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1. Sit towards the front edge of a chair, preferably one with a hard flat seat.
Have your legs and feet apart about shoulder's width, feet are flat on the floor
with the knees lined up over your feet. Start by turning to look over your right
shoulder and notice how far you go comfortably and take note of a spot on the
wall where you can see while turned. Come back to face front. Place your left
hand on your left knee and right hand on the right knee. Begin to take your left
knee forward as if to push a button that was right in front of it, leaving the
feet where they are. Do that several times and notice what happens to your left
hip. Then notice what happens to your right hip and right knee. Pause and rest.
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2. Sit at the edge of your seat again, hands on your knees and this time
withdraw your right knee as though someone were pushing on the front of it. Do
that several times. Each time notice something different about yourself when
you do it. For instance, what is your left hip and knee doing? Does your head
move? Do your shoulders move? The next time you do the movement, keep your head and shoulders pointing to the front while the right hip and knee move back and
think of taking the left hip and knee forward at the same time. So you are
combining the first and second movements. Pause facing the front. Now do the
original movement of looking over your right shoulder and see if you can see
farther along the wall then take a rest. Seems like magic, doesn't it? It's not.
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3. Sit at the edge of your chair again, hands on knees, take your left knee
forward, right knee back at the same time you look around to your right. Stay
there and return just your head to facing forward and then back around to the
right. Do the movement with your head several times, leaving everything under
your head (shoulders, hips, knees) still turned towards the right. Only go as
far is comfortable for your neck and go slowly enough so you can notice if you
are really keeping your shoulders and lower body turned as if to look to the
right. Also notice if your right or left buttocks is heavier on the chair. Bring
everything back to face the front and rest.
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4. Turn again to look around to the right and stay where it's comfortable. While
everything else is turned for looking to the right, alternate taking your right
knee forward then your left knee forward. Do that movement with your knees and
hips several times continuing to have your head and shoulders turned looking to
the right. Make the movements of the hips and knees small, gentle and
comfortable. After several repetitions bring everything back to the front, pause
and then turn to look around yourself to the right again and see how far you are
able to see now and notice the comfort of your turning. Feel how involving more
of yourself makes the movement easier and at the same time larger.
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5. One more time, look around to your right, stay there in a comfortable place
and close your eyes. With your eyes closed take your eyes to the right then left
several times. Notice your breathing. Notice if you feel yourself turning any
more with the movement of the eyes. After several times, bring everything back
to the front, pause and then do the simple movement again to look around to your
right to see if there is any improvement after the movement of your eyes. Rest
again.
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6. This time, leave your head and eyes facing forward while you take your left
knee forward and turn your shoulders as though to look around to the right. Do
that a few times. And then as you bring the shoulders and hips back around to
the front, take your head and eyes to the right. Alternate in this way several
times taking your head and eyes opposite your shoulders and hips. Make the
movements slow, continuous and smoothly. Pause for a moment then look around
yourself to the right and feel how that's developing.
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7. Stand up from your chair, move away from it a bit and stand with your feet a
little apart. Shift your weight to one leg then the other. On which leg do you
feel more stable? Now look around yourself to the right then the left. Actually
walk in a little circle one direction then the other and notice the difference
in the two directions.
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8. Sit on your chair again and let's do a few things to balance out your
experience a little. Start by pushing your right knee forward as you withdraw
the left knee. Feel how that effects your lower back and waist area. Are you
already involving your shoulders and head more on this side? Pause.
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9. Do the same movement and this time add looking around to the left with your
shoulders and head. After a few times, stay turned around to the left and close
your eyes. Staying there, take your eyes a little left and right. Pause, return
everything to the front and then try looking around to your left now to notice
the changes. Rest a moment.
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10. Now let's move the head and eyes in opposition of the shoulders and hips.
Start by taking everything to look around to the left. Stay there and take just
your head and eyes to face forward. When you bring your head back to look left,
take your shoulders and hips to the front. Alternate like this a few times,
keeping all the movements smooth and coordinated. Rest in the middle. Notice
your comfort in sitting now and how has that changed?
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11. Go back to taking everything to look around to the left to notice any
changes in the quality or range of your movement. Go ahead and look around to
your right once then to the left. Feel if the two sides feel more equal now.
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12. Now that you have finished Mindful Movement LessonTM #1, please stand up with your two feet spread a comfortable distance apart and look around yourself to the right then the left and notice the difference. When you like, right now
or at another convenient time you can repeat the lesson on the other side,
reversing the directions of left and right. You can remember this lesson the
next time you are in the car and need to turn to look for cars behind you. And
surely you will find other benefits from this lesson. Feel free to email to
share your successes and any feedback on how the lesson worked for you. Bookmark
and watch this site for Mindful Movement LessonTM #2. And, share the lesson with your friends and family.
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