Okay,
So going to begin tonight just looking at how the body is,
Just sensing your body in this moment and in this space and if you're sitting,
Just feeling into your sitting bones,
Anchoring your body into the cushion or the chair and if you're lying,
Just feeling into the points of your body that are on the floor and discovering those anchor points and surrendering your body weight into the earth and from those points,
Just allowing your hands to either be up in a gesture of openness if that feels right for you or palms down in a gesture of coming inside,
Soft hands,
You might like to tuck your chin in if you're sitting,
Just to lengthen the back of your neck and on the next in-breath,
Just feeling your spine lengthening up and on the next out-breath,
Releasing,
Relaxing down the arms and if your eyes are closed and they want to stay closed,
Then that's fine,
Otherwise we're just going to look at the space and the light around us.
If your eyes are closed,
Just looking at the lids but the light,
The colour behind your eyelids,
Otherwise just gazing,
Connecting with the space around you through your eyesight.
Your eyes work so hard for you all day,
So just deeply appreciating that sense of sight and shifting to your sense of hearing now,
Opening up your ears,
Listening,
Perhaps you can hear sounds outside the room,
Perhaps you can hear sounds closer within your body or the sound of my voice,
Maybe you can even sense your heart beating,
Just enjoying the sensation of hearing,
And releasing and moving now to your sense of smell and just seeing if you can detect any smells,
If you can't,
Then just connect with the parts of your body that detect smell,
Just deeply appreciating your sense of smell.
You might be able to feel where that sense of smell connects with your sense of taste,
Moving towards the back of the mouth,
The back of the throat,
Seeing if you can detect any taste in the mouth,
And you might like to move your tongue from cheek to cheek,
You might be able to connect with tastes underneath the tongue,
Might be very subtle,
Or perhaps just neutral.
And if you feel any tension in your throat or jaw,
You might like to swallow,
And then gently moving your awareness now into your sense of touch,
Perhaps you can feel the air on your skin,
Backs of the hands,
Your face,
Perhaps you could feel your clothing resting against your skin,
And just allowing your awareness to embrace that sense of touch.
And slowly now connecting with your breath,
Without any need to change your breath,
Sometimes just holding your awareness there will automatically change it a little,
That's fine,
But there's no need,
Just observing how the breath is for you tonight.
And if at any time you find your mind wandering throughout the meditation,
Which is absolutely guaranteed,
That's the nature of the mind,
Just gently inviting it back into the body,
Into your body through the senses,
Or through your breath,
Just like gently tugging on a golden thread,
And compassionately bringing it back into the room,
Into your body,
Into this moment.
We'll take your awareness now all the way down into your feet,
Down into your toes,
Just observing how your feet are feeling tonight,
The soles of your feet,
Ankles,
Gently observing,
Witnessing the insides of your feet,
Outside,
Sweeping your awareness up the legs into the calves,
Deep into the muscle of the calves,
And the shins,
Just lovingly placing your awareness into your knees now,
All the way into your knee joints,
Kneecap,
Backs of the knees,
Connecting with your thigh muscles that hold you up all day,
Just finding how are they tonight,
How are they right now,
And into your hips,
Connecting,
Observing,
Hips and pelvis,
All the way into the depths of your spine,
The tailbone,
Traveling your awareness into the vertebrae,
Up the spine,
And observing your organs,
Tummy,
Digestive system,
Just connecting,
Just witnessing your diaphragm,
How does it flow with your breath,
Your ribcage,
Your heart beating,
Gently sweeping your awareness through your body,
Into your shoulder girdle,
Throat,
Down your shoulders and arms,
Just feeling your awareness,
Like a warm water,
Your awareness,
Releasing all the way down into your forearms,
Wrists,
And hands,
Feeling the palms of your hands,
Backs of your hands,
Each finger,
All the way down to your fingertips,
Connecting now with both your arms at the same time,
Your whole arm on both sides,
Left and right,
Shoulder all the way down to fingertips,
And bringing your awareness back to the throat,
Top of the shoulders,
Up into your head now,
And just connecting to the spaces within your head,
Those cavities,
Your mouth,
Eye sockets,
Sinuses,
Ear canal,
Breathing your awareness into those spaces,
No need to shift or change,
But just observing,
Just connecting,
Lovingly witnessing how things are,
Right across your scalp now,
Behind the ears,
Across the jaw,
And down the hair follicles,
Your whole body,
Sensing your whole body from the top of your head all the way down to your toes,
And just allowing now for any sensation,
Perhaps warmth,
Perhaps coolness,
To come to your awareness,
And seeing those sensations like clouds in the sky,
Coming,
Acknowledging and going,
Just allowing for any sensation,
Emotion,
Perhaps thought to bubble up,
Just allowing for any sensation,
Emotion,
Thought to bubble up,
Observe,
Release,
Just enjoying the state of your body,
Energetic and physical,
Just as it is right now,
As we move into silence,
Slowly and gently in your own time,
Connecting to your breath,
Sensing any smells you can detect,
Any tastes,
And beginning to listen once again to the sounds coming from within your body,
Within the room,
Outside the room,
And sensing that feeling of touch,
Perhaps the clothes on your skin,
Your body on the floor,
And when you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes,
Taking in the light,
The shapes,
Colours,
Bringing your full awareness back into your body,
Back into this moment,
Making any movements that you need to,
Wiggling toes,
Fingers,
Perhaps bringing the shoulders up to the ears,
Once again,
Releasing,
Releasing,
