Hi and welcome to this body scan meditation.
My name is Heather Dempsey and I'm bringing this to you to assist you with more of a centering,
More grounding within the body.
So often when we are distracted or stressed or anxious or busy,
We can disassociate from the body and from the experiences,
But when we can draw our attention back in and allow ourselves to experience emotions,
Thoughts,
Sensations through the somatic experience of body awareness,
We can allow them to kind of process all the way through.
So emotions and thoughts processing all the way through and to completion rather than still existing and spinning around,
Not having completed their cycle.
So just bringing awareness to the body,
Allowing yourself to feel the sensations that come up,
Whether it be a physical sensation,
An energy sensation,
A thought sensation,
An image,
A color,
A sound.
And so just first finding yourself somewhere comfortable,
Whether it's seated or laying down,
Allowing yourself to release external distractions.
Just give yourself this time,
These moments,
To focus inward.
If your attraction or attention does get drawn outward,
Just bring it back.
Bring your attention back to my voice,
Back to the meditation,
Back to your body and sensations that you may be experiencing.
And so in your comfortable position,
Just first bringing your attention to the feet.
So bringing your attention to the feet as a whole,
Maybe you're wiggling them,
Maybe you're crunching the toes in and rounding the feet,
Maybe you're pointing the toes away from you and towards you.
And then bringing your awareness to your toes.
So imagine if you were touching your toes,
Right?
Touching the whole surrounding area from the tip to where they meet your foot,
Kind of around the sides,
Bottom of the toe,
Toenail,
Tip of the toe.
And then allowing your awareness to go to each toe.
We'll start with the right foot.
So starting with the big toe or the right foot,
Allow all of your awareness to go into your right big toe.
And allowing the eyes to remain closed to see if you can see your right big toe.
And if visualization is not your strong suit,
Just allowing yourself to have a knowing of your right big toe.
Allowing yourself to connect to any sensation,
Any energy awarenesses of your right big toe.
And then allowing that awareness to travel to your second toe.
So just to the second toe.
Awareness all the way up to the tip of it,
The toenail,
The bottom of it,
Each little knuckle and as it connects to the foot.
Traveling then over to the third toe.
So really allow your awareness to fill your third toe.
Allowing your awareness to then move to your fourth toe.
And maybe you are wiggling the toes as you transfer your awareness to one to the other.
And so maybe in the awareness you feel a tingling or you see a color or you have an awareness,
A thought,
A picture.
And maybe for now there's nothing and that's fine.
Just your awareness,
Your focus.
Now allowing that to move over to your fifth toe,
That little toe.
And then bringing awareness back to all five toes of the right foot.
Wiggle them,
Shake them out.
And allowing them to become still and bringing your awareness to your left big toe.
So awareness of the top of the toe,
The bottom of the toe,
Sides of the toe,
Where the toe connects to the foot,
Your toenail.
Just noticing what may come up,
If anything at all.
Moving your awareness to your second left toe.
From the tip of it to the base and all the way around.
And allowing your awareness to move to your third left toe.
And awareness then moves to your fourth toe.
Noticing the front,
The back,
The sides,
The toenail,
Where it connects to the foot.
Any thoughts,
Sensations,
Images.
And then allowing your awareness to come to the fifth toe,
The little toe on the left foot.
Allow awareness to come into all five toes of the left foot.
Wiggle the toes and then wiggle all ten toes,
Left foot,
Right foot.
And then letting your awareness to travel up the foot.
So maybe first through the sole of the foot,
The balls of the feet,
The top of the foot,
The arch of the foot,
Your heel,
The sides of the foot.
And allow your attention to come to the right foot.
And maybe pointing the toes away from you and towards you.
Feeling the movement through the ankle,
Wiggling the toes.
And allow your awareness to now come to the fifth toe on the right foot.
And see if you can travel up the foot.
Imagine if you're traveling up that foot bone.
Just awareness.
I'm traveling up the bone of the foot that would correspond,
Will be most connected to,
Aligned with the fourth toe of the right foot.
And the bones most in line with the third toe of the right foot.
Bones traveling all the way up towards the ankle.
And for the second toe and the big toe.
Awareness comes back to the entire foot,
Top and bottom,
Heel to toes.
Roll the foot,
Let yourself feel the sensation through the ankle.
Maybe traveling in the opposite direction now.
And then bring awareness to the left foot.
Pointing the toe away and towards.
And then bringing awareness to the fifth toe.
And allow your awareness to travel all the way up the foot through the foot bones,
Aligned with the fifth toe all the way up towards the ankle.
Moving over to the fourth toe and the bones aligned with the fourth toe all the way up through the foot.
Allow your awareness to be there.
And over to the third toe,
Traveling up through the foot.
And the second toe and all the way up the foot.
And then awareness to the big toe of the left foot and the bones that align and travel all the way up to the ankle.
And awareness of the entire left foot,
Top and bottom,
From the toes to the heel.
Maybe rolling the ankle,
Switching directions,
And awareness back into both feet.
Moving both feet,
Awareness to the soles of the feet,
The tops of the feet,
Awareness of the bones,
And awareness of the skin.
Noticing any sensations you feel on the surface of the skin.
Is there movement of air,
Texture of fabric,
Or just simply awareness?
And so as we move through the body,
Allow yourself to become as detailed as you like.
We're going to bring awareness to the right leg,
So the entire right leg,
Noticing its heaviness.
Notice what may be supporting it,
What is beneath the right leg.
Noticing the sensations on your skin,
Allowing your awareness to sink in deeper,
Traveling all the way down in through the right leg,
All the way down to the bones themselves.
And maybe flexing through the heel,
Pressing through the heel,
Maybe slightly bending the knee.
Just allow movement of the right leg to enhance your awareness of it.
And then maybe shaking it out,
Get some of the energy moving as our awareness tends to increase it.
Then allowing a stillness to come over the right leg to bring your awareness to the left leg.
Awareness of the weight of the left leg,
Awareness of how it is being supported,
What sensations may be available if anything is touching it.
Awareness of the skin on the left leg,
All the way from the hip down to the toes,
Bringing focus back to the leg and allowing your awareness to travel down deeper,
All the way down to the bones of the left leg,
Offering any movement or enjoying any level of stillness that feels most appropriate for you at this time.
Just to keep awareness on the left leg.
And then allowing your awareness to begin to include the right leg as well.
So awareness of both legs,
The weight of the legs,
The sensation of what supports them,
The sensation of what surrounds them.
And allow yourself to invite in the sensation of lightness to the legs as if they have no weight,
As if they begin to float just above what's been supporting them.
Maybe you imagine your toes as little helium balloons lifting the legs off of any surface.
Or maybe you just see the legs becoming weightless.
Maybe you feel the legs becoming weightless.
And maybe this allows you to experience this weightlessness through both legs.
Allowing yourself to begin to have the awareness of gravity and the weight of the legs now reuniting,
Allowing them to be supported,
Letting them grow heavy and just release.
And allowing awareness to now travel up through the pelvis,
The low belly,
And your hip space.
Maybe starting with the front body and allowing your awareness to travel around through the back feeling where you may be seated or the glutes or the buttocks may be resting on a surface.
Allowing yourself to travel deep within this lower body area.
Allowing yourself to bring awareness to each organ or maybe even just simply each side of the body.
Right side,
Left side,
Front body,
Back body.
And then awareness begins to travel upward and it's enhanced as you bring awareness to your breath and how it fills the belly.
Maybe you feel the side bodies expanding and the ribs expanding.
Each exhale you feel the body releasing and just this weightiness emptying and letting go.
Maybe each breath allows you to feel the support of what's beneath you through the back body pressing in.
And maybe awareness also allows you to connect with the spaciousness you create within the body.
Each breath opening up.
Each breath allowing you to lift and each exhale allowing you to release and more deeply connect.
And so awareness traveling up through the chest,
Through the heart space,
And the right chest,
And the left chest.
Allow yourself to bring awareness and the breath into this space.
And maybe awareness begins to travel up and down the spine.
And then awareness begins to travel and through the chest over to the right and through the right arm all the way down through the upper arm,
Through the shoulder,
The elbow,
Forearm,
And through the wrist into the hand.
So awareness comes to the right thumb and the right pinky finger.
Awareness comes to the right pointer finger,
Index finger.
And awareness of the right ring finger.
Awareness of the right middle finger and then allow the awareness to travel through the whole hand,
The palm,
The top of the hand,
All the way through the wrist from side to side and all the way around.
Then awareness travels through the arms all the way back up through the shoulder traveling across the chest into the left arm.
So awareness of the left shoulder,
Left upper arm,
Left elbow,
And lower arm,
Wrist,
And into the left hand.
Awareness to the left thumb,
Into the left pinky,
Awareness into the left index finger,
Pointer finger.
Awareness of the left ring finger and awareness into the left middle finger.
Awareness starts to travel back into the hand,
The palm of the hand,
The top of the hand.
Awareness to the wrist inside and all the way around.
And awareness travels back up through the lower arm,
The elbow,
Upper arm,
And shoulder coming all the way back into heart space.
Allow yourself to pause here,
This awareness coming to the heart space and the breath.
And we allow the breath to bring our awareness and through the nose down through the mouth,
The throat,
Connecting to the heart space.
So allow this movement from outside of the body into the body all the way down to the heart,
And let that awareness travel all the way up through the heart,
Through the throat,
Through the mouth,
Through the nose,
Connecting outside of yourself back into the body.
And then next round of awareness of the breath,
As it's moving up from the heart allow it to travel up through the neck and the spine all the way into the back of the head.
So allowing your awareness to come to the back of the head,
Any external sensations,
Noticing any thoughts or images,
Any awarenesses of energy.
Allowing your awareness,
Your consciousness to begin to explore inside of the skull,
Maybe exploring in through the brain.
Just awareness being inside,
Deep inside the skull,
Traveling through the brain tissues.
Awareness now coming into the cheeks,
Awareness into the jaw and the chin.
Awareness travels back up through the jaw,
Back into the brain,
And then awareness comes to the eyes,
The eyeballs,
The eye sockets,
And the eyebrows.
Allowing your experience and your awareness to travel into the forehead.
Awareness coming to the third eye,
The space between the brow,
Breathing into this space,
Bringing awareness into this space of the third eye.
Noticing if you feel expansion,
If you see images,
If you feel sensations,
Maybe a pulsation,
A vibration,
And maybe nothing.
And allowing awareness to now travel to the crown of the head,
The very top of the head.
And in this moment of awareness,
Allow yourself to imagine the breath is coming all the way out from the sky,
Traveling down into the crown of the head,
Traveling all the way through the body,
Down through the body,
Every limb all the way down,
Down,
Down to the soles of the feet.
The next inhale is coming up from the soles of the feet,
Traveling all the way up the body.
Allow yourself to breathe in this cycle or whatever cycle feels most connected for you.
And then allowing your next breath to come to the heart space.
Awareness remains in the heart space as we allow our awareness to expand energetically through the body with each breath.
Right our center point being our heart,
Each breath then creating this expansiveness outside of the body through the body.
And bringing hands to either the heart or the belly to reconnect with the sensations of the breath on your physical form.
Offering this physical body gratitude,
Extending gratitude for this experience of centering and grounding body awareness and the journey we were able to take.
And so allowing the next few breaths cycles to begin to externalize the mind,
Allow your awareness to begin to expand outside of the body and outside of the space around you into the room in which you are.
And as your external awareness begins to expand,
Begin to allow the eyes to softly blink open,
A gentle gaze,
No need to focus yet.
And the soft blinking as the eyes do slowly come into focus coming back into the here and now into this time and this space that you're experiencing in this body.
And thank you for going on this journey with me.
I hope that you'll enjoy again and again.
