Before you get into greeting your body,
Take a moment to stand,
If possible,
Or sit somewhere where you feel you have a bit of space,
Some breath around you.
And stand or sit,
Or lie in a neutral position.
Having weight on both feet,
Or both sides of your body.
Laying flat on your back,
Sitting square on your backside.
Just bring your attention to your breath for a moment.
Just notice how it is today.
The relationship we have with ourselves has so much to do with the relationship we have with our body.
It's part and parcel,
It can't be separated.
So I'm going to ask you,
As you breathe in,
To use those breaths as you fill your lungs and your belly,
To help bring your awareness into your body,
To drop down out of your head.
And take a moment to just let those breaths fill you up.
As you breathe in and the air comes through your nostrils,
Feel it fill your face,
Your head,
Your ears,
Go down through your neck.
And on your next breath in,
Taking the same path but going down into your shoulders,
Down your arms,
Through your hands to your fingertips.
And again on your next breath in,
Breath takes the same path and goes down through your torso,
Down your chest,
Your back,
Your ribs,
Into your lower back and your belly.
And breathing out,
Acknowledging those parts.
And breathing in again,
Your breath carries the same path and goes into your hips,
Your bottom,
Your pelvis,
Down through your thighs.
And your next breath,
Falling through all your body,
Down through your body and then through your knees,
Your lower leg and into your feet.
And as you breathe out,
Acknowledging your wholeness of physical being and your mind and soul within that.
And then take your hand,
Pop it on your forehead.
Be mindful of how you touch yourself.
Don't be shy.
This is your body.
And if you greet it with full touch,
It helps build your assuredness.
It helps to centre and ground you.
Touch yourself with trust.
Touch yourself with love and with confidence.
You will help build that within yourself.
And then move your hand around,
Touching every part of your head.
Bring both hands in,
If you can,
Round your face and down your neck.
Either just holding it in each place for a moment and moving it on or using strokes.
Then onto your shoulders,
Down your arms,
Making sure you touch every part.
And then up the underneath of your arms,
Around your armpit,
Down your chest.
Acknowledging every part of you,
Greeting every single part.
And as you've touched your abdomen and your ribs,
Then take your hands to your back.
This is a great one for stretching your shoulders out.
See what part of your back you're able to touch with comfort.
You may need to cross your arms across your front and hug yourself to do some of this.
And then over your bottom,
Your hips,
Your pelvis,
And then down your thighs.
Literally greeting every bit of you.
Down through your shins,
Around your knees,
Your calves,
And then your feet.
Your feet work so hard for you.
All of you does.
And then come back to your neutral position.
Rest your hands.
And just notice.
Notice your body,
Your physical being.
How is your body doing?
What are you holding in your body?
And where are you holding it?
What does your body need from you at this moment?
And then I invite you to put one hand on your gut and one hand on your heart.
These are places of wisdom.
They are brains within our bodies as well as the brain in our head.
And just hold yourself there for a moment.
Using your hands to help you connect to that intelligence in your heart and gut.
And hold those places with gratitude.
For the knowing that they have,
The answers that they have,
Even when we don't look there.
They're there to be offered.
And take your gratitude to your whole body.
It's doing its best for you.
It deserves to be loved.
It deserves to be enjoyed.
And then coming back to your hands down to your neutral place.
In a moment I'm going to invite you out of this.
And I'm going to ask you to just ask your body what it needs to do from here.
It may need to sit here,
Stand here,
Lie here in this place for a while and marinate.
It might need to dance.
It might need to go for a walk.
It might need to be revisited later when you have another moment.
So either stay here or use your in-breath to then do whatever you need to do.
Wiggle your toes,
Your fingers,
Circle your hips.
Round your shoulders,
Circle them.
And then when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
And stepping into the rest of your day or night with your whole self.
