Discovering and being with what's here is one of my favorite practices because it's just about taking inventory and honoring what shows up.
We often look to others to see and validate our experiences when the best witness is ourselves.
And this allows us to metabolize the things that happen to us,
Actually process and move through the emotional content rather than stuffing it away.
So I invite you now to begin connecting to your physical body.
Perhaps the points of contact where your body is resting upon.
The sensation of clothes or air against our skin.
And when we feel anchored and like we have the spotlight of attention turned inward,
This is a cue that we have arrived to our internal state.
And I invite you to even say out loud or internally,
I'm listening.
Maybe bringing a hand to your heart center.
Just another cue for our body.
And I will begin guiding us through a body scan.
We can start at the tips of our toes,
Our feet.
Noticing things like temperature or tightness.
Or maybe nothing at all.
You don't have to pull for any sensation.
We're just noticing what's here,
Moving at the legs.
Perhaps you notice places that you may be holding on to tension or sore spots.
Paying special attention as you move up into the hips.
We can often have a lot of tightness here or blocked sensation.
Trying our best not to judge and just moving through upward.
Into the waist,
The belly,
Feeling the breath.
Her low back.
And then into the chest,
The upper back and shoulders.
Scanning down our arms,
Again just making note of what's here.
Don't have to try to feel a different way.
And coming back up the arms into the shoulders again and the neck.
Pay special attention to the face,
The jaw,
The tongue.
Eyes.
The forehead.
Top of our head and then zooming out to the whole body,
Seeing if it's possible to hold the whole body in our mind's eye.
We can stay with physical sensation,
But I also invite you to make note of any feelings or thoughts.
That may surface.
And I'll keep us here for less than a minute.
Just watching and waiting.
I now invite you to visualize Sitting next to yourself,
Perhaps at a bench in a park.
This version of yourself can be any age that comes to mind.
And as you look into your own eyes,
Ask what this version of you has to say.
Be patient.
Don't push an agenda or rush or force an answer,
Especially if we're not used to looking inward.
The body may not have much to say and that's okay.
The idea here is that we're just.
.
.
Offering presence.
Before leaving this visualization.
Please offer thanks.
To you.
For taking the time to sit with yourself.
For whatever you had to offer in that moment even if it didn't feel particularly remarkable.
And then orienting your body back to this physical space.
Once again,
The connection with your body and whatever you're resting on.
Or the clothes or air against your skin.
And then finally orienting to your physical surroundings.
