Mind Body Soul Scan

This is an awareness practice to help bring yourself into the present moment and connect with yourself. Practicing this daily can help increase your focus, bring a deeper awareness of yourself, provide insight and overall relaxation and stress relief as you take time away from external distractions.

Transcript

Welcome,

My name is Andrea Ashley and I am so grateful to have you here with me today.

This is an awareness meditation to help bring yourself into the present moment and connect with yourself.

Using this daily can help increase your focus,

Bring deeper awareness,

Provide insight and overall relaxation,

As well as stress relief as you take time away from external distractions.

If you are new to meditation or new to this type of practice,

Do not worry if you get distracted or if the mind trails off.

If or when it does,

When you become aware of it,

Simply bring your awareness back to the sound of my voice and follow along once again.

This can happen many times for some people and that is okay.

Do not judge yourself.

It is called a mindfulness practice for a reason.

It is something that with practice we inevitably increase our skill.

I personally prefer this practice laying down,

So if you can find a place to do so,

I invite you to do that now.

Otherwise finding any space that you can set up comfortably.

Taking your time to settle into your space,

Ensuring that you are completely comfortable and fully supported.

Taking any last minute adjustments to the physical body so that you are in a position that you can maintain for the next 20 minutes or so.

Taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth,

Letting the entire body melt into its space.

Begin to settle in mentally now.

You can start by observing the sounds far off in the distance,

Not becoming attached or trying to identify the source.

Just simply observing any sounds you may hear.

Then begin to bring your attention to the sounds which are closer,

Maybe just outside of your room.

Simply bringing your focus to the sounds inside of your room.

Bringing yourself into this beautiful space in this tranquil setting.

Regardless of where you are physically,

You can be in a beautiful and tranquil space.

Begin to move your attention now to the sound of your breath.

Begin to listen to your inhales and exhales,

Letting the focus of your breath anchor you in this moment.

Begin to notice any sensations of the breath.

Are you breathing into the belly or are you breathing just in the chest?

Is it slow or fast,

Shallow or deep?

Are there any areas of constriction?

Becoming aware of how and where you are breathing in this moment.

Taking some time to observe the breath in its natural state without attempting to change or control it in any way.

Then begin to shift your awareness to your body.

How does the overall body feel in this moment?

Fatigued,

Relaxed,

Tense.

Our body does so much for us and we expect so much from it to continuously keep going without even taking a second to really check in and notice how it is operating.

In fact,

Many of us just set aside any light sensations.

We ignore bodily signals so we can continue on with our work or life.

This is a perfect time now to honor the body and check in.

Notice how it feels laying or sitting in your current position.

Notice the weight distribution of the body against the bed,

Chair or floor.

Notice any aches or pains.

Notice if there are any differences between the left and right side of a particular area.

Maybe take a few moments now to do a mental body scan.

Starting at your feet and working your way upward.

Having any sensations before you move on to the next area.

Checking in with the entire body.

Taking a few moments to do this now.

Taking a few moments to do this now.

Continuing to scan the body.

If you've become distracted,

Just bring your focus back.

Looking up where you left off.

Once you have checked in with every area of the body and observed any sensations,

Begin to shift your awareness once again,

This time to your mind.

Experts say we have anywhere between 50,

000 and 80,

000 thoughts per day.

Literally thousands of thoughts are passing through our mind every single hour.

And most of them we are completely unaware of.

Yet these thoughts have the ability to shape our lens on how we view the world,

How we view others,

How we view ourselves.

Our actions and reactions,

Our judgments and beliefs.

Take a few moments now to simply observe the thoughts that are passing through,

Not becoming involved or emotionally connected to them in any way.

Simply observing with detached awareness.

Taking a few moments to do this now.

Taking a few moments to observe the thoughts that are passing through,

Not becoming involved or emotionally connected to them.

Now begin to shift your awareness to your emotions.

Emotions are another aspect of our being that we often shove down,

Mostly so we can deal with them later,

So we can continue with our life uninterrupted.

Or for some,

It is the preferred coping mechanism as they can avoid the uncomfortable feelings and the challenging work to get through to the other side.

The trouble with that is that just because you don't deal with them doesn't mean that they aren't there.

These emotions are still with you wherever you go,

Unresolved,

Influencing you in ways you may be unaware of.

Take a few moments now to really connect with how you are feeling in this moment,

Not how you wish you were feeling or how you portray your feeling to the outside world,

But how you genuinely feel at the core of your authentic self.

Do you feel happy,

Sad,

Shame,

Guilt,

Content,

Anxious,

Depressed,

Scared,

Joyful?

You can experience many different emotions,

And some may seem polar opposite to each other,

And that's okay.

Just take a few moments now to observe any and all emotions that may be coming up for you.

Okay.

Once you have completed and no further emotions are presenting themselves,

I invite you to take a moment here to connect any dots.

Reflect on what came up for you with your breath pattern,

With your physical body scan,

Your thoughts,

And your emotions.

Are they connected?

Does one influence the other?

Or perhaps there's one specific one that is the root cause and is responsible for how the rest of your being is showing up today.

For example,

Feeling of anxiousness presented,

And if it did,

You may have noticed that the breath was short.

Maybe it was only in the chest.

Maybe your thoughts were rapid and filled with worry or planning.

Perhaps the physical body may have not been able to relax or even felt uneasy in the tummy.

I will leave you in silence for a few moments to observe all your findings and make any connections that may be presenting itself.

Let's go to Prat Increasingly.

What have you found?

Was there something in particular that came up for you?

After observing any connections that you've made between your breath,

Physical body,

Mind and emotions,

Take a moment now to use these findings to set an intention.

As an example,

If you realized you have a lot of judgmental thoughts and it is affecting how you feel emotionally and you'd like to invite more understanding and acceptance into your life,

Your intention may be,

For today I let go of judgment,

Judgment of myself and judgment of others.

I invite you to take a few moments to set an intention now.

Once you have found your intention,

I invite you to bring your awareness back into your breath,

Breathing slowly and deeply in through the nose and out through the nose.

Inhaling and exhaling.

Making each next breath a little bit deeper,

A little bit longer than the last.

Inhaling and exhaling.

We will now begin to introduce your intention,

Using it as a mantra.

Every inhale,

Silently repeat your intention.

If it is a short enough phrase,

I like to repeat it on the inhale and on the exhale,

But find a pattern that works best for you and your breath pattern.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Through this breathing pattern,

Reciting your mantra,

I will mind the time.

And when your meditation comes to an end,

You will hear a soft bell.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Bringing your focus back to your breath or your mantra if you tripped it off.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

Inhale and exhale.

It is now time to release your mantra.

Continue to sit or lay with your eyes closed.

And when you are ready,

You can bring one hand to the heart and take a moment here to thank yourself for your practice.

Sending your mind,

Body,

And breath.

Sending so much love and light and thanking you for joining me today.

Namaste.

Reviews

A very good combination of basic mindfulness techniques like meditation, body scan and breath observation. The idea to end it with a personal intention is nice. A very helpful meditation! 🙏🏻