Hatha-Based Movement Practice (Medium)

This is a 30-minute movement practice based on Hatha Yoga. It's designed for participants who are doing the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, but anyone is welcome to have a go. Good for both beginners and those with an established practice.

Transcript

Lying down on the floor with your arms beside you.

Feeling aware of the sense of gravity as the body makes contact with the floor.

Maybe feeling a sense of being held by the floor,

Supported.

Now bringing your attention to all the sensations of breathing.

The body breathing.

Right here,

Right now.

Now slowly lifting the arms up so they travel along a long slow arc.

Pointing up to the sky and then coming down to rest above you on the ground.

Now in this position,

Allowing the body to stretch with the arms going in one direction and the feet in the other direction.

Feeling a good stretch through the whole body.

Bringing particular attention to the sensations of the stretch in your body through your feet,

Legs,

Through your midsection,

Back,

Shoulder.

Just allowing your body to stretch as it wants to.

And now bringing the arms back through the same arc until they're lying next to you on the ground once again.

Now very slowly this time,

Repeat the same motion of the arms gently coming up,

Moving through a long slow arc and paying particular attention to all the muscles that need to work to get this to happen.

Maybe noticing how at the top of the arc there's less work involved and as you come over the top of the arc and gravity kicks back in again,

The body has to compensate and your muscles have to kick in again.

Slowly bringing the arm down until it reaches the ground above your head and noticing all the sensations of letting go as you make contact with the floor again.

Now just a couple of moments to notice what it feels like for your body to be in this position with your arms above your head.

And then once again going back the same way but paying particular attention to all the sensations.

So noticing what it feels like to come up off the floor,

The work that it takes to come off the floor.

What it feels like as it travels through space and as your arms reach the top of the arc,

Now there's less work.

And then traveling over the top of the arc until your hands touch the ground.

Noticing how the muscles release once your hand touches the ground.

And just taking a full rest in this position on the floor.

Now raising both knees so your feet are on the floor and your knees are pointing up to the ceiling.

And in this position,

Slowly pushing down with your heels and so your pelvis tilts up and then tilts back down.

Just gently rocking the pelvis back and forth.

Maybe noticing how there is an arc as you come down with the pelvis and how the lower back is no longer in contact with the floor.

And then back the other way as your lower back presses down into the floor.

Maybe noticing if there is a sense of ease or tension,

However it is for you right now.

Now allowing the left leg to stretch out while keeping the right with the knee pointing up to the ceiling.

Keeping hold of the right leg wherever it feels right for you,

Maybe it's near the knee or further down near the ankle.

And gently pulling your knee towards your chest.

Just feeling that stretch wherever you can feel it in your body.

Maybe it's in your hip,

In your stomach.

And then releasing and allowing the right leg to go back to the same position with the knee pointing up to the ceiling.

And taking hold of the right leg again and pulling it towards the chest.

And if it feels right for you,

Lifting your head up as well.

Just to a comfortable position as far as the body feels like it wants to.

Maybe noticing the stretch in the back of the neck.

Maybe tension in the back of the neck.

This stretch,

Sensations in the hip.

And then gently slowly coming back down.

And letting the body lie in a full rest position with both legs outstretched.

And now repeating the same action on the other side.

Lifting the left knee up so it's pointing to the ceiling when your foot is on the floor.

And then taking hold of the left leg.

Maybe around the knee or the ankle,

Somewhere in between.

And pulling so there's a little stretch.

Just becoming aware of all the sensations that you can feel in the hip.

Maybe you're not feeling much at all.

Noticing whatever is or whatever isn't happening.

Letting the leg down again so your foot's on the floor and your knee's pointing up to the ceiling.

And then taking hold of the left leg once again.

And again maybe lifting the head up so it reaches towards the knee.

Just feeling the sensations.

Stretching the neck.

Maybe how it feels in the hip and the leg.

Stomach muscles working.

And then come back down.

Allowing the body to be outstretched.

Taking a full rest lying on the ground.

And now coming up onto your hands and knees.

And in this position,

With your hips above your knees and your shoulders above your arms,

Just starting to stretch.

A cat stretch.

So letting the back come up towards the ceiling and then dropping down the stomach.

And tilting the head back if that feels right for you.

Just oscillating in this position.

So bringing the back up,

Tucking the stomach in and then dropping down.

Letting the stomach fall to the floor.

Coming back into stillness.

Now we're just going to extend our right leg out behind us.

Just as high as it feels comfortable for you.

Maybe noticing what it feels like in the leg or the muscles that have to work to get your leg to stick out behind you.

Maybe noticing a sense of stability or instability.

Just whatever's happening.

Allowing your leg to come back down.

And then repeating with the left leg.

So having the left leg stick out behind you.

Noticing all the work it takes.

Maybe one leg feels easier than the other.

And bringing the leg back so you're on all fours once again.

And now extending the right leg out again.

And if it feels ok for you,

At the same time extend your left arm.

So your right leg is sticking out and your left arm is pointing out in front of you.

Maybe looking down your left arm to your fingertips.

Just noticing what it feels like to be in this position.

Maybe you're shaky,

Maybe you're solid.

Just however you are.

And then coming back in.

And repeating on the other side.

So with the left leg sticking out.

And if it feels ok,

Putting the right arm out in front of you.

Looking down the fingertips.

Just noticing what it feels like to be in this position.

Again one side might be easier than the other.

That's completely fine.

Just however it is.

Notice what it feels like for the body to work this hard.

Or not work this hard.

And then coming back onto all fours for a second.

Before we move back.

So we're lying once again on the ground.

With our legs lying low and our arms beside us.

Taking a full rest in this position.

Noticing how it feels different to when we're up on all fours.

Or maybe it doesn't feel different.

Just noticing however it is.

And now lifting our legs up so that our feet are on the floor and our lower back is pressed into the floor with our knees pointing up to the ceiling.

We're going to tuck our tailbone under again.

But this time we're going to slowly come up.

Pushing down with our feet.

So our bums and our hips come up towards the ceiling.

And we're making like a bridge.

With our arms lying next to us.

And just feeling all the muscles that need to work to get this to happen.

How the legs have to work.

The stomach has to work.

And then slowly coming back down.

Noticing what it feels like for the muscles not to have to work.

And again pushing up into the bridge.

Tucking our bums under.

And pushing our hips up towards the sky.

And maybe this time raising our arms over our head.

Until they're pointing behind us if it feels right.

And then noticing how some parts of the body have to work really hard while other parts don't have to.

Maybe your face is working hard but it doesn't have to.

Seeing how the arms don't have to work hard.

And then coming back down.

And bringing the arms back.

And now in this position with your knees pointing up to the ceiling.

And your feet on the floor.

Slowly extending the right leg until it's lying flat on the floor.

And we're going to lift our leg up just as far as feels comfortable.

And in this position we're going to,

If it feels ok for you,

Lift our heads and necks and upper body off the ground.

And just bring it as close as we can to our right leg.

Maybe holding on behind the knee or the thigh or the ankle or the calf.

Wherever feels ok.

And just holding this position with your leg up.

And feeling how the body has to work in this position.

Maybe noticing your back on the floor pushing in.

Or just the stretch in the leg.

And then coming back down onto the floor and keeping your knee still pointing up to the ceiling.

We're going to swap over and do the other leg.

Extending the left leg out and then very slowly and gently lifting it up off the floor.

Noticing all the muscles that have to work to do this.

And then lifting the neck and head and shoulders up off the floor.

Holding on to the left leg.

Behind the knee or the calf or the ankle.

Just as high as you feel comfortable.

Noticing the stretch in this position.

Noticing whether it's pleasant or unpleasant.

Just noticing what it feels like.

And then slowly bringing the head and shoulders back.

And slowly dropping the left leg back down.

Now extending both legs out so you're resting on the floor once again with your arms beside you.

And taking a full rest in this position.

And now bringing the arms so they're lying in a cross position sticking out on either side.

And we're going to bend our knees up so again the knees are pointing to the ceiling and our feet are on the floor.

And our arms are outstretched going in opposite directions.

And now we're going to lift our legs up and drop them down to the right hand side.

And feeling the stretch along the side of the body.

Maybe a stretch up into the arms,

Up into the armpit.

Just wherever you feel it.

Maybe in the hips.

And then from this position we're going to lift our legs again,

Go through so they're over the centre of our body and then drop them over to the left side of the body.

And again feeling the stretch in this position.

Stretch along the right hand side of the body.

Maybe up to the shoulder.

Maybe becoming aware of the other side of the body and how it's making contact with the floor.

Just whatever you can feel,

Whatever information is coming through your body,

That's what we're trying to stay with.

And if you find yourself lost in thought,

Wandering away,

Then that's absolutely fine.

And as you do notice that you're no longer with the body,

Then just gently come back.

So from this position we're going to swing the legs back up until our feet are on the floor.

Knees pointing up to the ceiling.

And now gently bring your knees in towards your stomach.

And so you're tight,

Wrapped up like a little ball with your back on the ground.

And we're just going to rock from side to side,

Just very slowly,

Very gently.

Just as far as feels comfortable to you.

And now letting the feet hit the floor again and then slide all the way down.

Just the arms lying next to you,

Just taking a full rest in this position.

And again becoming aware of the sense of gravity,

Of your body making contact with the floor.

And where your head is making contact and your shoulders.

Noticing there's less contact around the small of the back.

And then contact on your bum and your legs.

Maybe noticing how one side is making more contact than the other.

And now rolling over and so you're lying face down on the floor.

With arms lying beside you and your head tilted one way or the other.

So you're lying flat on the floor.

And just taking a moment to notice how this feels.

Now through the right leg we're going to lift the right leg up off the floor.

Just as high as feels comfortable to you.

And again noticing all the muscles that need to work to do this.

The tension in the leg and dropping the leg back down.

And doing the same with the left leg.

So bring the left leg up off the ground as far as feels comfortable for you.

And then noticing all the work that has to happen for the leg to get off the ground.

And then as the leg comes back down.

Noticing what it feels like for the leg not to have to work.

Noticing what it feels like to let go into the floor.

And now repeating the same exercise with the right leg coming up off the floor.

And if it feels right for you,

You can start to bring the head and shoulders up off the floor and arms still stretched out behind you.

But just gently bringing the arms and the head and the right leg all off the floor at the same time.

Seeing how much work it takes for the body to do this.

Whether it's pleasant or unpleasant.

Just whatever you're feeling and then coming back down.

And now repeating on the other side with the left leg coming off the floor.

And if it feels OK,

Bring the head and the shoulders and the arms outstretched behind you up off the floor as well.

Maybe the right leg is pushing into the floor to support as the rest of your body comes up off the floor.

Maybe noticing how your pelvis and your midsection is pushing harder into the floor.

And then slowly coming back down to take a full rest lying on your front with your head to one side.

And now rolling back onto your back with your legs and your arms.

Arms lying next to you and your legs outstretched.

It's going to take a couple of moments before we end.

Just a couple of moments to notice your breathing.

Just the body breathing.

Just the sensations of breathing.

Maybe your stomach rising and falling.

Maybe your chest expanding and contracting.

Maybe it's the air coming in and out of your nostrils or mouth.

Or maybe it's all those at once.

Maybe it's the air coming in and out of your nostrils.

Maybe it's the air coming in and out of your nostrils.

Reviews

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Gentle yet challenging. Well-described with soothing tones. A mindful yoga session I will be returning to. Many thanks ✨🙏✨

I’ve been wanting something like this for a long time. I can’t believe I haven’t found it until now. Sometimes it’s much easier “just be” with your body as it moves than to meditate with your breath. It’s basically a gentle Hatha yoga practice without using any yoga asana names. Thank you!!

loved this thankyou
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Oh, we love, love, loved this. Namaste!

Very mellow basic gentle stretches. Nice first thing in the morning. Thank you. ☮️💖🙏

Really good stretch. 🙂