Mindful Yoga Audio Transcript

In this practice, we are going to do some mindful stretches. So finding a time and a place where you can be by yourself, where you won't be interrupted, and where you can lie down on the floor or on a mat or a thick rug. It's important in doing this practice not to think of it as a sort of competition with yourself or with anybody else, but perhaps reminding yourself of the intention to honor your body and its limits. If you have any physical problems with your body, then asking your physician or a physical therapist before attempting some of these stretches. Also, if you find that any of these postures are difficult, then feel free to skip them and return to a neutral lying down posture until the next posture begins.

So now, lying on your back, letting your feet fall away from each other, and with your arms lying by the side of your body, with the palms facing up if that feels comfortable to you, and feeling the points of contact where your body meets the floor or mat underneath you, the heels, The calves. The buttocks. The shoulders. And the back of the head. And now seeing whether you can focus in on the sensations of breathing down in the lower abdomen, down in the belly, just as you lie here.

The rising of the abdomen on the in breath and the falling away on the out breath. And then when you are ready, on an in breath, lifting the arms so the hands come up above your head and end up stretched above your head and stretching out as far as the fingers will go and the heels stretching out in the other direction. So your entire body is stretched here, and you are aware of the sensations of this stretch. And now continuing to breathe and noticing the sensations all the way down the arms and the armpits, and the trunk and the legs as your fingers are stretched out above your head and the heels are stretched out in the other direction. And as you breathe, noticing if there are any changes in the sensations.

And then on the next out breath, letting go of the stretch and allowing the arms to come back over and very slowly coming down to rest by the side of your body with the palms turned up, if that feels comfortable, noticing the consequences of having done that stretch. Just tuning in to the sensations in your body. In touch with sensations, whatever they are. And now when you're ready, sliding the feet up towards the buttocks so that you end up with the knees pointing towards the ceiling with the feet placed about a hips width apart. We are going to do some pelvic tilts.

So let's start by noticing how in this position your lower back is in contact with the mat, and we are going to tilt the pelvis so that the tailbone comes down onto the mat. Notice that the effect of doing this is that the small of the back comes off the mat and makes an arched shape. If you want to feel this, you can slide one hand under the small of the back in the arch that's formed, and holding that position and breathing with it for a few moments, and taking the hand away, and noticing what happens if you tilt the pelvis in the other direction so the small of the back comes down onto the mat. So now the pelvis is still on the mat, but the tailbone is coming off the mat very slightly, and holding that for a few moments. And then tilting back so that the tailbone comes down and the arch is opened up in the small of the back again.

And now just gently rocking from one position to the other in your own time, perhaps in time with your breathing. And then when you're ready, coming to rest and drawing the knees right up towards the chest and moving or circling your arms around to take hold of either the thighs underneath the knees or the shin bones, and hugging your knees to your chest. In this stretch, you might rock gently from side to side to massage the muscles on either side of your spine. If you would like to add this to your stretch, you can experiment with bringing your head and shoulders off the mat so that you are rocking gently here with the head towards the knees. And then when you're ready, coming to rest, moving the head and shoulders back down to the mat, letting go of the thighs, and letting the legs stretch out again onto the floor, onto the mat, and tuning into the sensations in the body.

The aftereffect of doing these stretches. And now lifting up the left knee and reaching out with your arms and holding onto the left thigh or shin bone and squeezing it towards the chest. However far as it comes, that's as far as it needs to for you in this moment. And then perhaps lifting up the head and shoulders again towards the knee and seeing where you wind up, continuing to breathe and noticing the effects of these stretches on your breathing. And then when you're ready, lowering the head and shoulders back onto the mat and letting the left leg stretch out back onto the mat and noticing the after effects of the stretch and perhaps the difference between one side of the body and the other, one leg and the other.

And now when you're ready, lifting the right knee. And, again, reaching out with your hands and arms, moving your arms round the thigh or shin bone of the right leg, and squeezing it up towards the chest. Gently squeezing it, not forcing it in any way. Moving up to the edge of this stretch and not trying to move beyond it or to compete with yourself. Letting go of all that sense of wanting things to be a certain way.

If you want to, bringing up your head and shoulders towards the knee. And then when you're ready, moving the head and shoulders back down onto the mat and letting the legs stretch out again. And back in the starting position, lying on your back with your hands at your sides and the legs stretched out with the feet falling away from each other, breathing. What sensations are here in this moment? And as best you can, allowing yourself to be just as you are, allowing your body to be just as it is.

Now when you're ready, see about turning over and coming up onto all fours. So in this position, the hands and the palms are directly underneath your shoulders and your knees, about a hips width apart, are directly underneath your hips. With your back straight, the position is something like that of a table with 4 legs. And remaining here for a few moments and breathing, We are going to do some cat and cow stretches. So on an out breath, let the back come up as if you are a cat arching its back, like a Halloween cat, and letting your head come down between your arms, really giving your back a good stretch on the out breath.

And then on the in breath, letting the head come up and the back comes down so the abdomen and the belly are hanging closer to the ground, like a cow. And then on an out breath, again moving up into another cat stretch, arching the back, and the head comes down between the arms. And then on an in breath, letting the back come down into the cow stretch and moving slowly into the reverse position, and the head and shoulders will come up, and you may be able to look out ahead of you. And now coming back down into the table posture, and from this posture, stretching out the left leg behind you, and as you do so, seeing whether you can also stretch out the right arm in front of you. So the left leg stretches behind, and the right arm stretches in front of you.

And you can look out over the fingers of the right hand. And this is a bit of a balancing and strengthening posture. And just remaining here, breathing. And then when you're ready, bringing down the leg and bringing down the hand. And this time, stretching out the right leg behind you and stretching out the left arm in front of you and looking out over the fingers of the left hand, Holding here for a few moments.

And then bringing your leg and arm down before back to lying down on your mat. In touch with your body, allowing it to be just as it is in this moment. Now when you're ready, drawing up the knees again towards the ceiling, but this time sliding the feet a little bit further towards the buttocks than we did before and a little bit further apart, moving the hands above the head and letting them rest there. Then pushing off with your feet so that your buttocks and your lower back come off the ground, off the floor to make a half bridge pose. So your body is simply resting on the bottom of your feet and on your shoulders, And in this position, there is lots of space to breathe.

So breathing down into the abdomen. Noticing the sensations particularly in your thighs. And once again, if this feels too difficult, then deciding to lower your body when it feels right to do so. Honoring the wisdom of your body. And now when you feel ready, letting your body come back down onto the mat, stretching out the legs and bringing the arms down to rest by the side of your body.

And in this posture, just noticing the after effects of that stretch, tuning into those sensations. And now when you're ready, drawing up the knees once again so that they are pointed towards the ceiling, but this time keeping the legs and the feet together so they are touching each other. Now bringing the hands up behind the head and lacing the fingers together so that your head is resting on your fingers. We are going to do a twist stretch. So tightening up the abdominal muscles and letting the knees fall gently over to the left hand side, so that the left knee is coming down very slowly towards the floor and the mat, and the right knee may come with it all the way, or may just hang there.

And then breathing with that. And as you breathe, moving your head in the other direction so that your eyes are looking out over your right elbow. Now when you're ready, bringing the knees back up into the central position and then tightening up the abdominal muscles as you let the knees gently fall towards the right hand side of the body. And as you do so turning your head to the left so that your eyes are looking out over your left elbow. And now when you are ready, drawing the knees back up so that the feet are flat on the ground, and turning your head back to the midline so that you are staring at the ceiling, unlacing the fingers, and bringing the arms back down to your sides.

As best you can, remaining open to whatever sensations are here in this moment. Allowing them to be just as they are, being curious about what sensations are here. Now when you're ready, lifting the left leg so that it moves up into the air and winds up pointing towards the ceiling, or wherever it winds up is fine. That's where it's supposed to be right now. And when it gets into the air, feeling the effects of that and noticing if any other parts of the body are involved.

Noticing if the hands or the arms have tensed up or if the face is tensed up in any way. And if they are, just letting them relax if you can, because they are not involved in this movement. The left leg is able to work in this way by itself, and then moving the left foot round and round, as if you had a paintbrush on your toe and were drawing circles on the ceiling, first in one direction and then in the other direction. If you want to intensify the stretch slightly, you can reach out with your arms, placing them behind your thighs, and gently pulling the leg further upright, but not forcing anything to happen. And if you'd like to, moving the head and shoulders off the mat towards the knee.

But if you don't, that's also fine. Just remaining here with the head and shoulders on the mat. And then when you're ready, moving the head and shoulders back down onto the mat and letting the leg stretch out again. It might take several breaths for the leg to come down, as if it was a crane, lowering a very heavy but delicate weight. Slowly, slowly.

And notice when it does reach the floor, the wave of relief through the body, and through those muscles that have been doing the work to hold up this heavy weight. And letting the right leg stretch out again, and lying here noticing the after effects of that stretch. And now when you're ready, sliding the feet up towards the buttocks so that you end up with the knees pointing towards the ceiling with the feet placed about a hips width apart. Now when you're ready, lifting the right leg up into the air as far as it will come, but not pushing beyond any limits, allowing your body to be just as it is, and then moving the foot first in one direction, and now in the other direction. And if you want to intensify this stretch then reaching up and holding the thigh and easing the leg further up into the vertical position.

And if you want to, letting your head and shoulders come off the ground and face your knee, breathing and tuning into the sensations. And then when you're ready, moving the head and shoulders back down onto the mat. And then when you're ready, with the small of the back against the mat, and tightening your abdominal muscles slightly, begin very slowly lowering the right leg, taking several breaths as it slowly comes down towards the mat, towards the floor. And when it reaches the floor, perhaps noticing the wave of relief as the floor takes over the work of holding up your leg and letting the leg stretch out again, And just lying here, breathing. And now when you're ready, turning over onto the left side of your body and propping up your head on your left hand.

Your right hand can be placed in front of your body to act as an extra support as you lie here on your left hand side. Now lifting the right leg up as far as it wants to go right now and noticing how this is working the muscles on the side of your right thigh, tuning into any sensations that are coming from that region of the body, and breathing. And if there are intense sensations there, seeing what happens as you breathe in to help you explore those sensations. Asking yourself whether you are able to maintain this posture even if those sensations are quite intense and exploring the edge of the sensations that come from holding up this heavy weight. Coming down if you want to, and perhaps then coming back up.

And then when you're ready just very gradually lowering the leg back down onto the left leg. And now seeing about turning over onto your right side. Your head is propped up on your right hand, and your left hand is now in front of the body giving you some extra support and stability. And then when you're ready, lifting the left leg up and holding it there and noticing the sensations now in the left thigh, breathing into them, allowing them to be just as they are. And then when you're ready, bringing the left leg very slowly back down towards the right leg.

Moving now from being on your side to lying on your stomach. And in this position lying on one side of your face or the other, either the left or the right, and letting your body sink into the mat as you breathe out. And now when you're ready, lifting your head so that it's resting on your chin and keeping the pelvis and both hips on the mat, and very slowly lifting the right leg very slightly off the mat, So holding up the right leg and noticing the sensations there, noticing what muscles are working to lift this heavy weight slightly off the mat. And then when you're ready, bringing your right leg down and letting your face come down to rest on one side or the other and letting the stretch go, letting your body relax, and sinking into the mat. And then when you're ready, moving the head so it's resting on your chin again and lifting the left leg to bring it slightly off the ground.

The hips are on the mat, and all that is required is that the left leg is lifted just a few centimeters, a few inches, off the mat. And when you're ready, bringing the leg down and once again, letting your head rest on the mat on one side or the other. And now when you're ready, bringing the chin once again to rest on the mat and bringing your feet together so that the toes and heels are touching. And on the next in breath, gently lifting the upper body so that your head, shoulders, and chest begin to come off the mat in what's called the lower cobra position. The arms are not helping at all in this stretch.

They are just lying by the side of your body, and your back is doing the work of drawing up your shoulders and head off the mat. And then on an out breath, letting it go, letting your head come down, and resting back on one side of the face or the other. And now when you're ready, coming back up onto all fours so that your hands are underneath your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips, and then on an out breath, doing a cat stretch again, really giving your back a good stretch to lengthen and loosen the muscles along the spine. Then on an in breath, coming down and then on an out breath, stretching up again and noticing how this feels in your back. And then in the final few moments of this practice, breathing in, relaxing, and coming back to lying flat on your back on the mat.

Lying with your hands by your sides, feet stretched out, lying here and breathing, aware of the sensations in the whole of your body, a sense of coming home to your body. Allowing your body to be as it is, simply lying here, breathing. And bringing the sense of acceptance and wholeness with you as you end this practice and resume the activities of your day, as your life continues to unfold from moment to moment.