Mindful Wake Up & Warm Up
POSSIBLE USES: Use this routine whenever you find yourself needing a little reset throughout the day. This routine also provides a chance to practice cultivating mindful awareness. We’ll begin by noticing the internal & external environment, without judgment. Arriving into presence. You can’t do it right or wrong, so let loose, you got this!
WHERE? Shake-it-out in your backyard, bedroom, at the office, or even pumping gas on a long drive for a small but mighty energy shift. Make this routine work uniquely for YOU.
TIME COMMITMENT: Once through, this routine is about 4 minutes total. Beginning at the very left corner of the diagram, start with a wide squat. Either perform 4-10 repetitions of each move, OR go by time - performing as many repetitions as desired within 30 seconds for each single move.
You may wish to set a timer for 30 seconds for each move, or simply “feel out” 30 seconds. Skip any moves that don’t benefit you & insert a favorite movement (yes, dancing absolutely counts!). Yay! End here OR after a 1-minute break, repeat the cycle up to 8 times. BOOM! A small but mighty movement session is underway.
Note that the first time you do this routine it will likely be a bit awkward. You’ll find your groove! Allow yourself space to look funny, make mistakes, stop/start, and have some fun!
TOOLS:
Comfort Clothes - you don’t need my permission to wear your pajamas for this one!
Optional Weights - little rocks, hand weights, whatever suits you & your current fitness level. No weights are necessary for a solid movement session here! And you’re always welcome to add weight/ resistance for more challenge.
Playlist - if you’re into movement with music, have your favorite playlist bumping prior to starting the routine.
Chair or Step - if you choose to sit while practicing the Arm Raises, Seated Marching, or Box Hop have a secure chair handy. Alternatively, these moves can be practiced on your knees or standing if that’s an option for your body (simply skip the box hop - swap in “High Knees” or low-impact “Marching”).
Always modify for you! Depending on the day, and your body, this could look like practicing laying arm raises rather than seated. Maybe you add weights to some moves, and others you practice with bodyweight. Neither will be superior or inferior. Don’t compare yourself to what you may have done in the past, what’s drawn in the images here, or what you think you should be able to do. You’re showing up for a period of self-care, and that, my friend is strength & courageous, regardless of how you do these moves.
HOW:
Tips for Adding Mindfulness to this Movement Routine.
With your tools & music set up, begin by noticing colors, shadows, lightness, darkness in the room or area around you. Simply recognizing surroundings.
Notice any sounds - sounds in the room, sounds outside the room. Distant sounds, close sounds. Rising & falling, without you doing anything. Shifting attention to noticing the surrounding environment. Colors, lightness, darkness. Grounding yourself right here, in this moment.
Pause. Arriving.
And allowing the eyes to slightly close, shifting attention towards the body, if that feels comfortable to you. Begin to notice how your feet make contact with the ground. Feeing sensations of heat, pressure, numbness, tingling - feet making contact with the ground.
Notice how these bones are held, just as you are, by the ground without you having to do or change anything.
Exhale a longer, deeper breath. Inhaling. And exhaling through the mouth, perhaps for a count of 4.
And you’re invited to release any noticeable tension that can be released. Perhaps unclenching the jaw, dropping the shoulders down the back. Shaking the hands a bit to let go of any gripping.
And return to notice those feet, heavy on the ground, held by the Earth. Ah! So here we are!
Physical Movement. Shake it out a bit, release a deeper breath again, and moving Clockwise, let’s begin at that first “Wide Squat” with a bit of that mindful awareness we just tapped into!
