Lying Down Mindful Movement

Gentle directed lying down mindful movement following MBSR guidelines. Remember to always honor your body and practice within your limits of today. A gentle meditative way to care for the body each day.

Transcript

Welcome to this lying down mindful movement.

I invite you to begin in the integration pose.

Lying on your back with your legs outstretched,

Your arms by your side,

And your palms up,

If this is comfortable for you.

If,

However,

This is uncomfortable for you,

Invite yourself to find a position that allows you to be awake and alert.

And even if you just visualize the poses that we're going to be going through in the next several minutes,

That is a practice for you.

As we go through lying down mindful movement,

The goal is to reintegrate with your body,

Perhaps reestablish a relationship with your body.

And if you can incorporate movement into that,

Wonderful.

And if you can't,

That too is wonderful that you are taking this time to just pay attention to your body.

Remembering as we go through these poses that our goal is not to strive.

The goal is to honor the limits and boundaries of your body,

Perhaps pushing up against those limits,

Perhaps staying on the edges of those limits just long enough to become a bit more familiar and a bit more comfortable with the edges.

Always recognizing this is not about striving.

So as you're lying on the floor or on your mat,

Allow your feet to fall to the sides,

Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your arms alongside the sides of your body with your palms up,

And invite yourself to take a couple of nice big deep breaths,

Dropping into your body as it is right now,

Accepting the support of the floor or the mat,

Experiencing the breath in the body,

Perhaps noticing the belly as it rises and falls with each inhalation and exhalation.

And now may be a good time to take a moment and share some appreciation with the body for all that it does for you with your knowledge and many,

Many times without your knowledge.

This incredibly miraculous body.

Perhaps with your next exhalation,

You can let go just a little bit more if you've brought anything with you from the rest of your day or if you're holding on to something that's facing you,

Just letting that either go or letting it be and holding it lightly.

And when you're ready,

And on your next inhalation,

Raising your arms straight up over your head,

Stretching out your arms up over your head,

And when they reach the floor above you,

Stretching out your legs,

So your hands are stretching one way and your heels are stretching another.

Feeling the full length of your body,

Experiencing your breath all through your body and appreciating all the muscles and all the coordination that allows you to stretch.

And on your next exhalation,

Slowly raise your arms,

Slowly bringing them back,

Back down to the sides of your body and releasing all your muscles as again you accept the support of the floor.

Returning to the sensation,

The experience of the body as it is in this moment.

This is a new moment for the body.

Bringing curiosity as you move throughout these poses with beginner's eyes as if this is the first time your body has moved in this way.

Clearly bringing curiosity to these moments and these movements.

And now when you're ready,

Bringing your arms out straight from your shoulders as if in a T,

And bringing your legs,

Your knees up,

Placing your feet flat on the floor,

And pressing your lower back to the floor.

And then rocking your pelvis forward so that you actually create a little hollow underneath your lower back.

And moving back and forth in this movement,

Slowly and intentionally.

Experiencing this movement,

Not thinking about it,

Experiencing it.

Feeling the bones,

The muscles,

All the parts of your body that come together in this rocking back and forth.

Remembering to breathe as you're going through this pose.

Perhaps exhaling when you're pressing your lower back into the floor,

And inhaling when the back is arched.

Breathing in a way that moves rhythmically with the body.

And when you're ready,

Coming to a neutral position with the lower back,

And bringing your knees up to the chest,

Wrapping the arms around the knees,

And hugging the knees to the chest.

Feeling the lower back stretch.

Breathing into this pose,

Breathing into the body.

And if you wish,

Bringing your chin to the knees,

If that is comfortable,

Never straining,

Noticing,

Striving.

You may wish to rock from side to side,

To massage the lower back and hips.

And when you're ready,

Allowing the left leg to straighten out and move to the floor,

While holding on to the right knee with both hands clasped around the leg,

Around the knee.

And feeling this stretch.

Again,

You may wish to bring the chin to the knee.

Bringing attention to the muscles that are contracting,

And perhaps expanding,

Paying attention to the breath in the body.

And also noticing when the mind wanders,

As it will,

Time and time again.

And when that happens,

Coming back to the knee that is held to the chest,

And the left leg that is stretched out on the floor.

And when you're ready,

Changing and stretching out the right leg,

And bringing the left knee up to the chest,

Feeling the difference in these poses.

Perhaps bringing appreciation to the muscles that allow this movement to happen.

Feeling the stretching,

Perhaps feeling other sensations,

And just noticing,

Just noting them.

Knowing that every sensation the body is experiencing is in the present moment.

And every time your mind wanders away,

Bring the mind back to whatever sensation is most prominent right now.

And when you're ready,

Releasing the left leg,

Allowing it to come back to the floor.

And then again,

Going to the integration pose,

And experiencing the body and all the sensations that are here right now.

As the body lies in the integration pose,

Perhaps reflecting for a moment on the importance of resting in the body.

Of allowing the body to be still,

For that is often when you gather your strength.

And when you're ready,

Turning over onto your stomach,

And coming to all fours,

Hands and knees.

Having your hands underneath the shoulders,

Your knees hip-width distance apart.

And then really repeating the arching and the bending,

As in our previous pose.

Arching the back up,

Just as a cat arches their back.

And on your exhalation,

Allowing your belly to fall,

Allowing,

If you were on the floor,

The hollow in the back.

And when the belly falls,

Raising your head up and looking up.

And then arching again on the next inhalation,

Arching up,

Tucking your head under your neck,

Under your chin,

Tucking in.

And then allowing your belly to fall once again,

And bringing your head up and looking up.

And going at your own pace,

Arching the back,

And allowing it to fall.

Breathing rhythmically in whatever way this feels comfortable to the body.

Experimenting with the body,

With the pace of this pose.

And now when you're ready,

Raising the right arm straight out,

As well as the left leg straight out,

Perpendicular to the floor.

Balancing in this position,

Bringing attention to the tightness of the muscles in the core,

In the arm and in the legs.

Breathing throughout the entire body as you balance.

Noticing if there's any thoughts or emotions that arise,

As well as noticing striving.

Now releasing this position,

Coming back to all fours.

And now moving into your next balance pose,

Raising your left arm and your right leg.

Breathing into this pose,

Feeling the breath all the way through your body.

And holding this pose,

Perhaps just to the edge,

Without striving.

Just noticing how it feels at the edge.

And when you're ready,

Coming back to all fours.

And now coming back to your back into the integration pose.

And again,

Bringing your knees up to your chest,

Wrapping your arms around your knees,

Hugging them tightly to the chest.

And if you wish,

Rocking back and forth to massage the lower back.

Or you may wish just to stay in the integration pose with your legs down to the floor,

Your hands at your sides.

And experience the body in this pose.

Now raising your arms up over your head,

Stretching them out onto the floor,

Over your head.

And bringing your knees up to the ceiling with your feet flat on the floor.

And raising your hips up into a bridge position,

Allowing your arms and your shoulder,

Your head and your legs to support your pelvis and your hips.

As you raise your body up in this bridge position,

Feeling all the muscles contracting to support you in this position.

And releasing when you feel the body is telling you to do so,

Allowing yourself to come back very slowly and gently back to the floor.

Keeping your feet flat on the floor and bringing your arms with your hands behind your neck to support your head.

And gently allowing your knees to fall to the right side of your body.

And turning your head and looking to the left,

Feeling the stretch throughout the body,

Down the left side of the body.

Breathing into this stretch.

As you feel it from your armpit all the way down to the toes of the left foot.

And when you're ready,

Bringing your knees back to center.

And allowing your knees to fall to the left of the body.

And looking to the right,

Feeling the stretch all the way down from the armpit all the way down the right side of the body.

Experiencing the breath in the body,

Perhaps allowing it to travel all the way through the body.

And now bringing the knees back to the center.

And bringing the arms back to your sides.

Keeping the knees up and the feet flat on the floor.

And raising the right leg,

Pointing the heel to the ceiling.

Stretching the right leg up.

And if you wish to experiment with pointing the toe and then pointing the heel,

Feeling the stretch all the way down the right leg to the right buttocks and the right hip.

And now taking both hands and placing them on the knee,

The right knee or the right shin or calf.

And pulling the right leg toward your chest.

Not straining,

Not striving.

But pulling it and experiencing this movement in the body.

And if you wish,

You may bring the chin or the forehead to the knee.

Experiencing even more stretch.

Always honoring the limits of the body.

Always listening to the body's experience.

And when you're ready,

Switching legs,

Putting the right foot down,

Now raising the left leg straight up,

Pointing the toe to the ceiling,

Then pointing the heel to the ceiling.

Alternating at your own pace.

And then taking both hands and putting them on the knee or the shin or the calf and pulling the left leg toward the body.

Feeling that extra stretch.

And if you wish,

Bending the chin or the head to the knee.

Again,

Honoring the limits of the body.

Remembering to breathe into this pose.

It's very easy to get caught up and so focused that we forget to breathe.

Breathing into it.

And when you're ready,

Releasing the left leg and allowing the legs and the body to return to the integration pose.

And as you continue to pay attention to the body,

Turn to the side with your right arm outstretched,

Holding your head up,

Your right leg on the floor.

So the right side of the body is on the floor.

With your left hand supporting the body,

Raising the left leg as it's perpendicular to the right leg and the floor.

And allowing the movement of the left leg to be slow and intentional.

Feeling the coordination of the body.

Feeling the balance needed for this pose,

For this movement.

Breathing into this movement.

And now when you're ready,

Turning over to the left side of your body and repeating that movement.

With your left arm supporting your neck and head and the left side of the body on the floor,

Raising and lowering the right leg as it's perpendicular to the left leg and the floor.

Breathing into this movement.

Experiencing the balance that is required.

Experiencing the sensations that are in this present moment.

And perhaps noticing any thoughts or emotions that arise.

And when your mind wanders,

Bring it gently back to this motion,

To this movement.

Because this movement and these body sensations are the present moment experience.

And when you're ready,

Turning back over to the stomach,

Lying on the stomach with your arms down to your sides.

With your face,

With your cheek on the floor.

And allowing yourself to relax into this pose.

Allowing the body to let go just a little bit.

Feeling the relaxed muscles in the shoulders,

The chest,

The belly,

The hips,

The legs.

And when you're ready,

Raising up your head as you're looking straight ahead of you.

And raising your right leg up off the floor,

Using the muscles in your thighs and your buttocks to raise the right leg.

You may wish to let it relax for a moment,

Then raise it back up again.

As you continue to look straight ahead.

And when you're ready,

Switch and raise the left leg.

Experiencing that movement,

Bringing that flashlight of attention to this particular movement and releasing the left leg.

And then raising it once again.

Noticing all the muscles that work in concert to raise this left leg.

And when you're ready,

Relaxing the left leg.

And allowing the head to come down to the floor again with the cheek against the floor.

Breathing in this position.

And now raising the head up and raising the entire upper body,

The torso up off the floor.

Arching the back to raise the head and the shoulders,

The torso off the floor.

Noticing the limits of the body.

Experiencing the body,

All parts of it.

Even down to the toes.

Noticing the body's experience of the breath in this position.

And when you're ready,

Releasing that pose and turning back over into the integration pose.

Having your legs outstretched.

And your arms again by the sides with the palms open.

Bring all the attention,

All the focus into the body experience.

You may notice tingling.

You may notice tension.

Heat.

Numbness.

Coolness.

Perhaps nothing.

And once again,

Bringing your knees up to the chest,

Wrapping your arms around the knees.

Hugging the knees to the chest to give the lower back just one more stretch.

And if you wish,

Rocking from side to side,

Massaging that lower back.

Or bringing the chin to the knees and perhaps rocking forward and back.

Whatever feels right for the body today.

And when you're ready,

Stretching the feet,

The legs back out,

Back into the integration pose.

And perhaps taking another couple of nice big deep breaths.

And with each exhalation,

Dropping into the body just that much more.

You may wish to do a quick body scan just to see,

Just to experience the body after these movements.

Starting with the toes and the tops of the feet,

The bottoms of the feet,

The heels,

The ankles,

The calves and the shins.

The knees,

The thighs,

The buttocks,

The hips,

The lower back,

The middle back,

The upper back.

The shoulder blades,

The fingers of both hands,

The palms,

The back of the hands,

The wrists,

The forearms,

The elbows,

The upper arms.

The shoulders,

The neck,

The head,

The eyes,

The front of the body,

The chest,

The belly.

And now the entire body as a whole.

What is the experience of the body right now?

You may wish to take a moment and congratulate yourself for paying attention to the body,

To the needs,

To the skill and the limitations that this body brings to you.

The only body you will ever have.

This one wondrous body.

Unintelligible

Reviews

Amazing - really helps me deepen the breath and ease my back pain x thank you so much x

Very relaxing and at the same time engaged my body in a challenging practice

This meditation involves a few yoga stretches that feel tremendous. Between the stretches, being mindfulness of your body and incorporating breathing, my whole body was stretched and challenged. Thank you.

Loved this meditation. Thank you

One of my favs. Perfect for stretching after workout.

Relaxing, calming, scanning, some stretching; all in one ☺️. All in just 40 mins

Very relaxing, a lovely end to the day with very gentle movement

Very clear instructions. Thanks for helping me to do my simple yoga today!

Really felt the release... Thanks

Really nice- I tend to push and strain and you kept reminding me just explore the edge, so helpful, brain feels a calmness now! Thank you-bookmarking🙏🏽

Aww I feel so relaxed...

Reminded me of Pilates, with meditation. Not too hard to do. Still relaxed at the end. Thoroughly enjoyable x

Awesome! Refeshing! Peaceful!

I loved it! I had never done something like this

Really wonderful and well paced

Really helpful. I felt as though the instructor was doing the movement with me, which was a nice connection. I felt more grounded at the end. Very gentle, easy to follow. Thank you.

Wonderful gentle class.