Mindful Standing Yoga

This is a Mindful Standing 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.

Transcript

Welcome to Mindful Standing Yoga.

Make sure you wear comfortable clothes that will not restrict your movements and make sure you have enough space to do the movements.

You either use a yoga mat or you do the practice on a carpeted floor.

We start this practice with a mountain pose.

Stand upright with your arms by your sides and your palms slightly open.

You stand up straight,

Don't lean forward or backward and keep your head squarely on your shoulders.

Distribute your weight evenly between both feet and keep your knees,

Hips and shoulders aligned.

Breathe naturally.

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 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.

Now inhale and raise both arms to your sides and then up overhead with your palms facing each other.

Gaze straight out and move into the standing full body stretch by stretching your arms and torso up towards the sky.

Exhale and slowly lower your arms back to your sides with awareness.

Breathe in and out and repeat this standing full body stretch two more times.

Breathe in and stretch your arms and torso up.

And breathe out and lower your arms back down to your sides.

Inhale,

Your arms go up again and exhale,

Your arms come down.

And this time we move into a horizontal arm stretch.

Inhale and raise both arms up to shoulder heights with your arms extended sideways and your palms facing upward.

Alternatively you can start with your palms facing down and flex your wrists so that your palms face straight out,

Away from you.

Exhale and slowly lower your arms back to your sides with awareness.

Breathe in and out and repeat the horizontal arm stretch two more times.

Inhale and raise both arms sideways.

Exhale and bring your arms back down again.

Breathe in and out and one more time.

Inhale and raise both arms.

Exhale and bring both arms back down again.

For the next pose,

The one arm stretch,

You bring your right arm overhead,

Stretching towards the sky as you simultaneously lift your left heel,

Keeping the toes of your left foot on the ground.

Breathe naturally.

Slowly release and return to the first pose of this practice,

The mountain pose.

Standing upright with your arms by your sides and your palms slightly open.

Now we move to the other side.

You bring your left arm overhead,

Stretch it towards the sky while you simultaneously lift your right heel off the floor but keeping the toes on the ground.

And then we slowly release again,

We bring our arm back down and return to the mountain pose.

Our next move is a side bending stretch.

Inhale and raise both arms overhead and lock thumbs together and exhale.

Inhale,

Stand tall and stretch upwards.

Then exhale and while keeping our torso facing forward,

You bend to the right side,

Breathing in and out.

Being mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts or emotions being present.

And now return to an upright position with your arms stretched up towards the sky.

And on your next exhalation you slowly lower your arms to your sides.

We move to the other side.

On an inhalation you raise both arms overhead again.

Lock your thumbs together and exhale.

Inhale,

Stand tall and stretch your body upward.

Then exhale and bend to the left side while keeping your torso facing forward.

Breathe naturally.

On an inhalation you come back to an upright position with your arms stretched upwards.

And use your next exhalation to slowly lower your arms back down to your sides and move back to the mountain pose.

While standing upright in mountain pose,

Raise and lower your shoulders with awareness.

And now start circling your shoulders forwards,

Mindful of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts or emotions.

Next you circle your shoulders backwards with full awareness.

And then return to a neutral position.

The next pose is the next stretch.

Slowly bring your right ear towards your right shoulder without lifting your right shoulder up.

Breathe naturally.

Breathe naturally while you feel the stretch on your left side.

And then move to the other side.

This time you slowly bring your left ear towards your left shoulder,

Leaving your left shoulder right where it is.

Breathe naturally,

Mindful of any sensations in your body,

Thoughts or emotions.

And we come back up again to a natural position.

Now on to a diagonal neck stretch.

First you bring your right ear towards your right shoulder without lifting the shoulder up.

You keep your right arm by your side,

Open the palm of your right hand and face it forward.

Now drop and turn your head to look at the palm of your right hand,

Stretching your neck diagonally.

And return to the starting position to do the pose on the other side.

Start by bringing your left ear towards your left shoulder without lifting your left shoulder up.

Keep your left arm by your side and open the palm of your left hand and face it forward.

Drop and turn your head to look at the palm of your left hand,

Giving your neck a diagonal stretch.

Breathe naturally.

And then return to the mountain pose and relax.

And we come back to the standing full body stretch.

Inhale and raise both of your arms overhead.

And exhale and slowly lower your arms back down again.

Breathe in and out and repeat this body stretch two more times.

Breathe in,

Your arms go up sideways.

And breathe out,

Your arms come back down again.

Inhale and bring your arms up.

And exhale and bring them back down again.

Now we move into a standing twist.

Place your hands on your hips,

Inhale and stand up tall.

Exhale and while keeping your hips facing forward you twist your torso to the right and look over your right shoulder,

Mindful of any sensations,

Thoughts and emotions.

Breathe naturally.

Now release and return to the starting position.

We move to the other side.

Inhale and stand up straight.

Exhale,

Keep your hips facing forward and start twisting your body to the left and look over your left shoulder.

Breathe naturally and observe.

Now release and return to your starting position.

You repeat the standing twist,

This time allowing your hips and legs to rotate along to the right,

Just keeping the feet on the floor,

Facing forward.

Now release and come back to your starting position.

Move to the left side,

Rotating torso,

Hips and legs to the left while keeping your feet on the floor,

Facing forward.

Release from this pose and come back to your starting position,

The mountain pose.

The next move is the so called center field position,

Also called Utkatasana.

In this pose you are going to sit on a chair that isn't there.

Gently bend your knees and bend slightly forward,

Placing your hands on your thighs.

Breathe naturally.

While maintaining this position of your legs and upper body,

You lift your arms overhead in line with your spine,

With your palms facing each other.

Breathe naturally and then return to the mountain pose.

Repeat this pose once more.

Bend your knees once again and bend slightly forward,

With your hands on your thighs.

Keep your legs and torso in this position and stretch your arms overhead in line with your spine,

With your palms facing each other.

Breathe naturally and come back to the mountain pose and relax.

We move to a forward bend.

Inhale and raise your arms overhead into a full body stretch.

Then exhale and slowly bring your hands down to the floor.

Stop when you need to inhale.

Rest for a breath and then exhale and stretch further down.

You can slightly bend your knees if you want.

Move further down as far as you can comfortably go and stay there for a few breaths.

Inhale and slowly return to the starting position,

Pausing every time you exhale,

And come to the mountain pose.

Repeat this three times.

Inhale,

Raise your arms into a full body stretch.

Exhale and bring your hands down to the floor,

Stopping when you need to inhale and move further down on your exhalation.

Stay down for a few breaths.

Now,

Move back up on your inhalation,

Pausing on your exhalations.

Breathe in,

Move into the full body stretch,

Breathe out and bring your arms down to the floor.

Stay there for a few breaths and move back on your inhalations.

Last time.

Inhale,

Raise your arms and stretch out your body.

Exhale and move down into a forward bend.

Take all the time you need and remember that you have the option to bend your knees if that feels better.

Stay in the forward bend for a few breaths.

Now move back up on your inhalations and come to a mountain pose.

And then we repeat the full body stretch three times.

Inhale and raise both arms up overhead with the palms facing each other and exhale and slowly lower your arms back to your sides.

Breathe in and out and on your next in breath you raise both arms and on your next out breath you bring them back down again.

Inhale and exhale.

And we do it one more time.

We inhale and raise both arms up.

And exhale and slowly lower your arms back down by your sides.

Now we are moving into our first balance pose.

With this pose feel free to hold on to something until you develop better balance.

You start in the mountain pose.

You feel your body balanced evenly on both feet with your knees,

Hips and shoulders aligned.

Feeling your left foot solidly on the ground bend your right knee and raise it in front of you as high as you comfortably can while maintaining your balance.

If possible you can extend your arms sideways or even overhead.

Breathe naturally being aware of any waves of sensations,

Thoughts or emotions.

And release and come back to the mountain pose.

Now move to the other side.

You raise your left knee in front of you as high as you can trying to maintain your balance whilst feeling your right foot solidly on the ground.

Easy if you can either raise both arms sideways or overhead and breathe naturally.

Now release and come back to the mountain pose.

On to the second balance pose.

Keep the option in mind to hold on to something if necessary.

Feeling your left foot solidly on the ground bend your right knee and lift your right foot behind you.

Grasp your ankle or pants with your right hand and draw the heel a little closer to your buttocks if you can.

Raise your left arm towards the ceiling and breathe naturally.

And release and stay in mountain pose for a few breaths.

We move to the other side.

With your right foot firmly on the ground bend your left knee and lift the left foot behind you.

Grasp your ankle or pants with your left hand and draw your heel slightly closer to your buttocks if possible.

Now raise your right arm upwards to the ceiling mindful of any sensations,

Thoughts or emotions.

Breathing in and out.

Now release again and come back to mountain pose.

Now we move into a warrior pose.

You start in mountain pose and rotate your right foot out with the heel at the centre of your left foot,

Forming a T.

Take a wide step out to the side with your right leg and balance yourself in this position,

Distributing your weight evenly between your feet.

Breathe naturally.

Now extend your arms from your sides at shoulder level and look towards your right hand and bend your right knee,

Aligning it over your right ankle,

Keeping your torso centred.

No need to move your body forward.

Breathe naturally,

Aware of any body sensations,

Thoughts or emotions.

Now gently release and come back to the mountain pose.

On to the other side,

This time rotate your left foot out with the heel at the centre of the other foot,

Forming a T.

Take a wide step out to the side with your left leg and balance yourself in this position while distributing your weight evenly between both feet.

Breathe naturally.

Again extend your arms from your side at shoulder height and look towards your left hand.

Now bend the left knee,

Align it with the left ankle and keep your torso centred.

Breathe naturally,

Mindful of all body sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions.

Now gently release,

Come back to the mountain pose and relax.

On your next inhalation raise both arms out to your sides and then overhead with your palms facing each other.

Gaze straight out and move into the standing full body stretch again by stretching your arms and torso up towards the sky.

Now exhale and slowly lower your arms back to your sides with awareness.

Breathe in and out and repeat this standing full body stretch two more times.

Breathe in and stretch your arms and torso up and breathe out and lower your arms back down to your sides.

Inhale and you stretch your arms up,

Exhale and lower your arms back down to your sides.

And then release from this pose and come back to the mountain pose.

For the next move,

The downward facing dog,

You bend your knees and place your hands on the floor so that your knees are under your hips and your hands are under the shoulders.

Inhale and lift your hips and buttocks up to form an inverted V or U shape.

This pose is strenuous so approach it gently and breathe naturally.

If you want you can keep your knees slightly bent.

To increase your flexibility,

Alternately bring one heel down and then the other to stretch your legs.

Once you gain flexibility,

Try bringing both heels down to the floor.

Release and come back to the mountain pose.

And once again we come back to the standing full body stretch.

Inhale and raise both arms overhead.

Exhale and slowly lower your arms back down again.

Inhale and raise your arms overhead.

And on your next exhalation you slowly lower your arms back down again.

Breathe in,

Your arms go up sideways and breathe out,

The arms come back down again.

Now take the time to make a transition to sitting on the floor,

Both feet extended straight out in front of you.

Sit upright,

Lift your chest and breathe naturally.

And now gently release.

From this seated position bend both knees and bring the soles of your feet together,

Letting your knees fall out to both sides.

Slowly draw your feet towards your body,

Keeping them centered and bring them as close to your groin as you comfortably can,

Either by grasping your feet and pulling them toward your groin or by placing your hands behind you and inching your body forward towards your feet.

Breathe naturally,

Mindful of any sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions.

Aware,

Present.

While still in this groin stretch release your right leg and extend it straight out in front of you on the floor,

Tucking your left foot into your groin if possible.

Inhale and extend your arms upward towards the ceiling with your arms facing each other.

Exhale and bend forward extending your arms in front of you and grasping the right leg,

Ankle or foot.

You can either bend your knee or place a pillow underneath it to do the stretch.

Breathe naturally.

Release by returning to an upright seated position.

This time you extend your left leg straight out in front of you and tuck your right foot into your groin.

Inhale and stretch your arms overhead with the palms facing each other and exhale and repeat the forward bend,

This time grasping your left leg,

Ankle or foot.

Stay here for a few breaths.

Release by returning to an upright seated position with both legs extended in front of you.

Our next pose is a seated twist.

Bend your left leg with your left foot still on the floor.

Raise your left knee straight up and draw your left heel as close to your body as you comfortably can.

Inhale and wrap your right elbow around your left knee placing your left hand on the floor behind your left buttock.

Then exhale and rotate your torso to the left.

Breathe naturally,

Aware of any sensations,

Thoughts or emotions.

Exhale and return to the starting point with both legs stretched out in front of you.

Now move on to the other side.

This time you bend your right leg with your right foot still on the floor.

Raise your right knee straight up and draw your right heel as close as you can to your body.

Inhale and wrap your left elbow around your right knee placing your right hand behind your right buttock.

Then exhale and rotate your torso to the right and breathe naturally.

Inhale and release from the pose.

Now come and lie on your back for our final pose of today,

The corpse pose also called savasana.

Your arms are by your side or on your chest,

Whichever feels the most comfortable.

Close your eyes and breathe naturally.

Just as we move in yoga it is also important to stop and be still.

This is part of the yogaghana tanks,

Before you stomp on this part of your body as you.

.

We've come to the end of this mindful standing yoga practice.

Start wiggling your fingers and your toes,

Your hands and your feet.

And if you want you can stretch out your body.

Long arms,

Long legs,

Long body.

When you're ready,

Come and lie on your right side for a few breaths.

On your next in breath you push yourself up sideways to a seated position.

Congratulate yourself for doing this yoga practice and use it every time you want to take care of yourself.

Till next time.