Lying Down Yoga [Mindful Movement with Todd]

Lying Down Yoga (Mindful Movement with Todd)

Transcript

Now,

Lying on your back if that's possible or choosing another position that is best for you if lying on your back is not comfortable.

Lying on a thick mat or pad that cushions you from the floor and wearing loose fitting clothing that does not restrict your waist or your breathing and that keeps you sufficiently warm.

Arms lying at your sides,

Palms up or down and allowing your body to sink into the mat.

This position is called the corpse pose or the ragdoll pose.

In yoga,

Breathing into the belly on the in-breath and releasing any muscle tension throughout the body on the out-breath.

Allowing your body to settle in this corpse pose.

Just noticing the breath in the belly,

Breathing in on the in-breath and breathing out on the out-breath.

And now,

When you are ready,

Allowing the arms to rise up together on the in-breath right over the head if that's possible and coming to rest on the floor above your head.

Noticing the muscles being used and activated to lift up the arm over the head.

And then gently stretching the whole body on the in-breath all the way from the tips of the fingers down to the heels and releasing the stretch on the out-breath and repeating this with each breath for a few times.

And then on the next out-breath,

Bringing the arms slowly back down,

Staying with the sensations in the arms as they descend toward the floor.

Feeling the release of tension as they touch the floor,

Which then assumes the work of holding the arms up against gravity.

And now returning to the resting position and feeling the effects of that stretch in the body as you lie here.

And now,

Sliding both feet up on the mat so that they rest below the hips,

Knees pointing up towards the ceiling,

Feet about a foot apart.

Now we will do our pelvic tilts.

Breathing in deeply,

On the next out-breath,

Rocking the pelvis forward so that the tailbone lifts off the mat.

The lower back is pressed into the mat.

And on the in-breath,

Rocking the pelvis back and creating a hollow between the mat and the lower back.

And taking the time to rock forward and backward slowly on the in-breath and the out-breath.

And allowing the arms and legs to relax fully.

See if you can feel the whole body rocking gently with this movement,

Back and forth.

And on the next out-breath,

Bringing the knees up towards the chest,

Wrapping the arms around the knees,

The knees moving slightly away from the chest on the in-breath and falling towards the chest on the out-breath.

And then if you like,

Rocking from side to side,

Breathing as you do so,

Massaging your back.

You may want to experiment with making circles with the knees.

Gently massaging the lower back,

Circling first in one direction and then in the other and coming to rest.

Then letting go of the left leg and allowing it to stretch out on the mat and holding the right knee with both hands.

Drawing the right knee up gently towards the chest on the out-breath and allowing it to move slightly away from the chest on the in-breath.

And then rotating it gently,

Massaging the right hip joint,

Rotating first in one direction and then in the other.

And when you are ready,

Letting the right leg stretch out back onto the mat and bringing the left knee up towards the chest,

Supporting it with both hands,

Breathing in and breathing out in this position.

And then rotating it as you did with the right knee.

And when you are ready,

Releasing the left knee and stretching both legs out,

Arms at your sides and settling back into the resting or corpse position.

Focusing on the effects of that movement,

Breathing in and out,

Feeling the belly rise and fall.

Remember to stay within the limits of your own body at all times.

Exploring the boundary of what your body can do at this moment.

Not judging it,

Coming to acceptance of what it is in this moment.

And now as we move to the next position when you are ready,

Mindfully coming to a position on hands and knees.

Hands directly under the shoulders,

Knees below the hips,

Toes may be curled under or extend on the mat.

This is called the table top pose.

And just feeling the ground supporting your body through your hands,

Knees,

Lower legs and feet.

This table position as the back,

Neck and head form a flat level surface,

Just like a coffee table.

If you have problems with your wrists or hands,

You can modify this position by going down onto your forearms instead of your hands.

We are now going to do some stretching of the back,

Alternating between what is called the cat position and the cow position.

First breathing in deeply,

And on the out breath,

Arching the back up towards the ceiling like a cat that just saw a dog.

And dropping the head down between the shoulders at the same time.

Feeling the stretching of the low and middle part of the back.

And on the in breath,

Allowing the back to sink towards the floor.

The lower back and upper back and chest.

And lifting the head up so that you can look forward ahead of your hands on the mat.

Keeping the arms straight.

Feeling the stretch in the upper back as your chest sinks down towards the floor.

This is called the cow position.

And now alternating.

Arching the back up on the out breath,

Head hanging down and dropping the back down on the in breath and lifting the head up.

Following this for our next few in breath and out breath.

Arching your back like a cat.

And dropping your back down in the cow position.

And now try shifting your hips back towards your heels.

Stretching your arms forward in front of you.

And dropping your forehead down towards the mat.

Moving it into this alternative rest position called the little child pose.

If you have knee problems,

You may not find this comfortable.

If that's so,

Remain in the table position.

Try exploring this little child pose by breathing in and out.

Allowing the tension to drain out of your body.

And when you are ready,

Coming back up to the table position on the hands and knees.

In this position now,

Looking over your left shoulder,

Bringing your eyes to focus on your left foot and feeling the stretch in on the right side of the trunk.

Feeling in and out,

Feeling this part of the body stretch,

And then returning to the table position.

And now,

Looking over the right shoulder to the right foot,

Feeling the stretch in the left side of the trunk,

And once more returning to the table position.

And some of you may decide to rest in this position now,

Or choose another resting position that you have tried and found beneficial.

For those who would like to do a little bit more work on balance,

From the table position,

Try lifting the right foot off the floor and stretching the right leg back parallel to the floor.

This is called the Superman pose.

And then lifting the left hand off the floor and stretching the left arm forward,

Also parallel to the floor,

So that you are now balancing on your right hand and left knee and foot.

Breathing in this position,

Feeling the challenge of maintaining your balance.

And then when you are ready,

Returning to the table position,

Back on all fours.

And noticing what it feels like in the body.

And when you're ready,

Now lifting the left foot off the floor,

Extending it back,

And lifting up the right hand,

Stretching the right arm forward,

Parallel to the floor,

Balancing on the left hand and the right knee and foot.

And then again,

When you are ready,

Returning to the table position.

And now,

Lying in corpse position,

Lying on our backs,

Hands by your sides,

Feet falling away from each other,

And just noticing what it feels like to lie here.

How is the body in this moment?

And when you're ready,

For the next position,

We're going to be doing some bridging.

So putting the feet on the mat,

Both the left and the right,

And the knees are pointing towards the ceiling,

And our hands are above the head.

And when you're ready,

Lifting off the pelvis off the mat,

Slowly and gently.

And this is called bridging.

Holding it there for a few seconds.

And when you have enough,

You can drop your pelvis back onto the mat again.

And doing this a few times.

When you lift off the pelvis,

Breathe out.

And when you drop the pelvis down,

Breathing in.

And now,

Next we will do a spinal twist.

Bringing the feet up to rest on the floor,

Close to the pelvis,

Ankles touching this time,

Knees touching and pointing up to the ceiling.

And lacing the fingers together and placing them behind the head,

So that the elbows are pointing out to the sides.

And taking a deep breath in.

And then on the out-breath,

Allowing the knees to fall slowly to the right side of the body.

The left foot will lift off the floor.

The right knee will come to rest on or near the floor.

And at the same time,

Turning the head so that you're looking toward the left elbow.

Be careful if you have neck problems,

Not to go too far here.

And then breathing in and out.

Feeling the stretch in the lower back,

Upper back,

And shoulders,

The neck,

Wherever you notice it.

Breathing in and out.

Working in this position gently to stretch the back,

Remembering to honor your limits and not pushing beyond them.

And when you are ready,

On the next in-breath,

Returning to the central position,

Knees and face now pointing up to the ceiling.

And when you are ready,

Sliding the left foot up the mat beside the right knee.

Breathing in deeply.

And on the out-breath,

Lifting the right leg off the mat.

Knee straight,

Foot toward the ceiling if possible.

Rotating the ankle around in one direction.

And then the other.

And if you choose to,

Increasing the stretch by reaching out and holding the leg with both hands.

And again,

Some may want to increase the stretch further by lifting the head up off the mat and bringing it toward the right leg.

And now,

Lowering the head back down to the mat,

Releasing the hands,

And slowly lowering the right leg back down onto the mat.

Breathing when it first touches the mat,

And feeling the release as the right leg sinks into the mat.

And straightening out the left leg.

Settling once more into the resting position on your back.

Fully stretched out,

Arms at your sides.

Feeling the breath flowing in and out.

And attending mindfully to the sensations in your body now,

After completing that movement.

Now sliding the right leg up the mat so that the right foot is beside the left knee.

Breathing in deeply.

And then breathing out and at the same time,

Lifting the left leg off the mat with the knee straight.

Coming up slowly as high as you can,

Respecting your limits.

Now breathing in and out,

Holding the left leg up.

Now rotating the ankle around this one direction,

And then the other.

You may want to reach up with both hands to support the left leg,

Increasing the stretch.

And some of you may choose to increase the stretch further by lifting your head up off the mat and moving it towards the left knee.

Now when you are ready,

Bringing the head back down on the mat.

Holding the hands,

Bringing the arms back down to rest beside the body,

And slowly lowering the left leg down to the mat.

And noticing what it feels like in the body as you lie here in the corpse pose.

Does the body feel pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or does it feel neutral?

Now when you are ready,

Turning onto your left side of your body.

Bending your left hand to support the head.

Bending your knees up toward your chest.

And allowing the right arm to rest on the mat or floor in front of you.

Just breathing in and out in this position.

Now straightening the right leg out.

And on the in-breath,

Lifting the right leg up in the air to the side and holding it there as best you can.

Drawing attention to the muscles required to keep it there.

And relaxing any muscles not required in this activity.

Feeling the tension build,

And then lowering the right leg slowly and mindfully back down to the rest to rest on the left leg.

Feeling the release when it comes to rest.

Now you may choose to repeat this movement or simply remain in the rest position.

And now using your arms to help you,

Turning onto the right side.

Turning your head with the right hand,

And bending the knees up again toward the chest.

And then straightening out the left leg.

Breathing in and lifting the left leg up to the side as high as you can.

And holding it there.

Feeling the tension build in the muscles at the left side of the left hip.

And when you are ready,

Allowing the left leg to return slowly down.

Feeling the muscles relax as it comes to rest on the right leg.

And resting here for a few moments.

And noticing what it feels like in the body here.

And now when you are ready,

Lying on your stomach.

Head turning to one side of your body.

And just noticing how the body feels right now lying on your stomach.

Hands by your side.

Your head turned to one side of your body.

Just breathing.

And now when you are ready,

Putting your chin on the mat.

And looking straight ahead.

Lifting the left leg off the mat as far as you are able to tolerate.

Breathing out,

Lifting up the leg.

And breathing in,

Dropping down the left leg back onto the mat.

And now lifting the opposite leg.

In this case the right leg off the mat.

And noticing what this feels like in the body.

And now when you are ready,

In the next position,

Lifting the head off the mat.

And also lifting both legs off the ground at the same time.

So the top half of the body is lifted off the mat.

And your legs are also lifted off the mat at the same time.

And just noticing what this feels like in the body.

Maybe if you are able to tolerate.

Otherwise you can drop your legs or drops your chin back onto the mat.

And now when you are ready,

Switching the body to the corpse pose.

Legs straight,

Feet falling away from each other.

And just noticing what it feels like to lie here.

How is the body?

And now when you are ready,

Lifting off the knees,

Rolling it so that the knees are touching the forehead.

If you are able to do this position.

By holding it here.

Slowly taking your time if you are able to.

Just lifting off the knees,

Touching the forehead.

And just using your arms to balance you.

And if you are ready,

Using your arms hugging your knees touching your forehead.

Maybe if you are able to do this movement.

And lastly,

Going back to the corpse pose whenever you are ready.

And just lie there.

Noticing sensations in the body.

How the body is receiving this.

And checking in to see how you are feeling.

To see the effects of your body of the movements that you have been doing.

In the last few moments of this practice,

Doing whatever stretch you feel is right for your body now,

Or simply remaining in the rest position,

Corpse pose,

If that is what feels best for you.

Following your breath and observing any sensations,

Emotions,

Or thoughts that are arising at this time.

And congratulating yourself for contributing to the health of your body and your mind through this activity.

Reviews

Nice slow and simple. Thanks 🙏

Nice

Really enjoyed getting in touch with my body. Did it as a stretch after a run this morning and it was a perfect match

Simply good!!

Very nice. Thank you.

Excellent stretches and easy to follow

Wonderful practice - thank you!

Great exercises for the back and whole body! Explained very well.

Thank you! I have been looking for something like this. I will be coming back to this a lot.

Very clear direction without being intrusive. Thank you

Good pace and relaxing

Well paced, gentle movements. Good for my aging body! Thank you.