Mindful Yoga: Lying Down

Mindful yoga and movement with a focus on breath and awareness of the movements of the body. This practice is done on the floor and is used as a part of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program.

Transcript

Welcome to Lying Down Yoga,

Finding a place where you can be comfortable and undisturbed on a mat or blanket on the floor.

We will begin to pay attention in a particular way.

Practice by simply listening and following along with my voice as best you are able,

Not straining,

Feeling the movement from the inside,

Remembering that your own knowing of the body's ability is more important than following these directions precisely.

If any movement is not right for you at this time,

You are welcome to modify the pose or come to a comfortable posture and imagine yourself doing the movement,

Approaching your practice with kindness and curiosity and noticing thoughts and sensations that arise.

We will begin with resting pose,

Coming to a position where you are lying down on your back with the feet falling away,

Palms facing up with arms at the sides,

Making any adjustments you need to find a position of comfort on the floor.

If you have low back issues,

You may want to play around with some postures,

Leaving your feet on the floor with your knees raised or extending the knees outward,

Taking the time you need to become comfortable,

Noticing all the parts of the body that are in contact with the floor,

The heels,

The hips,

The back,

The shoulders,

The arms,

The hands,

The back of the head,

Noticing what it feels like to release the body into the floor,

Nowhere to go,

Nothing to do but practice being in this body,

In this space,

In this moment.

This pose is called resting pose but it's also an active rest,

Taking a few moments to notice the breath and where you feel the breath,

The rhythmic movement as it flows through the body,

Knowing that it will change moment to moment as we move through the practice.

When you find yourself thinking,

Coming back to awareness of the breath.

And now beginning with lifting our arms,

Bringing the legs together,

Feet can be flexed or to the sides,

Facing the palms in towards the body and slowly keeping the arms straight,

Lifting the arms in an arc,

Floating them over the head,

And coming as much as possible above the head and towards the floor.

A V shape is fine for the arms as well and feeling the stretch,

Seeing if you can lengthen throughout the entire body,

Arms,

Shoulders,

Sides,

Legs,

Stretching in any way that feels good,

And then slowly floating the hands back above the face and moving them down towards the floor,

Taking a moment to pause when the arms reach the floor and noticing sensations throughout the body,

And noticing breathing,

And repeating that movement one more time,

Bringing the legs together,

Palms facing the body,

And slowly raising the arms up,

Stretching as far as is comfortable for you,

And on an out breath,

Releasing,

Bringing the arms back,

And returning to resting pose,

And breathing,

Noticing perhaps if your mind has wandered to a thought or a sensation,

Just gently bringing your attention back to the body and to the breath.

Now bringing your feet about a foot away from the buttocks,

Knees pointing up,

Feet parallel,

We're going to do pelvic rocking,

So bringing attention to the space in the lower back that's off the floor,

Perhaps moving your hand there in that space to feel it,

Or bringing the arms out to the sides,

Not an out breath flattening the lower back towards the floor,

And on an in breath tilting the pelvis forward.

You can leave your hands under the lower back if you wish,

Or move them out to the sides,

Or even bring them to the pelvis to feel the movement,

Rocking back and forth with the breath,

Bringing the lower back to the floor,

And exaggerating the arch on the out breath.

This can be a very subtle movement,

And releasing and coming to rest,

Bringing your arms out to the side,

Extending your legs,

Returning to resting pose,

And observing any sensations.

Now taking the feet,

Planting them on the floor,

Both knees up,

Bringing the knees into the chest,

Bringing the hands under the thighs,

Between the calves and the thighs,

And rocking back and forth,

And for this initial movement,

Keeping your head on the floor as you rock back and forth,

And guiding the legs in any way that feels comfortable for you.

You have the option of raising your head,

Remembering to move the whole spine,

Not just the neck,

And perhaps bringing one hand under the head to raise the head towards the knees.

It's totally fine to leave the head on the floor.

And noticing breathing,

And now if the head is lifted,

Releasing the head and returning it to the floor,

Releasing the legs,

Releasing the hands,

And returning to resting pose,

Taking a moment to notice the effects of this pose.

Now bringing both feet up to the floor again,

Knees facing up,

Lifting the right knee and bringing it to the chest,

Holding the back of the thigh.

You can choose to extend the left leg or leave it bent,

Beginning to explore the hip joint,

So doing circles in one direction or another,

Squeezing the knee in towards the chest and releasing,

Just remembering that as long as you are moving you are doing some form of yoga,

And that your inner wisdom always trumps the instructions,

So doing what's right for your body in this moment,

And coming to stillness.

It feels right for you bringing one hand behind the head and bringing it towards the knee,

Always backing off if you feel pain,

Releasing the head,

Releasing the right leg,

And returning to resting pose,

Noticing sensations in the body,

Noticing sensations in the right leg,

As well as the left that hasn't moved.

And now once again bringing both feet up,

Planting the feet on the floor with knees facing up,

And doing the same movement with the left knee,

Bringing the left knee towards the chest,

And exploring the available options,

Maybe rocking the knee from side to side,

Or circling one direction and the other,

And then bringing the hand behind the head if you like to lift the head towards the knee,

Feeling the engagement of the core more so than the neck,

And breathing,

And releasing the head,

The arm,

The legs,

Laying both legs down if that feels comfortable for you,

Or you can always keep the feet flat on the floor with the knees bent facing up,

And returning to resting pose and noticing what's present for you.

And now we're going to transition by bringing the knees up towards the chest and rolling on to one side of the body,

Lying here for a moment or two,

Supporting the head with your arm,

And knowing that this is a great time to be present as we transition from one movement to another.

Using the strength of the arms,

Transitioning the body up into a table posture,

So mindfully coming to table,

Hands directly under the shoulders,

Knees moving under the hips,

And you can separate the fingers out if you like,

And if needed you could put a blanket under the hands or a cushion or even go up onto the fist if your wrist is feeling discomfort.

Whatever is working for you in this moment,

And so beginning what we call the cat-cow poses,

Starting with cat,

Tucking the tailbone towards the floor as the spine comes up towards the ceiling and the head runs down,

Being gentle with the spine,

And the spine should be making a gentle C shape,

Almost like a Halloween cat,

And moving into cow,

We reverse the direction.

Tailbone floating up towards the ceiling,

Spine dropping towards the mat,

And the head can gently lift up and look ahead,

Taking a deep breath in,

And on the exhale drifting back into cat,

Tailbone towards the floor,

Spine coming up towards the ceiling,

Head rounding down,

And on the out breath moving back into cow,

Tailbone floating up towards the ceiling,

Spine dropping towards the mat,

And head lifting and looking ahead,

And doing this movement once more at your own speed,

Noticing sensations,

Noticing waves of the spine as you move from cat to cow,

And when you're ready returning to table with a flat back,

Now moving into a balancing posture,

Noticing perhaps if your mind has wandered,

Bringing your attention back into the movement and into sensations,

Perhaps selecting a balance point,

This is a point on the floor or small distance in front,

Something low to the ground where you can focus as you're balancing,

So when you're ready lifting up the right arm and the right hand,

Looking out over the hand,

And shifting the weight onto the right knee just a little bit so that the opposite leg and foot can be lifted up,

Remembering to breathe as you lift the left leg up,

Lifting to whatever height is comfortable for you,

If that's keeping your toes on the ground or lifting the leg higher,

Just noticing,

Noticing the wobbliness,

And coming out if needed,

Letting it all float back down towards the mat and returning to table,

Pausing to notice any sensations or emotions or thoughts that have arisen,

And beginning with the opposite side,

This time letting the left arm float up,

Shifting your weight to the left knee and extending the right leg and the right foot,

Again whatever height is appropriate for you,

Maybe keeping the toe touching down or lifting up and breathing,

And as you're ready releasing the arm and the leg and coming back to table,

And pausing to notice sensations,

Now transitioning back onto the back,

Taking notice of the movements that it takes to bring the body from this position onto the back,

And moving into bridge pose,

Bringing the feet about a foot from the buttocks,

Planting them flat on the floor,

Knees facing up,

And if possible keeping the knees parallel or even pushing them together if needed,

Keeping the hands down alongside the body or out,

Creating a T,

And using the arms for support,

Beginning to lift the buttocks,

The waist up off the ground,

Feeling what is right for you in this moment,

Perhaps lifting the back up to about the mid torso area,

And resting on the shoulder blades,

And breathing,

Feeling sensations perhaps in the quads,

And when you're ready starting with the top of the back,

Slowly lowering down,

Top of the back,

The waist,

Eventually the lower back and buttocks,

Bringing back to the ground,

And breathing,

Noticing sensations,

And remembering that if any movement feels uncomfortable or inappropriate,

You can always rest and rejoin or visualize the movement.

Now bringing the feet up if they were down,

The soles of the feet on the floor,

The knees pointed up to the ceiling,

Bringing the knees together,

You can place the arms out in a T with the palms facing down,

Or if you wish,

Interlacing the fingers behind the head near the base of the skull and letting the elbows drop away towards the floor,

Whichever position feels correct for you in this moment,

And when you're ready dropping the knees towards the right,

It doesn't matter if they make it all the way to the floor,

Just noticing sensations in the spine as they move towards the floor,

And if it feels right for you,

Turning the head to look over the left shoulder,

Noticing sensations in the spine as it curves,

And not pushing through any discomfort,

Noticing and breathing,

And now bringing the knees back up towards the ceiling,

Untwisting the head and neck,

And coming back to center,

And when you're ready,

Moving the hands back to the T formation or behind the head,

Dropping the knees over to the left side,

Paying attention to the movement of the spine,

Moving the head towards the right and looking over the right shoulder if that feels comfortable,

And breathing,

Bringing the knees back up,

Releasing the head and neck,

Coming back to center,

And returning to resting pose if that's comfortable,

So releasing the legs,

Extending them,

Feet falling away,

Arms at the sides with palms facing up.

When you're ready,

Bringing both legs,

Feet planted on the floor,

Knees facing up towards the ceiling,

And keeping the left leg still,

Lifting the right leg,

And reaching the foot towards the sky,

Keeping the foot flexed as though you were standing on the ceiling.

The leg can be bent,

It can be straight,

Either position,

Whichever is comfortable for you,

And reaching your hands towards the right leg.

You can hold the calf or the thigh,

Whichever is accessible,

And if it's appropriate for you,

Reaching the forehead towards the right leg,

Bringing the left hand to support your head,

And breathing,

And now releasing the head,

Releasing the hands,

Releasing the leg,

Bending the right knee,

And returning the right foot to the mat,

And breathing.

Now lifting the left leg up,

Leaving the right bent,

Left leg up,

So the left foot is as though you were standing on the ceiling,

Reaching the hands towards the left leg,

And holding the left thigh or left calf,

Whichever is appropriate for you.

The knee may be bent or it may be straight,

And if it feels right,

Bringing the forehead to the left leg,

And supporting the head with the hand as needed,

Releasing the head,

The hands,

And bending the knee,

And placing the left foot on the mat,

And extending both legs,

And returning to resting pose,

And breathing,

And now mindfully rolling over onto the right side,

Bending the arm,

And making a pillow for the head,

Or bringing the arm out,

And resting the head on the arm,

Bringing the left hand in front of the body for balance,

Reaching the left leg long,

Lifting the left leg up towards the ceiling.

The toe can be bent or flexed,

Trying either,

And if you're experiencing any discomfort,

Returning to lying on the side or to resting pose.

When you're ready,

Bringing the left leg down to meet the right leg,

And mindfully rolling onto the back and over to the left side,

Noticing that you may move into autopilot when you know what you're going to do next,

And seeing if you can explore this as a new experience,

Beginner's mind.

So resting the hand on the arm,

Or the head on the arm,

Right arm in front of the body for balance,

Reaching the right leg long,

And lifting up towards the ceiling.

Toe can be bent or flexed,

And if there's any pain coming out of the pose.

When you're ready,

Bringing the right leg down to meet the left,

Pausing for a moment,

And making your way to lying on the belly,

And perhaps putting your head so your cheek,

Your right cheek is on the floor,

And just noticing sensations of lying here.

And when you're ready,

Bringing the chin to the mat,

Or making a pillow for the chin with one hand on top of the other,

If needed,

Pressing the pubic bone down to the mat.

This can be helpful for the lower back,

And you can also take your hand to the sacrum and draw it towards the heels.

So if you've chosen to move the hand,

Bringing it back to the mat,

And now with your chin on the mat or in your hands,

Raising the left leg and stretching long behind you,

Noticing the effort that it takes to do this movement,

And paying attention,

And releasing,

Bringing the left leg back to the mat,

And then shifting to the opposite side,

Once again pressing the pubic bone,

Engaging the buttocks,

Drawing the tailbone down,

And lifting and lengthening the right leg behind you,

And releasing,

And this time resting with the left cheek on the mat,

And breathing,

And when you're ready,

Bringing the chin to the mat once again,

Moving into airplane pose,

Palms to the sides,

And reaching the fingertips towards the feet as you're lifting the head and the shoulders and the feet as well.

So moving the head in the opposite direction of the feet and releasing,

Coming back to the mat,

And when you're ready,

Stretching the legs out,

Mindfully rolling on to the back,

Allowing the legs to stay long,

Bringing the arms out to the side,

Palms facing up if that's comfortable,

And allowing the feet to fall away from each other.

Remembering if you have any sensations of lower back pain,

You may wish to bend the knees,

Taking the feet wide apart,

Almost to the edges of the mat,

And letting the knees lean into each other,

Just beginning to focus on breathing,

Allowing the body to integrate all the benefits of the practice you've just done,

Scanning through the body,

Feet,

Ankles,

Lower legs,

Knees,

Upper legs,

The hips,

The entire pelvis,

Low back,

Middle back,

Upper back,

Belly,

The chest,

The heart,

The lungs,

The hands,

Wrists,

Forearms,

Elbows,

Upper arms,

Shoulders,

The neck,

Face,

The entire head,

And the brain,

Bringing awareness to the full body,

Noticing the front of the body,

Back of the body,

Noticing the points of contact with the floor,

And breathing,

Bringing awareness to the entire body,

Awake and alive and fully present.

You

Reviews

Hello beautiful 🌺🎈🌺🎈🌺Thank you so much for the wonderfully mindful movements🌈it was a pleasure like lying in the sand by the ocean on a sunny day 🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste