I have recently been studying the anatomy of the body and have been utterly amazed at the absolute intricacies of the body and the miracle that it is and so I'd like to spend some time today meditating on this.
This meditation will be best practiced in a seated position.
I invite you to close the eyes if you wish and just allow the mind to wander,
Drift and wander.
Gently move the body slightly to allow yourself to be in the most comfiest position for you so that you won't fall asleep but so that you can become fully relaxed.
Take a couple of wonderful deep inhales and exhales and let's take a journey around the body.
Beginning at the toes,
Maybe wriggle them a little,
Move your attention from toe to toe and from foot to foot.
Move your attention to the feet,
Press the feet lightly into the ground and consider how they serve you,
All the hard work they do for you,
The standing,
Walking,
Running,
Exercising,
All the work these seemingly insignificant parts of the body do for you.
Move the attention up to the legs,
The knees,
The thighs,
The hips.
Think about your legs and feet for a moment.
What would life be like without them?
Move your attention now to the stomach.
Can you even think for a moment how much work goes on in there?
The digestive processes that we never even give a second thought to.
And now to the chest.
Take a deep breath here.
Feel the ribs expand and envision the heart underneath the rib cage,
Protected by this bony shield.
The heart beating around 100,
000 times a day,
Pumping blood and oxygen around the body,
Nourishing each and every cell.
Do we ever consider this?
Move your attention to the fingers,
Wiggle them a little.
The fingers,
The hands,
The arms.
Just think about all they are put through on a daily basis.
Turned,
Twisted,
Bent forwards and back,
Picking,
Poking,
Lifting,
Carrying,
Wiping,
Stroking,
Clearing,
Working,
Soothing,
Making,
Loving.
And now the spine,
The glorious spine.
The 24 vertebrae,
Carrying the rib cage,
Supporting the neck and the skull.
It allows us to stretch,
Bend forwards and back and twist from side to side.
We couldn't walk,
Run,
Sit or stand without it.
It protects the spinal nerve which sends messages from every part of the body to and from the brain.
It is keeping you upright right now.
Just move your attention up and down the spine from bottom to top and from top to bottom.
As you inhale imagine the breath moving up the spine to the base of the neck and as you exhale watch the exhale move down the spine.
Continue a couple more breaths in this way.
Move your attention now to the throat.
We complain about this area of our body when we have pain or get a virus but do we pay attention to it any other time?
Our throats wear our voice boxes allowing us to speak,
Shout,
Laugh.
It allows us to swallow foods and breathe.
Inhale here and imagine the breath sliding down the throat area and on the exhale the breath moving steadily up the throat area and out.
And move the attention now to the face.
Our place of communication,
Of expression,
Of smell,
Sight,
Taste.
Can we be thankful of this place where we can delight in speech and taste and love?
And inhale the head.
This bony skull that encases our brain,
Our eyes,
Our nervous system where we think,
Problem solve,
Plan,
Worry and dream.
Where bad things happen and where glorious things take place also.
This body that we judge so severely,
Nose too big,
Eyes too small,
Hips too wide,
Tummy too fat,
Mouth too wide,
Lips too thin,
Legs too short,
Too thin,
Too many wrinkles,
Too tall,
Too short,
Old,
Broken,
In pain.
This body,
Your body,
Your magnificent body.
Inhale deeply and visualise the breath moving throughout the whole body from the toes right up to the top of the head and on the exhale see the breath moving from the top of the head all the way down the body and out through the toes.
And do this a few more times.
This delightful breath travelling through your remarkable body.
Is it possible for you to say,
As Henry Thoreau the naturalist did,
I stand in awe of my body?
And you feel the pools of energy in the fingertips and the toes.
And you have a sense of the blood coursing around the body.
Can you feel your heart beating?
Just wriggle your fingers and toes now.
Bring some slight movement into the body.
If it feels comfortable for you,
Gently and slowly move the head from side to side.
Gently lift the shoulders up to the ears and allow them to fall down.
And then gently blink open the eyes.
Thank you.
