Morning Movement & Meditation

This Embodied Meditation practice invites you to move and breathe through a simple ritual that sets the tone for your day. You’ll be ready to head into what’s next with intentionality and a gentle focus that can serve as a touchstone all day long.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Paige.

I've found it can be so easy,

Yet powerful,

To create a simple ritual that sets the tone for your day.

The adage that energy follows intention has become almost cliché and for good reason.

We really can watch how that dynamic plays out in our lives when we take just a moment or two to set some gentle focus in the morning and then perhaps touch back into it throughout the day.

Today's practice lets you embody this in a really basic way.

It's a ceremony of sorts for moving into your day with intentionality before so many other things attempt to pull you off in various directions.

So we'll start sitting any comfortable seat.

You can be on the floor,

You can be in a chair,

And just allow yourself to become quietly alert.

You might gently tune into your breathing,

Feel your body ground,

And allow this gentle intention to begin to seep in.

May I move through my day with presence and awareness.

Let yourself breathe that in.

May I move through my day with presence and awareness.

Let yourself from here begin to embody this intention,

Perhaps just silently repeating it now and then to yourself as you begin to wake up the spine and the whole body.

So from this same seat,

If you're still comfortable here,

Simply interlace your fingers and then press your palms forward.

So your fingers are still interlaced,

Press your palms forward and then stretch your arms up alongside your ears.

So your palms will be facing up toward the sky.

Draw in an inhale and as you exhale,

Simply begin to stretch to the right.

So the arms will tip up and over to the right.

Whole left body gets a little bit more space.

May I move through my day with presence and awareness.

Maybe one more breath right here.

Allow yourself to move back up through neutral,

Through center.

It might feel nice just to switch the way the fingers are interlaced so the other index finger moves to the front position.

Press your palms back up toward the sky.

Take an inhale and as you exhale,

Begin to stretch up and over to the left.

That right hip might get a little heavier.

May I move through my day with presence and awareness.

Bring yourself all the way back up,

All the way back through center.

You can release the interlace of your hands,

Let your arms float back down.

And with a long,

Tall spine,

Just sitting up effortlessly tall,

Let your body twist to the right.

That left arm might cross your body,

Left hand might gently rest on your right thigh.

Right hand could be right about by your right hip pocket.

Maybe you pop up onto your fingertips and just let your body soak in this gentle twist.

Early morning ringing out of the spine.

As you inhale,

You might feel the breath stretching up the spine.

And as you exhale,

Just gently wrapping toward the right a little bit more.

Maybe your head turns right.

Maybe your gaze drifts off to the right over that right shoulder.

And then bring yourself back through center.

Let yourself twist to the left.

So same thing other side.

As your spine twists toward the left,

That right arm might cross the body.

The right hand could rest on the left thigh.

Maybe even pop up onto your left fingertips as they're on the earth right near that left tip.

Inhaling effortlessly tall through the spine.

Exhale,

Letting the body ring out to the left a little bit more.

Your gaze might turn left,

Head twisting to the left gently.

And all the way back through center.

And from here,

Let's make our way to hands and knees.

So somewhere on the floor,

You could be on a rug,

On a mat,

Just nice and easy.

Tabletop shape with your wrists under your shoulders,

Your knees underneath your hips.

And let's move into some cow and cat movement and breathing.

As you inhale,

You can feel your spine lengthen.

Feel your belly gently drop.

You might lift your sitting bones up and let your heart tug forward through your arms a little bit.

And then as you exhale,

Reverse that shape.

So as you exhale,

Rounding gently through your low back,

Your middle back,

Your upper back,

Your head could gently drop.

Inhale arching and lengthening through the spine.

Exhale rounding in,

Emptying out.

Inhale,

May I move through my day with presence and awareness as you extend through the spine.

Exhale,

Rounding low back,

Middle back,

Upper back.

May I move through my day with presence and awareness.

One more pulse through this gentle sequence.

Inhale lengthening through the spine,

Letting that intention simply soak into the body.

And as you exhale,

Rounding,

Drawing in presence and awareness.

And then back through neutral,

Back to that tabletop shape.

You can stay on your hands if that feels comfortable.

You could also lower down onto your forearms.

So in that case,

Your elbows would be right underneath your shoulders,

Either one,

Whatever is comfortable for you.

And stretch your right leg back.

You can keep your toes tucked so the ball of your foot is connected with the earth and reach through your heel.

So you're using this shape to open up the sole of the foot,

The muscles of the calf,

The hollow of the knee,

Even the hamstring,

Opening up,

Beginning to bring energy into the back of the leg,

Whole back side of the body.

One more breath here,

Reaching through the heel.

You might respond to that by drawing the shoulders away from the ears,

Reaching through the crown of the head.

And then put the right knee back on the earth and switch.

Stretch your left leg out.

You can keep the toes tucked,

Press the ball of the foot into the earth so that you can reach through that left heel and feel that opening again from the sole of the foot up through the muscles of the calf,

Hollow of the knee,

Maybe into the muscles of the hamstring,

Opening up the back side of the body.

One more breath here,

Maybe from the heel all the way to the crown of the head.

And then lower that knee back down.

Just pause.

From here,

Let's move to standing on your knees.

So just as if your feet were under your hips,

But you'll be standing on your knees,

Your shins flat against the earth,

A little bit of a on the ground sun salutation sequence to continue to move into the morning.

As you feel ready to inhale,

Stretch both arms way out and way up,

Tracing the shape of the sun with your arms.

And as you exhale,

Begin to lower your arms and lower your hips back towards your heels.

Your arms could just rest by your sides or they could rest back in the small of your low back.

And then as you inhale,

You'll unwrap that shape.

So all the way back up to standing on your knees,

Stretching your arms out wide,

Tracing a big circular shape all the way up.

And then as you exhale,

The arms circle back down.

They can simply rest by your sides as your hips sink back towards your heels or the arms could rest back in the small of the low back.

Inhale,

Peeling up,

Standing on the knees,

Circling the arms,

Stretching through the whole body.

Exhale,

Bowing back in,

The hips will sink back toward the heels,

Arms sweep either to the sides of the body or back to the small of the low back.

One more time through.

Inhale,

Peeling up,

May I move through my day with presence and awareness.

Exhale all the way back down,

Bowing in,

Presence and awareness.

And when you reach back down to the earth this time,

You can either come into a child's pose.

So maybe your big toes will touch and your knees will separate wide and you simply nestle your torso in between your thighs.

If this isn't a comfortable shape for you,

You could also simply come to your back and hug your knees in.

It's the same general shape of child's pose just on your back.

Whichever shape feels like it would be the best place for you to draw in a few quiet breaths,

Pausing,

Letting the circulation of that movement soak into the body and this gentle intentionality of presence and awareness to accompany you through the rest of the day.

From here,

We'll come to a still point to finish.

You can either return to the seat we started in or you can move on to your back for a shape like Savasana stretched out along the earth.

And once again,

Feel yourself here,

Still and quiet,

But alert,

Ready to receive what's next in your day.

Let this intention once more drop into the body.

May I move through my day with presence and awareness.

As if this bit of intentionality is dropping into the quiet pond of your being.

And from this place,

Begin to notice it slowly rippling into the day ahead.

You may decide to repeat this practice again in the future,

Maybe using the same intention or perhaps another of your own that feels intuitive and authentic.

Thank you so much for making this time for yourself.

I hope you have a beautiful day and I'll be with you again soon.

Reviews

Lovely gentle flow and sweet and simple meditation. Thank you for this calm and intentional start to my day!

Just what I was looking for this morning. Peaceful momentum. Thank You.

Very calming voice, gentle movement and positive energy. Thank you!

I'll be activating my body with this gentle practice any morning for the rest of my life.

My favorite movement meditations. Clear instruction and effective stretches. My body always feels great afterwards.

As a yoga instructor and mindfulness therapist - I find your approach both effective, supportive and all-inclusive. Hats off and thank you. Namaste ✨🌞✨

Just what I needed 😌 A great combination of meditation, affirmations, and movement/stretching. Thank you, Namaste 🙏🏽

Brilliant way to wake up a tired body and mind thank you.

I loved this! I wish that a version adapted for people who can't get in hands and knees were available. Nevertheless, this is a great start to the day.

Thank you this was exactly what I needed this morning 🙏 I'll be returning to this one but also checking out your other tracks!

A beautiful morning wake up for the body. Thank you

A great intention, gentle stretches and Paige has such a calming presence & voice, for a perfect start to my day!

Quick, relaxing and great way to touch base with your body and calm before the day starts

I really enjoyed this, looking forward to trying more from her. Perfect way to lightly start the day when you wake up feeling heavy. 💜

Gentle and soft moves, it was great way to wake up my body and slow down my mind.

LOVED THIS SO MUCH! Excited to explore more guided practices from Paige. ♥️♥️♥️

Heel fijn, bewegend een intentie zetten voor de dag. Rustig, aangenaam.

Oh that felt good! I will add that to my morning wake up yoga routine asi loved your voice & tone and mantra 🕉

Outstanding meditation, but the stretching exercises put the lid on the bottle. It was great. Thank you!!!

Perfect quick practice to start the day! Thank you ☺️