Mindful Lying Yoga

This is a Mindful Lying Yoga practice and part of the MBSR training. During this practice, you move your body in full awareness. You explore your boundries through observing your body sensations, thoughts and emotions. This practice is highly calming and helps to release both mental and physical stress.

Transcript

Welcome to Mindful Lying Yoga Make sure that you wear comfortable clothes that will not restrict your movements and make sure that you have enough space to do the movements You can either use a yoga mat or do the practice on a carpeted floor Let's begin by sensing and feeling the body lying down on the floor with the palms facing upwards facing the sky,

Breathing in and breathing out The intention of this yoga practice is to learn to listen to your body as a source of valuable experiences You do that by bringing awareness to your breath,

Movement,

Posture,

Thoughts and emotions as you practice You learn to do in the being mode You learn to feel and respond to your boundaries and you become able to distinguish the difference between soft and hard boundaries If there are exercises that you are not able to perform,

Don't force yourself to do it anyhow Do what you can or perform the exercise in your mind only Main priority is to take good care of yourself On an in-breath,

Start extending the arms overhead with your hands facing each other On an out-breath,

Bring the arms back down again Again,

Bring the arms up on your inhalation with awareness stretching,

Palms facing each other and on an exhalation,

Bring the arms back on the side One more time,

Lift upwards,

Breathing in,

Arms extending and on an exhalation,

Bring the arms down by your side Now raise both knees up in the air with your feet on the floor.

We are going to do a twist Let's bring both of the knees to the right side while keeping both shoulders on the floor You might even want to stretch your arms outwards from your shoulders and lastly turn your head away from your knees to the left and just breathe in and breathe out Feel into the twist with awareness Being present,

Sensing into the twist while breathing in and breathing out Easy does it And now on an exhalation,

Gently release from the twist by coming to a neutral position with both the knees still up in the air and the feet on the floor Breathing in,

Breathing out And now bring both knees down to the left side,

Again keeping both shoulders on the floor with the arms extended from the shoulders like a bird and turning your head out to the right Breathing in and breathing out and being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Being mindful of the posture of course,

Any thoughts,

Emotions,

Being present And now gently release and bring both legs down to the floor,

Arms by your side and palms once again facing upwards towards the sky Breathing in and breathing out And now bend your left knee with your left foot on the floor and straighten out your right leg and then you gradually bring this right leg up in the air having the heel pointing the way towards the ceiling We keep on breathing in and breathing out,

Feel the stretch in the back of your leg If you want you can hold your thigh to keep your leg up And maybe you want to extend your toe towards the ceiling or rotate your ankle in one direction or the other,

Being present,

Aware Now gently release from this posture by lowering the leg very slowly down to the floor and relax Now we move to the other side,

We bend the right knee with the right foot on the floor and straighten out the left leg Gradually bring your left leg into the air while flexing your foot,

Feeling the stretch Again feel free to hold your thigh to keep up your leg Now start pointing your left foot,

Rotating the ankle to both sides,

Being present and aware of your body sensations,

Your thoughts,

Your emotions And then carefully release from this posture by lowering your leg back down to the ground and relax Stretch out both of your legs,

Relax and observe Observe how your muscles relax after this exercise,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts and emotions For the next posture,

Keep your right leg straight,

Exhale and bend your left knee and bring it towards the chest Grasping it just below the knee and drawing your thigh closer towards the chest You can either rest your head on the floor or tuck your chin into your chest Breathe naturally,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Being present Now slowly return your left foot to the floor and straighten both legs,

Relax and observe This time you keep your left leg straight,

Exhale,

Bend your right knee and bring it towards the chest,

Making sure the thigh comes closer to the chest Again you have the option to either keep your head on the floor or tuck your chin into your chest Breathe naturally,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts and emotions Now slowly return your right foot to the floor and straighten both legs,

Relax and observe We're moving to the next posture,

Bend both knees and raise them straight up,

Keeping your feet on the floor On an inhale,

Press down slightly on your tailbone,

Allowing your lower back to arch gently so that you feel a small gap between your lower back and the floor Exhale and gently press your lower back down to the floor Repeat with each breath,

Rocking and tilting back and forth,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts or emotions,

Being present Stretch out both of your legs,

Relax and observe For the next posture,

The bridge pose,

You bend both knees and raise them straight up,

Keeping your feet on the floor and your arms by your side Inhale and curl up your spine off the floor,

First you lift your buttocks off the floor,

Then your lower back and then even your upper back Clasp your hands together underneath your body and stretch them towards your feet,

Breathing naturally On an exhale,

Return your arms back by your side and slowly lower your back down to the floor,

Vertebra by vertebra,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts and emotions And then relax and observe This time we repeat this posture,

The bridge pose,

But as you inhale and curl your spine off the floor,

You sweep your arms overhead on the floor When you exhale and lower your back on the floor,

Sweep your arms back down by your sides Repeat this 5 times Inhale,

Curl the spine off the floor and sweep your arms overhead Exhale,

Lower your back to the floor and sweep your arms back down by your sides Breathe in,

Curl the spine off the floor and sweep your arms over your head Breathe out,

Lower your back down on the floor and bring your arms back to your sides Inhale,

The spine comes off the floor and the arms go overhead Exhale,

Your back comes down and the arms go back to the sides of your body Last time,

Inhale And exhale,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts and emotions,

Being present And then relax and observe This time we do the regular bridge pose once more.

Again,

You bend both knees and raise them straight up,

Keeping your feet on the floor and your arms by your side On an inhale,

You curl up your spine off the floor,

Starting with the buttocks,

Then onto the lower back and finally to the upper back Clasp your hands together underneath you and stretch those hands towards your feet And keep on breathing naturally Return your arms back by your side on an exhale and slowly,

Slowly lower your back down to the floor,

Being aware of all sensations,

Thoughts and emotions Right here,

Right now And then again,

Relax and observe As a counter pose to the bridge pose,

You lift your knees towards your chest,

Grab your legs just below the knees and gently rock back and forth,

Breathing in and breathing out After rocking in this position several times,

Keep your thighs to your torso and extend your feet towards the ceiling Allow your legs to separate and your thighs to drop a bit alongside your ribs on either side and gently grasp your feet Breathe naturally and once again rock back and forth,

Side by side Then return back to the first position,

Grasping your legs just below the knees and gently rocking back and forth And then stretch out both of your legs,

Aware of your body sensations,

Your thoughts,

Your emotions And relax,

Relax and observe Now roll onto your right side with both of your legs extended,

One on top of the other Let your head rest on your right arm and place your left hand on the floor in front of your ribs for balance and breathe naturally On an inhale slowly raise your left leg up And then exhale and slowly lower your leg back down again Being aware of all the body sensations,

The thoughts,

Your emotions Repeat your left leg five times,

Bringing the leg back up on the inhalation and back down on the exhalation Repeat your left leg five times,

Bringing the leg back down on the exhalation and back down on the exhalation Roll onto your back and do the counter pose by grasping your legs just below the knees and gently rocking back and forth,

Breathing naturally Now roll onto your left side with your legs extended,

One on top of the other Let your head rest on your left arm and place your right hand on the floor in front of your ribs,

Breathe naturally On an in-breath slowly raise up your right leg And you bring it down again on your next out-breath Repeat the right leg five times,

Aware of all your body sensations,

Thoughts and emotions,

Completely present Repeat the right leg five times,

Breathing naturally Again roll onto your back and do the counter pose by grasping your legs just below the knees and gently rocking back and forth,

Breathing naturally And then stretch out both of your legs,

Relax and observe For the next posture you roll onto your belly and place your hands by your sides,

Make fists and place them under your pubic bone for support Then lift both legs until your feet are about 15cm off the ground Breathe in and out,

Release and gently lower both legs down to the floor and put both hands by your sides again Relax and observe,

Aware of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Being mindful,

Being present Now place your hands on the floor by each shoulder with your forearms resting on the floor Exhale and raise your upper body,

Supporting the weight of your upper body on your forearms and keeping your waist and legs on the floor This is a modified cobra pose,

Breathe in and out and then release and slowly lower your upper body down to the floor,

Keeping your hands and arms in the same position Now we come to a full cobra pose Exhale and raise your upper body but this time come all the way up onto your hands,

Still keeping your waist and legs on the floor Breathe in and out,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts and emotions,

Being present Inhale and slowly lower your upper body to the floor Rest with your forehead onto your hands,

Relax and observe Now come onto your hands and knees with your arms straight and your hands positioned below your shoulders Inhale,

Let your body sag towards the floor and lift your head up,

This is the cow pose Exhale and round your back,

Curling your tailbone towards the floor like a hissing cat,

And of course this is the cat pose Repeat this five times,

Inhaling into the cow pose and exhaling into the cat pose Exhale and round your back,

Curling your tailbone towards the floor like a hissing cat Now move into a child pose,

Lower your torso down to the floor,

Resting your buttocks on the top of your feet and your head onto the floor or onto your hands You can either extend your arms in front of you or place them by your sides on the floor and breathe naturally On an inhalation come back on your hands and knees with your arms straight and your hands positioned below your shoulders Extend your left leg out at the level of your hips while extending your right arm out to the front at the level of your shoulder Breathe naturally and be mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Being present And then return to the neutral all fours position On your next inhalation extend your right leg out at the height of your hip while extending your left arm out to the front at shoulder height Breathe naturally,

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions And then return to the neutral all fours position Come lie on your back with your arms by your side,

Palms facing up to the sky,

Relax and observe On your next in-breath sweep your arms up sideways along the floor,

Then stretch them overhead with your palms facing each other Breathe out and sweep your arms back down to your sides Repeat this stretch once more by sweeping your arms up sideways along the floor,

Stretching them overhead with your palms facing each other When you bring them back down,

Leave them out at about shoulder height and allow them to gently relax and open as you exhale Take a moment to feel your arms and armpits being open and wiggle your fingers and leave them open Breathe naturally,

Open your eyes,

Your mouth and your nostrils,

Feeling them opening And then bring awareness to your ears and their openness to sounds Gently relax your legs and allow them to open,

Feeling even the space between the toes being open This pose of openness is a very courageous pose,

Being open to all possibilities Breathing in and out,

Resting and opening into the pose of openness,

Being aware of any sensations of your body,

Your thoughts,

Your emotions Now bring your arms by your side or place your hands on your chest,

Whatever feels comfortable Close your eyes and breathe naturally This final pose is the corpse pose,

Also called savasana,

It is the pose of deep relaxation Just as we move in yoga it is also important to stop and be still Breathing in and out,

Breathing in and out,

Breathing in and out,

Breathing out Breathing in and out,

Breathing out Breathing out and out,

Breathing in and out,

Breathing out Breathing out and out,

Breathing in and out,

Breathing out Breathing out and out,

Breathing out Breathing out and out,

Breathing out We've reached the end of this mindful yoga practice Start wiggling your fingers and your toes,

Your hands and your feet And when you're ready you can start stretching your body,

Long arms,

Long legs,

Long body And then you move to your right side,

Take a few breaths on your right side

Reviews

Thank you 🌺🌺🌺for the wonderful yoga 🧘‍♀️
I enjoyed it so much 🙏Namaste

Excellent- well paced and clear instructions- thank you so much 🙏🌺🌸🦋