Standing Yoga

This is a mindful movement sequence designed for participants in the MBSR program to use for home practice. The postures are done standing, sitting, and lying down, and include a brief period of relaxation at the end. Instructions emphasize non-judging awareness of the body and breath and honoring the body's messages.

Transcript

For standing yoga,

Please find a quiet place with plenty of room to move your arms.

Have a chair nearby in case you need additional support for balance.

It's also recommended to remove your shoes and socks to more directly feel the contact you're making with the floor.

In this practice,

We will continue to cultivate mindfulness,

Balancing doing with being.

Feel free to skip any postures or modify them to best support your needs.

Remember that the breath can be a bridge between the mind and the body.

When you feel disconnected or your mind has wandered,

Focus on the inhalation and exhalation to bring you back to the here and now,

So your mind and body are in the same place at the same time.

Consider that you are more than any fixed view of yourself or your body.

In this way,

We use the practice to stay in touch with embodiment,

Being in the body,

And learn to be at peace with what we find here.

Remember to listen to your body's signals and only do what feels right in each moment.

Starting with your feet hips width apart,

Parallel to each other,

Feel your body weight settling into your feet,

Your foundation.

Now engage your leg muscles,

Drawing up from your feet through your calves and shins,

Lifting your kneecaps and toning your thigh muscles,

Feeling strength through your legs.

Feeling this strength,

Then from your pelvis lengthen your leg bones all the way down through your feet.

Take a deep breath and elongate your spine up through the crown of your head,

Drawing your shoulders back slightly.

This is the mountain pose,

The basis for all standing poses.

Now scan your body to see how you're feeling at this moment from head to toe to fingertips.

Notice any places of tension and allow them to soften if you can.

Now inhaling,

Reach your arms out and up alongside your ears toward the sky and notice where you feel the sensations of stretch.

See how it may deepen or change the sensations to press your feet into the floor as you do this.

Exhaling,

Bring your arms back down to your sides.

On your next inhalation,

Reach your arms out to the sides to a T position with your palms facing out and fingers pointing toward the sky.

Exhaling,

Reach out a little more,

Observing the place where you feel the most prominent sensation and be with it.

Take another breath in and exhaling,

Allow your arms to float down by your sides.

Notice any tingling,

Sensations in the fingers,

The hands from this simple movement.

Now we'll practice deep breathing with flowing arm movements.

On a deep inhalation,

Allow your arms to float out to the sides and up alongside your ears.

Feel the stretch along your torso as you press down through your feet and reach up through your fingers.

Exhaling,

Slowly release your arms down by your sides,

Feeling them moving through space.

Take a few more flowing rounds like this with the breath as the motor of the movement.

Inhaling up and exhaling down.

Allow your breath to be as deep as is comfortable.

And as you're ready,

Rest your arms by your sides and feel the effects of these movements.

Notice any sensations of vitality in the cells of the body,

Pulsing,

Tingling,

Temperature.

Inhaling reach both arms out and up alongside your ears and gently reach your arms and torso over to the right in a crescent shape,

Noticing any sensations of stretch on the left side of the body.

For more support,

Bring your right hand down to your right thigh if needed.

Keep your face turned forward and go easy.

Inhaling rise back up to center,

Release your arms down by your sides and rest for a moment,

Tuning into any sensations.

Now inhale your arms up alongside your ears and exhale into a crescent shape to the left,

Observing sensations in the right torso.

Be sure to listen to the messages of your body and find a position that's not too much or too little,

But where you can breathe fully,

Balancing effort with ease.

As you're ready,

Inhale back up to the center and exhale your arms down by your sides to rest and feel whatever there is to feel in this moment.

Let's practice shoulder and neck rolls.

Inhaling lift your shoulders toward your ears and then draw them back and with each exhalation reach your shoulders down and forward.

Inhale up and back,

Exhale down and forward.

Then change direction,

Inhaling back and up,

Exhaling forward and down.

It's okay to exaggerate this movement,

Releasing any tension you may find in your neck and shoulders.

As you're ready,

Release your shoulders and notice how you feel.

Notice if you can sense increased circulation in your neck and shoulder area.

Now we'll do some neck rolls.

Bring your chin toward your chest,

Feeling the stretch in the back of the neck and slowly roll your head around to the side so your right ear reaches toward your right shoulder,

Nose pointing forward.

Then roll your chin back down toward your chest and roll your head towards the left,

Left ear releasing towards your left shoulder.

Do a few more times,

Nice and slow,

Feeling all the nuances of stretching from one side back down to the middle and to the other side.

When you've done both sides equally,

Come back to center.

Now let's take a wide stance for the peaceful warrior,

Separating your feet as far apart as is comfortable,

Where you feel stable through the foundation of your feet and open in the hips.

Turn your right foot out to the right and your left foot in slightly so the right heel is in line with your left arch.

Bring your hands to your hips,

Bend your right knee so it comes directly over the right ankle,

Not past it,

And reach your arms out to the sides in a T.

Now imagine you're gently squeezing a big beach ball between your legs and feel your inner leg muscles engage for more stability.

Keep the breath moving deeply and grow your legs and arms longer with each exhalation.

As you are ready,

Inhale and straighten your front leg,

Releasing your arms by your sides and turn your right foot in slightly so your feet are now parallel to each other and notice how you're feeling.

Now change sides.

Place your hands on your hips,

Turn your left foot out and check to see that your left heel is in line with your right instep.

On an exhalation,

Bend the left knee so it comes directly above the left ankle and reach your arms out to the sides.

Keep the breath full and deep and smooth.

The pose of the peaceful warrior fosters steadiness,

Courage,

And increased strength.

Starting straight in the left leg,

Release your arms down and step your feet together.

Rest for a moment and feel the effects of this pose of courage.

Now we'll move into a standing balance pose.

Starting in mountain pose with your feet parallel to each other,

Hips width apart,

Take a moment to rock forward onto the balls of your feet and back onto your heels.

Rocking forward and back and then rocking a little less and a little less until the weight is evenly distributed throughout the feet and your body is in a more neutral,

More weightless position in line with gravity.

Bring your awareness now to your right leg.

Stretch your arms out to the sides and slowly shift your weight to your right foot.

Lift your left leg out to the left just as high as is comfortable and if you are unable to lift it,

Just rest the big toe on the floor.

Allow there to be a feeling of relaxation internally,

Even as you balance.

It helps if you keep the breath flowing deeply.

When your body tells you it's time,

Release your arms and touch your left foot to the floor,

Placing it fully on the floor,

Noticing now how it feels to stand on your own two feet again.

Notice if one foot feels more connected to the floor,

More grounded than the other.

Now let's change sides.

Open your arms out to the sides,

Shifting your weight to your left foot and slowly raise your right leg out to the right,

Not too much,

Not too little,

And reach out from the pelvis in all directions,

Down through the standing leg,

Out through the arms,

Up through the crown.

Notice if any emotions or thoughts arise pertaining to your sense of balance.

See if you can allow yourself to be as you are in this moment.

And as your body is ready,

Release the arms and the right foot to the floor and rest,

Observing any sensations.

Now let's come into the chair pose with your feet hips width apart,

Reach your arms straight forward,

Slowly bend your knees and lean back into your heels as if you are going to sit in a chair.

If you need more support,

Place your hands on the front of your thighs instead.

To help support your low back,

Imagine you're squeezing a block between your upper inner thighs and then find a neutral position for the pelvis,

Experimenting with arching the low back,

Then tucking the tailbone a little until you find a position that feels steady in the center.

Breathe deeply,

Listen to your body's signals,

And as you are ready,

Inhale back up to a standing position and feel the effects of this strong pose.

Notice if you feel your heart beating.

Let's take another balancing pose,

The tree pose.

Starting in mountain pose,

Make your right leg steady and place your right hand on your hip.

Bend your left knee and open your knee out to the side,

Bringing the sole of the left foot onto the inner right thigh or calf.

Keep the right leg straight and strong,

And if it's available to you,

Bring the palms together in a prayer position in front of the heart.

Imagine that your legs are roots underground,

Your torso is the trunk,

And if it feels good,

Then reach your arms up toward the sky,

Separating the arms like branches.

It may help if you focus on a stationary point in the distance.

Keep the breath moving like a breeze,

And when you feel complete with the side,

Slowly release the arms and leg down and take a moment to notice how you're feeling.

Notice any difference between the right and left sides of the body.

If one side feels more stable or open than the other.

Now change sides.

Come into the pose slowly,

Shifting your weight to the left foot and placing the sole of the right foot on the inner left thigh or calf,

Knee pointing out to the side.

Tap into your own inner strength by breathing deeply and allowing it to be okay to waver or wobble.

Keeping the arms up,

Check in on your breath and slowly as you're ready,

With grace,

Releasing your arms and the right foot and feeling how focused the mind has become through the efforts of balancing.

Take a wide stance with your ankles as wide apart as your outstretched wrists,

If possible,

And your feet parallel to each other.

Bring your hands to your hips and hug an imaginary beach ball between your legs,

Feeling your leg muscles engage for stability.

Now with an exhalation,

Slowly fold forward only as far as is comfortable.

You may keep your hands on your hips,

Place them on the seat of a chair or against a wall,

Or bring them to the floor between your feet.

It never matters how deeply you come into a pose.

What matters is that you are doing what you can and being present with how you feel as you do it.

Take a few deep breaths and notice where you feel the most prominent sensation.

To come out of the pose,

Press down through your feet equally,

Inhale and slowly rise up.

Then step your feet together and tune in to how you're feeling right now.

Now let's prepare for a seated twist.

Stand on the floor with your knees bent,

Knees together,

Feet together.

Slide your feet far forward enough to allow your spine to elongate upward.

Place your right hand on the floor behind you,

Fingers pointed back,

And place your left arm across your shins,

Holding the outer right shin.

If it feels comfortable,

You may bring your left elbow to your outer right knee for a deeper twist.

Inhaling press down through your sitz bones and lengthen up through your spine.

Exhaling twist toward the right,

Looking over your right shoulder.

With each deep inhalation,

Sit up tall,

And with each deep exhalation,

Twist just a little more without forcing,

Just feeling your way into a deeper twist.

Breathe deeply into your belly to increase the benefits of massaging all the abdominal organs in this twist.

And on your next inhalation,

Turn forward back to center and change sides.

Place your left hand on the floor behind you and your right hand across your shins or your right elbow to the outer left knee.

Inhale to elongate and exhale to slowly twist to the left,

A little at a time,

Feeling your torso twisting evenly from the base of the spine all the way up through the neck,

Like you're wringing out a washcloth.

Inhaling release and come back to center and feel the vitality present in your body from this twist.

Open your knees out to the sides and bring the soles of your feet together in the bound angle or butterfly pose.

You may draw the heels in towards your pelvis.

For more support,

Place your hands on the floor behind you.

Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,

Reach your knees away from each other.

Notice where you feel the most prominent sensation of stretch.

Continue the deep breath.

And if your body invites you further into the pose,

You may walk your hands forward,

Reaching your face past your feet in the forward fold.

Observe what is occurring in the body.

Go easy.

Soften any tension and then release,

Coming back up to center and use your hands to draw your knees together again.

Now lie on your back with your knees bent and take a moment to feel the floor beneath you.

Now separate your feet a little wider than hip width apart.

If you're on a yoga mat,

The feet can be as wide as the width of the mat.

Reach your arms alongside the ears on the floor or out to a T if that's more comfortable for you.

Now take a deep breath in and exhaling,

Lower both knees slowly toward the floor on the right side.

Notice if you can feel elongation from the left armpit down the torso and the front of the left thigh as you reach your left knee toward the floor.

As you are ready,

Inhale your legs back to center and exhale to lower your legs to the left side.

This is the windshield wiper pose.

Take a full breath or two,

Savoring the stretching sensations now from the right armpit down to the right thigh.

Continue with another few rounds,

Inhaling to center and exhaling your legs to the other side,

Taking your time with each transition and being present with any sensations in your body as you move and hold and continue breathing deeply.

When you have done both sides equally,

Come back to center and hug your knees into your chest for the supine child's pose,

Gently rocking from side to side,

Feeling the weight of the hips and the low back pressing into the floor and noticing any other stretches you may feel.

Slowly release your feet to the floor and prepare for the corpse pose,

The final pose of this sequence.

Lie on your back with your legs straight,

Feet relaxed open and arms down alongside your body,

Palms facing up.

If this position is not comfortable for you,

You may bend the knees or place your calves and feet on the seat of a chair.

This is a pose of relaxation and surrender.

It is a time to let all the benefits of the practice assimilate into your body and your being.

Take a moment to feel all the places where your body is making contact with the floor or the chair.

Now allow your breath to guide you deeper into relaxation with each exhalation,

Releasing any tension you may be holding physically,

Mentally,

Emotionally.

Allow yourself to just be.

One second.

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Now slowly deepen your breath.

Feel the vital life force that comes in with the inhalation.

At this time you may wish to ask yourself,

What attitude or way of being would best serve me as I step into the rest of my day?

Rather than thinking of a response with the mind,

Allow the answer to arise from a deep place within you.

It can be useful to check in with yourself throughout the day to see if your thoughts,

Feelings and actions are in alignment with your intention.

May this practice of yoga benefit us and the world we live in.

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Reviews

This was perfect! Thank you Wendy. A wonderful return to yoga for an ex yoga teacher who had become disillusioned and dismayed by the commercialization of yoga these past few decades. The poses and breathing were simply and clearly explained, a rare treat!

Love your peaceful and calming voice. You also explained the poses really well! Thank you! 🙏