Welcome to mindful movement with Janelle Cruz.
This is your practice of moving your body slowly,
Intentionally and with great care and attention to what is happening in your present moment.
As you go through each movement,
Pay curious and compassionate attention to the messages and the sensations that arise in your body.
Anytime you notice stress or tension,
Bring special attention to that part of the body.
Breathe deeply in and out through that body part.
Just noticing whether that allows your body to release any of that stress.
If you have any health issues or injuries,
Or if any particular movement causes pain,
Do not force yourself to do it.
Instead,
Modify the movement so that works for your body,
Or you can skip it entirely and just practice mindful sitting or standing instead.
Remember,
What's most important is staying present with your body and not trying to get any certain kind of stretch or workout in.
Now,
Let's stand like a mountain.
We're going to begin standing here tall,
Feeling your feet firmly rooted on the ground,
Your head reaching towards the sky,
Stable,
Solid,
Dignified.
We're going to hear one sound of the bell breathing in and out deeply and mindfully,
Allowing the breath to feel the entire body breathing in.
I know that I'm breathing in,
Breathing out.
I know that I'm breathing out.
Now,
Here we go.
Continue breathing here.
And with the next breath in,
Rolling your shoulders forward and up as you breathe out.
Bring your shoulders backwards and down.
So breathing in,
Rolling your shoulders up,
Breathing out,
Rolling your shoulders down.
Now,
Continuing this at your own pace,
Just noticing the sensations in your shoulders,
If there's any stress or tension,
Or it feels light,
Loose,
And relaxed.
Continue to breathe mindfully,
Reversing directions,
Rolling your shoulders forward as you breathe,
And rolling your shoulders back.
Then allowing your shoulders to relax now,
Coming back to neutral.
Now let's pay attention to our neck.
So we're going to just roll your neck here,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Rolling your neck forward and down,
Looking towards the floor,
Breathing in,
Rolling to the right.
So your right ear is close to your right shoulder,
And breathing out,
Rolling forward and down.
Now breathing in,
Rolling to the left,
And breathing out,
Continuing to roll your neck back down.
And then gently noticing any sensations as you move from right to left.
Into the right,
Exhale,
Center,
Inhale,
Left,
And center.
Now coming back to neutral,
Relaxing and checking in with your body,
Maybe shaking out a bit,
Just shake,
And just loosening it up.
Bringing our attention to our arms,
Stretching your arms wide.
With the next breath in,
Bring your arms out to the side and up and over your head.
So your hands are above your head,
Fingers pointing up.
Breathing out,
Bring your palms down in front of you,
Palms facing down,
So your arms are by your side again.
Breathe in again,
Arms coming around and up over your head in a big circle,
Breathing in and then breathing out,
Gathering the breath through the middle of your body,
Hands come down,
Continuing to breathe,
Moving your hands and arms in circles.
Here we go.
Breathing in,
Gathering your breath at your own pace,
Exhale.
And back down.
So keep moving here,
Breathing.
And as best you can,
Staying with the breath,
Staying with the body,
Noticing when your mind wanders,
Noticing where your mind has wandered,
And bring it back,
Bring it back to the breath and to the body.
Feeling that energy building in your body,
Creating that heat.
Now coming back to neutral,
Relaxing your arms by your side.
Now we're going to breathe in,
Breathe out and bend forward at the waist,
Bending your knees slightly,
Hanging here like a rag doll,
Allowing your arms to hang and your head to hang like a rag doll here,
Giving your arms a little shake,
Shaking your head no,
Nodding your head yes.
And as best you can,
Bending forward at the waist instead of the back,
Perhaps finding a little swing from right to left,
Breathing into one side and then exhaling to the other.
Good.
Now find some stillness,
Finding some neutral position here hanging and slowly sit and bend forward,
Coming down to take a seat.
You can do this either on the floor or you can move to a chair.
If you are sitting on the floor,
Have your feet out in front of you with your knees bent slightly.
And if you're on the chair,
Just resting your feet firmly on the floor,
Sitting up tall,
Breathing in here now and breathing out.
We're now going to bend forward at the waist,
Reaching towards your feet with your hands as best you can,
Bending here,
Find a little bit of an extra length in the spine,
Sticking that tailbone back.
Breathe in and then breathing out,
Noticing again the sensation in your legs and your hips,
In your spine,
In your entire body.
Breathing in now,
Bringing your body back upright to a neutral sitting position.
Now our very last simple movement we're going to do is a twist.
So we'll first twist to the left.
So putting your right hand on your left hip,
Moving your left hand behind your back,
Looking over your left shoulder,
Breathing in,
Finding a little bit more length in your spine,
And breathing out,
Just noticing the sensations in your body as you twist even more.
And then breathing in and out.
Feeling that length through the spine,
Feeling those hips booted into your seat.
One more inhale here and exhale.
On your next inhale here,
Coming back to neutral here.
And with your next breath out,
Let's switch directions and twisting to the right,
Putting your left hand at your right hip,
Your right hand behind your back and looking over your right shoulder.
Again,
Finding length in the spine and breathing,
Just noticing what sensations are present in your hips,
In your spine,
And your shoulders.
And on your next inhale,
Holding here at the top and know that I am twisting,
Saying this to yourself.
And exhale,
Breathe out,
Coming back to center,
Smiling.
We smile.
And with the next breath in,
Coming back to that neutral position and facing forward.
Now just find some stillness,
Checking in with the entire body.
How does your whole body feel now?
Take a moment to scan through your entire body,
From head to toe,
Noticing if there are any areas of tension and stress.
Noticing if your body feels any different or if it feels the same,
And that's okay.
Just notice.
Breathing in here now,
Saying I am aware of my body.
Breathing out,
I smile to my body with awareness and compassion.
I am aware of my body.
I smile to my body with awareness and compassion.
Now take a moment to thank yourself for practicing your mindful movement today.
This is an act of self-compassion for your body and your mind.
So we will end this meditation with one sound of the bell.
Thank you for coming.
Namaste.
