Welcome.
Let's begin our meditation together today by bringing our attention to our breath.
Please inhale deeply.
As you exhale,
Allow your eyes to close,
Turning your attention within to the breath.
With your mind's eye,
Begin to notice that you're inhaling.
Notice that you're exhaling.
Letting your attention come to rest on the natural rise and fall of your breath.
As you breathe in,
Notice where it feels like the breath goes in your body.
As you breathe out,
Notice how your body feels as it releases your breath.
Feel the overall quality of your breath as you find it just now.
There is no need to manipulate the tempo or the depth of your breath.
Just let it be easy and natural.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now please shift your attention to the crown of your head,
Right at the very top of your skull.
Notice the crown of your head.
Notice the top of your scalp,
Your forehead,
Your eyebrows,
Your temples.
Notice your ears,
Your nose,
Your jaw,
Your lips,
And even the interior of your mouth.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Imagine relaxing your head from the inside out.
Releasing the jaw,
Releasing the tongue inside the mouth,
And even relaxing the backs of your eyes beneath your closed eyelids.
Notice your head as a whole as you breathe in,
And as you exhale,
Relax your head.
Let your attention travel down into your throat.
Front of throat,
Sides of neck,
Back of neck.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Relax and lengthen the neck.
Imagining even your windpipe,
Releasing tension from the inside out.
Softening the interior of your throat so that it feels like a spacious and open channel for the breath.
Allow your attention to wander from there down into your chest,
Your shoulders,
And your upper back.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Feel your chest,
Shoulders,
And upper back relax.
Releasing any holding,
Any tension,
Any sense of burden.
Softening away as you relax and exhale.
Allow your mind to notice your arms from the shoulder down to the elbows,
Through the forearms,
Wrists,
Into the palms and fingers.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Relax the palms.
Let the fingers be loose,
Releasing and lengthening your arms.
Breathe in,
Exhale,
And notice your solar plexus,
The top of the abdomen,
Just where your ribs come together in front,
And notice your middle back.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Release tension,
Any sense of holding from the top of your abdomen,
All the way around through your ribs into your middle back behind you.
Breathing in,
Allow your attention to come to your belly,
The soft tissues of the abdomen,
The sides,
And your lower back.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Release and relax fatigue,
Tension,
Or holding from the belly,
Sides,
And back.
Notice the interior of your belly.
Allow your breath to soften your organs.
Imagine relaxing your body from the inside out.
Move your attention down into the bowl of your pelvis.
Feel your buttocks,
Your hips,
And your pelvic floor relax.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Imagine relaxing the hips and the entire area of the pelvis,
Letting go of any holding in the buttocks,
Any tension in the hips.
Breathe in,
Shift your attention now to the tops of your legs,
Noticing your thighs,
Front of thighs,
Inner thighs,
Hamstrings at the back of your thighs.
Breathe in,
And as you exhale,
Relax,
Relax the thighs from the hips to the knees,
Feeling a softening and a loosening of the legs.
Notice your knees,
Kneecaps,
Inner and outer knee joint,
Back of knee,
Breathing in,
Breathe out,
And soften at the knees.
Notice your shins,
Your calves,
Relaxing the lower legs as you exhale,
Feeling the weight of your legs.
Notice your ankles,
Letting your attention travel around your entire ankle joint,
Both right and left.
Inhale deeply,
And as you exhale,
Imagine relaxing your ankles,
Just allowing your feet to feel like they are falling off the ends of your legs.
Inhale,
Exhale and notice your feet,
Tops of feet,
Toes,
Balls of feet,
Arches,
And heels.
Notice your Achilles tendons at the back of your ankles.
Draw your breath in,
And as you exhale,
Relax and release your feet,
Softening especially through the arches of your feet.
Feel that your toes are loose,
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
Draw your attention slowly back up through the body,
From your feet,
All the way back up to the crown of your head.
Take your time,
And do this in your own way,
Scanning your attention back up through your body,
Until once again,
It rests at the crown of your head.
Inhale,
And as you exhale,
Return your awareness to your breath.
Notice once more that you are breathing in.
Notice that you are breathing out.
Feel your breath coming and going from your body,
Resting in your body in a state of ease and comfort,
Knowing that you can utilize a body scan anytime to bring present moment awareness.
Inhale,
Exhale,
And as you are ready,
Allow your eyes to gently open as you prepare to go on with your day.
Thank you.
