Mindful Movement

Dr Rebecca Crane from the CMRP leads a Mindful Movement Practice. This practice invites you to do some gentle movements mindfully with the guidance.

Transcript

In this practice we are going to be doing some mindful movement.

The purpose of this practice is to bring our awareness to the sensations in our body as we move and to sensitively explore the limits of what we can do with our bodies at any given moment.

In this way the movements become a model for how we can bring mindfulness to everyday life and activities,

Making our attention right into the body as we move through our days.

So finding a time and a place where you won't be interrupted and where you have enough space so that you can lie on the floor with some room around you,

Perhaps on a mat or a blanket to protect yourself from the hardness of the floor.

Wear loose and comfortable clothing,

Maybe removing your shoes and loosening anything that constricts your waist.

Beginning by settling into lying down on your back in a comfortable position with the legs stretched out and the feet falling away from each other.

Bringing your arms alongside your body with the palms open to the ceiling if that feels okay for you.

Settling.

Feeling the weight of the body moving down into the support of the floor.

Arriving into this moment.

Your body fully relaxed and your mind fully awake and alert.

As we move through this sequence of movements we are emphasizing throughout,

Bringing moment to moment awareness to our body sensations and to the activities of our mind.

Simply being with the sensations created by the movements without trying to achieve anything or get anywhere.

It's important in doing this practice not to think about it as a competition with yourself or with anyone else.

It's important not to try too hard as if it was a matter of achievement or success or failure.

In the process of developing a deeper awareness of and greater sensitivity to our bodies as we move into the postures,

The practice invites you to work up to and explore the limits of what is right for your body in each moment.

It's important to experience and to dwell at these boundaries long enough to make discoveries about yourself,

But equally important to respect your limits and to make wise choices for yourself about drawing back,

Stretching less far or holding a posture less long.

So let your sensitivity to and understanding about your body override any instructions I give as you make your choices about what movements and stretches are right for you in each moment.

Taking care throughout to do no harm to yourself and if you do have any physical problems,

Then ask your doctor or physiotherapist before you do these movements.

If you do find that any of the movements or the postures are difficult or impossible for you,

Then either remaining still and using your mind to imagine your body in the posture and taking your attention into your body as you do this,

Or taking whatever variation or posture is right for you and exploring the experience of this.

As we work in this way over time,

It is interesting to notice how our boundaries and limits can dissolve and change without striving.

So now,

Coming back to a full awareness of how it is to be lying here,

Taking your attention in particular to the sensations of contact of the body with the floor.

Feelings may be of pressure,

Warmth,

Contact,

Weight moving down.

Moving the attention right up to and into these sensations.

And as you lie here opening to the sensations of breath movement,

Directing the attention into the abdomen and feeling the breath sensations in this place.

Being present with the feeling of the in-breath and the feeling of the out-breath here.

And noticing if there are tight or constricted areas in the body.

Seeing if it is possible to gently soften in these places as you breathe out.

Letting the whole weight of the body rest on the floor.

Sinking deeper into the mat on each out-breath.

And now,

Taking a deep intentional breath in and letting it go.

And as you next breathe in,

Stretching the arms up above and over the head.

One slow purposeful stretch over the whole duration of the in-breath.

And when you reach the floor with the hands over the head,

Letting the breath move out.

And then breathing freely while you continue to stretch the body from the fingers in one direction to the heels in the other.

Not forcing,

But feeling your entire body stretch,

The arms,

The torso,

The legs,

The feet.

And as you breathe and stretch,

Opening to the sensations created in the body.

Using the breath to help you explore the sensations arising in the body.

Directing the breath into places of intensity.

And then breathing out as you soften around the edges of intensity within the stretch.

Bringing kindness to your body.

And now,

On the next out-breath,

Letting the arms come back over again.

One slow movement over the whole duration of the out-breath.

Letting the arms come to rest at the side of the body again.

Experiencing the arms releasing and letting go as the floor takes over the work of holding them.

And settling back into stillness and noticing the consequences of having done this stretch.

Tuning into the sensations in the body.

In touch with these sensations,

Whatever they are.

Now,

Drawing the feet up towards the buttocks.

Having them about hip width apart.

The knees are bent,

So they are pointing up towards the ceiling.

So that you're making an inverted V shape with the legs.

And we'll do some pelvic tilts.

If you have any back problems,

Doing this with a very fine awareness of what your body is telling you.

So noticing that in this position the lower back is in contact with what you're lying on.

And you can emphasize this by curving the lower back further into the floor.

And then reversing this by slightly arching the lower back.

The abdomen raises and a space opens up between what you're lying on and the base of the spine.

As you do this,

The tailbone will tilt into stronger contact with the floor.

And so just gently doing this pelvic rocking at your own pace.

Rolling the small of the back down into the floor.

And the tailbone comes up.

And then reversing this.

And as you continue to move in this way,

Experiment with allowing the movements to be in rhythm with the breath.

Perhaps breathing in as the lower back opens out from the floor.

And breathing out as this gap closes and the lower back presses into the floor.

This movement can be very gentle and subtle or you can find that your upper body is drawn into the movement.

Noticing in a lot of detail what is happening in your body as you move in this way.

In your abdomen,

In your thighs,

In your back.

And now,

Bringing the pelvic tilts to a close.

And drawing the knees up towards the chest,

Wrapping both arms either around your knees or around your thighs.

And gently drawing your knees down towards your chest.

And if you like,

Rocking a bit from side to side.

Breath flowing freely.

And moving now in circular motions.

And then reversing the direction of the circles.

Very open and receptive to the sensations created in the body as you move.

And now,

When you're ready,

Coming to rest.

Releasing the arms and hands and stretching out the legs again.

Dropping into stillness.

Letting the floor hold you.

And opening to the sensations that are presenting themselves in this moment in the body.

What are the effects of these movements?

Allowing things to be as they are in your body in this moment.

And now,

Taking a deep breath in and letting it go.

And as you next breathe in,

Drawing the left knee towards the chest.

And letting the breath flow freely as you take hold of the knee with both hands.

One to the knee and one to the shin.

And now experiment with drawing the knee in closer towards the chest.

Opening to any intensity.

Breathing into it.

And then softening as you breathe out.

Exploring where the limit of this movement is for you in this moment.

And hanging out here.

And if you choose to increase the intensity of this posture,

You can bring the head off the floor up towards the knee.

But only doing this if this is okay for your neck and upper back.

Breathing into and out of any intensity.

And being very sensitive to the messages your body is giving you and responding to these.

And now gently,

With awareness,

Coming out of the posture and stretching out the left leg.

And pausing a moment as you lie here.

Noticing sensations in the body.

Maybe noticing any differences between the right and the left leg.

And now taking a deep breath in and letting it go.

And as you next breathe in,

Drawing the right knee towards the chest and letting the breath flow freely as you take hold of the knee with your hands.

And gently bring it closer towards the chest.

Softening and opening.

Bringing kindness and sensitivity to the limits expressed by your body in this moment.

And if you choose to,

Bringing the head off the floor up towards the knee.

But only doing this if this is okay for your neck and upper back.

Breathing into and out of any intensity.

Being with this as it is for you.

Bringing your attention right into the stretch.

And now gently,

With awareness,

Coming out of this posture and stretching out the left leg.

Settling into stillness as you open to what is present in your body right now.

And now moving the body from lying on the floor to being on all fours.

Allowing the attention to rest with each moment of this transition.

Taking your time.

And settling into being on your hands and knees.

Having the wrists directly below the shoulders with the arms straight.

And spread the fingers wide.

The middle fingers are pointing forwards.

Knees are directly under the hips,

Hip width apart.

And the back is more or less flat.

If it helps you can place a folded blanket under your knees to give them some additional padding.

Settling.

Breathing.

Noticing how this posture is for you.

And in this position we are going to do some back stretches.

So taking a breath in and as you breathe out tucking your tailbone under and arching the back upwards.

Lowering the head and bringing the chin towards the chest.

And breathing in as you flatten the lower back.

Keeping the abdominal muscles tight to prevent collapsing the back of the waist.

And raising the head as you look forward keeping the back of the neck long and straight.

And doing this a few times in your own rhythm.

Breathing out as you stretch the back up.

And breathing in as you reverse this and flatten the lower back.

And now coming to stillness.

Coming back to the table top flat back position.

And noticing what is present in your body right now.

If you'd like to taking a few moments to shake out the wrists if there's any build up of tension here.

And now extending the right foot and leg back either with the toes tucked under on the floor or with the foot up in the air balancing.

And extend the left arm in front at shoulder level looking out over the fingertips.

Feeling the cross body stretch from the right heel to the left fingertips.

And staying here breathing.

And working within your own safe limits being sensitive to yourself as you move.

But also having a sense of exploring,

Investigating,

Discovering.

And now on an out breath lowering the knee and the hand to the floor so that you're on all fours again.

And arching the back up reversing the stretch we've just done.

And coming back to the table top position with your back flat.

And this time taking out the left leg behind you either with the toes tucked under on the floor or with the foot up in the air balancing.

Breathing.

And when you're ready stretching out the right hand in front of you.

And looking out over the fingertips breathing.

Fully present with the sensations being created as you stretch.

Breathing.

Balancing.

Wobbling.

Being present with the sensations.

And if you haven't already on an out breath coming back now to being on all fours and arching the back up again.

And now lying back down again on your back with your arms alongside your body.

Feet falling away.

And just feeling what the consequences of having done this stretch are.

Noticing the flux of sensations in your body as you lie here.

For this next posture you may want to do a little bit of a stretch.

Reviews

Clear, gently, well-spoken, simple movement practise!

Just wonderful - thank you 🙏

The Ultimate Best Thing I did (finally!!! Permission in Action here 🎁🎉🎊💝:))) TODAY. Sometimes Being Good To Self is a Full Time Job. But it is definitely worth it.

Namaste 💙

I love this one a lot. Makes me feel so good afterwards. Stretched and warm!

Vv good, will do this all the time, v relaxing and uplifting

Beautiful! Will try to take it with me through my day!🙏

Will comment later because I did not have time to complete with session

Simple and effective yoga routine without the need for fancy posture names.

Define toy one of my favorites!