Mindfully Exercising

So the topic I brought to you today is body awareness.

What does it mean about body awareness and why we should practice on a formal practice such as this?

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Okay so what does it mean to have a formal practice?

Which means is that you can practice the body awareness anywhere.

Okay formal practice allows you to with an unbiased mind to explore your your present condition body condition.

Okay let me give you an example let's say you're finished an exercise you finish a Pilates class and and you're feeling great about it you just feel great the awesomeness of the teacher.

What do you mean by a great class?

Do you feel your muscles tight?

Do you feel your joints great?

Do you feel your energy?

You know you feel like you can do anything.

So within your awareness of your your current situation that's how far you go.

What a formal practice gives you is the ability to add more information and add more details.

You can you can say to yourself oh that exercise that I did like exercise my abs that was great so I felt good doing that.

Alright so by doing that next time you can replicate that next time by bringing that to your consciousness you can replicate that in the future.

That's what I mean and that's why the formal practice is so important it tells about yourself and about everything that just happened.

Alright so let's let's start our class it's 733 we are going to 8 o'clock sharp okay and yeah let's do this start and I ring the bell when I remember to ring the bell when we finish.

Alright so we find ourselves a comfortable position it can be seated on the floor it can be sitting on a chair it can be laying down if you want to I don't care as much as as long as you feel yourself comfortable just find yourself in a chair and stay there for 25 minutes.

Legs crossed if you're sitting on the floor your hands laying on your lap or your knees if you're sitting on a chair feet flat on the floor do not lay back on the back of the chair.

If you're laying down arms to your side palms of the hands facing upwards facing the ceiling we start by taking a dip inhalation tip dip inhalation as you inhale you notice your body goes upwards or straighten so keep your body straight open your chest open it will make it easier for you to breathe and when you exhale exhale through your mouth and you will notice your body going in a downward direction which means that you are relaxing enjoy that relaxation movement and dip inhalation if you want to keep your eyes closed that's okay if you want to leave them open that's okay too dip inhalation no long exhalation through your mouth if you choose to leave your eyes open just keep that a gaze towards the floor no focus in your eyes just relax and another dip inhalation helps you straighten your spine in a soft exhalation through your mouth letting go the air downward movement relaxing your shoulders your face your chest now let's go back to a regular breathing breathe through your nose if you feel the posture the position that your toes is not adequate you can make changes that's okay make adjustments to it okay now you nose inhale and exhale through your nose inhale through your nose softly and gently and exhale softly and gently softly and gently when you inhale just make it enough not too much inhalation just enough air make you feel effortless just enough you might might wonder what we call the air that's okay that's totally okay that's what the mind does don't fight it don't engage with it just return to your breathing you will go away same thing with sensations noises body discomfort just acknowledge welcome it and return to your breathing soft and gentle inhalation and a soft and gentle exhalation you let's take a moment to double check on a posture straighten your spine straighten your back open your chest hands on your lap or your knees soft and gentle inhalation breathing through your nose and soft and gentle exhalation you once again you feel you might feel distracted which is totally normal you can you will feel distracted as much as needed as long as you need to go acknowledge you can say to yourself oh i'm feeling distracted and return to the breathing so soft and gentle shallow inhalation and soft and gentle exhalation what we're going to do today is what we call a body scan body scan allows you to explore your body and bring those details i mentioned to your field of awareness field of awareness means that you're conscious about that like you're conscious about your breathing your body the distractions my voice noises outside everything that you're conscious about is your fuel of awareness the challenge of meditation is that your attention into everything that's that it's your own of you that is that is in your field of awareness and all you have to do is bring your attention back to where it was right now in your breath breathe slowly,

Gently Through the breath you connect your mind and body,

Harmonize them into one single entity,

Closing the same frequency,

Allows you to feel whole.

Now leaving your left hand sitting on your lap or on your shoulder,

Just bring your right hand without touching to your forehead.

Don't touch your forehead,

Come as close as you can,

Enough so that your forehead can feel the warmth of your hand,

The presence of it.

Stay there for a while,

Just noticing the warmth.

What other sensations can you feel that sometimes I can feel my hand touching it because it's very close?

So I pull away just a bit.

Just explore the sensation of your hand close to your forehead.

Do you feel that your forehead gets tense?

Try to notice different sensations.

Your arms are getting tired.

So bring your hand down,

Your right hand.

Now continue being aware of the sensation that you just felt on your forehead.

Is it still there?

Can you still feel the warmth that you previously did,

The supposed tension or anything?

Just stay in your forehead for a while,

Just exploring what happened and what's happening now.

Now bring your attention to the top of your head.

What do you feel at the top of your head?

Is that a tingling sensation?

Can you feel the breeze or the air moving your hair?

What can you feel on the top of your head?

Don't forget to breathe gently,

Slowly.

Inhale.

Exhale through your nose while you're exploring the back of your head.

Where is it at the top?

Now bring your attention to the back of your head.

Can you feel anything?

Are you twitching?

Itching?

Or maybe now you're feeling something on the top of your head.

It happens.

Your neck.

Is it warm?

Is it cold?

Check your muscles.

Back muscles,

Side muscles,

Front,

The throat.

Is it tense?

Does it hurt?

Is it relaxed?

Just explore it.

Your face.

As a whole.

Is it warm?

Cold?

Look at those tiny muscles on your cheekbones,

Jaw.

Bring your attention to those muscles and relax and just let them go.

What are you feeling?

What are the sensations?

Is the air touching your cheek?

A soft and gentle inhalation.

A soft and gentle exhalation.

There are so many muscles in our face that we are not aware of,

Those that bring those micro expressions,

Those word lines or those wrinkles around the eyes.

Explore them.

Notice them.

Bring them to your awareness.

When you smile,

What happens?

What muscles do you feel when you smile?

Your tongue,

Your throat.

Bringing even more details to your awareness.

Breathing shallow,

Gently and softly as you explore your body.

Now bring your attention to your shoulders.

Know the muscle that connects your shoulder to your neck,

To the back,

To the front,

To your arms.

What are your shoulder,

Those muscles individually?

How do you feel them?

Are they tense?

Where can you feel the skin cold,

The air touching your skin on your shoulders?

Slowly and gently explore this area,

So much we carry on our shoulders.

And by any chance of your attention,

Just let it go,

Just relax it.

Take this as an opportunity to relax your body.

Your arms,

Check each arm separately,

Upper arm,

Lower arm,

Hands and fingers separately,

Muscles,

Joints,

Skin,

Different sensations,

Compare them both,

Compare the left hand with the right hand,

Bringing more information to your awareness.

Check each finger,

Thumbs,

Fingers,

Are they pulsing,

Are they cold,

Sweaty,

Every information is important.

As you gently breathe.

If you feel there is any discomfort as you sit,

You can make changes to your posture,

Just be aware and mindful of what you are doing.

Don't do two things at the same time,

Just go to the place that you feel the discomfort,

Make the changes that you need and return to where you were exercising.

Check the chest,

Check the muscles,

The skin,

The sensations,

The upper back muscle,

Lower back muscle,

So much pain,

We feel in the lower back,

Sometimes it's good to be aware where the pain is coming from.

Just explore.

Is it the pressure,

Is it the posture,

Is it the muscle tightness?

Your hips,

Left and right.

If it makes it any easier just ask yourself,

Oh how are my hips?

And they will answer you.

If any distractions come into your way like the noises that I'm hearing,

That's okay,

They will go away.

Go back to your hips,

Gently and softly.

Your legs,

Thighs,

Calves,

Feet,

Toes.

Explore them individually,

Check your muscles,

Your skin,

Compare them both,

Bring sensations,

Acknowledge sensations.

Bring your awareness to those sensations,

Your joints,

Your feet,

Bring your awareness to the soles of your feet,

They carry so much weight.

Your toes.

Now invite yourself to be aware of your whole body as you have assessed it,

So much information you gather,

How does it feel to know so much about your body,

How does your body feel?

Stay there for a while,

Just resting your attention on your new awareness of your body.

As you breathe softly and gently.

If you notice any tension in your body,

Any discomfort,

You can bring your attention to that point and your mind's eye and your will just let go,

Just relax it,

Just soften it.

As we approach the end of the session,

Just remember that you can do this at any time and as much as you do,

As you do it,

The more aware you will be every time you exercise or you feel any discomfort in your body,

You will have more and more information.

Your mind will be more flexible and more details will be in your awareness.

Now take a deep inhalation,

Straighten your spine,

Roll your shoulders back and forth,

Your head,

Wiggle your head,

Take a deep inhalation,

Exhale through your mouth,

Inhale again,

Exhale,

Long and relaxing,

Slowly open your eyes,

Get used to the light,

The colors,

The environment and if you don't have to be anywhere,

Don't go,

Just stay here,

Enjoy this moment.

Thank you so much.

Namaste.

Ring the bell as I promised.

I hope I see you again Tuesdays and Thursdays,

7.

30.

I try to make my Thursday more oriented to your body,

To the practice of your exercise and the Tuesdays are more relaxation and yeah,

I try to make them both suitable and helpful for your practice.

Thank you.

See you next time.