Sitting Mindful Movement

Sitting Mindful Movement is a gentle, sitting-based practice combining slow physical stretches with focused awareness on bodily sensations and breath. Designed to increase awareness and relieve suffering without standing, it involves mindful, deliberate movements—such as neck rolls, seated twists, and reaching—while staying present in the moment.

Transcript

Welcome. Today we're going to be doing some mindful movement sitting down. Finding a comfortable seat. Either on the chair or another object where you can have your Feet. Knees. And hips in a 90 degree angle. Where the feet can be firmly planted into the ground. Taking your time to adjust the sit bones, The butt cheeks. Ensuring the feet are connected to the floor or the ground. Having a more upright and erect posture. As always, Tailoring and adjusting the practice, The movements, The positions to your body's comfort level. We're not here to. . . Inflict pain or damage anything. So always backing off if there's any sharp sensations. And as always, Speak to a specialist in case there's any hesitations on your part. With that, We could take a few moments to arrive. Focus your attention on something in front of you. Soften the gaze Or close the eye. Taking the first few moments to settle, To arrive. Notice the points of contact, The feet, The seat, The hands. Getting a sense of the body as a whole. A sense of the body breathing And if you'd like setting an intention for today's practice. Something maybe you're working on or cultivating. The reason why you're here right now. And with that, We can open the eyes if you have them close. Starting out by bringing attention to the neck and the head. Taking a breath in as we lengthen, Reaching the crown of the head higher towards the sky. And on the exhale we can turn our head over to the left. Looking over, Stretching. On the next in-breath coming back to center on the out-breath Moving to the other side. Being and breathing here for a few moments And then returning back to center. And one more time on each side. Inhale up, Exhale, Twist, Turn. Maybe stretching more with the eyes, Looking back. Moving to the other side. Making our way back to the center inhaling as we look up bringing the chin high exhaling coming down chin to the chest Repeating once more. Up. Inhale. Exhale down. Back to center. Taking a few moments to notice any sensations in the neck. In the head the face the eyes Moving the attention to the shoulder. And we can lift the shoulders up towards the ears. Back. Down. Forward. Back up. And making some circles. Towards the back Breathing. As we do so. And moving in the other direction or the opposite direction. Smaller circles, Bigger circles. Coming back to the shoulders, Reaching up to the ears, Taking a deep breath in, Reaching higher up. On the exhale letting the shoulders drop. Reaching the hands out to the side Turning the palms towards the sky. Inhaling slowly reaching the arms over the head. Exploring here, Maybe a harder edge as we really reach up, Lifting those shoulders. Slade. Or maybe a softer edge, Dropping the shoulders, Relaxing more. On the exhale palms face back down as we slowly move the arms down moving through water, Glue, Molasses. Planting the hands on the thighs. Reaching the arms up in front now And continuing moving the arms up over the head. Holding the arms up here. And on the exhale, Slowly, Slowly focusing on the journey, Not the destination. Bringing the arms back down. As best we can in the next. Posture. Keeping the feet and the knees. Very still, Facing forward. As we inhale, We can lengthen reaching up towards the sky and we can cross one of the arms over the opposite leg. Reaching the other hand back. Or keeping it on the body or on the chair, The object. And we exhale and twist. Twisting now more the spine, The belly. Being here for a few breaths. Breathing in to lengthen, Exhaling to twist. Maybe looking at what's behind you. Or maybe looking to the side or even forward. Being aware of the breath and the body here Breathing in to lengthen and exhaling, Coming back to center. Taking a few moments to notice what's in the body. Repeat to the other side, Lengthening. Crown of the head towards the sky, Crossing the arm and twisting, Turning in the opposite direction. To a range of motion that is comfortable that allows you to Continue to breathe smoothly. Comfortably. Efficiently. Calm and so on and so forth. Remembering if the mind becomes distracted, If our attention wanders elsewhere. That's what minds do. Practicing patience and understanding and returning back to the posture, The body, The breath. Breathing in to lengthen, Exhaling, Coming back to center. Placing the hands on the knees. Gripping to the knees. As we begin to push the belly forward opening up the chest arching the back forward breathing in as we exhale we cave in reaching the spine towards the back shoulders coming forward Two more, Just like that. Last one. And from here, Beginning to make some circles. Keeping the feet and the knees more or less in the same position as we rotate the torso. In wider or narrower circles moving in the other direction as well Coming back. Center. We can place one of the hands on the side. It can be on the hip or on the leg. On the bench or chair. Wherever it's comfortable. The other arm will reach up towards the sky. And then we'll exhale as we bend to the side. Moving. In a way where you notice the stretch in the side body. In addition to having both butt cheeks still on the chair. You can also explore opening up the chest more towards the sky, Rotating in the upper torso. Breathing in to lengthen Breathing out, Softening, Maybe going deeper. And deeper doesn't have to be physically. It can be mentally or emotionally or with the breath. Inhaling coming back up. And comes down. Taking a few moments to notice maybe differences or similarities between one side and the other. And we'll repeat on the other side, Placing that hand for support. As the other arm comes up over the head on that inhale. And in the exhale we repeating that for a few rounds breathing in to lengthen breathing out to deepen or soften or bend more twists Awareness is endless. There's always something to explore, Something to become more aware of. Next in breath, Reaching back up. Placing the hand down by the side. We can now bring the hands back to the knees. Perhaps giving the knees a little bit of a rub. Making contact with the knees. Moving in one direction and the other. And we can now lift. The toes is in one of the feet. Flexing the toes back. And beginning to make. Little circles or half circles As if we're drawing a triangle maybe. Or another shape that's not coming to my mind right now in one direction and in the other. Placing the toes back down we can lift up the heel. And the same. Idea here we move the heels to the inside up rotating to the other side, Close to the ground. Making this half circle. Moving in the other direction. Coming back to center. Repeating on the other side. Toes come up, Pointing. The toes forward and then flexing the toes back half circles. Tracing the ground, Moving in. Out up back down in the other direction. Back to center and lifting that heel up. Noticing how the breath is amidst all this. Maybe other parts of the body have become more tense. See if we could loosen that up, Perhaps, Maybe. Moving in the other direction. And back to center. We'll now take one of the legs. And we will straighten it. If more comfortable you can Shift. The hips. Closer to the edge of the chair. As that leg is straightened. We can engage perhaps the muscles curling the toes back. And exploring the possibility of lifting that leg up. The chest, The torso might want to lean back. Seeing if we can shift more forward. Lots of activity now in this leg as the muscles are engaged. Maybe some shaking is going on. Seeing if you can stay present with what's here. Breathing as you were before. Gently, Slowly bringing that foot back down. Shifting it back And repeating on the other side, We can straighten that leg. Be staying here. Maybe beginning just to gently slightly lift it up or bringing it even higher up, Flexing the toes. Bringing them back towards you Remembering to bring that torso forward. Breathing with the sensations, Noticing what the mind begins to do. And slowly, Gently bringing that leg back down. Coming back. Just seated, Taking a few moments. Notice how the body is now. Maybe there's a change in temperature or heart rate. No need to change, Just observing with care, With curiosity. We can now grab one of the legs. Maybe at the level of the the knee underneath the knee the shin as we bring the leg up closer towards the torso giving it a squeeze Now we can flex. The toes And maybe crossing. Over that leg, Placing it on top of the other. Thigh stretching a bit the outer leg, The outer hip. The glutes. You can stay here or maybe press a little gently onto the leg. As long as you notice sensations. You're doing the movement right. Curling those toes back. To engage the tendon and protect the knee And we'll come back. Just like we came into it. So squeezing first and then gently bringing that leg down. And before we move to the other side, We can lengthen, Straighten that leg one more time. Don't worry, No more lifting. We are going to lift the arms over the head. Breathing in here and then reaching forward. Placing the hands wherever feels more comfortable, Higher, Lower, Making contact with the toes. As we stretch. That leg, The back of the leg, The hamstring. Breathing here. Slowly now, Walking the hands. Up that way. Coming back to seated. Taking a few moments to notice. One side versus the other and when you're ready taking hold on that knee or underneath. Bringing it closer to the chest or torso. Giving the leg a squeeze. Curling those toes back as we cross the leg over. The heel, The outside ankle can come on the thigh, Curling those toes to protect the knee. And staying here. Breathing perhaps into the way. Coming out of this just like we came in. Bringing that knee back up, Squeezing the leg to the torso. Placing that foot back on the ground. Lengthening. Straightening that leg. This time we will lift the leg. Just kidding, But noticing your reaction. Reaching the arms up over the head. Breathing in, Exhale, Reaching forward. Maybe softening more the neck the head And once again, Walking the hands slowly, Kindly back up. Bringing that foot parallel to the other foot staying here maybe scooting back placing the hands on the legs, On the sides, Holding the hands together. Taking these last few moments So notice how the body is feeling. What sensations are present? Being with any ripples or echoes or after effects. Of the sitting. Mindful movement we've just done. You Thank you. For the practice Maybe thanking yourself for taking the time to be here. To practice, To become more aware of the body. More aware of the breath, More aware of sensations in the body, And more aware of the body in movement. Wishing you a mindful rest of the day.