Hello,
Good morning.
This is a gentle morning movement.
Practice from bed.
You might have heard my dog Ginger take a big stretch and a big sigh.
So perhaps let's do the same.
The invitation is to meet me in a seated shape.
I have my back,
Low back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Supported by some pillows behind me.
And my legs are really loosely crossed.
The ankles are crossed but quite far from my body creating a little diamond shape in between my legs.
If that shape isn't feeling supportive you might nestle over to the edge of your bed.
Sitting on the edge of your bed and your feet planted on the ground,
The earth.
Perhaps gathering a couple of books to bring the earth up to you if your feet don't quite reach.
Taking your time.
There is no rush to find and land and settle into your seated shape.
But when you do,
Let's pandiculate.
Which is what Ginger,
My dog,
Just did a moment or two ago.
That might be reaching your arms,
Dancing through your body and taking a sigh,
Releasing the stretch.
Your arms might press out in front of you,
Doming through your upper back.
And releasing the stretch,
Maybe inviting a sigh out of your mouth if that feels nourishing.
Pandiculation,
The body's innate and natural way of stretching.
You might do one or two more,
Inviting in attention and a stretch.
Ginger is joining us.
Gathering a little bit of information about how you are arriving into your new day.
My body feels a little sticky and stiff.
I can hear a lot of little crunches and cracks.
As I begin to shift my body weight from sit bone to sit bone.
Creating a wave-like motion through my spine.
Feeling into the support of the mattress beneath me.
And the support of those soft pillows behind my back.
You could be in stillness here or movement.
And there's no right or wrong way to move your body.
Could be really subtle shifts from side to side.
Maybe drawing circles,
Letting those circles really begin from the very base of your spine.
And the possibility of including some gentle stretches,
Gentle movement for your neck.
I'd love to guide us through three different movements.
And as always,
You're welcome to do as much or as little as feels right for you today.
If this is something that you practice regularly to begin your day,
You might discover some alternate stretches and movements that really support your body.
Support your body to begin your day with a sense of connection and embodiment.
A steady presence.
As you feel ready,
Maybe coming into a little bit of stillness.
What might it be like to imagine your spine is really supple and lengthened.
Keeping the elbows nice and soft,
But bringing your hands out in front of you.
Starting to circle and move through the wrist.
My fingers are long and fluid.
So I begin to move through the wrist,
The wrist joint,
Middle pops and cracks.
As I start to wake up the wrist,
The hands,
The fingers.
And although the movement is primarily coming from each wrist,
You might be able to feel and sense other muscles in the forearm,
The upper arm,
Maybe even the shoulder socket,
Your whole arm,
Working in cooperation from the shoulder joint,
Traveling down to the elbow,
Traveling down to the wrist and down into each of your fingers.
One option might be to take a pause.
Resting the hands on the knees or the thighs.
Another option might be to close through the fingers,
Making gentle fists with the thumbs on the outside.
And exploring a few wrist circles.
I really notice the engagement of my forearms as I circle the wrists in this way.
And noticing if your shoulders are engaged more than they need to be.
Can you allow them to grow heavy and melt down your back?
Whenever you have had enough,
Resting the hands on your knees or your thighs,
Let's begin to bring a little bit of self-massage to the tops of the thighs.
There's no precise way to do this.
You might apply a little bit of pressure through one hand,
And then the other.
If your legs are crossed like mine,
You might even travel down to the calves,
The ankles,
The soles of your feet,
Waking up the lower limbs.
If you're seated on the edge of your bed with your feet grounded on the earth,
You could explore with pressing down through the balls of your feet and rocking back onto the heels.
You could even bring a little bit of gentle massage to the outer waist.
Hello,
Ginger.
The outer waist,
The hips,
The outer glutes.
Bringing some aliveness to our lower limbs.
Scrunching through the feet,
Feeling the engagement of all of the muscles in your feet and ankles.
Stretching the toes out long.
You might point and flex through the feet.
And finding this moment to reconnect to a conscious breath.
For one breath,
Really know that you are breathing in,
Gathering in fresh inspiration for the day.
And for one conscious breath,
Really know that you are exhaling,
Releasing and letting go.
As ginger joins us for our final movement,
Some lateral side bending.
A chance to really open up through our side body.
Awakening the intercostal muscles that have their home between each of your ribs.
There's the option of changing the cross of your legs if you are seated in the shape like I am.
Nestling down through the shoulders.
My suggestion is that we flow from side to side.
But today you might decide that lingering in the stretch on one side feels more supportive.
And if you'd like to follow along,
Placing your left palm down beside you,
Feeling into that connection between your hand and the texture of your sheets,
The softness of your mattress.
Let's find an exhalation as we lean over to the left,
The right arm coming up over your head,
Any amount.
Inhaling center,
Exhaling over to the right side,
Inhale center,
Exhale bend.
Inhale center,
Exhale bend.
Ginger has taken a beautiful inhale and exhale.
Our reminder to engage with our breath.
Coming back up to your center.
Finding a pause,
Noticing how you feel.
Might like to wriggle out through the shoulders,
Shake out through the wrists.
And again,
Squeeze,
Separate,
Stretch through the toes,
The feet.
Placing one hand on your chest to the other on your belly,
Or maybe both hands over the chest,
Your choice.
And just gesturing in towards yourself,
Giving thanks for your choice to begin your day with Ginger and I.
We're beginning your day with a sense of embodied presence and connection to yourself.
Let's take a conscious breath together,
Knowing that you are breathing in and knowing that you are breathing out.
As you begin to move into the rest of this new day,
You might like to take one last pandiculation,
Stretching the arms out in front or above you.
Gazing around the room,
The space that you're in,
A little roll through the shoulders.
Just in time as the rubbish bins are outside,
Giving us their own version of awakening.
Wishing you a beautiful day ahead,
Full of spaciousness and connection.
I'd love to practice together again soon.
Take good,
Good care.
