Somatic Meditation: Bringing Curiosity To Bodily Sensation

This gentle body scan meditation offers an exploration of sensations felt in the body as a portal to greater presence and wakefulness. The invitation to all during this somatic exploration is to be a 'compassionate observer', especially when uncomfortable sensations are encountered. Rather than attaching to or over-identifying with what is experienced as less comfortable, simply notice it and bring to it curiosity and compassion.

Transcript

Just make your body comfortable as can be in this moment. And we'll begin by taking that compassionate noticing, Placing it on the breath. So just beginning to tune in now. Notice how the breath is in this moment. You might notice the speed, Depth, Temperature, Anything else at all you can gather. Just tune in, Check it out. Beautiful. From here, That same attention that was just on the breath. Now place it on the very top, The very crown of the head, Gathering the attention there at the crown of the head. Tune in and notice what lives there as far as somatics or sensations. Tuning in to what is in this place of the body right now. So you might notice a tinkling, A throbbing, Anything else at all. There's no right or wrong. Holding the attention and energy in that place for a few more moments. And we'll allow now that attention that was at the top of the head to melt down through the forehead all the way to the eyes. Holding the attention there for a few moments. Notice what lives there in this moment. We're practicing accessing presence through the sensations of the body right now. So come back to the body. Notice what's there in the eyes. Down to the nose and the cheeks now. Let's explore, Check in. Now the mouth and the jaw, All of the little muscles inside of the mouth. Tune in and notice. And as noticing or awareness happens, You might notice that things shift some. Just take note of that. As you hold your attention in the jaw space, Notice if things stay the same or if they change moment to moment. A few nice breaths here. Still holding the attention in the mouth, The jaw. Let it drip down now to the neck. The throat space. Take note of the sensations there. Again, Without judging, Just noticing. Where our attention goes, Energy flows. So as we tune into each space, You might notice that more sensation shows up as you attend to these places in your body. So just notice that. We'll keep going. Now to the eyes. As you attend to these places in your body, Just notice that. We'll keep going now to both shoulders. See if you can hold the attention and energy both of your shoulders simultaneously. We're tuning into sensation. Remember, From the place of observer. That attention and energy melting down further now to both arms. See if you can hold from shoulder to wrist the entirety of both arms in your awareness. Notice what that's like. What are the sensations there right now? And then down to both hands. And I invite you to play around with this idea of where our attention goes. That's where energy flows. The hands can be a really nice way to access our somatic energy, Our bodily wisdom. When we spend much time cut off or dissociated or disembodied, The hands can be a nice gentle place to begin to come back to our bodies and tune in. So focus with the hands. Are they hot? Cool? Are there prickly or tingly sensations? Or not? The absence of sensation is something to notice too. We're just playing, Just noticing. Letting that go, Come now to the heart space, The chest. Tune in just gently. Notice what's felt there. Notice what might be held there. An invitation to be with that. From the place of compassionate observer, An attitude of, I see you, I see you baby, I'm here for you. Down now to the belly. Notice what lives in the stomach area in this moment. Very good. And then holding the pelvic area in awareness. Just notice, Notice what that's like. Continuing to both thighs, So pelvis to knee, Tuning into the top half of both legs. Can you gather, Pick up on any sensation there today? And then what about both knees? If you tune into the knee joints. Just notice both calves and the whole lower half of both legs. Rest the attention there. Notice where your mind wants to go, What your mind wants to do, And come back to the body. Both feet now. I find the feet similar to the hands, They can be a nice safe way to really play with this, To really begin to inhabit our bodies. So see if you can pick up on sensation in the feet right now, Both feet. The heels and the soles of the feet, All of the toes, Holding the whole of both feet in awareness. And now it's time to integrate all of these parts of the body that we just explored. So holding the entirety of the body in awareness now. And breathing here, Just resting, Resting in presence. You could go where you need to go if you need to drift, Okay? If you would like to feel further into the body, Okay? If you would like to send extra love and attention and energy to the places that you discovered needed most in the body today, Okay. Continue to breathe here, Just resting, Resting in awareness of wherever you're at. We return now to the breath. Place that beautiful attention, That awareness back on the breath now. And just notice what's up there. Does it feel different at all than it did some minutes ago? Breathing, Breathing. You might intentionally slow down and deepen the breath if that feels nourishing right now. You might allow the breath to just breathe itself as you sit back, Lie back, Rest. Breathe and notice. And it's time to let this meditation go now. So do so just really, Really slowly and really gently. If your eyes were closed, You might flutter them open slowly, Gently. You might notice if your body's asking for a little stretch or movement and give it a little bit of that. Or if stillness and sleep is where it's at right now, Great. Thank you.