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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 looking up a little, only as far as is comfortable. Note the place on the wall you can see easily. Pause and rest.
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2. Again, sitting the same way, look up again allowing your belly to push forward. Do that a few times then switch so you are pulling your belly in while you look up. Feel the difference in ease for your whole spine as the belly goes out. Notice you get taller when you push the belly out and shorter when you pull the belly in. Pause and rest.
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3. Sitting the same way, look up towards the ceiling and see how far and easily you can see now. Pause. Look up and leave your head looking up and take your eyes to look down and then up again. The next time your eyes are down, as you bring them to look up start to take your head down. Go very slowly and gently making small movements becaus this is a bit of a challenge. Pay attention that you continue to breathe comfortably. Pause.
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4. Sitting as before, take your head and eys to look up towards the ceiling and see if easier now. This time look down with your head and eyes and roll back on your buttocks so your back rounds backwards then come back up to looking straight ahead. Each time you round over like this feel the length of your spine from your tail to the base of your skull. Feel if you can make the movement of the spine evenly distributed so no one part moves more than the other.
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5. The next time everything is rounded down, take just your eyes and head to look up, leaving everyting else as it is. Do the movement of the head and eyes serveral times noticing how far you can see up the wall from this position moving only your head and neck. Rest again.
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6. Come to the edge of your chair seat again as before and do the movement of looking up the wall, letting your whole back particiapte and notice how far see and how easily. Now, look up again, using your whole spine, belly sticking forward and leave everything there but now take just your head and eyes to look down. So your whole lower body is in position to look up but you isolate your head and neck to look down and back up again. Notice how far down you can look while the rest of your body is prepared for looking up. Bring everything back to the middle, facing forward and look up again using your whole self.
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7. Sitting near the edge of your seat again, leave your face, eyes and shoulders facing forward and tilt your pelvis forward and back. As the pelvis tilts forward stick out the belly. As the pelvis tilts back, suck in the belly. As you continue, notice if your upper body is staying in place. Do you get shorter at taller at any point during the movement of the pelvis? Pause.
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8. This time, when your belly comes forward with the pelvis tilt, look down with your head and eyes. Then, as the belly pulls in, tilting the pelvis back, look up with the head and eyes. Alternate like that several times, slowly and gently. Then take a rest.
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9. Come back to sitting at the edge of your chair. Look up the wall now, using your whole self and notice how far you can see now. This time leave your pelvis right where it is, without rolling it forward or back and look down and up with your head and eyes. Keeping the pelvis where it is, add to the movement allowing your chest to move with the head, neck and eyes. As you look down, the chest sinks in and back a little. As you look up the chest comes forward and up a little. Notice as the chest moves the shoulders also get involved. The shoulders move forward as you look down and back as you look up. Rest a moment.
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10. Come back to the original movement of simply looking up the wall towards the ceiling. How are you doing now after exploring all these possibilities? Look down, folding in the front and then look up, expanding and lengthening the front of you. Now come to sit in a neutral place looking forward and feel if you are sitting more easily, feeling the support of your pelvis for your spine and head to rest comfortably on top of it. You can repeat any part of this Mindful Movement Lesson several times a day if you find you are sitting for long hours. You may want to repeat the whole lesson once a week to continue improving your ability to sit easily.
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11. Now that you have finished Mindful Movement Lesson #2, please stand up with your two feet spread a comfortable distance apart. Notice where your eyes are looking while facing forward. Look up and down a few times and notice how much of yourself you use. Pause, take a walk around and feel if standing and walking are easier. 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 Lesson #3. And, share the lesson with your friends and family.
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