Welcome to your body scan meditation.
You may sit or lie down for this practice,
Either reclined or flat on the back,
Just resting comfortably here.
Arms out to the sides and allow the legs to windshield wiper out to the sides and relax.
Open the gaze or gently close the eyes.
Let's begin with a few grounding breaths,
Taking a nice long deep breath in to fill the body up.
And an even longer deep breath out.
Breathing the exhale as long as you can here.
Nice long deep breath in,
Filling the belly,
Expanding the ribs and chest.
And an even longer exhale out,
Sighing it out if you can here.
One more time like that,
Long deep breath in.
Breathing into the body with breath and a long sigh or extended breath out.
Now let the breath be natural here,
Allowing the breath now to breathe you.
Breathing into the floor beneath you,
Begin to notice the weight of your body firmly pressing into the ground or cushion.
And at those contact points,
An equal and reciprocal pressure pressing against your being,
Both supporting and holding you in this moment.
Allow yourself to be supported,
Allow yourself to be held.
In this practice,
I invite you to welcome yourself back home to your body as I guide you through the interior and exterior landscape of your being.
As you notice points of tension or areas of resistance,
Invite a deep nourishing breath into that area,
Slowly expanding it with the breath.
And as you exhale,
Imagine the tension fading and dissolving away and any residual tension simply melting down the body deep,
Deep into the earth.
And whenever you notice points of pleasure,
Areas of pleasant sensation,
See how you can soften here too and simply be with the sensation.
You can note it with an internal bow of gratitude or by directing the breath into the sensation.
And as you exhale and release,
Simply witnessing or noticing how that sensation shifts.
Maybe it expands.
Maybe it drifts.
Or perhaps it mutates into something entirely different.
Like that,
We also release any attachment to the sensations or excitations it may inspire.
And lastly,
If you notice an absence of sensation,
Simply remain easy and innocent without trying to control or bludgeon your way to feeling.
There's no need to conjure a sensation if one does not naturally arise.
Just let go here and simply be.
Simply rest in being.
You may also breathe into this experience and gently exhale and let go and release,
Noticing that in time,
As you return to the practice regularly,
Your awareness of sensations will slowly begin to heighten.
In order to discern the more nuanced and seemingly obscure sensations,
We must first experience the dynamism of holding and letting go through our entire body.
Let's begin.
Soften the back of the throat.
Soften the tongue.
Soften the jaw.
Allow it to rest easy.
And let the lips be parted or loosely and gently touching.
Relax the forehead and the space between the eyebrows.
Soften the eyes.
And imagine a gentle caress of the ears here as you invite nourishing attention to the seat of vata,
The elements of air and ether.
Let the neck be loose,
Gently rotating the head left and right.
Loosen any holding here.
Like this,
We'll continue through the rest of the body.
I'll note the body part as you follow with your attention and breath.
Upper chest,
From left shoulder to right shoulder.
Left breast,
Right breast,
Both breasts.
Sternum,
Belly,
Belly button,
Groin,
Left side of torso,
Right side of torso.
The entire head and scalp,
Nape of the neck,
Back of the neck,
Left upper back,
Right upper back,
Entire upper back from shoulder to shoulder,
Mid back,
Lower back,
Sacrum,
Upper left glute,
Upper right glute,
Top of the spine,
All the way down to the very base of the spine.
Left shoulder,
Left underarm,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Lower arm,
Left wrist,
Back of the hand,
Palm of the hand,
Left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Small finger,
Right shoulder,
Right underarm,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Lower arm,
Wrist,
Back of hand,
Palm of hand,
Right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Small finger,
Left hip,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Knee,
Leg,
Ankle,
Left foot,
Top of feet,
Bottom of feet,
Left toes,
Big toe,
Index middle toe,
Ring toe,
Pinky toe,
Right hip,
Right thigh,
Right knee,
Leg,
Ankle,
Foot,
Top of feet,
Bottom of feet,
Right toes,
Big toe,
Index toe,
Middle toe,
Ring toe,
Pinky toe.
And now imagine that you're drawing breath from the base of both feet up through the center of the body,
Through the groin,
Relaxing your stomach,
Keeping it soft here,
Through the chest,
Through the nose,
Across the top of your head,
And down the spine,
Relaxing the back muscles as you exhale.
Let's take a few deep breaths in together,
Breathing into the base of the spine.
Imagine you're drawing and tracing a line up the middle of the back,
Top of the back between the shoulders,
Up through the nape of the neck and to the crown of the head.
And as you exhale,
Imagine that you're breathing out the crown of the head.
Two more breaths like that,
Breathing deep into the base of the spine,
Tracing a line up the spine,
To the nape of the neck and to the crown of the head.
And as you exhale,
Imagine that you're releasing the breath out through the crown of the head.
One more time like that,
Breathing deep into the base of the spine,
Drawing the air to the very top of the head.
And as you exhale,
Releasing the breath through the crown of the head.
It's just a simple,
Easy visualization.
No friction here,
Allow it to be very simple.
And let the breath be natural and normal.
Slowly begin to wiggle the hands and feet,
Fingers and toes.
Give your legs a little movement,
And your hands and toes a gentle squeeze and let go.
Inviting a sense of movement back into the body,
Keeping the eyes closed here.
Raise the shoulders and drop them gently.
Give your jaw a subtle little wiggle.
And taking a nice gentle deep breath in.
As you exhale,
You can slowly begin to flutter your eyes open,
Or in your own time,
Enter back into the space.
With this deeper sense of nourishment,
Rest,
And refreshed awareness.
