Hello and welcome to today's meditation practice.
Today's practice will begin with a body scan.
And to understand the body scan and understand why it's important,
I'll ask you a short question.
How many times a day is your body doing something and your mind is elsewhere?
If you're anything like many people,
The answer is probably a lot.
And so a body scan prior to a period of meditation is meant to bring the mind and the body back into sync and back into unity so that the body can function as the vessel for the mind as it was designed to.
We'll begin today's practice by finding a comfortable seat.
Settling into that seat if you're not already.
Letting yourself grow heavy.
Feeling your seat rise up to support you.
And when you're ready just closing the eyes.
Consciously placing the hands somewhere now.
Somewhere that won't create strain on your neck or back or shoulders during this practice.
We're going to begin by taking a big deep breath in through the nose into the lower body.
And as you breathe in,
Fill the lower body with awareness sensing any points of tension or tightness.
And as you exhale,
Release this tension or tightness with your breath blowing it away like a pile of dust.
Taking another deep breath in now into the shoulder girdle,
Filling that area with awareness,
Filling the chest and upper back and neck with awareness sensing any tension.
And same thing as you exhale,
Releasing this tension with the breath,
Blowing it away like a pile of dust,
Feeling yourself beginning to settle.
And now one more deep breath into the muscles of the face and jaw,
Filling them with awareness.
And as you exhale,
Releasing the tension.
And noticing now that your body has begun to become more relaxed.
Your mind is beginning to settle.
And from this calm and centered place,
We'll take a moment to reaffirm the intention for this practice.
Imagine remembering that if and when you become distracted today during this practice that that's okay.
And rather than rejecting this perfectly natural occurrence,
Acknowledging and accepting it,
Seeing it for what it truly is,
Labeling it and just letting it be,
Returning your attention to whatever your focus was in the moments before.
We'll begin the body scan now.
And during the scan,
We'll bring a calm,
Wakeful energy to the body part as it's named,
Directing your presence and attention to that part and sensing whatever is in that body part,
Whether it's warm or cold,
Relaxed or tight.
Maybe it's touching another part or there's clothing touching it and just accepting whatever experience comes from that part.
We'll begin with the pinky toes.
Going to the second toes.
Middle toes.
Fourth toes.
Big toes.
Toes of the feet.
Tops of the feet.
Angles.
Shins.
Calves.
Knees.
Front of the upper legs.
Back of the upper legs.
Hips and pelvis.
Seat and sit bones.
Lower abdomen.
Navel and mid abdomen.
Upper abdomen.
Lower ribs.
Sternum.
Chest.
Left side body.
Right side body.
Low back.
Mid back.
Upper back.
Pinky fingers.
Ring fingers.
Middle fingers.
Index fingers.
Thumbs.
Palms.
Backs of the hands.
Wrists.
Forearms.
Elbows.
Upper arms.
Armpits.
Shoulders.
Neck.
Lower jaw.
Tongue.
Roof of the mouth.
Teeth.
Inside left cheek.
Inside right cheek.
Floor of the mouth.
Lips.
Cheeks.
Ears.
Ear canals.
Nose.
Nostrils.
Eyelids.
Eyeballs.
Eye sockets.
Eyebrows.
Forehead.
Scalp.
Hair.
The space immediately above your crown.
Toes.
Fingers.
The whole body now.
The whole body as one piece.
Feeling and noticing the energy in the body.
Feeling it move through the body.
Around the body.
Of the body.
And very slowly now vertebrae by vertebrae.
Scanning up the spine from the root chakra.
All the way through the crown chakra.
Noticing the upward current of energy in the spine as you go.
This upward current holds you up.
And you may even be noticing a slight swirling sensation.
All of these experiences are normal.
And just allowing yourself to dwell in this place now.
Experiencing whatever comes and goes.
Allowing it to rise and fall from existence without your influence.
And beginning to notice the breath.
Noticing the breath moving through the body.
Noticing the energy that each breath brings.
And the physical sensations of the breath coming into and leaving the body.
And now with a kind and gentle guiding hand.
Allow the sensations of the breath from the place you notice them most in the body to come up into the center of your attention.
Becoming distinctly aware of the sensations of the inhale.
And the sensations of the exhale.
And just allowing yourself,
Giving yourself permission to rest in this place.
Simply aware of each time the body breathes in and each time the body breathes out.
Repeating silently to yourself if it helps.
The body is breathing in.
The body is breathing out.
Or simply in,
Out.
Or counting the breaths if you find that helpful.
No matter which you choose or if you choose none.
Simply allowing yourself to remain in this place.
Aware of each time the body breathes in and each time the body breathes out.
No matter which you choose or if you find that helpful.
And if distractions come.
Whether they're sensations,
Thoughts,
Feelings.
Simply acknowledging them as external phenomena.
Labeling them thinking.
Then returning your focus to the breath.
Aware of the inhale and aware of the exhale.
No matter which you choose or if you find that helpful.
No matter which you choose or if you find that helpful.
No matter which you choose or if you find that helpful.
And for a few moments now,
Just releasing any remaining control.
Letting go of any doing.
And let the simple intention be to observe and acknowledge whatever experiences arise.
No matter which you choose or if you find that helpful.
And very gently now with the same guiding hand.
Starting to reconnect with the breath.
Slowly becoming aware of the breath moving through the body.
Experiencing the breath in the whole body.
And the fabric of your clothing moving.
Mindfully expanding the attention now.
Noticing the hands in the lap.
The seat on the surface beneath it.
And the feet and legs on the floor or surface beneath them.
Mindfully expanding the attention again.
And inviting the sounds and smells of the space around the body back to your attention.
As you begin to reconnect with this physical space that the body is in.
Pausing now for a moment of gratitude.
Gratitude for having taken the time to practice today.
And gratitude for any moment in which you felt genuine freedom or peace or connection.
As you're ready you can begin introducing some subtle movement.
Wiggling the fingers and the toes.
Maybe beginning to move the head and shoulders if that feels good.
And as you're ready opening the eyes.
Thank you for practicing with me.
Thank you for sharing your time with me.
Om Shanti.
