We live so much of our lives in our heads,
So it's essential that we begin to drop our awareness down into our body.
But it's not always that easy for us,
And we're all disembodied to one extent or the other.
So don't worry,
You're not alone.
A body sweep into whole body awareness is a great way to start to connect to your body.
We will go from the top of the head and work slowly down through the body,
Bit by bit,
Until we reach the feet and the ground.
We will then bring the awareness up through the body again into feelings and sensations within the whole body.
Remember to relax as you work through each part of the body and really feel into your body,
Into the muscles,
The joints,
The bones,
The vitality within that area,
And really allow your whole body to deeply relax and let go,
Bit by bit.
Allow whatever feelings or sensations you feel to just be as they are,
Without judgment,
Without creating stories around them.
Just give it space and let it be as it is.
So before we start,
Find yourself a comfortable place to rest.
You could be sitting on a meditation cushion or a chair.
You might even be lying down.
As long as you relax and you have a quiet enough place to be.
And then once you're comfortable,
Let's start by bringing your awareness to your breath.
Awareness of the breath coming in and out of your lungs,
Of the expansion and contraction of your lungs,
Ribs,
And abdomen,
With each in-breath and each out-breath.
See if you can really feel the quality of the breath within the body.
And whatever you notice,
Just let it be as it is,
And allow yourself to deeply relax.
Now bring your awareness to the very top of your head,
The crown of your head.
See if you can notice any sensations or feeling there.
Maybe you feel tingling.
Maybe you feel some other kind of sensation.
Maybe you don't feel anything.
It doesn't really matter.
What we're wanting to do is just notice what is there,
And allow it to be as it is.
From the crown of your head,
Bring your awareness down to your forehead,
And see if you can relax the muscles in your forehead,
And really open to sensation and feeling there.
Can you feel any sensation in your eyes,
Or the muscles behind your eyes?
And then roll your awareness down through your cheeks,
Your nose,
Your lips,
To your chin.
And can you feel your face as a whole,
Letting your whole face be soft and relaxed?
At any point,
If you're distracted in thought,
That's fine.
Just notice when you're distracted.
See if you can let it go,
And then gently bring your awareness back to feelings and sensations within your body.
If it's helpful,
You can squeeze your whole face together,
Your lips,
Your nose,
Your cheeks,
Your eyes.
Really squeeze it all together for five or so seconds,
And then let it relax,
And notice what you feel.
And take your awareness through to the back of your head,
And feel any sensations or feeling there.
Whatever is there,
Just let it be as it is.
And then bring your awareness down to the back of your neck,
And through your neck to the front of your neck,
And allow it all to relax.
If you feel yourself trying too hard,
Remember to have compassion for yourself.
Just let the struggle go,
And come back to the breath,
And back to what you're feeling in the body.
From the neck,
Take your awareness down into the shoulders,
Deep into the shoulders,
Into the muscles and the joints and the bones.
And really feel them relax as you do that.
And if you notice any tension in your shoulders,
Just soften around it and let it relax.
To help you connect to within your shoulders,
You can lift your shoulders right up to your ears,
Squeeze as hard as you can,
And then drop them back down,
Really relaxed,
And notice what you feel.
From your left shoulder,
Take your awareness slowly down through your left arm,
Feeling through from the inside of your arm.
Maybe the temperature of the air against your skin,
Or the feeling of your clothes.
All the way down the arm until you reach the hand,
And then the tips of the fingers.
Remember to relax,
And whatever you feel,
Just let it be as it is.
There's no need to create stories around it.
Take your awareness back up to your right shoulder,
And work your way down the right arm,
Feeling sensations on the outside of the arm,
But also really feeling through from the inside of the arm.
And move slowly down through the arm to your hand,
And to the tips of your fingers.
Now from the shoulders again,
Move your awareness down through the back of your body.
Feel your shoulder blades relax down,
Moving down the length of your spine,
The feeling of your back muscles,
Your lower back,
Your pelvis,
The feeling of your bottom against the ground,
And allow all muscles and joints and ligaments to relax as you do that.
Then from the shoulders again,
Take your awareness slowly down through the front of your body,
Sensation and feeling in your chest,
Your lungs,
Your diaphragm,
Your stomach,
All the way down to the root of your body,
And maybe the sensations of the seat pushing up from below you,
And really let your whole torso relax down into that ground supporting you.
If you're distracted at any point,
Don't worry,
Just gently bring your awareness back to your breath,
And back into your body,
And feel your whole body relax and melt down into the ground again.
Put your awareness now into your left leg,
And let your awareness work slowly down through your left leg,
From your bottom,
Your quads,
Your knee,
Your shins and calves,
Your feet,
Right to the tips of your toes.
If you need to connect to a part of your leg,
You can tense your muscle,
And then as you let go,
Let it relax and notice any sensations and feeling within it.
Move your awareness gently now to your right leg,
And work your way down,
Through the bottom,
Your quads and hamstrings,
Your calves,
Your foot,
Right to the tips of your toes,
And relax.
Whatever you feel,
Just let it be as it is,
And relax.
And if you need to,
You can really squeeze a muscle for 5 to 10 seconds,
Let it go,
Feel it relax,
And notice what you feel.
And now we're going to take our awareness up through the body again,
Into the body as a whole.
And we're going to bring your awareness up through the body,
Kind of like a sponge,
Slowly soaking in water.
See if you can become aware of your feet and both legs.
And slowly work your way up your legs,
To your bottom.
And see if you can have sensations of your legs as a whole,
Holding you nicely into the ground,
And supporting your whole body.
And bring your awareness up into the trunk of your body,
Becoming aware of any feelings and sensations within your trunk,
Relaxing as you do this.
And now we're going to take our awareness up through the body again,
And if you feel yourself trying too hard,
Just notice it and gently come back to the breath,
And back to feelings and sensations within your body.
If it helps,
You can take some of your awareness to the ground of your being,
And allow yourself to settle into that ground.
Allow your awareness to expand now to the rest of your body,
Out to your arms,
Your neck,
Right up to the crown of your head.
And then as you relax,
See if you can open to feeling and sensation within your whole body.
And whatever you feel,
Give it space,
And allow it to be as it is.
If you feel any pain in your body,
Try not to push it away.
Hold it with a sense of compassion.
Soften around it.
And notice if you can let it relax.
And then gently come back to the breath,
And back into feelings and sensations within the body as a whole,
Relaxing deeply into the ground.
I'll give you a bit of space now to really relax into it,
And get a sense of what you feel.
Quiet,
Open,
Spacious awareness of your body as a whole.
You might notice that when your mind drifts off in thought,
There will also be a sense of holding or contraction in your body.
If you notice this,
As you gently bring your awareness back to the breath,
Feel those parts holding or contracted soften and melt down into the ground.
And keep doing that for a little bit,
Noticing when you're distracted,
The sense of holding or contraction in your body,
Continuously letting it soften and relax again.
As the meditation comes to an end,
I'd like to remind you that truly getting in touch with your body can sometimes take a little while.
Everyone is different,
But you may find that gradually,
You'll notice that you can feel your whole body from the inside out.
Remember to go at your own pace.
Feel compassion for yourself,
Enjoy it and trust the process.
