Mindful Movement

This is a short series of yoga poses used in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course. The focus is on mindful movement and developing a connection with the body, indications of limits and working at the edge of limitations. The pacing is slow with frequent moments to check in with the effects of the exercises.

Transcript

This is an exercise in moving mindfully and kindly.

You might think of it as a body scan done in motion.

So to prepare,

You might ensure that you have a blanket for later.

And then laying down on your back with your legs a little bit wider than hip distance apart.

And spread a little bit away from the body,

Palms facing upward.

And give yourself a moment here to let go of everything that's come before.

Taking a moment to arrive,

To become present.

And then becoming aware of the points of contact between the body and the ground.

Feeling the weight of the body as it rests on the floor.

And giving yourself over to gravity.

And then becoming aware of the movements of the breath.

Noticing how the belly rises and falls with each in and out breath.

How the chest lifts and lowers.

And you might intentionally take a long deep breath in,

Into the belly.

Feeling the ribs all the way up to the chest.

And as you exhale,

Letting everything go.

Allowing the body to sink into the ground.

And so we're going to do a series of gentle movements.

And the invitation is to notice sensations and thoughts and emotions as they arise.

To explore with kindness the boundaries and the limits that your body indicates.

You might see this as a playful experiment in exploring your body.

How it reacts to intentions,

To movement.

And noticing the automatic reactions.

Seeing how movement might open new experiences of space and freedom.

And sometimes you'll notice that your body will indicate its limits.

There are soft limits.

For example the gentle tension in a muscle as you stretch.

And there are more hard limits.

For example pain.

And all the spaces in between.

Such as when the breath stops being fluid and smooth.

And so the invitation is to take good care of yourself.

You're the expert of your own body.

You're always free to stop an exercise earlier than I indicate.

Or to skip an exercise entirely if that's what's best for you.

And if you do skip an exercise,

Perhaps doing it in your imagination.

And noticing over time how regular practice changes the limits of the body and the mind.

And now exhaling the breath all the way out.

And then as you take a deep inhale,

Bringing the straight arms up towards the ceiling.

And as you exhale,

Continuing the motion,

Bringing the arms all the way up over the head.

Allowing them to rest on the ground if you're able to come that far.

And then inhaling here.

Imagining the fingertips and the heels moving away from each other.

And then as you exhale,

Letting go of the stretch,

Bringing the arms back up until they're resting in the starting position.

And then with your next inhale,

Bringing the feet,

The knees bent up from the floor.

And then straightening the legs so that the heels are pointing towards the ceiling.

And then placing the hands,

Palms to the ground,

Just a little bit under the waist.

Now inhale here deep.

And as you exhale,

Draw the lower belly in just a little bit and up.

Bringing the heels towards the ceiling with active legs.

And then with your next inhale,

Keeping the core engaged and the legs straight,

Press the elbows into the ground to rock up into the sitting position.

Bringing the legs into a cross-legged position.

And pausing here to connect with the breath and to notice any effects of the movements which have just occurred.

Now from here,

Connecting the movements to the breath.

So taking a deep inhale,

Breathing into the belly.

And a long exhale.

And then inhaling.

And as you inhale,

Bringing the arms up and out to the side,

Over the head until the palms are touching.

And then as you exhale,

Allowing the arms to come back down towards the ground until the fingertips are on the ground.

And then inhaling,

Allowing the arms to float up.

And exhaling,

The arms coming back down.

Doing this motion a couple more times for yourself.

Bringing the arms up.

And as you do,

Imagining the movement coming from the breath.

And then allowing the palms to rest on the knees.

Scanning with attention the body.

Seeing the effects of this movement.

And then,

And so from this position,

Uncrossing the legs and coming into an all-fours position with your shoulders above your wrists and your knees below your hips.

And as you inhale here,

Beginning to reach the crown of the head away from the tail,

Extending the spine and arching the back.

And then as you exhale,

Drawing the lower belly up and in and following that movement,

Allowing the back to arch upwards.

And then inhaling and reversing the motion.

Bringing the fingertips into the ground as you move and exhaling,

Drawing the belly in and the back,

Arching upwards.

And then coming back to center as you inhale,

Back flat.

And here,

Noticing this gentle massage of the spine.

Keep breathing.

Now from here,

On your next inhale,

Begin to reach the right hand forward until it's parallel with the ground.

And notice what the body does to adapt,

Being on three legs instead of four.

And then on your next inhale,

You're going to inhale and bring the left leg out and back.

So pressing the heel towards an imaginary wall behind you and holding this position.

And while you're here,

Checking the lower belly is drawn up and in.

And imagining that the fingertips and the heel are reaching away from each other,

Creating length in the body.

Taking one more deep breath here.

And as you exhale,

Bringing the leg and the hand back down to the ground.

And then we're going to switch sides.

So as you inhale,

The left arm is going to reach forward.

Exhaling,

Staying in this position,

Drawing the lower belly up and in.

And then on your next inhale,

Reaching the heel away from the body,

The right heel.

So that you're balancing now on one hand and one leg,

Holding this for a breath.

Continuing to reach the fingertips and the heel away from each other.

And then exhaling and bringing both hand and leg back down to the ground,

Back into the all-fours position.

And then from the all-fours position,

Take a long,

Deep inhale.

Then curl the toes under and as you exhale,

You're going to press into the toes and the hands,

Allowing the knees to rise from the ground,

Holding this position.

Taking two more deep breaths here.

Last one.

And then as you exhale,

Allowing the hips to move up towards the ceiling,

Straightening the legs but not all the way,

And then walking the feet towards the hands.

Now the knees can be bent as much as necessary here.

And notice the impact that this position has on the body.

And then on your next inhale,

Beginning to very carefully,

Very gently and slowly roll up vertebrae by vertebrae into a standing position.

Stopping when you're in standing position to ensure that the feet are directly beneath the hips.

Kneels ever so slightly turned out.

Getting in touch with the breath.

And noticing any impacts on the body,

Perhaps the heart beating a little bit faster.

Or tingling sensations somewhere.

Noticing whatever is present,

Whatever is to be noticed.

And then taking an inhale and as you inhale,

Reaching the arms up and out to the sides until the palms are able to touch each other.

Just like we did in the sitting position.

And then exhaling,

Bringing the arms back down to the sides.

Doing this again,

Inhaling,

Bringing the arms out and up.

And exhaling,

Bringing the arms back down,

Moving from the breath.

Now again inhale,

Bring the arms up,

But stopping this time parallel to the ground.

Now begin to shift the weight into the right foot.

And as you do,

Press the ball of the foot and the heel into the ground.

And as you press the foot into the ground,

You can engage the quadriceps,

The upper thigh muscles of the leg,

Creating a firm foundation.

And then continue to shift the weight into the right leg until the moment comes and the left foot can float up from the ground.

Bringing the foot out to the left side as far as you can.

And so balancing on a strong right leg,

With the arms spread wide,

And breathing here.

Taking one more deep breath in.

And as you exhale,

Continuing to keep the strong right leg,

But bringing the left foot back down slowly to the ground.

Taking a moment to breathe here.

Bringing the arms down to the waist.

And then as you inhale,

Beginning to press the left foot firmly into the ground,

The ball of the foot and the heel.

Engaging the upper thigh muscles,

Creating a firm foundation,

And shifting the weight into the left leg.

And as you do,

The moment comes when the right leg can come free from the ground,

And you can move the right leg as far to the right as your body allows.

With the arms parallel to the ground,

Balancing on the left leg.

And holding this position for a couple breaths.

Aware of both strength and perhaps of the space as you press into the ground with the standing foot,

Noticing how the crown can reach towards the ceiling,

Creating space in the body.

And then as you exhale,

Beginning to allow the right foot to come back down to the ground.

Shifting the weight to be balanced on both feet,

Bringing the arms down to the waist.

And stand,

Becoming aware of the experience as it is right now.

With whatever physical sensations,

Thoughts,

Or emotions that might be present.

And then as you inhale,

Bringing the arms up and over the head one more time.

And as you exhale,

Keeping the lower belly drawn up and in and the back straight,

And folding from the hips,

Pausing when the upper body is parallel to the ground.

Taking a deep inhale here.

And as you exhale,

Continuing downwards,

Bending the knees if necessary to allow the hands to come in contact with the ground.

From here,

Coming down onto your knees,

And then sitting back onto your bottom.

And then rolling all the way down into the laying position,

Returning to our starting position with the legs slightly wider than hip distance apart,

The feet falling slightly outward,

The arms laying slightly away from the sides of the body with the palms facing up.

Giving the full weight of the body over to the ground.

And reconnecting with the breath,

Allowing the eyes to close.

And as they close,

Perhaps imagining how the eyes fall back into their sockets,

Relaxing.

Relaxing the jaw,

The tongue,

The forehead.

All the facial muscles.

And scanning through the body,

Noticing any places of tension.

And by bringing your attention there and breathing into those places,

Seeing if you can relax them just a little bit.

And then taking one more deep breath in,

And sighing any and all tension out.

Entering into stillness and silence for the coming few minutes until you hear the sound of my voice again.

One more,

One more breath in and out.

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Reviews

This was harder than I thought it would be. But good for the soul🙏🙌

Beautiful! Thank you for this experience🙏

Great way to start your day