Thursday, June 8: Opening and Closing the Day with movement medley

LIFE IS MOVEMENT, 6; OPENING AND CLOSING THE DAY

ROTATION

1) Lie on your back. Feel how it feels to be you, now. Notice your breathing. Notice what feels good now. Now begin to slowly rotate your head left and right. Do this a number of times, with ease and pleasure. Rest.

2) Raise your knees toward the ceiling so your feet are standing on floor/bed/ground. Tilt your knees easily right and left. Again slowly. Notice what else moves as you do this. Begin to help the rotation by pushing your left foot into the ground to raise your left hip as you rotate your knees, and pelvis to the right, and pushing your right leg into the ground to help rotate your pelvis to the left. As you do this, easily and with awareness, begin to let your belly come forward each time you rotate to the side. Rest.

3) Now do this same movement with a breathing variation. Sometimes breathe in while you push your belly out and rotate to the side, sometimes breathe in. Get a feeling as to how these are different. Rest.

4) Now, rotate pelvis and legs to the left and you rotate your head to the right and vice versa. Then rotate your head and pelvis in the same direction, and then alternate the two.

5) Rest. Take your arms and hug yourself, so that the right hand is in the left armpit and the right hand is in the left armpit. In this hug, rotate your shoulders easily right and left. Feel your ribs and spine moving with this. Enjoy.

6) Rest. Now play. Shoulders one way, head the other. And, shoulders one way and pelvis the other.

7) Advanced work: eyes one way and head the other.

8) Also advanced: try various combinations of head one way, shoulders the other and pelvis the same as the head and opposite the shoulders. Or with the eyes and head and pelvis. Or all four. Just have fun. Go slow. Be aware of what you do when you are learning something new.
FOLDING IN THE FRONT
9) Have knees toward the ceiling and feet as if standing. Put your right hand behind your head and your left hand in front of (below) your left knee. Thinking of your right shoulder forward and your left hip forward, bring the right elbow toward the left knee. No effort to touch. Lots of effort to sense the diagonal of doing this. Rest.

10) Now, keeping your right hand behind your head, place your left hand on your right knee, and bring again the shoulder and the hip toward each other and forward as you bring, slowly and with interest in learning rather than accomplishing, your right elbow, now toward your right knee. Rest.

11) Do this fun thing. Same configuration as in 10, but this time as you bring your right elbow and right knee toward each other fold/roll to your right side. And then come back to your back, when you bring the elbow and knee apart.

12) Rest. And do the above three steps on the other side.
THE BACK, GETTING STRONG AND AWARE
13) . Come to your belly. Put your hands, one on top of each other, palms down, and your forehead on your top palm. Slowly, slowly lengthen your right leg and lift it a little from the ground/floor/bed. Do this with comfort , pushing out your belly. Practice and explore breathing out and breathing in as you push your belly out.

14) Rest. Do this with your left leg. Lengthen your leg and lift, just slightly at the same time.

15) Rest. Now, lift your right elbow a number of times. And then your left elbow. Then, lift your right elbow and your left foot, feeling this diagonal across the back. And lift your left elbow and your right foot, feeling this diagonal.

16) Rest. Come to your back and review in your mind all three sets of functions: rotating, folding forward, and beginning to arch in your back. Rest and review and enjoy how you feel now and imagine doing some of these movements in your imagination during the day, or in your dreams.