Welcome to this body and mind training practice.
Positioning the body so that you can be comfortable for the next few moments might be helpful to be seated for this practice,
But you can also do it standing up.
Setting your intention to train your attention using this shoulder roll movement.
Really giving your brain a firm instruction that the sensations of the movement are the main priority for your attention.
Taking three breaths to transition mindfully into the practice and set the intention firmly in your mind.
And on the third breath,
Begin a slow shoulder roll backwards.
As you do so,
Begin to focus your attention on the movement of the shoulders.
If you notice the mind wandering,
Respond promptly and gently and come back to the sensations of the moving shoulders.
You might begin to notice that the shoulder roll has several segments.
Forwards,
Up,
Back and down.
And whether you're making a big movement or a smaller movement,
See if you can find these four segments now.
Forwards,
Up,
Back and down.
Each of these having very different sensations.
May be helpful to allow the hands to hang in a relaxed way beside the body,
Or you can experiment with hands on the knees.
Noticing the transitions between forwards,
Up,
Back and down.
Reducing the speed if you can so you can really be aware of when one segment of the movement transitions to the next.
If you notice the mind is pulled perhaps by sounds in the environment or maybe by thinking about the task,
Coming directly back to sensing the movement,
The stretching of the skin,
The effort of raising and moving the shoulders,
Really committing to that intention to pay attention just to the sensations of the shoulder roll.
And seeing how you're in charge of the effort and the speed,
I suggest trying to break any automatic habits around force and pace.
Trying something that's different,
Really getting into those habit breakers for physical movements.
It's easy to do what we do automatically,
So let's try something different.
If you're used to doing something in a big and forceful way,
Try something small.
If your habit is something small,
Try one or two shoulder rolls where you make the movement a little bit larger.
Holding in mind self-care,
Not doing anything that's too strenuous for the body,
Particularly if there's pain,
Really take care,
This is also mindfulness.
Tuning in,
Up,
Back,
And maybe some sounds that pull your attention from inside the body,
Becoming aware of how these trigger thoughts and task-related mind wandering.
Noticing,
Ah,
This is thinking,
Not sensing the moving body.
As promptly as you can,
As gently as you can,
Release,
Let go,
Come back.
Moving all the time through these four stages,
Paying attention to the moving body.
Aware and knowing that the mind will wander,
Noticing,
And coming back.
And there's no need for any kind of special breathing,
But it may be that the breath naturally synchronizes with the movement.
If it does,
Just notice that this has happened.
If it doesn't,
No problem.
Let's do three final shoulder rolls now.
Forwards,
Up.
Forwards.
Making the movement smaller,
And then coming to stillness.
Taking a moment to stay with the focus on the shoulders,
See how the body feels now,
And finishing the exercise with three breaths.
Using these to transition to your next activity today.
