20-Minute Mindful Movement For MBSR

This is a 20-minute standing yoga sequence for the MBSR Program. During this practice, we welcome the opportunity to bring awareness to our present moment as we move through a series of yoga poses. Attending to the body with a natural curiosity about what movement and stillness are like.

Transcript

This is a standing yoga sequence for the MBSR program.

During this practice we welcome the opportunity to bring awareness to our present moment as we move through a series of yoga poses.

For this practice we will begin in mountain pose.

Begin by simply listening to my voice as best you can.

Not straining but feeling the movement from the inside.

Remembering that the body's own wisdom of its own abilities is more important than following along precisely.

And if at any point any movement is uncomfortable for you,

You're welcome to modify the pose or come to a position that is more comfortable.

Now standing in mountain pose with the feet directly under your hips and toes looking straight ahead.

Using the contact of the feet on the floor,

Maybe even lifting and spreading the toes,

Perhaps feeling a sense of connection or groundedness to the floor.

And starting to explore the weight of the body as you lean forward on the toes and then lean backwards into the heels.

Taking a moment just to explore here.

Once again leaning forward,

Shifting your weight to the front of the toes.

Then leaning back and shifting the weight into your heels.

When you're ready letting the body come to center,

Feeling the weight directly over the two feet and noticing how the weight distributes itself.

And from this mountain pose turning the palms outwards.

And as you inhale bringing the arms out to the side and overhead as far as you're able to.

Stretching and reaching through the fingers,

Arms,

Torso,

And throughout the whole body.

And feeling the breath through the whole body.

And when you're ready floating the arms slowly back down to your side.

And feeling the weight of your arms moving through the air as they release to the side.

And following the rhythm of your breath,

Repeating this movement a few times.

So breathing in,

Bringing the arms out to the side and overhead,

Stretching through the entire body.

And as you breathe out floating your arms back down to your sides.

Now with your breath,

Raising the right arm overhead and stretching as far as you can,

As if you're trying to pluck a piece of fruit out of a tree that's just out of reach.

And with your left arm,

Take hold of the right wrist and very gently lean over to your left side,

Stretching through the whole right side of the body.

And breathing through the body as you feel the stretch.

When you're ready coming back over to center.

And now lifting up your left hand into the sky.

Once again pretending that you're trying to pluck a piece of fruit out of a tree that's just out of your reach.

And grabbing your left wrist with your right hand and leaning over to the right side of the body.

Feeling the stretch throughout the whole left side and breathing in.

And when you're ready coming back to mountain pose.

And feeling the effects of the stretch throughout your body.

What's here in this moment?

What sensations or pulsations do you feel in this moment?

And now moving to shoulder rolls.

Begin by bringing the shoulders up towards the ears and rolling them back down,

Moving them forward into the chest and then up and back down again.

You can move at your own pace and explore a full range of motion.

Notice moving one shoulder at a time.

Noticing if one shoulder moves differently than the other.

And bringing curiosity on what's to be discovered here.

And ending this shoulder roll movement a few times with a few rolls in the opposite direction.

So rolling the shoulders forward,

Down and back up again.

And doing this a few times in the opposite direction.

And when you're ready coming to stillness and just noticing the effects of the shoulder rolls.

Feeling what sensations are present in this moment.

And once again from mountain pose,

Bringing the attention to the neck area.

Beginning to explore the range of possibilities of what's to be felt here.

Beginning by turning the head to the left.

Bringing the head only to its limit and breathing at the end of its range.

Then coming back to center,

Looking straight ahead.

Now turning the neck to the right with care and once again only moving it to its limit.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

When you're ready coming back to center.

Keeping this movement several times at your own speed.

When you're ready coming back to center and allowing the chin to gently move towards the chest.

And then with awareness,

Lifting the head back to center and gently tipping the head up,

Looking at the ceiling or the sky.

And doing this several times,

So returning back to center,

Gently moving the chin towards the chest.

Breathing in,

Noticing.

Breathing once again straight ahead and then gently tipping the chin towards the ceiling,

The sky.

And repeating these movements a few more times.

Staying aware of the sensations of the neck and avoiding strain.

And when you're ready coming back to center and working with the sides of the neck and on an in-breath lowering the right ear to the right shoulder.

Opening and breathing.

Staying present with the sensations in this moment.

Once again lifting the head to the center and now lowering the left ear to the left shoulder.

Feeling the stretch through the back of the neck and the sides of the neck.

When you're ready coming back to center and repeating this a few more times.

Once again on an in-breath lowering the right ear to the right shoulder.

Staying present in this moment.

Coming back to center and lowering the left ear to the left shoulder.

Staying present.

Once again moving the neck back to center.

Coming back to mountain pose.

Feeling a sense of groundedness once again with the feet on the floor.

Perhaps playing again with the weight of the body.

Feeling the weight forward in the toes and back in the heels.

Feeling the groundedness and strength of the mountain pose.

Feeling the spine,

Neck,

And head to be upright.

Feeling the length of the breath as you begin to move into a balance pose.

So having a visual focus on the wall.

Shifting your weight to your right foot.

And when you're ready extending the arm straight to the sides.

And lifting your left leg out to the side as high as possible.

What thoughts or sensations are you experiencing in this moment?

Now lowering the left leg and coming back to mountain pose.

Shifting your weight to the left leg.

Now raising the right leg up.

Arms are up to the sides.

Breathing and staying aware of what is happening.

Just feeling shaking in the left leg.

Pulsations,

Sensations running down your leg as you steady and shift your weight.

When you're ready returning back to mountain pose.

Realizing what sensations are to be felt here.

Breathing in and out.

Just simply noticing.

And beginning to transition to a restful position.

This could mean remaining in mountain pose.

Or coming to lie in corpse pose on the floor.

On a mat or on the carpet.

Taking a few moments to move in whatever way the body is asking for in this moment.

Might be stretching,

Starting to wiggle the toes,

The fingers.

Starting to slowly open the eyes.

Looking around,

Noticing the sensations all around you.

What do you see?

What do you hear?

And giving yourself a sense of gratitude as you begin to transition to the remaining moments of your day.

Knowing that this moment of stillness,

You can always return to it throughout your day.