Mindful Yoga Home Practice (MBSR)

A gentle mindful yoga sequence that should be accessible to most people. This is the 2015 version of our standard home practice sequence. For the revised 2017 version see the recording by Karen Schwisow.

Transcript

Welcome to the mindful yoga home practice sequence.

Remembering that our intention is to practice embodiment,

Doing these poses with awareness from the inside out,

As it were.

Starting by standing tall and evenly in the mountain pose,

Grounding the feet,

Relaxing the knees,

Tucking the tail a little bit,

Lengthening the spine right up into the top of the head,

Adjusting the shoulders of the hang,

Evenly releasing the hands.

Let's start this sequence of movements with stillness.

Arms to the side,

Feeling from the inside of the torso and the arms as we raise the arms up to horizontal,

Reaching them wide apart,

Dropping the shoulders,

Opening the chest,

Breathing.

Reaching those fingertips a little further apart perhaps.

Then let's rotate the palms up and feel into that in the shoulders,

Chest,

And back.

Maybe a little lift in the sternum.

And let's invite the arms the rest of the way to vertical,

Reaching tall for the ceiling,

While still breathing and bringing a relaxed attitude to the effortful poses that we make.

Where in the body do we need to be working and where can we stay soft?

Reach a little more on one side,

On the other side,

And a big swinging arc back down with awareness.

The arms reach the side,

Inviting hands,

Arms,

Shoulders to really release.

Let's play with some shoulder rolls,

Letting the arms hang as we lift the shoulders up,

Roll them forward,

Drop them all the way down and back.

Let's try that a couple of times,

Tuning into the many sensations in the shoulders,

Neck,

And back,

As we roll the shoulders mindfully.

Emphasizing those four points now reversing,

So that we explore up,

Back,

Down,

And forward fully.

And releasing the shoulders,

Let's play with the head and neck,

Inviting some length in the neck,

Back of the head rising.

On the exhalation,

Inviting the ear,

The right ear,

To drop to the right shoulder.

The left shoulder can stay down.

A couple of breaths on each of the four points of this four-part neck rotation.

Inviting the head back up,

Inhaling it up,

Long neck,

Inviting the head forward towards the chest.

Letting gravity do the work here,

Our effort is to release and let go.

Breathing the head back up,

Neutral,

And dropping left ear to left shoulder,

Right shoulder staying relaxed and down.

A couple of breaths here to start approaching the maximum of this particular practice on this particular day.

Breathing the head back up,

And with that long neck,

Chin a little tucked perhaps,

Dropping the head back towards the back,

Gazing up towards the ceiling,

Feeling what there is here to be felt.

Breathing the head back forward,

And let's at our own pace move back around the other way,

Left,

Forward,

And right.

Once we're back to neutral,

Let's re-establish the groundedness of our mountain.

It's a mountain by the way with some flexibility,

Like a tree,

Not a rigidity,

Like rock.

Picking up those pose,

Let's take a small step straight forward with the right foot.

Reach the right arm up,

Left arm reaching back down alongside the left thigh.

We're adding the hips to stay square,

So we need to gently bring the right hip back to alignment as we gaze up beyond the upraised right arm,

And breathe those two hands further and further apart as the right arm reaches for something just out of reach,

An apple high on the tree.

Bringing energy and awareness and even breathing into each pose,

Releasing the right arm down,

Stepping back to parallel,

A fully released breath in the mountain pose,

And left foot forward,

Left arm up,

Weight forward on the left foot,

Left leg,

Square hips as the right,

Left arm reaches up,

Right down alongside our right thigh and behind,

Gazing up,

Long neck,

Open chest,

Feeling the upper body floating up towards the ceiling while the lower body grounds down towards the floor.

And let's release,

Standing with feet parallel,

Let's bring our hands to our hips and enjoy and explore some hip circles.

Moving the hips around in an even circle,

Feeling what there is to be felt,

Back,

Belly,

And sides.

And when you're ready,

Let's reverse the direction.

You can play if you like the little bigger circle.

And let's ease our way back to the center and pause again in mountain pose for a breath.

Half moon side stretch to the left,

Bringing either the right arm up or both arms up,

Palms to face each other or meet.

Let's bring the torso over to the left and the hips over to the right,

Staying on one plane as best we can,

Not leaning forward or back.

And a feeling of rising and extension out of both sides of the body,

Not collapsing on the left.

Coming up and over to the left,

Half moon to the left.

A little gentler just to have the right arm up,

You can experiment with both.

And let's come back to neutral,

Lower the arm or arms,

Release with the exhalation,

And half moon pose to the right,

Left arm or both arms up,

Torso right,

Hips left.

Active but relaxed,

Present in the body.

The mind wanders or fixes on judgment of thought.

Anything else,

We can notice this with the power of mindful observation.

We return to the subtle and complex exploration of feelings in the body,

So many sensations here.

Good,

Let's come back up to neutral and release.

Bending the knees and bringing the hands down onto the upper thighs for forward bend,

Forward fold.

Back,

Safe way of doing this,

But do be very careful and kind with the lower back especially.

Back is long,

Chest is open as you bend deeply at the waist.

Bring the torso forward over the knees.

This might be plenty if you're interested in more.

Releasing the arms from the legs,

Allowing them to dangle,

And little by little just allowing the back and head and neck to roll down towards the floor.

We first come as deeply into the pose as we can with a straight back folding at the waist.

And then allowing some release and rounding,

You might rock the head left and right.

Let the torso swing a little bit,

Breathing aware of the many sensations that happen when the head is below the waist.

Good,

And now let's bring our hands,

Slide our hands back up to the upper thighs,

Pressing down with arms and elbows.

Let's uncurl so the chest is open and the back is long.

And unfold,

Calming gently back to standing,

Some strength in the legs here supporting us and protecting our back.

We might briefly reverse this with hands on the waist,

Chest forward,

Elbows together if you like.

Breathe standing,

Back bend,

But coming back to standing now for a standing balance.

Let's shift our weight to the right,

Over the right foot,

Slide the left foot straight out to the left with the left big toe grazing the floor.

And let's bring our arms out to the side like a balancing pole,

Choosing a spot on a wall or the floor to gaze at.

Let's just float the left leg straight up and out to the left.

Another option is to move it forward as shown in the diagram.

And not so important how high the leg goes as much as our careful,

Aware exploration of balance.

What's happening to allow the body to balance on one leg?

Reaching the arms wide apart if you like,

Opening the chest,

Emerging into the balance like a flower opening.

And then let's come out,

Might be helpful to walk the feet and legs a moment.

Re-establishing the balance of standing on two feet,

Which is also a balancing pose.

And let's shift our weight to the left,

Onto the left leg,

Sliding the right leg to the right,

The right big toe could be grazing the floor.

As the arms come out towards horizontal as balancing poles,

And the right leg lifts up and out to the right.

Standing balance on the left leg.

And again,

Play with commitment to the pose,

Fully inhabiting the feeling of this standing balance as best you can.

And then let's come out,

Might be helpful again to just walk the ankles,

Legs,

Thighs a little bit.

And then let's invite ourselves to lie down onto the floor,

On our backs.

Once down on the floor,

Let's arrange the body carefully.

Yoga suggests a relaxed opening pose when lying on our back.

A yoga rest,

A mindful lying at rest.

You might tuck the tail a little bit and place the back of the head a little further away to lengthen the spine.

Palms can be up with the arms out to the sides.

Rolling the shoulders out,

You might walk the scapula up into the upper back a little bit.

And toes can be wider than heels to support the hips rolling away from each other.

So a lengthening and a subtle opening up and down from the midline of the body.

Just allowing the body to drop into the mat for a couple of breaths.

And now let's keep the left leg grounded,

Extending out of the left heel,

And then the right knee,

Bringing the bent right leg up towards the right chest.

Holding on around thigh or shin,

Keeping the hips grounded on the floor,

Feeling the big rotation in the right hip,

The stretch across the groin to the grounded left leg,

The compression in the right side of the belly.

So we gently use our arms as guides and encouragement to breathe the bent right leg down towards the right chest.

And let's release.

Dropping briefly back into the yoga resting pose.

Opening things and settling things again.

Coming back to rest after effort.

It's a big part of this practice,

And we're modeling this for the rest of our life as well.

And now let's ground and plant the extended right leg,

And bring the bent left leg up towards the left chest.

Again,

Holding on around the thigh,

Around the shin.

And easing that leg towards the maximum of this particular moment.

Exhalation is a powerful opportunity in this slow mindful style of yoga to invite a little more depth and ease.

I play with inhalation as energy,

Aliveness,

Exhalation as releasing a little more deeply into the stretch,

Into the pose.

And let's release,

Returning to the yoga resting pose.

Good,

Now let's play with a straight leg lift.

We're going to lift the straight right leg,

So let's plant the left foot flat on the floor next to the right knee,

So we have some support there.

Hands can be at our sides with the palms down.

That is down as we reach the right heel away from the body,

Long right leg.

And invite that right leg to float up towards the ceiling.

As if it's just buoyant.

Once the leg comes up towards vertical,

Let's hold on with our hands for some support and guidance below the knee.

We can interlace the fingers.

And let's just notice the many things that are happening here.

The lengthening of the hamstring,

Another big rotation in the hip socket.

What else is going on?

What's the feeling in the back and the belly?

And are we adding unnecessary tension in chest or face?

That leg coming ever so slightly more towards our upper body.

Let's enjoy an ankle rotation while we have the foot up in the air.

In both directions and flexing the foot in various ways,

What feels good.

This practice may include some discomfort,

But it should basically feel good.

How wholesome and helpful.

And now optionally engaging the core abdominals.

Feeling a pressing down against the pelvis with the musculature.

Let's float the chest up towards the leg.

Forehead towards the knee.

And we still be breathing evenly and gently as we engage the core muscles of the torso.

Lift that heavy upper body up in the air towards the leg.

And invite the leg in turn towards the torso.

And now let's allow the upper back to roll back down to the floor.

And when it gets down,

Let's rock the head a little bit to release the neck.

And lowering the leg mindfully and evenly.

When it reaches the floor,

Straightening the other leg and really inviting all the muscles that were just working to release.

Straight left leg into the air.

Let's plant the right foot flat on the floor.

Next to the left knee,

Palms down.

And lift the left leg,

Float the left leg up towards vertical,

Holding on with the hands below the knee.

Encouraging,

Inviting,

Being interested in the feelings,

Even if there's some intensity in the hamstrings or the groin.

Playing right at the edge of that.

Noticing what's too much and what's a little more cautious than we need to be.

Where is that balance?

That ever-changing balance right now?

So the left leg moving towards the upper body,

Gently.

And let's rotate the left foot around the ankle.

A couple of times,

Both directions.

And then this raising of the torso is totally optional,

So being aware of what is appropriate to your back and neck.

Let's engage the core.

If we're coming up and peel the upper back,

Upper middle back,

Lower back even,

Up off the floor.

Chest is leading in some way,

Not hunching forward with the neck or the shoulders.

Breathing the torso.

And it's fine if the torso just comes an inch off the floor.

It's the deliberate use of effort that we're interested in.

Engagement of those muscles and the awareness of the body.

And let's lower the torso back down towards the floor,

Letting it roll back down.

And release the head a little bit when we land.

And let's lower the leg.

And return to resting.

Bridge pose.

Let's plant both feet flat on the floor,

About 6 to 8 inches from the buttocks,

Hips width apart.

Let's warm up the low back a little bit with some pelvic rocks.

Rocking the pelvis away lifts the low back,

Rocking the pelvis towards lowers it into the mat.

Doing a few oscillations of that with awareness.

Hands are by our sides with the palms down.

Feet are planted,

Thighs are engaged.

Let's lift the lower back and butt up off the floor,

Rising up into our bridge.

Walk up onto the shoulders a little bit more.

Our hands could be like struts for our bridge.

Under the thighs or butt.

Our hands could be clasped and with long arms.

To encourage the shoulders to roll apart,

The chest to open.

Or even the hands could come up over the head,

Backs of the hands,

Reaching for the floor up above the head.

Big bridge.

Tucking the tail,

The sense of the spine lengthening as it rises.

And the breath moving up and down the body,

Providing energy,

Awareness,

And relaxation.

How high is it appropriate to bring our bridge today?

We bring some stability to our bridge and hold it for a little while.

Good.

Let's bring the arms back down if they're up.

And lower ourselves gently back to the floor.

After we land,

Let's briefly reverse the low back stretch by bringing both knees up towards the belly.

And if we like,

We can move the knees around in a little circle.

A bit of a self-massage here.

Optionally we could even bring our head up towards our knees and curl up into a little ball and roll around a little bit.

And when you're ready,

Releasing the head down.

If it's up,

Releasing the feet back to the floor.

Let's roll over to one side.

On our way to sitting up or hands and knees.

Pausing a moment on our sides,

Allowing ourselves to settle for a breath.

Feeling the feeling of lying on our side.

And let's use our hands and elbows now to come up.

Either to sitting on the floor,

On our butt with the feet in front,

Or on hands and knees.

Either way,

In either of these two postures,

Hands and knees requires a little more weight on the wrists so you can choose either one.

What we're interested in here is the cat and the cow rolling the spine forward and down from the low,

Middle to upper.

Raising the head up,

Reaching the head back.

The back down,

The belly down if we're on hands and knees or forward if we're sitting with the cow.

And then reversing this.

Tucking the tail,

Bringing the belly up,

The back up,

The head down and forward.

Is cat.

So whether doing this on hands and knees or seated with the feet out in front and the knees pointing up,

In that case holding on to the shins.

Let's do this as evenly and smoothly as we can,

Creating a wave in the back that moves from lower to middle to upper back and neck and head are last.

Knowing our spine a little better,

Caring for the spine.

And then if it's fine for the knees,

Dropping back into child's pose,

Bent knees are below us,

Our butt reaching back down for the heels.

At first bringing the arms out a little further in front,

Walking the hands away,

Letting the head drop but it might not quite reach the floor just yet.

Opening the armpits,

Tailbone down towards the heels,

Arms reaching away,

Long body stretch.

Releasing the head.

And then the second part,

Sliding the arms down alongside the feet,

Palms up.

And now we really would love it if the head can rest on something.

They can't easily reach the floor,

You could stack hands or fists beneath it or bring a pillow to put under your forehead.

Allowing the body to just drop down onto the thighs.

The variation is to spread the knees wider to allow room for the belly to drop.

Giving this a couple of breaths.

Good.

Now let's come back up and walk our hands forward and our knees back coming down onto our belly.

Let's spend a moment resting first on our belly.

Head should be to one side,

Resting on the right cheek perhaps,

Hands down alongside the torso with the palms up.

Just allowing the body to sink into the mat lying on the belly.

How does this feel?

Now let's slide our arms forward,

Resting on our forearms and our elbows for a gentle Cobra pose.

Bringing the shoulders down,

The shoulder blades together a little bit.

Biting the chest forward.

Activating the legs and the back body.

Biting the pelvis down into the floor.

Cobra pose.

This may be plenty,

Another option is to press down with the hands and come up a little bit higher being very aware of the low back looking up.

Now let's lower ourselves back down and rest on the belly with the other cheek,

On the left cheek.

And now let's leave the arms down alongside,

Place the face in a neutral position perhaps on the chin.

Let's do a much smaller version of Cobra without the support of the arms and elbows.

Lengthening out of the toes,

Just lifting the head up off the floor,

Activating the back body.

Being truly a Cobra with no arms.

You can play with raising the feet up a little bit as well if you like.

Being so aware of the health of the neck and back.

Good,

And let's release back down.

Take a breath or two on the other cheek.

And then let's roll like a log over to one side.

And all the way over onto our backs.

Lying down twist.

Let's bring our feet together and plant them flat on the floor fairly close to the butt and gluing the feet and legs together into one unit.

Knees,

Thighs,

Shins are all together.

And let's reach the arms out wide.

A V or a T.

And let's allow the legs to fall over to the left.

They'll roll up onto the left outer foot.

Knees coming towards the floor on the left.

Feeling the twist starting to happen from the waist to the low back to the middle back.

And then let's swing our head the opposite direction to the right.

Feeling the twist continuing up into the upper back and into the neck.

Breathing into the twist.

Allowing gravity and patience and breath to be our friends.

Noticing where you can feel the twist and where you can't.

And we can invite a little more freedom of movement,

For instance,

To the middle back and the middle chest by opening the chest in some way.

And releasing a little more into the twist on the exhalation.

Good.

And let's roll back up to neutral.

Re-align everything and twist in the other direction.

Feet and legs,

Or legs and knees to the right,

Head to the left.

Releasing deeply into the twist.

And on the next exhalation,

Can we feel into and release into the twist?

Just a touch more.

And let's roll back up to neutral.

Let's briefly bring both legs up towards the belly.

Just a little gentle stretch of the low back.

And releasing the legs fully to the floor.

Establishing ourself carefully in the resting pose.

With that long spine,

Shoulders and hips rolling out.

And releasing and dropping into the mat.

For this final yoga resting pose of the sequence.

Finding the full body to just release into the floor,

Into the mat,

Coming to rest.

A little more fully before we close this practice.

And perhaps inviting a little sense of appreciation into our mind,

Into our heart.

That we took the time to make this practice a priority once more.

Participating in an active,

Engaged way with our own well-being.

So may we'll bring benefit to our body and mind and to the well-being of the others that we interact with.

Thank you.

Reviews

Very nice way to work with mbsr beyond meditation. 🙏

Thanks for the nice stretching. The descriptions were easy to follow🤗🙏

Really liked this. Slow and gentle but intense. Namaste

Haven't done yoga in awhile and this was just what I needed thank you 💝

Very quiet but it helps with concentration

Thank you, it was lovely ! 🙏🏻✨

Wonderful! Time and space on your own to practise with guidance. Thank you

This is a great yoga practice. Struggling with a running injury and this wa a great workout for my mind and to heal my body.

Stress relief for me

Thank you. My body feels wonderful.

Like this clearly explained

Very nice practice. I enjoyed the simplicity.

Very good session, thanks.

Nice yoga. Will do again. Thank you.

Perfect pool side meditation for this morning! Thank you!!

Supurb gentle stretching for morning or evening. Nice length and pacing. I chose not to come into a double knee hug immediately after bridge pose due to my training and personal feelings.

Slow and easy poses. I was very relaxed when I finished.

Awesome just what the mind, body & soul needed before making dinner 👍🏾
Thank you
Mahalo
And namaste 🙏🏾

A combination of genial standing and lying poses from MBSR course. Thank you for posting here.

Always a wonderful practice.