MBSR - Standing Mindful Movement

This is an MBSR practice for Standing Mindful Movement for teaching at Children's Mercy Hospital. Children's Mercy Hospital is the primary location for Children's Mercy Kansas City, a comprehensive pediatric health system with multiple locations in Missouri and Kansas.

Transcript

Welcome to the session of standing mindful movement.

I invite you to move into a place where you'll have plenty of space to move the body,

A place where you will not be disturbed,

And a place that might be free of any auditory distractions.

And when you identify this space,

Go ahead and move into that place very intentionally,

Allowing the body to be standing in the upright position,

Feet shoulder-width apart,

Arms resting gently at the body's side,

Allowing this posture,

Mountain Pose,

To be a place of rest,

Allowing the body to rest while being very aware of being supported by the ground,

The ability to stand upright to the functions of the bones and the muscles in the body,

And bringing the awareness to the body breathing.

It does so on its own without any effort or awareness in our part,

Being aware of the cadence of the breath in Mountain Pose,

The natural rhythm of the body breathing,

Bringing the awareness to any sensations of the body in this pose,

Allowing whatever sensations are found to be as they are,

Without any judgments of what is found here,

Without any effort to try to change what is found here,

Allowing those sensations to be,

Being aware of any sounds that are in this space,

Maybe from the body,

From within the space,

Or maybe sounds coming into the space from outside,

Allowing those sounds to be as they are,

And bringing the awareness to the body.

I invite you to slowly turn both palms of each hand outward,

Away from the body,

Slowly raising the arms out,

Away from the body,

Parallel with the ground,

And continuing to raise them upward above the head,

So that the fingers are pointing to the space above the body,

Allowing the arms to stretch up as much as possible without any discomfort or pain,

And then slowly lifting the chin upward,

So that the eyes are looking at the space above the body,

Breathing into this posture,

Allowing the body to stretch upward a little more with each exhalation,

If that's comfortable,

Slowly lowering the chin,

So that it's again parallel with the ground,

Turning both palms outward,

And lowering the arms slowly back down to the sides of the body,

Back into mountain pose,

Noticing any change of bodily sensations from having done this simple pose,

And slowly raising up both arms again,

Away from the body,

Out toward the sides of the body,

So that the fingers and the hands are parallel with the ground,

And bending both wrists to allow the palms of the hands to be pressing out toward the sides of the body,

Away from the body,

And the fingers to be upward,

Feeling the stretch of the shoulders and the arms,

The wrists and the hands,

Allowing the breath to soften and support the muscles in this posture,

Slowly lowering the hands,

So again they become parallel with the ground,

And slowly lowering both arms,

Allowing them to drop back down to the sides of the body,

Take a few moments and breaths in mountain pose again,

Now slowly rotating the right arm,

So that the palm is facing outward,

Away from the body,

Slowly raising the right arm out,

Away from the body,

And then upward over the head,

So that the arm and the hands and fingers are pointing upward toward the space above the head,

Allowing for a full stretch of the right arm,

And if it's comfortable,

Raising up the chin to bring the gaze to the space above the head and the body,

With each exhalation,

Allowing for a little bit more stretch of the right arm,

And with each inhalation,

Allowing the breath to soften the muscles and nourish them,

Slowly lowering the chin back parallel with the ground,

Rotating the right arm,

So that the right palm is facing outward,

And slowly lowering the right arm back down to the side of the body,

Taking a few moments in mountain pose,

Rotating the left arm,

So that the left palm is facing outward,

Away from the body,

And again raising the left arm out,

Away from the body,

And bringing it up over the head,

So that the fingers are pointing toward the space above the head,

Gently raising the chin,

If that's comfortable,

Allowing the muscles of the neck and the arm and the left shoulder to stretch with each exhalation a little bit more,

If that's comfortable,

Slowly lowering the chin,

So it's parallel with the ground,

Rotating the left arm,

So that the palm is facing outward,

And slowly lowering the left arm back down to the side of the body,

Noticing any new sensations or changes of the body,

Noticing any change in the rhythm of the breath,

Noticing if the body is contented,

Having done these simple movements,

And slowly turning the palms of the hands outward,

Slowly raising the arms outward,

Away from the body,

And up over the head,

And bending at the waist,

Bending to the right,

Allowing the left side of the torso to stretch,

Remembering to breathe in this posture,

Allowing the body to rise upright again,

So that the arms are up over the head,

Toward the ceiling,

And now bending at the waist to the left,

To allow the right side of the torso to have a good stretch,

Without causing any discomfort,

And slowly raising upright,

And then turning both palms outward,

And slowly allowing the arms to come back down to the sides of the body,

Back into mountain pose,

Noticing if the body is standing upright,

Allowing the muscles in the bones to do what they naturally do,

Supporting the body,

And now raising up the shoulders,

Bringing them up toward both ears,

Allowing the shoulders to stretch,

And then slowly releasing the shoulders back,

And doing this a couple more times as it's comfortable,

Raising up the shoulders toward the ears,

And when you're ready,

Bringing both shoulders forward,

As if attempting to touch them both together in front of the body,

Taking a few breaths before releasing,

And then bringing the shoulders in front of the body again,

A few times as it's comfortable for you,

Allowing the shoulders to come to rest in mountain pose,

Bringing the shoulders to the back of the body,

As if trying to touch the shoulder blades together,

Noticing the stretch of the chest and the shoulders,

And then releasing the shoulders,

Coming back to mountain pose,

And if it's comfortable,

Several more times,

Bringing the shoulders back behind the body,

Then allowing the shoulders to come to rest in mountain pose,

Taking a moment to notice if the shoulders are a bit more relaxed and lowered than when first started,

If this movement has allowed the shoulders to relax a little bit from the day's activities,

Or in preparation for the day,

Slowly lowering the chin down to the chest,

Noticing the stretch of the back of the neck and the spine and the shoulders,

Noticing with each exhalation,

If the neck can relax a little bit more and get a little bit closer to the chest with the chin,

Breathing into this posture,

Softness,

Before raising up the chin to be parallel with the ground,

Slowly bending the neck toward the right,

As if to lower the right ear down to the right shoulder,

Giving a good stretch to the left side of the neck,

Breathing softness into the neck muscles,

Raising the head upright,

And then slowly lowering the left ear down to the left shoulder,

Allowing the stretch to be felt in the right side of the neck and the right shoulder,

And slowly raising the head upright,

Taking a moment now in mountain pose,

Just to be aware of any sensations or changes in the neck muscles,

The shoulders,

Allowing what is found to be exactly as it is,

Now shifting the weight of the body to the right leg and the right foot,

Slowly raising both arms out away from the body,

Allowing them to be parallel with the ground and slowly lifting up,

Raising up the left leg so that the toes and the foot are off the ground,

Allowing the full weight of the body to be supported by the right leg and the right foot,

And if you find a little bit of wobbliness,

Lowering the left leg to allow the toes of the left foot to provide some balance,

And then if it's comfortable,

Again,

Raising up the left leg off the ground,

Allowing the body to balance with its weight on the right leg and the right foot,

Slowly lowering the left leg,

Allowing both feet to be flat on the ground and slowly lowering both arms back down to the sides of the body,

And now shifting the weight of the body to the left leg and the left foot,

Raising both arms slowly up and away from the body so that they're again parallel with the ground,

Slowly raising up the right leg and the right foot off the ground,

Allowing the body's weight to be supported by the left leg and left foot,

Using the toes of the right foot for balance when necessary,

Remembering to breathe in this posture,

Slowly lowering the right leg and foot back down to the ground,

And then slowly lowering both arms back down to the sides of the body,

Taking a few moments just to relax all the muscles in the body,

Just to shift and wiggle as is comfortable before bringing the body back into mountain pose,

Placing both hands on the waist and twisting at the neck,

Turning the head to look over the right shoulder and then allowing the gaze of the eyes to be as far right as possible over the right shoulder,

Slowly twisting the head back forward and again twisting at the neck,

Looking over the left shoulder,

Allowing the eyes to gaze as far left as possible and then bringing the head forward and now twisting the body while keeping the feet flat on the ground,

Twisting the body to the right,

Allowing the eyes to look as far over the right shoulder as possible and then slowly twisting back to face forward,

Now twisting the body to the left while keeping both feet flat on the ground,

Allowing the eyes to look as far over the left shoulder as possible,

Breathing into this posture,

Seeing if there's a little bit more stretch with each exhalation and then slowly twist back forward and allow the hands to come off the waist so that the arms are again relaxed at the sides of the body.

Now when you're ready,

Bending at the waist,

Keeping both feet flat on the ground,

Slowly allow the body to bend over as if trying to touch the fingertips to the floor and do so without striving or stretching so that there's discomfort and just allow the body to bend as far as is comfortable.

If it helps to support the body with the hands against the legs,

Please do so,

Remembering to breathe in this posture while supporting the body with the left hand against the left leg,

Raising the right arm out in front of the body so that it's parallel as much with the ground,

Noticing the stretch of the back of the legs,

The right shoulder,

The right arm,

Taking several breaths before slowly lowering the right arm back down to be supported,

Right hand to the right leg and when you're ready,

Raising the left arm out away from the body so that it is parallel with the ground,

Bringing the awareness to the stretch,

The left leg,

Left shoulder,

Left arm,

Breathing into this posture and slowly lowering the left arm back down to the left leg,

Taking a few breaths before slowly raising the body upright one vertebrae at a time to return to the mountain pose.

Take a moment now to notice any bodily sensations from the last pose.

Take a moment to notice any change in the breath,

The rhythm or cadence of the breath from those last movements.

When you're ready,

Slowly raising both arms up out in front of the body so that they're parallel with the ground and keeping both feet flat on the ground,

Bending at the knees and lowering the body to be in a seated position while standing,

Remembering to breathe in this pose,

Slowly raising upward and then slowly allowing both arms to fall back down to the sides of the body,

Taking a few breaths and again,

Raising both arms up away from the body in front of the body so that they're parallel with the ground and again,

Bending at the knees,

Lowering the body to be in a seated position,

Breathing softness into the muscles with each nourishing breath before raising upward and allowing the arms to fall back down to the sides of the body.

I invite you to shift the weight of the body to the right leg and the right foot,

Slowly raising both arms up away from the body and over the head if it helps to clasp the hands together or leave them apart and then slowly bending the left leg to allow the left foot to be flat against the lower right leg.

If you notice a little bit of wobbliness,

Please lower the left leg so that the toes are providing some balance for the body before trying again to lift up the left leg so the left foot is off the ground and pressed up against the lower right leg,

Breathing into this posture before slowly lowering the left leg so the left foot is flat on the ground and slowly lowering both arms back down to the sides of the body.

I invite you now to shift the weight of the body to the left leg and the left foot,

Turning both palms outward and slowly raising the arms out away from the body and up over the head and slowly bending the right leg so that the right foot is up pressed up against the left leg,

The lower left leg,

Allowing the body to be supported by the left leg and the left foot,

Using the right leg and the right foot and toes to support the body for balance and then raising up the right foot again so that it is pressed against the lower left leg,

Taking a few breaths before slowly lowering the right leg and foot,

Turning both palms outward,

Slowly lowering both arms back to the sides of the body,

Taking a few moments to take a few breaths in mountain pose.

I invite you to practice any of these postures anytime during the day,

Especially if the body has been in a seated position very long,

Just an opportunity to get the body moving and the blood circulating as it's all intended to do.

Thank you for joining me for this moment of standing mindful movement.

Have a good day.