Have you felt this lately?

  • tired and stressed by the end of your day

  • anxious and unfocused most or all of the time

  • looking for ways to create more calm and balance

  • feeling the need for self-nurturing

Is your brain on overload?

These short practices can help you close the tabs, quiet the chatter, and connect to your body.
tiny pumpkin, two chocolates, cup of something with a frothy top, and a sign My brain has too many tabs open

Tired of being in fight-or-flight mode?

Is your stress response always "on"?
Two cranes fighting in flight over ocean

Ready for rest-and-digest?

This course can help you shift into the relaxation response.
tabby cat sleeping on soft pillow

Short practices in movement, breath, and relaxation can help.

You can benefit from short slow yoga practices!
woman on back doing bridge pose

In this course you'll

  • explore movement and breath in a variety of practices from the yoga tradition.

  • experience the feeling of making choices about your body's movement and stillness

  • have a chance to savor slow, mindful movement for your well-being

Slow, Mindful Yoga

The goal of this style of yoga is to support your nervous system. If you'd like to create a state of calm and balance within your body and mind, this is a great place to start. It's innercise, not exercise.
woman on back resting lower legs on chair seat

Course Curriculum

  • 01

    Welcome! Introduction and guidance

    • Lesson 1 Welcome and About Your Instructor (3:07 min)

    • Lesson 2 Why This Course? (2:16)

    • Lesson 3 Introduction to Slow, Mindful Yoga (2:31 min)

    • Lesson 4 Preparing for Doing Yoga at Home (2:33 min)

    • Lesson 5 Keeping Yourself Safe (2:03)

    • Lesson 6 Features of These 5 Short Practices (1:46 min)

    • Lesson 7 Where to Start and What to Do (1:10 min)

    • My Role in Supporting You to Stay Safe

    • What is "Tend and Befriend"?
  • 02

    Five 15-Minute Floor-Based Practices

    • Practice 1 - Includes Shaking Bug

    • Practice 2 - includes side stretch on floor

    • Practice 3 includes left-right connection

    • Practice 4 with lots of joint rotation

    • Practice 5 includes pelvic tilt
  • 03

    15 Minute Energizing Practice

    • Slow, Mindful Yoga Short Energizing Practice
  • 04

    Chair-Based Practices

    • 12 Minute Chair Yoga - All Seated

    • 20-minute Chair Yoga - Includes Some Standing
  • 05

    What might be next for you?

    • What might be next for you?
  • 06

    Breathing Practices - Audio Recordings to Download

    • Introduction to These Breathing Practices

    • Breathing Practice: 4-6 ratio breathing

    • Breathing Practice: Alternate Nostril Visualization

Invitation to give your nervous system a rest

These short practices are all on the floor. Before you sign up, please be sure you are able to get to the floor and back up without help from another person.

Features of This Course

  • Five 15-minute practices, all on the floor. Some poses on your back, some on your front, a few on hands and knees. All are optional!

  • Can be accessed any time, any place you have internet

  • Lifetime access, as long as this resource exists

  • Opportunity to try at different times of your day

  • A safe practice that will support your body, mind, and spirit

  • Grounded in the principles of slow, mindful yoga for your nervous system

About Your Instructor & Guide

Lori Taft Sours, PhD, RYT500

I have been an educator most of my life and a wellness seeker for decades. A breast cancer diagnosis in 2000 inspired me to learn more about how to support my healing and create my path toward wellness. At age 54, on the advice of my integrative physician, I began taking yoga classes at a local studio. Before long, I felt stronger, calmer, and more focused.

Just before my 60th birthday in 2014, I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher certification and started introducing others to this effective, accessible practice for health and well-being. In 2019, I retired from a decades-long career in adult education, where I specialized in learner-centered curriculum design and co-authored a book series on outcome-based systems based on the learner's journey.

I enrolled in an advanced yoga teaching program as a 68th birthday gift to myself, and I am now certified at the 500-hour level. My training is mostly in Viniyoga, and though not a Certified Yoga Therapist, I am strongly influenced and inspired by my yoga teachers who are also Yoga Therapists.

A lifelong learner and teacher, I am grateful for the opportunity to continue studying the art and science of yoga and yoga teaching.

Recognizing the ever-increasing demands and stresses in our society, I offer slow, mindful yoga as a tool for self-care, self-compassion, and well-being. Slow, mindful yoga gives us tools to connect more deeply to ourselves, build nervous system resilience, and support our well-being.

What My Students Are Saying

“I appreciate the gentle practice and your coaching, particularly the importance of the pause between poses, to reflect and collect sensation. ”

CC

“It’s so nice to be reminded to go slow. In so many of my yoga videos or classes that I’ve been to, it’s so rushed, and I can barely get into a pose and feel it before I’m moving on. So I think that is so helpful to be reminded to do that. ”

SJK

“As always, I thank you for … making us all feel really safe, and tailoring it for ourselves, and you have a really special way of communicating that to us, and I really appreciate it.”

JR

FAQ

  • Can I do this if I'm not flexible?

    Absolutely. Slow, mindful yoga is about much more than flexibility, but you may increase in flexibility if you start practicing regularly. And by the way, the goal is not to become super-flexible. If you do increase your flexibility, that is great, but this is also about inner awareness and building nervous system resilience.

  • I'm too exhausted to do anything physical. How would this help?

    We meet ourselves (body, mind, and spirit) where we are at the moment, every time we practice. If we're exhausted, there are places we can start that are supportive and self-compassionate. This isn't "fitness yoga," and we're not trying to force our bodies to do something. We're listening to our bodies and befriending them.

  • There is plenty of free yoga online. Is it all the same?

    There certainly is a lot of free yoga online, and there is even more since the Covid-19 pandemic. There is clearly an abundance of opportunity to try yoga for free. I encourage you to do that! There are many different styles of yoga, and lots of different teachers. It's important to explore and discover the style(s) that you like and the teacher(s) you enjoy learning from, because we are not all the same. This is different from many yoga experiences you'll find, as our focus is on befriending our selves and building nervous system resilience.