This body scan is an opportunity to connect with sensations in your body,
Noticing them without judgment.
To begin,
I invite you to notice your posture,
The sensation of contact between your sitz bones and your cushion or chair,
Bed or sofa,
Whatever is providing support to your body.
And noticing underneath that its connection to the floor,
The ground and the earth below.
And then inviting the crown of your head to move upwards or away from your bottom,
Inviting elongation in your spine,
A sense of a dignified posture that is also at ease.
As we move through this body scan,
You may find that your attention wanders and that's okay.
If it does,
Simply name where your attention has moved and guide it back.
Breathing with the crown of your head,
Breathing in and noticing sensations from behind your forehead,
Behind your ears and moving to the back of your scalp where it meets your neck.
Awareness of the sensations in your scalp.
If there's any holding or tension,
Noticing it with curiosity.
And with your next exhalation,
Inviting softening and lightening in your scalp.
With your next breath in,
Inviting your awareness into your face,
Noticing sensations in your forehead,
Around your eyes,
Around your nose,
Into your cheeks,
Around your mouth,
Inside your mouth and your jaws,
Bringing awareness to all of the sensations in your face.
Breathing with your next breath out,
Inviting softening and lightening throughout your face.
With your next breath in,
Inviting awareness into your neck,
Noticing sensations in the front,
Sides and back of your neck and your throat in between.
And then with your next breath out,
Inviting any holding to release and flow out with your breath.
With your next in breath,
Inviting awareness into the tops of your shoulders,
Moving into your upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists,
Hands and fingers.
Noticing the sensations present throughout your arms,
Inviting any tension that's ready to leave your arms to flow out through your fingers with your out breath.
As you breathe in now,
Inviting awareness into your chest,
Bringing an awareness to the sensations around your collarbones,
Perhaps feeling your heartbeat,
Perhaps noticing the movement of the little muscles between your ribs as you breathe.
And with your next exhalation,
Inviting softening and lightening in your chest.
As you breathe in again,
Moving awareness into your belly,
Home to so many vital organs,
Noticing if there are any areas of holding or tension.
And as you breathe out,
Inviting softening and a release of any tension that is ready to leave your belly.
With your next breath in,
I invite you to notice the sensations in your upper back,
The area between your shoulder blades,
Mid back and lower back,
Noticing if there's any holding in your back.
And as you breathe out,
Inviting a release of anything that is not serving your back.
With your next breath in,
Inviting awareness into your pelvis,
Noticing sensations around your hips,
Into your sits bones,
The sling of muscles providing support to your pelvis.
Feeling out and inviting softening and lightening in your pelvis.
With your next inhalation,
Inviting awareness into your upper legs,
Moving into your knees,
Calves,
Ankles,
Feet and toes,
Noticing the sensations that are present throughout your legs.
And as you breathe out,
Inviting softening and lightening throughout your legs and feet.
With your next breaths in,
I invite you to notice the interconnection between all of these parts of your body that form an integrated whole.
Our bodies have an inherent wisdom,
Ability to self-regulate and heal quite beyond our conscious minds.
If you wish,
Take a moment to express gratitude for all that your body is doing.
And if you wish,
Expressing gratitude to yourself for dedicating this time to your wellbeing.
