The Ten Mindful Movements of Thich Nhat Hanh

Celebrate the spirit of renewal this Easter with a gentle practice inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh. This video guides you through the Ten Mindful Movements—a simple yet powerful sequence to reconnect body and breath. Each movement invites presence, relaxation, and a deep sense of inner peace. Suitable for all levels, this practice offers a moving meditation you can return to anytime you need grounding and calm.

Transcript

Welcome and thank you for practicing the Ten Mindful Movements of Thich Nhat Hanh with me. I'm Merle McGillivray and this recording is made in the Scottish Highlands. The Ten Mindful Movements were designed for the monks to give their bodies some ease after long times of meditation. First, I would like to invite you to settle in for a moment, So our ankles are in line with the short edges of the yoga mat. So you might notice that your toes are pointing slightly inwards. And put some pressure on your big toe mount and your little toe mount and on the center of your heel. And you might feel that with this little act, The muscles of your legs are engaging. Close your eyes for a moment, If that's okay for you. And take a few seconds to settle in and to observe your breath. Where can you feel your breath in your body? Just observe. And we open our eyes. And the first movement, We bring our arms horizontal. So on an inhale, We bring them horizontal. And on an exhale, Bring them back. We do each movement four times. Inhale, Exhale. Take soft knees, Just a micro-bend in your knees. The second movement, We bring our arms up high, In the direction of the sky, Inhale. And exhale. And exhale. And bring your arms down again. Take a slow inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. And place your hands on your shoulders, Your fingertips on your shoulders. On an inhale, We open up our arms. Exhale, Hands to shoulders. Inhale. And open up your arms like a blooming flower. Inhale. And exhale. Bring your arms down. Shake your shoulders and your arms. And take a slow inhale through the nose. And exhale through the mouth. We start with arm circles. Place your hands in a namaste before your body. Inhale, Arms up. Exhale, Arms back in front of your body. We reverse direction. Inhale. Inhale. Exhale. And once more. And the last time, Inhale, Arms up. Big circle. And make it a mindful movement. So you notice what's happening in your shoulders. And arms to the side. And shake a little bit loose. We make a bigger stand. And we start to make some circles. We turn our body to the right. Elongate the spine slightly. And on an inhale, We make circles. And keep soft knees. Then we turn our body to the left. Elongate the spine. Inhale. And inhale. And exhale. We turn our body to center. And we make our stand a little bit smaller. Toes are pointing outwards. And we come standing on our toes. We lift our heels. And we come into a squat. And of course you can take a chair or a wall or a countertop to hold on to. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. And the last time. And shake your legs loose. On an inhale, We bring our arms up and overhead. We elongate the spine. Bend a little bit through the midline. And on an exhale, Come into a forward fold or just a flat back. Inhale. We greet the sky. Exhale. We greet the earth. Inhale. Greet the sun. And exhale. Greet the earth. Slow movement. The next two movements are balancing movements. So if it's more convenient for you, Then take a chair to hold on or a wall or a countertop. Inhale, Lift your right leg, Point your toes. Exhale, Stretch your leg. Inhale in. Exhale back to the floor. And take a focus point before you on the floor, Which makes it easier to balance. So inhale, Lift your left leg. Exhale, Stretch your leg. Inhale. And exhale. The other side. Two more of these. And the last one. And shake your legs out to loosen up. Now the next movement is even more challenging. First I will demonstrate first with my hands. So we bring our right foot cross over the left. Then on an inhale, We bring our leg to the side. And on an exhale, Cross over to the left. Inhale to the side. Exhale, Cross over and bring your foot back onto the floor. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. And foot back onto the floor. And keep a micro bend in your knees, So that makes it a little bit easier. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. And back to the floor. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. And back to the floor. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. And back to the floor. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. So shake your legs loose for a moment. And then we make a big step. We turn our left foot out. And our right foot in a 45 degrees angle. We bring our hand before our body. We bend our front knee. Our knee is looking over the second toe. And our knee is over the ankle and not passing it. Then we open up in a warrior two. Our shoulders are low. We bend our back leg. We stretch our front leg. And we bring our hands in a namaste together. Open up again on an inhale. Warrior two. And exhale. Inhale. And exhale. Inhale. And exhale. Then we straighten our back leg. We turn our front foot in. And our back foot out. So the toes are facing the front edge of the yoga mat. Turn your back foot, Your left foot, In a 45 degrees angle. Place your hand on the front side of your body. Bend your front knee. Front knee is looking over the second toe. And your knee is over your ankle. And then come into a warrior two. Shoulders are low. And then on an inhale we stretch our front leg. And we bend our back leg. Hands in a namaste. And open up. Exhale. Inhale. Warrior two. Exhale. Inhale. Warrior two. And exhale. And then we straighten our back leg. We bring our front foot in. And we heel toe our feet together. Bring the hands for the heart. These were the ten mindful movements of Thich Nhat Hanh, Which I do every morning to settle my mind, But also to overcome the morning stiffness. Thank you for joining me. Namaste.