MBSR | Standing Yoga

This is a guided standing yoga practice for the mindfulness-based stress reduction program with spirit rising. This meditation practice consists of a sequence of movements and poses followed by brief periods of stileness. Where with regular practice, this meditation can provide an opportunity to be in wise relationship with yourself. To sing your experience from moment to moment across the various domains of bodily sensations, emotions and feeling tones and thoughts and activities of the mind. So doing your best to be with all things that arise just as they are in a non-judgmental way in a caring way, where there's no need for forcing anything or for pushing or straining. Remaining attentive and responsive to yourself throughout the practice signals a strong message of kindness, compassion and support to oneself and provides deep nourishment to your entire being. The sequence of these movements doesn't require a lot of space, but taking a moment to ensure you can outstretch the arms fully to either side and that your space supports your ability to both sit and lie down towards the end of this practice. So following along with this guidance as best you can and being attentive to any straining, making sure to experience these movements from within your body, listening to the wisdom of the body, to your own knowings of the body's needs and capacities in each and every moment. And if any movement doesn't feel right to you, you have full permission to modify the pose, sensing into any limits of the body, and to honor them as much as possible. So this invitation to fully explore and come to know any limits, identifying the boundary of what's right for you, and to sensitively explore what's happening at this edge. What might be changing or shifting subtle textures, maybe even moment by moment, and making sure to offer great respect to any bodily limits. So as we begin to explore these movements, you're invited to pay particular attention to what becomes elicited throughout the practice, especially noticing any thoughts of judgment, of doing or not doing something well or right or of comparing. When we become aware of this kind of thinking, it creates a great opportunity to offer kindness to ourselves and to release ourselves from any expectations. So just being here, moving as you can, and being with all experiences that arise moment by moment, and in this way we're better able to see how things are shifting and changing constantly, even in very small ways. Any limits of the body in this practice might be felt differently from the next, and reactions and habits of mind occurring in any given moment might change, soften or transform over time. Nothing being as fixed or rigid as we might think, and our practice can bring this reality into clear focus. Over time, this knowledge of the body's capacities and needs and of the ways the mind and heart respond to the body can lead to wisdom and deep self-knowing. So beginning with mountain pose, this still upright standing posture that can sometimes elicit a sense of dignity and stability. Standing with the feet stacked underneath the knees, a stance that can be shoulder with the part or slightly wider, so whatever feels right to you here. The toes pointing out straight ahead if that's comfortable, and sensing into the soles of the feet for a moment, noticing contacts with the floor or perhaps a yoga mat underneath, and maybe even lifting and spreading the toes out, fanning them wide, so that you're widening the whole base of the foot, and rooting the toes back down, possibly inviting a deeper sense of connection with the earth underneath, and exploring how the weight of the body is held by the feet, maybe leaning ever so slightly forward onto the toes, and moving the weights of the body backwards towards the heels, perhaps aware of muscles contracting, stabilizing, becoming engaged, the body with this knowledge of what to do of how to stand. And now shifting your center of gravity from side to side, very subtly, noticing how the body automatically knows how to move in response, retaining its upright posture, and letting the body come to center, noticing the relative symmetry of the body at rest, standing, perhaps an awareness of gravity here, gently hugging the body towards the earth, and maybe noticing how even in the stillness of mountain pose, there is a subtle quality of movement, the dynamics of balance, the movements of breath in the body, and drawing awareness up the legs to the knees, feeling how they are positioned over the ankles, and checking to see if the knees are locked, allowing for a very gentle bend, bringing some buoyancy and flexion to the knees, and moving awareness up into the thighs, and the pelvic region, noticing how the pelvis and hips are stacked above the knees, supported and aligned, and checking if the pelvis is tipped upward, or tipped down, and bringing as much balance here as possible, offering careful observation of this region of the body, to best protect the lower spine. So if the pelvis were a bowl full of water, a neutral position is one where water does not spill over the front or over the back, and even in this neutral position, the pelvis is not static or rigid, so feeling the aliveness in this area of the body, the micro movements that occur with the breath, with stabilizing muscles deep within, balancing, and bringing attention to the whole torso, lengthening from the hips all the way to the collarbone and the shoulders, sensing into the spine and the back, the shoulder blades gently pulling down the back, widening and softening the space between them, the chest open, arms hanging at ease by your sides, hands and fingers, soft and relaxed, yet alive, space opening throughout the whole torso, front, back, sides, allowing each breath to create a bit more space between the ribs, between the vertebrae of the spine, lengthening upwards, and the head can remain neutral or the chin slightly tipped toward the earth, the mouth, the jaw, the eyes, soft, relaxed, mountain pose, majestic, dignified, fully rooted and upright, alert to all things, the breath stirring in the body, moving like the wind across the mountain, fresh, alive, and ever present. And from this position of mountain pose, now turning the palms slightly outward. And as you inhale, bringing the arms out to eye their side and continuing up overhead, like the arc of a snow angel. Finding the apex and height to the arms that's comfortable for you in this moment. And reaching through the fingers, through the arms, shoulders, torso, stretching towards the sky with the whole body. Feeling the breath moving here. And when you're ready, following an out breath, and with the palms facing down, gently floating the arms back down to either side. Feeling the weight of the arms drifting down through the air. And as they reach your sides, releasing all effort. And once again now, with the palms facing up, inhaling and raising the arms out to the sides and continuing up. Finding the peak that makes sense to your body. Breathing. Noticing any tendencies to hold the breath or to accumulate tension in the body. And opening the body through the stretch. Turning the palms to the earth. And exhaling the arms back down to the sides. At your own pace. So following the rhythm of your own breath, repeating this movement a few times. Palms to the sky, inhaling the arms up. Staying for a time at whatever height. Maybe stretching the whole body long. And exhaling to your own pace whenever you're ready. Palms to the ground. Releasing the arms back down. So staying with this for a few motions. Making this movement your own. Finding your pace. And when you're ready, returning to mountain. Perhaps staying with a full cycle of breath. And noticing what's here. And with the next in breath, turning just the right palm to face the sky. And raising the right arm up. Stretching out overhead. Following the same arc as before. And inviting a very gentle stretch. Reaching upward. The way you might try to pluck a piece of fruit from a tree just out of reach. Head and eyes can follow the right hand if that's comfortable. Or remain neutral. Looking straight ahead. So doing whatever supports the body here. And allows you to remain fully engaged. Side body stretch. And now increasing the stretch by lifting the opposite heel off the ground. No need to push yourself here. Just exploring the edge of what feels good to your body. Side body stretch. Returning the left heel to the ground. And lowering the right arm back to your side. Noticing the effects of this one-sided stretch. Being open to whatever sensations are here to be felt within the body. Following the next inhalation. Left palm facing the sky. Lifting the left arm out to the side. And up overhead. Extending long through the left side. Plucking the fruit just out of reach. And inviting additional stretch by lifting the opposite heel off the ground. Stretching long through both sides of the body. Neck and shoulders staying relaxed. Jarluce. And returning the heel to the ground. Maybe following an exhalation. Drifting the left arm back down to your side. Returning to mountain. And now crescent moon. Inhaling both arms up again from the shoulder sockets up above the head. So that the palms are facing each other. Shoulder blades staying down. Relaxed. And now letting the left hip extend out to the side. So that the right side of the body begins to extend to the right. Like a crescent moon. Breathing. Feeling the side body stretch. Being fully present to whatever you're experiencing. And minding limits. Maybe there's quivering here. Stretching. And the head is relaxed just along for the right. Breathing right here. Releasing yourself back up in some mountain pose. And to the other side. Breathing the arms back up overhead. Palms facing each other. Finding a comfortable height to the arms. And now letting the right hip extend out so that the left side of the body extends and leans towards the left. Crescent moon. Reaching long through the arms through the torso, stretching, breathing, exploring. Finding that sweet spot. And staying right there. No need to go further. And breathing yourself back to mountain. Checking to make sure you feel stable and grounded in the lower body as you return some mountain pose. Hips stacked above the knees and ankles. And sensing into the upliftedness through the torso. Spine and up through the crown of the head. Noticing if you're still connected to the breath. Maybe even closing the eyes a moment to really notice and receive what's here. The way a mountain is receptive to all manner of phenomena occurring on its slopes. Maybe even deep within. Noticing for a moment any thoughts or emotions that are present. And taking in whatever's here for you in the vastness of sky like mind. Thoughts and memories, emotions or feeling tones. Pleasants unpleasant. Observing any mental activities in this moment. The way a mountain receptively might observe the passing clouds. And coming to shoulder rolls. Breathing the shoulders up to the ears. Allowing the shoulders to roll backwards in their sockets. Dropping down. And rolling them forward and back up again. This backward circular motion. Within each shoulder socket. Maybe exploring the size of the circumference. Noticing how the body sensations might change. With big circles. Small circles. Slow or fast circles. Maybe checking in with the arms and hands. There's no need for movement here. So letting them hang softly at eye either side. And when you're ready, reversing directions. Letting the shoulders move forward. The shoulder blades in the back moving apart. Bringing the shoulders down and back up. Moving the shoulders with an awareness of the breath in the body. Exploring this motion. And now letting the shoulders come to stillness. rolls. Breathe in, spine, elongates. Breathe out, chin gently floating down towards the chest. Breathing normally here, feeling any sensations in the body. And breathing the head back up and through center, chin tilting upwards, ever so slightly towards the ceiling. One of the head dropping down and back, maybe the eyes following suit looking towards the ceiling, minding limits here. And breathing out, chin moves back down towards the chest. Breath flowing freely. And you can explore with clasping the hands behind the neck so that breathing in as the chin goes up, so do the elbows on either side. Xhailing as the chin lowers to the chest, elbows lowering. And when you're ready, returning some mountain, upright and stable base, awake, aware. And side neck stretches. Breath in, spine, elongates. Breath out, releasing the right ear towards the right shoulder. Shoulders stay down, relaxed. And breathing here, sensing into any stretch that can be felt. And inhaling, returning the neck and head to center. Xhailing letting the left ear fall towards the left shoulder. Letting gravity simply stretch the neck to the left side, staying open to sensation, finding your limit. Inhaling the head back to center. And in your own timing, bringing each ear to each shoulder a few more times. Xhailing, release the head down to the shoulder. Inhaling, rising back up to neutral. Following your own wisdom and pacing. Staying with sensations as best you can. And when you're ready, head returns back to center. Neutral position. And breathing in here, spine, long. Xhailing, looking over the right shoulder. So torso staying straight ahead. Hip staying straight ahead. Looking, breathing. Letting the eyes move all the way to the right in your field of vision. And breathing in here. And as you breathe out, moving your head to the other side, looking over your left shoulder. Eyes all the way to the left. And on your own, breathing the head side to side. Coordinating movement with breath to look over each shoulder. When you're ready, coming back to center, back to stillness. Closing the eyes if that's comfortable. And feeling, sensing into the body. Noticing what's here. And transitioning now to our first balance pose. So starting in mountain pose. Sensing into the feet. And lengthening the spine. Maybe focusing the eyes out in front for extra balance. Finding a fixed point on the floor out in front without lowering the head. Or lifting the head. Head stays neutral. Or maybe the eyes are closed. You decide what feels right what you need for this pose in this moment. Head stays balanced above shoulders and neck. And shifting the weight onto the right leg and foot. Arms extending out to each side. Parallel to the floor. And now lifting the left leg out to the left side. Balancing on the right foot. Finding your center. Finding your balance. Wobbling is allowed. Stopping, pausing and starting again. All allowed. And if you need to regatter balance, can explore tapping the left toes back to the ground anytime you need. And notice how the right leg and foot are continuously adjusting to help you keep balance. Sensing into the breath. Face and jaw soft. Staying right here. Focus the tension on balance. And lowering the left leg. Lowering the arms back to your sides back to center. Weight returning to center evenly distributed to both legs. And pausing to notice sensations in both sides of the body. And now shifting your center of gravity to your left leg and left foot. Arms raising out to either side parallel to the floor. And lifting the right leg. So you're balancing just on the left foot, left leg. And staying here breathing. Finding your limit. Staying fully present the best you can. Connected with balance. And lowering the right leg when you're ready. Returning the arms to your sides. Staying with the movement. And allowing weights to return to center. And in your own timing, raising and lowering on each side. Taking time to re-center and return to center between each side. Staying fully present with this movement. Weight shifting. Arms extending out for balance. Lifting opposite leg. Can coordinate this movement between the sides with breath. And just making this balance movement your own. And when you're ready, finding your weights amounts and pose once again. Placing the hands on the hips. Breath in. Spine. Lengthens. Breath out. Twisting at the waist towards the right. So the pelvis stays as it is forward facing. Twisting the torso to the right. Aware of the muscles in the back. Right shoulder pointing behind and to the right. Head and eyes can follow if that's comfortable. Collar bones staying wide. And breath still flowing freely. Honoring limits. And exhaling yourself back to center. Torso facing forward. Hands still on hips. Inhale, spine, lengthening. Exhale, the torso twists to the left. Hips and pelvis still facing forward. Eyes can follow the upper body twisting to the left. And aware of breathing here. Releasing the body back to center. Hands still on hips. This time, breath in. Twisting from the ankles towards the right. So the feet are the only part of the body facing straight ahead. Full body twist. And offering great care to mind any needs here. Howing yourself to sense into body sensations. To move from within the body. Exhaling, uncoiling the body back to center. Breath in. Twisting all the weights of the left this time. Full body twist. noticing sensations on the outside of the body. Maybe deep within the body, breathing fully and releasing yourself back to mountain. And maybe allowing here for any motions that your body might like at this time, perhaps circling the ankles left and right, or shaking the arms out, shaking the head. And when you're ready, returning back to stillness, back to mountain pose. Forward bend, with a slight bend in the knees, breathing the arms up above the head, and exhaling, hinging at the hips, drawing the tailbone back to the wall behind you, and breathing out as you lower the upper body with full awareness, taking great care with this motion. You can also place hands on thighs as a support, walking them down either leg, as you drop the torso lower and lower, hinged at the waist, and dangling the upper body here. Arms dangling to the ground, head dangling, allowing for any release that feels safe and supportive to the body. Arms loose, shoulders loose, releasing, just like a ragdoll. And leaving the left arm as it is, stretching the right arm straight out in front of you, so that it's parallel or near parallel to the floor. And breathing, noticing sensations and each shoulder and each arm. And breathing the right arm back down, returning to dangling. Breathing up the left arm this time, finding your limit here, noticing sensations, aware of breath, and letting the arm return, releasing towards the floor. Knees still slightly bent, and with awareness of the abdominal muscles becoming engaged, slowly roll yourself back up, one vertebrae at a time, bottom to top. You can use hands on the legs, walking yourself back up for support. And engaging this motion slowly with great care, head and shoulders coming up last, finding your way back to mountain, and noticing what's here. Breathing the effects of this forward bend. Being with things exactly as they are. And chair pose. Standing in mountain pose as you are, from the shoulder sockets, reaching both arms in front of you, palms facing each other, and sitting back on the hips, as though they were at share right behind you. The torso lean slightly forward over the thighs, as though you were sitting back, chair behind. So arms outstretched in a forward direction, and finding your limit. Noticing what's happening in the thighs, the back body, the arms. Sitting limits. Sitting in this imaginary chair at just the right angle for you. Back body is strong, legs and thighs engaged. And inhaling, returning back up whenever you're ready. Back to standing. Alive, awake, alert. Maybe shaking out the arms or the legs. Taking a few deep breaths. And returning to mountain. Tree pose. Again choosing a focal point to help with balance. And shifting your weight slightly to the right leg and foot. Holding the sole of the left foot up along the inside of the right leg. So the sole could come to rest low on the right leg at the ankle or the calf. Or you could explore bringing the left sole higher, tucked into the inside of the right thigh. But offering great care not to press any force directly into the delicate knee area. To knee facing out toward the side. Balancing on the right foot right leg. And again wobbling is just fine. Using any supports to assist with balance like a chair or a wall. Using the hands and arms for balance out to the side, all is fine. And if you find balance, maybe pressing the hands together at the heart. Maybe closing the eyes. Or maybe keeping a focal point. Whatever feels right in your body. If you'd like you can even explore with raising the pressed hands above the head up towards the sky like a salutation. So making this posture your own. Fully present to all that's here. And releasing back down. Soul of the left foot returning to floor. Arms returning to the sides. And shifting weight to the left foot and leg. Breathing balance. Letting the eyes anchor on a fixed object if that's helpful. Right foot lifts. Soul of the right foot finding a place along the inside of the left leg. At the ankle or calf or higher up inside of the left thigh. Right knee facing out to the side. And finding your balance. Breathing breath. Arms can be used for balancing here out to either side. Or you can bring the palms together. Keeping them at the heart. Or explore raising them above the head. And find the limit and stay right there. Listening to the body. And releasing the hands. Release the leg. Both feet returning to the floor. Hands at your sides. Noticing sensations. And finding your way to a sitting position. Offering full attention as you transition from standing to sitting. Aware of the muscles. Aware of the breath. Aware of other sensations as you move and reposition. So in sitting. Leg straight out in front. Fully present. Just as centered as you were. Standing in mountain pose. Hands as grounded and as uplifted. And breathing. Back body is strong. And bringing the soles of both feet together. Without compromising the lower back in any way. So still balancing on your sitting bones. With the soles of the feet together. These gently turning out, split to either side, left and right. And interlacing the fingers around the toes. If that's available to you. Or clasping the hands as close to the toes as is comfortable for your body. On the ankles or calves. Maybe closing the eyes here. Bringing attention to the muscles of the upper legs. And being aware of letting these areas gently soften. Opening through the hip joints. Letting gravity to the work here. Minding limits. And moving into a forward bend. Extending both legs out in front of you. Palms can be resting on the ground for support. And sitting upright. Keeping the right leg extended. Bending the left leg. So the sole of the left foot is gently placed along the inside of the right leg. And you decide the rest. place for the sole of the left foot. Once you're settled in, inhaling the arms up overhead, palms facing each other. Exhaling, hinging at the hips, reaching the arms out, extending the torso over the right leg, collarbone staying wide. Finding that limit where the body wants to release down and releasing the torso towards the leg. The hands can rust anywhere they want to on the legs for support. Maybe the feet, the ankles or calves, but just releasing down. And inhaling the arms back up, reaching the torso and arms long, hovering above the outstretched leg. Exhaling again, lowering back down, surrendering, letting the hands rest on the leg for support. And breathing the body back up, torso back up, upright, arms still reaching out. And now extending the left leg out straight and bending the right, finding a place for the sole of the right foot to rest alongside the outstretched left leg. Hinging at the hips once again, reaching long over the left leg, finding that point at which the body lowers naturally and letting it lower. Breathing a big breath in, the arms reaching up and out again, torso lifting with the arms. Exhaling, lowering back down, surrendering to the earth below. Hands finding support along the leg, listening to what's needed, what's comfortable. And breathing yourself back up to a sitting posture, letting the arms return to either side. And now mindfully making your way to a lying down position. So lying on your back, legs out straight, letting the body release to the earth. The legs relaxed, feet gently turned out to either side, maybe allowing any movement to the body once or needs before settling into stillness. Creating space just to be with the body for a few moments, sensing into what it needs and offering this gesture of support to yourself. And when you're ready, returning the body to stillness, lying on the back, your legs straight against the floor. Arms can be at your sides, maybe palms up if that's right for you in this moment. Spine and back body releasing into the ground. Eyes can be closed if that's comfortable. Then feeling the points of contact with the floor. Aware of the breath here. Opening to the breath, opening to the body. And receiving all that is here. And very briefly letting the spotlight of your attention scan across the entire lying body. Receiving any sensations that might still resonate throughout the body from these movements. So bringing awareness to the feet and the legs. The pelvis and aware of the whole torso. It's back and sides, it's front. Attention moving to the shoulders and down the length of each arm to the hands. Aware of the neck and throat. The head, the face. Aware of how it is inside the body. How it is with breath. So lying here from head to toe to fingertips, whole body awareness. Lying in stillness and wholeness and completeness. And as we near the close of this formal practice, offering yourself deep appreciation for the commitment and time you gifted yourself. For the nourishment you gave to the body, heart and mind through movement, through awareness, through gentle breath, through slowing down to explore and honor limits, edges and all the in-betweens. Improving strength and flexibility. Flexible body, flexible mind. So lying in this position with full awareness. Allowing all things to be exactly as they are. Soon the bell will sound, bringing this practice to a close. In receiving the sound, may it offer remembrance of the innate capacity ever present to tune into the body, listening to its needs, its limits, and a reminder that the body, the breath, are always available as anchors for the awareness. Particularly when the turbulence of mind or conditions of environment requires us to cultivate greater steadiness, greater balance, greater kindness, to self, to others and to the world around us. Bye.