Standing MBSR Mindful Movement

Gentle directed standing mindful movement following the MBSR guidelines. Each day always practice within your own limits.

Transcript

Before we begin mindful movement,

I encourage you to be safe and mindful of the limits of your body.

Always knowing that the goal of mindful movement is not to be striving,

Not to go beyond your limits,

But just to go to that limit,

To recognize and become aware of what your body can do and can tolerate.

So I urge you to be cautious,

To be careful,

To be mindful.

Every movement that we do today can be modified.

You can sit in a chair while doing this.

You can lie on the floor on a mat.

You can envision this in your mind,

Knowing that the purpose of this mindful movement is to be here and to be aware of your body and your mind and your thoughts as you go through these movements.

So I invite you to stand,

Coming to a mountain pose with your feet hip distance apart,

Flat on the floor,

And your arms and your shoulders relaxed,

Not tensing your body,

Just being here,

Allowing yourself to take a couple of nice big deep breaths in through your nose,

Allowing the breath to travel all the way down your body and then out through your nose.

Feeling the support of your feet and your legs to this wonderful body we have.

Just being here,

Experiencing your body right here and right now.

Noticing perhaps any aches and pains that are trying to get your attention and just noting those,

Just acknowledging them,

Then moving on to perhaps explore the nooks and crannies of your body to see what is here right here and now.

How is this body doing today?

Then when you're ready,

On the next inhalation,

Raising both arms up over your head,

Straight over your head,

And stretching,

Allowing your body to feel this nice luxurious stretch.

Again without striving,

This is not an athletic event.

This mindful movement is allowing you to reconnect perhaps with your body,

Feeling the full length of this stretch from your fingertips all the way down the sides of your body,

Your legs all the way down to your toes.

Then on an exhalation,

Bringing your arms back down very slowly,

Ever so slowly,

Back down to the sides of your body,

And allowing your hands and your arms just to hang there,

Just to rest,

And perhaps noticing how your body responded to this mindful movement.

Noticing if there's any tingling,

If there's any sensation that is new or familiar to you,

Just noticing.

And when you're ready,

On your next inhalation,

Again stretching both arms up,

Straight up over your head,

Stretching,

Feeling your breath in your body,

Perhaps noticing your abdomen as it fills with air,

And again as noticing it as you exhale,

Feeling the full stretch of your body.

And on your next exhalation,

Allowing your arms to move down,

Coming back down to the sides of your body,

Ever so slowly,

Feeling your hands and your arms move through the air,

Just noticing all the sensations of this movement.

And when you're finished,

Again just being in the Mountain Pose and noticing the sensations in your body,

Perhaps your knees are tight,

Perhaps your thighs are tingling,

Or perhaps you have no sensations and you're just feeling fully connected to your body,

Remembering to breathe deeply as you're exploring how this movement makes your body feel.

And on your next inhalation,

Raising your arms straight out with the palms flexed and flat,

Just stopping at shoulder length and feeling how your arms feel and how your shoulders feel with your arms straight out,

Breathing into your body as you hold this position,

Noticing any tingling,

Any sensations you may feel in your hands or your arms,

Or perhaps in your legs.

And when you're ready,

Slowly allowing your arms to come back to the sides,

Perhaps noticing if you're holding your breath,

Allowing yourself to breathe fully and completely.

When you're ready on your next inhalation,

Again raising your arms straight out,

Up to your sides,

Stopping at the shoulder height,

Palms flexed,

Feeling this movement in your body,

Really experiencing your body,

Not thinking about it,

But experiencing it,

The muscles,

The bones,

The tendons.

And on your next exhalation,

Allowing your arms to come back to your sides,

Again to this mountain pose,

To this resting pose.

And when you're ready,

Raising your right hand and your right arm straight up over your head and stretching it up as far as you can,

Feeling that stretch all along your right side,

Perhaps looking up to your right hand,

Feeling that stretch,

Enjoying that stretch.

And when you're ready,

Bringing your right arm down slowly,

Slowly to your right side.

And on your next inhalation,

Reaching your left arm up,

All the way up over your head,

Feeling that stretch all the way along your body.

And if you choose,

You may look up at your left hand,

Feeling that stretch,

Breathing into your body as you're stretching.

And on your next exhalation,

Allowing your left arm to come back down.

And when you're ready,

Bringing both arms straight up over your head and bending with both arms to the right,

Which makes your left hip and your left side get a nice big stretch,

Breathing into this.

Knowing and remembering this isn't about striving,

It's about connecting with your body.

Coming back up to the middle now and repeating this stretch,

Bending to the left.

Feeling that stretch all the way down your right side.

And perhaps it feels different on one side than another.

Our body is different,

And that's okay.

Feeling and appreciating the stretch.

And when you're ready,

Coming back up to the center and allowing both arms to come slowly back to the sides of your body.

And now as your arms are hanging relaxed from your shoulders,

Bringing your shoulders straight up to your ears,

Feeling that stretch.

And then moving your shoulders back behind you to stretch your chest out,

Almost as if you're touching your shoulder blades together.

Then bringing your shoulders forward and trying to touch your shoulders together in front of you.

And then finishing this shoulder stretch,

Coming back to center.

And to breathe as you go through these exercises.

And when you're ready,

Stretching your neck,

Taking your chin and trying to touch your chest,

Stretching the back of your neck.

And just staying here for a moment or two to feel that stretch,

And coming back up to the center and stretching,

Trying to touch your right ear to your right shoulder without moving your shoulder,

Allowing yourself to feel that stretch on the left of your neck.

And to just stay here and breathe for a moment.

Then coming back up to center and taking your left ear,

Trying to touch your left shoulder,

Feeling that stretch,

Experiencing how that feels deep inside your neck.

And when you're ready,

Coming back to center and taking a couple of nice,

Big,

Deep breaths.

And now when you're ready,

Moving your weight of your body to your right foot and to your right leg and raising both arms out straight.

And when you're ready,

Raising,

Taking your left foot,

Your left leg,

Pointing your toe and stretching out from your body.

And touching the floor with your toe,

Stretching out.

And if you wish,

You can raise your foot off the floor or not,

Whatever you feel most comfortable with.

Just paying attention,

Bringing awareness to how this movement feels.

And if perhaps you have thoughts that are attached to this movement or emotions,

Just noticing,

Just paying attention.

And when you're ready,

Coming back to the Mountain Pose with both feet about hip distance apart,

Taking a couple nice,

Big,

Deep breaths.

And when you're ready,

Redistributing the weight of your body onto your left foot,

Bringing both arms out straight to shoulder height,

Palms facing down,

And stretching your right foot out,

Directly out horizontally from your body,

Touching your toe on the floor.

And if you wish,

Raising your toe,

Raising your leg,

And just noticing how this feels,

The awareness you're bringing to your body.

Are there any thoughts or emotions that come with this movement?

And when you're ready,

Slowly bring your foot down and your arms down and come back to the very familiar Mountain Pose,

Allowing yourself to take some nice,

Big,

Deep breaths.

And when you're ready,

Put both arms on,

Both hands on your waist,

And without moving your body,

Keeping your hips facing forward,

Turn your chin so that it's looking over your right shoulder,

Not straining,

Not striving,

But just looking,

Feeling your body facing forward,

But your chin and your eyes looking over your right shoulder.

Now coming back to center,

Taking a nice,

Big,

Deep breath.

And when you're ready,

Looking over your left shoulder,

Again,

Keeping your body facing forward,

Looking over your left shoulder,

And experiencing how this movement feels in your body.

Now bringing your chin back to center,

Taking another nice,

Big,

Deep breath.

Now allowing yourself,

As you move your chin and your eyes to look over your right shoulder,

To move from your ankles,

Twisting as far around to the right as you can,

Again without striving,

Always honoring your body,

Always paying attention to what your body is telling you,

Feeling the full movement of your body moving,

Allowing your eyes to look as far to the right as they can.

And when you're ready,

Moving your body back to center.

Now repeating this,

Allowing your body to move from the ankles to the left,

Moving your chin and your eyes all the way to the left,

Perhaps noticing some differences between how this feels on the right and the left,

Experiencing sensations,

Thoughts,

Emotions that go with any movement,

Just noticing,

Just bringing awareness to that,

What you are noticing.

Now when you're ready,

Coming back to mountain pose,

Taking a couple of nice,

Big,

Deep breaths.

And when you're ready,

Bending over,

Taking both arms and bending over,

Perhaps bending your knees just a little bit,

But taking your hands and touching either your shins or the top of your feet or your toes,

And just allowing yourself to experience this stretch on the back side of your body,

Feeling your hamstrings,

Enjoying the stretch,

And just,

Just stretching here,

Remembering to breathe,

Always remembering to breathe throughout these movements,

Noticing if there's any thoughts or reactions to these movements.

And if there is,

Just noting them,

Just paying attention and not having to get caught up in a story about them,

Just noticing and coming back to the movement,

To the physical experience of this movement.

And when you're ready,

Staying in this position,

Raising your right arm straight out so it's perpendicular to the floor with your fingers pointed,

And just experiencing this movement in your body,

Remembering to breathe,

Just experiencing this new movement.

And when you're ready,

Switching sides and raising your left arm straight out perpendicular to the floor,

Breathing through this movement,

Experiencing this deep within your body.

And when you're ready,

Bringing your left arm down and coming back up,

All the way back up slowly and carefully to Mountain Pose.

And when you're ready,

If you wish,

Choosing to sit back,

Redistributing your weight so that it is now on the heels of your feet,

Sitting back as if you're sitting in a chair,

So you're sitting back,

Raising your arms straight out in front of you to give you some balance and feeling all the muscles in your body that work together to support you in this pose.

Breathing into this pose,

And perhaps if you wish,

Sitting back just a bit further,

Just a bit.

Breathing into this pose,

And when you're ready,

Standing up,

Back to the Mountain Pose.

And now taking your hands,

Holding them straight up again over your head and distributing your weight so that your weight is on your right foot,

And bringing your left foot right up against your ankle,

Bending your knee just a little bit in a modified Tree Pose.

Just a little bit.

If you wish,

You can bring your foot up onto the calf of your right leg,

Or up on your right thigh,

But not on your kneecap because that puts too much pressure on your knee.

Using this pose,

Breathing into it,

And just enjoying the experience and recognizing the gift of movement you're giving your body.

When you're ready,

Coming back down,

Both feet on the floor to Mountain Pose.

Now redistributing your weight to your left foot,

Bringing both arms up over your head,

And taking your right foot,

Bending your knee just a bit,

And resting your right foot against your left ankle.

And if you wish,

You can bring your right foot up to your left calf,

Or up to your left thigh.

Knowing that our hope is to connect with our body,

To really begin to understand the limits of our body,

And to pay attention to what our bodies need.

When you're ready,

Come back to Mountain Pose,

And take a couple of nice big deep breaths.

Now I invite you to sit on the floor in what I would call a Frog Pose.

Taking both feet,

Sitting with your spine straight,

And putting both feet,

The soles of your feet together,

So your knees are up just a bit,

And bringing your feet as close as you can into you,

Into your body,

Without straining,

And without striving.

Just feeling that nice stretch.

Perhaps just bouncing your knees a little bit,

And really enjoying the stretch that you're giving your body.

And when you're ready,

Putting your left leg straight out,

And pulling your right leg,

Still bent,

Your right foot up into your left thigh,

As high as it can go to get close to your body.

Pointing your toes to the ceiling,

Bringing your arms straight up,

Over your head,

And now as you exhale,

Stretching out over your body,

And either touching your hands to your ankle,

Your shin,

Your ankle,

Or perhaps to your toes,

And just feeling that nice stretch.

Again,

You're going to feel your hamstrings breathing into this stretch,

Not overdoing it,

Just appreciating the stretch,

Knowing that your body is appreciating it so much.

And when you're ready,

Switch sides,

With your right leg straight out,

And bringing your left leg bent,

With your foot up to your thigh,

Pointing your toes to the ceiling,

And taking both arms,

Stretching them straight up overhead,

And on an exhalation,

Reach down,

Whether you're touching your shin,

Or your ankle,

Or your toes,

Stretching over there,

Giving your back a nice big stretch.

We often neglect our backs,

Allowing your back to have this nice stretch,

Breathing into this stretch.

And when you're ready,

Straightening both legs out,

Perhaps wiggling them up and down just a little bit,

And laying back out on the floor in the integration,

Or corpse pose,

Allowing yourself to relax and feel the effects of this time and attention in this mindful movement on your body.

Breathing in,

Allowing your breath to travel all the way through your body,

And all the way back out,

Noticing any sensations that are trying to get your attention.

And know that you have given your body a gift today by stretching it gently,

With kindness.

And as you go throughout the rest of your day,

Perhaps bringing awareness to sensations in your body,

To information your body is trying to give you.

And know that you can always return to the present moment with the breath,

With awareness of the body.

Reviews

This felt so amazing as I am stuck at my desk all day this Monday!!! Thank you so very much for this!!!

Very nice movement practice. It has a strong mindful guidance helpful for the movements and to keeping awareness. Was a bit confused with the forward bend and arms perpendicular to the floor. Thought at some point it was meant to be parallel. Thank you for the lesson.

I loved this, many thanks!!

Lovely mindful stretches. Thank you

Thak you! This was very good for my body to day! Easy to understand the instructions for one from Norway!

Thank you╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

Gentle and mindful. I like her voice.

Felt great slowing down and giving my body the mindful attention it had been craving.

Loved it. I train hard but taking 30min to slowly stretch and breath felt so good. I'll come back to this

As a former ballet dancer I have a lot of pain in my joints. This was a nice way to warm up those painful areas with no pressure of competition. Another good way of learning to be kind to myself.

This is the start I need to move through my recovery. Thanks!

A nice guided meditation on mindfullnrds movements

Truly wonderful!

Enjoyed the stretching exercises. They brought to the forefront my need for better balance control exercise.

First thing in the morning and my body feels so limber; unusual kind of meditation but somehow calming