Mindful Movement - Floor Yoga Sequence - MBSR

This gentle yoga practice invites listeners to tune into embodied presence through the direct experience of movement, breath, and stillness in poses. The guidance focuses on kindness, compassion, and acceptance of what the body can do in each moment. Options are included so that participants can make skillful choices about how to engage safely with the practice.

Transcript

This is a recording of a guided mindful movement practice,

The floor yoga sequence.

It is intended to support your awareness of the body and mind in movement and is an invitation to enter more deeply into the life of the body.

Yoga means to join together or yoke and here we're bringing together the mind and body as one.

As with all of our mindfulness practices,

This yoga is about paying close attention to moment to moment experiences of sensations,

Thoughts,

And feelings as they arise in your awareness.

It's not about doing it perfectly or forcing any movement.

It's about befriending the body in a kind and supportive way without judgment.

This practice is a time to be by yourself so trying to find a time when you'll not be interrupted and in a place where you feel safe and comfortable.

The movements are designed to be done on the floor,

On a yoga mat or blanket,

Or if it's challenging to get on the floor,

Perhaps on a firm bed.

As you follow along with the guidance as best you can,

Knowing that your best can change from moment to moment,

You may find that there are poses that are not appropriate for you.

Tuning into the wisdom of your body and allowing this to guide you and to override the instructions as necessary,

Adapting the movements in ways that work for you,

Or simply skipping certain ones and imagining yourself doing the movements,

Feeling them in stillness,

Which can also be a deeply nourishing practice for the mind and body.

Beginning now,

Lying on the back in resting pose with as much of the body as possible,

Making contact with the ground.

Legs outstretched and arms by your sides with palms facing up if that's okay.

If extending the legs is too uncomfortable for the low back,

Gently bending the knees with the soles of your feet on the ground a little wider than your hips and allowing the knees to rest together,

Inviting the sense of a long spine as the chin gently tucks,

Knowing you can return to this resting pose whenever you care to during this practice.

As you settle in,

Feeling the earth support and receive you here in the moment,

How gravity holds you,

Bringing your attention to the sensations of breathing in the body,

Aware of the rising and falling of the belly and ribcage,

The expanding and contracting of the lungs,

And with each out breath,

Allowing your body to rest more and more deeply.

As you're ready,

On your next inhale,

Lifting the arms slowly and gently and moving them in an arc upwards as your shoulder blades remain grounded and feeling into the sensations of movement.

As you continue to slowly move your arms overhead until they're gently resting on the floor with your fingers pointing towards the wall behind you.

As you inhale,

Pressing your heels in the opposite direction,

Stretching the entire body.

As you exhale,

Gently releasing the stretch and allowing your arms to travel back through the arc,

Noticing any sensations that are present with movement,

Inviting a beginner's mind,

A fresh sense of curiosity about how it feels now in your arms as they rest at your sides.

As you breathe in,

Allowing the arms to again move through an arc,

Perhaps aware of sensations in the muscles of the arms,

The pull of gravity,

Breathing out and allowing the arms to rest on the floor above the head.

As you inhale,

Pressing your fingertips towards the wall behind you and your heels or toes in the opposite direction,

Stretching the entire body.

And as you exhale,

Gently releasing the stretch and being present to whatever you notice here,

Perhaps aware of thoughts,

Emotions or mood states,

And as much as possible,

Allowing them to come and go like clouds in the sky,

Inviting your focus to be centered on sensations in the body.

Gently releasing the stretch while keeping the arms resting overhead.

And with your next inhale,

Extending to the left toes and left fingertips,

Experiencing the length of the left side of the body while allowing the right side to rest.

With your next exhale,

Releasing the stretch on the left side.

As you inhale,

Extending now through the right side,

Bringing awareness to how both sides of the body feel now.

With your next out breath,

Releasing the right side of the body and allowing the arms to move through the arc and rest by your sides.

Lying in the resting pose for a few breaths and noticing how you feel in your body now.

As you continue to breathe,

Moving the arms to extend from the shoulders in the shape of a T,

With palms facing up or down.

And if the knees are not already bent,

Inviting them to bend with the soles of the feet resting on the floor.

Hips width,

Aware of sensations in the body.

And as you exhale,

Gently tilting the tailbone upward as the low back moves towards the ground and makes as much contact with the ground as is comfortable.

Perhaps feeling the stretch in the low back as you breathe in,

Gently releasing the stretch,

Relaxing the belly muscles and moving the tailbone down while raising the lower back.

Noticing any sensations that are present for you here with this movement.

On your next out breath,

Again lifting the tailbone and contracting the abdomen.

And as you breathe in,

Releasing the abdomen and gently pressing the tailbone down with your own pace as you breathe,

Continuing to gently rock the pelvis in this way.

Tuning into sensations,

Knowing that at times thoughts and emotions may arise and allowing these to simply come and go.

And focusing your attention on the body.

Pausing now and bringing the body to stillness,

Aware of sensations.

And as you're ready,

Carefully bringing your knees towards your chest and hugging them with your arms.

Perhaps interlacing your fingers or holding opposite wrists with your hands.

Maybe gently bringing the knees closer to your chest with each exhale.

Practicing within the limits of your comfort.

If it feels right to you,

Slowly beginning to gently rock side to side,

Back and forth,

Massaging the back,

Aware of any sensations as you move.

And now allowing the body to become as still as possible as you continue to hug your knees to your chest.

And if it's okay for you,

In this moment,

Carefully lifting the head and shoulders,

Bringing your forehead towards your knees,

Aware of the weight of the head and sensations in the neck and observing any limitations.

Knowing these limits can change from moment to moment.

As you continue to breathe,

Gently releasing your head to the ground,

Aware of how this release feels in the body.

As you're ready,

Gently letting go of the right leg and extending it towards the ground while continuing to hold the left knee to the chest,

Inviting a kind curiosity to any sensations that are present.

Perhaps noticing places in the body where the muscles are engaged to support the pose and the muscles that do not need to be engaged,

Such as those of the face and the neck.

Releasing tension wherever you can,

Exploring sensations in the arms and legs and in the left knee and hip.

As you continue to breathe,

Gently lifting the head and shoulders to bring the forehead in the direction of the left knee without straining or forcing the neck.

At times,

Thoughts of striving or judging may arise.

Whenever this happens,

We can invite a kind,

Compassionate caring of the body.

Slowly releasing the head,

Neck,

And shoulders and feeling into your direct experience of the release.

As you're ready,

Gently letting go of the left leg and bringing your arms along your sides in resting pose,

Perhaps noticing how one side of the body feels different than the other.

As you're ready,

Bringing your right knee into the chest and coming to know what is felt here in the right hip and knee and how it is for the arms to hold the leg in this way.

Parts of the body that are touching.

As you continue to breathe,

It feels okay in the neck,

Gently lifting the head and shoulders and moving the forehead towards the right knee,

Perhaps aware of the weight of the head and any sensations,

Perhaps feeling the pull of gravity,

Carefully releasing the head to the ground and noticing how this feels.

Releasing the right leg now and pausing in stillness as you continue to breathe.

As you're ready,

Carefully rolling onto your belly and taking your time to come to hands and knees,

Positioning your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips,

Noticing how it feels in the body to be in this position,

Grounding through the palms,

Through the knees,

Lower legs,

In this tabletop position,

Inviting the inner elbows to face forward.

With your next in-breath,

Gently lifting the head and tailbone upward as you arch your back and bring your belly downward as you continue to breathe here in cow pose.

As you exhale,

Gently rounding your spine towards the ceiling as the head lowers in between the arms,

Tucking the chin and tailbone in cat pose.

And as you breathe in,

Moving into cow pose again with the head and tailbone lifting and the belly releasing.

As you're ready,

As you exhale,

Gently moving into cat pose,

Tucking the tailbone and head,

Contracting the abdomen as you round your back,

Feeling into the sensations along the front body and back body,

And gently moving back and forth from cat to cow pose at your own pace,

Following your breath and pausing to rest as necessary,

Gently returning whenever you're ready to tabletop position.

Aware of sensations as you come to stillness after a period of movement,

Perhaps noticing your heartbeat,

Circulation,

Feeling the sensations of breath moving in the body.

And as you're ready,

Gently tucking your chin to extend the back of the neck,

Bringing the gaze to one spot on the floor and bringing weight to the left leg and slowly lifting and extending the right leg parallel to the ground,

Straight back from the right hip towards the wall behind you,

With your right ankle flexing and toes towards the ground.

As you continue to breathe,

Shifting weight to the right palm and extending the left arm shoulder height with your palm facing right and pinky edge of the hand towards the ground,

As if you're going to shake someone's hand,

Perhaps noticing the subtle movement the body makes to balance and the engagement of muscles to support you here,

Feeling free to touch down as often as needed.

As you tune into the wisdom of your body,

Gently releasing your right leg and left arm into the table position and inviting a kind awareness to the body and sensations here.

As you're ready,

Shifting weight to the parts of the right leg on the ground and extending the left leg hip height with the heel extending towards the wall behind you and toes towards the ground,

Shifting weight to the left palm and arm and extending the right arm shoulder height,

Pinky side of the hand down and palm facing left,

Inviting your attention to follow the different sensations arising here in the moment.

And as you continue breathing,

Perhaps noticing any mood states,

Maybe frustration or a sense of accomplishment,

Allowing thoughts and emotions to come and go and exploring sensations with curiosity,

Kindness and friendliness,

Gently releasing the arm and leg to all fours and allowing the body to come to stillness in table pose,

Aware of breathing,

Aware of body sensations and taking your time now,

Bringing your body carefully to come on to the back in resting pose,

Sensing the movement as you transition from one pose to another.

And as your body arrives on the ground,

Perhaps sensing how it supports and receives you with your next in breath,

Bending your knees and resting the soles of your feet on the ground at hip's width,

With the arms resting at your sides and palms facing down,

Exhaling with the back releasing deeper into the ground.

And on your next inhale,

Slowly lifting the tailbone,

Low back,

Mid back,

And perhaps the shoulder blades off of the ground as you feel into the soles of the feet,

Connecting with the floor,

The arms and shoulders,

Gently lifting the heart upward in this bridge pose,

Carefully tucking the chin to lengthen the back of the neck and allowing it to be still and safe.

Aware of the entire body's involvement in this pose and exploring sensations with open receptivity as you breathe,

Continuing with the knees bent and soles of the feet on the ground and beginning with the shoulder blades,

Then mid back and low back,

Carefully releasing the back body to the floor with gentle awareness of subtle and perhaps not so subtle sensations as you let go of holding the bridge pose,

Reconnecting the back with the earth,

Gently bringing the knees towards the chest and offering them a hug with your arms while the head remains resting on the floor.

And if it feels comfortable for you,

You may want to rock side to side,

Front to back,

Gently massaging the low back and being present to any sensations here.

Perhaps there's a feeling of releasing tension in the back or hips.

As you're ready,

Releasing the arms and legs and coming to stillness as much as possible in the resting pose,

Connecting awareness with the breath as you inhale and exhale.

As you're ready,

Bending the knees and resting the soles of the feet on the ground at hips width,

Reaching the arms out from the shoulders in a T position with palms facing up or down.

Or if you prefer,

Gently clasping the hands at the back of the head,

Aware of the direct experience of the points of contact the body's making with the ground.

With your next exhale,

Gently allowing the knees to move to the right,

Stacking the legs or allowing them to gently rest close to one another towards the ground or on the ground.

As the soles of the feet leave the ground in this final twist,

If you care to,

Can gently allow your head to move left.

Checking in with how this feels in your neck,

Tuning into the wisdom of the body here,

Perhaps noticing areas of tightness or resisting in the legs,

Back,

Neck.

With each out breath,

Allowing any muscles that are holding tight to release.

And as you continue to breathe,

Gently bringing the back of the head to the ground if you've moved it and carefully bringing the knees back up to center and soles of the feet resting on the ground at hips width.

Aware of sensations of breathing here.

As you're ready,

On your next exhale,

Gently allowing the knees to move to the left side of the body towards the ground.

And with each out breath,

Releasing any areas of holding or tension as much as possible.

Tuning into sensations in the neck and if it's okay,

Gently turning the head to the right.

Being present to any and all sensations with friendliness and kindness.

Carefully bringing the legs back to center and back of the head to the ground and arms at your sides,

Inviting the legs to be outstretched or with knees bent if that's more comfortable in resting pose.

Following the breath with your attention.

As you're ready,

Gently bending the knees and bringing the soles of the feet to rest on the ground at hips width with arms at your sides.

Slowly lifting your right leg,

Bringing the sole of the foot to face upward.

Aware of sensations and movement in the leg,

Perhaps feeling it from the inside out.

And as you're ready,

Raising the arms to hold the right leg wherever it's most comfortable,

Perhaps behind the thigh,

Calf,

Or the ankle while avoiding holding behind the knee and allowing the arms to gently guide the right leg towards you.

Perhaps feeling into the sensations of this position along the back of the right leg.

If you care to intensify the stretch,

You can lift your head,

Gently moving your forehead towards your right leg,

Being careful with the neck.

And with your next exhale,

Gently releasing the head back onto the ground,

Allowing the arms to rest at your sides as you slowly begin lowering the right leg all the way down to the ground.

Breathing in and out here in resting pose.

On your next inhale,

Slowly lifting the left leg,

Bringing the sole of the foot to face the ceiling.

And as you exhale,

Gently holding the leg with your hands wherever it's most comfortable and gently guiding the leg towards you,

Feeling your left leg from the inside out.

And if you care to intensify the stretch,

Carefully lifting the head and moving the forehead towards the leg,

Feeling the weight of the head and any tightness or resisting here as you continue to breathe.

Gently lowering the head if you've lifted it,

Inviting the arms to rest at your sides as you slowly lower the left leg to the ground.

Pausing here and being with any and all sensations after this period of movement in the body,

Perhaps recognizing the wonderful capacity of the body to move and rest,

Allowing thoughts to arise and pass and guiding your attention to sensations in the body.

With each out breath,

Continuing to release any tension deep in the body.

When you're ready,

Noticing the breath and carefully rolling onto your right side body,

Your right arm bent and upper arm on the ground,

Supporting your head with your palm and bringing your left palm to rest on the ground in front of your abdomen with your left leg stacked on your right leg.

Perhaps noticing sensations of balancing in the body as it adjusts in this pose.

Slowly lifting the left leg off of the right upward and as far as feels comfortable in the body.

Continuing to be aware of any adjustments and movements the body makes to support you here.

Gently lowering the left leg and resting and resting it on the right leg as you breathe here.

Carefully moving onto the back body and release into the resting pose.

Aware of the breath and how it feels here in the body in this moment.

And as you're ready,

Gently rolling onto the left side of your body,

Bending the left arm and supporting your head with your palm and bringing the right palm to rest on the floor in front of your abdomen with the right leg stacked on the left.

Perhaps noticing any subtle or maybe more vivid sensations as the body adjusts here.

As you continue to breathe,

Slowly lifting the right leg up as far as is comfortable and observing the sensations of the muscles that engage to support this shape.

Your next exhale,

Gently lowering the right leg to rest on the left,

Releasing the arms and legs onto the ground,

Coming into resting pose on the back,

Breathing here and receiving whatever sensations are present now.

Inviting stillness and ease.

Taking your time now to gently roll onto the front of your body,

Feeling the points of contact your body makes with the ground.

The tops of the feet resting on the ground,

Your arms resting at your sides and allowing your head to rest on your right or left cheek,

Whichever feels most comfortable.

And with each exhale,

Inviting the body to rest more and more deeply,

Gently bringing your chin to the ground or choosing to fold your arms,

Allowing your forehead to rest on your arm,

Whichever feels right in your body.

With your next exhale,

Gently lifting the right leg from the floor with the right heel moving towards the ceiling as far as is available to the body and continuing to breathe,

Perhaps feeling the ground with breathing.

On your next out-breath,

Slowly and gently releasing the right leg towards the ground,

Allowing it to settle and rest as the breath moves in and out of the body,

Allowing the head to rest now on the opposite cheek,

Inviting stillness and calm as you breathe.

On your next inhale,

Bringing the chin to the ground or the forehead to rest on folded arms.

And as you exhale,

Gently lifting the left leg off of the ground to wherever feels right in your body now,

Aware of sensations of breathing and the energy required to hold the leg this way.

On your next out-breath,

Gently releasing the left leg to the floor as it is received by the ground and releasing one cheek to the ground,

Resting the head and neck,

Bringing awareness to any and all sensations that are present for you here.

And as you're ready,

Bringing your chin to the ground,

Gently tucking the chin and on an inhale,

Slowly raising your head and shoulders from the ground with the support of the backs of the arms pressing downward,

Allowing the gaze to be towards the ground and perhaps feeling into the muscles along the back body then engage to support lifting.

On your next exhale,

Gently lower the chest,

Shoulders,

And chin to the ground and resting the opposite cheek on the ground,

Completely surrendering to the earth.

As you're ready,

Carefully turning onto the back in resting pose,

Bending the knees with the soles of the feet hips width and arms extending from the shoulders in a T-position.

As you continue to observe your breath,

Gently inviting the knees to rest on the right side of the body.

And if you care to,

Allowing the gaze to move towards the left shoulder in this spinal twist with your care and kind attention,

Scanning the body for areas of tightness and holding and as much as possible,

Releasing this with each out breath.

On your next inhale,

Slowly bringing the knees and head to center and gently allowing the knees to move left as you breathe out.

And if you'd like the gaze to move right as you kindly explore this side of the body in spinal twist,

Releasing as much as possible with each exhale.

With your next in breath,

Bringing the knees and head back to center and settling into the resting pose,

Arms at the sides,

Palms up or down and legs extended with feet resting.

Or if the back is uncomfortable this way,

Exploring what is more comfortable in your body,

Perhaps supporting knees with a rolled blanket or pillow underneath them.

Or with knees bent and soles of the feet on the ground,

Slightly wider than the hips and knees resting together as you breathe and settle here,

Allowing the body to feel the support of the ground and resting more and more deeply with each out breath,

Releasing any areas of tightness or tension,

Holding,

Resistance and inviting calm,

Ease,

Relaxation.

As we come to the end of this mindful movement practice session,

If it feels right,

Acknowledging the effort you've made to nourish and care for yourself in this way,

Appreciating all that is right in your body in this moment,

Kindly observing your breath.

And as you're ready,

Gently bringing movement back through your fingertips and toe tips,

Wrists and ankles,

Arms and legs.

And if you care to,

Gently rolling the head side to side as you breathe in,

Gently reaching your arms overhead,

Extending the legs,

Stretching the body and gently bending the knees,

Bringing them into your chest,

Hugging them with your arms.

You can extend your arms overhead and slowly roll onto your right side,

Using your right arm as a pillow for your head and pausing here as you're ready,

Slowly bringing yourself to a seated position.

Reviews

Hello beautiful 🌺🎈🌺🎈🌺Thank you so much for the wonderfully movements 🎈it’s a pleasure 🎀to do the movements and enjoying the spaciousness it gives me🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste

Great session, thank you so much! I do wish I couldn’t hear the mouse clicking occasionally, though. It’s such a quiet session, so it was noticiable with no music in the background.