Coming Home To The Body

In this practice, sometimes called a journey through the body, we step out of automatic pilot and come home to the body, it can help you get re-acquainted with the body and with physical sensations as they show up, like felt experiences or emotional responses. In our busy lives, it is easy to become disconnected from what the body feels, from where our emotions show up in the body, or what happens when a thought comes into our heads.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Consuela and welcome to this 20 minutes body scan practice.

In this practice,

Sometimes called a journey through the body,

We step out of automatic pilot and come home to the body.

It can help you get reacquainted with the body and with physical sensations as they show up,

Like felt experiences or emotional responses.

In our busy lives it is easy to become disconnected from what the body feels,

From where our emotions show up in the body or what happens when a thought comes into our heads.

This practice asks that,

As best as we can,

We pay attention to all the different areas of the body one by one,

Not to what we think we should feel but to whatever is already there.

There may be sensation or a lack of sensation.

There is no need to elicit a sensation if there is none.

Instead we can still pay attention as if sensations were present,

Just like a sound that we can listen to,

Because we already have it in our memory.

In this short 20 minutes body scan we start with the awareness of the whole body before moving to the feet,

Moving up the legs,

Through the torso,

Up to the shoulders,

Then to both hands and up the arms,

Then to the neck and head.

We finish by opening the awareness to the entire body just as we did to start.

This moving to a part,

Staying a while and then letting go,

Tolerating or accepting is a practice.

We might want to linger longer in a pleasant areas but we move on.

Or you may find that you do not want to feel into an area of tension or pain but with kindness we stay as best as we can,

Knowing that if it is too overwhelming we can anchor to the awareness of our breathing,

Rolling in and rolling out,

Until maybe we feel able to return to the body scan.

In this way we are retraining the nervous system to be curious,

To observe,

To accept and to love,

Rather than to focus only on the area of pain or tension.

So let's begin by finding a comfortable position,

Taking a moment to consider what would be more comfortable for you today.

For those of you sitting on the chair,

Maybe feeling the ground beneath the feet or sitting bones making contact with the seat,

Spine growing tall,

Head balanced on top of the spine,

Choosing to close your eyes if it's comfortable for you or just lower your gaze,

Allowing the hands to rest on the lap or tights,

Palms facing up or down,

If you have chosen to lie down on the floor feeling the ground beneath the back,

Stretching the arms and legs out to a distance which feels comfortable.

Noticing do the palms want to lie with the hands up or with the palms down,

Maybe feeling more comfortable with the knees bent and the soles of the feet on the floor,

Making a choice to allow yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment,

Which in itself is an act of kindness.

As we practice this body scan,

If at any time sensations in the body become too uncomfortable,

Thoughts or emotions arise that are too difficult,

Remembering that it is always possible to return to the rhythm of the breath as a safe place,

A retreat for you to rest in,

Until you are ready to venture again into the body scan,

Just by tuning in and listening to the sound of my voice once again,

Remembering that there is no need to make sensations happen.

If the sensation is subtle,

It's fine,

If there is no sensation,

It's also fine.

Simply investigating the experience of our very alive body,

How this aliveness is known through sensations,

Gathering onto our senses,

Feeling how it is to be lying down,

What can be perceived,

Maybe opening the attention now to include the entire body lying or sitting here,

From the soles of the feet to the top of the head,

Breathing,

Thinking,

Feeling,

Noticing the movement of the breath.

It's such a constant feature of life that it's easy to ignore,

Maybe sensing the rising and the falling of the belly and if you care to,

Placing your hands on the belly,

Feeling the movement of the breath,

The rhythm,

Breath rolling in and rolling out,

Simply riding the waves of the breath from moment to moment,

Practicing coming to the breath as an anchor and when the mind wonders which it will,

It's what minds do,

Just noticing and without judging,

Gently but firmly bringing the awareness back to the sensations in the body,

This lying or sitting here,

Feeling the chair or floor beneath,

The breath rolling in and rolling out,

So starting with the feet,

Feeling both feet right now,

Feeling into the areas where feet are touching the ground,

Maybe feeling the toes or maybe not,

Maybe feeling tingling or temperature,

Warm or cold,

The touch of socks,

The spaces between the toes.

Now moving the attention to the ankles and lower legs,

We can ask ourselves the question,

What is here for me to feel right now,

If anything at all,

Maybe noticing the pressure of the calves against the mat or the back of the chair,

Maybe the fabric of clothes against our skin and if you notice the attention has wandered off somewhere else,

Drifting it to sleep,

Drifting back,

Just gently and without judging,

Returning the awareness to the legs,

It's not a problem at all,

The mind likes to wander,

Can you feel the breath in the legs or maybe a pulse,

What part of the legs does the attention wants to sit with,

Are there parts of the legs that the attention does not want to go to,

Moving when you are ready,

Letting go of the lower legs and shifting the attention to the knees and thighs,

What is here for me to feel,

As best as we can bringing a freshness,

A beginner's mind,

Exploring like is for the first time that you leave this experience,

Maybe pressure,

Temperature,

The position of the legs,

Numbness or nothing at all,

Simply tuning into the body and noticing what is here now,

Noticing getting caught up in thinking about an area or picturing it in the mind's eye,

Both are different from actually feel it,

What does it feel like to be curious about the body,

Maybe letting go of the thighs and moving the attention to the lower trunk,

The pelvis,

The belly,

Noticing any sensations in this area,

Is there sensation of feeling of the breath in the lower belly,

Maybe,

Maybe not,

There is no right or wrong,

Just investigating the experience in the body,

Moving the attention into feeling the stomach area,

The upper trunk,

The chest,

Maybe feeling the sensation of the breath here with each inhalation and each exhalation,

Feeling the breath rolling in and rolling out without needing to do anything and when ready,

Bringing the awareness to the spine against the floor or the back on the chair,

Noticing any sensations that are here,

Pressure,

Tightness,

Parts touching the floor or chair,

Space or maybe there is nothing at all and that's okay,

That's just the experience in this moment,

Moving the attention to the hands,

What do the fingers feel like,

Are they relaxed or curled up into the palm,

Maybe noticing the spaces between the fingers or feeling the positions of the hands,

When you are ready letting go of the awareness of the hands and moving the attention to the wrists and forearms,

What is here to feel,

Touch,

Pressure,

Warmth,

Maybe nothing,

Maybe something,

Moving now the attention to the elbows,

The upper arms,

Noticing sensations here and if we notice again that the mind has wandered off to some past events or jumped into the future with kindness just bringing it back to wherever we are,

Just taking a breath and starting again without judging,

If it feels right maybe congratulating ourselves for noticing what we had wandered away from the body,

Moving the attention to the shoulders,

What is there to feel in the muscles here,

Maybe tightness,

Looseness,

Can you feel the shoulders on the floor or the back of the chair and then we move the attention into the neck and head,

Does the neck feel tight or relaxed,

Does the head feel heavy or light,

Feeling into the scalp,

The forehead,

The cheeks,

The eyes,

The jaw,

Where is the tongue,

What does the face feel like,

Bring awareness to the mouth,

Nose,

Cheeks,

Eyes,

Forehead,

Scalp,

The entire face,

Letting go of the awareness of the face,

Allowing the awareness to open to include the entire body lying or sitting here from the soles of the feet to the top of the head,

Investigating the feeling of being alive,

Inhaling,

Exhaling,

Noticing how the breathe has been a constant companion,

How it brings the whole body together,

Maybe imagining a wave of breathe flowing from the tip of the toes to the top of the head and all the way back down again,

Feeling the back of the body or the feet on the floor,

A sense of being grounded here in the present moment.

As we draw this practice to a close I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on your experience of the body scan without judging the experience as good or bad,

Allowing it to be what it was,

Maybe we have learned some new things along the way,

Areas of the body to nurture and to be kind to,

Maybe sensations were not what we expected,

Starting to bring some movement back into the body,

Whatever feels good for you in this moment,

Maybe wiggling your fingers and toes,

Stretching the body in any way it wants and when you are ready turning your awareness to sounds in the room,

Gently opening the eyes and coming back into the room,

The body scan is now complete.

Thank you for meditating with me today.

Reviews

Loved it, really helped me in my journey of none judgement of myself, thanks!