Welcome,
Friends.
A body scan practice can be one of the most valuable tools in our meditation toolkit.
A body scan can help us to relax the body,
To bring awareness to the different parts of our body that we may not be paying adequate attention to.
And in my experience,
A body scan can allow us to settle into the present moment in a way that many other practices just can't seem to achieve.
I don't want to say too much.
Suffice it to say,
I love a body scan practice,
So I hope you enjoy.
I suggest that you come into Shavasana,
A laying down position that allows the spine to be straight and the body to be comfortable.
If it's cold in your space,
Please cover up.
And if you have something that you can use to cover your eyes to block out any light in your space,
I also highly recommend that.
Do whatever you can to make your physical body as comfortable as possible.
And this might take a couple of minutes,
So give yourself time to move around and find that place where you can be still.
And once you settle in,
Just bring your awareness to your breath.
Allow the natural breath to move in and out.
And then perhaps lengthening each part of the breath by deepening the inhale.
Think about filling up nooks and crannies you may not have accessed recently.
And allow your exhalations to be longer and fuller.
However that works for you in your body,
Without straining,
Without any additional effort,
Just keep it simple.
Another couple of deep breaths here.
And we'll begin our body scan at our feet.
So bring your awareness down to the bottoms of the feet.
If you have socks on,
Perhaps you feel that sensation of the material of the socks against the bottoms of your feet.
If your feet are barefoot,
Notice the temperature of the air against the skin or perhaps a blanket.
Notice the arch of the foot,
The toes,
And the heel.
If you notice sensation,
Great.
If not,
Also great.
Allow your attention to rest on the bottoms of your feet.
And now bring your awareness to the tops of the feet.
Feel any sensation.
Notice any energy that might be moving at the tops of the feet,
The temperature of the air,
Anything you notice.
Allow your attention to rise up into your ankles.
Maybe you draw your attention inward to the bones,
The tendons and ligaments.
Notice sensation.
Notice energy flow.
Just allow your attention to rest on the ankles.
And as you're ready,
Draw the awareness up into the shins and the calves.
Notice the difference between the shin and the calf,
The bones,
The muscles,
The tendons and ligaments.
Just allow your awareness to rest here.
And drawing the awareness up into the knees,
The fronts of the knees and the backs of the knees.
Perhaps drawing your awareness inward to the knee joint.
Noticing the complexity of this amazing joint.
Feeling any sensations.
Allowing the attention to rest on the knees.
And then drawing that awareness on up into the denser muscles of the legs,
The quadriceps and the hamstrings,
The muscles in the front and the backs of the upper thighs.
Allowing the awareness to rest here.
And then drawing the awareness up into the hips and the pelvis and the lower back.
Perhaps feeling the rise and fall of the breath in the lower belly.
Allowing the awareness to rest here.
Noticing what you notice.
And then drawing the awareness up into the solar plexus,
That area above the navel.
And around into the middle of the back,
The thoracic spine,
Noticing sensation,
Noticing energy,
Perhaps noticing the movement of the body with the breath.
Allowing your awareness to rest here.
And as you're ready,
Drawing the awareness up into the heart space,
That space of the heart and the lungs,
And on around to the upper back,
The area between the shoulder blades.
And perhaps you feel the breath moving through nooks and crannies of the lungs,
The rise and fall of the body with the breath.
Allow the awareness to rest at the heart.
Noticing energy and sensation.
Noticing whatever you notice.
And then inviting that energy,
That awareness,
That attentiveness to arise up into the shoulders.
Noticing sensation in the shoulders.
Allowing your awareness to rest there.
And then drawing the awareness down each arm to the upper arms,
The biceps,
The triceps.
Allowing the awareness to be curious,
To explore,
And to notice without judgment.
Energy and sensation.
And then bringing that awareness down into the elbow joint.
Perhaps exploring the inside of the elbow,
Bones,
Muscles,
Tendons.
Noticing what you notice.
And then drawing the awareness down into the forearms,
The tops,
And the backs of the forearms.
Allowing that awareness to rest there.
And then on down we go into the wrists,
The right wrist and the left.
Perhaps exploring this joint a little more deeply or allowing the awareness to circle around the wrists.
Noticing sensation.
And on down into the palms of the hands.
Feeling sensation in the palms.
Noticing any sensation you might notice in the fingers.
On out to the tips of the fingers and the tops of the hands.
Allowing the awareness to rest on the hands.
Those extensions of our hearts.
And when you're ready,
Draw the awareness on up into the throat center.
So the front of the throat,
The neck,
And the back of the throat.
Notice any energy or sensation you might notice.
You might swallow in the throat just to soften that area if that's helpful.
Just allow your energy,
Your awareness to be on the throat center.
And then inviting the awareness to rise up into the jaw,
The mouth,
The ears,
The cheekbones,
The forehead,
And finally the crown of the head.
Allowing the awareness to simply rest in and around the skull,
The entire head,
Noticing sensation,
Noticing whatever you notice.
And then drawing the awareness to the entire body.
Allowing the awareness to enfold you lovingly like a cocoon would enfold a caterpillar before it blossomed and became a butterfly.
Resting here.
Noticing sensation in the entire body.
And when you're ready,
Begin to make small movements with fingers and toes as though you are that beautiful butterfly about to break through.
Begin to blink open your eyes.
