Standing Mindful Movement (MBSR)

Connect more deeply with your body when we move with awareness and kindness, seeing what the body needs on the day, in this 50minute Standing Movement sequence which includes a relaxation.
Feel free to rest at any time and move in a way that honours your precious body.

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

Transcript

Let's practice standing movement together.

And in this practice today,

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

Feel comfortable to take your own authority as to what's going to work best for you today for these standing movement practice.

And if you feel like not doing a movement,

You may like to visualize doing the movement.

And throughout the practice,

Be mindful of moving in a way that works for your body today.

And you can rest at any time.

So let's begin.

Begin in a standing position.

And as we're standing here,

Let's take a moment to bring our attention to each part of the body as we stand here.

Begin by noticing the feet,

The soles of the feet,

Taking your attention all the way down to the soles of your feet.

Noticing any sensations,

The heel of the foot,

Ball of the foot,

Toes.

Perhaps you can feel more of a connection to the earth as you stand here.

Noticing any sensations as you're moving up the legs,

The ankles,

The shins and calves,

The knees and your thighs to the buttocks.

Taking some time here to notice these legs that support you to stand,

These feet that ground you to the earth.

And your buttocks and hips,

Noticing any sensations around the pelvis,

The belly,

The front of the chest,

Bringing this close attention to each part of the body.

Noticing any sensations or perhaps no sensations at all,

And either is perfectly fine.

Taking this time to connect with,

Check in with this body as it is in this moment.

And now your back,

Your lower back,

All the way up,

Middle back and upper back.

Noticing the body here as you're remaining relatively still,

But noticing the body is perhaps still very subtly moving.

And the arms,

The hands,

Fingers,

All the way up to the shoulders.

Noticing sensations here too.

And how about your face and head?

What is there here to notice?

What are you experiencing in this moment with this body as it stands?

Taking a moment here to explore and notice the sensations of the whole of your body now.

And how your body feels at this moment can inform you about how to practice today.

Bringing your attention down to your feet again and beginning to shift your weight forward to the toes and gently rocking back towards the heels.

Still keeping the whole of the foot to the ground,

Gently rocking forward and back,

Toes to the heels.

Noticing the sensations of the feet as you do this.

Then come back to a neutral stance.

And now to the sides and inner side,

The inner and outer sides of each foot,

Rocking side to side.

And again maintaining the feet to the ground,

Maintaining a steady and safe position as you notice and experience what there is to notice as you gently rock the feet side to side.

And then returning to a neutral standing position.

From here you may like to work with the four points of the feet.

So near the big toe and the smaller toe,

Two points there.

And then towards the heels,

The inner and outer point of the heels.

As you stand here,

Can you feel those four points providing you a little bit more support to the ground,

Support for this body?

And bringing some more awareness to your posture as the feet are grounded down.

Notice the kneecaps just gently lifting,

The thighs gently lifting as you begin to lengthen the body,

Lengthen and stand lovely and tall.

Lengthening through the spine as you're moving up,

Lengthening through the neck into a natural position as you naturally lengthen the body.

And perhaps the chest opens a little bit more,

Shoulders draw back,

The arms are resting at the sides of your body.

And can you notice relative stillness here as you stand?

Notice this body grounded and at the same time lengthening.

Being with the breath,

Being with the inhale and the exhale.

And using the inhale to inform our movement today,

To initiate our movement into the poses.

With the feet grounded,

Connecting the four points of the soles of the feet to the ground.

Checking in with how your body feels and going at your own pace.

Letting go of any need to strive or compete with yourself or anybody else.

This practice is purely for yourself.

An opportunity to connect more deeply with the body and breath as we mindfully move.

You may like to begin to raise the arms up to the sides and all the way up so that the arms,

The inside of the arms are at the sides of your ears.

And then slowly lowering.

And again.

And you may use the inhale to initiate the movement of the arms raising.

Pausing for a while at the top as the arms reach towards the sky.

And then allowing the breath to exhale,

Release from the body.

Seeing if you can take the whole movement,

The whole lowering of the arms to exhale.

Let's do this two more times at your own pace.

And when you're finished,

Take a rest.

Be with the body and breath as it is right here and now.

You may like to bring a little bit more movement into the arms as you start to swing the arms forward and back.

Noticing the breath.

And then again,

Slowing the movement,

Coming to relative stillness,

The arms again at the side,

Body lengthening as best you can.

Take a rest here.

Take this time to observe the sensations in the body.

How is your body experiencing each of these poses?

Let's now begin to reach one arm up to the sky.

So slowly raising the left arm,

Using the breath,

The inhale to initiate the movement as you stretch the left arm up to the sky and holding it here if you can.

You may like to raise the right heel and noticing how this feels with your body,

With the left arm stretching to the sky and the right heel lifting off the ground.

Perhaps a little bit of a compression through the side of your body.

And then slowly lowering the heel if you haven't already and lowering the left arm.

Let's do this one more time on this side.

Raising the left arm when you're ready and raising the right heel.

Notice the impact of this movement on the body and breath.

And then slowly lower the heel and lower the arm.

Let's take a breath here before we change sides.

And now let's do the same on the other side.

Raising the right arm up and adding the left heel,

Lifting the left heel.

Perhaps noticing a little bit of compression,

Restriction in the left side around the waist.

And perhaps a lengthening through the right side of the ribs,

The waist.

And then slowly lowering the left heel and the right arm.

Take a breath here.

And repeating,

Right arm rising up,

Left heel lifts off the ground.

What is here to notice in your body,

Your breath?

Lowering at any time that feels right for you,

Working to your own limits,

Modifying in any way that feels right for you as well.

And now lowering,

Lowering back down.

The arms are at the side,

The feet are planted back to the ground.

Perhaps finding those four points on the soles of the feet.

Let's take a rest here.

Now the next pose,

Raise the arms out to the side and press the palms away.

Press the palms away like you're pressing them into a wall.

The arms are at shoulder width height as you're gently pressing the palms into this imaginary wall.

Perhaps noticing any sensations,

Tightness that are arising.

And letting go of any need to compete or strive.

Simply be here with the body as best you can.

And if you haven't already,

Let's lower the arms,

Take a breath before we practice that once more.

In your own time,

Practicing again.

The breath continues to flow,

Posture is lengthened.

Taking your own authority to modify or to not do any of these poses,

Perhaps just visualize doing them.

And if you haven't already,

Let's lower the arms back down to the sides of your body.

And let's take a rest here.

What is here to notice after that pose?

Let's now do some shoulder rotations.

The arms are lengthening down to the side of the body still and we'll just rotate the shoulders as best we can.

So first of all,

Bringing the shoulders up,

Raising them up,

Perhaps towards the ears if you can.

And then rolling them back down towards the ground and then forward.

Let's do this three more times.

Rolling them up,

Back,

Down and then forward at your own pace.

What is here to notice as you rotate these shoulders mindfully?

Once you've finished,

Return back to the start position,

Neutral position and then change direction.

Place the shoulder blades together as you draw them back,

Shoulders to the ears,

Coming forward and down.

Do that three more times.

Once you've finished,

Rest with the arms at the side.

Let's stretch through our neck now with the neck rolls.

If you've got a sore neck,

Feel free to skip this one.

Bring your chin down to your chest and rolling from side to side.

Or any variation of neck rolls that is part of your usual practice.

A couple more rolls and then feel free to take a rest.

Observe the body and breath after that pose.

Next we're going to do a balance pose,

Standing on one leg.

So start with bringing the left foot to the ground and feel it firmly to the ground.

And then with the right leg,

Lifting it out towards the right.

And if your back or sacrum is sore today,

You can keep the right foot down to the ground.

You don't need to lift it off the ground.

You might like to add the arms out to the side to support your balance.

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

And perhaps also notice any overefitting.

And any time you can return back to the start position.

Let's take a few more breaths here.

When you're ready,

Returning that right leg,

Right foot,

The arms can stay up to the sides or you might like to lower them for a short rest.

And then grounding down that right foot,

Feeling that steady and solid to the ground as you begin to move the left leg out to the side,

Raising the left leg off the ground.

The arms can raise up again to about shoulder width height.

And let's take a few breaths here,

Noticing the work that's required to do this pose.

Notice the sensations and what the body is experiencing right now.

And if you haven't already,

Returning that left foot and leg to meet the right.

Arms can lower down,

Taking a rest here.

Let's do a standing twist.

So opening the feet up a little bit wider,

Around about hip width,

And bring the hands to your waist.

Your body is forward,

So is your chest,

And we're going to twist towards the left.

If you find this a little bit strong today,

You don't need to twist all the way.

And keep the neck nice and soft and relaxed,

Remembering that we're twisting the torso rather than the neck.

You might like to use the breath,

The inhale,

And then on the exhale,

Gently twist towards your left.

Using the inhale to return back to centre,

Take a moment here,

A small pause,

Before we do the same on the right side.

When you're ready,

Hands are still to the waist,

Twisting gently towards you right now.

The neck is relaxed,

And see if you can bring that awareness back to the lengthening of the body,

Lengthening of the spine,

As you perform this twist.

And if you haven't already,

Returning back to the centre,

Release your arms back to the side of your body,

And take a standing rest here,

Noticing the work of that twist.

What is though here to notice now?

Let's now do a forward bend.

If your back is sore today,

There's no need to go all the way down to the ground,

You can just come to the thighs or the knees,

Work to your own level,

Have a rest at any time.

You might like to take a breath here,

Standing tall,

And using the exhale to gently begin to fold forward.

The hands can come down the legs,

Down the fronts of the legs,

Thighs,

Knees,

Shins,

Towards the ground,

Holding it here if that feels comfortable for you.

If you like,

You may like to reach the left arm up,

Reach it towards the sky,

Noticing the sensations in the body to do this.

What's required of the body to be able to perform this forward bend,

Plus the arm reaching forward or up to the sky.

And now returning that left hand,

And let's do the same on the other side,

Reaching the right arm forward and up,

Perhaps towards the sky if you can.

Now returning the right arm and staying in this forward position,

We're going to move into a chair pose,

Bending the knees more if you haven't already.

The hands can run up over the knees and thighs as you begin to sit a little bit more deeply.

Imagine that you're sitting into a chair.

The hands can be on the thighs or perhaps at your waist,

Or you may like to even stretch them forward out front at about shoulder hip width and shoulder hip height.

If this is too strong for you,

Feel free to adjust,

Maybe stand a little taller,

Bring the hands beside the body.

Just take a few breaths here.

And slowly,

Releasing the arms to the side of the body,

Standing a little bit taller now,

Observing the body,

The breath.

And we'll practice this chair pose one more time.

When you're ready,

Bending the knees,

And imagine you're sitting into a chair,

Bending the knees as much as it feels right for you,

And you can add the arms to your waist or reach them out front,

Shoulder height.

Noticing what there is to notice here in this relatively strong pose without the need to overextend ourselves,

Working to our own limits,

What works for us today.

Let's take a few more breaths here,

Although feel free to return to the standing position at any time.

When you're ready,

Lengthening the legs,

Releasing the arms if you haven't already to the sides of your body.

Let's take a rest here.

Experiencing the body from the inside out.

What is there here to know about this body,

This breath in this moment?

Let's now do one more roll down.

Bring the hands back to the front of the thighs and running the hands down the front of the legs,

Beginning to bend forward,

Fold forward.

Noticing how the backs of the legs are lengthening.

Curling the work through the backs of the legs,

Perhaps the lower back,

As you fold forward.

You may like to stay curled over,

Or you may like to bring a little bit more movement in by curling up again,

Coming back up to a standing position and then curling back down,

Making it slightly more active.

Curling up and then curling back down.

Feel free to stay curled down in the forward bend.

Using your breath to support you as you move.

Let's take a few more breaths here,

Wherever you're at.

And if you haven't already,

Slowly curling up,

Rolling up,

All the way back to the standing position with your arms at the side,

Your feet to the ground,

Finding those four points and soles of your feet,

Lengthening through the spine,

Lengthening the body,

The posture.

Take a rest here.

Now let's move into a one-legged tree pose.

So again,

Finding the stability and strength in one leg,

Perhaps the left leg,

The left foot.

And if your back is sore,

You can keep your right foot to the ground.

Otherwise you might like to bring the sole of the right foot to the inside of the arch of the left foot,

Around near where the ankle is,

Or you may like to bring the right sole of the foot up a little bit further between the knee and the ankle,

Or even up further to the inner thigh.

You may like to find a spot out front to help you to balance,

To focus.

And notice what's required to do this one-legged tree pose.

And gently releasing that right leg back down to the ground,

Take a moment to notice the left and the right legs here.

Notice any differences.

And now grounding down that right foot,

That right leg,

When you feel it steady,

Then beginning to bring the sole of the left foot into the same position as you did on the other side.

The hands can be at the side of the body,

Or you might like to bring them into prayer position,

The palms gently connecting,

Touching each other at about the heart,

The height of your heart.

A couple more breaths in this one-legged tree.

Feel free to release the leg at any time and rest.

And now releasing if you haven't already.

Release the hands as well,

If you had them into a position,

And observing the body here.

What is here to be known in the body in this moment?

Now we'll move down to the ground and we'll do a butterfly pose.

So bring your bottom down to the ground.

You may like to bring the legs out in front of you for a moment and give them a bit of a stretch.

And then bend both the knees and bring the soles of the feet to connect like a butterfly.

Noticing this pose and where the sensations are in the body,

Perhaps around the hips,

Lower back.

And if you have sensitive or sore ankles and knees,

Taking care.

And now releasing from the butterfly and bringing both the legs back out front,

Give them a little shake.

And now we'll do a forward bend.

So bending the left leg and bringing the sole of the left foot to the inside of the right leg,

Around where the knee is or the inner thigh,

And sitting up tall as we slowly bend forward over that right leg.

Notice the work that's required to do this forward bend over the right leg with the left knee bent.

And now slowly releasing that left leg,

Extending it back out front,

And you might like to give your legs a shake.

Keeping the left leg lengthening out front,

Bend the right leg,

The right knee,

And bring the sole of the right foot perhaps to the inside of your left thigh now.

Sitting up tall as we begin to lengthen the spine and bend forward,

Folding over that straight left leg.

It doesn't matter where you can reach to,

Holding the left thigh with the hands,

Or if you can reach further,

That's also okay.

No need to overextend here.

A few more breaths.

And now releasing,

Bringing both legs out front,

Giving them a shake.

Let's take a few minutes to lie down and relax our body.

So lying down on your back,

Finding a comfortable position,

You may like to have the knees bent with the soles of the feet to the ground,

Or you may like to stretch them out long.

Start by giving your body a nice stretch,

Lengthen the legs,

Stretch the toes,

Lengthen the arms,

Stretch the fingers,

Feel the stretch through the front and back of your body.

And releasing.

The arms can be at the side of the body.

Finding a comfortable position,

Support your head and neck if you need to,

A blanket if you feel cold.

As you lie here,

Lie here with this body and this breath,

Without the need to do anything or go anywhere.

What is there here to notice?

What sensations are arising?

Can you be with the sensations that are arising and passing?

Can you be with this body,

With gentleness,

With some curiosity and kindness?

Can you allow the body to be in this moment as it is and accept any limitations,

Any limitations that this body has,

Physical,

Mental or emotional challenges and difficulties that are arising?

Can we learn to take care of ourselves moment to moment awareness as best we can?

You may like to begin to bring a bit more movement back into the body now,

Wriggling fingers and toes.

You may like to stretch your body.

Take a few breaths here and give thanks for this opportunity to be with the body,

To explore the body,

To explore the body,

The thoughts and emotions as best as you can.