And gently find yourself a comfortable position and perhaps seated or lying down and take a moment to make any small movements or adjustments in your body and to bring a sense of ease and comfort into your posture for the duration of this practice.
And when you find something that feels like easefulness in your shape and settle your body into a sense of stillness and soften your gaze or if it feels safe,
Close your eyes.
We'll open this meditation with three intentional breaths together to begin,
Starting with a long deep inhale through the nose,
Filling the lungs,
And a slow relaxed exhale,
Feeling the sensations of letting go.
Again,
A slow deep long inhale,
Drawing energy up the length of the spine,
And a slow exhale down the spine,
Releasing the weight of your body.
And once more,
Inhaling deeply,
Slowly up the length of the spine,
Filling the lungs,
Maybe sipping a little more air in at the top,
And slowly releasing the energy back down the length of the body and offering it back into the earth.
Allow your breathing to resume a natural rhythm and gently bring your attention to the very top of your head,
The highest point of your physical body.
Can you identify in your mind's eye the exact place where the very top of your head is?
Are there any sensations that meet you here?
Perhaps misplaced hair or a draft of air or an itch?
Begin to relax the muscles of your scalp as you scan down your forehead,
Drawing your attention to the area of your brow.
Relax any tension you might find there,
Maybe even creating space between the brows.
Relax the tops of your ears and begin drawing your attention down into the eyes.
Can you soften into the corners of your eyes?
Imagine your eyeballs floating in their sockets,
Unaffixed and buoyant,
Relaxing the muscles of your cheeks and in the back of your head and begin to sense into the area of your mouth.
Can you soften into the corners of the mouth,
Drawing awareness inside the mouth,
Releasing tension in the jaw,
Relax the tongue to fill the mouth with itself.
Even the root of the tongue softens as you scan down into your throat,
Releasing any tensions in the muscles of your neck.
Perhaps you may notice your breath pass through the area of the throat,
Scanning down and draw your awareness into the shoulders,
Relaxing the shoulder blades back and down away from the ears.
The weight of your arms hang heavy as you begin to scan down your arms along your biceps.
Can you pause at the soft spot on the inside of your elbows?
What does it feel like here in this spot right now?
Scanning down your forearms,
Past your wrists and into the hands,
Draw your attention into the soft center of your palms.
Do you notice any sensation or vibration here?
What meets you at the very ends of your fingertips?
Your attention draws gently back into the chest and upper back.
On your next inhale,
Can you expand the space here,
Widening the circle in all directions around your heart?
And on your exhale,
Relax into the space created here with your breath,
Scanning down between the muscles and your ribcage,
Down your torso and into your belly.
Intentionally soften any holding or tightness in the belly,
Maybe even allowing the belly to spill forward.
Perhaps taking a deep inhale into a soft belly here.
And on your next inhale,
Perhaps inviting space and a widening sensation into the lower back,
Drawing attention downwards into the pelvis now,
Perhaps sensing the points of contact your pelvis is making with the floor or with your seat beneath you.
Notice the force of pressure created from the meeting of the weight of your pelvis and the seat beneath you.
And scanning down the legs into your thighs,
Feeling the space between your skin.
Notice any sensations as you soften the muscles in your thighs.
Your attention eventually meets the soft spot behind your knees.
Take a moment of pause here in this space.
What does it feel like in that soft place in the back of your knee?
And scanning down into your shins and calves.
Notice any sensations along the way as you pass your ankles.
Draw your awareness into the soft soles of your feet.
What does it feel like here in this space in your body?
Perhaps there is a numbness or a tingling.
What meets you at the tips of each of your toes?
Now begin to widen your awareness to include this whole body,
Sensing from the very top of your head to the bottoms of your feet as one energetic vibration.
Resting here for these last moments of the practice in the awareness of the presence in your whole magnificent body.
