Welcome to this body scan for deep rest.
Start by finding a comfortable position to sit or to lie with the body symmetrical,
Comfortable and warm.
Use any props,
Blankets,
Pillows that you might need to make sure that your body can relax and be still for the duration of this meditation.
Once you have found a place to rest,
Allow your body to relax,
Release and be heavy.
Feel the sit bones connected to the surface beneath you and grow tall from the base of the spine all the way to the crown.
Whether you're sitting or lying,
Tuck your chin ever so slightly to feel the back of the neck long and in line with the rest of the spine.
Relax the jaw,
Softening the muscles,
Softening and releasing the tongue,
Feeling into the structure of the jaw,
All the bones,
The teeth and feeling into the gums and the sinews and connective tissue.
Just noticing and sensing any sensations that arise.
Relax the chin,
Relax the neck,
Go deep inside of the throat and feel,
Sense,
Notice anything going on inside the throat,
Any sensation or anything that arises.
Perhaps there is nothing,
Just keep your attention on the center of the throat,
Following sensation down the throat and into the collarbones,
Into the chest,
The space beneath that hard part of your ribcage,
Feeling into the heart space,
Breathing into the heart space and seeing if you can soften the bones,
The muscles,
The tissues that surround the heart space and encase the heart.
Observe,
What do you feel here?
Listen,
Can you hear or feel your own pulse?
Perhaps it's a very soft and slight sensation or perhaps as you go deeper into noticing you can feel a deep and steady pulse.
Try to connect with whatever you feel,
Allowing yourself to drop into sensation,
Give up thinking and surrender to sensation.
Feel the pulse of your heart,
Notice its quality,
Deep or light,
Fast or slow.
Imagine the blood pumping through your veins,
Follow this sensation through the veins and the arteries all around the body,
Imagining visualizing,
Feeling the blood move through the body and into the extremities,
Into the fingers and the toes,
The soles of the feet and the palms,
From the top of the head all the way to the bottom of the feet,
From the deep inner parts of the body,
From the heart space all the way to the outer layers of your skin,
Feeling the gentle rhythmic pulse.
Deliver oxygen to every part of your body,
Take your attention from the center of your chest out to the right and left sides of the chest,
Still encased by the rib cage,
Feel into the right and left side of the chest,
Deep in the body.
Notice the rise and the fall of your breath and feel the expansion into the right and left side of the chest with each fresh inhalation,
No need to change or control your breath,
You're just noticing,
You're observing the body breathing itself,
Feel into the lung space,
Feel the breath rise,
Feel the breath form,
Feel the whole body rising and falling,
Feel how the breath seems to expand from the center of the body all the way to the outer layers,
And beyond.
Move your attention down to the stomach,
To the space in the center of your belly,
Above your belly button and at the bottom of your rib cage,
Sense and feel into this space,
What do you notice here?
Sensation,
Movement,
Stillness,
Drop down into the sensation of feeling,
Give up thinking and drop into the feeling space,
Notice what you feel but try not to analyze or judge what you feel,
Simply observe,
Be curious,
What does it feel like in the center of your stomach?
Move your attention down into the lower back,
Into the very base of the spine,
The sacrum,
That big bony plate at your very lower back,
Feel into this part of the body and notice the heaviness of this big bony plate,
The sacrum,
Allowing it to sit and sink down with the weight of gravity,
Notice and feel the hip bones on the left and the right side and then follow the bone structure down through the thighs,
Following the thigh bones down the legs,
Pausing at the knees,
Feeling and sensing into the kneecaps,
The space behind the kneecaps,
The space at the back of the knees,
Feel the shin bones of the lower legs,
Down into the ankle bones,
Feel deep inside the ankles on both sides,
Feel the skeleton of the foot,
The heel and the bones spreading out to all 10 toes,
Feel the soles of the feet and the skin encasing them and notice any subtle sensations on the skin at the soles of your feet,
Move your attention to the palms of your hands,
Noticing the skin covering the palms and the space beyond the skin,
The air around your palms,
Can you feel a subtle charge here,
A subtle energy,
Feel the tips of all of your fingers,
Feel the skeletal makeup of the hands,
Following the bones from the tips of your fingers to your knuckles and up into the wrists,
Feel inside the forearms,
Inside the elbows,
Feeling up through the upper arms and into the shoulders,
Feel into the shoulder blades on the right and the left side,
Feel up into the back of the neck as though you could individually sense each vertebra of the cervical spine,
Feel the heaviness and strength of the head,
Locate with your mind the center point of the base of the skull,
C0 and then draw a line from this point up to the center point at the crown of your head,
Visualizing energy running through this line from the very base of your skull to the very crown of your head and now take your attention to a point about a third of the way up this line and imagine a small bean-like shape inside of the head,
You're imagining the space of your pineal gland,
Allow all of your attention to pour into this space,
Simply rest your attention here and allow yourself to be curious and watchful without any expectation of sensation,
Without pushing away anything that comes,
Simply rest your attention here and notice,
Now move your attention to the center of your eyebrows and then go inside the brain a little,
Coming to the third eye center,
Rest your attention here with your gaze turned inwards,
Allowing yourself to feel and sense into the space behind the eyes,
Inside of the brain,
Inside of the mind,
Release the attention and pour softness into your body,
Come back to your breath with each fresh wave of inhalation,
Let softness fill into your muscles with each fresh wave of exhalation,
Let softness ooze out of your muscles with each fresh wave of inhalation,
Let softness fill into your bones with each fresh wave of exhalation,
Let the softness ooze out of your bones with each fresh wave of inhalation,
Let the softness fill deep into your being and as you exhale,
Surrender,
Surrender,
Surrender.
