Restful Sleep & Stress Relief With Simple Movements

The simple movements in this guided practice will ease you into profound rest and better sleep, as they reduce anxiety and stress. This Awareness Through Movement class (Feldenkrais Method) will activate your parasympathetic nervous system, calming you and relaxing you. The movements can be done lying on the floor on a mat, or in bed before sleep. Give yourself the gift of a calm, quiet state from which rest is easier, and peace possible.

Blessings on your day,
Dayana

Transcript

Alright,

So welcome.

Please lay on your back and take a moment to take a few breaths.

However the breath would like to be,

No changing for now,

Just observing.

Witnessing,

Presencing,

Being present to your breath as it comes in and out.

And see what is the first thing that comes to your attention.

What becomes interesting the moment you settle down and remove your jewelry or belts or anything in the way of your comfort and take a few breaths.

And let's say that whatever you're noticing right now is in the foreground of your attention.

It's right in the front,

Very noticeable.

And for you maybe your contact,

Maybe an area that is painful or uncomfortable.

Or maybe just the space for your breath or the lack of space.

It doesn't matter.

It's not about what can you notice but just to notice whatever is in the foreground.

And now leave that.

It's very clear,

Very very loud,

Let's say,

In your experience.

And see if you can now pay attention to what's in the background.

Meaning what is not so clear,

What you have to search for.

Almost as if you could change your,

The focus of your eyes between what's really in front of you and the background.

What's behind it in depth.

So it needs an adjustment.

So let's practice today this adjustment of your attention between foreground and background.

It might be an opportunity for you to distract yourself from a nagging pain or discomfort.

Or by choosing to place your attention somewhere else to observe a deeper quality of your rest right now.

For example,

Any minor difference between one side of your body and the other.

And even closely,

More closely if you observe that difference between one eye and the other.

Or one side of your face and the other.

Yeah,

So that definitely lives in the background.

But we can bring it forward and we can pay attention to that.

So let's explore this for a moment.

Imagine now that you can grab a paintbrush and dip it in any sort of paint color that you like.

Just make it some bright color.

And now begin painting your right eye in the right side of your forehead and along the lines of the right side of your face.

So just dip it in paint and brush by brush stroke paint the whole right side of your face,

Your cheek,

The right side of your nose,

The right side of your mouth,

Your right ear,

And the skull,

The right side of your skull,

Your head bones,

Also along the back,

The one that is close to the floor,

And your neck.

And now continue painting along the right side of your shoulder,

Including your breast,

The right side of your sternum,

Your right arm,

All the way to your right hand.

And continue painting your ribs and the right side of your belly.

So at some point you find yourself with a clear right side of your upper body that is painted in one bright color.

And include your side and your back so the whole right side is painted.

Now allow this attention of yours to shift from the details of the painting you're doing into the general shape of the whole right side so much that you can see if the line of the middle is a thin line,

Is a thick line,

The one that's dividing the right side that is painted in the left side,

Is it a straight line,

Is it dotted,

How is the midline?

Now maintaining your attention on the paint so you can see the color maybe or feel the temperature or the vibrancy of the color,

Begin to make a very small movement with your right hand.

You can put the palm up,

Begin to make a small movement of the right hand as if you're bringing the fingers together in a way so the back of your hand is on the floor,

The palm is facing the ceiling and you're bringing this colored hand together and away.

Fellenkre is called this movement bell hand.

Sometimes I imagine,

I think he meant that you're holding a little bell,

Sometimes I imagine a flower opening and closing,

It's just the fingertips coming together and away,

That's it.

Closing on each other and expanding away from each other,

They don't even have to touch.

Yeah and see if you can imagine the color changing somewhat.

Of course if your legs get uncomfortable you can bend them,

You can lengthen them but right now the only movement is that of your breath and your hand.

Yeah,

Your right hand.

The fingers come together,

They go apart.

See what is happening anywhere else in your mouth,

In your tongue,

In your eyes.

And now see if you can very slowly,

Every time that you close your hand like this,

You make a little bell hand and open it,

You protrude your lips as if you're going to give somebody a little kiss and every time you open your hand you let your lips expand maybe into a smile or at least lengthen so they're not pursed together but they're they're then relaxed,

They're not working.

So you go to the rhythm of the hand between putting your lips together and separating them.

And see that the breath can give you a very good idea of the rhythm this movement can be done to.

In other words you don't have to move the hand faster than your breath.

You can move it to the pace of your inhale and your exhale,

Not that you have to sink it with the breath but just knowing that it could be so slow as the breath is coming in and out slowly.

And you're making these lips come together like a little kiss you're about to blow or give somebody and then open and then leave it for a moment and rest and just sense again yourself lying down what's in the foreground what's in the foreground of your attention now.

And what is in the background a little less evident less obvious but right there for you to sense something that you can pick up about the difference between left and right maybe the quality of your breath the sensation on the right side of your face compared with the left on your right hand compared with the left.

Now grab the paintbrush again dip it in the same color and continue painting where you left off so you you will dip now paint through your hip joint the right side of the pelvis all the way to the pubic bone area but don't go to the left just stay on the right side and you paint your right leg the buttock the thigh your right knee the back of the right knee all the way down the calf the bones of the leg muscles and tissue and anything you can imagine and the ankle the top of your right foot and the back of your right foot so by now your whole right side is painted in this color you can go and repaint the top if you want to just make it uniform make it coherent that the whole right side from the heel and your right toes to the right eye and the top of the head is all painted in this color.

Front back middle and again pay a little closer look at the line of the middle the line that now divides the left from the right from the top of your head to your pubic area.

Does it go exactly over the middle or did it spill a little to the left or is shy of the middle on the belly button or what is it for you how clear is it?

Now with the next breath go back to the movements of the hand and the lips a couple times reducing the efforts everywhere else so they're not loud tension anywhere but quiet gentle movements of the hand so your teeth can be soft and your mouth is moving to the rate of your breath lips pursing or coming together in a little kiss extending forward towards the ceiling and then gently returning to neutral as your hand opens.

Now this time let your right foot participate so it will bend at the ankle it would flex and it would extend and you explore a couple different ways or combinations for this and now you don't have to make a huge movement with a lot of effort you can just bend the foot and extend it again and see what does make more sense to you to do.

You can see what is your first reaction and then try the other option would you flex your foot when your hand comes together and your lips come together or the opposite so you try both.

Is there a reason to hold your breath or you can just breathe and explore different options?

So you will sense that at some point one of these two combinations or variations is a little more congruent it's almost like going together and the other one is a little more like saying yes and no at the same time.

So you play with both and see what is congruent to you and stick to that.

So you're moving your hand your foot your lips a few times to the pace of your breath and see is the left side wanting to participate?

Is it twitching?

Is it getting numb?

Is it eager to move to?

So just observe that and you're practicing moving sensing feeling thinking all at the same time.

Now a couple times maintain what you're doing with the foot and the hand and change what the mouth is doing so the mouth will do the opposite just again to sense the combinations that are possible and how many times we contradict ourselves.

We do one thing and it's opposite at the same time.

It's possible to purse your lips when the hand is open does it feel the same or there's is it something more yes and yes about pursing your lips and bringing your fingers together?

And these are subtle differences to notice so may feel the same way to you because you can do both but if you look deeper again in the background in what's not so obvious you may find there's some sort of consistency some sort of peace and pleasure that comes from flexing your foot as you bring your fingertips together and purse your lips and then when you open your hand then open your lips and extend your foot everything rests as long as can be yeah so now leave it and rest again and sense what is the difference biggest difference between now and the last moment you were resting?

What comes to your attention first?

What size feels longer the right or the left?

Closer to the floor more available ready for movement?

So now bring your right palm behind your head place your head under over your palm your right palm and let the elbow rest if you can on the floor and if you cannot on a pad or blanket so it's comfortable and now do the same thing with your right leg so you bring your right knee out to the side the sole wherever you can yeah so the right leg is more or less bent of course not not uncomfortable so it doesn't need to bend a lot could be just a little and the right elbow is bent as well and you paint again you just grab the paintbrush and paint this shape now your right side in this shape in this shape that your right side is making and now be so precise with your paint that you're also painting inside your mouth so also paint your tongue so you're painting the right side of your cheek you can paint the right side of the tongue or the whole tongue because it's challenging but be sure to paint the whole right side of your face and skull inside as well as out so the right side of your teeth and now begin to explore with the tip of your tongue the teeth from the inside the inside of your teeth on the right side and for this moment if the arm or the leg is uncomfortable you can lengthen it but if if it's comfortable for you to stay this way stay with the right knee bent and the right elbow bent as you explore with the tip of your tongue slowly the shape of the right side of your teeth the lower jaw and then the upper jaw and then you can go to the outside of your teeth so the front but only on the right side the front teeth and the left side of your teeth so you go tooth by tooth sensing and of course opening your jaw helps and letting your lips be soft helps you're discovering the shape of your jaw letting the tongue be heavy and curious and then of course you can also sense the shape of your lips and the corner of your mouth on the right side just stick to the right side you could brush your tongue on the palate the cheek discover the shape of your mouth and your jaw and your teeth with the tip of your tongue slowly as you breathe now take a few seconds to rest and make a tiny movement of sliding as your tongue is now quiet sliding the back of your head on the floor a little bit so the right elbow comes to the knee in the direction of the knee just a little so you you just invite your right side to bend a little bit just a little and see how easy is this to do or challenging you're just moving the elbow towards the knee the knee towards the elbow keeping your nose to the ceiling a couple times just to see what it's like and now rest again over the neutral place of the middle and let the tip of your tongue now go instead of exploring all around and wandering just precisely go to the right side of your cheek inside yeah just to the right not of the jaw but the cheek and now let's go to the right side of the cheek and sense what the spine echoes see if your spine echoes this movement in any way that you can sense right now in other words which your spine would like to move in any direction and you go to the right and return a few times and once or twice as you take your tongue to the right in this particular way the tip of the tongue to the right cheek let the elbow and the knee come together a little so you do it together you take the tongue to the right and you fold the bend the bending of the elbow towards the knee and the ribs on the right just a little this could be so tiny that no one could see it from outside could be that small and see if it makes it easier if somehow using your tongue in this way facilitates something about this bending that you're you're looking for now a couple times take the tongue to the left as you continue bending to the right side bending bringing the elbow to the knee and if you go slowly enough slowly bring the elbow to the knee and if you go slowly enough small enough you're more able to pay attention to the difference and make a distinction does the tongue going to the left make it easier to fall to the right in this side bending shape or more challenging or the same shape or more challenging or the same of course provided you don't hold your breath or be so rough with yourself that you create a lot of extra noise in your nervous system you might be able to detect some sort of simplicity again congruency consistency between bringing your tongue to the right and bending to the right it doesn't mean that you cannot do the opposite and if you have scoliosis or some sort of spinal structural bias where your your your spine will always go easier in one direction it might be harder to sense so don't question your experience if you sense something different just observe that but then a couple more times just take your tongue to the right as you bend slightly to the right and see if there's some sense of ease there that you can notice or at least invite into your experience and then leave it lengthen the leg lengthen the arm make them rest again by doing nothing but sensing and feeling and observing again what's very clear very again what's very clear very in the front in the foreground of your attention kind of like a child when he wants to say something and pulls on your leg here mommy mommy mommy mommy talking very very very loud so you can't avoid listening and then there's something in the background that other person you want to hear or the sound or or anything that is important and you want to pay attention to as well so you shift your attention from the foreground to whatever is available there so you dig a little deeper you may be attending to your emotional state to your thinking patterns to the state of your nervous system when you walked in the classroom today and right now and then overall observe the difference between the whole of your right side and your left side now take another paintbrush clean paintbrush and dip it in a different color and begin painting your left side begin from the top of your head painting the left side of your forehead and the right side of your forehead and then you can start to paint the left side of your head painting the left side of your forehead and the hair the side of your skull all the way in direction of the the belly so you're painting your left eye and see if on this side because this is now familiar because you know what we're doing you can be a little more precise feel free to bend knees if you want to precise meaning painting the orbit of the eye and the eyeball and the space behind the eyeball where your brain is and the left cheek but also the inner parts of the mouth and the teeth and you go on with it but you know what i mean just being more curious about imagining what's deep in there and painting that as well as you go down in the direction of your belly so you will cover your neck and the shoulder maybe paying more attention to each rib this time and the sternum and see if maybe something is waking up a little bit as you paint it something wants to move or wants to be moved the left arm the left hand and as you're painting it let it begin to move so you integrate a little movement into the the the side that is now colored so you wake up this hand by creating a gentle movement of the fingertips together on the left side just slightly and you paint the back of your palm as it comes away from the floor and the wrist and you make these tiny movements of the hand and at some point maybe you want to add your mouth to it so your mouth is pursing at some some moment and then opening in relation to the hand and you see what is that for you you have two options that are clear right now might be a third one that we'll discover together but for the moment you can make a little little kiss with your lips when your fingers come together and spread your lips when your fingers are apart or you can make a kiss with your lips when the fingers are apart and then spread them when the hand becomes a veil or a closed flower and if you were to include your tongue in this movement in this way when your hand opens the tongue either comes out or becomes a little curl rolls itself maybe rolls up into the palate how would you play with this so the the combination would be to open your hand and get your tongue to to come into a little roll inside your palate roll itself go back inside your mouth or come out of your mouth as if you were showing it to somebody else what makes more sense to you what feels easier more congruent simpler so you play with both you once take your tongue out as your hand is open let it flap and go in the direction of your chin and once you roll it inside your mouth when your hand is closed when your hand is closed and then the opposite just to see and when you decide when you realize what's easier for you you stick to that you go with the ease a few times and not because now we're making them the movement a little bigger though it's still a very small movement you need to rush or hurry felincrease made a very beautiful distinction between going fast and hurrying which is not the same thing so don't hurry just go slowly and at some point you may be able to go fast with the same efficiency as when you go slow many times you'll notice if you hurry especially around the house trying to get out or doing something you begin to drop things and trip and bump and fall because your nervous system is going ahead of itself and yet an athlete that is tuned into the maximum efficiency will go very fast without bumping and falling and tripping so now leave this again and sense the right side compare with the left and notice how quickly it's catching up though we're working on it for a lot less time in other words how potent or powerful it is this work you're doing with your hand in your tongue in your mouth to make now what maybe was a numb arm or an arm that wanted some life put into it on the left side now already pretty symmetric to the right side so now grab the paintbrush and continue painting the left side same color as the chest just integrating your hip and pelvis to the torso and the whole of the left leg and if you have an injury or you have a place where you would like a little more mobility or freedom just be more curious with that area when you paint and make sure you paint more of it with more detail so tendons ligaments muscle bone anything you can imagine that you pretty much know well because that's the area that you're dealing with give it a little more attention more paint the paint is the way you access your self-image in the nervous system in the brain the more you paint the clearer you can see it the better the image the easier the movement and when you get to the point where you're painting your left foot let the image come to life by moving it a little and flexing it flex the foot by bending your ankle and then let it rest and see what do you feel like doing with your tongue do you feel like curling it or pulling it out and then you feel like pulling it out pushing it out when your foot is bent so play with both options and see what is easier to do what creates less conflict in your in your brain you may feel that some of these combinations are even hard to do for you and listen for the hand when does your hand want to participate and in what way does the hand want to go with the foot the left hand bending closing together now if any of these combinations hijack your breath then you have a clear sign that something is off there if anything feels like loads of effort or work then you know the organization is not as optimal not as ideal or or efficient or efficient and of course observe when you can leave it and take a rest to sense and feel how is now this left leg part of your whole self after just a few movements and overall what is in the foreground what is very clear very present to you or what are you present or what are you present to about your state right now the sense of yourself on the floor so now let your tongue explore the left side of your mouth and again if your legs need to bend they can bend these are very quiet movements today so don't let your lower back be sore but let the paint now be very clearly dipped inside the left side of your mouth so you use the tip of your tongue to look for the teeth and the spaces between them and discover the shape of your palate your cheek your lips everywhere that you're curious about on the left side and you'll see that when you get to the place of the teeth the outer part of the teeth near the lip your jaw can open yeah and your mouth can open a little and maybe your your jaw will travel a little to the left and you'll feel a yawn coming in or a deep breath and that's completely fine actually the more you surrender to the movements of your tongue the easier you will be so you don't need to keep your teeth held or your breath short and you'll see that when you get to the place of the teeth near the lip you'll see with the deeper breaths the more the back of your throat can open and your jaw separates and you'll sense you'll reach a little deeper in the back of your teeth your molars the edge of the the palate there the lower palate the edge between the palate and teeth the edge between the palate and teeth the musculature of the cheek now leave the open exploration and just be more precise so you go directly to the left side of the middle of the cheek with the tongue and just sense does anything happen to the back of your head or your neck when you do that it's just the tongue you're not moving your head much right what happens isn't that interesting now what if you were to look to the left at the same time to make the second side a little more in depth this exploration of the left side a little richer than the one on the right what happens when your knees are bent and your feet are standing and you're taking your tongue to the left and you're looking to the left do you feel invited to turn the head a little bit left or right do you feel invited to turn the head a little bit left or right now hold your breath at the same time and see how that impulse that is so clear when your breath is free gets dampened gets somehow smaller less clear and breathe freely and see if it's clearer to see the relationship between your neck and your tongue the whole spine and the tongue now how many times do you hold your breath because something's happening or because it's a habit or because that's your way to move around the world move around the world so how many little impulses of your own self are available to you and that they don't get listened to they don't get enough attention because there's something stopping it something as vital as the current of oxygen through your whole self okay leave it lengthen the legs take another short rest observe sense feel what is going on now between you the floor the line of the middle that beautiful axis where we stand on and pivot around that is not left and not right now place the back of your hand behind your head the left one and bend the elbow and place it on the ground if you can and now bring the sword down to the floor and then bring it down to the left side and then bring it down to the right side and then bring it down to the left side your left elbow and place it on the ground if you can and now bring the sole of your left foot in the direction of your the right knee so your left leg is bent and open to the side that's right and now continue doing what you were doing with your tongue but now your head is fixed in the that is not so much invited to turn because you're holding it with the back of your hand.

And go about it slowly.

And go about it with a beginner's mind.

In other words,

You're not expecting the same thing that just happened.

You're just observing if maybe something else could happen.

Now leave the tongue quiet,

Bend the left side so your left elbow goes to the left knee and the left knee goes to the left elbow a couple of times and invite your spine to do that.

Which means the left side of the ribs comes together,

The right side comes apart,

The back of your head is sliding,

Not turning.

So the nose remains pointed to the ceiling.

This is what we did on the other side.

Nice.

A couple of times.

And now leave the body quiet but move your tongue.

Leave the elbow quiet,

Leave the knee quiet but move your tongue.

To the left cheek.

Yeah.

Uh huh.

And see if you feel like turning or you feel like bending.

If in this configuration now that the knee is not up and the sole is not standing of the left foot and the elbow is inviting your head to bend and not turn.

If maybe,

If you're so quiet with it and not expecting it to be any particular way but observing,

Listening,

Is it possible that the tongue now in this body configuration is inviting your spine to bend to the side and not to turn.

Yet it's the same movement with the tongue.

So try both,

Bend to the side once as you move your tongue and then turn to the side and see what is easier.

Of course if you're turning,

You turn everything.

You turn the ribs,

You turn your hip.

Yeah,

Not just the head.

What is more congruent in this configuration that when you take the tongue to the left you bend the left side,

Side bend,

Flex to the left or that you roll to the left and turn.

It's interesting.

Okay,

Leave it and rest.

Beautiful beginning of a long exploration we had in front of us with the tongue here.

The idea being that depending on the configuration or orientation of your body and your intention,

You can move your tongue in multiple ways in many directions or move your spine in multiple directions by using your tongue.

Now sense any difference in your whole self.

Again,

What's in the foreground,

What's in the background.

And now from all these different variations,

We brought our lips together,

We opened them in smile or length to the sides,

We took our tongue in a curl,

We let the tongue come out,

We took the tongue to the left and to the right.

Choose whatever was easier for you to sense.

So I'm sure that one of these combinations of tongue and mouth was easier for you.

Sense of course was easier than others.

So select guided by your own intelligence,

Whatever was easier for you and do it now to the left and to the right.

So if you were more at ease with the bending to the sides,

You put both hands behind your head,

Bend both legs to the side,

Soles together and you go once to the left and once to the right.

If yours was easier when you flex your feet and made bell hands,

Do that.

And you can either purse your lips and kiss and then open them or let your tongue curl and then come out.

Just reinforce to your own nervous system,

To your own learning process,

Whatever was easier to sense.

And again,

Look for the differences.

You know at this point a couple different variations.

Do what is more congruent,

What was easier,

What was a yes,

Yes,

Yes through your whole self.

And do it a few times in this slow and more,

Say,

Studious or stadious,

I don't know how to say that word,

Approach and then do it a little faster,

A little less serious.

Not hurrying,

Just speeding it up because you already studied it.

You already know how.

And see the effects of these movements throughout yourself,

Tiny movements that engage your spine,

Your breath,

Your whole self in a huge scale.

Beautiful expression of the micro that affects the macro.

And then leave it and rest one more time,

Sensing,

Feeling throughout yourself what background,

What foreground,

How you're more able to switch now between one and the other so you're not caught up in the thing that is closer to your eyes,

To your face,

To your attention.

But you can switch.

You can alternate and maybe become present to both at the same time.

And now circling back to the beginning,

Take a few breaths and sense yourself.

And if you can remember what it felt like to arrive and lie on the floor and begin this process,

Just see where you are at now in your thinking,

Your feeling,

Your sensations.

How ready for action are you?

And take your time with this coming back to standing so you don't necessarily interrupt this beautiful quality you're paying to yourself,

This quality of attention you're paying to yourself.

But look for a gentle way to bend your knees and gently come up,

To sit and then to stand and just sense what is the world like when you come back to gravity?

What is the state you are in with yourself?

If you notice any difference in the resting state of your tongue and your eyes,

Some sort of inner quality that has changed.

And what can you take with you and use it and play with it,

Make it yours?

The same way when you learn something as a child,

You are so excited you couldn't wait to do it again.

That is true learning,

Isn't it?

Thank you so much!