Welcome to this yoga sequence.
My name is Kamela,
And I'll be guiding you through this standing yoga,
Which is a part of the MBSR mindfulness-based stress reduction program.
For much of this practice,
We will be standing.
And seated and laying down in later in the class.
And if standing is not comfortable or appropriate for you,
You're welcome to adapt any movement,
Use a chair or a wall for support,
Sit down,
Or just leave a movement out.
The invitation is not to perform the postures.
It is to explore what it is to be present in the body while moving.
Notice the sensations,
The balance,
The effort,
The breathing,
And the thoughts.
And perhaps also noticing the impulse to compare,
To achieve or to push.
Whenever possible,
Allow your own body to guide you through the practice.
So we're going to begin standing in mountain pose,
Standing with the feet hip-width apart,
Or whatever distance gives you a sense of stability.
Allow the arms to rest beside the body.
Just feeling the contact with the floor here,
The heels.
The balls of the feet,
The toes Feeling the weight of the body moving down through the legs into the feet.
And perhaps noticing that standing still is not completely still.
There may be tiny movements,
Tiny adjustments.
The body is balancing from moment to moment.
Close your eye if it feels comfortable.
And notice the breath.
No need to change it.
Simply standing here.
Breathing.
When you feel ready,
Slowly begin to raise both arms up against the ceiling over your head.
You can move them out to the sides and up or in front of you and up.
Anyway you prefer.
Allowing the arms to reach upward.
You don't need to straighten them completely.
Feeling the feet grounded,
While the arms reach upwards.
Feeling the length in your whole body.
Notice the shoulders.
Is there any possibility to soften them slightly even as arms are lifted?
And slowly start to bring your arms back down and again you can take them sides of the body or in front of you all the way down And we're going to repeat it one more time.
So next time when you inhale,
Raise both arms up over your head all the way up to the ceiling,
Stretching tall.
Holding it here for a moment,
Feeling the length in the body,
The stretch in the body.
Soften the shoulders.
Slowly let them come down the same way as they came up.
Let the arms rest next to your body.
And now gently let your both arms come out to the sides of your body so you're standing like a T.
Arms are about shoulder height.
Feeling the span across the chest,
Across the shoulders,
Along the arms.
All the way out into the hands.
Notice the effort required simply to hold the arms out here to the sides of the body.
And slowly lower the arms,
Come back next to the body.
Keeping the feet grounded into the floor.
And now begin to lift the right arm over the head,
Letting the left arm rest beside the body.
The right arm reaching gently upward.
Simply feeling the one side of your body stretching.
Feeling the length in the right side And slowly lowering the right arm.
Let it rest next to your body.
And we're going to change sides.
So now the left arm is rising over the head.
Right arm is resting.
Now feeling the length in the left side of the body.
The shoulder,
The ribs,
The waist.
Holding the stretch here for a moment,
Feeling the whole left side.
And slowly lower the left arm.
Both arms come down next to the body.
Take a moment to feel the effect after these stretches.
Maybe you can feel some warmth,
Maybe some tingling.
Maybe something else.
And now lifting both arms over the head again.
Both of them.
Stretching them up against the ceiling And very gentle now,
Begin to lean toward the right,
Without twisting.
Without moving your legs or knees or hips.
Just let the upper body move.
Lean towards the right.
Feeling the length here in the left side of the body.
Perhaps through the ribs and the waist and the outer hip.
Notice the breath here.
Is there room to breathe into the side of the body?
And slowly returning to the center And moving over to the other side.
So gently now towards the left.
Leaning towards the left,
Feeling the right side lengthen now.
Not forcing the movement,
Just hold it here for a moment.
Feel your right side.
And gradually return to upright.
Lower the both arms next to your body.
Allowing the arms to rest naturally.
And bring now your attention to the shoulders.
We're going to continue with shoulder rolls.
Beginning by lifting both shoulders gently upwards to the ears.
Holding them here for a moment.
And then moving them back.
Holding them back here for a moment.
Gently letting them come down,
All the way down.
And slowly to the front.
So continue do this rolling in your own pace.
Shoulder rolls moving up,
Back,
Down and around.
So a few circles here on your own.
Notice the sensations in the shoulders.
Notice the sensation in the upper back.
In the chest.
A few more rolls,
Feeling the shoulder joint.
And next time when they come back and down,
Stop there.
And do a few circles the other direction.
So now rolling them forward.
A few circles forward.
Moving slowly enough to actually feel the movement.
A few more rounds,
Forward direction.
And then when you feel ready,
Let them drop down,
Come to stillness.
And just feel the effect here in the shoulder area,
In the upper back.
And now bringing the awareness to the head and the neck we're going to continue with neck movements and these movements can be very small So begin by allowing your chin to move gently towards the chest as if you're dropping your head down.
Hold it here for a moment and just feel the stretch here in the neck.
You don't need to pull or force.
And slowly bring your head back towards the center.
And gently turning the head towards the left.
Letting your left ear drop down to your left shoulder.
Feeling the length in the right side of the throat and the neck.
And slowly coming back to the center.
And now we're going to drop the head backwards.
So simply looking up and let your head fall back.
This is a small movement.
And it's going to feel comfortable all the time.
So slowly let your head drop back.
Feel the stretch in the front,
In the throat.
Hold it here for a few moments.
Before you slowly come back to the center again.
And finally moving the right ear to the right shoulder.
Stretching the left side of the neck and the throat.
Holding it here.
Explore the feeling here.
And slowly returning to the center.
Let your head rest balanced and comfortably right over the shoulders.
And we're going to do a balance pose now.
So now bring your awareness down to the feet again.
And you may want to stand close to a wall or a chair for to have contact as a help.
And stand now on your both feet and slowly shift over your weight over to your right foot.
So feel the right foot a little bit more heavy than the left one.
Feeling the ground here.
And now we're going to let our both arms come out to the sides of the body as a T.
For balance.
And if it feels workable,
Slowly allow the left leg now to move out to the side.
It may remain very close to the floor,
You just need to lift it a few centimeters.
Exploring.
The right foot is steady down into the floor,
Lifting our left foot.
The arms are there for balance.
Just notice the balance,
The adjustments in the standing foot,
In the ankle,
In the leg,
In the center.
There is no need to balance perfectly.
Wobbling is a part of balancing.
Holding it a bit longer.
Feel your small muscles working here in your right leg.
And slowly bringing the leg and the arms back down.
Grounding both feet in the ground.
And we're going to change side.
So now shifting the weight over to the left foot,
Grounding the left foot into the floor.
Let your arms come out to the sides of the body as a T.
And slowly start lifting the right leg gently out to the side.
Arms extended.
Notice the living process of balance.
The adjustments in the left foot now,
The standing foot,
The ankle,
The leg.
The wobbling remember it's a part of practice to wobble.
Holding it a bit longer,
Feeling the muscles working.
And slowly release,
Come back down with both feet in the ground.
And now placing the hands gently at the hips or waist.
And start again to feel really connected down.
Your feet are steady in the floor.
Maybe look down and see that they are about hip width apart.
And now begin to rotate the upper body gently towards the left.
Allowing the head to turn with the torso if that feels comfortable,
But hips and knees are pointing straight.
Keeping the movement easy here.
Notice how the pelvic,
The ribs and the shoulders relate to each other.
Rotating here to the left side,
Holding it a bit longer.
And slowly come back to the center.
And we're going to do the other side.
So now start to rotate gently towards the other side.
Towards the right.
Allowing the head to turn if the torso feels comfortable with it.
Keeping the movement easy here.
Explore the rotation,
Explore.
The available range,
The limits for you.
And slowly return to the center.
Let your arms drop down to the sides.
From here we're moving into a forward fold.
So perhaps bending the knee slightly.
And begin to hinge forward from the hips.
Allow the upper body to fold forward against the floor.
And the knees can be generously bent.
The hands might come towards the shin or to the ankles or against the floor or just simply hang in the air.
Just let your upper body be really heavy here.
The upper body is sinking down against the floor.
Allow the head and neck to release.
And the upper body is moving downwards.
And maybe you can feel the back of the legs lengthening.
The spine releasing.
And no need to straighten the knees.
No need to touch the floor.
Hold it here for a few more moments.
This forward fold.
And from this forward fold now begin to lengthen the spine forward,
Lifting the torso partway.
So we're doing the standing table here.
Keeping the knees bent if needed.
And if comfortable,
Holding the hands maybe on the lower legs or extending the arms forward.
Reaching through the fingertips while the hips reach gently back.
Creating a length here in the spine.
Feeling the work in the legs,
The back,
The shoulders,
The abdomen.
Notice the breath.
And gently release the arms.
And slowly with bent knees start to roll yourself up to standing again.
From here we continue with our chair pose.
So make sure again that your feet are about hip width apart.
And slowly start to bend your knees as if you're sitting down into a chair behind you.
Keep the knees and feet in whatever alignment feels stable for your body.
And allowing the arms to reach forward,
That helps with the balance.
And start to explore here the feeling in the thighs.
Start to explore if you maybe can sit down a little bit deeper into the imagined chair that you have behind you.
Notice the mind.
Perhaps thoughts of how long am I going to stay here.
There is no need to stay longer than appropriate.
So when you feel ready,
You can come up.
If you feel for it,
Hold it a few more seconds.
Maybe a little bit deeper.
And slowly,
Slowly coming back up now.
Gradually,
All the way up to standing.
We're going to continue with the tree pose,
Balance pose.
And here you may also want to have a wall or a chair close by.
Now bringing the weight over to your left foot,
Feeling the contact with the floor.
The right foot may simply come onto the ankle or to the lower leg or higher into the inner thigh if that feels comfortable.
Avoid pressure directly against the knee joint.
Find your tree,
The tree that suits you.
And hands may first come on the hips or in prayer pose.
And maybe you want to raise the arms and hands over your head.
Finding a point to rest your eyes.
Looking at the one same point.
Gazing.
Notice the movement in the inner body right now.
And if the food come down,
Simply begin again.
Wobbling and balance.
This is a part of the practice.
And slowly,
Slowly start to release.
And we're going to shift over and do the other side.
So when you feel ready,
Start to bring in the weight over to the right foot now.
Feel the contact with the right foot.
And start to come with the left foot now,
It can come onto the ankle,
The lower leg or the inner thigh,
Whatever is comfortable for you,
Finding your tree.
Hands can move up into prayer pose or over the head.
Finding your gaze,
Steady eyes on one single point.
And just explore this experience.
Explore the inner movements.
Explore the balance.
And now slowly start to release.
Both feet come down into the floor.
Let the arms come down and we're going to transition here to seated.
So take your time to come down to the floor.
And we're going to start with the butterfly here.
Bringing the soles of the feet toward one of each other,
If it's comfortable for you.
Allowing the knees to fall out like a butterfly.
The feet can also be further away from the pelvis if that creates more ease.
Perhaps holding around the ankles or feet gently.
Sitting here upright with a long tall back and just feeling the contact of the sitting bones and the hips Allow gravity to do whatever it does here in butterfly.
Explore the feeling in the thighs,
The hips.
And now extending one leg in front of you.
So start to extend your right leg.
Keeping the left leg in butterfly.
And lift your both arms overhead.
And next time when you exhale.
Let yourself come down against your extended leg.
Let your upper body be heavy.
Leaning forward over the extended leg.
And slowly starting to come back up,
Rolling up vertebra by vertebra.
And we're going to change sides.
So now let the other knee be bent.
And stretching out the other leg.
Elongating the arms up over the head.
And when you exhale next,
Move forward against the extended leg in a forward fold.
Just as far as it feels comfortable for you.
Stopping well before strain.
You can always have your knee a little bit bent.
Feeling the sensations here in the back and in the leg And slowly starting to roll up to seat it again.
Coming all the way up.
Stretching the legs in front of you.
Maybe shaking the legs a little bit.
Allowing the legs to release.
And now we're going to move over to laying on our backs.
We're going to move into our final rest or shavasana.
So come to a Position on your back.
Extending the legs.
Let your feet fall apart.
Let your arms rest alongside the body.
And just simply rest.
Maybe move your head a little bit side to side just to explore where the head rests the most.
And there you just stay.
Let the arms rest next to your body,
Maybe palms facing up.
And just feel the body now after this yoga session,
Balance session,
Strengthening session.
Perhaps there are some sensations in the body.
Explore the feeling in the legs.
In the back.
In the shoulders.
And in the face.
And notice how.
Things are right now.
The breath moving through the body.
Perhaps there is warmth.
Energy,
Tiredness,
Stillness or restlessness.
Allowing it all to belong.
For a few moments there is nothing more to do.
Nothing to achieve.
Just laying here.
Breathing.
Aware.
And now begin to gently move the fingers and the toes.
Circle the ankles and the wrists.
Perhaps stretching out tall or curled together like a ball.
Whatever your body wants to do right now.
And when you feel ready,
Rolling over to one side.
Staying for a bit in side rest.
Gradually coming back up to seated,
Taking your time.
And once seated,
Notice the body,
Notice the position.
Check into the inner climate,
What's moving on the inside right now.
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Emotions.
Take some time here to really thank yourself for giving you this time,
Giving you this moment for yourself.
Give yourself that inner smile.
It doesn't need to be visible,
But you should feel it on the inside.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
