Hey there,
Welcome to a 10 minute guided meditation on the body.
Before we begin,
Take a second to honor yourself for showing up,
Supporting your mental health,
Giving yourself a little space to breathe,
To relax.
The world is a stressful place,
And while there's nothing wrong with stress,
It's important to periodically come back to center,
To relax and release tension,
So that when we need to perform,
We are not too burnt out to do so.
Find yourself in a comfortable seated position,
Sitting tall,
Stacking the shoulders over the hips,
And then bringing the ears back over the shoulders,
So the spine is nice and long.
And let this position be comfortable above everything else.
When the body is gripping,
The mind is also gripping.
Allow the breath to move smoothly in and out through the nose,
And start to show up to this moment.
Begin to tune your attention into what you're experiencing right now,
And we'll begin by noticing any sensation of touch on your body,
Feeling the weight of gravity working on you,
Picking up on any contact between you and a chair,
Or a cushion,
Or even if you're lying down on your whole backside.
Notice the temperature of the air on your skin,
And notice if it's different between the skin on one wrist to another,
The temperature on your forehead.
Realize that every single hair on your body is picking up information and sending it back to you.
Start to tune in to that feedback.
Allow your eyes to soften and close them if you're comfortable doing so and haven't already.
And for the next few moments,
Simply breathe easily in and out through the nose,
And allow your body to settle.
You may notice tension in parts of your body,
You may notice looseness.
As you bring your awareness to your body,
Find those obvious spots of tension and see if you can send your breath into those places with your imagination.
And as you exhale,
See if you can let some of that tension go.
Continue to soften the body,
Letting your shoulders relax,
Letting your jaw and tongue go,
And your forehead too.
Bring your awareness to the top of your head,
And we're going to just scan down the body with the awareness,
And notice what's present.
That's really at the heart of meditation,
Is simply bringing attention to what is true for you in this moment.
Notice the feeling of your scalp and your skull as you scan down,
Picking up on anything you might find.
It might be temperature,
Or tightness or looseness.
Notice your jaw,
And your tongue,
And your chin,
And at the same time scan down the back of your head,
Down through your throat,
And whenever you find tension,
Just breathe into it.
Notice it's present,
And invite it to relax,
Even just two percent.
Let the breath be smooth and easy as you scan down your arms,
Pass the elbow joint to your forearms,
And bring your awareness into your hands,
Into each individual finger and knuckle.
Continue to scan down your torso,
Along your ribcage,
And through the organs that it protects,
Down into your digestive system,
And be real with yourself.
Notice that you have viscera inside of you,
And somehow they are all fit together and working to keep you alive and healthy,
In an ideal situation.
Scan down into the pelvis,
The bowl of life,
The seat and root of your power.
Scan down your legs.
Notice the femur,
Your thigh bone,
Down through your knees,
And into your calves and your shins,
Eventually bringing your attention to your feet,
And the contact they have with the earth.
And once you've scanned down your body,
Allow the image to rest in your mind.
See if you can be aware of as much of it at once.
You may notice some movement or restlessness,
And that's okay.
Your body is always moving.
It's never still.
Just follow what's happening from moment to moment,
And inevitably you will be distracted.
Your mind is busy.
It has things it wants to do.
The work of meditation,
The practice,
Is noticing when that happens,
And bringing it back to what you have committed to focusing on.
In this case,
Your body,
And the movement of your body.
Return to the body each time.
Keep it simple.
Allow the breath to be smooth and easy,
And let go of any focus that you've been holding.
Just for a few moments,
Allow the mind to wander,
Give it all the space it needs,
Before bringing your attention back to the body,
Back to the environment that you're in,
And gently open your eyes,
And take some of that awareness with you into the rest of your day.
Thank you for joining me,
And I hope to see you again soon.
