Standing Mindful Stretching [MBSR All-Day]

Dr. Julien Lacaille gently guides a standing mindful stretching practice as part of an MBSR all-day silent retreat. You can follow this with a sitting meditaiton on your own.

Transcript

Okay,

I will invite you now to find yourself in a standing posture,

Some standing mindful movements.

So beginning as always in this mountain,

Standing mountain.

Just scanning her body from the bottoms of her feet all the way to the top of her head.

Then the next inhalation,

Raising the hands and arms either to the side or in front of you,

Making sure not to hit anyone.

Just slowly noticing that movement all the way until the hands are towards the ceiling.

We can stretch fully once we get there.

Maybe holding that stretch.

And then slowly bringing the arms down until they're parallel with the ground.

Just holding them there.

Maybe with the palms of the hands pointed outwards,

Fingers pointed upwards,

Pushing on imaginary walls on each side of the body.

And coming back to the mountain mindfully.

Next raising only the right arm up and towards the ceiling,

Leaving the left arm dangling on the left towards the ground.

And perhaps looking upwards as though we were picking an apple,

A low hanging apple.

Maybe it's just a little higher than we thought and we want to get up on our toes.

Just holding that as best we can.

And then reversing,

So bringing the heels down if they were up,

Bringing the right arm back down and the left arm up.

We're going to pick another apple.

Maybe getting on one of our foot's toes or both toes,

Both feet.

Just holding,

Seeing even if in this stretch if we can release tensions that are not necessary.

And then coming back down to this mountain,

Finding that stability,

Both our feet.

And on the next in-breath we'll bring both arms back up.

So lengthening towards the ceiling.

On the next out-breath we'll lean to the left while keeping that elongation towards upwards.

So upwards and to the left.

And perhaps with each out-breath leaning a little bit more if that's available.

And the in-breath coming back to center.

And now on the out-breath leaning to the right and upwards.

And deepening with each out-breath.

And coming back to center and then slowly bringing the arms and hands back down.

And next bringing the shoulders up towards the ears.

The shoulder blades together in the back.

Opening the chest.

And then shoulders towards the ground.

And then bringing them together in the front.

And then continuing that kind of slow and deliberate movement.

Kind of opening,

Waking up the shoulders.

If we can synchronizing with your breathing.

And then perhaps reversing the movement.

And coming back to neutral.

Kind of checking in with the shoulders and the rest of the body in this mountain position.

And then moving the neck,

Rolling the neck,

Bringing the chin down towards the chest.

Left ear,

Chin towards the left shoulder.

And then bringing the head back,

Looking upwards,

Protecting the neck.

And then right ear to right shoulder.

And then continuing that movement,

Adapting it to your needs.

And then maybe reversing it.

Coming back to the standing mountain.

And then shifting our weight onto the right foot,

Right leg.

Raising the left foot to the side of us.

And raising the arms.

Finding our balance.

And then moving the left foot down if we need to from time to time.

But exploring raising that left foot higher up to the side.

Helps to fixate a point on the floor in front of us.

And then slowly bringing the foot and arms back down and then reversing,

Shifting the weight onto the left foot,

Raising the right foot and leg to the side,

Raising the arms parallel to the ground.

And then exploring this balancing pose.

Coming back down to mountain.

Noticing the effects on the body.

And then bringing the hands on the waist.

Keeping the body pointing forward,

We're going to only move the head,

We're only going to go look over the left shoulder.

And on the in-breath,

Come back to the front.

And on the out-breath,

Looking now with our eyes towards the right,

Over the right shoulder.

Keeping the body as straight as possible,

Pointing forward.

And back to center on the in-breath.

And now only anchoring the feet in the ground,

Pointing forward,

We're going to turn completely to the left with our shoulders,

Our hips,

Our knees even.

And with each out-breath,

Maybe leaning in even more to the left if that's available.

Seeing if we can keep the spine lengthened.

And on the in-breath,

Coming back to center.

And on the next out-breath,

Reversing.

So feet are pointing forward,

The rest of the body is turning to the right.

And going back to center.

Bring the arms back down.

And then very slowly vertebrae by vertebrae,

Leaning forward as though we're going to go touch our toes with our hands and maybe some of us can do that.

Keeping the legs relatively straight,

Maybe bending the knees a little bit.

And slowly just seeing if we can lean forward,

Bringing the head down also,

Dangling in front of us.

And just hanging out there if that's comfortable for you.

Maybe exploring movements to the left and to the right as we dangle down here,

Kind of like a ragdoll.

Slowly bring our torso back up and simultaneously lowering the buttocks.

So we're going to bend the knees,

We're going to move into the chair posture,

Bringing the arms up.

And bending as low as you can or want to or want to explore,

Knowing you can always come back up if needed.

Just noticing the effort required for this one.

Noticing what thoughts,

Emotions are coming along.

And just very slowly we'll just try to come back to the mountain,

Being aware of how we get there.

And noticing the effects on the body,

On our breath.

Next we'll move into the tree,

So we'll shift our weight on the right foot again,

This time bringing either the heel against the right ankle,

Either the left bottoms of the foot against the calf,

Or bringing the left foot against the inner right thigh.

Keeping the hips leveled,

Finding our balance if you want,

Bringing the hands in front of the chest together.

Or our arms can become branches pointing towards the sky,

Fixating a point to help us find a relative stability.

And just noticing there's always going to be some movement.

See if we can keep the chest open,

Shoulders low,

Spine lengthened,

And the awareness steady.

If you're looking outside,

Maybe finding some inspiration from real trees.

Or maybe as you're holding this,

Having in mind a tree that you know,

That you like,

Kind of becoming that tree.

Okay,

And then slowly coming back down to the mountain,

Just noticing the effects of that posture on the body.

And then when you're ready,

We'll reverse,

Shift the weight on the left leg,

Bringing the right foot either against the ankle,

The calf of the left leg,

Or the inner thigh,

Keeping the hips leveled,

Neutral,

And hands in front of the chest or towards the sky.

Okay.

Coming back to mountain.

And then finding a way to a seated posture,

Not for meditation,

But we'll continue the movement seated,

Bringing the bottoms of the feet together,

Stretching the groin area,

The hips.

So perhaps just resting the elbows against the inner thighs,

Perhaps leaning forward a little bit,

Keeping the back straight if we want,

And really just exploring movements in this posture.

And then holding onto the right foot,

We'll bring the left leg and foot in front of us flat on the floor,

Or maybe with a slight bend in the knee,

And perhaps leaning forward towards that foot.

And coming back up,

Reversing,

Bringing the left foot back in,

Flattening the right leg on the floor,

And perhaps leaning forward towards the right foot,

Bending the knee if necessary.

Okay.

And then slowly we'll find our way to a seated posture for seated meditation.

Reviews

Awesome! Loved it

Nice instruction! A great way to start a meditation 🙏🏼

great wake up and mind clearing

Thank you 🏝🏝🏝for the relaxing and mindful movements. I enjoyed it very much 🙏