Somatic Movement To Unwind Stress And Pain From Head To Toes

You are allowed to slow down now and notice yourself,

Tuning into your internal landscape and being with the truth of what's here.

What are the felt sensations coming into practice?

Where are they living?

Preparing to explore small,

Slow motion-like movement.

Just moving to move.

No right,

No wrong,

Just curious.

Opening to receive,

Opening to sense,

To feel.

Starting right now by noticing your right foot,

Noticing your right foot and how it feels compared to your left.

Maybe there's a sense of difference in the way they're resting on the floor,

Or maybe they feel the same.

What's here?

And from your feet growing your receptivity into your legs now.

Noticing your right leg,

Your left leg,

Both of your legs.

Maybe one leg feeling a bit longer or shorter,

Growing your awareness up,

Up,

Up,

Up into your tailbone.

Noticing where your tailbone is living.

Awareness growing into your pelvis,

Into your hips.

What's here?

Your low back now.

Is there a sense of tension or neutrality?

Would it feel better to bend your knees and place your feet on the floor?

And from your mid-back,

Without changing the way that you're breathing,

Just noticing the way that you are breathing,

The way that your body is breathing you right here,

Right now,

Your shoulders now.

Noticing if they feel the same or different,

Maybe one shoulder a little higher,

Bringing your awareness down into your arms.

Curious about contact sensation from arm to arm.

Or maybe noticing one arm resting closer to your body than your other arm.

And now moving away from your arms,

Back into your shoulders,

Up into your neck and head,

Softly landing your attention here.

And noticing if your head feels center.

And now opening your receptivity to your whole body,

Your whole body now.

And keeping this experience in your back pocket for later.

As you start to bend one knee and then the other,

Placing your feet on the floor,

And just immediately noticing how this changes the relationship with your low back space.

More support,

More rested.

And coming back to an awareness of your spine today,

From your tailbone all the way up to your neck,

Starting by noticing your tailbone once again.

And as you feel ready,

Inhale,

And start to roll your tailbone toward the floor,

Your pelvis pressing more into the floor.

And even slower now,

Releasing this contraction,

Noticing length as you come to melt back to your floor.

And let's do the opposite movement.

Inhale to prepare,

And exhale,

Gently pressing your back into the floor,

Feeling your tailbone come away.

Pausing here to notice sensation,

And then again,

Exhale or inhale wherever you're at,

And release,

Let go,

Rest.

Notice feedback,

Bringing your awareness a little higher into your low back space.

Same movement,

Inhale and arch your low back now,

Continuing to roll your tailbone toward the floor,

Feeling the contraction in your low back,

Exhale and slowly lengthen,

Releasing,

Melting back to rest,

Breathing any way that feels good here,

Feeling into more information.

And then again,

Doing the opposite movement,

Inhale to prepare,

And then exhale,

Gently pressing your low back into the floor,

Feel your abs turn on here,

Releasing your back further into rest.

And then whatever breath you're on,

Releasing your abs,

Melting back to feeling.

Now your attention coming a bit higher now into your thoracic spine or your mid back.

And as you feel ready,

Inhale and arch your low back,

Roll your arms open,

Your shoulder blades coming together,

Stopping at the top to notice the sensation of this movement,

And then slowly,

Slowly exhaling to unwind,

To come back to length,

And as you feel ready,

Inhaling to prepare for a movement,

And exhaling,

Again,

Pressing your low back into the floor,

Rolling your arms in towards center,

Notice what you feel and where you feel it,

And then a slow release on whatever breath you're on,

Back to rest,

Back to sensing,

Really nice.

Your attention coming even higher now into your cervical spine or your neck.

And once again,

As you feel ready,

You inhale,

You arch your low back,

Roll your arms open,

Shoulder blades coming together,

Tipping your chin up and back,

Noticing what's here through the entirety of your spine,

And then slowly,

Slowly letting yourself come back to length,

Back to rest.

Wonderful,

Just breathing with that information.

And on your next inhale,

You're preparing for your movement,

And then you exhale,

Now pressing your back into the floor,

Rolling your arms in towards center,

Tipping your chin towards your chest,

And then rolling out nice and slow,

Back to rest,

Noticing feedback,

Noticing what's changing,

And coming back into this whole movement a couple more times,

Flowing through it,

Starting by inhaling,

Rolling your arms open,

Arching your low back,

Your shoulder blades coming closer together,

Your chin tipping up toward the ceiling,

And then exhaling to come into the opposite movement,

Your back pressing into the floor,

Your arms rolling in,

Your chin tipping towards your chest,

And just continuing this way,

Undulating back and forth,

Taking your time,

Slow motion-like movement,

So you can feel the subtlety come through.

And just as you feel complete with the one that you're on,

Allowing yourself to come back to stillness and sliding your legs back to rest,

Coming into a brief body scan to feel what you feel.

What is the feedback?

What's here now?

Very nice.

Letting go of your feedback with a breath to reset and refresh,

And coming onto your belly,

Rolling onto your belly,

Stacking your hands,

Resting your forehead on the back of your hands to pause for another moment to check in,

To notice how it feels to be in this prone-like position,

Perhaps a micro-adjustment of your hips,

Your legs.

And now as you're here,

Just starting to bring your attention and awareness to your neck,

And starting to nod,

Yes,

Tipping your chin up and down,

Staying with your range of comfort,

And then starting to roll your head left and right,

Nodding no.

Again,

Slow,

Easy.

As you find your head to your right,

Resting here,

Your eyes looking towards your right elbow,

Releasing your left arm to rest by your side,

And bringing your attention down to your opposite left leg.

As you feel ready,

You inhale,

And you start to lengthen your left leg,

Noticing your right shortening a bit,

And then lifting your left leg just a little bit,

Small movement.

Notice where else you may feel this movement,

And then exhale,

Even slower release of these muscles back to your supportive surface.

Beautiful.

And then bringing your attention up across into your right arm,

And as you feel ready,

Inhaling and starting to peel your elbow and arm away from the floor,

Your elbow coming towards your ceiling,

Noticing where you feel this movement,

And then releasing it even slower on your exhale,

Like a feather,

Slowly,

Slowly,

Coming back to your supportive surface.

Nice.

Now your attention in your neck and head.

Inhale and start to lift your head,

Looking over towards your right shoulder,

Just your head now,

And exhaling,

Releasing whenever you're ready.

And now connecting your hand to your cheek.

You inhale and you start to lift,

Peel away your elbow,

Your arm,

Your head,

Your elbow coming up toward the ceiling,

Maybe a slight twisting feeling here,

Noticing your opposite leg wanting to join,

And then releasing this movement,

Slowly on your exhale,

Noticing how it felt,

And now connecting your upper and lower body.

By inhaling,

Starting to lengthen and lift your opposite leg,

Lifting your head,

Your hand,

Noticing where you feel your body connecting and anchoring into the floor and lifting away,

And then releasing it even slower,

Feeling all of these muscles lengthen and turn off and rest.

Beautiful.

Do that one more time on your own as you feel ready.

Once again,

Just noticing what's happening,

Noticing counterbalancing,

Noticing an anchoring,

And releasing it even slower,

Just that reminder to really remain in control so you can feel it all the way down.

And then taking a breath and switching sides,

Your head now turning to the left,

Resting on your hand,

Allowing your right arm to rest beside you.

And once again,

Bringing your attention now to your right leg,

Same thing,

You inhale,

You lengthen and lift your right leg,

Noticing your opposite left leg shortening and anchoring,

And then you slowly release this too on your exhale,

Letting it go,

Letting it be.

Very nice.

Bringing your attention now up into your left arm,

Your left elbow,

You inhale and start to peel your elbow,

Your forearm away from the floor,

Allowing your elbow to come up or towards the ceiling,

Exhale and release your movement.

And now just your head,

Just your head as you feel ready,

You inhale,

Lifting your head and turning it towards your,

Or over your right or left shoulder,

Excuse me,

And then releasing that movement too.

Nice.

And now connecting your hand to your cheek,

Just your upper body,

You inhale,

You start to lift your arm,

Your head,

Your upper body,

Noticing what's here and slowly,

Slowly releasing it on your exhale.

Back to rest.

And now connecting your upper and lower body once again,

Doing this movement together,

You inhale and you start to lengthen and lift your left leg while also,

Yes,

Lifting your upper body.

Again,

Just noticing what's here,

This energetic line from your elbow to your heel and then releasing it,

Letting it go on your exhale.

Really nice,

Beautiful.

And then doing this movement one more time,

If and only if it feels good on your own.

And after you found a moment of rest,

Rolling onto your back to come back into a body scan.

And as you're here again in Shavasana,

In relaxation pose,

Just noticing what you notice.

What is the feedback now?

Where is it?

How is it?

What's happening?

Letting go of your feedback with a breath.

So again,

Reset and refresh for a new movement by bending your knees,

Maybe one at a time,

Maybe together,

Bringing your feet back to the floor.

Again,

More support for your low back space and bringing your left hand to rest behind your head.

And as you're here,

You inhale and once again,

Arch your low back.

Notice if it feels a little different.

Your range of mobility has increased a bit.

And then as you exhale,

Come on down.

Take another inhale to prepare for a movement.

And then as you exhale,

Pressing your low back into the floor so you feel your abs turning on,

Coming into a diagonal curl towards your opposite right leg.

Maybe your opposite right leg comes up to join.

Be nice to yourself.

Notice what's here in the front of your body and then let it go.

Slowly release these muscles to length,

To rest.

Very nice.

And just pause here.

We're just gonna flow through a couple more of these.

So again,

Inhale and arch your low back and exhale,

Your back comes down,

Pressing into the floor.

You're coming into a diagonal curl once again.

Your left elbow coming towards your left knee or wherever you're at.

You're in a different part.

Just keep flowing through.

Now move at the pace you want to move at.

Don't let me rush you.

Your practice.

Beautiful.

Really notice that contraction when you come in,

Your elbow coming towards your knee and really notice it releasing,

Coming long,

Those muscles unwinding.

Beautiful.

And just one or two more if it feels good.

And if it doesn't,

Just come back to rest,

Come back to sensing and letting go of this movement.

So you come to the other side,

Bringing your right hand behind your head,

Starting this really slow,

Inhaling and arching your low back once again.

Exhaling,

Letting your back gently fall back to your supportive surface.

Noticing what you notice and then taking a breath in to prepare and taking a breath out to come into your movement.

Your back pressing into the floor,

Your elbow traveling towards your opposite knee,

Opposite knee towards your elbow.

Notice the contraction here and then lengthen,

Let go of the contraction.

Come back to rest for just a moment and coming back into a flow on this side.

Whenever you're ready,

Allowing yourself to come in and perhaps noticing how it feels different on this side.

Maybe it feels a little easier,

A little more challenging.

What's here on this side?

Very nice,

Really taking your time.

No rush.

We have time to rush all day long.

This is a moment in time where we get to rebel against that,

Rebelling against the mind trying to push us along.

That's it,

Beautiful.

And then once you're complete with the one that you're on,

Allowing your legs to again,

Slide to long,

To come back into some sensing and feeling,

Back to being with the truth of what is right now.

What's changed?

What's the feedback?

What are you creating?

And in your first body scan,

I had an inquiry if you felt like maybe one leg felt a little longer,

One leg felt a little shorter,

Maybe one side of your body feeling a little more activated.

So you're gonna be moving onto your side in a chair-like position.

So whichever side feels longer,

Come to rest on that side.

Grab a thin pillow or a folded blanket for your head,

Or you can rest with your long arm coming behind you,

Whatever's most comfortable.

And once again,

Just pausing,

Pausing and rest here on your side.

And from rest,

Coming back to noticing your lower body,

Bringing your attention down to your top foot,

And with your knees connected,

Just lifting your top foot as you inhale.

Find pleasure,

Keep it small.

And then slowly,

Slowly releasing this movement,

Letting it go,

Really letting your foot settle into your bottom foot,

Bringing your attention to your upper body now and wrapping your top arm around your head.

Maybe you feel the tips of your fingers touching your ear that's resting on your support.

And as you feel ready,

Inhale,

And just start to lift your head up.

Notice this action coming from the side of your body,

This accordion-like action of your obliques bringing you closer to your hip,

And then slowly,

Slowly let it go.

Let it fade,

Back to rest.

Beautiful.

And now as you feel ready,

Bringing both movements together by inhaling,

Bringing your foot and your head closer together.

Again,

This action coming from underneath your armpit,

Your head just along for the ride.

And as you release the movement on your exhale,

Notice length coming back to your side,

And then doing this movement on your own a couple more times.

If it feels good,

Just exploring it.

What's here?

What do you feel turn on?

What muscles are allowing you to do this movement?

And then what muscles are turning off as you let go?

Beautiful.

And letting go of the movement,

Starting to reach your top arm overhead,

So it's reaching towards the wall behind you,

And then reaching your top leg to the wall in front of you,

And that same line,

And just breathing in length for a moment here,

If and only if it feels good,

And then resting out of that to come back onto your back,

Just briefly,

Just to notice what you notice from side to side now.

What's different from your right to left side?

Is there a sense of warmth or release on one side?

What's changed?

Contact sensation underneath you now.

And taking a breath,

Any way that it feels good to let this go,

And coming onto your opposite side,

Rolling onto your opposite side,

Really taking your time to get there.

Again,

No rush.

Bringing that little pillow under your head,

So your neck feels rested and neutral.

Finding yourself on this side,

And noticing how it feels now,

This side resting long underneath you.

And again,

Bringing your attention down to your top foot,

And inhaling,

And slowly,

Slowly lifting,

Just your top foot,

Your knees staying connected,

Really noticing where your body says stop,

And then exhale,

Even slower release.

Notice the information on the way down.

Is it smooth and continuous,

Or skipping and jumping?

What's here?

Very nice.

And then bringing your attention to your upper body,

Again,

Wrapping your arm around your head.

It feels good.

Check in,

Maybe it doesn't.

Maybe it feels better to leave your arm down,

And imagine this movement.

You always know that that is a great option,

If it's not accessible.

And then,

As you feel ready,

Inhaling and starting to lift your head.

You feel your side waist shorten.

Again,

Your obliques doing the work,

Your head just alone for the ride.

And then exhaling,

And slowly,

Slowly releasing yourself,

Back to your starting position,

Back to stillness.

To now do this with both your upper and lower body,

Connecting the movement.

As you feel ready,

You inhale,

Lifting your head,

Your top foot.

Again,

Notice what muscles are allowing this action to happen,

Allowing you to come back into gravity,

And then release it even slower.

Notice those same muscles coming back to length,

Letting go,

Conscious that they're letting go.

And then if it feels good,

Doing this a couple more times,

Either in your mind or through movement,

Really taking your time.

How does it feel different on this side?

Does it feel easier,

Maybe more challenging?

Again,

Just noticing,

Maybe you just like to do the upper body movement,

Or maybe the lower body movement.

You can explore that way too.

Your practice,

You're the teacher.

Beautiful,

And letting it go when you find yourself complete,

Taking a breath,

And then coming to roll back into your Shavasana position,

Your relaxation pose,

Coming back into sensing and feeling now this side of your body,

Noticing what's here now,

Noticing both sides of your body together and what's changed,

And then letting it go with another breath to reset and refresh any way that it feels good.

It's not about volume,

Just allowing for a new breath to come in.

Are you aware of your body breathing?

And starting to bend your knees,

Placing your feet on the floor.

Yeah,

Making any little micro adjustments that feel good.

And now bringing your attention to both of your arms and starting to reach them up toward the sky,

Reaching your arms up toward the sky,

Your wrists in line with your shoulders,

Your shoulders resting on the floor beneath you,

Resting on the floor beneath you.

And as you feel ready,

Inhale,

Turn your head right as you reach your left arm toward the sky.

Feel your right shoulder anchoring into the floor as your left comes off.

And then you can exhale,

Come back to center.

And then inhale,

Your head turning left now,

Your right arm reaching towards those stars,

The sky,

The heavens,

And then slowly releasing back to center and just continuing.

Your head turning right now,

Reaching through your left arm.

Let this movement be small.

Again,

Stay within comfort.

It's all about pleasure.

And just undulating back and forth once again through this movement,

Noticing how far your neck would like to turn,

How far your arm would like to reach.

Beautiful.

And allowing your arms to drop down by your side slowly,

Gently,

Tuning back into your arms,

Your shoulders,

Your neck,

Your head,

Sensing what's here,

Bringing your attention to your lower body and just starting to tip your knees towards your right side.

And just noticing how far before you reach a limitation,

Before there's information that says stop,

Stop right before that.

Be nice to yourself.

Feel lengthening through your left side.

And then slowly start to bring your legs back to center,

Noticing your abs are helping,

Lifting your heavy legs back to center.

Breathing any way that feels good here,

Starting to tip in the opposite direction towards your right or your left,

Excuse me.

Noticing length where you notice it,

Noticing a coming together and just continuing this way.

Maybe starting to notice what your head and neck would like to do.

A whole body movement.

So yeah,

Just letting that come in,

Being playful and curious,

Allowing your head to move,

Allowing your arms to move in the way that they wanna move.

Maybe they have something to say within this movement.

Beautiful,

Yes,

Just twisting back and forth.

And again,

Being gentle,

Staying close to center and away from edges.

Just noticing again where you feel length,

Where you feel a coming together,

Beautiful.

Taking good care of yourself here.

Maybe finding a pause here and there to pick up some more information from the movement.

Coming back to center slowly after the movement you're currently on.

Again,

To take a more intentional breath,

Any way that it feels good.

Bringing your attention back to your right leg,

Your right low back.

Inhale and arch your low back.

And exhale,

Gently pressing your low back into your floor,

Bringing your right knee in towards your belly,

Nice and slow.

And now inhale and slide your right leg long down your mat.

Down your mat,

You'll notice,

A natural arching happening and point your right toes.

And then whatever breath you're on,

Just release this movement,

Rest and feel.

Very nice.

Let's do this again on this side.

So again,

Bending your right knee,

Your foot coming back to the floor.

Starting with an inhale,

Arching your low back.

Exhale,

Your back down,

Your right knee coming in towards your belly just as far as it feels good here.

And then inhaling,

Sliding your leg long down your mat.

Noticing a natural arch,

Pointing your toes of your right foot if it feels good.

Exhale,

Inhale wherever you're at,

Just let it go and rest.

One more time on this side,

Bending your right knee,

Your foot coming back to the floor.

Inhale and arch your low back.

Exhale,

Allow your low back to come into the floor,

Your right knee coming in towards your chest,

In towards your belly.

Inhaling,

Slow motion like movement,

Allowing your leg to slide long down your mat.

Perhaps again,

Noticing your low back,

Your toes pointing if it feels good.

Exhale,

Inhale wherever you're at,

Letting it go on this side.

Again,

Coming back to sensing and feeling.

And let's do this a few times on the opposite side.

So you bend your knees,

Your feet are on the floor.

And again,

You inhale when you're ready to arch your low back.

You exhale your low back,

Gently pressing into the floor,

Your knee coming in towards center.

What do you feel here?

Yes,

And then inhaling to slide and lengthen your leg down your mat.

You feel your toes pointing,

A little arch happening naturally,

And then letting it all go on whatever breath you're on.

And to do this two more times,

Two more times if it feels good,

Only if it feels good.

Coming into your starting position.

And again,

Inhaling,

Arching your low back.

Exhaling,

Low back down,

Your knee in.

And inhaling to slide your leg long,

Your toes pointing,

A little contraction in the back of your left side,

And then releasing it to length,

Letting it go.

And doing this one more time on your own.

Just noticing,

And if it feels good,

Only if it feels good.

If you want one more,

I'll be guiding you through it too.

Inhaling and arching.

Exhaling your back,

Pressing into the floor,

Your knee coming towards your chest.

And inhaling to slide your leg long,

Noticing what's happening here in your back,

Your toes pointing,

And then releasing.

On an exhale,

Inhale wherever you're at.

That's it,

Beautiful.

And now sliding both of your legs long,

Might feel really good to come into a full body lengthening,

Maybe reaching your arms over your head,

Only if it feels good.

Arms coming behind you,

Your toes pointing,

And then releasing everything,

Letting go of movement now,

Coming back to a body scan,

Final relaxation here,

Bringing back your first body scan to find some contrast,

To find some change,

And maybe there is some,

And maybe there isn't,

And that's okay too.

So just bringing your attention back down to your feet now,

Noticing your feet and how they feel at the end of practice,

What's different?

And now breathing cool air into your feet,

Soothing your feet,

And breathing warm air out of your feet,

Relaxing your feet and letting them go,

Your attention back in your legs,

Noticing how they feel now,

Breathing cool air into your legs,

Breathing warm air out of your legs,

Relaxing your legs and letting them go,

Your awareness coming back into your tailbone,

Your sacrum,

Your pelvis,

Your hips,

Noticing what's here now,

Breathing cool air into your hips,

Into your pelvis,

Soothing your hips,

Soothing your pelvis,

And breathing warm air out,

Relaxing your pelvis and your hips and letting them go too,

Your awareness traveling up now,

Back into your lumbar spine,

Into your low back,

Noticing what's here,

What's changed,

What's the feedback that you've created now?

And breathing cool air into your low back,

Breathing warm air out of your low back,

Soothing,

Resting,

Releasing your low back,

Letting it go to come up into your mid back,

Once again,

Without changing anything at all,

Just noticing how it feels to breathe here.

Once again,

Just noticing how your body's breathing you,

Maybe the rhythm of your breath has changed since the beginning of your practice,

So just tuning into what's here.

And now,

Breathing into your mid back,

Cool air coming in to soothe,

Warm air leaving as you exhale,

Relaxing,

Resting this space,

Letting it go,

Letting it be,

Coming back into your upper back,

Back into your shoulder space to notice what's different here and breathing into your shoulders,

Cool air coming in,

Warm air coming out as you exhale,

Your shoulders rested,

Relaxed,

Letting your shoulders go,

Your receptivity,

Feeling your arms,

Your hands,

Your fingers,

And noticing them now,

What's here,

What's changed?

And again,

Breathing cool air into your arms,

Your hands,

Your fingers and exhaling,

Warm air out of your arms,

Your hands,

Your fingers,

Rested,

Relaxed,

Letting them go,

Your attention traveling up now into your neck,

Into your head,

Noticing what's here now,

Breathing cool air into your neck,

Into your head,

Soothing your neck,

Soothing your head,

Exhaling,

Warm air out,

Your neck,

Your head,

Rested,

Relaxed now.

And now opening up your receptivity to the entirety of your body,

Your whole body lying here in rest,

Noticing what's different now,

What's the feedback now?

Once again,

Breathing cool air into your whole body and breathing warm air out of your whole body,

Your whole body relaxed,

Rested and comfortable and now simmering in this rested,

Connected state in Shavasana for just a few moments longer and letting go of your practice by starting to take a deeper breath,

Maybe starting to bring some life back to your body,

Wiggling your fingers and your toes,

Rolling onto either side,

Just slowly press yourself back up to seated.