Laying Down Mindful Movement

Short, gentle, laying down mindful movement sequence to increase body awareness. Appropriate for all levels and abilities. Intended to support students in developing a deeper connection to their body moment to moment.

Transcript

Welcome!

This is a lying down mindful movement practice.

For this practice you will need a place to lay down and stretch out and ideally in a quiet-ish area and if you do get interrupted that's okay.

It can be just as important a part of our present moment experience.

This mindful movement practice is intended to help you connect more deeply with this precious body.

Not to necessarily achieve anything in terms of physical sensations or achieve any special postures.

It's really to be with this body moment to moment and explore with a sense of friendly curiosity how your body feels when you move.

Taking a moment now to let yourself come to a comfortable lying down position.

So you might want to have a blanket or pillow underneath your head.

And as you come to laying down let your attention start to settle in the connection of your body to the surface that you're resting upon.

The back of the head and the upper back,

Mid-back,

Pelvis,

Whatever parts of your legs are touching the surface beneath you.

The heels.

And simply letting yourself acknowledge how you feel right now.

Does the body feel symmetrical as you lay on the surface beneath you?

Is there one side of your body that is feeling heavier or tighter than the other side?

Is there any pulling?

Is there discomfort?

Feelings of neutrality?

Pleasant feelings in your body.

And as you engage with this practice it's really normal for the mind to wander.

So if you notice that happening,

Once you notice that happening it's a moment of awakening.

And you can come back into sensing and feeling into the sensations in your body as you move through the different postures.

So we'll be starting with a very small pelvic tilt.

So as you're ready please bring your knees to bent and your soles of feet onto the floor.

And you can have your arms at whatever is a comfortable distance for you from your body.

So they might be straight out from the shoulders,

They might be closer to the sides,

They might even be resting your hands on your low belly.

When you're lying in this position there's a natural curve in your low back.

This is called your lumbar spinal curve and it naturally curves away from the floor.

So you might even be able to feel this curve of your low back away from the floor.

You could even scoot your hand underneath there and acknowledge that curve or just feel it and sense it.

So we'll be moving between this position of neutral curve to pressing your low back into the floor.

We'll move back and forth in this way for several rounds of movement.

And it's not a hard press of your low back into the floor,

It's gentle.

Your pelvis stays on the floor and your low back tilts and presses into the floor and then come back into neutral starting position where the lumbar spine is dipping away from the floor.

Back and forth in this way a few times.

And here notice what you feel.

How does it feel?

Where does it feel?

Is it subtle?

Is it more obvious?

Any time we're doing any of these poses,

If something doesn't feel quite right for you,

You can simply be in stillness and imagine your body doing the posture but rather than actually moving being in stillness.

So in the next rotation or two go ahead and come back to our starting position letting your legs come out and down onto the floor.

And you might notice any difference in your low back,

How it feels now as opposed to how it felt at the beginning of the practice after doing some gentle movement.

Coming right up close to the sensation in your body.

What is here to be felt?

What is here to be sensed?

Is there ease or tension?

And as you're ready again please bend your knees and place the soles of the feet on the floor.

If this is comfortable and available for you,

Bringing your arms out to your sides so that they're perpendicular straight out from your shoulders.

If need be you could have your arms closer in towards your sides.

And letting your knees drop over to the right,

Turning your head to the left.

Moving in a range of motion that feels comfortable and safe for you.

So the right knee might end up resting on the floor or it might be several inches or even a foot away from the floor but it's tilting towards the right.

Noticing here where you feel sensation in the body in this posture.

And as you're ready please bring the knees back up to center,

Turning the head so that your face is facing towards the ceiling and taking the other side letting your knees drop over to the left,

Allowing your head to turn towards the right.

Acknowledging what is here to be felt and sensed as you twist to this side.

You might even notice the breath and how it's felt in the body in this posture.

And when you feel ready bringing the knees back up,

Turning the head to face towards the ceiling and again straightening your legs out onto the floor,

Orienting your arms and hands so that they're in the most comfortable position for you.

Taking a couple of breaths here.

And again we'll bend the knees and place the soles of the feet on the floor.

For this posture you may need a strap or a scarf and you can get that if you decide that that's the best option for you.

And what we'll be doing is holding on to the knees or the shins with your hands.

So drawing the knees up towards the chest.

Depending on your flexibility and range of motion it might be called for to take a strap around the lower legs and hold on to the end of each side of the strap with your hand drawing the knees up towards the chest.

I'm taking a moment here to explore,

Inquire,

Be curious about this movement,

About the sensations that arise.

You might rock side to side,

You might draw the forehead towards the knees and feel potentially the muscle engagement in the front of your torso as you do that.

Giving yourself permission to just move around a little bit here.

Drawing the knees in,

Perhaps drawing the head up,

Keeping the head on the floor if that feels better for your neck.

And then letting your legs come down and your arms come down.

Depending on how this feels for your back you might want to keep your knees bent or straighten your legs.

We'll end our lying down mindful movement practice with a short movement,

A short exploration of turning the head side to side.

So letting the head be heavy back.

Work in a range of motion that is safe for you,

Turning your head to one side and then turning your head to the other side.

This can be a very small range of motion or you may have a larger range of motion.

And again the intention here is not to achieve something with this posture but to be with sensations in the body as they arise moment to moment.

Letting yourself come to stillness.

Straightening your legs,

Bringing your arms to your sides.

If you're comfortable you can close your eyes.

Noticing how the body feels,

The rhythm of the breath.

Being with our body moment to moment,

Paying attention to what's here right now,

Can be a powerful source of healing,

Of comfort,

Of self-care.

Acknowledge the efforts that you made in this practice.

Perhaps offer yourself a gesture of gratitude for taking time for yourself to be with this body,

To come right up close in this moment.

You're welcome to stay in this posture and extend your practice for several more moments and I will ring the bell now if you are ready to be finished.

Reviews

Finally! I have found my morning awakening mondful movement that us affirming and accessible!

Gently guided gentle movements - and the bonus of lying down for this, perfect for me today! Thank you for sharing! 😊