Let's start to take some deep breaths together.
You decide whether exhaling out your mouth or your nose feels most naturally,
But I encourage you to inhale through your nose.
And just noticing anything you can,
Being curious about your breath as you let it go back to natural now.
Maybe you can hear my exhales are pretty shaky right now.
So noticing what's coming up,
Are your exhales naturally longer than your inhales?
Letting your breath be natural,
No need to control it right now,
Letting it be whatever it is.
Feeling contact beneath your body,
Whether you're seated or lying,
Noticing all of the points of contact between your body and something else.
Maybe including the air.
Notice the temperature of the different parts of your body.
And if you're ready,
Closing your eyes.
Let's do a scan from feet up.
Maybe it's really obvious to you where you're feeling the most pain in your body right now.
It is to me,
But let's just do a quick body scan so that we can also be aware of which parts of our body are not in pain.
Notice your feet,
Your calves,
Your shins,
Your knees,
The bottoms of your thighs and the tops of your thighs,
Your pelvic floor and your hips and your bum and your lower belly,
Those internal organs there,
Like your uterus maybe if you have one.
Moving up to your lower back and your upper belly,
Everything inside there.
Your lower chest,
Your ribcage,
Moving up the chest,
Up your mid back and upper back,
Up to your shoulders,
Everything inside your chest cavity.
Your right arm,
Right hand,
Left arm,
Left hand,
Back of the neck,
Front of the neck,
Jaw.
Your cheeks and the back of the head,
The forehead,
The eyes,
The whole head.
And then bringing your awareness now to a point of pain or discomfort.
If you're not feeling any pain or discomfort right now,
Just bring your awareness to a point in your body that is calling out for the most attention,
That maybe has the most sensation right now.
And with your awareness on that point of pain or discomfort,
Notice if your body is tensing up in reaction to it.
Is your jaw clenched?
Are your shoulders up close to your ears?
Are you in a certain posture or position to help yourself ease some of the pain or discomfort?
And then seeing if you can release some of the attention that was formed in reaction to your pain.
With your breath,
Can you use your breath to help you soften?
Maybe even imagining that muscle tension is melting away on your exhales.
Understanding if this has changed the sensation of pain or discomfort at all or if it has stayed constant.
And now if you wish,
Visualizing the area in your body as a shape or a color.
Maybe there's a particular pattern to light or energy in this area.
Watching the sensation with no judgment.
Maybe even saying to yourself,
I accept this present moment and everything that it is offering me.
Watching your visualization.
Noticing if it's constantly changing or staying just constantly the same.
And if it is changing,
Maybe imagining a change in color or a change in a light pattern or shape of your visualization as it changes to really watch in your mind's eye these moment to moment changes.
Noticing as the pain worsens if your breathing changes at all or again if your muscles are contracting in reaction.
And no need to stop this,
No need to breathe a certain way or stop the way that your body reacts,
Just noticing,
Being aware.
No judgment.
And not judging your pain,
Letting it be what it is.
Letting go of any thoughts towards your pain like I shouldn't have to be feeling like this.
Instead accepting this present moment,
Watching it.
And even if you feel like your pain is constant,
Like it doesn't go away,
Maybe watching these minute little changes.
Maybe one breath that's slightly less intense and then the next breath that's slightly more intense.
Working with it moment to moment.
Let's leave our pain for a moment.
Let's do another body scan this time from head to toe.
Trying to seek out the most comfortable painless part of the body.
So crown of the head,
Forehead,
Scanning down as though there's a horizontal plane that's moving down through your ears,
Your cheeks,
Down to your chin,
Down your neck.
Meeting your shoulders and moving down your chest to your belly through your arms and your hands,
Your hips,
Down your legs,
All the way to your feet.
And finding now the point of least pain in your body,
The point of the most comfort and ease.
Maybe it's just one toe.
Maybe a less sensitive area of your body,
The tip of your nose.
Finding a spot in your body that is not in pain,
Is comfortable.
Focusing your attention there for a moment.
Noticing the sensation,
Noticing the ease.
Noticing if your breath changes at all in reaction to bringing your awareness here.
Probably still aware of your pain if it's pretty intense but anchoring down through this body part of yours that is in the least pain.
Maybe even visualizing this area of your body and the sensations that it's feeling right now.
And then moving your attention up,
Noticing if you can feel your heartbeat.
Taking your heart for all its hard work.
Coming back to your area of pain,
Taking a moment to notice if it has changed at all since the last time you were acutely aware of it.
Thanking your body for sending you signals.
Thanking your body for telling you when a certain area needs to be protected,
Cared for a little extra.
Just take a deep breath together.
And another deep breath in.
Opening your mouth and sighing it out.
Coming back to the feeling of contact between your body and whatever you're sitting or lying on.
Coming back to the temperature of the different parts of your body.
The air on your skin,
The sounds around you.
And then if you're ready,
Opening your eyes.
