Gentle Standing Yoga (Mindful Movement)

This is a gentle, slow, and mindful standing practice. It includes breathing and movements for a mind-body connection, which promotes relaxation and lowering of stress. It's a wonderful way to practice meditation while moving the body.

Transcript

Mindfulness lies at the core of a yoga practice.

Hatha yoga and its many approaches is nothing less than the lifelong adventure and discipline of working with one's body,

Mind,

And heart as doorways into freedom and wholeness.

Whether your body is old or young,

Flexible or not so flexible,

Strong or weak,

This is a practice that welcomes you exactly where you are at right now and right here.

Cultivating an attitude of curiosity towards your body's capabilities and kindness as well,

You will notice how quickly the body responds to gentle,

Regular movement,

However slow or small.

Standing now on a yoga mat,

Preferably or other non-slip,

Slightly cushioned surface,

Just feeling your body balanced on top of your two feet and legs.

You may choose to have your feet closely together so that the inner ankles touch or place your feet so that they are roughly hips width apart.

Just choosing the way to stand that feels most balanced and comfortable for you.

Allowing your hips and pelvis to be balanced over your feet and feeling up through the column of the spine,

Seeking a sense of lengthened spine and open chest without strain or tension.

Feeling your arms releasing down from your shoulder sockets and resting by your sides and noticing the position of the head on top of your neck,

Feeling it balanced there.

If it's comfortable for you to let your eyes come closed,

Just exploring for a few moments the sense of your body balanced above your feet.

Feeling under the feet now and noticing where the points of contact are the strongest,

In the heels,

In the balls of the feet.

Bringing your awareness to your breath now and feeling the flow of the breath just as it is,

Not trying to alter or change it in any way.

You might notice how the movements of the breath affect the whole standing body.

Just breathing in and knowing you are breathing in,

Breathing out and knowing you are breathing out.

Noticing just what this moment in time contains for you and continuing to breathe as best you can with awareness and gentleness throughout this practice.

Along the way,

It's most likely that your mind will wander and that you'll go off into thoughts either of the past or future or perhaps an assessment or judgment on what you are doing now.

This is perfectly okay and in fact a wonderful opportunity to pay attention to what your mind likes to think about.

Simply noticing the thought as you become aware of thinking and with kindly awareness,

Bringing your full attention back into wherever you are in the practice.

This tendency of the mind to wander may be different every single time you do this practice,

Sometimes frequently,

Sometimes not.

Always just being patient and kind as you bring your attention back each time it goes anywhere else,

Coming back into this moment as it is.

Where else can you be after all?

Now bringing your awareness back into your feet and gently start to explore swaying the body forward a few centimeters and noticing how the weight distribution changes under your feet.

Can you feel the weight more strongly under the balls and toes?

Then swaying the body back so that your heels become more heavily connected into the ground.

Just swaying forward and backward a few more times,

Noticing what other sensations may be in the rest of the body besides the feet.

What happens to the front of the body and the back of the body as you sway forward and backward?

Now coming to stand so that you feel a sense of equal weight under the fronts and backs of the feet.

And just coming still for a couple of breaths,

Then starting to sway gently from side to side.

Again,

Sensing under the feet as weight moves to the outer and inner edges of the feet,

Sensing up through the body and noticing what it does to maintain a sense of balance.

Gradually slowing these movements down until you come to standing with equal weight under the feet,

Front and back,

And side to side.

Feel into the torso and spinal column once again,

The arms relaxed down from the shoulders,

The head balanced on top of the neck.

In yoga,

This pose is called mountain pose and you can sense the qualities of stability,

Strength and balance that mountains have in this pose no matter what the weather brings.

As we move further into this practice,

Please know that you are the authority of your own body and its capabilities.

Sometimes a movement may feel like it's out of reach to you or potentially uncomfortable.

At times like that,

Be aware that you can opt out of any movement and sometimes you may surprise yourself by trying something you thought you couldn't do.

Either way,

It's up to you.

If you do opt out,

Know that simply by listening and imagining the movements,

You can still gain some of the neurobiological benefits of following along.

As you're ready now,

The next time you breathe in,

Start to raise your arms overhead until you are reaching toward the ceiling with your fingertips.

Feeling and sweeping the arms back down in a smooth arc by your sides.

Repeating this movement a couple more times.

In time with your inhale to lift and exhale to lower the arms.

Realizing the sensations in your arms,

Shoulders,

And wherever else becomes apparent.

And when your arms are next,

Back down by your sides again,

Feeling the balance of your mountain pose.

Now breathing in and raising the arms out to the sides until they are about level with your shoulders.

Holding the arms here and feeling through the shoulders as you start to draw some little circles with the hands,

Wrists,

And whole of arms.

Simply noticing the rising of sensation and then making the circles in the other direction for a few breaths.

Allowing the arms now to release back down by your sides.

Breathing in again and reaching up through the right arm as you extend the left arm down next to your left thigh and coming into a small side bend.

Exhale and release back into your mountain pose.

Then inhaling and reaching up through the left arm,

Sliding the right hand down along the right thigh and feeling into the opening along the left chest and waist and wherever else you notice it.

Exhaling back to standing.

Pausing for a moment here and feeling the effects of these movements.

Exhaling what is present here and in this moment of time just as it is.

On your next breath in,

Raising both arms towards the ceiling and then exhaling and bending as far as feels comfortable as your arms reach to the left.

Exhale back up to center and then exhale to release arms back down by your sides.

Inhaling once again and lifting the arms overhead.

Then exhaling and folding slightly to the right side.

Keeping your chest facing forward as best you can and then straightening back up through your torso and releasing the arms back down by your sides.

Pausing a moment here.

Keeping your awareness now into your shoulders and slowly raising the shoulders towards the ears.

Then squeezing them down through the front of the body and letting the shoulders drop away from the ears.

Continuing in this circle to then squeeze the shoulder blades together as you roll the shoulders back and up again towards the ears.

Repeating this circle of movement through the shoulders as you feel into all the structures of the shoulders,

The chest and the upper back body.

Even when you have finished a second circle,

Just letting the shoulders rest down in as relaxed a way as possible.

Then reversing the direction of the circles,

Squeezing the shoulder blades together as you roll the shoulders back and up towards the ears.

Then starting to roll the shoulders forwards and down through the front of the body.

Repeating this direction once again,

Slowly and with awareness of sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Just noticing what this moment contains.

Letting the shoulders relax and release down and then feeling into the structure of your neck.

And as you're ready,

Allowing the head to roll forward towards the chest and then rolling the head towards the left shoulder and continuing in a very shallow circle with the head rolling across to the right shoulder and then back down through the front of the body.

Just repeating this direction once more.

And as you're ready,

Rolling the head gently and slowly around in the opposite direction a couple of times,

Taking care of the structure of the neck,

Sensing into the muscles and bones and cells of this delicate part of the body.

Finishing with the head once again balanced on top of the neck and pausing to feel the effects of these movements.

Now trying a little exploration of balance.

As you next breathe in,

Rocking your weight over onto your left foot as you sweep your arms out to the sides and lift the right leg out to the right.

Exhaling back to standing and then shifting balance and inhaling to lift the left leg and sweeping the arms out and up to shoulder height.

From standing,

Repeat this movement once more on each side,

Tuning into your body's wonderful ability to balance or not,

Allowing a playful curiosity to arise as you simply explore these movements.

Standing in your mountain pose again now,

Bringing your hands onto your hips,

Keeping your feet and hips facing forward as you next exhale,

Turning the torso around to the right and looking without straining through the neck,

Back over the right shoulder.

Inhale here and exhale once more,

Just seeing if your range of movement might expand or not.

Then releasing back to mountain pose and pausing here.

Simply now moving the torso in the other direction,

Slowly turning your torso around to the left and looking back in the general direction of the left shoulder.

Pausing here for a couple of breaths,

Feeling into the sensations of this twist through the spine and then easing back out of the pose to simply standing tall in your mountain pose.

Just breathing,

Just staying present,

Being aware of how your body,

Mind and emotions are all playing their parts in this moment exactly as it is.

No need to be anywhere else or doing anything else.

Bending your knees a little bit now and as you breathe out,

Rolling forward through your torso and reaching your hands towards the floor.

If it feels especially tight in the lower back or your upper legs,

Try bending your knees a little more deeply and notice if that creates more comfort.

As you next breathe in,

Keep your right fingertips on the floor or lower leg and lift up through the left arm and shoulder,

Coming up about halfway.

Then exhaling back down to the forward position and keeping your left fingertips in place,

Inhaling as you lift the right arm and shoulder up about halfway,

Releasing back down and then bending both knees more deeply and rolling up through the spine and only straightening the legs as you bring up your head.

Feeling into your balance on your feet here and noticing how your body is feeling in this moment.

Now imagining you have a chair behind you,

Just a few centimeters out of reach.

Inhaling and raising your arms to about shoulder height and then as you breathe out,

Bending your knees and reaching your bottom back as if you were about to sit on the chair.

Exhaling here for a few breaths now,

Feeling the distribution of weight under the feet,

Feeling the position of your spine,

Noticing the sensations in your shoulders,

Feeling the work in your core as it supports your body in this position.

And as you next inhale,

Gently pressing up through the feet to straighten through the body and release the arms back down by your sides.

Feeling this movement once more and feeling as you lower the hips,

How the weight comes under the feet.

If you notice that your weight is more under the balls of the feet,

See if you can even the weight out by just slightly rocking the hips back a fraction,

Noticing the work,

The big muscles of the upper legs have to do to help maintain this balance as well.

Then coming out of the pose and gently giving a little shake to your legs,

Your arms and your torso before settling back into standing.

Feeling your balance once again on both feet and gently rocking from side to side,

Perhaps noticing how the center of gravity shifts from side to side as the torso moves over one leg and then the other.

The next time you are shifted towards the right leg,

Staying here,

Balancing over the right leg and just gently bending the left knee.

Coming into your version of a yoga tree pose,

Bringing your left foot so that it either rests on the inside of your right ankle,

Calf,

Knee or thigh.

Feeling your balance on your right leg,

You can slowly raise your arms to the ceiling and reach up through the fingers.

Stay here for a breath,

Pressing through the foot,

Reaching through the fingertips and then releasing back to standing on both feet.

Now shifting the weight onto the left foot and leg and bringing the right foot into a comfortable position on the inside of the supporting leg.

Reaching up through the arms,

You could perhaps picture your favorite tree,

Imagining the strength and flexibility and beauty of its branches reaching skyward.

Coming down out of the pose now and pausing to feel the work you've just done.

And in the best way you can find now,

Very carefully coming down to the floor so that you are sitting with your legs extended out in front of you.

If it feels like you are sitting towards the back of your sitting bones,

It may feel more comfortable to raise your hips up on a folded blanket or a cushion just to allow more support for the spine,

Noticing how it feels to be sitting here in this position and as much as possible finding a lengthened and upright position for the spine.

Bending your knees now and slowly drawing your feet in towards each other until the soles of the feet can touch each other if that is workable for you.

You can hold onto either the outer ankles or lower legs and just as is comfortable,

Draw the feet in as close as they will come towards the sitting bones.

Breathing in now and lengthening up through the spine as best you can while you reach the outer knees towards the floor.

As you stay here for a few breaths,

Just noticing what arises in your field of awareness,

Sensations in the body,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

All part of this moment just the way it is.

Now keeping your left foot and knee where they are,

Slowly extending your right leg along the floor.

If it feels too strong a stretch to fully extend the leg,

You can keep the knee slightly bent and even tuck the left foot just under the knee of the extended leg.

Exhaling now and lifting your arms overhead,

Reaching up through the spine and arms into the fingertips.

And as you next exhale,

Rolling forward through the hips and releasing the hands down to hold onto the extended leg just as far along the leg as works for you.

Slowly holding here,

Feeling into the sensations,

Whether intense or dull,

Strong or otherwise,

And breathing gently.

It may work to inch your hands a little further along the leg and come into a deeper bend at the hips,

Or it may not.

Just listening to what your body is telling you and respecting the natural limits that are there right now as your protection from injury.

Limits are always changing and you can notice as you progress with your future yoga practices how this movement may be different with time.

Coming back up now and extending the left leg as you draw the right knee and foot back up.

Again,

If it's helpful,

Tucking the foot under the extended leg's knee,

Pressing up through the sitting bones and creating length through the torso as you breathe in and raising the arms up high.

Then folding forward at the hips with your exhale and allowing the hands to find a spot to rest on the extended leg.

Starting as you stay in this pose for a few more breaths,

How it feels on this side of the body.

More room to move or less.

Different sensations in the knee,

Hip,

Leg.

Being present and being curious about your experience just as it is.

And as you're ready,

Coming back up and releasing the legs out in front of you.

With care and attention now,

Slowly lowering yourself down onto your back on the mat and laying yourself out for the final pose of this practice.

Ensuring you feel comfortable.

Take care of yourself if a small pillow or a blanket under the head would help you release more easily.

And if it adds to your comfort,

A pillow or a blanket roll under your knees can feel really good too.

Sometimes,

Especially if it is cool in the room,

Covering yourself over with a light blanket can give the body the message that it can let go and relax for a few moments.

So finding that position of comfort and releasing your weight into the floor now.

Feeling once again the contact points under the back of the body.

Scanning your awareness through your body from toe tip up to the crown of the head.

Feeling the effects of your practice.

Sometimes noticing if there's any little spots of tension or tightness in the face or jaw or chest or belly.

And as best you can,

Especially on the out breath,

Allowing the whole face and body to release and soften and let go.

Allowing your breath to simply flow in and flow out one breath at a time.

Feeling here in quiet a few moments longer.

Allowing your breath to simply flow in and flow out.

And as you're ready,

Bringing some little movements into your hands and feet and neck just as comfortable,

Bringing your body back into movement.

And then slowly rolling over onto one side and staying there for a few more breaths.

Then as you're ready,

Bringing yourself back up to sitting.

And as you move onto your next activity,

You can carry with you this sense of connection with yourself,

Remembering your ability to be strong and upright and balanced as a mighty mountain.

A beautiful quality of presence you have cultivated through your practice.

Have a good day.