Let's make ourselves comfortable.
So our feet are planted on the floor,
Our legs are in a comfortable position,
Our arms are resting somewhere comfortable and we're going to become a little bit taller next time we breathe in and when we breathe out we can settle into our seat a little bit,
Soften our shoulders,
Soften our forehead.
Let's do that again.
When we're ready to inhale we'll take a long smooth in breath,
Get a little bit taller,
Exhale softening into our seat a little bit and we'll see if we can balance our alertness and our strength was sitting up quite tall with relaxed.
We'd like a little bit of both.
We don't want to be sitting up so tall that we're rigid and uncomfortable but we'd like our spine to be erect,
Our neck and our head to be balanced on our spine.
Let's take a few deeper breaths as we become settled.
Taking our body,
Taking our attention into our body.
Just seeing how our body feels today.
Our mind,
How does our mind feel today?
Do we notice any judgments that go along with that and can we just notice them rather than believe them emotionally?
How do we feel?
And if it's things that we would rather not have maybe we can offer ourselves some love,
Some compassion.
Returning to our breath,
Let's find our natural breath and practice doing whatever the breath wants to do.
This can be difficult if we're used to being in control,
Seeking control.
Can we allow the breath just to flow exactly as it wants to?
Are we still quite tall or have we as our body softened into a rounded back or slumped a little bit?
We'd like to be still quite tall so the breath has lots of room.
And if we get ourselves all in a pickle with the breath becoming too anxious,
We can just take our attention elsewhere for a moment maybe into our feet or our hands.
Just take the pressure off.
When we're ready we can come back to our breath and seeing if we can watch it flow.
So as we prepare for a movement,
Let's take a full in breath and straighten our spine a little bit.
Exhale,
Soften our shoulders a little bit.
We're going to take our attention to our right arm.
Next time we breathe in we can raise our right arm in time with our in breath.
Exhale,
We're going to lower the arm.
And we're going to keep that going for a few moments.
And your aim is to work with your breath.
So let the breath lead the movement.
Let's do one more if that's comfortable for us.
If the movements become uncomfortable before then please work with your own comfort and stop when you're ready.
Breathing for a moment,
Straight spine,
Soft shoulders.
Feel your body,
Feel your arm.
And preparing to move our left arm.
So inhaling,
Becoming tall.
Exhale,
Softening.
We're going to inhale our left arm up.
You can stretch it up a tiny bit if that's comfortable.
Exhale down.
So working with your comfort and your breath.
Each breath unique.
Keep going for a few breaths.
And making the next one the last one if you're still moving.
Coming to rest when you're ready.
Nice tall spine,
Soft shoulders.
Feeling how that feels in your body.
Maybe you can sense a bit of an echo of the movement in your body.
Just for a moment.
If your mind wanders we just return.
No fuss.
So preparing to move both arms together.
Inhale,
Straighten our spine a little.
Exhale,
Soften a little.
And when you're ready to inhale again we're going to raise both arms.
And when you're ready to exhale we'll lower them.
So work with your comfort,
Your breath.
We'll do that for a few more moves.
Keep your neck long.
Feeling everything there is to feel.
Let's make the next one the last one if you're still moving.
Allowing your body to rest.
Feeling how it feels.
So let's use the Vayana Vayu breath and see how that movement feels.
We'll bring our hands to our heart centre.
When we're ready to inhale we're going to straighten our spine a little.
Exhaling,
Softening into our seat a little.
When we're ready to inhale we're going to open our arms and imagine the air and the energy,
The prana filling our lungs,
Filling our chest.
Exhaling,
We're going to focus that energy into our heart space and you can imagine it as light if that's helpful for you.
Inhale open,
Fill the chest.
Exhale,
Closing the arms,
Coming back to the start and imagining that energy concentrating in our chest.
Let's do that three more times if that's comfortable.
Remember to work with your comfort.
Each breath unique.
Allowing the next one to be the last one.
Coming to rest,
You can rest your arms,
Feeling how that feels.
So,
Preparing to move our neck.
Everything becoming a little taller,
Back of the neck is longer.
Exhale,
Softening,
Softening the shoulders.
When we're ready to inhale again we're going to rotate our face round to one side.
Exhale,
Centre.
Inhale,
Glide round to the other side.
Always driving,
Or are we just relaxing into it?
Let's go round to the right again when we're ready.
Round to the last side.
In time with our breath.
In the centre,
We're going to exhale our chin towards our chest.
Stretch the back of the neck a little bit,
Or gently.
Inhale,
We're going to raise our gaze a little bit,
Gently.
Exhale down,
Chin to chest.
Exhale,
Raising our gaze a little bit.
And neutral.
Pause for a moment with the breath.
So,
We're prepared to do our spine movements,
Which we're going to do real gently.
If we sense ourselves wanting to do it vigorously,
We can start gently and become more enthusiastic as we get used to the movement.
So inhaling,
Lengthening the spine.
And exhale,
Softening the shoulders.
When we inhale again,
We're going to allow the front of the body to expand a little bit,
Lifting the breastbone a little bit.
Exhale,
We're going to round the back a little bit,
Look towards our feet a little bit.
Inhale,
Open the front of the body.
A little bit of a back bend,
Just a little.
Exhale,
Round again.
Work with your breath.
Let's do that three more times with your breath.
Inhale,
Open the front of the body.
Exhale,
Open the back of the body.
Comfortably naturally.
Making the next one the last one if we're still moving.
Coming to a natural spine and noticing how that feels in our body.
Our inner voice may have commentary,
We can just notice that too.
Include it in what's going on.
So we come to our classical moving meditation practice.
We can inhale and lengthen our spine.
Exhale,
Soften our shoulders.
Inhale,
Raise our arms in front of us.
Exhale,
Arms to the sides.
Inhale,
Heart centre.
Exhale,
Palms up.
Inhale,
Arms up.
Exhale,
Arms to the sides.
Inhale,
Heart centre.
Exhale,
Palms up.
Let's go round twice more in time with your breath.
Arms up,
To the side.
Heart centre,
Palms up.
Arms up,
Side.
Heart centre,
Arms up.
We can rest our arms.
And notice how we feel physically.
How do we feel?
Is it different from when we started?
Mentally.
What's the weather like in our mind now?
Emotionally.
How are we?
So we'll take an energising in breath and allow that to bring some movement into our body.
So we can move our feet and our hands,
Our wrists,
Our fingers,
Our toes,
Our arms,
Our legs and have a little stretch if that's for you.
And come into your regular consciousness when you're ready.
Thank you for practising with me.
