Hi, my name is Dr. Lynn Rossy, Health Psychologist for Healthy for
Life. Welcome to this practice of yoga. Mindful yoga
is focused on learning how to be present with the sensations of your body and
your breath as we move through a sequence of standing postures together.
Everyone will have their own version of each posture. My version won't
look exactly like yours or Denise's or Pete's. But as best you can,
honoring your version of the posture with acceptance and kindness...
Remembering always to listen to the wisdom of your body to tell you how long to
hold a posture... And if you need to move out of a posture before I say to,
then do so. Staying present, so that you don't injure yourself in any way... And
not ever moving the body into a position that creates pain, but stretching or
strengthening in a way that creates a mild to moderate sensation in the body.
In addition, we always recommend that you check with your healthcare provider before
starting a new practice of physical activity. So
let's begin by standing with your feet parallel to each other,
hip-width apart. Let your knees be soft and your tailbone slightly tucked,
lifting your chest, and letting the arms be relaxed alongside your body.
Bringing your shoulders up to your ears real tight, and
then just letting the shoulder blades drop down the back...
Lifting up through the crown of your head, your chin is parallel to the floor, and
standing here in an erect and relaxed posture.
This is the Mountain posture, and it's the basis for all of our standing postures.
Taking a moment here to be aware of your breath at your belly... Expanding and
softening the belly on the in-breath, and contracting the belly on the out-breath...
Breathing in and breathing out... Staying present for
the breath and the sensations of the body from head to toe
to fingertip... Feeling your feet firmly planted on the floor and
the head rising up to the ceiling, strong and peaceful like a mountain...
And now, when you're ready, taking a deep breath in as you raise your arms up
overhead... And as you breathe out, bringing your arms down by your sides...
Once again, breathing in as you raise your arms overhead,
and breathing out as you slowly lower your arms to the side...
Again, breathing in as you raise your arms overhead...
And this time either locking your thumbs together or
leaving your arms parallel, reaching your fingertips toward the ceiling...
[BREATH_SOUND] Now inviting the breath to be deep... Breathing in and
out, feeling the stretch through your arms, the armpits, through the rib cage...
And now, when you're ready, slowly lowering your arms to the side.
Taking your time, being aware of the movement of the arms through space...
Feeling the heaviness of the arms, the pull of gravity...
And when your arms reach your sides, feeling the wave of relief, and breathing.
Pausing in the Mountain posture, and being aware of the entire body and
the sensations of breath within the body... Even closing your eyes if you feel
comfortable, and taking your attention inward... Noticing any
changes that have taken place within the body just by these few movements.
And now, when you're ready, we'll move into the Half Moon posture.
Begin by taking a deep breath in and raising your arms up overhead.
[BREATH_SOUND] You can leave your arms in a parallel position, or you can bring your
hands into Temple position by bringing the palms of your hands together.
Clasping your hands, but leaving your index finger and thumbs straight...
Breathing in as you reach your fingers toward the ceiling, and breathing out as
you bend over to the right while you move the left hip to the left.
Getting a nice side stretch along the left side of the body...
Keeping your head between your arms, keeping your chest open, and
going only as far as you can comfortably go and still breathe easily.
Now taking a deep breath in, as you bring your arms up overhead.
And take another deep breath in as your reach your fingertips toward the ceiling.
Lifting out of your hips, and this time bending your body to the left as you move
the right hip to the right... Gently exploring how far your
body wants to move today, and watching the tendency to go too far...
And just finding a place where you can hold the posture and
still breathe easily. One more breath in, and
on the out-breath, bringing your arms up overhead.
Breathing in as you reach your fingertips toward the ceiling, and
breathing out as you bring your arms down to the sides, taking your time.
Again, noticing the wave of relief
as the arms reach your sides... Closing your eyes and
tuning in to the sensations created in the body by doing the Half Moon...
And now, when you're ready, we'll do some neck rolls. Start by lowering your
chin to the chest, feeling the muscles in the back of the neck.
Taking a few breaths here... Letting the heaviness
of the head just stretch out the back of the neck, and
rolling your right ear over your right shoulder...
Feeling the stretch along the left side of the neck...
And you can reach your left fingertips down toward the floor
to increase the stretch slightly. Now dropping the chin to the chest once more,
and moving your left ear over the left shoulder... Inviting the breath
to be deep, feeling the muscles along the right side lengthening and
relaxing... And if you'd like, reaching the right fingertips toward the floor.
Now dropping the chin to your chest once more, pausing here for a moment...
And then just bringing your head up to neutral. And
from here letting your head drop straight back to
get a nice stretch in the throat and the chest area,
breathing... Feeling the stretch, and
then bringing your head back to neutral again and becoming aware of standing....
Remembering to use your breath as the anchor to this moment and to the body, so
that no matter how many times the mind wanders, just bring it back to your breath
and to your body. And now we're going to work at loosening up the shoulders.
Let's start by doing a couple of shoulder shrugs. When you're ready,
bringing your shoulders up to your ears, and holding them there for a moment, and
then letting them go. One more, bringing the shoulders up to the ears and
then letting them go... And then moving your shoulders in a circle in
the forward direction... Making nice big circles so
that the shoulders move up to the ears as far as they'll comfortably go.
And then you'll squeeze them in front of your chest, letting your shoulders just
drop and relax. And finally, squeezing the shoulder blades together in the back...
Continuing to move your shoulders in a nice, big rolling motion,
letting your arms be relaxed... And
then when you're ready, moving in the opposite direction for a few times.
Nice big circles with the shoulders, breathing in and
out with the movement... And then letting the shoulders relax,
and standing still once more in the Mountain posture, feeling the effects of
what we've just done. Noticing the sensations in your neck and
shoulders as a result of blood being pumped into that area of your body...
And now standing with your feet a little further than hip-width apart,
so bring your feet out just a little bit...
This is in preparation for the Standing Swinging Twist. So you're going to
be moving your weight from side to side as you twist your body in each direction.
So letting your arms be relaxed as they move from side to side...
And when you move to the right, you can even come up on the toes of the left foot.
And when you move to the left, you can come up on the toes of your right foot.
And looking all the way to the back as you twist, so you're getting a twist all
the way from the bottom of the spine up to the head. Moving back and forth,
letting those arms flap against the sides of the body...
Breathing, really feeling the body twisting...
Loosening up the spine... And
then slowly beginning to slow the body down until
you finally come to rest once more...
And pausing here, closing your eyes if you feel comfortable...
And feeling the echo of the Standing Twist on the body...
Feeling the tingling sensations in the body... [BREATH_SOUND] The feelings of
being alive inside your body, and the breath...
And when you're ready, preparing the body to move into the Goddess Warrior.
Start by bringing the feet about three feet apart. And
then turn your feet out at a 45-degree angle, going out to each side.
And bending the knees to a place that will be comfortable for you to hold...
Allowing the pelvis to descend directly toward the floor
without arching the lower back... Bringing the arms up so
that they are at shoulder height, and then bring your palms up toward the ceiling...
Now bending the elbows at 90 degrees with the palms facing each other...
Now inviting the breath to be full and deep... Relaxing the face,
relaxing your jaw, relaxing everything that isn't involved
in holding the posture... Feeling the strength that it takes
to hold your body in this position... Listening to your body and
its wisdom about how long to hold a posture... And
if you need to move out before I say to, do so. Inviting
the breath to be as deep as possible, as a way of supporting you in this posture...
Together, taking one more deep breath in and out...
And then straightening the legs, lowering the arms, and
coming back into the Mountain posture with your feet hip-width apart...
Pausing here for a moment... And
now we'll move into the Side Angle posture. To do the Side Angle,
stepping your feet about three or four feet apart this time...
And turning the right foot out 90 degrees, and turning the left foot in about
45 degrees... Bending your right knee, but make sure that your knee doesn't
go beyond your ankle. And bring your right forearm down to rest on the right thigh.
And bringing your left arm up over head so that it's in alignment with the body...
Reaching out with your left fingers, feeling the stretch along the arm,
the armpit, all the way down to the hip... [BREATH_SOUND] Inviting the breath to
be deep, nice, long, deep breaths in and out... Letting the face relax.
To move out of the posture, I want you to bring the left arm back to parallel with
the floor and reach the fingertips to the left. Pull the torso upright as you
straighten the right leg. And then moving your feet to parallel once more,
standing here in the Mountain... [BREATH_SOUND] Taking a breath in and out,
and now switching sides... Bring your feet out about three or four feet apart again.
Your left foot will be at a 90-degree angle, and the right foot turned slightly
in to the left. Bending your left knee, again, watching to make sure it
doesn't go out over the ankle, and bring your forearm down to rest on your left
thigh. Bring your right arm up so that it's in alignment with the body.
Reaching out with your right fingers, feeling the stretch along the right side
of the body... Relaxing into the posture now and inviting the breath to be deep...
Relaxing the face,
relaxing the jaw...
Moving out of the posture now by bringing the right arm back to parallel with
the floor, reaching to the right as you straighten the left leg...
Lowering your arms and coming back to the Mountain posture...
Pausing, closing your eyes and tuning in to the body...
Noticing the breath at the belly,
maybe even noticing some warmth in the body...
And now we're going to move into a balancing posture called the Tree. The key
to balancing postures is to pick a spot, either in front of you on the floor or
on the wall, and focusing your attention on just that spot, okay?
And now to move into the Tree, we're going to move all of our weight over to the left
foot. And place the sole of your right foot over your ankle,
leaving your right toes on the floor. That's one version.
You might be able to bring the sole of the right foot up the calf or
up to the inner thigh. Okay, so finding your version, either at the ankle,
the calf, or up at the inner thigh... And
then bringing the palms of your hands together in front of your chest.
Staying here and breathing, focusing your attention on that one spot
in front of you. And if you're feeling balanced here, wherever you are,
bringing your arms up overhead in a V position or
in Temple, and remembering to breathe.
Letting the breath and your focus on that one spot
help you balance in the Tree, feeling rooted and
grounded and tall and erect. And when you're ready,
slowly letting the arms come down again to the Prayer position,
lowering the right leg, lowering the arms to your sides...
And pausing here a moment, taking a breath...
Feeling the energy in the body created by the Tree.
And then allowing your weight to shift to your right foot as you bring the sole
of the left foot either to the ankle, the calf, or the inside of the thigh...
And noticing if this side is different than the other side.
Our bodies aren't symmetrical, so one side may be easier or
harder than the other, and just noticing that without judgment.
Your palms are together in front of your chest, inviting the breath to be deep and
full. Bringing your attention to one spot on the floor or
on the wall in front of you... And when and if you feel stable in the posture,
bringing your arms up overhead into a V position, or with your palms together,
remembering to breathe. Focusing, balancing,
coming in to the present in the posture of the Tree...
And then, when you're ready, slowly bringing your hands down to the Prayer
position in front of your chest. Lowering the left leg,
lowering the arms to each side, and standing in the Mountain posture once
again... Closing your eyes and feeling the effects of the Tree.
Centering your awareness on your breathing and the sensations of your body as a whole
as you stand here... Just standing here in stillness,
in standing meditation... Aware now of the effects of
all the postures you've just done, feeling the energy and the warmth in the body...
The beating of your heart, the places that might feel fatigued or relaxed...
The idea is to simply notice and let all things be exactly
as they are, noticing what is present from moment to moment, and
breath by breath. And now congratulating yourself for
taking the time to engage in an activity that's healing for your body and mind, and
perhaps setting the intention to do this type of activity on a regular basis,
honoring the body's need to move and stretch and breathe.