this meditation turns inward first.

Repeat silently:

• May I be loved.

• May I feel loved.

• May I remember love.

• May I give and receive love.

Affirmation:
I am love.

Intention:
I bring love into every situation.

• Inhale fully through the nose.

• Expand the chest like a balloon.

• Exhale with a soft sigh.

Repeat three times.
Inhale calm.
Inhale love.
Release what is heavy.

• When did you last feel deeply loved?

• What changed in your body when you remembered it?

• What would it look like to bring love into one difficult interaction today?

"My wish for you is to be well."

Website: https://rootedfor.care
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alwayshomeyoga2931
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@rootedforcare

If this episode supported you, share it with someone who may need a steady moment today.

Be steady.
Be present.
Be love.

Key Themes:

Guided Practice Included

1. Breath Awareness

2. Loving-Kindness — Starting with Self

3. Three Deep Breaths

Reflection

Questions

Closing

10 Day Release Stress When Tension Builds Up

Mindfulness partners:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yoga Design Lab

A gentle breath and tapping practice to support self regulation.

Designed to slow the stress response without forcing calm.

What you will experience

• Guided breathing through the nose and mouth
• Gentle tapping to support body awareness
• Clear affirmations that reinforce safety and choice
• A quiet pause to notice internal shifts

Practice highlights

• One hand on the chest, one on the stomach
• Inhale through the nostrils
• Exhale through the mouth with a soft sigh
• Gentle tapping at the heart center
• Tapping along the collarbones
• Alternating taps at the sides of the hands
• Soft tapping along the thighs
• Ending in stillness

Affirmations used in the practice

• This breath steadies me
• I can slow myself down
• My body responds to gentle signals
• I do not need to force calm
• I am allowed to be at ease
• I can pause without losing control
• I notice without judging
• Sensations come and go
• I am not my stress response

When this practice helps

• During overwhelm
• When the body feels keyed up
• Before rest or sleep
• After emotional activation

Try this after listening

• Choose one affirmation and repeat it once today
• Use the breath with a soft exhale during a pause
• Notice how your shoulders respond when you release effort

Reflection question

What did your body respond to most strongly: the breath, the tapping, or the words?

Release Tension When Stress Builds Up

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Mindfulness partners:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yoga Design Lab

A short, steady practice to arrive in the body and settle attention.

Designed for moments of stress, distraction, or transition.

What you will experience

• Simple orientation to the present moment
• Gentle body awareness
• A clear breath rhythm through the nose and mouth
• Reassuring self statements to support steadiness

Practice highlights

• Choose eyes closed, open, or gaze lowered
• Notice contact points with chair, mat, or floor
• Name sounds, sensations, and objects in your space
• Place one hand on the chest, one on the stomach
• Inhale through the nose
• Exhale through the mouth with a soft sigh

Key affirmations used

• I am here
• I am safe
• I am enough in this moment

When to use this practice

• Before a meeting
• After difficult news
• At the start or end of the day
• Anytime you need to come back to yourself

Try this after listening

• Repeat the affirmations once more on your own
• Take three slow nasal inhales
• Let each exhale leave through the mouth

Reflection question

What changed in your body when you named that you are here and safe?

Release Tension When Stress Builds Up

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Mindfulness partners:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yoga Design Lab

Find a quiet place. Breathe.

Rinse & repeat as needed.

#meditation #20minutes

Release Tension When Stress Builds Up

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Mindfulness partners:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yoga Design Lab

What this episode explores

• A raw, personal story of stress, grief, and the moment everything changed
• How grief after losing both parents affected Adrianne’s physical health
• The blood pressure readings that became a wake-up call
• How yoga and mindfulness became her lifeline
• The role Veterans Yoga Project played in her healing
• A mini Mindful Resilience class you can follow along with
• Support for anyone grieving during the holidays

Key moments

• The breaking point
Adrianne shares blood pressure readings from the months after her father passed in 2021. Numbers in the red zone. A doctor who wouldn’t let her leave until they stabilized. The shock of realizing stress and grief were affecting her body more than she knew.

• What grief looked like day to day
Hair loss. Weight changes. Sleeplessness. A rash across her arm. Crying every day and trying to function while falling apart inside and missing her parents deeply, especially around holiday seasons.

• The turning point
Finding Veterans Yoga Project — free, trauma-informed classes for the military community, caregivers, and first responders. Logging in with the camera off. Crying through classes. Returning anyway. Learning breath work, meditation, mindful movement, gratitude, and rest.

• Becoming a teacher
Starting yoga teacher training with no plans to teach — just a need to heal. Earning a 200-hour certificate, then trauma-informed training, then Veterans Yoga Project certification. VYP offering her first teaching role in 2023.

• Why she teaches today
Not to perform yoga. Not to be “perfect.” But to offer community, support, and tools for navigating grief, stress, and uncertainty — the same tools that helped save her life.

Mini Mindful Resilience Class (follow along)

Breath work
• Inhale through the nose
• Exhale through the mouth
• Or breathe through parted lips if congested
• Notice coolness in, warmth out

Meditation
• Visualize light snow falling
• Imagine watching it as a child
• Notice the softness, the stillness, the quiet

Mindful movement
• Gentle neck rotations
• Shoulder rolls
• Slow head tilts with steady breath

Gratitude
• Name one small thing you appreciate
• If nothing comes, set the intention to notice gratitude today

Rest
• Take five minutes if that’s all you can find
• Let your breath settle
• Let your body soften

Holiday Grief Reflection

• Grief can hit harder during the holidays
• Empty chairs and missed traditions stir deep emotions
• It’s okay to cry — tears reflect love, not weakness
• You can show up for others only when you first show up for yourself

Resources mentioned

Veterans Yoga Project
• Free daily online classes
• Yoga, meditation, breath work, and Yoga Nidra
• For veterans, active duty, reservists, first responders, caregivers, and their families
• veteransyogaproject.org

Closing message

Grief changes you. Mindfulness and movement help you keep going.
If this season feels heavy, you’re not alone.
Take a breath.
Take your time.
Take what you need from this practice.

Release Tension When Stress Builds Up

⁠⁠⁠Free 3-Day Course⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠10-Day Course⁠⁠⁠

Mindfulness partners:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adagio Teas⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Yoga Design Lab