In these few minutes,
We're going to spend some time tuning in with our body.
This track is part of a series of three audio tracks that follow the movements of the book The Sacred Art of Slowing Down.
Those movements are slow down,
Tune in with the body,
And tend to the depths of the soul.
As we get started,
I invite you to take an extra few moments here to get situated.
So from the very get-go,
Listening in to feedback that your body might be giving you about how you want to sit or stand or lay down as you listen to this audio track.
Maybe you'd like to stretch your arms or your legs before you get comfy.
Maybe you'd like to shake your arms or your legs,
Exhale some stress or exhale something that happened at work or with a loved one earlier.
Maybe you want to lay flat on your back and let your body be fully free to simply be something that we don't often have the luxury of doing as we move through our days.
If you'd like any extra time to get settled and grab a cozy blanket or a cup of tea or something like that,
Please feel free to press pause.
Otherwise,
As we get started here,
We're going to do a little bit of a body scan with some intentional contact.
So I'll have you start if it feels comfortable and if it's accessible by placing your hands over your feet and your toes,
Taking a couple mindful breaths and simply thinking about everything that your toes and your feet,
Your ankles,
Everything that they do every single day from the moment that you get up and stand up to the moment that you get off your feet and lay down and go to bed.
And as we work through these movements,
You can modify anything that I prompt for what works best for your body or what's most true of your experience.
These are simply invitations of prompts that you can modify and adapt as needed.
Before we move on,
Even if this feels silly or strange,
I invite you to invite some communication,
Some feedback from your feet,
Your toes,
Your ankles.
Just being curious to listen in and see if there's anything your body might want to tell you.
And if you notice nothing or feel like I have no idea how to even do this,
That's OK.
Be right where you are.
Be curious about what that's like to feel nothing or to maybe feel a disconnect right now.
If you'd like more time here,
You can pause.
Otherwise,
You can join me moving to your calves,
Placing your hands on your calves over your shins,
Your knees,
The front side and back of your knees.
Just taking a few mindful breaths,
Thinking about everything that the muscles of your calves,
The joint of your knee does with every single step,
Every single movement.
I don't know about you,
But my knees are something that can talk back to me sometimes when they're not feeling good.
Sometimes that's the only way that we listen to our body is when something hurts.
And then we don't want to feel that and we want to go to the doctor or go to the medicine cabinet and get something to mask that pain,
Right,
To make it go away,
To turn down the volume.
And in these moments,
What I want to invite you into is a curiosity of might there be other things I can tune into here with my body other than pain?
And even if there is pain,
Might there be a both and here,
If there's both pain and be curious to fill in that blank.
What else the muscles of your calves or the joints of your knees might want to communicate?
Just listening in for any feedback,
Tuning in with what it's like to notice your body.
Being connected to your body,
Being your body,
Being in your knees right now in your calves.
If you'd like more time here,
You can press pause.
Otherwise,
You can join me in placing your hands over your quads,
Your hamstrings,
Moving up to your hips,
Lower back,
Pelvis.
Really,
This hinge,
This connection point between our upper and lower body.
Again,
Thinking about all the movements,
All the little muscles and ligaments,
The joints,
The blood flow,
Just everything that's happening every moment,
Both when we're stagnant,
But also especially in movement.
And how our bodies just know how to move.
If we need to pick something up off the ground,
If we need to step forward,
If we sit down in a chair,
Stand up.
Taking another moment or two here to just listen in.
Seeing what is it like to be this aware of my body?
Noticing if it feels comfortable or uncomfortable and knowing that it's okay if it feels uncomfortable.
It's okay if you still don't sense a connection.
Simply being curious about how you're experiencing moving through this with me.
Knowing that even if for you,
It feels like,
Okay,
I really can't be curious or compassionate in this moment.
If it feels helpful,
Knowing I'm more than welcome to hold that for you.
If you'd like more time here,
You can pause.
Otherwise,
Next,
We're going to move up to the core,
Your torso,
Your back,
Lower back,
Middle back,
Pelvis,
Pelvis,
Pelvis.
Upper back.
Just taking a moment to think about all of the vital organs that are functioning around the clock,
Keeping us alive.
Even if it feels silly thinking about when was the last time that I thought about tuning in with my liver,
My stomach.
My small intestine.
And I say this in a way that is somewhat intentionally silly,
But I also want to really seriously say,
It's easy to know that we have a body,
But be disconnected from our body.
And it can feel complex and even inconvenient at times to really be aware of the fact that we don't just have a body,
But we are a body.
And something really beautiful that Hilary McBride will say,
She's the author of the wisdom of your body.
And I know there are others who have said that as well,
But that's something,
Having heard her say those words,
That just sticks with me so deeply.
When I slow down and tune in with my own body of knowing this isn't tuning in with an object,
This is tuning in with our own selves,
Our living,
Breathing beings.
If you'd like more time here,
You can pause.
Otherwise I invite you to join me in placing your hands over your arms,
Moving from your shoulders down to your elbows and your wrists.
Maybe moving your wrists in little circles and feeling your fingertips from one hand to another.
Thinking about all the things that our arms and our fingers do as we reach out,
As we hold loved ones,
As we carry burdens,
The weight of the world that can rest on our shoulders.
Our neck,
Our heads.
Maybe placing your hands over the sides of your face,
Feeling the warmth of your face and thinking about the ways that our face connects with the world around us and what difference it might make when we are connected to our body,
To our face.
How that intersects with the ways that our face,
Our body interacts with the world around us.
When others are connected to their body and their face,
How does that change how we experience them?
If you'd like more time here again,
You can press pause.
Otherwise,
I invite you to take just a few more mindful breaths,
Noticing how you're feeling right now.
Noticing,
Okay,
Are there any parts of my body that I actually feel really aware of that I'm not normally aware of?
Are there parts of my body that I feel especially disconnected from?
Are there parts of my body I don't want to be connected to?
That I don't want to feel?
And I invite you to think about in the next day or week or so,
A time that you might be able to sit with this or walk with this.
Whether it's sitting to journal,
Taking a walk to chew on what you experienced during this time.
Maybe there's a car ride or a commute that you might think of,
Maybe not playing a podcast or music and just letting yourself get more curious about what you started to tune in with during this time.
And to close,
We're going to take three nice deep breaths together.
Following whatever cadence works for your body,
Almost imagining breathing into not only your lungs,
But all the way down to your toes,
All the way out to your fingers,
Expanding all four corners of your abdomen.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Letting your whole body exhale.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
One last time,
Inviting every little fiber of your breathing to breathe in.
And breathe out.
I hope you'll join me for the third of this series as well.
Thank you for joining me here.
I hope you have a great rest of your day.
