We're going to spend some slow moving time connecting with the body and with gratitude.
To start you can find a comfortable place to stand if this works for your body right now.
If not,
You can modify this and any invitation that I offer for what works best for your body today.
Wherever you are,
I invite you to really feel the ground beneath you.
Checking in with your five senses,
Anchoring into this moment and this place.
Knowing that during this time,
There's no other responsibility or needs.
You get to simply be present.
If you'd like,
You can close your eyes or find a soft spot to focus your gaze.
And start to check in with your breath.
You don't need to force any sort of cadence of breath.
Just notice how your body is naturally breathing.
How your body naturally wants to breathe.
You can get curious about whether or not your body seems to want a deeper breath.
A longer breath.
Or just to simply exist and breathe without having to think about how you're breathing.
We're going to start with a body scan before we enter connecting with the body and gratitude.
So from head to toe,
You can just gently scan,
Noticing where you might be holding tightness,
Tension,
Pain,
Fatigue.
Or any other sensations that are giving you some feedback.
Maybe there's tension in your neck or back that you've been carrying with you.
Maybe there's a clenched jaw that just doesn't know how to release,
Even if you desperately want it to relax and release.
Maybe there's a knot in your gut that you just can't get to go away.
Maybe your back or knees simply hurts because they always hurt.
Whatever you're noticing,
Whatever feedback your body is giving you.
Simply notice it.
Be curious if it comes naturally to notice this with attunement,
With care,
In the same way you might listen to an attune with a precious child who's trying to tell you about a wound or a hurt that they're carrying.
Or if that feels foreign and disconnected to listen to your body with that kind of attunement and care.
With a nice gentle breath in and out.
And out.
We're going to connect a little more intentionally from head to toe.
If you haven't closed your eyes or found a spot to gently fix your gaze,
I invite you to do that.
Maybe again,
Wiggling or stretching your body to settle into the space.
And starting at the top of your head.
Just there.
Check in and listen to any feedback you receive.
And if it feels natural and helpful,
You can place your hands.
On each place that we're going to check in with.
So you can start with your forehead.
Slowly moving down the sides of your head,
The back of your head.
Tuning in with what your body might have to say.
Tuning in with the little muscles in your forehead.
Around your jaw.
Maybe inviting them.
To release just a little bit more with each exhale.
Next,
Placing your hands over your jaw and neck.
Listening in for tightness,
Tension,
Pain.
Noticing,
Are there any parts of me that might be trying to speak through what I'm feeling here?
What I might be carrying here?
And with another gentle breath.
Checking in with your shoulders,
Chest,
And arms.
Just noticing what do you feel.
What is it like to so slowly be aware of your body?
Continuing to make contact with your body,
With your hands,
If that feels natural,
If that feels comfortable.
You can slowly move to your torso,
Your back.
Giving some attention to your abdomen,
Your gut.
Our gut often has so much to say.
It's a really common place that we hold anxiety or stress.
And so as you breathe into your abdomen,
Just being extra curious.
What kind of feedback?
Might this space have to offer?
And slowly sinking in a little bit more.
Noticing your lower back.
Pelvis,
Hips.
Checking in with these muscles and sockets that so often get scrunched in a chair.
It might be tight,
Tense,
Or sore.
That might be holding emotion or grief.
And with another breath,
Moving down to your legs,
Your knees,
Ankles,
Feet,
And toes.
Just playing with questions.
Ask your body things like,
What do you want me to hear?
What might you want to tell me?
And inviting a really spacious,
Expansive breath.
We're now going to move from the ground up.
Continuing to slow down and connect with the body,
As well as playing with some gratitude and movement.
Starting with your toes,
You can simply play with wiggling them around a little bit.
Really press them into the ground.
Press your whole foot into the earth,
Feeling how your toes are connected to your feet and your ankles.
Gently lifting one heel up at a time,
Pressing the ball of your foot into the ground.
Reflecting on how many little muscles and bones and ligaments are involved with every single step.
Even just as we stand.
And if it feels natural and comfortable to do so,
I invite you to place your hands on your feet.
Reflecting on how the steps that your feet take aren't just a thought,
They're an embodied reality.
Our feet move us through life.
And maybe see what it's like to gently massage your feet a little bit,
Knowing how hard they work to hold us up.
And carry the fullness of who we are with each step.
And if it feels comfortable.
Thank your toes,
Your feet,
And your ankles for everything that they do.
Next,
You can move your hands to your calves.
As you take a breath.
Imagine breathing into your calves.
Noticing how these muscles feel.
If it feels comfortable,
You can gently massage your calf muscles,
Imagining that you're exhaling any tension that's held here.
And if you'd like,
You can visualize the tension oozing down into the ground or dissolving like mist.
And standing tall with your arms reaching above you.
You can connect with your calves as you stand on the balls of your feet,
Stretching your body as tall and long as you can,
Taking a deep breath,
And then letting your heels bounce on the ground and your calves relax.
Exhaling as you bounce down.
You can do this a couple more times in your own cadence.
Stretching up,
Reaching to the sky,
Going up on your tippy toes,
Exhaling as you drop your heels and your arms down together,
Relaxing.
Stretching up.
And as you bounce down,
Imagining tension or stress leaving your body,
Playing with any kind of exhale you might like.
As you bounce down,
It might be a silent breath out.
It might be a loud breath out.
And before we continue,
You can place your hands on your calves again,
Thanking those muscles for everything they do.
To hold you up.
And to support you.
And next you can move to your knees,
Your thighs,
Gently placing your hands on your knees and slowly moving through little circles.
Only within a range that feels comfortable for your body.
And after you go in one direction a couple times,
You can switch the direction.
Can play with stretching one leg out at a time and then contracting it,
Bending your knee.
Noticing how much is happening in this movement.
Reflecting on just how many times your knees bend and open throughout the day.
Really feeling how connected your knee joints are to everything around them.
Gently massaging them if you would like.
And thanking them for their movement.
Nice and slow,
Moving up to your hips,
Placing your hands on the front,
Side,
Or back of your hips.
And we're going to play with some gentle hip circles.
I know this might feel or look silly.
So just let yourself laugh or be playful with this if you'd like to.
Creating a nice big circle with your hips,
Pressing into your back with your thumbs.
Creating a nice big circle in one direction for a couple times.
Switching in the other direction for a couple times,
Noticing what feels similar or different on both sides.
Remembering that our hips are a place.
That holds so much emotion,
Often storing and carrying much more than we realize.
You can wiggle and move those hips continued in circles or any other kind of movement that feels most comfortable to you.
And just notice what feels comfortable or uncomfortable about moving your hips in particular.
Does it feel safe to be playful about this?
Does it not feel safe?
Listening in and respecting how your body wants to move or doesn't want to move.
And before continuing on,
Thanking your hips for literally holding so much together.
And thanking your hits for any feedback that they offered you as you were listening in.
And now moving your hands up to your abdomen,
The sides of your torso and your lower back.
Taking a moment to think about all our internal organs that are constantly on the clock,
Working to keep us alive and sustain our life moment to moment.
Things that we don't even have to think about.
If you'd like,
You can join me in twisting your torso and spine a bit side to side,
Letting your arms freely move and knock against your lower back as you sway side to side.
This can give your internal organs a bit of a massage.
And you can play with moving side to side more quickly or slowly,
Whatever feels most natural and comfortable.
And whenever you're ready to slow the movement down into stillness,
You can place your hands over your abdomen,
Thanking the core of your embodied being.
For sustaining you in more ways than we'll probably ever know or understand.
Feeling your breath entering and exiting all four corners of your abdomen.
And then moving your hands up,
You can place your hands on your shoulders,
Gently massaging muscles that so frequently hold tension and stress.
Things that parts of us are just carrying every single day.
And if it feels comfortable.
Can let yourself imagine.
Anything you're feeling you're carrying as something concrete,
Maybe a weight or particles or mist.
And imagine that dissolving or being lifted from your shoulders.
With each exhale,
Seeing what it's like to imagine breathing out just a little bit more.
Of what you've been carrying.
And then you can play with letting yourself shake your fingers,
Your hands,
Your wrists,
Your arms.
Imagine getting out any remnants or hidden corners of stress and tension that you don't want to be carrying,
That you don't want to be holding.
And if there's any part of you that's having a hard time imagining letting go or releasing something,
You can see what it's like to ask that part of you to give you just a little bit of space here to play with this exercise,
To play with what it would feel like to shake something off,
Even if it's just for a moment.
A nice deep breath.
Lastly,
We're going to place our hands on the sides of our jaw,
Neck,
Connecting with all the little muscles in our face.
You can play with moving your nose in little circles.
Opening your jaw,
Gently closing your jaw.
Stretching your neck if that feels good.
I'm doing a couple neck circles in one way or the other if that feels good.
Just reflecting on how the average head weighs over 10 pounds,
Which is a lot of weight to always have resting on our necks.
And so with that,
You can see what it's like to give your jaw and your neck a little massage,
To begin with these muscles that do so much.
Holding our head,
Being so intricately connected to the ways we communicate with others.
When we open our throats,
Use our voice and speak.
Maybe even noticing if there are ways that these muscles or what those muscles might symbolize might feel not only tight,
But even restricted.
Maybe getting curious about the ways.
You might want to invite different parts of you to speak and be heard in new ways.
Just simply noticing your breath entering and leaving your body.
Banking your neck,
Jaw,
Face,
Whole head for engaging with the world around you and with other people.
And before we close.
I invite you to see how your whole body might want to move right now.
Head to toe.
Might your body want to sway?
Enjoy more hip circles.
Shake around.
Jump or dance.
Stretch or contract into a little hug or a little ball.
Whatever feels most safe and natural.
Playing with giving your body full permission here.
Pausing the audio if you would like more time to play with this.
Not only playing with that movement,
But continuing to invite gratitude.
So as you play with holistic movement,
See what it's like to play with holistic gratitude.
For ways that we are able to freely and flexibly move through life.
In big movements,
Little movements,
Whatever ways our bodies.
Do and don't move through life.
Whatever movements are and are not accessible to our body.
And whenever you feel ready.
You can bring yourself to stillness.
Placing a hand over your heart or shoulders or abdomen,
Whatever feels natural and best.
Maybe you want to curl up,
Holding yourself in a big hug.
Just honoring a moment here,
Thanking all parts of you,
Thanking your whole body.
For being present in this time.
Breathing into your whole body from head to toe,
Exhaling fully out.
Opening your eyes if you haven't already.
Just gently blinking,
Gently looking around.
And whenever you're ready.
Reentering your day.
