Welcome to this gentle,
Guided,
Mindful wake up using movement,
Breath,
And body awareness as a grounding practice to begin your day.
Roll onto your back on your mattress,
Still cozy under your covers.
Gently roll your head side to side,
Letting the right cheek rest on your pillow and then the left cheek rest on your pillow.
Feel the muscles in the neck lengthening.
Relax your jaw as you roll from side to side and relax your shoulders.
Return to the center and without moving your head,
Keeping your eyes closed,
Roll your eyes in a clockwise direction nine times.
After you've completed nine circles,
Again,
Roll your head from side to side,
Relaxing the jaw and letting the movement be a kind of massage for your shoulders.
Bring the head back to the center,
Closing your eyes.
Again,
Roll the eyes,
This time in the opposite direction,
Counterclockwise,
Nine times.
Breathe deeply now.
And after you complete the eye exercise,
Take a brief moment for gratitude.
For the simple sensory pleasures around you in the morning,
The softness of your blanket,
The feeling of warmth beneath the covers,
Streaming sunlight,
Perhaps the smell of coffee or sounds of life outside your window.
Spending the day in appreciation sets a tone for the rest of the day.
Now bring awareness to the body.
Raise your shoulders up toward the ears and then slowly release and feel your neck lengthen.
Bring your awareness into the legs and press your heels away toward the base of the bed.
Rock your toes inward toward the shins,
Waking up the legs.
Feel a sense of aliveness on the back of the legs,
Behind the knees,
In your calves and hamstrings.
At the same time you press away with your heels,
Go ahead and lengthen your arms.
Keep your arms on the mattress,
But press into your palms,
Turning the hand upward at a 90 degree angle to the forearm.
Bring your palms toward the foot of the bed,
Lengthening into the neck,
Lowering the shoulders.
Inhale as you press and then exhale,
Release tension,
Relax your hands down.
Let your feet relax out to the sides and soften into the mattress.
Next,
Reach your right arm up toward the ceiling,
Reaching out through the tips of your fingers and then slowly let that arm drop,
Letting the shoulder blade glide back into place on the back of your rib cage.
Then lift your left arm up in the air,
Reach your fingers toward the sky,
Feel your shoulder blade glide along the rib cage as you reach,
Reach,
Reach.
Shoulder blade moving toward the side of the rib cage and then let that arm drop and let the shoulder blade drop back into place,
Moving more toward the center,
Toward the spine.
Alternate lifting one arm and lowering,
Lifting the opposite and lowering,
And feel the massage between the shoulder blades as you lift and lower.
Now relax your arms to the sides on the mattress,
Separate your heels about shoulder width apart and begin to rock on your heels,
Rolling your toes inward toward one another and then away from each other,
Outward and inward,
Alternating.
As you roll the leg inward and outward,
Feel the sense of aliveness in your hip sockets.
From here,
We'll move into an activity where we'll press one heel away toward the bottom of the bed,
Lengthening,
Starting with your right leg and then alternate sides.
Relax the right leg and press away with the heel of the left leg,
Lengthening the left leg,
Feeling everything stretch and straighten.
Feel the rocking in your hips and the gentle stretch to your side waist.
It's as if you're actually doing a walking motion in bed here to prepare yourself for your day ahead.
Now push away your covers if you haven't already done so.
Glide the right heel toward your seat,
Bending the knee.
Then hold your right knee with your hands and hug it into the chest.
Circle the ankle.
Next,
Hold your right knee in just the right hand and rock your bent leg over to the right side.
Then switch hands,
Take your left hand to the right knee and begin to rock your weight toward your left hip.
You'll be coming into a knee down spinal twist,
Rocking your weight toward the left hip.
Bring your right foot onto your left thigh.
Lower your right knee toward the mattress on the left.
Hold and breathe into this diagonal twist,
Wringing out any stagnant energy from your night of sleep.
Feel into the hip,
The back,
The shoulder,
And you may wish to allow your right arm to glide out to the side,
Or with a bent elbow,
Allow it to relax overhead on your pillow.
Then release the left hand from the right knee,
Straighten the right leg,
Kicking out through the heel,
And then completely relaxing the leg.
Next,
Glide your left heel toward your seat,
Bending the knee,
And then hold that left knee with your hands,
Hug it into the chest,
And begin to circle your ankle.
Hold the knee in just your left hand and rock your bent leg out to the left side.
Feel a stretch in the inner left thigh.
And then we'll move into a knee down twist with your left leg.
So grasp your left knee with your right hand,
Slowly rocking your weight toward your right hip,
And bring the left foot onto your right thigh,
The straight leg.
Lower that knee toward the base of the mattress on the right,
And hold and breathe,
Feeling into this diagonal twist and wringing out,
Renewing,
Refreshing.
Circle into your hip,
Your glutes,
Your thigh,
The rotation in the spine,
And up into the shoulder.
You can allow the left arm to glide out to the side or relax overhead.
Release the right hand now from your left knee,
And inhale as you rock your weight back to the center,
And straighten the left leg,
Kicking out through the heel,
Then relaxing the leg.
Now bend both knees and hug both knees into the chest.
Begin to circle clockwise,
Massaging into the low back.
And then circle counterclockwise,
Giving yourself some affection.
You can hug your arms across your chest,
Bringing your fingertips toward the shoulder blades on the outer edges of your back.
Then we'll prepare to get up,
Rolling onto your side.
Press your hands into your mattress.
Glide your spine slowly,
Slowly,
Slowly up.
Pause on the side of your bed,
Bringing your sit bones to the very edge of the bed.
Feel your spine lengthen.
Gently pull your chin slightly inward,
Lengthening into the crown of the head and pressing your feet into the floor,
Feeling the ground below you.
Find your roots and set an intention to prepare for today.
What quality would you like to bring into the day?
Danielle Boulay has written,
With roots rivaling wings,
She waits,
Somehow restoring the balance while fulfilling the urge to fly.
I'm wishing you a grounded and uplifting day.
Namaste.
