Dr. Charryse Johnson leads a midday mindfulness session introducing simple qigong movements to regulate the body and offers a brief self-compassion practice of placing hands on heart and belly while affirming I am enough; I deserve rest.
Doctor Charryse Johnson is a licensed clinical mental health therapist, mindfulness practitioner, and author. February is one of those months where it's so hyper focused on love that it can become very commercial. This is an opportunity for you to come in and show yourself some love.
Qigong is a way to break up your day and before you prepare for a meal. Think of it as a disintegrated Tai Chi. It's important for you to have other ways to cope that are not always cognitive. That's where mindfulness and movement comes into place.
I want to leave you with one last, small, simple practice. Placing one hand over your heart and one over your belly. Say to yourself: I am enough. I deserve rest. You cannot go a million miles an hour every day, all the time.
Hello. Let's get into this goodness we call mindfulness. I am Doctor Charryse Johnson. If this is your first time with me, I'm so glad that you're here. I'm a licensed clinical mental health therapist, mindfulness practitioner, and author, and I am all about cultivating peace and harmony in your life through various methods. But recognizing that it requires our work, it requires our effort, and sometimes that work takes a lot, but other times there can be at ease in the process. And it's currently February.
It's around February 12 in particular, middle of the day. And I thought it would be a really great opportunity to come in and do some midday mindfulness. February is one of those months right, where it's so hyper focused on love that it can become very commercial, it can become very annoying and overwhelming because love looks different and feels different and exists in different ways for all of us. So this is an opportunity for you to come in and show yourself some love. And then I want to introduce you to perhaps some new ways for you to regulate the body, which is one of the most powerful ways that you can love on yourself.
Hello to all of the beautiful people. Beth Taylor. Good to see you, Nicole, and everyone else that will join us in the future. So I'm going to be standing today. I definitely encourage you to stand with me, but if that's not accessible to you, then of course you can do these things seated. So what I want to bring to you today is a few qigong moves. Qigong is spelled q I g o n G. Think of it as a disintegrated Tai Chi because we're only going to do one movement at a time. Here's why I love it. It's midday.
In particular, so many of you may be preparing to eat. You can do this anytime, but it's an especially great thing to do to kind of break up your day and before you prepare for a meal, because your digestive body and brain is a core part of your nervous system and is always talking to your brain bi directionally. So if we don't feel well here or here, it's all going to show up. So stand about hip distance apart. You want a slight bend, micro bend at the knees. If this hurts your knees again, you can do this seated or just turn the feet out a little bit.
And you want to feel like your heels are flat, but you can wiggle your toes, your hips are square, and then tuck them in just a little bit. Not so overextended that you have a c curve, but just enough that we flatten out the back part of your body. And then I want you to take your hands and fold them into a ball. And then you're going to slightly pat right around on the sides of your navel area, up and down. And you're going to notice that even the moment you start doing this that things just begin to slow down and lighten.
This is such an important process. It's important for you to have other ways to cope that are not always cognitive, which means using your brain and that are not always centered towards something that you're putting in your mouth. And that's where mindfulness and movement comes into place. And if you're doing this so hard that you're out of breath, it's too hard, just light. And then release here and put your hands down. And just for a moment, what do you notice? Do a quick scan in your body and really think about any parts of your body that need some love and attention or care.
Then I want you to take your hands and take your fingers, and we're going to move them towards chest tapping. You're going to start right in the middle. Clavicle comes down right on your sternum. And you're going to start from your sternum and then work your way out and then back in. Gentle taps. This is a phenomenal qigong move. When you're feeling anxious, overwhelmed or angry. When you feel super activated and tense, this signals to the nervous system, to the parasympathetic nervous system system, to the vagus nerve and the meridians of your body.
Then it's okay. And just continue to tap and then release your hands. And then for the next move, I'm going to step back just a little bit so I can get a little bit more extension in my arms again. Feet are flat. You can wiggle your toes. And you're going to inhale up. Bring the arms around and wide. Get to the top, hold your breath for a moment, and then exhale down. Slow and controlled. Follow the pace of your breath. You might need to move your arms faster because your inhale isn't as long as.
But as you exhale, make sure that exhale is out through the mouth. Release all of that carbon dioxide out into the air, sigling to the body to release and let go. Now, if you're comfortable, I want you to stay with this motion. I'm going to stop talking and I want you to close your eyes. Inhale, take two more cycles here. Hands out to the side, all the way up, as high as you can go. Push down one more time if your pace is similar to mine, and then push down and release. Release your hands, release your legs.
What did you notice as you went through that mindful movement practice? If you're comfortable, just take a moment and share in the chat. Why is that helpful? It's very helpful for others who may look at this and go, what is this? I've never done anything like this. Does this really work for my body? And there's no right or wrong. You may feel like I didn't notice anything. You may have noticed a small shift in various sensations. There's no right or wrong, but part of being mindful is awareness, is noticing where is your body in the midst of your day?
How did your body feel when you woke up this morning compared to how it feels right now? And here's how you take this and then move it into a, an even greater action step. So, based on what you just notice, I want you to reflect on or write down, what do I need as a result of what I just noticed in this moment, someone just said, I feel like I could go back to sleep. So what I'm wondering is, is that your body's way of saying, we need more rest and can you take a power nap? Can you give yourself permission to do that?
Others are saying they felt a release or felt tension in their shoulders that they didn't realize were there. Okay, so I need to pay attention to how my stress is landing on me. Make sure that this is one that you note and tag, because when you stop and check in and become aware, it helps inform the rest of your day. The other powerful thing about qigong is it not only reduces and aligns the meridians of the body and all the systems of the body together, it gives you energy. So you're going to feel both potentially some release and some restoration and some openness.
But you may also find that your energy is lifted, which is going to help energize you for the day. So Qigong is a great thing to do. We did it for just a few minutes when you're feeling that mid afternoon low slump, or even in the evening when you feel like, I still have a lot to do today, but I can't stop, and I don't want to reach for things that are going to spike me up and crash me down, then go to the body. I want to leave you with one last, small, simple practice. Placing one hand over your heart and one over your belly.
Eyes open or close, always an invitation. You decide what's best, best for you and say to yourself. I am enough. I deserve rest. I want you to repeat those things to yourself as many times as you need to today. I am enough. And because you're enough, you deserve rest. You cannot go a million miles an hour every day, all the time. Totally unnecessary and not healthy. All right. m. Thank you for coming and joining me today. Be well and we will meet again soon.
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