Welcome to this special meditation for mums and daughters.
This meditation is dedicated to helping us appreciate ourselves and our bodies in all the wonder that they are.
For so many of us,
We're quick to judge ourselves.
Even if there are parts of our bodies that maybe don't work as well as we'd like,
Or don't look a particular way,
Our bodies are amazing.
They keep us alive,
They sustain us,
They give us energy and help us do everything,
Every day.
So I invite you now in this meditation to give a bit of love back to your body.
So find a comfortable place to lie down,
Preferably on a bed or a mat.
You can be on your side or you can lie on your back.
And try and extend your legs out long and place your arms by your side.
Just beginning by noticing how your body feels lying here.
Seeing the weight that your body has against the ground.
What parts of your body are touching the floor?
And what parts aren't touching anything?
Just exploring this for a moment.
And now bringing your attention to the very top of your head.
What does it feel like here?
Is it hot or cold?
Just exploring all the sensations on the top of your head.
And as we stop here,
Appreciating what our heads,
What our brains do for us.
Everything we do,
Everything we feel and we sense is thanks to our brain.
Billions of tiny connections are happening all the time.
So it's a wonderful moment to really feel thankful that we have the help of our brains.
I invite you now to repeat this mantra with me,
Silently or out loud.
I feel grateful for my brain and all the wonderful things that it helps me do.
Now bringing your attention to your face.
What do you feel on your face right now?
What sensations?
Is there air in the room that is blowing across your face?
Let's scan all parts of the face now.
Starting at your forehead.
How does it feel there right now?
Noticing your eyes.
Can you feel your eyelashes?
Bringing your attention to your nose,
Really trying to feel the sensations in each of the areas.
What do your cheeks feel like?
And your mouth.
Can you sense your lips and your teeth?
Can you feel your tongue inside your mouth?
Noticing what that feels like.
And finally your ears.
Sometimes we can feel really strong sensations and sometimes we can't feel much at all and that's fine.
There's no perfect way to experience the body.
It's changing all the time.
So as we stop here and explore the sensations of the face,
Let's appreciate what our faces do for us.
Four of our five senses come from our face.
Our sense of smell,
Sight,
Taste and hearing.
So much of what we know about the world we get from this wonderful part of our body.
So I invite you to repeat this mantra with me now.
I feel grateful for all the parts of my face and all the things that the senses give me.
Now taking your attention to your arms,
Scanning from your shoulders all the way down to your elbows,
Your hands and your fingers.
What sensations do you notice in your arms right now?
How do they feel?
Do they feel heavy?
Do they feel warm or cold?
You may not feel much at all and that's perfectly fine.
Just trying to notice without judging how your body feels right now in this moment.
And not trying to change anything.
Sometimes as we're doing this our minds are off doing other things and distracting us.
Thinking about tomorrow or yesterday,
It's okay.
That's exactly what our minds do.
So when you notice,
Just being kind with yourself and bringing your attention back to your body,
Back to your arms.
So as we stop here and explore our arms,
Let's appreciate what they do for us in our lives.
All the things that we can do with their help.
Now shifting your attention to your chest,
Your heart and your tummy.
What does it feel like here right now?
What do you notice?
Do you notice movement?
Can you sense the breath?
Is your breath slow or fast?
Just holding your attention on this gentle ebb and flow of your breath with a gentleness and a kindness.
Watching with curiosity.
As we stop here and explore the front of our bodies,
Taking a moment to truly appreciate your breath and how it sustains us in our lives.
And the amazing thing is that it happens without us even realizing it.
It keeps bringing in air to help us to stay healthy.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Just following your breath now.
So let's repeat this mantra now.
I feel grateful for my breathing,
My heart and all my organs for keeping me healthy and alive.
And when this happens,
We must feel love for our bodies so it can get well again.
Each part of our body is always working hard to do something for us.
So now moving your attention to your back.
What does it feel like in this moment as you're lying here?
Try and sense your spine and all the muscles around it.
Letting it rest,
Releasing any tension and just noticing how heavy it feels lying here on the floor or the bed.
Our backs are so important to us because they connect our brains to our bodies.
Everything we do is helped by the connection they make together.
When our backs are working well,
They keep us upright and moving.
So taking a moment now to repeat this mantra with me.
I feel grateful for my back for supporting me and keeping my body working.
Slowly shifting your attention to your legs.
Sensing your legs from your hips all the way down to your toes,
Including your pelvis,
Your knees and your feet.
What do your legs feel like right now?
Do they feel relaxed?
Do they feel tense?
What position are they in?
Can you feel any movement?
Letting your body be in this moment just as it is without trying to change anything.
It's a wonderful gift we can give ourselves,
Just let ourselves be as we already are.
So taking a moment now to think about this part of our body,
The legs and the value they can bring to our lives.
Repeat this mantra to yourself.
I feel grateful for my legs for all the ways they help me move my body and support me.
Now expanding your attention to include your whole body again.
How do you feel now lying here?
Giving appreciation to your whole body.
What a wonderful gift that we have that helps us to do everything we want in our lives.
Every part has its value.
Wishing yourself and your body well.
May we stay well and may we stay healthy.
Take a deep breath in now.
Hold it for a few seconds and let all your breath out in a slow steady stream.
Let's do that again now.
Breathing in,
Holding and breathing out.
I'll finish this meditation now with a bell and when it finishes you can open your eyes.
As long as you are taking something for me to do that would certainly simplify your daily journey.
