Hello,
It's Danielle with the Namaste Project.
Today we're going to complete a body scan meditation.
Take a moment to go ahead and find a comfortable seat.
Or even if you'd like to lie down,
That's fine as well.
And just start to tune into how your body feels,
The connection it might have with the chair that's supporting you or the ground that's supporting you.
Having any wiggles or stretches or final movements before you settle into stillness.
We're going to travel through our body.
The goal is not to quiet our mind,
Not to empty our thoughts,
But to come into an embodied awareness.
We spend a good bit of our time disassociated from how things feel physically,
Because our minds are constantly planning or remembering or thinking.
This practice is meant to bring us into our body to notice how it feels.
So your only job is to send your attention to a body part when you hear me say it and perhaps repeat the name of the body part to yourself at the same time.
We'll start at the top of the head.
So noticing any sensations,
Sending your attention to the crown of your head and then your forehead,
Your eyes,
The back of your upper head,
Your nose,
Your cheeks,
The back of the middle part of your head,
Your ears,
The space right below your nose,
Above your upper lip,
Your jaw,
Your lower lip,
Your chin,
The space between your lips,
Your neck and throat,
The lower part of the back of your head,
The back of your neck,
Your shoulders,
Both left and right,
Your collar bones,
Your shoulder blades,
Your upper arms,
Both left and right,
Front and back,
Your elbows,
The forearms,
Wrists,
Your hands,
The palms of your hands,
Your fingertips.
And then traveling through the chest and the heart space,
The shoulder blades,
Front and back of the upper torso,
The belly,
The lower back,
The stomach and the gut,
The navel,
The waist,
The hips,
The whole pelvic area,
Sit bones,
Buttocks,
The right and left thigh,
Front and back,
The right and left knee,
Front and back,
The right and left lower leg,
Front and back,
The right and left lower leg,
Front and back,
Ankles,
Feet,
Toes,
Bottom of the feet.
And then noticing the whole body together,
Picking up on any places that are calling to you to send attention to again.
And then noticing if there's anywhere in your body where it's easy to pick up on sensations,
Maybe a throbbing or heat,
A little tingling.
Quite often,
It's the palm of the hands.
Just noting how that feels.
And then bringing the awareness back to the whole body as one.
And then the breath noticing if it's shallow or deep,
How it feels coming in and out of the nostrils.
Then taking a final inhale together,
Breathing into the nose,
Opening up your mouth,
Letting everything go,
Gently blinking your eyes open,
Returning back to your space and going back about your day as it seems fit,
Knowing you can return and complete this practice again as many times as you'd like.
Namaste.
