Lying Mindful Movement (MBSR)

Connect more deeply with your body when we move with intention in this 45minute Lying Movement sequence, followed by a relaxation at the end. Feel free to rest at any time and move in a way that is meaningful and safe for you.

Gabrielle 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 Lying Movement practice.

So if you haven't already,

Making your way down to the ground,

Perhaps lying on something that's comfortable,

A mat or a towel,

And allowing your body to lie long,

Legs and arms lying long in a comfortable position.

So this movement practice encourages us to bring our awareness to all the experiences that arise when we move.

And that includes the sensations throughout the body,

The muscles,

The bones,

The joints and organs.

And as we move through the practice,

We'll be paying attention to the breath,

The posture,

And also the thoughts and emotions that may be arising.

And today,

As you're lying here now,

Taking this time to check in with how your body feels,

And allowing that to inform you as to how you move and how you work with the practice today.

And you can feel comfortable to modify or adjust any poses or postures that we do today,

Taking your own authority as you know your body best.

And this includes resting at any time or not doing a pose,

And that's absolutely fine as well.

So we're going to be exploring,

Investigating,

Discovering this body as it is.

And we're also going to be doing our best to let go and let be,

To be with the body,

Its sensations,

And also the thoughts and emotions that will be arising,

As they naturally do.

And if your mind wanders off at any time,

Gently and kindly return to the practice again,

And continue going at your own pace,

Working to your own body's limits.

So taking a bit more of a rest here,

Opening to the state that you are in now.

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

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

The movements of the breath perhaps?

We'll be taking a few fuller,

Deeper breaths here,

Noticing any movements of the body.

Are there any areas of your body that feel a little bit uncomfortable or where you might have some pain,

Where it might feel a bit vulnerable?

Take good care today.

Work gently and with a sense of curiosity and kindness.

Being here for a few more breaths,

Noticing what there is to notice with this body,

Sensations,

The breath,

And any emotions and thoughts that might also be arising to inform how you might practice.

Now if you're feeling ready,

Let's begin to slowly raise the arms,

Raising the arms into a long stretch like an arc,

Rising up over the head.

And then when you're feeling ready,

Returning the arms again like a long arc,

Returning them back to the sides of the body.

And let's do this a few more times if that feels right for you,

Going at your own pace.

And you may like to add the breath.

As you inhale,

The arms can begin to rise up like an arc,

Stretching long,

Extending up over the head.

You may take a rest with the arms stretching out.

And then when you feel ready,

Returning the arms,

Perhaps returning the arms with the exhale,

As you return the arms back down to the side of the body,

Working like this a couple more times.

And when the arms have returned back to the starting point,

Back to the side of your body,

Let's take a short rest here.

Can you once again bring your attention to your breath?

Perhaps a fuller,

Deeper breath.

Inhaling.

And then on the exhale,

Can you let go a little?

Or perhaps a lot?

Can you let go?

Now let's move into some pelvic tilts,

Pelvic rocks.

So,

Bending your knees and bring the soles of the feet to the ground so that your knees are pointing up to the sky.

And your arms can still be at the side of your body if you like.

Now gently working to tilt the pelvis,

Lowering the back,

Press it to the ground.

And then arching,

Arching through the lower back,

Keeping the pelvis to the ground,

Continuing to lower the back and press it to the ground.

And then creating an arch with the lower back.

Gently tilting the pelvis at your own pace.

Noticing the sensations of your body,

What it takes to perform this pose.

Noticing also where there might be some tightness or tension that you're holding in your body.

Where there might feel a sense of ease,

Openness.

Or perhaps there's no sensations at all and everything is welcome here.

And then returning to lower your back down to the ground,

Back to a neutral position where there's perhaps a slight arch through the back and let's rest here in this neutral position of the pelvis.

Returning to the breath,

Slow,

Full and deep breaths if you can.

And beginning to let go,

Release and soften into this posture a little bit more on your exhale.

Moving now into drawing the knees to the chest.

And if it feels comfortable for you,

You might like to make some circles.

The knees are towards the chest and perhaps holding the knees gently.

Just gently making circles,

You might like to work a little bit more strongly and do some rocking forward and back.

And if your neck feels okay and you'd like to work a little bit more strongly,

You might like to bring the head up.

And notice what you can hear with the body.

What is there here to know about the body?

At any time if you haven't already,

Return your head back down to the ground.

Working with your own inner intelligence to know what's right for you today.

Changing directions if you're working in a circle.

You may like to bring the head up if you did when you were rotating in the other direction.

Feeling free to rest at any time,

Modify the pose or even to skip the pose,

Everything's completely fine.

And beginning to come back to relative stillness.

You may like to return the feet back down to the ground,

Knees to the sky.

Let's take a rest here.

You may even like to just have the knees touching,

It might take a little bit of pressure away from the lower back if the lower back feels tight.

Observing your body here,

Being with the breath,

Letting go if you can.

Let's now begin to draw one of those knees towards the chest a little bit more.

And the other leg you may like to lengthen out along the ground.

So drawing a knee into the chest.

And once again,

Check in with how the body feels,

How your neck feels,

Your neck,

Shoulders,

Head.

You may like to draw the head up so it's reaching towards that knee,

Holding around the knee as you gently draw it into the chest,

The forehead,

Perhaps moving towards that knee.

And if you haven't already,

You may like to lower your head.

And then slowly release your hands and lengthen that leg all the way down to the ground to meet the other leg.

Take a moment here to observe the legs,

The left and the right legs.

Notice the leg that you've been working and the other one that was lengthened along the ground.

Notice any differences here.

And now changing legs,

Drawing the other knee up towards the chest,

Perhaps holding around the back of the knee or the front of the knee,

Just gently allowing the knee to draw into the chest.

You can lift the head again if that feels right for you.

What can you notice about this pose?

What does it feel like to be doing this pose?

Beginning to lower the head.

And when you feel ready,

Releasing the hands and lengthening that leg along the ground.

Both legs lying long.

Arms at the side,

Lying long.

If you find this a bit uncomfortable to have your body flat to the ground,

Feel free to bend your knees again and have your feet to the ground.

Let's take a rest here.

Letting go a little bit more.

Breathing out,

Letting go a little bit more.

So from lying on your back,

Let's roll to the side and we're going to come into an all fours position.

A four point kneeling position.

We're going to do cat and cow.

So as you set yourself up,

Have the knees about hip width apart,

The tops of the feet flat to the ground,

Give you a little bit of support there.

And the arms,

The hands,

The wrists are underneath the shoulders.

So bringing the hands,

The wrists underneath the shoulders.

So you like creating a square in your four point position.

When you feel ready and set up,

You begin to open the chest,

Push it forward a little bit,

Pushing your bottom up to the sky.

And 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 your chin under a little,

Maybe drawing the belly in a little,

Pushing the back up,

Rounding the back to the sky.

Adding the breath if you like,

As you breathe in,

Opening the chest,

Drawing the shoulders away,

Back down towards the feet,

Pushing your bottom up to the sky.

Dropping the lower back.

And then exhaling,

Curling your back,

Pushing your back up to the sky,

Lowering the chin towards the chest as you exhale.

Perhaps drawing the belly up and in.

And continuing this way,

Inhale,

Opening the chest,

Bottom to the sky,

Lowering the lower back,

Breathing out,

Curling the back,

Pushing the back up to the sky.

Keep going like this for a couple of more times.

At any time you can rest by bringing your bottom back,

Stretching your bottom back towards your heels.

If you're finding it a little bit strong for your hands,

Have a look down at your hands and fingers just to check that the longest finger is pointed straight ahead.

That your fingers are spreading.

And that when your hands are to the ground,

You can feel the whole of both the hands touching the ground.

And if you find that too much you can come onto the knuckles and do this pose.

Let's do a couple more cat cow.

Moving mindfully with the breath.

Inhaling as you open the chest,

Looking forward or up,

The lower back lowers down,

The bottom pushes to the sky.

And then exhaling,

Curling the back,

Bringing the chin towards the chest.

When you feel ready,

If you haven't already,

Let's take a rest by bringing the bottom back towards the heels if you can.

The arms can stay where they are or you might like to stretch them further forward,

Opening up through the chest and shoulders a little more.

The knees can stay hip width or you may like to open the knees even wider than the hips.

Perhaps feeling a bit more of a stretch through the inner thigh.

Whatever way feels comfortable for you,

Let's take a few breaths here to rest and begin to let go.

Noticing what there is to notice here,

The body,

The breath and any emotions and thoughts that are also arising.

Everything is welcome in this practice.

And now beginning to return back to the all fours position,

The four point kneeling.

Knees are hip width apart,

Hands,

Wrists are underneath the shoulders,

The fingers are spreading,

Longest finger pointing forward.

So checking your set up.

And you may like to continue doing the cat cow or perhaps you feel comfortable to add a little bit of a balance in.

So coming to a neutral position if you'd like to do the balance.

So your back is neither arched or lowering down,

Sinking.

And beginning to find the balance as you extend the left arm forward.

As you extend the left arm forward,

It's coming straight out from the shoulder at the height of the shoulder.

And you're looking a little bit forward so as not to strain through the neck.

If you're feeling comfortable,

You may like to extend the right foot back,

Extend the right leg back onto the toes.

And you can lift that right foot off the ground.

So you're balancing with the left arm and the left arm up and the right leg up.

If you have a sore back,

Take care.

Perhaps keep the leg down to the ground and keep your hips even,

The sacrum even if you have a sore back.

One more breath here and then beginning to return that left hand.

Returning the right knee so you're back into all fours position.

And take a moment to notice.

Notice the difference between the left arm and the right arm.

The left leg and the right leg.

Let's try now on the other side.

So coming into a steady position on all fours.

Beginning to extend the right arm forward about shoulder height.

Find your balance here.

Enable the breath to flow.

Feeling steady through the core as much as you can.

And if you did on the other side,

Let's now raise the left leg.

So extend the left foot,

The left leg back.

You may like to just stay onto the toes.

If it feels right for you and your back's okay,

You may like to just lift that left leg off the ground.

Just a little bit.

Couple of centimetres is fine.

No need to lift it any higher than the height of your hip.

Find your breath here.

Be with the breath.

And notice perhaps the thoughts arising.

There's no need to push too hard.

There's nothing to achieve.

There's nothing or no one to compete with.

Observing the body as it is,

Doing this slightly more challenging pose.

And if you haven't already,

Begin to return to all fours.

Return the arm.

Return the leg.

Take a moment in the all fours position to observe your body.

And then feel free to take a rest by bringing your bottom back to your heels.

Perhaps stretching the arms forward or at the side of your body.

Pointing back towards the feet in child pose.

Let's rest here.

You may like to support your forehead as well by making a small pillow with the hands.

If you need a bit more height you can create a fist.

Create two fists on top of each other and bring your forehead towards those two fists that are on top of each other.

Or any other resting position that works for you.

Let's be here for a few more breaths.

And now we're going to slowly come back onto all fours.

And then transition into the bridge.

So transition into being onto our backs.

And as you move,

Can you mindfully move?

Be aware of the transition from all fours to perhaps bringing your bottom to the ground.

And then lying on your back.

Once you come to lying on your back,

Let's take a few breaths here and rest.

Your legs and arms can lay long or you may like to bend your knees like we did at the start of the class.

Observing your body here,

What is there here to know?

So let's now go ahead with the bridge pose.

If you haven't already,

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

So with this bridge pose,

We're going to be slowly lifting the bottom and then beginning to bring the lower back off the ground.

Vertebrae.

And once again,

Just working to your own pace,

Your own level today.

So the hands or they can be at the side of the body,

Perhaps palms face down to give you a little bit of support.

You may like to use the breath as you press the feet down to the ground and start to peel the bottom off the ground vertebrae by vertebrae as best you can,

Lifting the lower back.

Raising the hips as much as it feels comfortable into this bridge pose.

And then slowly coming down,

Breathing out as you begin to lower the back vertebrae by vertebrae all the way down to your bottom.

So you can continue to work in this way,

Taking a rest between each lifting and returning.

And again,

Using the breath to inform the movement as you begin to press into the feet,

Perhaps pressing a little bit into the hands to steady the body.

Shoulders to the ground,

Head nice and relaxed to the ground as well,

Beginning to lift the bottom,

Lower back off the ground,

Little by little.

If you're feeling strong,

You may like to stay up in the bridge for a little bit longer and take a few breaths there.

Otherwise continue to exhale and lower back down to the ground.

Let's do this one more time in your own pace.

And once you're finished,

Allowing the legs and arms to lay long or in a position that feels comfortable for you.

And let's take a rest.

Observe your body.

Now,

If you haven't already,

Bending the knees again and bring the knees together this time and the arms can extend out at the side.

So from the shoulder extending out either side,

Palms can face down.

Let's do a lying spinal twist.

When you're feeling ready,

Lowering both the knees towards your left side,

So the knees are like stacked on top of each other,

If you can.

You can look straight up or you can look out towards the right if your neck feels okay.

Noticing this gentle twist through the spine,

Being with the breath.

If your mind wanders off during these quiet times,

Gently,

Kindly bring it back.

Come back to the body and continue as best you can.

And now we're going to start bringing the knees back.

So you may like to use the inhale,

Slowly breathing in,

Bringing both the knees together back to the starting point.

Knees pointing to the sky.

Take a moment to observe that side of the body,

Making sure that your hips are even,

Flat to the ground.

And on your next inhale,

Next exhale,

Lower the knees towards the right.

And you can look straight up,

Perhaps close your eyes,

Or even look towards the opposite side.

Look towards the left if that feels right for you.

Let's be here with the breath,

Sensations that are arising,

Thoughts and emotions as best we can.

And now beginning to return back to the starting point,

Knees returning back.

And take a moment to extend the legs out if that feels right for you and take a rest.

Rest your body here,

Letting go where you can.

Breathing out,

Letting go where you can.

So from this back line position,

Let's gently roll to the front of our body.

And we're going to do a boat pose,

Lifting up the legs and perhaps even lifting up the arms if that feels right for you today.

So you can choose to have the arms extended out front,

Or you might like to have them at the side of the body.

Keeping your chin to the ground.

When you feel ready,

Take a breath in and slowly begin to lift the left leg off the ground.

You don't need to lift it too high,

Keeping the hips even.

Just lift it a couple of centimetres.

Or imagine that you're lifting it.

And then slowly lowering back down.

Now the right leg.

Lifting that a little bit off the ground.

And when you're ready,

Lowering back down with the exhale.

You may like to continue doing that,

Just raising one leg at a time.

Feel free to add an arm.

So raising the left leg and you may like to raise the right arm at the same time.

And then gently lowering back down.

Changing it over now.

Raising up the right leg just a little,

No need to overdo it.

Notice any over-striving.

Perhaps your left arm as well.

Or imagine the leg and arm lifting.

And when you're ready,

Lowering it back down.

So from here now,

We're going to roll back over.

Onto our back.

Draw the knees into the chest.

A little bit of a squeeze and a stretch through the back.

Before we lie down for a couple of minutes relaxation.

When you're ready,

Allowing the arms and legs to lie long.

Bringing your attention to the breath.

Noticing where you feel the breath.

Noticing any sensations of the body.

Breathing fully.

Breathing freely.

Breathing naturally.

Beginning to relax a little bit more.

Letting go a little bit more.

Breathing in and out.

So soon I'm going to ring the bell.

You may like to stay a little bit longer in Shavasana.

Whatever feels right for your body today.

Beginning to wriggle your fingers and toes.

Perhaps stretching through your body.

Taking a moment to give thanks.

To thank yourself for the time that you've given to your mind,

Your body.

To be with as best you can.