Mindful Yoga - Standing

This is a gentle standing mindfulness yoga. It's great for those in the workplace or in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course. It focuses on breath and awareness of the body as participants are guided through a full-body sequence.

Transcript

Welcome to standing mindful movement.

Considering this as a time to be in relation with yourself,

Wearing clothing that allows for unrestricted breathing and free movement,

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

Not straining or striving.

Feeling the movement from the inside and remembering that your own knowing or wisdom of your own body and its 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.

Paying attention to what is evoked through the sequence but particularly when there is any sense of not doing well,

Any sense of judgment or comparison.

When becoming aware of this kind of thinking,

It's an opportunity to bring great kindness and compassion to ourselves and to release any expectation or condition.

We're just here moving as we can in this moment being with all that is arising moment to moment with as much care as possible.

In this way,

We can see how things are shifting constantly even in minuscule ways.

Nothing is as fixed or rigid as we might imagine.

Over time,

This knowledge of the body's capacity and the ways the mind and heart respond can lead to deep self-knowing.

And so beginning with Mountain Pose,

A pose of dignity and stability,

Standing with the feet directly under the hips,

The toes straight ahead if that is comfortable for you,

Sensing the contact of the feet with the floor,

Maybe even lifting or spreading the toes,

Widening the whole base of the foot through this action and releasing the toes down,

Maybe feeling a sense of connection with the ground,

A sense of rootedness as you stand tall in Mountain Pose.

And now exploring how the weight of the body is held by the feet by shifting forward towards the toes and backward toward the heels,

Forward towards the toes and backward toward the heels,

And moving side to side,

Noticing how the body leans and moves and how it works to maintain its uprightness.

And now letting the body come to center,

The weight centering over the feet,

Noticing how the weight distributes itself between the feet and the front and back between the toes and the heels,

And breathing,

Taking a moment to notice the flow of air as it comes into the body and as it exits the body.

Knowing if at any point you find a pose or a posture is not appropriate for you at this time,

You can always come back to Mountain Pose and to noticing sensations of breathing.

So bringing awareness up into the lower legs and knees,

Feeling how the knees are positioned over the toes,

Bringing a gentle bend to the knees,

And now bringing awareness to the pelvis,

Noticing how the pelvis rests over the knees,

Ankles,

And feet.

Aware of the front and back of the pelvis and the sides,

Sensing if the pelvis is tipped or tilted.

Sometimes imagining that the back pockets are filled with sand can release the lower back and restore balance.

So imagining perhaps that the pelvis is a full bowl of water and that a neutral position would be one where the water won't spill.

So holding as best you can a neutral position while being aware of breathing and of balancing.

And so bringing your attention to the whole torso from hips to shoulders,

Lengthening through the whole spine,

Moving the shoulder blades down the back and allowing the shoulders to widen and soften as they come directly over the hips.

The chest and throat area opening,

Making space in the upper torso in its entirety for the breath,

Expanding the ribs,

Each breath creating just a little more space between each vertebrae in the spine.

The head balancing at the top of the spine,

The chin neutral or perhaps even tipped slightly down,

Mouth,

Jaw,

Eyes,

And forehead are soft,

Standing like a majestic mountain,

Knowing that you can tap into the strength and stability of this pose,

Mountain pose,

And breathing and from this place of stability turning the palms outward as you inhale and lifting the arms out to the side and overhead,

Reaching as far as you are able through the fingers,

Arms,

Shoulders,

The torso,

Stretching up through the whole body,

Feeling the breath moving.

And when you're ready on an out breath with the palms facing down,

Allowing the arms to flow slowly,

Mindfully down back to the sides of the body and returning to mountain pose and breathing.

And again facing the palms up,

Inhaling and lifting the arms to the sides and up,

Breathing at the top of the stretch and moving the arms back down to the sides for the out breath,

Repeating this movement a few times with the rhythmic movement of breathing and returning to mountain pose.

And now raising the right arm out to the side and overhead,

Stretching long as though you were trying to reach a ripe piece of fruit that's just out of reach.

And now lifting the opposite heel off the ground,

Not pushing too much but exploring your limits and finding where the edge of this movement is for your body,

Stretching,

Reaching,

Noticing sensations in the arm,

The armpit,

The shoulders.

Now returning the heel to the ground and lowering the arm slowly,

Noticing the effects that the stretch on one side had on the whole body as you return to mountain pose.

And now lifting the left arm up and to the side,

Reaching as high as you can for the fruit that is just out of your reach and lifting the right heel off the ground.

And as you continue reaching,

Allowing the breath to flow freely and noticing the mind and any emotions,

Lowering the heel and lowering the arm and returning to mountain pose and breathing.

Now stretching up both arms,

Stretching the entire length of the body,

Noticing the stretch in the front,

The back,

And even the sides.

And when you're ready,

Taking hold of the right wrist with the left hand,

Lengthening up and gently leaning over to the left side,

Noticing sensations in the right side of the body,

Noticing sensations in the left,

And breathing.

Coming back to center and changing sides,

Grasping the left wrist with the right hand,

Lifting up,

Stretching,

And bending over to the right,

Feeling the deep stretch in the entire left side.

Down all the way into the hip,

Coming back to center and slowly returning the arms down to the sides and returning to mountain pose and allowing the breath to flow freely.

Now beginning shoulder rolls,

Beginning by bringing the shoulders up towards the ears,

Rolling them back,

Moving down and forward,

Moving at your own pace,

Exploring the full range of motion,

Noticing if one shoulder moves differently than the other,

Bringing curiosity about what you can discover.

And now reversing the direction,

Moving the shoulders forward,

Down,

Back,

And up,

Forward,

Down,

Back,

And up,

And doing this movement a few times,

Opening the chest to counteract the usual tendency to hunch the shoulders and constrict the chest area,

Coming to stillness,

Noticing any effects of the shoulder rolls,

And feeling the breath move.

And now focusing on the neck,

Bringing great care to this movement and knowing that you can always remain in mountain pose and visualize this movement or modify as is appropriate for you.

And so beginning by turning the head to the left,

Taking it only to its limit,

And you reach reaching the end of the range,

Breathing,

And returning to center.

Turning now to the right,

Breathing,

And coming to center,

Repeating this movement several times at your own speed,

Bringing great care and noticing how with each repetition there may be slight changes in the extent you can turn.

And finishing this movement by coming to center and pausing,

Bringing awareness to the body.

And now allowing the chin to move gently towards the chest,

And with awareness lifting the head back to center and gently tipping the head up as you look towards the ceiling,

Taking care to not constrict the back of the neck,

Keeping the back of the neck long,

Almost as if you were nodding a slow yes.

Doing this several times,

Noticing sensations in the neck,

And avoiding any strain.

And now returning to mountain pose and breathing.

You may find that your mind has wandered,

And just bringing your attention with kindness and compassion back to the body and to sensations of breathing.

Now on an in-breath,

Lifting the head,

And just continuing to breathe as you return to mountain pose,

Checking in with your foundation,

Feeling rooted to the earth,

And allowing the spine,

Neck,

And head to be upright.

And now beginning the balancing poses,

Beginning by gazing at a spot on the wall or the floor in front of you.

Or if you're more comfortable with more support,

You can move to the wall and place a hand on it.

Or if you have a chair,

Placing a hand on the chair.

Shifting your weight onto the right foot,

And when you're ready,

Extending the arms straight out from the shoulders to the sides,

And at the same time lifting the left leg straight out to the side as high as is possible for you,

Balancing on the right leg and breathing,

Noticing any thoughts or emotions you may be experiencing and all the sensations present in this moment in your body.

Now lowering the left leg and the arms and returning to mountain pose,

Noticing any effects the pose had on the body and breathing.

Now shifting the weight to the left foot and the left leg,

Bringing the arms out to the sides and lifting the right leg out to the side,

Focusing,

Breathing as you hold this balancing pose,

And knowing that if you fall out of the pose or have to put your foot down,

Or even if you've left your foot on the ground the entire time,

Knowing that you can always begin again,

And that any level you're able to accomplish in this pose is exactly how you're supposed to be doing it.

Then lowering the right leg and the arms,

And if needed gently shaking out the body and returning to mountain pose.

And now repeating this movement,

Noticing if the mind wanders when you know the movement,

And bringing your attention back to your breathing and reminding that this is a new movement in this moment and every moment is its own.

So inhaling and shifting the weight to the right,

Bringing the arms and the left leg out to the side,

Keeping the knees straight,

Holding,

Breathing,

Noticing,

And returning to mountain pose.

Now shifting the weight to the left,

Lifting the arms and right leg on the outbreath,

And returning to mountain pose.

And doing this movement a few more times,

Finding your balance point,

Pausing at the top,

Returning to mountain pose,

And resting for a moment before lifting to the other side,

And letting your breath guide the movement.

And coming to stillness now,

Returning to mountain pose,

And noticing what is present.

Notice any sensations in the body,

Noticing thoughts,

And noticing emotions,

Simply bringing awareness to what is present in your mind at this moment.

And always coming back to the sensations of breathing.

And now we'll do a standing twist,

Bringing the hands to the hips,

And keeping the pelvis and legs pointing straight ahead,

Gently turning from the waist to the right.

You might not feel there's much movement possible here,

And that is fine.

Just noticing what's here for you in this moment,

And taking care of yourself.

Breathing into this upper back twist,

And when you're ready,

Moving slowly out of the twist to facing forward,

And now inhaling and turning to the other side,

Keeping the hips and pelvis and legs pointing straight ahead and tracking with the eyes,

And coming back to center.

And now doing a slightly deeper twist,

Bringing the feet closer together,

Possibly even touching if that's available to you,

And then twisting again to the right,

This time initiating the movement from the ankles and moving the twist slowly through the body.

So twisting the ankles,

The knees,

Hips,

Waist,

Upper spine,

Neck,

Head,

And finally continuing this spiral with the eyes,

Not forcing,

Not straining,

Simply exploring the depths of the twist as well as the limits of your movement with kindness,

Compassion,

And curiosity.

And on the out-breath,

Seeing if you can drop a little bit more into this posture,

Softening,

And coming back to center and releasing.

And now inhaling,

Moving to the left,

Keeping your feet pointing straight ahead but allowing the rest of the body,

The ankles,

Knees,

Hips,

Waist,

Upper spine,

Neck,

And head,

Finally tracking with the eyes and noticing where you feel sensations,

Checking in with the legs,

The hips,

The mid-back,

All the way up to the top of the head,

And breathing into the twist,

And releasing and coming back to center,

Bringing the arms back to the sides,

And returning to Mountain Pose,

Noticing sensations in the body,

And breathing.

And now moving to a forward bend,

Bringing great care to this movement.

If you have high blood pressure or any back concerns,

This is a pose that you should avoid.

Same if you know you cannot bring your hands down to the floor,

If that causes discomfort,

You can always stand in Mountain Pose and visualize yourself doing it,

Or perhaps you can position yourself close to a chair or a bench so the hands can rest on that as you bend.

Begin slightly by bending the knees so they're not locked,

Bringing the hands to the hips,

And as you're ready hinging forward and breathing,

Breathing,

Releasing the neck,

Feeling strongly rooted on the floor,

Noticing sensations,

Stretching the back of the legs,

And staying here as long as feels comfortable for you.

When you're ready,

Bringing the arms out in front of you as you bend your knees slightly and press the feet into the floor,

Hinging back into the hips to leverage the spine and come up in alignment.

Now reaching the arms upwards towards the sky and gently lowering them down to the sides and returning to Mountain Pose,

Noticing the effects of this pose without judgment,

Just accepting that who you are in this moment is just who you are in this moment,

And breathing.

And now moving into Tree Pose,

Another balancing posture,

Directing the gaze to a stable spot on the wall or a point on the floor in front of you,

Shifting the weight onto the right foot and firming the muscles of the entire right leg,

And now placing the left foot anywhere on the inside of the right leg.

This could be with the toes on the floor,

The heels on the ankle,

This could be with the foot on the lower leg,

Or further up against the thigh,

Taking care not to press directly onto the side of the knee.

The left knee is pointing to the left,

The hips are balanced like the trunk of a tree,

Keeping the lower body stable and breathing.

And now bringing the palms together at the level of the heart,

Caressing the fingers evenly with the chest and shoulders open,

And if you like lifting the hands up over the head,

Feeling rooted through the right foot,

Leg,

And pelvis,

And stretching like a tree towards the sky,

And breathing,

Knowing that if you fall or stumble,

It's just an opportunity to begin again,

Being with the body as it is,

Balancing and rebalancing.

When you're ready,

Coming out of the pose carefully,

Lowering the arms to chest level,

Gently placing the left foot down on the floor as you return the arms to the side,

And rebalancing the weight between the feet and legs as you return to Mountain Pose.

Now switching legs,

Knowing that this is a new side of the body and a new beginning,

Shifting your weight to the left,

Firming the muscles there,

Finding your balance,

And placing the right foot anywhere along the inside of the left leg that is right for you,

Bringing the hands into a clasping posture in the middle of the chest if that's possible for you,

And as you feel grounded,

If you feel comfortable using the support to stretch the arms overhead like the branches of a tree,

Regardless of where the arms are,

Softening the face,

Maybe even bringing a smile,

And when you're ready,

Releasing the arms,

Lowering the right leg,

And returning to Mountain Pose,

And breathing.

And now moving into some seated poses,

Aware of the transition between standing and sitting,

And moving in a slow and mindful way as you come to the floor,

Bringing the sensations of the Mountain Pose with you,

Keeping the spine long,

Stretching the legs out with the head centered over the shoulders,

And a neutral spine,

Keeping the pelvis neutral and balanced while bringing the soles of the feet together and bending the knees out to either side,

Interlacing the fingers around the feet,

Letting the weight of the legs provide a gentle stretch to the inner thighs,

Almost like a butterfly pose,

Without forcing the knees down,

Breathing into the lower belly.

Now extending the right leg in front,

Keeping the left leg bent,

And resting against the inside of the right thigh,

Making sure the hips are even and the weight is balanced,

And lifting the arms up overhead,

Lengthening the spine and the waist,

Exhaling and bending from the hips,

Bringing the torso out and over the right leg while keeping the spine long,

Melting down towards the right knee as far as is possible for you.

It's fine if you don't move very far,

Just doing what's appropriate for you in this moment and allowing the fingers to come wherever on the leg or the floor that you can reach,

Not straining or pushing,

Allowing the body to let you know how much is enough,

And breathing.

Now coming up by pressing into the floor with the fingertips,

Lifting the torso up with the spine in alignment,

And allowing the arms to float down,

Switching legs,

Noticing if your mind wanders,

And always coming back to sensations in the body and sensations of breathing,

Extending the left leg out in front of you and bending the right leg in so that the right foot rests against the left thigh,

Reaching the arms overhead,

Stretching long,

And exhaling,

Keeping the spine long as you bring the torso out over the left leg,

Placing your hands on the leg wherever is possible for you,

And experiencing the whole body in this stretch.

When you're ready,

Pressing into the hands and keeping the spine in one line as you bring the body upright,

Allowing the arms to float down to the sides,

Stretching out both legs and shaking them gently to release.

And now moving into a lying position,

Often called the corpse pose or resting pose,

Taking a few moments to stretch in any way that the body is asking for right now.

And when you're ready,

Extending the legs,

Feet falling away from each other,

Arms out to the sides,

Palms facing up,

And releasing any exertion from the movements,

Releasing the weight of the body as you trek in with the body,

The feet,

Ankles,

Lower leg,

Knees,

Upper legs,

Hips,

Torso,

The heart,

Arms,

Chest,

Neck,

And head,

And appreciating the ability to move and also your willingness and effort to practice,

Congratulating yourself for taking this time to more fully know yourself and what is true for you from moment to moment.