Inviting you now to get cozy,
Find your spot.
This is a body scan,
So you might like to do it,
You know,
Lying down.
If you're lying down,
See if you can make it not on the couch.
You might lie on a mat on the floor.
You might choose to lie flat on your bed.
And just seeing if you're lying down,
If you can allow your arms and your legs just to fall a little bit away from the body.
Hands nice and open and resting somewhere.
And as you find your comfort spot,
Your way of being,
Inviting you then to choose what to do with the eyes.
So you might like the eyes open and focused on me.
Or you might prefer to lower the gaze.
Or perhaps for you,
It's best to close the eyes.
So just as we prepare for the body scan,
See if you find the way for your body now.
To be as comfortable as you can.
Sitting or lying.
If you're lying then,
Seeing can you do that nice and flat?
Arms and legs falling a little away from the body.
If you're sitting,
Seeing if you might sit in such a way that the two feet are flat on the floor.
Going for a strong,
Straight back.
And a nice,
Soft,
Open front.
And so as we begin this body scan,
Just inviting you to take a minute to set your intention for this space.
So we know already coming into the blossom room is an intentional act of self-care.
Pausing,
Noticing,
Becoming aware of what's here.
So see now how you might set your intention for this practice.
And remembering in a way that as I do the body scan,
You know,
It may be relaxing or you may become aware of other things that are here.
A frustration in the mind.
A challenging emotion or some discomfort in the body.
So that in doing the body scan,
We're not really trying to reach a destination.
More about being aware of what's here.
And in this blossom space,
Definitely also bringing some kindness to our noticing.
And so inviting the body now to settle,
To arrive in a way,
And maybe even to let go even a tiny bit.
Knowing that for this next little while,
We really do not have to work so hard.
We can surrender in a way,
Even a little.
Whatever we're sitting on or lying on,
Will support the practice.
The guidance itself will support the practice.
So we can just let it happen.
So letting the body arrive,
Sink and settle.
I'm beginning this body scan then with three nice,
Deep,
Intentional breaths.
So seeing as we take these breaths,
If you might breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
So breathing in nice and long and slow,
Filling the belly with maximum air.
And then on the nice,
Slow out breath,
Releasing,
Letting go as much air as possible.
No rush,
No hurry.
And then a second deep breath.
Breathing in nice and long and slow,
Filling that belly with maximum air.
And on the nice,
Long,
Slow out breath,
Expelling as much air as possible.
And then in your own time,
Taking in another deep,
Intentional breath.
Nice and long and slow.
And breathing out,
Releasing,
Letting go even a little.
Letting the breath now return to normal pattern,
Whatever that is for you right now.
Just breathing naturally,
Settling on your intention for this practice.
And we begin by noticing now the small of the back,
So by that I mean the very place in your back where the spine emerges from the sitting bone,
Just the very lower back.
Seeing if you can bring your full attention to just this part of the body,
A part of the body where we often carry and hold.
So bringing some kind awareness to this lower back,
Noticing what's here right now,
Registering any sensations in the lower back.
And then when you're ready,
Imagining your very breath,
Breathing right into your lower back right now,
Breathing in ease and space,
Creating some ease in the lower back.
And then moving slowly up,
Maybe vertebrae by vertebrae,
Becoming aware of the middle back.
And again,
Taking some time to notice just this part of the body,
The middle back,
Sensing into all of the structure and organs contained in this part of the body and noticing what is here right now.
And then again,
Seeing if your breath might breathe right into the middle back,
Breathing in some ease and some space.
And on the out-breath,
Releasing,
Letting go,
Even a little,
Allowing the whole of the middle back to have more ease.
And on up to the upper back,
Just beneath the shoulders.
Just noticing this part of the body,
Registering what is here right now and seeing if your very breath might reach right into the upper back,
Ease,
Space.
And on the out-breath from the upper back,
Releasing,
Letting go,
Even a little.
Shifting the awareness now up to the shoulders.
Another part of the body where we sometimes hold and carry tightness and tension.
So taking a moment now to notice your shoulders.
What is here in the shoulders right now?
Perhaps some holding or tightness,
Tension or discomfort,
Or maybe for you in the shoulders,
A sense of relaxation and ease.
Just noticing what is here and bringing some kindly attention to the shoulders.
Seeing now if you might breathe right into the shoulders,
Breathing in ease and space and breathing right out from the shoulders and on each out-breath from the shoulders,
Releasing,
Letting go,
Even a little.
And practicing that now for the next couple of minutes.
Breathing into the shoulders,
Ease and space,
And on each out-breath from the shoulders,
Releasing,
Letting go,
Even a little.
Seeing now if the shoulders might drop,
Even a tiny bit,
Or maybe not.
Letting the shoulders go in awareness now and bringing the attention to the arms.
Seeing if you might notice the weight,
The volume,
And the length of the arms as they come out from the shoulders,
All the way down to the elbows.
Becoming aware of the elbows themselves,
The bony structure on the outside of the elbow,
And the little hollow on the inside of the elbows.
Focusing now on the hollow on the inside of the elbows and registering any sensations to be felt there,
Maybe sensation of warmth,
Moisture,
Contact with air,
Maybe no sensation at all right now in the inner elbows.
Moving the awareness now to the lower arms,
From the elbows all the way down to the wrists.
Noticing then the hands,
Wherever the hands are resting.
Coming aware of the palms of the hands,
The back of the hands.
Noticing the fingers and the thumbs.
You might even become aware of the spaces between the fingers and the thumbs.
Sensing into the hands themselves now,
Registering any sensations to be felt here,
Inside the hands.
Perhaps sensations of pulsing,
Tingling,
Warmth,
Moisture.
Noticing now any sensations between the hands and whatever they're resting on.
Maybe noticing contact with legs or chair or cloth.
Just noticing that point of contact.
Inviting the hands now to be open and soft.
And resting.
Bringing the awareness to the feet now.
Noticing the point of contact between the feet and wherever they're resting.
Contact with sock or shoe or floor or bed.
Seeing if you might notice that point of pressure and any sensations from this contact.
Becoming aware of the feet themselves now.
Noticing the soles,
The heels,
The instep,
The toes,
The feet.
The big toes.
The spaces in between the toes.
Noticing any sensations from within the feet.
Tingling,
Tightness.
No sensation at all in the feet.
Moving the awareness now to the lower legs,
To the calves.
The bony structure of the shin,
The calf muscles.
All that is contained within the lower legs.
Just bringing some gentle awareness to this part of the body.
Noticing the lower legs.
Noticing the lower legs.
Registering any sensations here.
And on up to the knees.
The bony structure.
Skin stretched over bone on the outside of the knee.
The little hollows at the back of the knees.
Just noticing knees.
Maybe noticing the hollows at the back of the knee.
Coming aware of any sensations in the hollows.
Sensations of air.
Warmth or coolness.
Perhaps moisture.
Maybe no sensations at all in the back of the knee.
Then moving to the upper legs,
The thighs.
That whole area of leg from the knee all the way up to the hip bones.
Just feeling the weight and the volume and the length of the upper leg.
The legs.
Awareness of bone and muscle.
All that is contained within the upper legs.
Noticing the point of contact between the upper legs and wherever they're resting.
Tapped with clothing.
With whatever is supporting you.
With air.
Then noticing any sensations in the upper legs themselves.
Inviting the whole of the legs now and the feet.
To soften.
To have some ease and some space.
And letting go of the legs in awareness and bringing the attention now to the neck.
The narrow little neck.
Seeing if your neck would like just a little movement now.
To find a place of ease.
So that it can hold up the heavy head.
With as little strain as possible.
So you might take a little gentle movement to that neck.
And then let it come to rest.
Noticing the front of the neck.
The back of the neck.
Becoming aware of the back of the head.
Seeing if you can imagine your own breath massaging now the back of your head.
Soothing.
Easing.
Creating a little space all around the back of your head.
And moving on now to the top of your head.
Again.
Inviting your very breath to massage the top of your head.
So that your very breath is massaging.
Soothing.
Easing.
Softening the whole of the top of the head.
And now the forehead.
Just bringing your awareness to the forehead.
And if there are lines on the forehead right now,
Seeing if they might soften.
Dissolve even a little.
Becoming aware of the eyes and the areas around the eyes.
Inviting everything around the eyes to soften.
To relax.
Even a little.
Noticing the nose.
The jaw.
The cheeks.
Becoming aware of the ears.
Noticing the mouth.
Inviting the mouth and the whole area around the mouth.
To soften.
To have some ease.
Maybe even allowing a slight smile to arrive at the mouth.
Noticing the tongue.
Seeing if the tongue might relax and fill the lower palate.
And then seeing if you might relax the tongue the whole way down to its root.
Noticing the jaw.
Inviting the jaw to drop a little.
To soften.
To unclench.
Becoming aware of the chin.
Inviting the whole face now.
To soften.
To have some ease.
To let go.
Dropping the awareness now into the chest area.
And if the mind is busy or emotions are tugging or physical sensations in the body is calling for attention.
Absolutely no problem.
Fantastic noticing.
So just becoming aware of what is here right now.
And then with kindness.
Unhooking.
And inviting the attention back to the chest area right now.
To the heart space.
You might even become aware of the heart,
The physical organ of the heart in this area of the body.
Maybe noticing sensations of warmth from the heart.
Or even tuning into the heartbeat itself.
But in whatever way you become aware,
Noticing the heart in the chest area.
And seeing if you might also notice the breath now in this part of the body.
So just tuning in to what's happening anyway.
The breath coming in.
And the breath going out of the chest area.
Maybe noticing the slight rise of the chest on the in breath.
And the gentle falling back of the chest on the out breath.
And again,
If the mind is busy or emotions are tugging.
Just taking this opportunity to reconnect.
With the heart space.
And the breath in the chest area.
The slight rise of the chest on the in breath.
And the gentle falling back of the chest on the out breath.
Just this breath.
The rise of the chest on the in breath.
And the falling back of the chest on the out breath.
And then allowing the attention to drop a little further.
Down to the abdomen and the belly.
Just noticing this whole area of the body.
And in this moment,
Inviting this whole belly,
Abdomen area.
To loosen,
To soften,
To have a little ease and a little space.
So again you might notice now the breath right down in this part of the body.
Maybe even doing some intentional belly breathing.
Breathing right into the belly.
And breathing all the way out from the belly.
And doing this now for the next couple of minutes.
Breathing all the way into the belly.
And breathing right out from the belly.
Noticing in a way the rise of the belly on the in breath.
And the deflation of the belly on the out breath.
Perhaps imagining a balloon breathing in.
And breathing,
Breathing in.
And letting go.
Breathing into the belly.
And letting go.
So that all in the belly area might be softer.
A little looser.
Having a little more space.
And now moving to the pelvic girdle.
That big bony structure hip to hip.
Bringing the focus of attention to just this part of the body.
Noticing all of the organs contained right here.
And again inviting a little space,
A little ease into this part of the body.
Noticing the sitting bones and the buttocks.
Seeing if there might be some softness to be brought to this part of the body.
A little ease and a little space to the sitting bones and the buttocks.
So the whole of the body now might be a little more settled.
Have a little more ease.
And a little space to be itself.
We'll take a little tour around the body now.
Inviting a deeper relaxation.
Left foot relax.
Left leg relax.
Right foot relax.
Right leg relax.
Buttocks relax.
Whole back relax.
Shoulders relax.
Arms relax.
Hands relax.
Neck relax.
Back of the head,
Top of the head relax.
Whole face relax.
Chest relax.
Belly relax.
Pelvic girdle relax.
Whole body relax.
So that the whole body might have more ease now.
And now inviting the breathing itself to be quieter.
So that you might hardly be breathing at all.
Allowing the mind to quieten.
So that for just these few minutes,
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to do.
Letting the body have some ease.
The breathing be nice and quiet and slow.
And the mind having a little rest.
So this is true relaxation.
A place of rest and recovery that we can connect with.
So resting here now for the last couple of minutes of this practice.
And whatever is here to be.
Just breathing and being.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to be.
Just being.
Breathing.
Resting.
Allowing the body some ease.
And as we begin to come out of this practice.
Inviting you to notice now any sounds around you.
Maybe there are sounds in the room that you're sitting or lying in.
Just noticing sounds.
Without having to make any meaning of the sounds.
Just sounds as events in themselves.
Sounds coming and moving on.
Just noticing sound.
Maybe noticing sounds further afield in another room in the building.
Or outside.
Seeing if you might notice any sounds.
Just registering the sounds arriving and moving on.
You might notice some sounds coming to you from my device.
Or from the space I'm coming to you from.
Just tuning in.
To any sounds coming from my device.
Or from the device you're watching on or listening on.
And then noticing any sounds in the body itself.
Maybe sounds of breathing.
Perhaps sounds of digestion.
Just noticing any sounds in the body.
And then letting go of sounds and noticing again.
The feet in contact with whatever is supporting you.
The floor or the bed.
Noticing the feet in contact.
The feet in contact.
Becoming aware of the body and the points of pressure between the body and whatever is supporting you.
Noticing air.
Wherever the body might be experiencing sensations of air.
Cool or warm.
Maybe for you it's air around the face or the hands or the feet.
Noticing air.
And then maybe becoming aware of the impulse to move.
Now when you're feeling that impulse to move.
Seeing if we might slow it down even a little.
So perhaps beginning by opening the eyes or lifting the gaze.
And having a wee look around the space that you're in.
And taking some really slow intentional movement to the body.
Just tuning in in a way to what your body might like.
A little gentle movement of fingers.
A wiggle of toes.
Movement to the neck or the shoulders.
Nice slow stretch.
A part of the body or a limb or the whole body.
A big yawn.
A loud sigh.
Just gifting the body now a little extra time.
For some gentle intentional waking up.
And returning to the space.
So taking your time.
And slowing down the impulse to move on.
It's okay.
We have time.
You have time.
And so as you begin to come back into the space.
As I often do.
I want to invite you to just notice how you are.
What is here for you now.
And you know so.
So our work here in Blossom is to pause.
With intention and with kindness.
Long enough to notice how we are.
That's the work.
So I want you to notice how you are.
And if you have pen and paper I'd love you to jot that down.
What's here now?
How are you?
What have you noticed?
And then here's the tricky bit.
For extra credit.
I invite you to do that noticing with real kindness.
So can you notice as though you are your own most beloved friend.
What's here now?
How are you?
Noticing kindly.
