Mindful Movement Meditation

During this practice, you will be guided through some gentle stretches stood up and laid down on the floor. Make sure you have a mat, a rug, or a soft floor you can lay down on. This practice is about bringing mindful awareness to the direct sensations of your body and breath as you move through the poses, whilst cultivating a kind, curious and exploratory attitude towards your body, as best you can.

Transcript

This is a mindful movement practice.

So finding a place where you can be undisturbed,

Placing a mat or rug on the floor so you've got room to lay down comfortably.

During this practice we're going to move through some gentle stretches,

Both stood up and then laid down on our backs.

Knowing that this practice isn't about being competitive with ourselves or anyone else,

You don't need to try too hard.

It's not a matter of success or failure.

As you do the stretches honouring your body and its limitations today,

Trusting in your body's wisdom,

Allowing your body to tell you how far to go into each stretch or when to skip one out,

Or perhaps when to back off a little bit.

If you have any physical problems,

Make sure to ask your doctor or physical therapist before doing any of these stretches.

If some of the postures are difficult,

You have choices about what to do.

You could sit them out,

Either sat down or laid down or stood up,

Whatever's appropriate at that point in the practice.

You could play with imagining yourself moving through that pose rather than actually doing it.

Or you could see how it feels just to come up to your particular edge within that position.

Breathing at your edge,

Playing with backing off a little bit,

Perhaps moving into it a little bit.

Always doing what feels right for you,

Bringing a kind,

Curious awareness to your body,

Right here,

Right now.

You might want to play with having the eyes open or closed throughout the postures,

Seeing how that changes your experience.

So now,

Coming to stand on your mat or rug.

Standing tall,

With the feet hip width distance apart,

Shoulders relaxed and hands down by your sides.

Knees soft,

Unlocked.

And moving your awareness down into where your feet are making contact with the floor.

Noticing the physical sensations of contact.

Tingling.

Pressure.

Weight going down.

Perhaps a sense of stability.

And then gently moving up the body to feel the length of your spine all the way to the crown of your head.

The upward lift of your body.

And noticing your breath,

Perhaps moving at the belly,

Maybe bringing a hand here.

Or at the chest.

Or maybe feeling the breath at the nostrils coming in and out.

And now,

With your hands down by your sides,

Slowly start to lift the arms up to shoulder height.

Feeling the sensations as you move.

And keep moving the arms gently upwards until you're reaching your arms up over your head.

Gently stretching towards the ceiling.

Always being careful not to push past the limits within this pose for you.

Breathing with the sensations of holding your arms in this way.

And then on an out breath,

Slowly letting the hands float back down by your side.

Breathing as you go.

And when the hands come back down to rest by your side,

Noticing if there are any after effects from that movement.

The shoulders,

The arms,

Or elsewhere in the body.

And now,

On an in breath,

Lifting the right hand up as if you're about to reach for a fruit that's just out of reach in a tree.

Looking up towards the hand,

Perhaps feeling the left heel lift slightly off the floor.

Noticing the stretch down the right side of your body.

Breathing here.

And then slowly,

Breathing as you go,

Let the hand come back down by your side.

Perhaps watching the hand,

Changing colours and shapes of it as it moves.

Taking a moment with the hands down by your side,

Noticing what's here now.

And then reaching the left arm slowly up as if you're reaching for a fruit just out of reach.

Noticing the feeling on the left side of your body.

And then allowing that left hand to come slowly back down by your side,

Watching the hand as it comes down.

Coming back to centre.

And then slowly allowing the arms to come back up over your head.

Either keeping the hands separate or interlocking the thumbs.

We're going to take a side stretch.

So moving the hands and arms over to the right,

Allowing the hips to shift slightly to the left.

Keeping your head in the middle of your arms.

Noticing how this feels.

Breathing with the sensations.

And on an inhale,

Coming back up to centre.

On an exhale,

Keeping the hands over your head,

Bend over to the other side,

To the left.

Letting the hips come slightly to the right.

Noticing the physical sensations in your right side as you take this stretch.

And then on an inhale,

Coming back up to centre,

As you exhale,

Letting the hands float back down by your side.

Now I'm going to take some neck rolls.

So allowing your chin to come down onto your chest.

And then letting the right ear drop towards the right shoulder.

Gently rolling the chin back to chest.

And taking the left ear over to the left shoulder,

Feeling the stretch,

Sensations of this movement.

I'm going to move our head between these three positions in a semi-circular motion.

Chin to chest,

Ear to right shoulder.

Then rolling back,

Chin to chest,

And left ear to left shoulder.

Perhaps breathing in as you go one way and out as you go the other.

Allowing your natural breath to set the rhythm and pace of this movement.

And then bringing the head back up to centre and noticing the after effects from that stretch.

Knowing that if your mind's wandering off,

It's perfectly normal and part of the practice.

Again and again acknowledging where the mind went and gently bringing it back to feeling the sensations of the movements of your body here now.

And now we're going to come down onto all fours into a tabletop position.

Carefully making your way down onto the mat.

Allowing your knees to be hip width apart,

Toes pointed out behind you and the hands underneath your shoulders.

And taking your right foot and leg out behind you into the air.

This is a balancing stretch and you might notice your body making little adjustments to keep you balanced here.

You can always keep the right toes on the floor too if that feels better for you today.

And then if it feels okay,

Reaching the left arm out,

Opposite arm to leg.

Breathing with this position.

Noticing all the little recalibrations your muscles are making to keep you balanced.

And then bringing the knee and the arm,

The hand back down onto the floor and taking a cat stretch.

So arching the back up towards the ceiling and looking between the hands like a startled cat.

And then coming back to a neutral spine,

Flat back and lifting a left leg back behind you.

Stretching the leg out and noticing the movement of the body.

You could keep the toes on the floor or keep the leg lifted as you reach the right arm out in front.

Looking out over the fingertips.

Breathing with the sensations of this balancing position.

And then bringing the right hand back down.

And taking another cat stretch,

Arching the back,

Pressing gently away from the floor,

Looking between the hands.

And then relaxing the back and we're going to come to lay down flat on our backs on the floor or mat.

Stepping the feet onto the floor when you get there.

We're going to take a bridge pose.

So bringing the heels close in towards your bottom,

Feet hip width distance apart,

Toes facing forwards.

Placing the hands down by your side,

Palms face down.

And then pressing down into the feet to lift the hips up into the air,

Gently reaching the arms up over your head.

Breathing here for as long as feels okay for you.

Noticing any shaking or wobbles of the body,

Embracing them as best you can,

Breathing with them.

And then gently lowering the hips back down and the hands back down by your side.

We're going to take a twist.

So letting the hips just shimmy slightly over to the left,

Allowing the knees to fall over to the right side.

Bringing your arms out at shoulder height,

Either in a T shape or bending at the elbows to make a cactus shape with the arms.

If it feels okay in the neck,

Looking over your left shoulder.

Breathing here.

Seeing if you can allow your body to let go into the floor a little more with each exhale.

Softening into this pose.

And then gently bringing the knees back to centre and looking up.

And gently shifting the hips a little over to the right,

Letting the knees fall over to the left.

And if it feels okay for you,

Looking over your right shoulder.

Breathing here.

Feeling your body as it lies here.

Coming back again and again whenever the mind wanders without giving yourself a hard time,

Knowing it's all part of the practice.

And then bringing the knees back to centre and hugging the right knee into your chest,

Either holding onto the back of the thigh or the shin.

Finding your limit,

Your edge.

Perhaps exploring drawing the nose towards the knee.

Stretching the back of the neck,

Seeing how that feels.

And then relaxing the head back down if you lifted it and letting the right foot come back down onto the floor and hugging the left knee in.

Gently squeezing it in towards your chest as much as feels okay for you.

Perhaps playing with drawing the nose towards the knee,

Perhaps not.

Breathing here.

Sensing,

Feeling.

And then releasing the left knee,

Relaxing the head if it was lifted.

And coming to lay either with your legs out straight or keeping the feet stepped onto the floor.

Perhaps taking the knees a little wider and letting the knees knock together.

Coming to feel a sense of your whole body laying here.

Noticing any after effects from those stretches.

Feeling where your body meets the floor.

Feeling your breath moving in your body.

Breathing with a sense of your whole body just as it is right here,

Right now.

As we come to the end of the practice,

Taking care as you make the transition into the rest of your day.

Knowing that these sensations of your body,

Such as where the feet meet the ground or your bum is touching your chair,

Are always here as a way of re-anchoring yourself into the present moment.

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Reviews

I find this is really helpful, especially after a day sitting at a desk. The slow movements let you gently stretch out at the end if the day.