Hello,
And welcome to this practice.
My name is Caitlin.
Today's meditation will bring you through a scan of the body,
Connecting you to your felt senses.
So we will be tuning into the different sensations and feelings that exist inside the body.
The felt sense is this idea of feeling from the inside out.
And this practice will help us to occupy the body again and stay present with the different sensations and feelings that we have throughout our day,
Throughout our life.
We are looking for different qualities and sensations that exist within the body.
So this could be tension,
Tingling,
Warmth,
Openness,
Anything that you can think of that describes the sensations that you're feeling within.
So let's begin this practice in either a seated or lying down position,
Whichever feels the most comfortable for your body.
So once you find this space,
Just begin tuning into your breath,
Breathing maybe in through the nose,
Letting it go,
Pushing all of the air out of the lungs,
Taking a few sighs,
Just settling into the space,
Letting all of the energy settle as though you've just shaken up a snow globe and you're letting all of the snow fall into place.
First let's tune into the ground beneath us,
Really feel the support and the connectedness to Mother Earth,
Knowing and trusting that in this moment we are safe.
If you would like to,
You can take a glance around the room before we close our eyes.
Just orienting yourself to this space that you're in and to the present moment.
Taking some deep breaths as you look about your space,
Being sure to look over each shoulder.
And when you're ready,
Blink your eyes closed and tune deeply into the sensation of your breathing.
Feel the breath move into your lungs,
Feel it push out into the world,
Noticing your body and any energy,
Any tension,
Any feelings that exist as we're beginning this practice.
Not changing or judging anything,
We're just noticing.
Now bring your awareness to the top of your head,
The crown chakra.
Taking both of your hands up to the space above the head and hold them about an inch or two away from your physical body.
So start by just trying to feel into the energetic space,
Your aura,
Your energy field right outside of your physical head.
Just seeing what you can notice here,
For any tingling,
Any energy,
Allowing your intuition to really lead and guide you in this practice.
Now you can place your hands directly on the top of your head,
Bringing all of your awareness here,
Imagining your breath is moving up into the skull,
Noticing what you feel.
We're just looking for one to two basic qualities to begin with.
So again,
A sensation,
Pressure,
Tension,
Openness,
A temperature,
A texture,
And anything that you might see in your mind's eye,
Color,
Motion,
Mood.
And your breath to be slow and nourishing in through the nose and letting it go out through the mouth.
And next we're going to bring our awareness down into the neck.
This is the space of the throat chakra.
So bring in your hands,
Same process,
Just a couple inches outside of your physical body.
Hold them on either side,
Maybe around the back,
And just noticing what you feel.
And allowing your hands to touch your skin,
To touch your neck.
And tune in here,
Feeling not only the physical contact of your hands to your body,
But also the sensations within.
Breathing from the inside out.
If any emotions arise and start to bubble to the surface,
See if you can be with them.
Just breathe,
Not attaching to what is coming up for you,
But just noticing it,
Allowing it to move through your body.
And next we're bringing our awareness into the chest or the heart space,
Remembering also the back body.
So first begin by holding the hands out a couple of inches outside of the body,
Maybe right in front of the heart.
Feeling and sensing.
And then placing the hands on the skin,
On the shirt,
On the body.
Noticing the fabric beneath your hands,
If you're touching a shirt or clothing.
Breathing into the feeling of the skin.
Really letting your ability to connect to these senses,
Letting this expand,
Letting yourself just slowly open up to it.
Next we're going to be moving down to the area of the belly.
You can focus on the area where the diaphragm is,
Right below the rib cage.
Holding the hands just a couple of inches off of the body,
Feeling into the energetic field around you.
Noticing how you can breathe deeper into the core,
Letting your breath move down into the belly.
So placing the hands on the body,
Noticing and feeling what sensations exist here.
Noticing how your attunement to yourself is shifting.
Next we bring our awareness into the area of the hips and the pelvis.
You can hold your hands just right off of the womb space,
Off of the side of the hips.
You can kind of feel into this area around the back of the body as well,
Feeling a couple of inches off of your physical body.
Now allowing the hands to make contact in whatever space feels the most supportive and safe for you.
Knowing that this area of the body can hold a lot of tension,
Can hold a lot of energy.
Noticing what sensations exist here in the area of your pelvis.
Feeling the touch of your hands on your body,
Feeling the quality of the muscles,
The tendons,
The tissues within.
Next we're going to move down to the legs.
So the root chakra begins at the base of the spine and energetically extends all the way down to the feet.
So depending on how you are seated,
You can hold the hands just a couple of inches off of the legs or the feet.
Really noticing what the quality of the energy is in the lower half of the body.
It's easy for us to feel a lot more sensation in the upper half than it is in the lower half.
We're often very disconnected from the ground,
From the earth.
So as you're breathing,
Directing your breath down into your legs,
Down into your feet,
Really allowing your awareness to fill the space.
And then make contact with your hands.
You can hold them in one area or you can kind of move them around.
Just sensing one to two qualities.
Tuning in with your breath as well.
Feeling the bottom of the feet.
Then gently squeeze or pat the feet and the legs,
Kind of waking up the body,
Bringing some awareness and sensation back into this physical moment.
And then bringing that same tapping or squeezing all the way up the body.
So tapping the hips,
The pelvis,
The low back,
Up the belly,
The chest,
Arms,
Shoulders,
Neck,
Gently up to the head.
Now take a deep inhale,
Letting it all go.
One more big breath here and release.
You may blink,
Open your eyes,
Taking another glance around the room,
Noticing where you are,
Noticing this present moment,
Really noticing your body and feeling how different your connection is to your entire physicality now after or awaking all of your felt senses within.
I hope that this practice was supportive in helping you to feel a deeper connection to yourself.
