Hello,
I'm Clarice and I'm so glad you're here.
Today we'll be practicing a body scan.
This is a great practice for beginners or anyone who wants to connect with their body today.
So we'll come to a comfortable seated position,
Ensuring your feet are making contact with the floor or surface beneath you in some way.
Closing the eyes or lowering the gaze.
Allowing the shoulders to drop away from the ears.
Elongating the spine so you're sitting up in a relaxed but tall posture.
And gently tucking the chin in,
Allowing your spine to be straight.
To begin,
We will bring our attention to our feet.
Focusing on where they make contact with the ground.
Beginning to feel your full foot,
Bit by bit.
Your knees,
Your toes,
Heels,
Top of the foot,
Ankles.
Bringing your attention to your knees,
Noticing the sensations that are there.
We may become aware of the discomfort,
Tension or other sensations as we scan our bodies.
Sitting with it,
Experiencing the experience.
And now moving to your thighs.
Noticing where they make contact with the surface beneath you.
Coming up to the spine.
From the bottom of your tailbone,
Up to the top of your spine.
Coming under your neck,
Bringing in the whole of your back and ribs.
Focusing now on the front of your body,
Starting in the stomach.
What sensations are present?
Perhaps you notice the breath in the belly.
The movement as you inhale and exhale.
Perhaps you unconsciously hold tension here,
Pulling in the stomach without thought.
You don't need to change anything,
We're just noticing.
Coming up your torso to the chest.
Perhaps you notice more breath here,
The beat of your heart.
Letting the focus on the torso fade and coming to your hands.
Noticing where they're placed on the body.
Feeling the sensation in each finger,
The palm of your hands and the back of each hand.
Bringing your focus up from the hands to both wrists.
Up to the elbows,
The upper arms and the shoulders.
Noticing if the position of your shoulders has changed since the beginning of the practice.
Have they softened or perhaps crept back up towards the ears?
We're just noticing,
Without judgement.
Moving to the neck and up to the front of the face,
Bringing attention to your jaw,
Lips,
Nose,
Eyes,
Forehead.
And all across the scalp.
Now bringing in your full body.
Becoming aware of the body as a whole.
Perhaps breathing into the whole body,
Feeling the breath moving through you.
Just breathing here.
And gently letting go of the focus of the practice.
Perhaps gently wiggling the fingers and the toes.
Coming into a stretch.
And gently,
Whenever you're ready,
Opening the eyes and re-familiarising yourself with your surroundings.
Thank you for practising with me today.
Perhaps you'd like to reflect on how you can connect with your body more throughout your day.
