Mindful Movement

A way to use the movement of the body as a meditation. This is a standing movement practice. It's a very gentle way to be with the body. It's not exercise. We can be aware of all the thoughts & feelings that come up around this as we move our bodies.

Transcript

Movement practice,

Standing in bare or stocking feet,

Allowing the eyes to close for a few moments,

Turning awareness inwards,

Noticing the soles of the feet,

The contact with the floor,

The legs or the knees locked,

Just allowing a small bend in the knees,

Allowing them to unlock,

The spine from the coccyx and the pelvis all the way up to the skull at the top,

The torso,

The arms and hands held lightly at the sides of the body,

The head resting on top of the neck,

Setting the intention for this movement practice to be alongside the body,

To be with the body just as it is and to listen to your body,

None of these exercises should cause strong pain,

Intense pain,

You know your body best so trust what feels okay for you,

Also setting the intention that the aim is to be with our body,

Not to push it or to strive or to compete in any way,

Turning the awareness towards the breath,

That flow of breath,

Moving in and moving out,

The air by the nostrils,

Across the roof of the mouth and down into the lungs themselves,

Movement of the ribs going up and out and can we notice the flow of air down towards the belly,

The belly moving in,

Moving out,

Just allowing the breath to be as it is right now in this moment and then you may wish to open your eyes or to keep your eyes closed,

Whatever feels okay for you for these exercises,

Perhaps bringing a playful attitude,

Trying one way and then the other,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Keeping knees nice and soft and with the next in breath just starting to lift up the arms together,

The left and the right,

Coming out to the side,

Going no higher than shoulder level but if you need to stop before they reach shoulder level,

Again trust what your body tells you is okay today,

Not what was okay yesterday or the day before but what's okay for you right now,

Breathing in and then holding,

Just holding those arms out,

Staying with the breath,

If there's any tension,

Any aches that's okay,

Can breathe around that,

Just staying with this for as long as feels okay,

Breathing in once more and then on the out breath,

Just gently starting to lower the arms and bringing them back down towards the sides,

Breathing in and breathing out and now we're going to shift the weight onto one foot,

The right foot,

So just start to shift the weight over to the right foot and notice how that feels for you,

Does the knee attempt to lock out,

Do the arms need to engage and employed with this,

Just shifting that weight over to the right foot and then if it feels okay,

Just starting to take the weight off of the left foot,

So we can go on to tiptoes with the left foot or we can start to actually just take the left foot gently off of the floor,

Turning awareness into the body,

Noticing where we feel this,

Which muscles,

Which areas of the body,

Again we don't have to strive or to push ourselves in any way with this practice,

We're just playing around with balance,

Seeing how this feels for us today,

Placing the left foot back on the floor firmly,

Noticing how that feels and then starting to shift the weight back into the middle,

Closing the eyes for a few moments,

Softening knees,

Noticing sensations in the soles of the feet,

Up through the legs and the torso,

The arms,

Perhaps even the face,

Breathing in,

So we move over onto the left foot,

Shifting that weight over to the left foot,

Just seeing the change of sensations,

The pattern across the body,

Using the breath to focus attention on the body and if it feels okay for you today,

Starting to lift that right foot up a little,

What sensations are my headlines today?

What are the quieter whispers of sensation?

Just allowing those to be there also,

Engaging with the spirit of playfulness,

Of curiosity,

Lowering the right foot,

Placing the right foot more firmly,

More fully back onto the floor,

Shifting our weight back to the middle,

Holding awareness equally between right and left foot,

Again closing the eyes for a few moments,

Just tuning into those sensations on the soles of the feet and then lightly scanning the rest of the body,

Bringing awareness up through the legs,

Through the torso,

The shoulders,

The arms and hands,

The neck and head,

Breathing in,

Bringing awareness up to the shoulders themselves.

As we breathe in,

I'm going to imagine we were trying to bring both of the shoulders towards each other at the front of the chest,

Breathing in,

Up round towards the ears,

As we breathe out,

Moving back down,

Moving the shoulder blades together and completing a full circle,

So almost as if you had a pencil on the top of each shoulder,

We would be drawing a circle on the walls at the side,

Breathing in,

Coming forwards,

Up,

Around and back,

Squeezing the shoulder blades together,

Allowing the shoulders to move down with the out breath,

Breathing in,

Up and forwards,

Out,

Back and down,

Drawing those large circles around with the shoulders,

Trusting that your body will tell you what is or isn't okay for you today,

You don't have to strive,

Any pain or discomfort that's present,

Just being mindful of this,

Being respectful of the body and the body's signals,

But again it's okay to move closer to discomfort,

But doing what feels right for you today.

I'm coming to stand still for a few moments,

Just allowing the shoulders to rest,

Closing the eyes perhaps for these few moments and then we're going to move the other way,

To move in towards the back,

Squashing the shoulder blades together,

Moving up across to the front,

Bringing the shoulders as close as we can get them across the front of the chest,

Down and back and synchronising this with the breath and then out,

Perhaps inwards as we move up and forwards and out as we go down and back,

Just allowing the shoulders to make their rotations,

Their circles,

Moving round at your own pace with your own breath,

Staying with the body,

With the sensations that are present.

I'm coming to a stand still in the middle,

Closing the eyes for a few moments,

Noticing where these echoes of sensation are felt,

The headline sensations and the quieter whispers,

The breath in the midst,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Just checking back in with the knees,

Are they still soft?

Perhaps noticing the face,

Any tension,

Any holding in the face and now as we breathe in,

We're going to raise the right arm,

To raise in as high as is comfortable for you and if it's okay,

Bringing it right above the head and we're going to imagine that we see a lovely juicy piece of fruit just out of our reach and we're trying to get this piece of fruit,

So just stretching up and then starting to lift the left heel off the floor and just seeing how this changes or alters the stretch,

What's happening with the breathing,

The right side of the body and the left side of the body,

Breathing in and then as we breathe out,

Just very slowly bringing the heel back down,

Bringing the arm back down,

You can look at the hand,

Trace the arc of the arm with the eyes,

Until we bring the hand back to the side of the body,

Moving to the left arm,

Breathing in and reaching up as far as is okay for you and your body today and reaching right round,

If it's okay,

To above the head and stretching,

Stretching up that lovely piece of fruit,

Allowing the right heel to come off the floor,

Just reaching up,

Feeling what we'd call the hard edge,

So stretching to that point that's okay for you,

We shouldn't be feeling a lot of discomfort,

If we are,

Then it's a signal to just back away,

Take this exercise back a notch,

Breathing in to the stretched left arm,

The right heel off the floor,

As we breathe out,

Just very gently bringing the arm down,

Contract the arc of the arm with the eyes,

Lowering the heel to the floor,

Until we come to stand,

And closing the eyes for a few moments,

Noticing these sensations that are present,

We're going to do one last exercise together,

A big shrug,

Just breathing,

Lifting the shoulders up to the ears,

Breathing in and out and squeezing the shoulders right up by the ears,

Breathing in and as we breathe out,

Just letting the shoulders fall,

And once again,

Breathing in,

Bringing the shoulders up to the ears,

Just holding the shoulders right up by the ears,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Breathing in again and then out,

And let the shoulders drop,

One more time,

Breathing in,

Bringing the shoulders right up to the ears,

Breathing in and out here for a few moments,

Breathing in and then breathing out,

And letting the shoulders drop,

Closing the eyes,

Moving awareness alongside the body,

Noticing the sensations that are present,

Where is my attention pulled to,

What else is happening elsewhere in the body,

And the breath in the midst,

Moving in and moving out,

And setting the intention at the end of this practice,

To stay with the body,

To come to the body throughout the day,

To see how the body actually is,

Its genuine self,

And to just be alongside that without judgement,

Without striving,

Just experience the body as it is in this moment.

I'm just standing here having a few more mindful breaths,

Preparing to end our practice and to carry on with the rest of our day,

And once we hear the bell,

We will know that this practice has ended.