Monday, May 15: Chapter15: Time to Move

TIME TO MOVE
1) Come to the front edge of your chair. Start up a little of the good old belly forward and belly back stuff. Belly forward and a rocking forward on your pelvis. Belly back and rocking back on your pelvis.

2) Bring your breathing into this, sometimes breathing out as your belly goes out and sometimes breathing in as your belly goes out.

3) Now allow your sternum to join the fun. As your belly comes forward, let your sternum rise a little and come forward a little, as if you had eyes in the middle of your breastbone and were going to look up a bit with those eyes. When you belly comes back, let your sternum come down and back a bit, getting softer and more yielding. Keep the breathing going one way or another, keep noticing the pelvis rocking.

4) Rest a while. The interlace your fingers and put them behind your head, and as your belly comes in, allow your elbows to come forward and down, toward your knees. No big deal about getting there. Always do less than 100%. Always go for ease and less effort and more mindfulness. Go for pleasure. When the belly goes out, let the elbows raise toward the ceiling or sky, up and even a little back, if that’s a do in eighty percent of your range. Keep it easy. Keep it interesting. Keep it pleasurable.

5) Rest. And then, begin to take the right elbow toward the left knee. Maybe even outside the knee a little. Let your nose turn to the left as you do this, and keep softening your sternum as you go down. When you come up, belly forward, sternum up and forward, let your right elbow come up and to the right, and let your eyes follow the right elbow as it comes up and behind you maybe. Your chest will rotate up and to the right also.

6) Rest. Do the same the other side. First interlace your hands in the other order, putting another finger on top. Then allow the left shoulder to come down toward the right knee. Again, stomach comes in, and breath goes out, ( or in, this is an adventure, an exploration, not a recipe), let the elbow come toward or past the right knee, and when you rise up, bring the left shoulder and elbow up and back and rotate your whole self to the left and up, as if one a lengthening diagonal.

7) If this gets confusing, try to go more slowly and realize that anything you do with attention and mindfulness will feel good and be useful to you.