So in this meditation,
We are exploring the body as it moves,
With a sense of curiosity to how it moves and how it feels from moment to moment.
We are not striving for any particular goal,
Letting go of any sense of success or failure,
But simply tuning into the physical sensations of movement from one moment to the next.
And as we move,
Keeping in mind to always honour our own body's limits,
Tuning into the wisdom of your own body.
So not pushing yourself beyond your limits or competing with yourself or others,
But just exploring the sensations of movement however they are for you.
So now finding a space where you won't be interrupted and where you can comfortably lie down on your back,
Perhaps on the floor,
On a yoga mat,
Or maybe a firm bed if that's right for your body.
If at any point the exercises are too much or not possible,
Feel free to skip them and wait for the next exercise to begin.
You can also choose to imagine yourself doing the movements if that's best for you and your body.
So starting now lying on your back,
Legs straight and feet falling out and arms by your side.
Feeling the points of contact against the floor underneath you,
At your heels,
Your calf,
The back,
The shoulders,
And up to the back of your head.
And then see if you can focus your attention on your abdomen as it rises and falls with each breath.
And now when you're ready,
Lifting your arms slowly up above your head and stretching out above while your heels stretch in the other direction.
Noticing the sensations in the legs,
Trunk and arms,
The pulling or stretching sensations.
Noticing whether this is a pleasant or perhaps an unpleasant sensation.
As you breathe,
Notice if there is any change in the sensations.
On the next out breath,
Taking the arms back down to rest at the sides of your body.
Noticing the after effects of having done that stretch.
Now when you're ready,
Sliding your feet up towards your buttocks,
Bending your knees,
Feet hip width apart.
And tilting your pelvis forwards now,
Arching the back up away from the floor.
Hold and breathe.
Then tilting backwards,
Flattening the back against the floor.
Hold here and breathe.
And then rocking between these two positions,
Back and forth,
In time with your breathing.
Really tuning into all the physical sensations here.
Now if it's right for your body,
Taking both knees up towards your chest,
Wrapping your hands around your knees,
Just holding here.
Perhaps rocking gently from side to side.
And on the next out breath,
Allowing your arms and legs to rest back down onto the floor again,
Tuning into any after effects.
Now lifting the left knee,
Reaching with your arms to hold onto the leg either from behind the thigh or around the shin,
Wherever feels right for you.
Hold here and breathe.
Releasing the left leg now,
Resting back onto the floor,
Noticing the difference between one leg and the other.
And when you're ready,
Lifting the right leg up now as you did with the left,
Bringing it up towards your chest,
Gently squeezing,
Not forcing.
So not competing with yourself,
Letting go of the need to want things to be a certain way.
Then stretch the leg back out again to the starting position.
What sensations are here in this moment?
Allowing things to be just as they are.
When you're ready,
Again lifting the left knee up towards you and clasping your hands around the back of your thigh or knee.
Exploring now the sensations here as you move towards straightening the knee,
Stretching the hamstring at the back of your thigh.
Only going to intensity of the stretch that suits you.
And if it feels okay to do,
Experimenting with pointing and flexing your ankle at the same time of the stretch.
Perhaps noticing an increase in the stretch as you flex the ankle back,
Bringing the toes towards you and then a lessening of the stretch as you point your ankle and toes away from you.
Perhaps moving the foot in a circular motion,
Moving in one direction for a few rotations and then changing to the other direction.
Tuning into all the sensations of muscular stretch,
Joint movement and perhaps discomfort.
And when you're ready,
Lowering the left leg back down and repeating the same process on the right.
Taking the right knee up,
Holding behind the thigh,
Straightening the knee into a straight stretch as felt in the right hamstring.
As far as feels right for you.
And then if you like,
Exploring the movements of your foot and ankle,
Pointing up and down.
And then to the circular movements when you're ready.
Giving you a minute to go through those now.
Then releasing the right leg back down to the floor.
And tuning into the sensations of resting here and the after effects of what you have just done.
And now sliding both feet towards you,
Bending your knees.
And allowing your knees to rock from side to side.
Perhaps initially starting with a small movement,
Noting the slight lift in the opposite side of the pelvis as you do this.
And the shift of body weight from left to right side of the body.
And the weight shift at your feet,
Moving from your flat feet on the ground to shifting to the edges of your feet.
And then if you like,
Perhaps increasing the amplitude of the movement,
Allowing the knees to fall all the way down to the floor on each side of the body in turn.
Noticing the movement in the spine that's needed to do this.
Perhaps noting a stretch in the back or buttock at the end ranges.
And then returning to stillness,
With your knees still bent and feet flat on the ground.
Now moving into a bridge position.
Starting this movement with both arms by your side and hands flat on the ground.
And then tilting your pelvis backwards,
Flattening your back against the floor.
And once you've done this,
Proceed to lift your buttock up off the ground.
And continue to lift the lower back,
Perhaps slowly peeling each segment of your spine up off the ground at a time.
And when you get to the height that feels right to you,
Hold.
If possible,
Hold there for a moment,
Breathing.
And then lower your body back down,
Starting with your back and then ending with your buttock.
And repeating this a few times now in your own time.
Now either allowing your knees to straighten or keeping them bent if that's more comfortable for your body.
And when you're ready,
Taking both arms up so that your arms are perpendicular to the floor and your hands are pointing up towards the ceiling.
And then reaching your hands up as if to try and touch the ceiling.
And as you do this,
Noticing the separation of your shoulder blades to enable that reach.
And then in the opposite way,
Gently squeezing your shoulder blades as you take your arms back down.
Keeping your elbows straight and opening the arms and chest out so that your arms and body resemble the shape of a cross.
Allowing the body to rest on the floor in this position,
Perhaps noting a stretch in the chest region here.
And when you are ready,
Repeating these two movements a few times.
So reaching the arms up to the ceiling,
Separating the shoulder blades and then gently squeezing the shoulder blades as the arms move down to the floor,
Held out by your sides,
Opening your chest.
Repeating this a couple of times.
And turning over to the side now,
Perhaps lying on your left side first.
Knees bent and feet together.
Now while keeping your feet together,
Separating your knees,
Lifting your right knee as far as feels comfortable.
If it's a small distance,
Perhaps tuning into the muscle activity that is occurring to make this happen,
Likely at your buttock or side of your thigh.
Or if it's a large movement,
You may even sense stretching on the inner thigh.
And then lowering your right knee back down to meet the left leg once more.
And then repeat this movement another half a dozen times as comfortable for you.
Once you have completed this,
Come to rest still lying on your left side.
And now keeping the left knee bent,
But straightening the right leg out.
If possible,
Lifting the right leg up off the ground into the air.
Noticing the muscle activity here to do this.
And if you can,
Either lifting the leg up and down,
Or perhaps even in a circular motion.
Moving in one direction,
And then into the other direction as suits you.
Continuing this for the next minute,
And resting as you need.
And then when you're ready,
Turning over to the right side again,
With your knees bent and feet together,
And repeating the same sequence of exercises.
Starting with separating the knees,
Or keeping the feet together.
So lifting the left knee up as far as feels right for you.
Noting any physical sensations here for you.
And repeating this in your own time.
And then keeping the right knee bent,
But straightening the left leg.
And lifting the left leg up and down.
Perhaps exploring the different sensations depending on the height of the lift.
And then perhaps changing to circular movements if that's okay for you.
Resting as you need.
And then moving now into a seated position.
Either with your legs crossed on the floor,
Or on a chair,
Or seated at the edge of your bed.
Placing your hands on your knees.
Now we're going to move into a cat-cow stretch in sitting.
So firstly keeping your hands on your knees.
And then looking down,
Tucking your chin under,
And rounding your back.
Stretching through your back and arms.
Really noticing the physical sensations here.
And then moving into the opposite direction.
Tilting your head to look up.
Arching your back.
Drawing your shoulders down and back.
And stretching through your chest.
Noticing the sensations here.
And then moving between these two positions now.
Perhaps breathing out as you look down and round your back.
And then breathing in as you look up and stretch your chest.
Moving nice and slowly.
Tuning into the breath and physical sensations in the body.
And then come to rest in the sitting position.
And bending your elbows,
Bringing your hands and arms to the side of your body.
And then lowering your left elbow down the left side towards the floor or the chair.
And really bending through the waist of the left side.
Noticing a stretch on the right and then compression on the left.
And then coming back up.
And lowering the right elbow down to the right side.
Bending through the waist towards the right.
Noticing the stretch on the left of the body and the compression on the right side.
And then coming back up.
And just repeating that from left to right as you please.
And then take your arms across your chest.
And twisting through your body.
Perhaps turning to the left first.
Noticing the turn in the spine.
And then turn your head to look over your left shoulder.
And then release.
And move to the right side.
Noticing the spine movement first.
And then turning your head to look over the right shoulder.
Noticing all the sensations of stretching and pulling and perhaps discomfort here.
And once again repeating the movement from left to right as suits you.
And then bringing your body to rest in sitting.
And perhaps closing your eyes and tuning into all the physical sensations here in this moment.
The after effects of doing this movement meditation.
And perhaps spending the last couple of minutes sitting or lying down,
Whatever you prefer.
And just focus on your breath and the body as a whole.
