Standing Stretching (MBCT Retreat)

In this practice, Dr. Julien Lacaille gently guides you to become aware of your body in movement, moving through a series of simple standing stretches. The benefits of this practice include greater feelings of balance, clarity and focus. It is suggested that this meditaiton be followed by a sitting practice (not included in the recording).

Transcript

So finding your way through standing posture,

The feet hip-width apart,

Slight bend in the knees,

The arms dangling on each side,

The spine erect,

The head aligned with the spine,

Just like a mountain being grounded at the base at the bottom of the feet in a sense of uplift.

Just standing here for now with the breath and with the rest of our experience as is.

Noticing already the subtle movements of the body that are happening to stay balanced.

And sensing into the body as a whole as it stands here.

With the breath,

With other body sensations,

With the movement.

And on an in-breath,

Slowly raising the hands and arms to the side or in front of us,

Centimeter by centimeter,

Slowly,

Slow enough to notice the moment-to-moment changes.

And keeping that movement going up until the hands are above the head,

Reaching for the sky.

Perhaps stretching the whole body upward.

And just holding here for a few moments and just noticing.

And then on an out-breath,

Bringing the arms back down,

But only halfway back down,

So that the arms are parallel with the ground,

The fingertips are pointing upwards and the palms are facing outwards.

And just holding here.

Noticing the quality of breathing,

Sensations in the arms,

In the back and the rest of the body.

Noticing thoughts that may be arising in the mind.

And then bringing the arms to rest on either side of the body,

Back down in this Mountain Pose.

And noticing the after-effects,

The consequences of doing this small movement,

Simple movement.

And on an in-breath,

Bringing only the left arm and hand up this time.

Noticing as we move it up and bring it all the way up towards the ceiling,

And maybe even looking up this time as though we were picking an apple from an apple tree.

Just holding there,

Letting the right arm just be loose.

And perhaps the apple is just a little bit out of reach,

So we need to reach up a little bit,

Maybe getting on the toes,

One or both of the feet.

Just reaching,

Holding,

Noticing the breath,

Noticing the whole body.

And coming back to the Mountain Posture,

Bringing the heels down,

The arm back down,

Noticing the difference between the left and the right arm.

And on an in-breath,

Reversing,

So bringing up the right hand upward,

Reaching up,

Looking up.

Perhaps reaching even more.

If we are on the toes,

Then noticing the balance that's required,

Noticing the movements.

Holding,

Breathing,

Sensing into the whole body.

And coming back to Mountain.

And just noticing how we come back.

Bringing both arms up this time at the same time,

On an in-breath,

Slowly.

Sensing an uplift,

Reaching up,

But seeing if we can at the same time lower the shoulders.

So the shoulders are low,

There's space between the ears and the shoulders,

But we're reaching up.

The spine is uplifted.

And with this sense of uplift,

On an out-breath,

Leaning to the left.

On an out-breath.

And on each out-breath,

Perhaps deepening the stretch a little bit more,

If that's available to us,

Knowing we can always come back to the Mountain if we need to.

And playing a little bit with this movement,

You might have to lean forward or back a little bit more,

Come back to center from time to time.

Branches in the wind.

On an in-breath,

Coming back to center.

Reconnecting with that sense of uplift.

And on an out-breath,

Leaning to the right side this time.

Maybe noticing differences on this side.

Coming back to center on an in-breath.

And on an out-breath,

Bringing the arms back down slowly,

All the way down.

Letting the arms dangle to the side.

As we return to this Mountain,

Living,

Breathing Mountain,

Sensing the life inside this body.

As we just stand here,

Notice the after effects of this movement.

And then on the next in-breath,

Bringing the shoulders up towards the ears,

Way up,

Respecting our limits.

On the next in-breath again,

Bringing the shoulders back.

So the shoulders are pointing backwards.

On an out-breath,

Now bringing the shoulders down to the ground,

As low as we can bring them.

And on another out-breath,

Bringing the shoulders in the front.

And then continuing this movement now on your own,

These four parts,

With the transitions in between.

As the chest opens,

Breathing in.

As the chest closes up,

Breathing out.

So synchronizing the breathing with this shoulder rolling.

And perhaps reversing the movement if you want to explore the other side.

And again,

The same thing.

The chest opens on an in-breath.

Chest closes on an out-breath.

And then returning to the mountain,

Neutral shoulders.

Just again,

Noticing the after effects.

Next,

Bringing the chin to the chest.

So just letting the head dangle forward.

Just respecting the limits of the neck there.

But just letting it hang forward.

Noticing the stretch in the back of the neck or in the shoulders.

It's important when moving the neck to really pay attention to the limits there.

We don't want to injure ourselves.

And then bringing the left ear towards the left shoulder.

Just slowly rocking to the left,

Noticing how the stretch transforms.

And then continuing the movement as we bring the head back.

And protecting the neck,

Looking slightly upward.

And bringing the right ear now to the right shoulder.

And then coming back to center,

The head dangling just forward,

And you can continue that movement.

Again,

Noticing these different parts and the transition in between.

Synchronizing with breathing.

Rolling the head back on an in-breath,

Bringing the head forward on an out-breath.

And perhaps changing the direction.

Maybe dwelling it in one direction,

Just maybe holding a stretch if that is what's called for.

And coming back to neutral,

The head aligned with the spine,

Back to the mountain.

And next,

Placing the hands on the waist.

And keeping the feet planted firmly in the ground,

The knees pointing forward.

And the next out-breath,

Twisting the whole upper body to the left and going to look over the left shoulder behind us.

Just holding there for a few breaths.

And perhaps on the next out-breath,

Deepening the stretch even more if that's available.

Seeing if we can keep a sense of uplift in the spine as we twist.

Going back to center on an in-breath.

And on an out-breath,

Reversing,

So twisting to the right side,

Looking over the right shoulder.

On each out-breath,

Deepening maybe a little bit more,

Respecting your limits.

And on an in-breath,

Coming back to center.

Bringing the arms back down.

And on the next out-breath,

We're going to bend forward,

But doing so very,

Very slowly.

So bringing the head lower to the ground,

Bringing the hands closer to the ground,

Vertebrae by vertebrae,

Noticing the bend in the back as we reach for the ground with the hands.

And continuing the movement,

Respecting your limits,

Perhaps bending the knees slightly,

Letting the head start to dangle forward and down,

Noticing the stretch in the back.

And on each out-breath,

Continuing to lower if that is right for you.

Just letting the whole upper body dangle forward.

And perhaps making slight movements to the left and to the right.

Noticing the stretches that this affords.

And then on an in-breath,

Slowly coming back up.

And as we do so,

Bending the knees slightly,

Bringing the buttocks down,

And then bringing the arms up at 45 degree angle so that we're sitting in a chair.

An invisible chair.

Keeping the back straight and experimenting with the level of seatedness that we are in.

Just holding this posture,

Noticing the breath,

Noticing the whole body.

Noticing the effort that it requires.

Knowing we can always come back up if we need to.

And on an in-breath,

Coming back up to the mountain.

Noticing the effect that has.

Maybe the heart rate is up.

The breath is more rapid.

There's heat in the body,

Tingling,

Some other sensation.

And for the last posture that we'll do standing,

We'll shift the weight onto the left foot.

Raising the right foot to the right in the air.

Or maybe we're slightly touching the toes of the left foot on the ground if you want to help us keep the balance.

So experimenting and then bringing both arms parallel to the ground.

And here we can experiment with bringing the right foot or leg higher up as we hold this balancing pose.

And again,

Noticing the effort that's required for this kind of posture.

Noticing all the little movements.

And bringing back the arms back down,

The leg back down,

Coming back to the mountain for a brief check in.

And then shifting the weight onto the right foot.

Bringing the left foot up,

The arms up.

And again,

Deepening the stretch if you want,

Bringing the.