Morning Calm: Movement & Meditation

Do your mornings sometimes feel hectic and chaotic? What if, instead of giving into the rush and noise first thing, you could gift yourself a few quiet minutes of something more nourishing, more aligned with your true nature? This gentle morning practice—starting with intentional movement and finishing with meditation—helps you cultivate a calm, easeful state that can set the tone for your entire day.

Transcript

Hey,

It's Paige.

I don't know about you,

But some days in our fast-moving,

Full-of-stimulation world,

There's so much to take in and respond to that I can wake up already feeling overwhelmed and behind.

If this is true for you too,

What if instead of giving in to the rush and the noise first thing,

You could gift yourself a few quiet minutes of something more nourishing,

More aligned with your true nature?

This gentle morning practice of movement and meditation helps us cultivate a calm,

Easeful state that just might help set the tone for your entire day.

We'll start the practice sitting in a comfortable seat,

So you might want a cushion or a little stack of blankets to support yourself.

Settle in in any way that's comfortable.

Quietly alert.

And allow this intention to begin to settle in with you.

May I move into my day with a calm sense of ease.

May I move into my day with a calm sense of ease.

Let yourself begin to embody this as we start to wake up the spine and the upper body.

We'll start with some seated cow and cat breathing and movement.

When you feel ready to inhale next,

You might lengthen so much through your spine that it could arch a little bit,

Maybe your shoulders draw back.

And as you exhale in a subtle way,

You can reverse that by gently rounding into your low back,

Your middle back,

Your upper back,

Your chin may drop,

Your head may bow.

Back and forth like that,

Inhaling,

Lengthening,

Maybe arching,

Exhaling very gently bowing and rounding in.

May I move into my day with a calm sense of ease.

Seeing this intention as your body gently and slowly moves and breathes and begins to awaken.

Maybe one more time through,

May I move into my day with a calm sense of ease.

And as you're ready,

Make your way to an upright seat,

Let that movement settle.

Let's try some half neck rolls.

You can drop your chin toward your chest and roll one ear over to its shoulder.

You might tip your chin up.

You might rock your jaw,

Even let all of the bones and muscles of your face soften.

Your chin could drop back to your chest,

Other ear toward its shoulder.

You might tip your chin up,

Maybe rock your jaw,

Softening the muscles,

Even the skin around your eyes and your cheekbones,

Hinge of your jaw.

Maybe one more time through that little half neck roll,

Dropping one ear toward its shoulder and then the other.

And as your chin makes its way back through center,

No rush.

As you arrive there naturally,

You can float your face back to upright.

And let's do a few shoulder rolls as a way to right away cue releasing of unnecessary gripping intention in our systems when you feel ready to inhale,

You can scoop your shoulders forward way up to your ear lobes.

And as you exhale,

You might even sigh out your exhale and roll your shoulders around and back and down twice more like that if you'd like inhale,

Scooping your shoulders almost exaggerating that movement forward all the way up to your ear lobes,

Gentle open mouth sigh maybe rolling your shoulders around and back and down one more of those inhale forward and up with your shoulders,

Gentle sigh like a full body full system release as your shoulders round around back and down.

Calm and ease.

And you can unwrap your legs if they've been crossed or tucked beneath you.

Let your feet come to the ground.

So still sitting with your feet on the ground and widen your feet maybe a little bit wider than your hips.

And then just gently let your knees start to windshield wiper from side to side feet on the ground,

Bottom on the ground,

Knees just gently in your own way,

Maybe along the cadence of your breath,

Slowly dipping side to side,

Beginning to move some of this embodied release into your belly,

Your hips,

Your legs,

And your feet.

The side to side rock of your knees,

Breathing along the way.

And then as you're ready,

Your knees can come back through center.

And let's rearrange our shape.

Let's come to hands and knees,

Sometimes called tabletop shape.

You can find your wrists right under your shoulders and your knees right under your hips.

And we'll cultivate some calm and ease all the way down into our feet and our hands.

Start by tucking your toes,

Just feeling your feet wake up,

Feeling the spread of your toes,

The spread into the balls of your feet.

In response to that,

With your hands planted on the earth,

You might start to circle around a little bit,

Almost as if the stems of your arms are rolling around in your wrists.

You might roll the other way a couple of times,

Your toes are still tucked,

Your feet are still awakening,

Moving some energy also down into your hands and your wrists.

And then you can let that motion get still.

You can untuck your toes.

And let's step the right foot forward.

So you come into a lunge shape.

Sometimes this is called a runner's lunge flow that we're going to move into.

So your right foot steps right up in between your hands.

You could have your hands up on some supports like blocks or even the edge of a chair or your bed if that helps your foot come up there comfortably.

And then inhale in this lunge shape.

And when you feel ready to exhale,

Begin to straighten that front right leg as you draw your hips back a little bit.

That's that runner's lunge shape with that front leg straightening.

You might even peel your front toes back a little bit.

And we'll move back and forth on your breath.

When you're ready to inhale,

Lunge back in,

Bending your front knee.

And as you exhale,

Straighten that front leg.

Maybe peel your front toes back towards your body as your hips toggle up and back.

Back and forth.

Inhaling forward into the lunge.

Exhaling,

Drawing your hips up and back,

Straightening your front leg.

Calm and ease as you continue through this gentle movement.

As we move through,

Just a few more times,

If you like,

You could,

As you inhale into that lunge,

Stretch your arms up alongside your ears so it becomes a little more full-bodied.

And then as you exhale,

Your hands can make their way back down,

Touch the earth or some support as your hips move up and back.

One more time through.

Inhaling forward,

Exhaling up and back.

You could pause there,

Gently bowed in over that front leg.

May I move into my day with a calm sense of ease.

Then as you feel ready to come back through neutral,

You can step that front right leg back so you're back in a tabletop shape.

Let your whole system pause and be neutral.

And we'll simply do the other side.

As you feel ready,

Step your left foot forward so you're in a lunge shape with your foot right in between your hands.

And when you feel ready to inhale,

Let your body absorb this shape.

And as you feel ready to exhale,

Move your hips up and back,

Straighten that front left leg,

Almost bowing in,

Maybe peeling your toes back,

That runner's lunge shape.

And as you feel ready to inhale forward again,

Bending your front knee,

Coming into a lunge.

And as you exhale,

Straightening that front leg,

Moving your hips up and back,

Maybe bowing in,

Maybe peeling those front left toes back,

Back and forth along the rhythm of your breath,

Along this intention of calm and ease that you're cultivating.

And if you haven't already,

If you'd like for the last few times through,

You might inhale into that lunge shape and stretch your arms up alongside your ears,

Opening into your full body.

And as you exhale,

Your hands can come back down,

Hips move up and back,

Front leg straightens.

Maybe one more time through,

Inhaling into that lunge,

Arms extending perhaps,

And then exhaling,

Bowing in once more over that straightening front leg.

Pause there.

May I move into my day with a calm sense of ease.

Step your front knee back again.

You're on hands and knees.

And from here,

You might want to stretch your way back into a child's pose.

So your big toes could touch,

Your knees could widen,

Sinking your hips back,

Spreading through your low back,

Softening through your arms and your hands,

Resting your brain.

And then nice and easy,

As you're ready,

You can situate yourself back in the seat that we started with.

As you make your way into your seat,

Let yourself gently twist to the right.

You can cross your left arm across your body,

Maybe anchor your left hand on your right thigh.

Let this be more about receiving than doing,

The whole central column of your body is receiving this subtle,

Gentle,

Twisted shape.

And unwind all the way back through center.

Feel the effects on your spine.

Nice and easy,

Gently other way,

Twist to the left.

Your right arm could cross over,

Letting your whole central column,

Your entire spine,

Simply receive this less doing.

Feeling the ringing out sensation of a gentle early morning twist.

And then unwrap back through center again.

Letting your whole system respond to that.

We'll finish with some gentle breathing and quiet.

Even as your body is awake and gently alert here,

Feel your breath calming.

Let your next inhale happen naturally,

Effortlessly,

And allow your awareness to ride the entire length of your exhale all the way to its end.

Perhaps allowing the subtlest pause and quiet,

Calm stillness before you allow your next inhale to happen naturally again,

Effortlessly.

In a relaxed way,

Following your exhale all the way to its point of completion,

Maybe pausing gently there before your next inhale begins.

Allow yourself to settle into a few more rounds of breathing like that.

Your inhale is happening naturally,

Slowly riding the full excursion of your exhale all the way to its point of completion.

Maybe a gentle pause.

Few more rounds of that breath.

Calm and ease.

And as you're ready,

You can release conscious intention around your breath.

Maybe that pattern simply abides as we spend just a few quiet moments in this state of calm ease.

Council.

You you you And as you prepare to complete this short practice Know that you're not moving into your day ignoring all that's out there All the stimulation that may become a part of your day You're simply sitting with this intention about how you would like to meet it Tapped into a deep inner calm that allows you the possibility to respond with presence and connection May I move into my day with a calm sense of ease Allow this full-bodied intention you've cultivated to support you to be a touchstone To stretch out with you into your day Thank you so much for starting your day with me and I look forward to being with you again soon

Reviews

Beautiful, I feel a deep sense of calm and will move with ease and grace i to my day, namste thank you for guiding me 🙏

Thank you for keeping the gentle pace through the whole piece. This is a great morning wakeup for me.

So very calm I could’ve gone back to sleep 😂 Lucky it’s Sunday! You are magical Paige ! Thank you

Just what my achey body, especially my back, needs to get ready the day. Thanks, keep em coming!

Hello beautiful 🎀🌸🎀🌸🎀Thank you so much for the wonderful morning movements 🎈like a feather I’m floating soft in the air🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste

I love these movement meditations! I am able to stay so focused and the mantra is so helpful. I finished this ten minutes ago and just found myself repeating it in my head as a emptied the dishwasher with calm and ease ;) thank you!

Such a lovely soothing & gentle way to wake up your body mind.

Love!

I have been struggling with days starting at the pace of being shot out of a cannon. Thanks for a grounding, soothing antidote for mornings. Blessings and gratitude ! 🙏🏼🦋🌅💕

Thank you, Paige. I love your calming meditations with movement. They really help me to calm down and connect to myself.

This is exactly what happens some mornings, and this offering is exactly what I need to cam and center the morning before the day begins. Thank you so much, as always, for creating such helpful, timely, and soothing practices like this.

🧘🏾‍♂️🙏🏾📿

Such a lovely meditative movement. Blessings and calm and ease to all. ♥️♥️♥️

What a great way to start my day! I love your voice, nice and calm. Thank you!

🧡⭐️🧡 thank you, Paige!!! A wonderful start into the day 🧡⭐️🧡