Mindful Movement - Standing Yoga - MBSR

This 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 standing yoga sequence.

It is intended to support your awareness of the body and mind in movement and is an invitation to connect with your direct experience of life in the body.

Yoga means to join together or yoke and here we're bringing together the mind and body as we weave breath awareness throughout the practice.

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 during this movement meditation.

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.

Moment to moment.

The movements of this sequence are designed to invite a sense of groundedness and can be an opportunity to explore balance,

Flexibility,

And strength.

Practicing during a time when there will be little or no interruptions and in a place where you feel safe and comfortable and as you follow along with a 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 the 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 imagine yourself doing the movements,

Feeling them in stillness,

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

And as you observe and feel into any limits in the body,

Perhaps pausing and easing up on the movement,

Embodying kindness,

Compassion,

And patience.

Knowing awareness of limits is an integral part of your mindfulness practice.

Taking rest as necessary during the standing practice,

Keeping the eyes open with a steady focus can be helpful with balance and a sense of groundedness and can also help to steady the mind.

And as you're ready,

Bringing yourself to a standing position with the soles of the feet on the ground,

Feeling into the four corners of the feet and perhaps shifting weight from side to side to emphasize the corners of the feet here.

And being with your direct experience of standing and how that feels in the body,

Allowing the knees to soften,

Feeling length along the side body,

Resting your arms at your sides,

Softening through the tops of the shoulders,

Gently tucking your chin,

Reaching the top of your head towards the sky,

Perhaps noticing your connection to the earth through the soles of the feet and the connection to the sky through the top of the head.

Here in conscious mountain pose,

Aware of the breath as it moves in and out of the body here,

Out as your constant companion.

With your next breath in,

Gently lifting your arms out to the sides,

Moving towards overhead,

Tuning into the wisdom of the body,

Specifically in the shoulders and neck and honoring any limitations here.

Aware of the breath as it moves in and out of the body,

Noticing how it is to be holding your arms in this way,

Perhaps feeling the arms from the inside out from the bones,

The muscles.

Maybe there's a sense of gravity.

With your next out breath,

Slowly and gently lowering your arms to your sides,

Allowing the arms to rest here and simply noticing any sensation.

Perhaps there's tingling in the hands,

Warmth or coolness,

Being present to whatever is here for you now,

Knowing that at times the mind may move into thought and story and as much as possible,

Bringing your focus of attention to the movement.

With your next breath in,

Slowly reaching your arms out to the sides in a T position,

Palms facing up,

Aware of sensations in the shoulders and arms,

The soles of the feet supporting you here,

As well as the legs and torso.

Aware of the breath as it moves in and out,

Perhaps noticing the weight of your arms,

The length of your arms.

With your next out breath,

Slowly and gently lowering your arms to your sides,

Being present to any and all sensations with an attitude of kindness and friendliness,

Curiosity.

Once again,

Slowly lifting the arms,

Feeling the sense of gravity as you lift,

Reaching the arms overhead as much as possible.

With your next exhale,

As you keep the right arm extended upwards,

Slowly releasing the left arm to your side,

Aware of how sensation is in the right arm and the left arm.

If it feels okay in your body,

Gently reaching your fingertips towards the ceiling,

Perhaps bringing the gaze towards the fingertips as if you were going to reach up and pick something like a grape from a high vine,

Staying with your breath here,

Feeling the sensations in the arms from the inside out.

As you're ready,

Slowly lowering the right arm to your side,

Bringing the gaze forward to one spot,

Allowing both arms to rest at your sides,

Maybe noticing how one arm feels different than the other,

And any sensation in the palms or fingertips,

Perhaps circulation,

Pulsing,

Tingling,

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

And on your next inhale,

Gently lifting the arms overhead,

Slowly,

Carefully,

Tuning into the wisdom of the body,

And gently releasing now your right arm slowly to your side,

Allowing the right arm to settle and relax,

Extending now through the left fingertips upward.

If it's okay in your neck,

Bringing the gaze towards the left fingertips,

Reaching up as if you were going to touch something here.

As you continue to breathe,

Simply noticing the soles of the feet on the ground,

How the arms are in this position,

The left arm extending,

The right arm resting.

And with your next out breath,

Bringing your gaze forward and slowly lowering your left arm to your side,

Aware of what's here for you in the moment,

Feeling your feet on the ground once again at hips width,

Supporting the body.

And on your next breath in,

Slowly reaching your arms overhead,

Allowing the tops of the shoulders to soften and release any tightness or tension,

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Taking a deep breath in and extending through the top of the head.

And as you exhale,

Gently bringing the fingertips over to the right side,

Aware of sensations along the left side of the body as it opens here,

And the right side of the body as it contracts.

Aware of the muscles that support and hold you here in this position as you breathe.

And with your next breath in,

Slowly reaching the arms overhead,

Centering the head,

Tucking the chin,

Breathing in.

And on your exhale,

Gently bringing the arms and fingertips over to the left side,

Perhaps aware of sensations in the hips and the muscles of the abdomen,

Aware of the right side body extending and how it is in the left side body here.

And on your exhale,

And on your next breath in,

Reaching arms overhead,

Bringing the gaze forward,

Softening the shoulders.

And as you breathe out,

Slowly lowering your arms to your sides,

Mountain pose,

Aware of the breath,

Aware of any sensations that are present for you here as you pause between the poses.

Moving now into some shoulder rolls,

Feeling your feet on the ground supporting you here,

Bringing the gaze to one spot,

As you reach the crown of your head,

Tucking the chin.

On your next inhale,

Reaching the shoulders up under the ears and squeezing.

And as you breathe out,

Rolling the shoulders back as your shoulder blades come together,

And down.

Inhaling the shoulders forward and up,

Exhaling the shoulders back and down.

Moving through a few more in this direction at your own pace,

Your own breath,

Paying close attention to the direct experience here in the shoulders.

And as you're ready,

Allowing the shoulders to rest,

The arms at your sides,

And reversing the direction of your shoulder rolls,

Bringing the shoulders back with shoulder blades close.

As you inhale,

Bringing them up under your ears,

And on your out breath,

Slowly bringing the shoulders forward and down.

Inhaling back and up,

Exhaling forward and down.

Moving through a few more at your own pace as you breathe,

Bringing your attention to any sensations that you're feeling anywhere in the body.

When you feel the side has balanced with the other,

Gently allowing the arms and shoulders to rest,

Aware of breath as it moves in and out of the body.

And moving now into some neck rolls,

Standing in an upright and supportive way,

Taking a deep breath in,

And on your exhale,

Slowly bringing your chin towards your chest.

And as you breathe in,

Slowly bringing your right ear towards your right shoulder.

With your next exhale,

Once again bringing your chin towards your chest.

As you inhale,

Carefully bringing the left ear towards the left shoulder as best you can,

Allowing the shoulders to soften here.

Breathing in,

Bringing the chin towards your chest,

And on your exhale,

Carefully bringing the right ear towards the right shoulder.

Inhaling,

Chin to chest,

And exhaling your left ear towards your left shoulder,

Aware of sensations in the neck,

The shoulders.

Inhaling your chin to your chest,

Exhaling here.

With your next breath in,

Carefully lifting the head,

Bringing the gaze forward,

Mountain pose.

Solid,

Steady,

Awake,

Alert.

As you're ready now,

Gently bringing the feet slightly wider than your hips onto the ground,

Slowly extending your arms straight out from your shoulders with the palms facing up.

And as you're ready,

Gently bringing the weight into the right foot and the right leg,

Lifting your left heel off of the ground with toes touching down,

Perhaps noticing sensations of the body balancing here and adjusting.

And if it feels okay in your body,

Gently lifting the left toes from the ground,

Knowing you can always touch down whenever you'd like.

Bringing a beginner's mind to exploring the sense of balance here in the body,

Curious about how it is here in the moment.

Continuing to breathe,

And on your next exhale,

As you've lifted the foot,

Gently placing the foot down onto the ground and allowing your arms to rest at your sides,

Being present to any and all sensations here with a sense of kindness and friendliness,

Receptivity.

And if any thoughts or judgments are arising,

Simply allowing these to arise and pass like clouds in the sky.

And as you're ready,

With feet slightly wider than the hips,

As you breathe in,

Slowly lifting the arms up to shoulder height.

And as you breathe out,

Grounding the left foot,

Shifting the weight to the left foot and leg,

And slowly lifting the right heel from the ground.

Aware of any adjustments or movements in the body here,

Continuing to breathe.

And if you care to,

Slowly lifting the right foot from the ground,

Aware of sensations of balance,

Knowing that you can always touch down whenever you'd like,

Inviting that sense of kind curiosity here,

A playfulness.

And with your next out-breath,

Gently bringing the right foot to the ground if you've lifted it,

And slowly releasing your arms to your sides,

Bringing the feet once again,

Hips-width,

Supporting the body as you stand here,

Sensing the ground beneath you,

And extending towards the sky above,

Gently bringing your hands to your hips for a standing spinal twist as best you can,

Keeping the soles of the feet and legs where they are,

Knees facing forward.

And on your next in-breath,

Extending through the crown of the head as you breathe out,

Slowly beginning to bring your gaze over the right shoulder,

Sensing the hips with the palms,

Aware of movement along the front body and back body,

Allowing the shoulders to soften here as much as possible.

With each in-breath,

Perhaps extending slightly more through the top of the head,

And with each out-breath,

Maybe bringing the gaze over the right shoulder towards the wall behind you,

Honoring and listening to the body's wisdom here,

Moving as much as is comfortable,

Continuing to breathe.

And on your next out-breath,

Gently releasing the twist,

Bringing the gaze forward as you keep your hands on your hips,

Tucking the chin and softening through the shoulders,

Breathing in,

Extending through the top of the head.

And on your out-breath,

Beginning to gently look over the left shoulder,

Aware of how the feet and legs are grounding you here.

With each inhale,

Maybe extending a bit more through the top of the head,

And with each out-breath,

Perhaps bringing the gaze more and more more and more over the left shoulder towards the wall behind you,

Aware of sensations along the back body and in the neck and the arms,

Breathing here.

And with your next in-breath,

Slowly bringing the gaze forward,

Allowing the arms to rest at your sides and being present to your experience here,

However it is,

Noticing the breath moving in and out of the body.

And moving now into chair pose,

With the feet supporting you on the ground under the knees and then the hips,

Gently bringing the arms forward,

Extending them straight out from the shoulders,

With palms facing down,

Allowing the shoulder tops to soften.

Perhaps there's a sense of the shoulder blades coming together as you feel into the arms and their sockets,

Breathing in here.

And on your out-breath,

Gently and carefully bending into the knees,

As if you were going to sit in a chair,

Feeling any sensations along the low back and in the belly,

As best you can,

Softening through the tops of the shoulders,

The jaw,

The muscles of the face,

Aware of any intensity in the legs and in the back,

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

And with your next inhale,

Slowly beginning to straighten the legs,

And on your out-breath,

Allowing the arms to rest at your sides,

Conscious mountain pose,

Noticing the breath as it moves in and out of the body.

Moving now into tree pose,

Beginning with feet hips-width and hands on your hips,

Allowing the shoulders to soften.

And as you're ready,

Gently bringing weight into the right foot and leg as you continue to breathe,

And turning the left knee out to the side,

Bringing the sole of the left foot to the ankle,

And touching down with the left toes,

Aware breath as it moves in and out of the body,

And any adjustments,

Sensations of balancing here.

If you'd like to intensify this balance,

You can bring the sole of the left foot to the inside of the lower leg,

Or reaching down with the left arm,

Pulling on the lower leg and lifting the left foot to the inner thigh,

Avoiding the side of the knee.

And as you press your left foot into the ankle,

Lower leg,

Or inner thigh of the right leg,

Allow the right leg to gently sense the sole of the foot,

Breathing here,

And if you care to,

Reaching the arms to any position that feels right for you,

Perhaps overhead,

Allowing the arms to reach out like branches of a tree,

Perhaps helping with the sense of balance here,

Feeling the breath moving in and out of the body.

And as you're ready,

Gently bringing the hands back to the hips,

Gently lowering the left foot to the ground,

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Adjusting the feet if they've moved so they're supporting you here under your hips,

And then moving to tree pose on the other side,

Shifting the weight now into the left foot,

Feeling it root down into the ground,

The muscles of the left leg supporting you.

As you turn your right knee out,

Bringing the sole of the right foot to the ankle with toes touching down to the inner part of the left lower leg,

Or perhaps reaching down with your right hand and bringing the sole of the right foot to the left inner thigh,

Aware of the places where the right foot and the left leg connect,

And if you'd like,

Reaching the arms to any position that feels right for you here,

Perhaps growing the branches of your tree,

Aware of the sensations of gentle movements as you balance and adjust,

And aware of the breath as it moves in and out of the body.

Whenever you're ready,

On an out breath,

Bringing the hands back to the hips and slowly,

Gently releasing the right foot to the ground,

Allowing the arms to then rest at your sides,

Breathing in and breathing out.

We'll be moving now into triangle pose.

So now taking the left foot,

Bringing it slightly wider than the left hip,

And bringing your right foot wider than the right hip,

Turning the toes of the right foot towards the right,

With legs straight,

Gently reaching the arms out from the shoulders,

Pinky side of the hands facing down,

And as you breathe in,

Bringing your left hip towards the outer edge of the left foot and extending through the right arm and fingertips,

Moving the torso towards the right as much as possible,

And on your out breath,

Gently releasing the right hand to your shin and lifting the left arm with fingertips pointing upward,

Aware of sensations in the abdomen and torso,

And respecting any limits in the shoulders,

Perhaps bringing the left hand to the hip,

If this is too much on the left shoulder,

Aware of how the muscles of the legs hold and support you here,

And how the ground receives you.

On your next in breath,

Slowly lifting the arms up and bringing the torso forward,

And on your out breath,

Shifting the feet in the opposite direction.

So the outer edge of the right foot faces the right side,

And the toes of the left foot face the left side,

Extending the arms once again,

Perhaps bringing the shoulder blades closer,

Inhaling,

Allowing the right hip to move towards the outer edge of the right foot,

And extending the left fingertips left,

Feeling sensation in the arms,

The shoulders,

The torso,

And on your next out breath,

Slowly lowering the left arm with the hand on the shin or somewhere on the leg to support you,

Reaching the right fingertips towards the sky,

Being present to any and all sensations here,

Kindly and compassionately working with your limits,

Perhaps bringing the right hand to the right hip.

On your next inhale,

Pressing down into the feet as you slowly lift the torso and arms overhead,

And once again,

Turning the feet in the other direction,

The outer edge of the left foot facing left,

And the toes of the right foot facing right.

If your arms need a rest,

Gently bringing your hands to your hips,

Letting the torso face forward,

Setting the gaze.

On your next exhale,

Gently bending into the right knee,

Allowing the right knee to line up with the right ankle,

Carefully bringing your gaze over your right shoulder,

And if you'd like,

Extending the arms once again with palms facing down in warrior two,

Perhaps aware of any tension in the muscles of the face,

The jaw,

Or the shoulders,

And as best you can,

Allowing this to release.

As you breathe in,

Gently bringing the hands back to the hips as you straighten the right leg,

Bringing the gaze forward,

And adjusting the feet the opposite way.

Once again,

Toes of the left foot facing left,

The outer edge of the right foot facing right.

As you continue to breathe,

Slowly bringing the gaze towards the left,

And if you care to,

Extending the arms with palms facing down,

Bending into the left knee,

Allowing the left knee to line up with the left ankle.

As you continue to breathe here,

Feeling into the areas of your body that support you here,

And places where you might be holding on,

Where you don't necessarily need to,

Inviting a kind and gentle exploration of the body here.

With your next in-breath,

Straightening your left leg,

Bringing your hands to your hips,

Bringing the gaze forward,

And slowly bringing your feet back under your hips,

The conscious mountain pose,

With arms resting at your sides,

Noticing the breath as it moves in and out of the body.

As you're ready,

However it feels right for you,

Slowly bringing yourself onto the ground,

Lying on your back,

Taking your time here,

Feeling into this transition of moving from standing to lying down.

And once your back body arrives on the ground,

Noticing how the earth receives and supports you here,

How gravity holds you,

How it's been a constant feature of your practice,

As well as the breath.

And as you're ready,

Gently reaching the arms overhead,

Overhead,

Extending through the toe tips,

And stretching through the body,

However feels most comfortable for you.

And as you breathe out,

Gently bringing your knees to your chest,

Hugging your legs with your arms,

Maybe even rocking side to side,

Back and forth,

Massaging the low back.

And as you're ready,

Carefully placing the soles of the feet on the ground about hip's width,

And extending through the arms in the shape of a T.

Palms can be up or down.

And as you're ready,

Slowly moving into spinal twist,

Allowing the knees to come towards the right side of the body,

The soles of the feet lifting,

Allowing the legs to soften and rest here,

Knowing they don't have to be perfectly stacked or in any particular way,

Tuning into the muscles of the neck.

If it's okay here in your body,

Gently bringing the gaze over the left shoulder,

Aware of sensations of breath,

Perhaps noticing any areas of tightness or holding,

And as best you can,

Allowing these to release with each out breath.

On your next inhale,

Gently lifting the knees,

Bringing the soles of the feet to the ground.

And if you've turned your head,

Bringing the gaze to center.

As you breathe out,

Letting the knees gently move to the left,

With soles of the feet lifting,

Allowing the legs to rest and release,

Checking in with the neck,

And perhaps bringing the gaze over the right shoulder.

And here,

Noticing any sensations that are present,

Any sense of tightness,

Resistance,

Or perhaps there's ease and calm.

With your next in breath,

Gently lifting the knees,

Bringing the soles of the feet to the ground,

And head to center,

With arms resting at your sides,

And either bringing the soles of the feet slightly wider than the hips,

With knees touching,

Or extending the legs,

If that's okay.

Aware of your breathing here in resting pose,

Aware of the points of contact the body makes with the ground.

With each out breath,

Allowing your body to rest more and more deeply into the ground,

Letting go,

And sensing into the entire body here,

From the soles of the feet and fingertips to the top of the head,

Aware of the breath moving in the body,

And as you're ready,

Gently bringing movement back through the fingertips,

Toe tips,

Wrists,

Ankles,

Arms,

And legs,

And if you care to,

Gently rolling the head side to side.

You can bring your arms overhead and extend the legs for a full body stretch,

And as you continue to breathe,

Bringing the knees to the chest,

Hugging them with your arms,

And a gesture of care and nurturing for yourself,

Extending the arms overhead,

Gently rolling onto the right side,

Allowing your right arm to act as a pillow for your head,

Pausing here,

And whenever you're ready,

Gently bringing yourself to a seated position.