Begin to notice your body's positioning,
How it's contoured in its position.
Notice where you're making contact.
And then gently begin to notice your breath,
Where you sense your breathing.
And we will take our time bringing awareness throughout the body.
So just check in,
Notice how your body is feeling overall from head to toe.
Just gently scanning,
Being open to what's there.
Doing our best not to judge,
But just to be curious and open.
You may take a few deeper cleansing breaths.
And when you're ready,
You may draw a breath in and drive your awareness down to the tips of your toes,
Your feet,
Your ankles.
And throughout this meditation,
You may use your breath as a guide.
Fill in or fill up those areas of your body to draw awareness there.
To breathe into,
To breathe with,
And to breathe through the sensations of your body.
So right now,
We're just focusing on our toes,
Our feet,
And our ankles.
See what's there.
Are there sensations of warmth,
Tenseness,
Anything in your awareness?
Just notice.
You may breathe along with what's there.
And with your next breath,
You may draw your awareness up into the lower part of your legs,
Your shins,
Your calves,
Whatever's there right now in this moment.
It's perfectly normal if your mind is wandering or if you don't feel much sensation at all.
Or simply bring yourselves to our bodies as if we're bringing our minds into our bodies.
Just seeing what's there,
Maybe a touch of clothing or the air around you.
Just noticing.
Now become aware of your knees.
Just what's happening in this moment.
Maybe how your legs are bent at the knee or if they're straightened out.
Searching front,
Back,
And sides.
Breathing along.
Slowly pull your awareness up to the upper part of your legs,
Your thighs.
Notice where you're making contact again.
Warm,
Cool,
Tense,
Neutral,
Or even very little feeling at all.
Breathing along with this awareness.
Taking time for our bodies.
And then notice your pelvis.
Maybe noticing varying sensations.
Letting the breath travel through these areas.
And again,
If the mind wanders,
We're gently ushering ourselves back to the meditation.
Just right now focusing on our pelvis.
Now bringing awareness to the lower part of the back,
Where many of us hold stress.
And seeing if you can marry the breath to create the least amount of resistance and suffering.
Just breathing along with what's there in your lower back.
Breathing into it,
Breathing through it.
Seeing if you can open to what's there.
Allowing that awareness to radiate from the back to the stomach.
Feeling the breath expand and release in these areas.
Taking time to be curious and open.
If there's discomfort,
Tense,
We're not here to fight it or struggle with it.
We're here to open.
Take a few moments.
Now draw your awareness slowly up to the middle part of your back.
Maybe feeling the lungs fill and expand and release.
Feeling those sensations from front to side to back.
And allowing that awareness to radiate up through the chest.
Maybe sensing your heart beating,
Expanding into the shoulder blades.
And then finally up to the tops of your shoulders.
There you may even find with each in-breath your body rising up.
Slowly falling with gravity with each out-breath.
The shoulders may be where we often brace.
Brace against stress.
See if you can allow gravity to do its work.
Let the shoulders fall with gravity.
Falling further with each out-breath.
Now traveling from the tops of your shoulders slowly through the arms.
All the way to the tips of the fingers.
And so you may start with your biceps,
Triceps.
Noticing if there's fullness,
Tenseness.
It's cool or warm.
Down to your elbows.
Or noticing how your arms are positioned.
Bent,
Contoured.
Forearms.
And then maybe taking in an even deeper breath.
And allowing it to fill through your hands.
All the way to the tips of your fingers.
Breathing out and through the tips of your fingers.
Just noticing any sensations.
You may scan all the way from your shoulders to the tips of your fingers.
Just noticing the arms.
When you're ready,
Slowly bringing that awareness up from the fingers.
So the arms and shoulders to your neck,
Your throat.
The lower part of your jaw.
Allowing these areas to soften.
Noticing the breath traveling through.
Using your breath again as a guide.
Noticing your nose,
Your cheeks.
Maybe the cool breath traveling through.
Behind your eyes,
Through your brow.
Noticing the ears.
And you may draw in an even deeper breath.
To allow your awareness to finally travel up through your forehead.
To the top of your head.
Possibly beyond the top of your head.
Just allowing for whatever's there.
Just for it to be as it is.
Being accepting.
Being ever-present.
Finding a sense of gratefulness.
Take a couple deeper cleansing breaths.
And as you do,
Allow your awareness and openness to cascade.
From the top of your head all the way down.
Slowly through your body.
And just noticing how it feels overall as one.
As one entity.
Just checking in.
You may check in with your body at any time of the day.
Maybe specific areas.
Or just noticing how your body feels overall in any given moment.
Just another way to tune in and directly sense what's happening in our lives.
And the moment allows us to step out of our thinking and think-solving.
Just finding time and space for body and breath awareness.
Just take a few moments to notice how you're doing.
How you're feeling overall right now.
And take a few moments just to note the self-care.
The self-compassion.
The openness.
The awareness that you've just practiced.
And when you hear the sound of the bell.
You may gently open your eyes and come back to the room.
