Standing Yoga - Mindful Movement with Todd

Standing Mindful Movement (Todd)

Transcript

The next series of mindful movements will be described in the standing and sitting positions.

It's best to do these on a non-slip mat and bare feet if you like,

Or with socks or shoes on.

Before we start,

Remember that any posture in mindful movement can be done lying,

Sitting,

Or standing.

Any of the postures can be adapted for the other positions or modified to suit your needs and the limitations of your body.

It is important,

As always in doing any form of mindfulness practice,

But especially with mindful movement,

To maintain a careful focus of attention on your body.

In this way,

You will remain within your safe limits,

Testing them gently,

But not exceeding them.

Developing this skill will allow you,

Over the weeks and months,

To increase gradually your strength,

Balance,

And flexibility without increasing pain and protecting yourself from flare-ups and from injury.

So now,

Let's begin with the standing mountain pose,

The standing rest position.

So standing with the feet about shoulder width apart,

Spreading the toes and really feel the feet firmly rooted in the ground.

Your knees are slightly bent,

Back erect but not too rigid,

And rising up from the pelvis.

Your shoulders are relaxed and straight or slightly back and chin tucked in so that the neck is elongated.

Your eyes may be open or closed,

Whatever that's comfortable for you.

And now,

Letting your awareness settle on the breath,

Feeling the breath in the belly.

Just noticing the inflation of the belly and the deflation of the belly as you stand here.

And now,

When you're ready,

On the in breath,

Allowing the arms to rise up in front of you.

Elbows straight,

Lifting them right up overhead,

If that's possible for you.

But stopping wherever it is appropriate for you.

You may find that one arm will rise further than the other.

You can also choose to support one arm with the other,

If that helps.

Now with the arms above your head,

On the in breath,

Stretching up towards the ceiling.

Feeling the stretch all the way up from your toes to your fingertips.

And on the out breath,

Sinking down into the posture.

And then when you are ready,

Slowly lowering the arms down to the sides.

See if you can feel when they first touch your sides.

And feel the release of the muscles as you let go.

Returning to the standing mountain pose and breathing here.

Being aware of the effects of that stretch on your body.

And you may want to repeat that movement,

Raising the arms up again.

Or you may prefer to remain in the rest position.

And now on the in breath,

Lifting the right arm up to the side.

Palms up,

Letting the arm hang loosely at the left side.

And bringing the right arm up if you can,

So that the elbow touches the side of your head.

And reaching up to the ceiling.

Feeling the stretch along the right side of your body.

And on the next out breath,

Allowing the left hand to slide down the side of the left leg.

Bending the trunk to the left and hanging over the left hip.

The right arm up over your head and breathing in and out.

Feeling the stretch especially in the right side of the trunk.

And on the next in breath,

Sliding the left hand back up the leg.

And the right arm back up overhead.

And then allowing the right arm to fall slowly back down to the side.

And when you're ready,

Returning to the mountain pose.

And breathing in and out.

Feeling the effects of that stretch.

And now when you're ready,

Repeating that stretch on the other side.

So taking your time,

Lifting the left arm up to the side on the in breath.

Palm up toward the ceiling.

And reaching up to the ceiling.

And sliding the right arm down the side of the right leg.

And bending the trunk over the right hip to the side.

Again,

Breathing in and out.

And feeling the stretch.

Then returning to the upright position.

Stretching up.

And then on the out breath,

Bringing the left arm slowly back down to the side.

And resting here.

Paying attention to the effects of that movement.

Noticing where in your body you are feeling it.

And continuing to follow the breath.

You can do this a few more times.

At your own pace.

And if at any time during this exercise you're feeling discomfort as a result of standing,

Remember to take care of yourself.

You may choose mindfully to sit in a chair or on the floor if that's possible.

And continue to follow the directions in that position.

If you do change position,

Do so with intentionality.

Noting carefully the effects of changing your position.

And then if you decide later on during the exercise to resume the standing posture,

Then that's fine.

Now on the next movement,

Placing your hands on your hips.

And keeping the hips pointing forward.

Breathing in deeply.

And on the out breath,

Turning to the left.

Looking over the left shoulder.

Rotating through the upper back.

And then the neck.

Reaching your limit and staying here.

Breathing in and out.

Feeling the stretch in the upper back and the neck.

And when you are ready,

On the in breath,

Returning to the neutral position.

Facing forward.

And then repeating this movement in the opposite direction.

So rotating to the right side.

Breathing out as you move away from the midline.

And breathing in as you return to the midline position.

And now rotating from the ankles.

Rotating again to the left as far as you can.

Keeping the feet on the floor.

Feeling the stretch all the way from the ankles up to the neck.

And holding the stretch when you reach your limit.

Then returning to the midline.

Then rotating from the ankles to the right as far as you can.

Moving at your own pace.

No need to rush.

Just really feeling the movement.

Breathing in and out when you reach your limit.

And then once more returning to the midline position.

Facing forward whenever you are ready.

And returning to midline position.

Facing forward.

Letting your arms come back down to your sides.

And resting in the standing mountain position.

And feeling the effects of that series of movements on your body.

Just standing there in the mountain pose.

Rooted onto the ground.

Standing there with a sense of uplift.

Continuing to breathe in on the in breath.

And out on the out breath.

Just being aware of your body as you stand here in the mountain pose.

And now when you're ready.

On the in breath.

Raising the arms up forward until they are straight out in front of you.

And then bending at the knees and the hips.

Coming to a sitting position as if there were a chair for you to sit on.

Keeping your back straight as possible.

Although it will bend forward from the waist to some degree.

The knees should stay over the feet or behind them.

But not in front of the feet as this would be too much pressure on the knee joints.

Now breathing in and out.

Feeling the tension build in the thighs and the back.

Just sitting in this position described as the chair position.

And then when you are ready,

Straightening up gradually to the standing position.

And then lowering the arms back down to the sides.

And resuming the standing mountain pose.

Resting here.

Feeling your breath.

And perhaps the beating of your heart.

And making note of the effects of that particular movement.

And if you're ready you can do this a few times at your own pace.

Or just standing here in the mountain pose.

Breathing.

Taking your time.

Noticing the effects of this movement on your body.

And when you're ready,

Coming back to the mountain pose.

Taking a few moments to catch your breath.

And also to notice how this feels in your body as you stand here.

Your back.

Your arms.

Your knees.

And now when you're ready,

Let's try some shoulder movements.

With the arms hanging loose at your sides.

On the in breath lifting the shoulders forward and up.

And on the out breath moving them back and forth.

Completing a rolling,

Circular movement with the shoulders with each cycle of the breath.

The arms should be hanging passively at your sides as you do this.

And then reversing direction.

Moving the shoulders back and up on the in breath.

And then forward and down on the out breath.

Repeating this several times at your own pace.

Making sure that you're breathing and not holding your breath.

Returning to the rest position.

Dropping the shoulders down whenever you're ready.

And just breathing in and out.

And now with your head slightly forward on the out breath.

Allowing your left ear to fall gently toward the left shoulder.

Feeling the stretch along the right side of the neck.

Checking to see that the left shoulder remains relaxed.

And when you reach your safe limit,

Breathing in and out here.

And then returning in and returning the head back up to the upright position.

Then letting the right ear fall slowly toward the right shoulder.

This time feeling the stretch on the left side of the neck.

Then on the in breath,

Lifting the head back up and resuming the standing mountain posture.

And checking in now to see if there is any tension that has developed anywhere in the body.

Particularly in the shoulders.

And if so,

Breathing into it and releasing it as you breathe out as best you can.

And now when you are ready,

Do the forward bend.

Beginning by letting the knees bend slightly.

Then lifting the arms up forward on the in breath.

Up overhead.

And then as you bring them down,

Bending first at the upper back.

Then the middle back.

Then the lower back.

And the hips.

So that your arms are now dangling down in front of you.

And your hands resting down on your legs.

Wherever they can reach comfortably.

This may be at the thighs,

Knees,

Lower legs,

Feet,

Right then touching the ground.

And just hanging out there.

Breathing in and out.

Feeling the expansion of the belly as you breathe in.

Feeling the stretch in the back.

The head hanging down loosely between the arms.

And when you are ready,

Beginning with the low back.

And working vertebrae by vertebrae.

Gradually straightening up from the low back to the mid back.

Then the upper back.

And only then lifting up the head.

And coming back to the standing rest position.

So now in the standing mountain pose.

We're going to transition to a tree pose.

Lifting up your right foot.

Either at the left ankle.

Or if you're able to,

Put it towards the left knee.

And holding there in that position.

And then lifting up your arms.

Reaching the ceiling.

And wrapping or cupping your hands together as you stand here in this tree pose.

Really test your balance.

Your belly just stand on one leg.

And see how you do.

And we're going to reverse to the opposite side.

So doing the same thing,

This time standing on our right leg.

And lifting up the left foot.

Putting on the right ankle.

Or moving all the way up to the right knee.

And lifting up the arms towards the ceiling again and just cupping it.

Holding it together in this tree posture as best you can.

And see how long you're able to hold that position.

And going at your own pace.

And seeing how you're able to be with your body in this position.

And if this posture is too difficult for you,

You can keep your feet both on the ground and just use your arms to lift up.

Reaching towards the ceiling and just cupping them.

Or just imagining that you are doing this posture in the mountain pose,

Resting,

Standing up.

And now when you're ready,

Taking your time to transition to a lying down posture on the mat,

On the floor.

And when you're ready,

As you lie down on the mat,

Bending your knees to one side of your body.

In this case,

On the right side.

And your arms and your hands are at the back of your neck.

And this is called the spinal twist.

So dropping your knees to one side,

The right side,

And turning your head to the opposite direction,

Which is the left side.

And this posture is nice to stretch out the lower back.

And making sure that you're breathing.

And then reversing direction,

So turning the knees that's bent to the left side of the body.

And your head is turning to the right side,

The opposite direction.

At the same time,

Your hands are at the back of your neck.

And doing this a few times back and forth.

Making sure that you're breathing.

And not holding your breath.

And now when you're ready,

Coming back to a lying resting position.

We also call this the ragdoll pose,

The astronaut pose,

Or the corpse pose.

And now in the next few moments,

Doing any movement or stretch that you feel would be helpful for you at this time.

Or choosing instead a rest position,

However that's comfortable for you,

Seated,

Standing,

Or lying down.

And nurturing your body by breathing deeply in and out.

And feeling how your body is responding to the series of movements we have just completed.

Being aware also of any thoughts or emotions associated with this experience.

And reminding yourself that by practicing this kind of movement regularly,

You're actively influencing the quality of your life.

Strengthening your body and your mind.

And increasing your capacity to function better and to heal.

And that's it for this video.

Reviews

Very nice.....slow and mindful. I would have liked a more complete savasana and that he brought us out of savasana and formally closed the practice.
Thank you, Todd.

Very clear supportive practise, thank you.

Wonderful yoga practice! Extremely clear and easy to follow. Awesome!

Really found it gently reassuring and slow enough for me to go at my pace which has some limits. Loved the connection to becoming aware of after effects. Will be using this one again and again. Loved the simplicity and voice.

Excellent way to get truly in the body at any time of day. If you’re someone really on the go like me the pace will feel very slow but stay with it - that’s the work right there. Can you give each posture an extra minute? Can you pause and breathe before you move on? Good practice. Humbling.

It is nice to practice mindful movement, a different and wonderful meditation experience.

Wonderful clear instruction. A great way to wake up in the morning!