MBCT Mindful Movement

So beginning in either a seated or standing posture,

Getting a sense of the feet pressed into the ground,

Pulling the knees up by just tensing the thigh muscles,

Tucking the bottom underneath and stretching the chest by taking a deep in breath,

Making sure you breathe out in your own time and allowing the hands to stretch downwards towards the floor,

Ensuring that the chin is tucked in and the back straight.

This is the first posture done either standing or seated,

Breathing and just dwelling and noticing how the body is feeling,

Perhaps asking yourself,

How is my body feeling right now?

Noticing,

Sensing,

Being aware of sensations,

Acknowledging if there's any pain or discomfort,

Being aware of how things are in this moment here and now.

We use the mindful movement as a vehicle for our attention,

Noticing the body and its sensations moment to moment,

Aware of how sensations move and shift and change.

And then gently releasing from the standing or seated posture,

Relaxing the muscles,

Moving the hands and just noticing how the gentle movement feels,

Noticing what your body wants to do,

How your body needs to move,

Trusting in your own self knowledge of your body in this moment.

And now I'd like to invite you to take the arms out to the side on an in-breath,

Stretching the arms above the head if that's comfortable and clasping the thumbs together,

Taking an in-breath and stretching up and on the out-breath,

Making sure that the shoulders are dropped and holding this posture and riding the sensations in the arms,

Shoulders,

Back,

Breathing and noticing how the sensations intensify,

Move and shift.

And now considering the arms are going to come down in a few moments and being aware of how that feels to think that,

Aware of how thinking and feeling and sensations are all linked and on an out-breath when you're ready,

Gently allowing the arms to drift back to the sides,

Noticing the changing in sensations,

Aware of moment to moment changes as the arms come back down to the sides,

Aware of how that feels,

Just tuning in and noticing what the sensations are like now,

How quickly sensations change and move and shift in the body.

And now I'd like to invite you on an in-breath to take the arms now out to the side,

Breathing out and noticing how that feels,

Making sure that the shoulders aren't raised and to add a little interest and intensity to the sensations you're experiencing if it feels okay turning the fingertips up towards the ceiling,

Perhaps instantly aware of the changing sensations,

Maybe this isn't so pleasant,

Perhaps it's beginning to become unpleasant,

Aware of the sensations whether pleasant or unpleasant,

Riding the waves of sensations and noticing what it's like to dwell in the body with the sensations moment to moment,

Breath by breath,

Being aware of limits and if there's any pain to any of these movements backing off,

Doing what you trust is right for your body.

And in a few moments we're going to take the arms down but first notice how the mind's reacting to holding the fingers in this way and then gently allow the arms to come down on an out-breath,

Noticing the moment by moment sensations and changes,

Dwelling in the body with those sensations,

With those changes,

Really becoming aware of the moment to moment shifts,

How different the body can feel from one moment to the next.

And now I'd like to ask you to take your feet about hip width apart so that you have a wider base,

If seated just keep the feet in line with the knees and I'd like you to take the left arm out to the side,

Raising it above the head,

Stretching it above the head and then taking the arm slowly to the side,

Gently stretching and then bringing the arm back to the centre and down,

Repeating that movement on the other side but integrating the breath now so breathing in,

Taking the arm up,

Breathing out to take the body over,

Breathing in,

Taking the arm back to the centre,

Breathing out and taking the arm back down,

Repeating this once more in your own time with your own breath.

Noticing how the body feels,

How the sensations change one moment to the next,

Dwelling in the body,

Aware of how the body is feeling.

If the body is not feeling too good today,

Aware of how it is,

Aware of sensations,

Whether pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral,

Keeping the arms at the side and just dwelling in the body with the sensations as they are in the moment,

Using the anchor of the breath and tuning in to sensations.

And now I'd like to invite you to take the left arm out and up to the side but this time stretching it above and stretching as if there's perhaps a bunch of grapes just out of finger reach,

Maybe raising up the heel to just stretch and looking up at the fingers,

Gently stretching as best you can and then noticing the sensations as you then bring the hand down and the heel down.

Repeating this on the other side in your own time.

Gently stretching and coming back to standing and again taking time to notice how the body is feeling right now.

Tuning in to the sensations,

Aware of how the body is and if there are certain aches and pains or difficulties,

Acknowledging what's present,

Being with what's here in the moment,

Witnessing each moment no matter how it is,

Riding the waves of sensations in this moment and this moment,

Aware of what changes,

Aware of how you are.

And now we're going to do some gentle neck movements.

If you do have any damage or weakness to the neck,

Please be cautious with these movements.

The focus of awareness is on the tip of the chin so keeping awareness as best you can on the tip of the chin and taking the neck down,

The head down and then raising the chin towards the ceiling,

Not dropping the back of the neck but just raising the chin.

Breathing out to take the chin down,

Breathing in to raise the chin.

Integrating the breath with the movement.

Each of us has different rates of breathing.

And bringing the head back to the centre and just noticing how the neck is feeling after those gentle movements.

Tuning in to the sensations in the neck,

The shoulders,

Aware of how the body is right now.

And now if it feels okay,

Gently turning the head.

First to the left,

Then to the middle and then to the right.

Having the chin as the focus of attention leading the way.

Not moving the shoulders but just gently moving the head.

There should be no pain with these movements.

If there is any pain then back off and do what you can do.

Gently with care.

Bringing the head back to the middle after the next movement.

And again tuning in moment to moment how the body is feeling.

Pleasant,

Perhaps unpleasant,

Maybe neutral.

Maybe some areas are barking out for attention.

Aware of how things are right now.

Accepting the body with its limitations.

And now we are going to do another gentle neck movement where we take the head first to the left,

Just allowing the ear to come down towards the shoulder.

And then back up to the centre and allowing the head to then go down to the right and back to the centre.

It's possible to integrate the breath,

Breathing out as the head comes down,

Breathing in as the head comes back to the centre.

Not raising the shoulder to meet the ear so much as allowing the ear to greet the shoulder.

And after the next movement allowing the head to come back to the middle and tuning in to notice how the neck,

The head,

The shoulders,

How the body is feeling right now.

We are going to do some gentle shoulder exercises now.

Gentle shoulder movements to just loosen the shoulders and bring our awareness to an area that often holds lots of tension and stiffness.

So bringing the shoulders first up towards the ears and then rolling them back around and back to the front.

So on the in breath the shoulders raise up and on the out breath the shoulders come round.

Repeating that twice more with your own breath.

And then reversing the movement,

Breathing in as the shoulders come back and breathing out as the shoulders come forwards.

And if there's any clicking or any sound from the shoulders just being aware that that's okay as long as there's no pain.

There should be no stabbing pain with any of these movements.

And then gently,

Finally moving twice round in the other direction to open up the chest.

And coming to rest,

Aware of how the shoulders feel,

Aware of how the body feels.

Getting a general measure of wellbeing,

Of how you're doing in this moment right now.

And we're going to do a gentle twist now.

This again can be done seated or standing.

So just making sure that the hips and the knees and the feet are in line and that they remain to the front throughout this.

Taking the hands onto the hips,

Breathing in and stretching up and breathing out gently moving to the right in a twisting motion so that the bottom of the body twists first and then the chest and then the shoulders and the head is the last thing to move.

Breathing,

Not forgetting to breathe and just gently allowing the twist to develop so that on each in breath you stretch up,

On each out breath perhaps there's a tiny further twist that can happen.

Breathing and noticing,

Aware,

In tune with the body and its sensations in each moment.

Breathing in to straighten the back and on an out breath coming back to the centre.

Breathing in to straighten up,

Breathing out and twisting around to the other side like a corkscrew twisting from the bottom.

Then into the chest,

The shoulders and the last thing to turn is then the neck.

Gently holding the twist,

Making sure that the pelvis and hips remain forwards as best you can.

Not forgetting to breathe,

To tune in,

To notice how you are in this moment.

Breathing in to straighten up and breathing out to come back to the centre.

Noticing how the body is feeling,

Whether there are any difficult sensations,

Perhaps the feet are feeling a little tired or crampy,

With standing.

Just noticing and turning towards unpleasant or difficult sensations,

Accepting what's present,

Being with the body as it is.

And we're going to do a gentle dipping motion now,

So if you are seated,

Standing up and walking round to the back of the chair,

Holding the back of the chair with two hands.

This just helps to steady.

So taking the hands either out in front of the shoulders or holding on the chair,

Depending on how you are feeling.

And then gently bending the knees and dipping down,

Making sure that the knees stay over the feet,

That the back isn't overly arched.

And this very quickly allows the build up of sensations to be noticed in the calves and thighs and buttocks.

Riding the waves of those sensations,

Noticing how sensations move and change and develop in intensity.

And then thinking about raising.

Any thoughts around that before gently coming up and out of that movement,

Letting the arms come down to the sides of the body.

Just noticing how the body responds and reacts to different postures,

Different movements,

How moment to moment,

What may feel intense in one movement quickly changes in the next moment if we're paying attention moment to moment without judgment,

With awareness.

So now standing at the end of this practice and just tuning into the body,

Taking time to be with the breath,

With the body,

Aware how the body is in this moment,

Here and now.

Bringing a sense of kindness,

Gentleness,

Non-judgment to any difficulties,

Pain or discomfort.

Taking three more breaths before ending this practice.

The next set of movements are movements best done lying down on a firm surface like a floor,

Perhaps using a mat.

We begin with the first posture,

Which is a lying down posture,

Where the arms are out at the side of the body with the palms facing up,

The legs straight out with the feet flopping out to the side,

The chin gently tucked in so that the back is straight.

Bringing the awareness to the breath and the movement of the breath,

The chest rising and falling,

Riding the waves of the breath and taking time to come into this moment,

Into this body,

Here and now.

Moment to moment,

Breath by breath.

Aware of how the body feels,

And if there are any particular discomforts or pains,

Bringing a sense of kindly acceptance and awareness to how things are in this moment,

Whether pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral.

Riding the waves of the breath,

Moment to moment,

Letting go of judgment,

Dwelling in the body,

In the sensations in the body,

One moment to the next.

And now we're going to move on to do a full body stretch on an in breath,

Bringing the arms up and over to the back,

Pressing the heels away,

Stretching and then breathing out and bringing the arms back down to the sides.

Repeating twice more with your own breath,

Our breaths are all different,

And each time the arms come down,

Releasing the heels and allowing the feet to flop out to the side.

On the in breath,

Stretching the body from the heels to the fingertips.

On the out breath,

Releasing the feet,

The body,

And coming back to rest with the palms facing up,

The feet flopping out to the side,

And noticing after those few gentle stretches,

How is the body right now?

Taking the awareness and attention into the body,

The sensations here and now.

The next movement is a pelvic tilt,

So bringing the feet onto the mat,

Bending the knees,

And gently we're going to first press the lower back into the floor,

And then arch the back and gently move the back so that it presses,

The lower back presses into the floor on one movement,

And then there's an arching sensation on the other.

So the buttocks remain in contact with the floor,

And there's just a gentle arching and flexing of the lower back,

First one way,

Then the other way.

Feeling the gentle massage of the lower back as it moves with the floor,

And then against and away from the floor.

Doing it with your own breath,

Breathing in to lift,

Breathing out to drop.

Perhaps closing the eyes if that feels okay,

And just carrying on to do three more pelvic tilts,

And then letting the legs straighten out along the floor.

Tuning in and noticing how the body is after doing these gentle movements,

And if the lower back is particularly stiff,

Then it's okay to keep the knees up to support the lower back.

Tuning in to sensations,

Noticing how the body is,

Riding the waves of sensations as they come and go.

And now bringing the feet back onto the mat with the knees pointing upwards,

We're going to do a spinal rock.

So from this position,

Bringing the knees up onto the chest,

Holding underneath the knees and rocking first one way and then the other,

Taking the head in the opposite direction if that feels okay.

Gently moving first one way and then the next,

Massaging the spine,

And it's possible to take the knees further away from the body to gently massage the lower part of the back and bring the knees closer to the body to massage higher up the back.

Gently carefully moving and then coming back to the middle,

Allowing the feet to come onto the floor.

The palms,

The arms at the side of the body,

Palms facing either up or down,

And just take two breaths.

And now we're going to do a leg lock pose.

Here,

You bring the left leg up onto the chest and hold it underneath the knee.

We hold underneath the knee so that we don't unduly strain or put any pressure on the knee joint.

And just hold the leg and breathe,

Gently stretching the leg,

Keeping the head on the floor,

Just noticing how the body feels.

And bring the leg back down and now doing it on the alternative leg.

Holding the stretch,

Breathing,

And then allowing both legs to come back down straight on the mat if that's comfortable.

So that the legs are straight out,

Palms facing up,

Aware that the chin is tucked in.

Taking two breaths.

And the next movement we're going to do is known as the cat posture.

So as best you can,

Rolling onto your side and coming up onto all fours.

It may not be comfortable to be on all fours.

It may strain the wrists,

So it is okay to drop onto the elbows and do this movement from the elbows rather than the hands on the floor.

And the first position is that of an angry cat where we arched the back,

Took the buttocks in,

And the head comes down to the chest.

And the next posture,

We take the bottom up towards the ceiling,

Gently arch the back and take the head up,

The chin pointing forwards.

And repeating this with the breath,

Moving from the angry cat and then stretching out.

Repeating this three more times with the breath,

Breathing in as the angry cat,

Breathing out as we stretch the back the other way.

Twice more.

Feeling the back and its movement all the way through each vertebrae,

Stretching one way and then the other way,

Gently massaging the back.

And with any of these postures,

If it's not possible to do,

Then not forcing any movement that may bring pain,

But closing the eyes and doing any movement in the imagination.

Moving from the cat into pose of a child by dropping back onto the heels,

Bringing the head onto the floor or on two fists,

So that we can either support the head on two fists in front of the body,

Or we can have both arms by the sides next to the feet.

And breathing in and out,

Feeling the movement of the breath.

And coming out of the posture,

Moving into a cross leg posture.