Body scan.
By just taking a few breaths.
Take a second to recognise any noises.
Cars driving past.
Birds in the trees.
Take a second to feel the room you're sitting in.
And then just bring your focus back to you.
Can you feel your weight pushing through your cushion or chair?
Can you feel it supporting you?
You can't fall anywhere.
Feel the solid ground beneath you.
Feel your knees or feet connecting with the ground.
Just feel how solid that feels and see if you can relax into it.
Just relaxing maybe a few extra percent into your cushion or chair.
And then gently bring your attention to your feet,
To your toes,
The arch in your foot,
Your ankle.
Can you feel any sensations?
Can you feel nothing?
Just seeing what's there.
Moving up to your lower legs.
Are there any sensations in your calves,
In your shins,
Your knees?
Being aware of any aches or pains or sensations.
You're not trying to make them go away,
But just recognising that they're there.
And as we move our awareness into our thighs,
Can we feel anything going on?
It may feel strange at first,
But why not say thank you to your feet and legs?
They do so much hard work in a day without even being noticed.
Thank you.
And we can now concentrate on all our weight pushing through this cushion or chair,
Through our pelvis.
Then bringing our attention up into the belly.
Not seeing any movement.
Checking in with our lower back.
Can we feel anything?
And from this really strong foundation,
Our back is stretching up.
A little bit like a mighty oak tree growing out of the earth and branching off into our shoulders.
By bringing an awareness,
See if you can open your chest a little.
How does it feel?
And as we feel our belly and chest move with the breath,
Can we let go of any more tension and sink into the supportive ground just by another percent or two?
And take a moment to check in with your arms,
The tops of your arms.
Your elbows.
Your hands resting on your thighs or in your lap.
Can you feel your neck supporting the weight of your head?
And it's common to hold tension in the jaw,
So give that some special attention.
Just soften the jaw,
Your eyes,
Your cheekbones,
Your face.
Bringing a gentle awareness to your forehead and the whole of your face.
And as we've sat here,
Have you noticed any temperature changes?
Can you feel your clothes against your skin?
Just feeling the whole body and giving any special attention to any aches or feelings of discomfort and just allow them to be there.
And as we draw this awareness meditation to a close just before we finish,
Say thank you to your body.
It does so much as we're busying about our lives.
Thank you.
And if we go back to feeling the room,
Maybe give your toes a wiggle,
We're going to come back to life a little bit now,
Gently opening your eyes.
There's no rush,
The world can wait a moment longer.
