MBCT Stretch And Breath Meditation

Welcome to the stretch and breath meditation as part of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy program.

I am your instructor,

Jen Churchill.

As we get started,

Please come into a standing position.

Feet underneath the hips or planted a bit wider.

If you need to modify the practice,

You are always welcome to do this in a seated position.

Either seated or standing,

Finding an erect and dignified posture,

Broadening across your collarbones,

Rooting down through your hips and your feet.

Starting to feel the body aligning here from your feet all the way up through the crown of your head.

And as we engage in this practice of stretching,

Of mindful movement,

Breathing,

And stillness,

Notice striving.

Notice and release any sense of striving here.

This is a natural quality that may arise in your practice.

And see if you can instead shift to a sense of discovery,

Honoring your limitations,

Listening to your body as you move through the instructions.

Letting your body be a guide even more than my words.

From this place of stillness,

Starting to move with intention,

With a sense of patience,

Likely much more slowly than you normally would move through your day.

In honor of a quality of mindfulness.

First,

Bringing both arms gradually out to extend at your sides,

Bringing your arms out from your shoulders,

Broadening across your chest,

Perhaps feeling some expansion here out through the fingertips.

Noticing engagement in the muscles,

Perhaps warmth,

Tingling.

From here,

Release your arms gradually back down to your sides,

Allowing a pause,

Noticing the sensations arise at this point of stillness.

Now taking just your left arm out and up,

Reaching your left arm all the way up so that your fingertips are directed towards the ceiling.

Extending upwards as if there was something you're reaching for high up in the air.

Eye above your head.

Even feeling that left heel begin to lift off the floor.

And then gradually releasing the left heel back down.

And slowly,

Mindfully bring the left arm back down at your side.

Checking in here with sensation.

Tuning in to the left side of your body,

As well as the right side of your body.

And now taking your right arm out and up in the same fashion that you extended your left arm,

Until that right arm reaches up overhead and you reach a little higher,

As if you were grabbing a piece of fruit from a tree.

Right heel lifted.

Extending.

And releasing the heel back down,

Followed by the arm back down.

Savoring these pauses in between the movements,

The stretches.

Noticing the pace of the breath.

The quality of the breath.

Bringing some softness to the knees,

Some balance to the soles of the feet.

Beginning to reach both arms up overhead this time.

Fingertips extending overhead.

And alternating the reach of the arms,

Bending the right elbow as the left arm reaches.

And then bending the left elbow as the right arm reaches.

Finding a rhythm,

A pace here.

Attuning to the movement.

Settling the feet back down,

Settling the arms back down at the sides.

Releasing any tension,

Any muscular engagement in the arms or the shoulders.

Beginning to twist side to side,

Arms hanging loose at the sides.

As you turn to the left,

Finding your limit there.

And then turning to the right,

Hips turning,

Shoulders following,

Followed by the face,

The crown of the head.

You also have the option to bring your hands to your hips and guide that twist.

Allowing your knees to be slightly bent.

Allowing that flexibility through the legs as you twist slowly side to side.

Tracking your gaze side to side.

And coming back to center,

Back to stillness.

Even closing your eyes for a moment to tune in here.

Notice thoughts arising.

The quality of those thoughts.

And now bringing your right hand up to your right hip,

Elbow bent,

Pointing out away from the side of the body.

And then bring your left arm up overhead.

And as you do this,

Putting some pressure in your right hand on your right hip,

Start to arc the body.

Lengthening the left side of the body as you constrict the right side of the body.

Noticing the sensations that arise.

These opposing forces of lengthening,

Stretching,

And constricting.

Engaging.

And the quality of the breath as well.

Gradually rising your torso back up,

Releasing your left hand back down at your side,

Releasing your right arm back down at your side.

Taking a pause of breath here.

Staying quite curious about your experience.

What is it like to slow down and move in this very attentive way?

Welcoming whatever is arising.

Now taking it to the other side.

And this is a point as we move side to side in the practice where we can start to shift into autopilot when we already know what's coming.

Try to slow down and stay just as curious as we bring the left hand to the left hip and the right arm up overhead.

And intentionally start to put some gentle pressure on the hip as you lengthen the right side of the body.

Keeping the head and neck in a neutral position,

Moving as an extension of your spine.

Honoring your body,

Your limitations.

Remembering to modify here.

Rest,

Take breaks.

Do what you need to do to make this practice work for you.

And as you feel ready to release,

Starting to gradually shift back to your center,

Releasing your arm down,

Releasing both arms down at your sides.

Starting to engage now in some shoulder movements by bringing your shoulders up towards your ears.

Bringing your shoulders back,

Shoulder blades drawing in towards one another.

Releasing your shoulders down and forward.

Moving through the full range of motion of your shoulders.

Noticing any sensation,

Arising,

Pleasantness,

Honoring any tender areas,

And shifting the direction of those shoulder rolls when you're ready.

Up,

Forward,

Down,

And back.

Perhaps moving with your breath if that comes naturally to you.

And then eventually letting the shoulders come back to their neutral position as we begin to move the head and neck,

Allowing the chin to drop towards the chest.

Letting the head rest here,

Feeling the stretch through the back of the neck.

And then starting to bring left ear towards left shoulder.

Finding your range of motion there.

Taking a pause before bringing the chin back towards the chest.

And right ear towards right shoulder.

Exploring here,

Movement,

Sensation.

Allowing yourself to have some creative expression with how you move your head and neck.

Pace the direction.

What feels right?

Gradually bringing your head back up over your shoulders,

Your neck,

And extension of your spine.

And beginning to adjust now to a posture of stillness.

You might choose to sit down on a chair,

Or a cushion.

Moving mindfully with awareness.

Finding a position where you can remain alert while present.

Settling down into your sit bones.

Feeling your spine elongate.

Begin to narrow your attention now to your breath.

Getting curious about your breathing.

Where is your breath most detectable to you?

Drawing your awareness of your breath now down into your belly.

Knowing that you can use the contact of your hand on your belly to bring even more attention to the belly breathing.

And narrowing the focus even more to the inhale.

The part of the pattern of breath where the body draws air inwards.

Filling the lungs,

Diaphragm,

Extending downwards,

Belly expanding.

And allowing the breath naturally to happen.

Anchoring into the inhale.

Allowing the exhale and pauses in between.

Breathing in,

Expanding.

Following each breath.

Letting go of the experience of the inhale.

And shifting your attention with curiosity to your exhale.

All that is available here,

Sensations,

Sounds,

Full experience of what it's like to inhabit the exhale fully in this moment.

Perhaps there's the sound of breathing out.

The sensation of constriction in the diaphragm.

Belly constricting as well.

Feeling of emptying,

Grounding down.

Allowing your inhales to happen naturally.

And staying quite curious about the experience of the exhale.

Fully inhabiting the experience.

Tethering you into this moment again and again.

Noticing the wandering mind as well.

In these moments,

Congratulating ourselves for waking up and gently escorting the attention back to the breath.

Time and time again.

This is an opportunity to practice.

An opportunity to strengthen the muscle of attention.

Finding the point in your breath that is most apparent for you.

Whether it is sound,

Sensation,

Simply knowing.

Allowing yourself to be guided by this through a stretch of silence now.

Checking in here,

Knowing that we're not here to change the mind.

We're here to accept,

To notice.

There's an opportunity to see patterns and marvel at the way our mind works.

Seeing the mind just as it is.

Letting our attention expand now all around the breath to sensations in the body.

Broadening our attention and holding,

Holding all of it in awareness.

And then allowing the sensations of the body to take center stage,

To narrow our focus down into our feet,

Our ankles,

Our knees,

All the way up through our legs to our hips and belly.

Guiding the attention upwards into the chest,

The shoulders,

Arm,

Hands,

Neck,

And the whole of our head.

The whole body breathing here.

Checking in with what feels right in this moment,

Knowing that movement can also be part of our meditation.

We may remain still,

Curious,

And focused on a certain region of the body or part of our experience.

Directing the breath to explore.

Also allowing ourselves to move as needed,

To attune,

To listen to the needs of the body in this moment.

And as we attune in this way,

We also know when it is time to let go,

When it is time to shift our attention from the body.

From narrow to broad.

Just this body,

Right here,

Right now,

Open.

Open to all.

And as we begin to close the practice,

Let's take a few moments to come back to the belly.

Breathing.

Breathing in.

Breathing out.

Savoring the pauses in between.

Allowing yourself to stay here as long as you like.

I thank you for practicing with me,

And I hope that you will return to practice again soon.