10 Minute Mindful Stretching

A gentle movement meditation to help regulate attention and practice working within the limits of the body with nonjudgmental awareness.

Transcript

Welcome to mindful stretching.

To begin,

Standing in bare or socked feet,

With feet parallel to one another,

About a hips width apart,

With the knees unlocked so that the legs can bend slightly.

Reminding yourself of the intention of this practice,

To become aware,

As best you can,

Of physical sensations throughout the body as you engage in a series of gentle stretches.

Honouring and investigating the limitations of your body in every moment as best as possible,

Letting go of any tendency to push beyond your limits or to compete with yourself or with others.

Then,

On an in-breath,

Slowly and mindfully raising your arms out to the sides,

Until they are parallel to the floor,

Pausing here,

While you breathe out.

And then,

On an inhalation,

Raising the arms again,

Slowly,

Until your hands meet above your head.

All the while feeling the tension in the muscles as they work to lift the arms and then maintain them in this stretch.

Letting your breath move in and out freely at its own pace,

Continuing to stretch upward,

The fingertips gently pushing towards the sky,

The feet firmly grounded on the floor,

As you feel the stretch in the muscles and joints of the body all the way from the feet and legs,

Up through the back,

The shoulders,

Into the arms,

And the hands and the fingers.

Maintaining the stretch for a little longer,

Breathing freely in and out,

Noticing any changes in the sensations in the body as you continue to hold the stretch.

This may include a sense of increasing tension or even discomfort,

And if so,

Opening to that as well.

At a certain point when you are ready,

And on an out-breath,

Slowly allowing the arms to come back down,

Perhaps pausing once again when they are parallel to the floor,

And then lowering further until the arms come back to rest along the sides,

Hanging from the shoulders.

Allowing the eyes to close gently,

And focusing attention on the movements of the breath and the sensations throughout the body as you stand here,

Maybe noticing the contrast in the physical sense of release,

And maybe even relief that could be associated with returning to a neutral stance.

Continuing now by mindfully stretching one arm at a time.

We will begin with the right arm.

On an inhalation,

Slowly raising it out to the side,

And then all the way up above the head,

Fingers reaching for the sky as if picking from a tree fruit that is just out of reach.

With full awareness of the sensations throughout the body,

Maybe seeing what happens to the extension of the hand and to the breath if you lift the opposite heel off the floor while continuing to stretch upward.

On an exhalation,

Very slowly lowering the right arm all the way,

Until it too is hanging by your side,

Bringing attention to any new sensations in the arm,

Perhaps in contrast with the other arm that has been resting all this while.

Repeating now with the left arm at your own pace.

Once you've completed the sequence,

Slowly and mindfully raising both arms up above the head,

And then while keeping the arms parallel to one another,

Leaning them over gently to one side,

With the opposite hip pushing outward just a little bit,

So that the body forms a big curve that extends sideways from the feet,

Right through the torso,

The arms,

And the hands and fingers.

Then on an in-breath,

Coming back to standing,

And on an out-breath,

Slowly bending over,

Forming a curve in the opposite direction.

On an inhalation,

Returning to standing,

And staying there for an exhalation,

Taking an in-breath,

And on the next exhalation,

Once again lowering the arms at your own pace,

Until they are hanging by your sides.

Once you've returned to standing in a neutral position,

With the arms hanging alongside the body,

You can play with rolling the shoulders while letting the arms dangle.

First,

Raising the shoulders upward,

Towards the ears,

As far as they will go,

Then backward,

As if attempting to draw the shoulder blades together,

Then letting them drop down completely,

And then squeezing the shoulders together in front of the body,

As far as they will go,

As if trying to touch them together.

Using the breath to continue rolling through these various positions,

As smoothly and mindfully as you can,

With the arms hanging down all the while,

Moving first in one direction,

And then in the opposite direction,

Going at your own pace.

Once you've returned to a neutral standing posture again,

Playing with slowly rolling the head around to whatever degree you feel comfortable,

Very gently allowing the circling to go in one direction first,

And then in the other direction.

And finally,

At the end of the sequence of movements,

Remaining still for a while in a standing posture,

Still with the eyes closed,

And tuning in once again to the sensations in the body.

When you are ready,

Ending this practice by gently opening the eyes.

Reviews

Great stretching routine. Beautiful and easy voice to listen to. Great instructions. Thank you Pallavi. x

Perfect for a quick break of mindful stretching. 😊 I put this in my "Focus" playlist to remind me to move while doing paperwork.

Lovely. So lovely that I’d wish you’d make more like this!

Thanks. Very gentle but stimulating, which is just what I needed. 🙏🏽

Well done, slow pace, good guidance. Mostly arms and shouder stretching (I would have appreciated some hips and legs stretches as well). Great for when you wake up in the morning or after a long day....

A great simple stretch to start the day with

Nice instruction. A good, brief mindful interlude. Great for a break from the desk!

One of my favourite evening routines. Useful prior to a sitting meditation to relax my tight shoulders.

Thank you for this meditation, good stretches to start the day 🙏🏻

Excellent mindful strech after sitting in front of computer all day. Thank You.

Very nice way to start off the day!

Gained a massive personal insight and found a sincere gratitude

Love this! It was helpful when I had already been sitting for awhile and my body needed to stretch.

Excellent. I'm recovering from a long illness; this clearly led simple practice gives me courage and hope!

love this practice ! Her voice, timing of gentle stretches , and no background music make this the perfect beginning for the day and also would be great at bedtime. 🤗🙏🏻🕉

Really enjoyed this. It was just what I needed this morning.

What a great way to start the day. Thank you.

Thanks, nice to do after a day of physical activity.