Mindful Standing Yoga Audio Transcript

To begin our brief practice of some gentle mindful standing yoga together, let's arrange to stand in bare feet or socks with our feet parallel to each other about a hips width apart and the knees unlocked so that the legs can bend slightly, reminding ourselves that this practice is one more laboratory in which we can cultivate and deepen mindfulness, This time, by becoming aware of the various aspects of our moment to moment experience as we engage in a series of gentle stretches, honoring and investigating the limits of our body in any and every moment, and always on the side of being conservative and gentle. As best we can, letting go of any tendency to push beyond our limits or to get competitive with ourselves.

Working with the eyes either open or closed, especially if at times closed eyes help you to be more in touch with your interior experience, and only if it feels safe to do so. Now when you feel ready, on an in breath, let's slowly and mindfully raise our arms out to the sides until they're parallel to the floor. And then after pausing here and breathing 1 or 2 times, on the next in breath, continuing to raise the arms slowly and mindfully until the palms come together above our heads, And continuing to breathe, all the while being aware of whatever sensations, including perhaps increasing fatigue and discomfort from the ongoing exertion, may arise in the muscles of the arms and shoulders as they work to lift the arms and the hands, and then maintain them here stretching up over the head in this way.

Feeling the breath as it moves in and out freely at its own pace, as we continue stretching right through our fingertips towards the ceiling or the sky. The feet firmly grounded on the floor or the earth, and opening to the sensations of stretching in the muscles and joints of the body all the way from the bottoms of the feet through the lower legs and the knees, through the upper legs and the hips, through the lower back and the abdomen, and the whole of the torso and shoulders, the rib cage, everything right up into the arms and hands and fingers. Feeling the whole of the body breathing, lifting, stretching, reaching, and allowing the whole of the body to be held in awareness moment by moment and breath by breath as we stand here, noticing any changes in the sensations and feelings in the body with the breath as we continue to hold the stretch. Of course, this might include a sense of increasing tension or discomfort.

And if that is now the case, opening for a moment to these sensations as we continue standing here stretching, or as you bring the arms back down slowly and rest, which you're encouraged to do whenever your body tells you it's time without waiting for any explicit instruction from me.

And now when you're ready, on an out breath, if you haven't already done so, slowly, very slowly, allowing the arms to come back down, Pushing out with the palms and allowing the wrist to be bent so that the fingers are pointing upward and the palms outward as the arms slowly, slowly, slowly come down and wind up resting alongside the body dangling from the shoulders. And with the eyes gently closed, if that feels comfortable to you, bringing your attention to the breath moving in the body and to the various sensations and feelings throughout the body as we stand here in the aftermath of what we just asked of the body, knowing how it is right now, perhaps noticing any sense of release within the muscles or relief within the mind as the body rests now in a neutral standing position.

And now when you're ready, let's mindfully stretch just the left arm and hand up as far as we can, with the right hand stretching down towards the floor, as if we were picking fruit that is just out of reach from a branch of a tree. Feeling the breath moving freely and deeply in and out, and whatever sensations are present throughout the body as you experiment now, if you care to, with lifting the right heel to give you a little bit more elevation, a little bit more of a stretch.

Feeling it through the whole left side of your body, right up through the armpit and the entirety of the arm and out the fingers. And when you're ready, slowly and mindfully coming down, lowering the arm. And then without my guidance, after the left arm comes all the way down, doing the same thing on the opposite side with full awareness moment by moment, raising the right arm up and picking grapes that are just out of reach, lifting the left heel when you're ready.

Now after you've come down and rested for a moment or 2, On an in breath, raising both arms up over the head, keeping them parallel to each other. And then slowly, slowly, slowly, allowing the body to bend to the left, and the hips go over to the right, forming a big crescent that extends in a sideways curve from the feet right through the torso in the right hip, and through the arms and the hands and fingers.

Again, feeling whatever is here to be felt as you rest here, breathing in and out. And on an in breath, when you're ready, coming all the way back up to standing with the arms stretching once again straight up over the head. And then, on and out breath, slowly allowing the whole body to bend over to the right, hips going to the left, forming the shape of the opposite crescent, as best you can, breathing into and out from the stretch, allowing your arms to be parallel.

And then slowly coming back up on an in breath, stretching up one more time, lifting, breathing, stretching, reaching. And then beginning with an out breath, letting the arms slowly, slowly, slowly move out to the sides and down alongside the body, feeling any and all sensations all the way down.

Now let's mindfully roll our shoulders in big circles while letting the arms dangle passively. 1st, raising the shoulders up towards the ears as far as they will go, and then backwards as if you were attempting to draw the shoulder blades together, then letting them drop down completely, and then squeezing the shoulders together in front of the body as far as they will go, as if you were trying to touch your shoulders together. Continuing to roll through these various positions as smoothly and as mindfully as you can, with the arms dangling all the while, first in one direction for a few revolutions, and then in the opposite direction, a kind of forward and backward rowing motion, allowing your awareness to fill the body and open to whatever you are experiencing moment by moment.

And finally, coming to rest once again, standing here, breathing. Now let's gently play with slowly and mindfully rolling the head around to whatever degree you feel comfortable with it, and very, very gently, first, by bringing the left ear over the left shoulder as far as it will go, which is not very far, then rolling the chin onto the chest or in that direction, then bringing the right ear over the right shoulder as far as it will go.

And then the head back ever so gently without straining. And just gently rolling the head in this way, first in one direction, and then in the other direction, maintaining a seamless continuity of awareness the whole time, and then finally allowing the head to just come back to neutral in the standing posture.

Soon, you will hear the sound of a bell to signal the end of this very brief period of practicing mindful yoga together. If you are extending your practice today to include the sitting practices, then just continuing right through the bell with a seamless continuity of moment to moment awareness. Otherwise, please use the sound of the bell to mindfully bring this period of formal practice to a close.

In that case, if you wish, simply standing here for a bit, shutting off your player, and just resting here standing in full awareness, allowing awareness to fill and surround the body, and feeling how it is as well in your mind and in your heart in this moment.