Please remind yourself to be kind and gentle as you go through this mindful movement practice.
Accepting and trusting your body.
Acknowledging that your body may be very different to the next person's body and their body may be very different to the next person's body.
We all have our own limitations and there may be parts of this guidance that are physically impossible for you to complete.
And that's okay.
The importance with this practice is not the movements themselves,
But bringing mindful awareness to movements.
So if there are parts of this practice that you're unable to complete,
Perhaps try experimenting with movements of your own creation.
Tuning in,
Noticing what occurs,
Being curious,
Non-judgmental and kind.
So moving in to your mindful seated position.
Allowing yourself to sink down with gravity.
Feeling the weight of the body.
Making contact with the chair.
I'm scanning through the body here to see what else is calling out from my attention this moment.
Perhaps sensations within the body.
Perhaps sensations on the surface of the skin.
Maybe phantom limb sensations or pain.
See if you can observe rather than become.
Sit calmly,
Noticing what's here rather than interacting and getting tangled up in what's here.
Since we begin by just focusing on the breath.
Feeling the movement of each in-breath.
Feeling the movement of each out-breath.
As we take our attention to our hands.
Noticing sensations in and around the hands or hands.
And placing your thumb nail underneath the fleshy pad of your first finger.
Feeling into the contacts.
And flicking your thumb and finger apart.
Tuning in to the sensations of this movement.
Moving your thumb to the middle finger.
And flicking these two apart.
And tuning into the sensations of this movement.
Move your thumb to the ring finger.
And flick these apart.
What's this like?
And to the little finger now.
Sensing in to this stretch.
I'm curious.
What's it like to do this?
Now resting the palm open once more.
And turning your attention into what's present for you now.
With the hands.
And now,
Whatever's here for you,
Just notice.
And now,
Warm.
Tingliness.
Throbbing.
Pulsating.
Sense the flow of energy.
Whatever's here for you,
Just notice.
As you take your hands now to face palm upwards around the belly.
As if you're holding on to a beach ball.
Raising the arms up so the palms are to the chest.
And flipping the palms over,
Face down.
And plunging through the air down to the belly.
Down to the belly.
Flipping the palms upwards.
As if you're holding the beach ball again.
Moving up to the chest.
Flipping the palms over so they're facing down.
And plunging through the air once more.
And see if you can sync this movement with the breath.
Breathing in,
Rising up.
Breathing out,
Plunging down.
Feeling in.
Sensing the sensations as the hands move throughout the air.
The contact the air makes with skin.
The resistance.
The buoyancy.
Whatever you become aware of.
Now rest with your palms facing up.
And tuning in now.
What's present?
As now you repeat this action of raising the palms up to the chest.
But when we get to the chest,
This time turning the palms out and stretching the arms into the room.
Palms pushing away from you.
Away from the chest.
Stretching and drawing the palms back and arms back to the chest.
Rotating the palms down again.
Plunging back to the starting position.
So holding the beach ball.
Raising the palms up to the chest.
Pivoting out.
Pushing arms and palms away.
Or in back in to the chest.
And down.
And syncing this movement with the breath.
Tuning in.
What sensations arrive within this movement?
And coming to a pause once more.
Noticing what's here now.
As you now cross your arms in front of the torso.
And on each in-breath,
Opening the arms out beside of the torso.
As if you're opening wings.
The wingspan.
And then drawing the arms back in.
Crossing over in front of the torso.
As if you're giving yourself a hug.
Opening out with the in-breath.
Expanding the chest.
Arms to the sides.
Coming back in.
Crossing over and hugging the side of the torso.
Coming back in.
Crossing over and hugging the self with the out-breath.
Feeling into the stretch.
Sensing in to the movement.
As you pause and tune in to what's here now in the body.
Maybe around the shoulders,
Back,
Arms and hands.
Sensations are calling out for your attention in this moment.
Just observe these.
Allowing what's there to be there.
As we again cross our arms in front of the body.
And lift up the crossed arms over the head.
As if you're peeling off the jumper.
Stretching up vertically and gently falling down beside the side.
Crossing the arms in front of the body again.
So moving the crossed arms up in front of you.
Peeling off the jumper.
Stretching up vertically.
Stretching horizontally as the arms fold gently and slowly to the sides.
And finishing off with another cross in front of yourself.
Trusting your body.
Doing what is right within your body's limitations.
Sensing in to the movement.
The expansion.
The contraction.
The stretch.
Remembering to breathe.
Sensing in to each in-breath and each out-breath.
Whilst you complete this complex movement.
And coming back to a rested,
Seated position.
And asking yourself,
What's here now within my awareness?
What sensations are live?
As we rest within the flow of the breath.
Allowing the breath to soothe.
Allowing the breath to soothe.
Resting on the waves of each in-breath and each out-breath.
As you once more bring your awareness to the weight of the body.
Making contact with a solid surface beneath.
Hearing the sounds around you.
Feeling the air against your skin.
And opening the eyes if you have them closed.
Whenever is right for you to end the practice.
