So,
You are very welcome to our body scan meditation today.
I'm going to invite you to start by finding a quiet and comfortable place to either sit or lie down.
And close your eyes if you are comfortable doing so,
If not just lower your gaze.
And begin to take a few deep breaths for me to help you relax your body and mind.
Inhale deeply through your nose,
Hold just for a moment and then exhaling slowly through your mouth.
And repeat this breath a few times.
And as you begin to relax through the power of the breath,
Begin to bring your awareness to your body.
Feel the points of contact between your body and the surface you're sitting or lying on.
Notice the sensation of your clothing against your skin.
And we're going to begin to scan our body.
Starting at the top of our head,
We're going to scan all the way down to our toes.
And as you focus on each part of your body,
Try to release any tension or tightness that you may be holding.
Bringing your attention to your head,
The top of your head,
Gently scanning down your forehead into your jaw,
Noticing any sensations here like tension or relaxation.
And allow your forehead,
Eyes,
Cheeks and jaw to relax.
And then as you move into the neck and shoulders,
Let go of any tension here,
Allow your shoulders to drop.
We often feel like we carry an awful lot on our shoulders when we hear the phrase,
I have the weight of the world on my shoulders.
So let's move into our right shoulder first of all,
Just relaxing our right shoulder and begin to scan down the right arm,
Scanning down your upper arm,
Your elbow,
Down into your wrist and indeed your hand,
Relaxing each and every finger.
Notice the difference between your right arm and your left arm,
Or is there a difference?
One you have brought awareness to and one we are just about to bring awareness to.
Sometimes it can be interesting to notice,
Is there a difference in weight?
Does one feel lighter?
Does one feel heavier?
And moving across to your left shoulder now,
Gently scanning down your left arm into your left elbow,
Down into your left wrist,
Relaxing each one of your fingers.
Allow your arms to just feel heavy and relaxed.
And then bring your awareness to your chest area for me and your torso.
Notice the rise and fall of your breath.
Allow your chest to expand with each inhale and contract with each exhale.
Notice the rhythm of the breath,
How it moves the body.
And I'd like you to bring your awareness to the base of your neck,
The top of your spine as you begin to scan down your back,
Releasing any tension in your upper back first of all,
Noticing any sensations as you move through the middle of your back,
Your lower back.
And then bringing your awareness to your hip space.
And just feel if your hips are tight,
If you feel tension or if you feel relaxed,
Maybe if you're sitting,
You could feel the weight of your body.
And we're going to bring awareness first of all,
Into our right hip and gently begin to scan down your right leg,
Past your right knee,
Your right calf,
Your right ankle and into your right foot.
And relaxing your foot and relaxing each one of your toes.
And shifting to your left hip now and we begin to do the same as we scan down our left leg.
Down our thigh and into our knee,
Down our left calf,
Our left ankle and relaxing our left foot and each of our toes.
Just releasing any remaining tension in your legs.
And I would like you to just step back from the perspective of awareness and just take a moment to feel your entire body as a whole.
Notice the sensation of relaxation and calmness that has spread throughout your body.
Just taking a moment in silence now to bathe in the energy of relaxation.
And if you find yourself getting taken away with thought,
That's okay.
Just use an anchor point,
Either the tip of your nose or maybe your heart space and just come back and place the awareness on your breath.
And when you're ready,
Gently bringing your awareness back to the present moment,
Beginning to bring movement into your fingers and toes.
And when you feel ready,
Slowly opening your eyes and just giving yourself a moment to transition from your practice.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
