303 Lying Yoga Exercise - 40 Minutes

The Lying Yoga exercise is an authentic exercise from the 8-week MBSR mindfulness training. In the meditation, the different postures are the anchor of attention. Helpful for worrying thoughts, overwork, stress, anxiety, and panic complaints.

Transcript

You will now start with the lying yoga meditation.

This exercise consists of gentle stretching and strengthening exercises.

Dance slowly,

With moment to moment awareness of breathing and of the sensation that arises as you put your body into various postures.

While you will be following my instructions,

It's very important to simultaneously listen to your own body in order to discover your version of each posture,

Honoring the wisdom of your body and what it tells you about how to move into a posture,

How long to hold it,

And if you need to move out a posture before I say to you,

Then do so.

And if you find yourself unable to do a particular posture,

Please feel free to skip it,

Engaging with your body with the attitude of kindness and acceptance.

So,

Let's begin by lying down on our backs in a comfortable position on a mat or pad on the floor,

Allowing your body to settle into this moment.

Lying on your back,

With your feet falling away from each other and your arms alongside your body,

With your palms open toward the ceiling,

If that feels comfortable for you.

If you have lower back problems,

You can bend your knees and have your knees falling together,

If that's more comfortable.

Now,

Bringing your attention to the breath at the belly,

The gentle rising and falling of the belly in response to the breath,

And continue to feel the sensations of the breath in your belly for some moments.

And let your breath and the body be your touchstones to the present moment during this practice.

And whenever you discover the mind has wandered away,

Simply bringing your attention back,

Time and again,

To the breath and the sensation in the body just as you find it.

Letting the body completely relax in the floor,

Completely letting go,

Letting the floor do all of the work of holding you up.

On the in-breath,

Breathing in a sense of vitality and renewed energy.

And on the out-breath,

Letting go of any tension or tightness in the mind or body.

And now,

When you are ready,

On the next in-breath,

Stretching your arms up over your head until your hands reach the floor above you.

You can leave your arms parallel,

Pointing your fingers now,

And point your toes and stretch them in the opposite direction.

Getting a nice deep full body stretch.

Feeling the stretch through the elbows,

The armpits,

Shoulders and the ribcage.

Continuing to breathe as you stretch.

Now taking another deep breath in,

And on the out-breath,

Bringing the arms slowly and mindfully back down to rest alongside your body.

And staying in touch with them all the way,

And noticing the wave of release when your arms make contact with the floor.

Feeling,

Just feeling the effects of the exercise we've just made.

Just feeling the effects of just this one stretch.

And now,

When you are ready,

Bringing one knee and then the other into your chest,

And taking a hold of the legs and squeezing them into your chest.

And if you'd like,

Gently rocking side to side,

Getting a nice massage of muscles along the spine.

Let your face be relaxed and soft.

And when you are ready,

Taking a hold of the right leg,

And letting the left leg go straight on the floor,

And gently pulling the right knee up into your chest.

Now we are going to move the right knee from side to side.

Or even make circles with your knee in one direction and then the other.

Just loosening up that right hip.

Relaxing the face,

And just feel how far is it good for you to move this way.

Are there any boundaries?

And what are the reactions to these boundaries?

And then you can circle the toes of the right foot in one direction to loosen up the ankle.

And then circle the toes in the opposite direction.

And when you are ready,

Switching sides,

Letting go of the right knee,

Letting it go straight on the floor,

And bringing the left knee up into your chest.

Hugging it tight.

Moving the knee from side to side.

Or circling the knee to get some movement into that left hip.

What is it you feel right there?

You can circle the toes of the left foot,

Loosening up the ankle,

How is your breathing right now?

And then moving the toes in the opposite direction.

And then letting the left foot come down to the floor,

And bending the right leg,

And put your right foot next to the left foot.

Now both legs are bent,

And both feet are at the floor.

From here,

We will do a twist.

So to prepare the body for the twist,

Shift your body about an inch to the left on your mat,

Clasping your hands and bringing them behind your head.

So when you are ready,

And while keeping the knees together,

Just letting them fall over to the right as far as they'll go.

It doesn't matter if your knees reach the floor.

But trying as best you can to leave your left elbow and shoulder flat on the floor,

So your chest is facing up towards the ceiling.

And then just being aware of the breath.

How is the breathing movement right now?

Feeling the twist in the spine,

The stretch along the arms and the armpits,

The hips and the legs,

Letting your body just relax into the twist.

And when you are ready,

Bringing the left knee up and the right knee will follow.

And then lowering both feet to the floor,

Straightening out your body,

Taking a breath and shifting your bottom to the right about an inch or two.

And then bringing your knees back into your chest,

Letting the knees fall over to the left as far as they'll comfortably do.

Not forcing anything,

But being gentle with yourself and feeling the twist in the spine.

Again,

Trying to keep the right elbow and shoulder on the floor.

Relaxing the face and relaxing into the twist.

Taking your time,

Not pushing the body too far.

And when you notice,

Just feel when you push the body too far.

Or maybe you notice you have some space to move a little further.

Just discovering with kindness and gentleness with yourself what the possibilities are.

And then move out of the twist.

Bringing your right knee back to your chest and the left knee will follow.

And lowering the feet on the floor.

And straightening out the body,

So your spine is straight on the mat.

Releasing your hands from behind your head and pausing here for a moment and feeling the effects of the twist on the body,

The thoughts,

The emotions.

And now when you are ready,

Bringing your right ankle to rest above your left knee.

And then bring your left knee towards your chest,

Clasping your hands together behind the left leg,

By treating your right hand through the hole that's been created by your right leg.

And then hugging your left leg in close to your chest.

And if you like,

You can gently rock side to side.

Feeling the stretch now in the right hip,

Letting the body relax and let go.

Now this is a good posture for preparing the body for sitting meditation.

By opening the hips and allowing you to sit on a cushion more comfortably.

Now releasing the clasp of your hands and letting the left foot go flat on the floor.

Bringing the right foot back to the floor and just switching sides.

Bringing the left ankle over the right knee and bringing your right knee into your chest.

Clasping your hands now around the right leg.

And hugging the right leg into your chest.

And gently rocking side to side.

And in this position,

Letting the breath and the sensations in the body be your anger to the present moment.

Remember when your mind wanders away,

As it will,

Coming back again and again to the breath and the body sensations.

And when you are ready,

Releasing the clasp of the hands and letting the right foot come flat on the floor and bringing the left foot flat and pausing here for a moment.

And for the next posture,

We'll start by clasping your hands behind your head and bringing your knees to your chest again.

Raising your head towards your knees and bringing your right elbow to the left knee.

How long is it good for you to stay in this position?

Switching sides and bringing your left elbow to the right knee.

And then moving at your own rate.

And being aware of thoughts,

Body sensations and emotions.

And if you need to stop before I say so,

Go ahead and do so.

But just a few more here together.

And when you are ready,

Relaxing the head back down to the floor.

Your arms alongside your body and letting your feet go flat.

And then straighten your legs on the floor.

Your feet falling away from each other.

Just lying and being aware of the physical sensations,

The thoughts and emotions.

Not to do something with them,

Just being aware of them without trying to change them.

And then slowly move yourself in a sitting position.

We are going to let the feet go flat on the floor with the soles of the feet together.

So you are sitting,

Your soles of your feet together.

You are going to bring your hands behind you and then just let the knees fall out to either side.

And wiggle them a little bit up and down.

Sitting up straight and tall.

Breathing in and out.

The spine is erect.

And letting your knees be relaxed.

As they fall to either side in this bound ankle posture.

And breathe.

And from here we are going to move into a twist.

So to do the twist,

We are going to start by leaning to the left as you bring your right foot either to the front of your left knee or over your left knee.

And you want to have both sitting bones flat on the ground.

So sitting up nice and tall.

Taking a deep breath in and on the out breath we are going to twist the body to the right.

As you bring your right arm behind you.

Placing your hand on the floor and cradling your right leg with your left hand or arm.

And then twisting the head.

And looking as far to the right as you can.

Often looking into the far right corners of your eyes.

Finding a spot to focus on.

And keeping your attention there as best you can.

And also in this position.

Being aware of the breath.

Is it still comfortable to breathe in this position?

Where is your boundary?

Just taking care of yourself.

Noticing and feeling what your body is telling you right now,

In this particular moment.

And if you like,

Breathing in when you lift up,

Straighten the spine and as you breathe out moving to the edge of your twist.

One more deep breathe in and on the out breath,

Releasing your arms and coming back into the bound angle posture.

Bringing the soles of the feet together.

Hands behind you,

Sitting up nice and tall.

Connecting with the breath.

Pausing here for a moment.

And then we'll move to the other side.

So leaning to the right as you bring your left foot either to the front of the right leg or over your right knee,

Making sure that both sitting bones are flat on the ground.

Sitting up nice and tall.

And then twisting to the left.

Bringing the left arm behind you.

Trailing the leg with your arm.

Twisting the head,

So you have a nice twist from the bottom of your spine to the top of your spine.

Moving out into the corners of the eyes.

Finding one spot of attention.

Breathing and maybe you find it to be difficult to breathe in this twisted posture.

Then make the twist your own,

So that your body is twisted and you can normally breathe as well.

What twist are you able to make in this moment?

Deep breathing,

In and out.

And then releasing the twist by letting go of the arms,

Coming back to centre and bringing the soles of the feet together once more in the bound ankle position.

And now,

When you are ready,

We are crossing the legs and preparing ourselves to do some neck rolls and shoulder releases.

Resting your hands on your legs.

And then dropping your chin down to your chest and feel the stretch along the back of the neck,

Letting the shoulders be relaxed.

Taking a deep breath in and out here.

And then rolling your right ear over your right shoulder.

Releasing the muscles along the left side of the neck.

Breathing in and out.

And then rolling the head across the front.

And bringing your left ear over your left shoulder.

Getting a nice stretch along the right side of the neck,

Connecting with the breath.

And then moving your head in whatever way feels good for you.

Taking some time now to explore the movement in the neck,

Moving it in and out of sensations.

Relaxing the face.

Relaxing the jaw.

And then bringing the head up to neutral.

And then dropping it straight back and feeling the stretch along the front of the neck,

The throat,

The chest.

Breathing in and out here.

And then bringing your head forward.

And we'll begin to roll the shoulders in the forward direction,

Making big circles with the shoulders.

Letting the arms be relaxed.

Moving the body in response to the breath.

Breathing in as you move your shoulders up.

Breathing out as you bring your shoulders down.

And then moving in the opposite direction.

Feeling the sensations in the shoulders.

Loosening and relaxing.

And then when you are ready,

Coming to rest and just feel your body and the body sensations after this exercise.

And now,

We are going to come onto our hands and knees for the cat and cow posture.

So you want to be sure in this tabletop position that your wrists are directly below your shoulders,

A little bit forward,

And that your knees are directly below your hips.

You want to spread your fingertips wide apart.

And then move into cat.

You're going to exhale as you arch your back,

Pushing out through the hands,

Tuck in your tailbone,

Arching your back,

Dropping your head.

Letting your head be relaxed.

And feel the body sensations of this position.

And on the inhale,

Moving into cow by letting your belly be lower to the floor.

Relaxing your sitting bones and chest,

Looking up towards the ceiling.

And then breathing out as you move into cat.

Breathing in as you move into cow.

And now move in the rhythm of your own inhalation and exhalation.

Breathing out into cat.

And breathing in into cow.

And at the same time being aware of the movement,

The body sensations,

Thoughts and emotions.

And then coming into a neutral position,

Into your hands and knees.

And take a moment here,

In this posture,

Standing on both hands and knees.

And feel the strength of this posture.

And then extend your right arm forward and your left leg behind you,

Parallel to the floor,

Reaching in both directions.

Your fingertips in one direction and toes in the other.

You can look down at the floor or you can look out over your fingertips.

Being aware of the strength in the arms and the back and the legs to hold this posture.

Feeling the muscles that are working in this posture.

And how long is it okay for you to stand in this position.

One more deep breath in and out.

And then lowering the right hand and the left knee.

And then releasing the spine by coming into cat.

Just one time.

And then coming back into a neutral position.

And we'll move to the other side.

Raising your left arm up and your right leg back,

Parallel to the ground,

Reaching in both directions.

Looking at one spot of attention and breathing.

Relaxing the face and the jaw.

Relaxing everything that doesn't need to be working in order to do this posture.

Just breathing,

Smiling.

Then lowering the left hand and lowering the right knee.

And releasing the spine by doing the cat once more.

Push all the way up into the arch.

And then coming back into the neutral position.

One more time.

And then slowly move again into the lying position.

Lying down on our back for the last postures of this exercise.

Lying on your back and then bend your knees.

Your feet are flat on the floor.

And place your heels as close as possible to your sit bones.

Your arms are resting by your side with the palms facing down on the floor.

Start by flattening the lower back down onto the floor.

Then lifting your tailbone up and rolling the body out toward the ceiling,

One vertebra at a time.

Lifting the buttocks up as high as it will go,

As long as it feels comfortable for you.

Just be resting on your head,

Shoulders and arms and feet.

And just breathe in this position.

And try to keep your knees about hip width apart.

And if you need to come down before I say to,

Doing slowly,

One vertebra at a time.

But together let's try to hold the posture for a couple of times.

Trying to relax the face and jaw.

Feeling the strength that it takes to hold the body in this position.

Feeling the fatigue in the leg muscles.

And slowly lowering the body,

One vertebra down at a time.

Feeling the massage along the back.

And feeling the wave of release as the body begins to melt into the floor.

Pausing for a moment when you get down to the floor.

And feeling the effects.

And then release the spine.

We'll do a small twist by simply letting the knees fall out over the right to release the spine.

And then moving your knees to the other side and letting them fall to the left and relax.

Just breathing.

And then bringing the knees back up.

And we'll move into the last posture.

You can straighten your legs if you like and let your feet fall to either side.

Your arms lie alongside your body with the palms facing up toward the ceiling,

If that feels comfortable.

Or you can place your right hand on your belly and your left hand on your chest.

Just allowing the body to relax and let go.

Feeling the body sensations at this moment,

Just as they are.

Feeling what it's like just to be lying here,

Completely relaxed.

And you can congratulate yourself for taking the time and doing this exercise.

For giving yourself a moment to be completely aware,

Completely in this moment.

And now you may wiggle your fingers and toes,

Your wrists and ankles and move as you like.

And then turn on your right side and slowly come back into a sitting position.

And take this relaxed feeling with you as you continue the activities of your day.