Lying Mindful Movement (MBSR)

When we move mindfully, we can begin to touch into ways of being that escape us during our busy day. Connect more deeply in this 30minute Lying Movement sequence which includes a relaxation. Please take care to work to your own ability and energy levels, rest at any time, and practice mindfulness of body, mind and spirit.

Gab is a certified Meditation and Mindfulness teacher, as well as a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. She is an Insight Dharma Teacher Trainee in Australia.

Transcript

Welcome to the 30 minutes lying movement practice.

If you haven't already,

Make your way down to the ground.

And if you feel comfortable,

Lying down with your back to the ground and perhaps your legs and your arms laying long.

Settling into this relaxing position and perhaps bringing your awareness to your body and your breath.

Noticing what there is to notice here.

Bringing your awareness to all the experiences that are here right now.

And we'll also bring our awareness to all the experiences as we move throughout this practice.

So the experiences and sensations throughout our body,

The muscles,

The bones,

The joints and organs even.

Noticing as best we can what's arising as we move through the different poses today.

And we'll pay attention to the breath,

To our posture.

And they'll also be reminders to pay attention to the thoughts and emotions as they arise too.

For everything is welcome in this practice.

We're not trying to achieve a specific outcome or get anywhere with this practice today.

Our intention is to be with our body,

Our breath as best we can.

And having said that,

At any time you can feel free to modify the poses or to not do any of the poses.

That's fine as well.

You can 100% take your own authority to do what feels right for you in this practice.

And if you have any difficulties at the moment,

Any restrictions with your body that some poses you can't do,

Feel free to imagine,

Visualise yourself doing the movements.

And know that any time you can rest,

Be still.

Knowing that you know your body best and take complete authority as to what feels right for you in this practice.

As you are right here and now,

Lying with your back to the ground,

Your arms and legs perhaps lying long.

What's here to be known in the body now?

Can you bring your attention now to the movements of the body that are naturally arising?

The breath.

Perhaps take a few fuller,

Deeper breaths here.

Can you notice any movements,

Any sensations in the body as you take these deeper,

Fuller breaths?

And perhaps there are no sensations and that's okay as well.

All experiences,

Everything is welcome in this practice.

Nothing is left out.

So beginning to bring a little bit more movement into the body,

Wriggle your fingers and your toes.

And let's start to raise the arms,

Raise the arms into a long stretch from the side of the body,

Reaching them up like an arc over the head and then in your own time,

Slowly returning them back down to the side of the body.

And continuing this way,

Perhaps adding the breath,

Inhaling,

Raising the arms up,

Up over like an arc,

Stretching them long over,

Up over the head,

Perhaps resting for a little bit and then when you feel ready,

Breathing out,

Returning the arms back to the side of the body,

Perhaps taking the full exhale to do that.

Continuing this way a couple more times,

Noticing what there is to notice with the body as you observe the movement of the arms and what it takes to be able to support and do this pose.

If you're feeling a little bit tight through your back,

You may like to bend the knees and have the feet to the ground.

The knees can even be touching each other,

Knocking together if that gives a little bit more support to your back.

And now slowly finishing the moving of the arms and coming back to relative stillness.

Again with the arms and legs lying long if that feels right for you.

Let's take a few breaths to rest.

Noticing the inhale,

Perhaps the breath coming into the body,

Expanding,

Expanding maybe into the chest and the belly.

As you breathe out,

Feel that releasing,

Perhaps letting go,

Relaxing a little bit more.

Let's do some pelvic tilts.

If you haven't already,

Bend your knees and bring the soles of the feet to the ground.

The feet are about hip width apart.

Let's tilt the pelvis in a little bit of a rocking motion.

The lower back presses to the ground.

And then allow the lower back to arch a little.

Then the lower back again presses down to the ground.

And when you feel ready,

Allow the lower back to lift a little and arch.

The pelvis stays down to the ground.

It's just a subtle,

Gentle movement of tilting the pelvis forward and back.

Noticing what there is to notice as you perform this pose.

Where does your body feel tight,

Constricted?

Where does the body feel open,

At ease,

Relaxed?

And then coming to a neutral position.

So neither the lower back pressing down to the ground or arching in between those two neutral positions.

You may like to bring the knees to the chest.

A little bit of a stretch through that lower back and a couple of circles in each direction.

To let go of perhaps any tightness that might be there around the lower back and the hips.

So the hands can be on the knees or behind the back of the knees.

As you just make a little bit of movement.

And if you're finding any of these poses too challenging today,

Modify in a way that suits your body.

Or even skip it,

You don't have to do it.

Or you could even imagine it,

Visualize doing the pose.

Now returning both the feet back down to the ground.

Let's lengthen both the legs if that feels right for you.

Although you could keep one knee bent.

And let's draw one of those knees into the chest.

Let's draw the left knee in towards the chest.

So the right knee is bent otherwise it's lengthening long along the ground.

You can bring the head up towards the knee if that feels right for you today as well.

And then slowly,

Lowering the head if you haven't already.

And releasing that left leg.

Observe the difference between the left and the right legs.

And now beginning to draw the right knee in towards the chest.

Holding behind the knee or over the knee or the shin.

Whatever feels comfortable for you.

Gently pressing that into the chest.

And raising the head if you did on the other side.

Left leg is lengthening or you may have the knee bent if you're finding it a little bit too strong.

When you're ready,

Lowering the head if you haven't already.

And releasing that right leg.

Let's take a rest here in a position that feels right for you.

A few breaths here.

And seeing with the exhale if you can let go a little bit more.

Now we're going to move into an all fours position and do cat cow pose.

Seeing if you can transition mindfully.

Working with the body to come into an all fours position.

Knees to the ground and hands to the ground.

Creating a cat cow position.

So your knees are about hip width apart.

And your arms,

The hands are underneath the shoulders.

See if you can spread the fingers out and feel the whole of the hand to the ground.

Give you some good support.

The longest finger perhaps extending forward.

So that your hands and wrists are moving forward.

Just taking a look at the hands,

Make sure that they're in a good position to support you as we do this pose.

If you find it a little bit too strong for the hands and wrists,

Feel free to make a fist.

And you can come onto the knuckles or you may even like to come onto the forearms.

It might be a little bit more challenging but that's an option.

So from here we're going to do cat cow.

So let's start by a nice slow breath in and starting to push the chest a little further forward.

Keeping the arms extended,

Pushing your bottom up to the sky and allowing the lower back just to drop down a little bit.

You may like to look forward or look up if your neck feels okay.

And then curling your back,

Pushing your back up to the sky,

Perhaps tucking the chin under,

Drawing the belly in if you can.

If that feels right,

Exhaling here.

And again,

Opening the chest,

Drawing the shoulders back and down,

Looking up,

Pushing your bottom up as the lower back lowers towards the ground.

And reversing it,

Exhale,

Exhale as you push the back up to the sky.

Belly drawing in,

Chin tucking under if you can.

Inhaling,

Opening the chest,

Drawing the shoulders back,

Pushing the bottom up to the sky.

Breathing out,

Slowly,

Fully,

Deeply,

Arching the back,

Pushing it up to the sky.

And continue like this for a couple more times,

Taking a rest at any time though.

And now coming into the neutral position,

Neither arching the back or sinking the back.

And let's try a balance pose.

So you can work to your own level here,

You can just do one arm and one leg,

Or you may like to do one arm and one leg.

So let's see what's going to work for your body today.

Finding a nice steady square position,

All fours to the ground,

Find the four points.

And then beginning to raise the left arm,

You don't need to raise it too high,

Just to about to the maximum shoulder height.

You could even keep the fingers just touching the ground lightly.

If you want to go a little bit more,

Work a bit more strongly,

You may like to lengthen the right leg.

Lengthen the right leg back,

Toes to the ground,

And then start to bring the foot just a little bit off the ground.

Making sure that the right leg doesn't go any higher than the hip,

But really just a couple of centimeters.

You'll be able to feel the work of this balance pose.

If you need to,

You can return the arm and the leg at any time,

Or you can just work with one arm or one leg.

If it feels right,

Maybe hold it for another breath or two,

And then return to all fours.

Take a breath here,

And let's do the other side now.

Let's finish on the other side.

So raising,

Finding a nice steady position before you raise the right arm.

And if you did on the other side,

Let's raise the left leg.

Extend the left leg all the way back,

Straighten it out.

Lift it off the ground a little,

Or a lot if you like.

Work to your own level.

Just looking in a natural position,

The breath is flowing,

Holding for as long as you can here.

A couple of more breaths.

And releasing to the ground.

Pushing back,

Bottom towards the heels.

You may like to stretch the arms forward,

Make a pillow with the hands for your forehead,

And take a rest.

Seeing if you can sink down into the heels,

Let go a little bit more with the outgoing breath.

And now coming over onto your back,

We're going to move into a bridge pose.

So transitioning mindfully,

Using the breath to inform your movement.

Coming over onto your back.

Bending your knees,

Having your feet flat to the ground again.

The arms can be at the side of your body.

And we're going to start to lift the bottom,

The hips up off the ground,

Keeping your head to the ground.

So feet are hip width apart,

And gently pressing into the ground to support you.

You may like to use the inhale to slowly start to peel,

To bring the bottom,

The lower back vertebrae by vertebrae,

Up off the ground to a height that feels right for you today.

And then returning back down to the ground when you're ready.

Slowly vertebrae by vertebrae all the way down to your bottom.

Take a rest if you need to.

And maybe doing another one or two.

If you'd like to work more strongly,

You may like to extend the arms up to the sky.

And as you lift up,

So too do the arms,

The arms rising up.

And then as you lower back down,

So too do the arms lower back down.

And then taking a rest.

Legs and arms lying long.

Now let's do a hamstring stretch.

So you may like to bend your right knee,

And then slowly with the inhale,

Bring the left leg up,

Holding behind the back of the left leg if you can.

It feels alright for you.

You may like to bring the forehead up towards that leg.

So the right leg can be lengthened out along the ground,

Or you can bend the knee and have the foot to the ground.

Notice the effort that's required to do this pose.

See if you can relax a little bit more through the neck,

The head,

Shoulders.

And slowly,

Returning that left leg back down to the ground as you release the hands.

Take a moment to observe the body,

And let's change sides.

Breathing in,

Right leg coming up,

Hold onto the leg if you can,

Otherwise you can just let it be.

The left leg is extended long or the knee is bent.

Doing the same on each side.

And then slowly releasing the leg down to the ground,

And taking a breath or two here.

Just breathe out,

Let go,

Relax a little bit more.

And now,

Moving onto the side of your body.

You can rest your head onto your hand or your upper arm.

And you're going to lift up that top leg.

So the legs are stacked on top of each other,

And beginning to lift that top leg a couple of centimetres or perhaps a little bit more.

And then when you're ready,

Lowering it.

Let's do that two more times,

Perhaps using the inhale to bring the leg up,

And exhaling to bring it down.

And then returning the legs back together,

Taking a rest,

And rolling over onto the other side.

Bringing your body into a straight line,

Making a pillow for your head with your upper arm.

With the inhale,

Bring the top leg up.

And then as you're doing that,

Overdo it.

Take care of your back here.

And exhaling if you haven't already,

Lowering it.

And doing that two more times.

And then returning onto your back,

Bringing your knees into the chest,

Curling up,

Stretching through your body.

And then when you feel ready,

Let's take a rest.

A couple of minutes rest in Shavasana.

So lying flat,

Your back to the ground,

Legs and arms lying long,

Or any variation that feels right for you.

The knees can be bent.

And let's take some time here to observe the body after this movement practice.

Observing the breath.

Observing thoughts and emotions that are arising.

Welcoming everything as best you can.

Let's be here with the body just as it is.

Resting,

Breathing,

Letting go,

Letting be.

Opening to what's happening in this moment.

Being present to everything that's arising here and now.

And soon I'm going to ring the bell.

But you can feel free to stay longer.

To rest and be with this body.

Take a moment here to show your appreciation and gratitude for the body,

For your breath.

Give thanks for the opportunity to be able to do this practice today.

Reviews

Hello beautiful 🌺🎈🌺🎈🌺Thank you so much for the wonderfully mindful movements🦋I enjoyed all the sweet feelings that came up 🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste