Mindful Movements To Calm The Mind And Body

This is a gentle mindful movement meditation that is suitable for everyone. In this practice, we pay intense focus to the sensations that result from moving our bodies through gentle exercises and stretches, while placing all our attention on the movements of our bodies as well as our breath.

Transcript

So welcome to mindful movement. This is a mind body practice of moving your body slowly, Intentionally, And with great care and attention to what is happening in the present moment. Similar to yoga or Tai Chi, We will go through various movements. However, The goal is not to attain perfect posture or movement. The aim is to pay curious and compassionate attention to the messages and sensations that arise in your body as we go through these movements. Anytime you notice stress or tension, Bring special focus to that part of the body, Perhaps breathing deeply in and out through that part of the body, Noticing whether your body allows you to release any of that stress if you can send your breath there. If you have any health conditions, Injuries, Or if any particular movement causes pain, Do not force yourself to do it. Instead, Modify the movement so that it works for your body, Or you can visualize the movement in your mind. If this is still difficult, You may skip a movement entirely and just practice mindful sitting or standing instead. Remember, What's most important is staying present with your body. So we'll begin in what we call the mountain pose. Standing tall, Hands by your side, Feeling your feet firmly rooted on the ground, Your head reaching towards the sky, Your body stable, Solid, Dignified. We'll begin by bringing our focus to the breath, Taking a deep inhale and a slow exhale, Another inhale through the nose and a slow exhale through the nose or the mouth, In allowing the breath to fill the entire body, And out slowly and mindfully. And now returning your breath to its natural rhythm, Trying not to change it in any way. Now bringing awareness to every movement you make, Taking the right arm and lifting it up to shoulder height at the right angle to the body, And then upward toward the ceiling, Pointing the fingers upward, Slowly looking upwards as you're reaching, And reaching upwards as if reaching for something that is just beyond your reach. And being with the stretch in the muscles alongside the torso and in your arms, Doing every movement mindfully, Remembering to breathe here. And then slowly and mindfully taking the arm down to hang by your slide, Right by your side of the body, And feeling the blood rush back into your fingers, Acknowledging every sensation. And then similarly on the other side, Taking the left arm up to a right angle of the body, And then up past your head, Reaching upward, Perhaps pushing the toes into the ground as you reach up even higher, Reaching as if there was something just beyond your reach, Perhaps looking up to where your fingers are pointing, Noting the sensations alongside of your body and in your arm. And then slowly and mindfully breathing and slowly bringing your arm down by your side, Feeling the blood rush back, Feeling the sensations in your fingers and in your hands. Looking straight ahead as you do this, We will now roll our shoulders, Taking both shoulders, You can rotate them forward, Just slowly acknowledging the stretch across our back, Across our shoulder blades as we do this, Doing this as slightly or as strongly as we feel as possible and as comfortable. And then slowly reversing the direction and taking our shoulders and rotating them backwards, This time feeling the stretch across the front of our chest and our shoulders, Feeling the stretch wherever you feel it, Again, Doing it as little or as strongly as we wish. Now coming back to the mountain pose again. And now doing some gentle neck movements. As we begin, We move the chin down to our chest, Looking downward toward the floor, Being aware of the stretch in the muscles in the back of our neck, Remembering to breathe here. And now moving your head in the opposite direction and looking up to the ceiling and noticing the sensations at the front of our neck here. Then bringing our head back to a neutral position and then looking very slowly from side to side. So first moving our chin to our right shoulder, Turning, Feeling the stretch on the left side of our neck. And then going in the opposite direction, Feeling the stretch on the right side as you slowly turn your head over to your left shoulder, Remembering to breathe. If your mind wanders, Coming back to the sensations in your body, Coming back to a neutral position, Now tilting your neck. So bringing your right ear to your right shoulder, Acknowledging the stretch of the muscles on the opposite side of the neck. And now slowly moving your head back to neutral and leaning and tilting to the other side. So bringing your left ear to your left shoulder, Feeling the stretch on the right side of your neck here. And coming back to a neutral position. Then bringing your head up, Looking forward, Now gently placing your hands on our hips as we move into what we call hip circles. Starting in one direction, Just rotating the hips only if we can. And if we can't, Imagining doing this just for a few rotations, Making hip circles as small or as big as your body allows. And then going in the opposite direction, Rotating the hips gently and gradually noticing the sensations wherever you may feel them in your hips, Your back, Your stomach, Your knees. And then just coming back into the mountain pose again. And now taking the palms of the fingers, Placing them at the front of your thighs. And slowly running the palms of your fingers down the front of both thighs as we slowly and gradually bend forward, Sliding your hands and your fingers as far as your body allows, Perhaps past the knees, Bit down to the lower legs as far as we feel comfortable, Noticing the sensations in your back, In your hips, Wherever you feel. Perhaps letting go of the neck if it feels comfortable. And then lifting your hands and your fingers off your lower legs or your thighs and just letting them hang just like a rag doll perhaps, Letting your hands and your fingers just get heavy, Allowing gravity to pull the hands further down. And then making a few circular motions with our arms in whichever direction you'd like with both arms going in one direction and then making circles in the opposite direction, Aware of the stretch in the muscles, Remembering to breathe here. And then taking the palms of the fingers, Placing them on our lower legs again or your knees or your thighs, And then bringing ourselves gradually back up again, Slowly and mindfully as we straighten our back, Finding ourselves standing upright again with our arms by our sides. And now doing a slight twist through your body, Bringing our hands back to our hips. We will slowly twist starting with the left side. So turning your body and looking over your left shoulder as far as your body will allow. Noticing the sensations in your neck, Your shoulders, Your chest, Your torso. And then slowly and mindfully coming back to neutral and going in the opposite direction. Twisting to the right, Keeping your hands on your hips and looking over your right shoulder. Perhaps taking a deep inhale and exhale here. Noticing the sensations wherever you feel them, Not judging them as good or bad. And slowly twisting back to a forward position into neutral position. Now bringing your hands down by your side, Letting them hang wherever they are. Now for the next few moments, Expanding your attention to your whole body. Noticing how the breath travels through the entire body. Noticing how your chest and stomach expand as you breathe in and how your chest and stomach relax as you breathe out. Just noticing the waves of your breath traveling through your body. In and out. In and out. And now just checking in with your entire body as a whole. How does your body feel as a whole? Perhaps taking a quick moment to scan through your entire body from your head to your toes. Noticing if there are any areas of tension and stress. Noticing if your body feels any different after this mindful movement. Perhaps lighter, Perhaps heavier, Cooler, Relaxed, More tense. Perhaps it feels the same. Whatever the case may be, Taking a moment to thank yourself for practicing mindful movement. It is an act of self-compassion for your body and your mind. Thank you for joining. Okay. Sorry. I have to get Comfy back in my chair. Coming back to your chairs. Coming back to this webinar here in the Zoom. Perfect. Thank you all for joining. Wow, We had over 90 people join. That's fantastic. Hope you all enjoyed that. Now, I do have a few questions for you. Maybe you can use the chat function to just put in a few words as you reflected on this practice and how you felt through this meditation. My first question for you is, What was that meditation like for you? You can share anything there. Another question as well is, Any parts of your body which felt tense or relaxed as you did this? Any specific parts of your body that you felt that you were carrying any tension? Perhaps your neck and your shoulders, Maybe your low back, Your jaw. Also, Noticing if there was anything that surprised you about this meditation. Reflecting on your own or posting it in the chat for others to see. Anyone felt anything that was uncomfortable? Just noticing that.