The following meditation is inspired by a traditional mindfulness body scan practice.
So we begin by getting into a comfortable position,
Preferably lying down,
And sinking as deeply as we can into the ground beneath us.
Just relaxing all the muscles,
Gently closing the eyes,
And we'll take a few moments now to breathe in deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth as a way of settling the mind.
So long slow deep inhale through the nose,
And a slow gentle exhale out through the mouth.
And again another deep breath in through the nose,
Really filling the lungs and the belly,
And a slow gentle out breath,
Really sensing the release that you're letting go.
And again inhaling deeply,
Really filling the chest,
Filling the belly,
See if you can expand as if blowing up a balloon inside your belly,
And then a slow gentle out breath.
Just really feeling the sensations of letting go,
And bringing the breath back to a natural rhythm,
Trusting your body knows exactly how much air to let in and how much to let out.
We bring our attention now to the top of our heads,
Seeing if you can give the top of your scalp gentle massage with your mind's eye,
Softening the scalp,
Gently massaging down,
Relaxing the facial muscles,
Softening the eyes,
Relaxing the mouth,
Perhaps unhinging the jaw.
You can place your tongue on the roof of the mouth to see if you can soften it a bit more.
Just really feeling everything falling,
Relaxing outward,
Relaxing the shoulders back and down,
And bringing your awareness now into the inside of the shoulders,
Beginning with the right shoulder.
You can breathe into any tension,
Just notice if there's any tingling,
Any sensations,
Any nodding.
We carry a lot of tension in our shoulders,
So just taking a moment to breathe in and out of the right shoulder,
And then coming over to the left shoulder,
Breathing in and out,
Seeing if you can dissolve any tension,
Just softening from ice to water,
And scanning down the arms,
Just noticing any sensations,
Any feelings,
Bringing your awareness now down to your hands,
Any tingling,
Any vibrating,
Taking a moment to breathe in and out of each finger.
Just imagine as if your breath was coming out in and out of each finger,
Starting with your left hand,
And then moving over to your right hand,
Bringing the awareness now to the chest and the heart space,
Taking a few deep breaths in and out of the heart area,
Seeing if you can really expand,
Breathe life into this space,
Noticing any sensations here,
Any emotions,
Any feelings that are coming up,
Everything is welcome,
Seeing if you can bring a little more loving-kindness to anything that arises,
And continuing to scan down the body,
Bringing the awareness now down to the belly,
See if you can inhale from the ground up,
Bringing the air up into the belly,
Just noticing any sensations here,
Any tightening,
Any tingling,
Just really breathing in and out of the breast,
The belly,
Relaxing down now to the top of your legs,
Feeling into the quadricep muscles,
Noticing if there's any tension here,
Just gently breathing in and out,
Bringing some loving-kindness,
And bringing your attention now down to the knees,
See if you can massage the back of the knee area with your mind's eye,
Just a gentle little massaging on the back of the knees,
And feeling into the calf muscles,
Noticing any tingling or any sensations here,
Scanning down to the ankles,
Into the feet,
Noticing any tingling,
Any vibrating in the toes,
And if there are no sensations,
That's perfectly fine,
Just notice that too,
Everything is welcome,
Seeing if you can breathe in and out of the toes,
Starting with your right foot,
Just breathing in and out of each toe,
One by one,
And then moving over to the left foot,
And just gently breathing in and out of each toe,
Now seeing if you can widen your attention to notice all of the body sensations,
Holding all of them in a gentle and friendly,
Loving awareness,
Imagine that you are breathing into the whole body,
Each in-breath,
And breathing out from the whole body with each out-breath,
And if the mind starts to wander,
That's okay,
Just gently drift back,
Reopening back into this present moment,
Resting in this open awareness of all the body sensations,
You bringing an open and friendly presence to the entire body,
If there's an area that needs a little bit more love,
Just gently bring your awareness to that space,
Breathe in and out,
Loosening any tension,
Imagining a gentle dissolving from ice to water,
Continuing to breathe,
Just relaxing into this present moment,
There's nowhere you have to be,
Nothing you have to do,
Just be here,
Right here,
Right now,
Just continuing to rest in this open awareness,
The present moment,
Noticing all of the body sensations as they dance together in a beautiful symphony,
And finally bringing the awareness back to the heart space,
Just taking a few deep breaths in and out of the chest area,
Perhaps inwardly reciting a deep wish of loving kindness,
May I be healthy and strong,
May I be safe and protected,
May I be happy,
Truly happy,
And may I live with ease,
And when it feels supportive you can start to wiggle your fingers and your toes,
Gently turning your head from side to side,
And when you're ready gently open your eyes,
Thank you for sharing in this body scan meditation with me,
I wish you a wonderful rest of the day or evening.
