Bridgeen's 10 Mindful Movements

This track describes the Ten Mindful Movements from Thich Nhant Hanh (Thay) and the Plum Village tradition. I give this track to my MBSR students to help them with mindful movement practice. These gentle exercises are suitable and adaptable for all levels.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to your mindful movement.

These exercises are easy to do at home by yourself or with other people.

You can do them inside or outside,

Even in the park.

You can do them every day or once in a while.

Do each movement five times before moving on to the next one.

And remember you can smile and have fun with it.

To begin,

Stand with your feet firmly on the ground,

Shoulder width apart.

Your knees are soft,

Slightly bent and not locked.

Stand upright and relaxed.

Your shoulders are loose.

Imagine an invisible thread is attached to the top of your head and it pulls you up toward the sky.

Keeping your body straight,

Tuck your chin in slightly so your neck can relax.

Let's practice a little bit of conscious breathing in this position.

Make sure your feet are firmly on the earth.

Your body is centered,

Your back is straight.

Allow your in-breath to come down into your belly.

Then exhale completely.

Continue to breathe slowly,

Aware of each in-breath and each out-breath.

Smile and enjoy standing like this for a moment.

Mindful movement one.

Begin with your feet slightly apart,

Arms at your sides.

Breathing in,

Keep your elbows straight as you lift your arms in front of you until they are shoulder level,

Horizontal to the ground.

Breathing out,

Bring your arms down again to your sides.

It's a very simple movement.

Just raising the arms as if moving through the air,

Like an element of resistance,

Like moving through water.

You're just moving the hands up to shoulder level and then exhaling,

Bringing them down to the original starting position.

When you've done five of those,

You're going to move on to mindful movement number two.

Again,

Beginning with your arms at your sides.

Breathing in,

Lifting your arms in front of you once more.

In one continuous movement,

Bring them all the way up,

Stretching them above your head,

Touching the sky.

This movement can be done with your palms either facing inward toward each other or facing forward as you reach up.

Breathing out,

Bring your arms slowly down again to your sides.

Repeating four more times,

Bringing the hands up above the head,

Stretching up to touch the sky and bringing them down again.

Doing it nice and slowly in time with your own breathing.

Now we're moving to mindful movement number three.

Breathing in,

Lift your arms out to the side,

Palms up until your arms are shoulder level,

Parallel to the ground.

Breathing out,

Touch your shoulders with your fingertips,

Keeping your arms horizontal.

Breathing in,

Open your arms,

Extending them until they're stretched out to your horizontal position again.

Breathing out,

Bend your elbows,

Bringing your fingertips back to your shoulders.

So when you breathe in,

You're like a flower opening to the warm sun.

Breathing out,

The flower closes.

From this position,

With your fingertips on your shoulders,

Do the movement four.

In this exercise,

You make a large circle with your arms.

Breathing in,

You bring your arms straight down in front of you,

Between your hips,

Palms together.

Raise your arms up,

Separate your hands so your arms can stretch up over your head.

Breathing out,

Continue the circle,

Arms circling back until your fingertips point toward the ground.

Breathing in,

Lift your arms back and reverse the circle.

Breathing out as you bring your hands,

Bring your palms together and your arms come down in front of you.

Repeating four more times.

So basically the arms are out in front,

You take them up,

Over the head,

All the way back,

Around to the front,

Reverse in the direction,

Back,

Up,

Out and over,

Down to the front.

And with your breath,

Nice and easy.

My movement five.

Start by putting your hands on your waist.

As you do this,

Keep your legs straight but not locked and your head centered over your body.

Breathing in,

Bend forward at the waist and begin to make a circle with your upper body.

When you're halfway through the circle,

Your upper body leaning back,

Breathe out and complete the circle,

Ending with your head in front of you while your soul bent at the waist.

On your next in-breath,

Begin a circle in the opposite direction.

On your out-breath,

Complete the circle.

Repeat the series of movements four more times.

So you're basically drawing a circle with your head.

Just as far as is possible and as comfortable for you,

Always remembering to listen to the body and disregarding any instruction if it doesn't feel right for you.

Just doing your best,

Making a circle,

Tuning into the breath.

My full movement number six.

This exercise is called the frog.

Begin with your hands on your waist again.

Heels are together,

Turned out to form a V so that they make a 90 degree angle.

Breathing in,

Rise up on your toes.

Breathing out,

Staying on your toes,

Keeping your back straight,

Bend your knees.

Keeping your upper body centered,

Go down as low as you can,

Maintaining your balance.

Breathing in,

Straighten your knees and come all the way up while still standing on your toes.

From this position,

Repeat the movement four more times,

Remembering to breathe slowly and deeply.

So with concentration and awareness,

You're just doing a gentle squat as far as is possible and comfortable for you.

Being mindful of your body,

Mindful of your breathing.

Physical movement number seven.

In this exercise,

You touch the sky and the earth.

Your feet are hip width apart.

Breathing in,

Bring your arms up over your head,

Palms forward.

Stretch all the way up and look up as you touch the sky.

Breathing out,

Bend at the waist as you bring your arms down to touch the earth.

Release your neck.

From this position,

Breathe in and keep your back straight as you come all the way back up and touch the sky.

Remembering to keep the knees soft and bend them if you need to.

So touch the earth and the sky four more times.

Breathing in all the way up,

Breathing out all the way down.

Being mindful of your back and of your own limitations.

Taking it easy,

Doing as best you can.

Physical movement number eight.

Start with your feet together,

Your hands on your waist.

Begin by putting all your weight onto your left foot.

Breathing in,

Lift your right thigh as you bend your knee and keep your toes pointed toward the ground.

Breathing out,

Stretch your right leg out in front of you,

Keeping your toes pointed.

Breathing in,

Bend your knee,

Put your foot back toward your body.

Breathing out,

Put your foot back on the ground.

Next,

Put all your weight onto your right foot and do the movement with the other leg.

Repeat the series of movements four more times.

So we're basically balancing on one leg,

Raising one leg,

Bending the knee,

Pointing the leg,

Bending it and then placing it back down.

And then changing legs.

So it's five on each side.

Now moving on to mindful movement number nine.

It's another leg exercise.

In this exercise,

You make a circle with your leg.

Begin with your feet together and your hands on your waist.

Put your weight on your left foot and breathing in,

Lift your right leg straight out in front of you and circle it to the side.

Breathing out,

Circle it to the back and bring it down behind you,

Allowing your toes to touch the ground.

Breathing in,

Lift your leg up behind you and circle it around to the side.

Breathing out,

Continue to circle to the front,

Then lower your leg and put your foot on the ground,

Allowing your weight to again be on both feet.

Now do the exercise with the other leg.

Repeat the series of movements four more times.

So it's five on each side.

Basically balancing on one leg,

You're taking the other leg out,

Circling it all the way around to the back and then all the way back around again to the front,

Placing it back in the ground,

Changing over.

Taking your time,

Doing it with your breath,

Nice and slow,

Relaxed,

Steady and calm.

Aware of how your body is feeling,

Aware of all the little micro movements.

Now we're onto the last movement,

Mindful movement number 10.

This exercise is done in a lunge position.

It's not a huge lunge.

So you begin standing with feet together,

Keeping your left foot where it is,

Move your right foot out so your feet are wider than shoulder width apart.

Turn your right foot out 90 degrees.

Keeping your weight on both feet,

Your body will naturally turn slightly toward the right foot to find a comfortable position,

Angle between your two feet.

Put your left hand on your waist,

Your right arm at your side.

Breathing in,

Bend your right knee,

Bringing your weight over your right foot as you lift your arm with the palm of your hand facing outward in front of you,

Stretch it to the sky.

Breathe out as you straighten your knee and bring your right arm back to your side.

Repeat the movement four more times.

Then switch legs,

Putting your right hand on your waist.

Repeat the same movement on the left four times.

Then bring your feet back together again.

You have now finished the 10 mindful movements.

You have taken some time out of your day to get in touch with your body and your breath to check in and notice what's going on.

Stand firmly on your two feet and breathe in and out.

Feel your body relax.

Try to take this sense of awareness and calm into the rest of your day for whatever it is you need to do today.

Reviews

Nice gentle set of exercises for my stiff body, not getting enough exercise in quarantine! Thank you very much.

Really enjoyed these mindful movements. The movements get progressively harder but are adjustable to your level of fitness.

Wonderful and literally balancing! Thank you!😇

Thank you 🌷🌷🌷for the 10 wonderful movements🌀It is relaxing and joy for me to do them🙏Namaste 🔆take care

Enjoyed, I find body movement sessions necessary for maintaining my health. It brings balance to body, mind, and heart. I enjoy sitting prayer & meditation afterwards. Awesome way to begin this day acknowledging the gift. Thank you.