Welcome to this embodied body scan meditation
An invitation to journey through the body
To quieten the mind for a while
To let go of the busyness of the world
To come home to ourselves
To our body
Coming back into presence
To the aliveness that's always present within us
And finding that anchoring,
That rooting within the home that is our body
Beginning by finding a comfortable position
You might be lying down
Or finding a comfortable reclined seated position
What is most important is that you are comfortable
Using any props you need,
Cushions,
Pillows,
Blankets to find comfort and ease
And as you settle,
Reminding yourself that in this moment
You are safe,
You are warm and you are unconditionally supported by the surface beneath you
Beginning to attune to your breath
Sensing the breath flowing in and out of the body
A gentle invitation,
A gentle call to draw your awareness inwards
Noticing all the sensations of the breath
At the rim of your nostrils,
In the back of the throat
In your chest,
Perhaps in your abdomen
Noticing how long or short your breathing might be
How deep or shallow
How easeful or contracted
We're not looking for any right way or wrong way here
We're simply being curious about the sensations of breathing
The sensation of being breathed
And you might notice where you're feeling the breath the most
Or where you feel it the least
You might notice the contrast between the sensations of your inhale
And the sensations of your exhale
Sensing or imagining the breath to be a gentle compassionate stroke
An invitation within
And then slowly noticing within your body any part of the body that may feel okay
Comfortable,
Safe in this moment
And that might just be the little toe of your right foot
Or it might be a slightly more expensive area within the body
But sensing into that feeling of okayness,
Comfort,
Perhaps safety
And knowing that as I guide you through the body
This is a place you can always come back to
At any point my invitations feel unsafe or uncomfortable for you
Simply ignore my voice and come back to what feels safe and comfortable
And that might simply be noticing the touch points between your body
And the support beneath you and reminding yourself that you are held
Now slowly drawing your awareness to the feet
Beginning to notice the tips of your toes
The soles of the feet
The heels
Noticing the front of the feet
And inviting your awareness to drop within the feet
Sensing or imagining all these tiny bones
Noticing any sensations that may be present
Sensing within the feet
Remembering that we're not looking for anything in particular
There is no right or wrong way of doing this body scan
We are just being curious about what's present and alive in the body in this moment
And slowly inviting your awareness to rise into the ankles
The ankle bone within the ankle
And inviting your awareness to move into the calf muscles
Into the shins
Inhabiting the lower legs and the ankles and the feet more fully
As if you were slipping into your body suit with curiosity and openness
And slowly drawing your awareness into the knees and the knee joint
Front of the knee
Back of the knee
Inside the knee
And inviting your awareness to rise into the thighs
The quad muscles
Noticing what's present
What's here,
What's alive in these parts of your body
What sensations,
Currents,
Sense of heat or cold,
Pressure or ease might be present
And then inviting your awareness to rise into the hips
Sensing into your right hip
The ball and socket joints
Noticing how loose or tight the right hip joint might be
Noticing sensations within the hip
And then slowly moving over to the left hip
Inhabiting the left hip more fully
Sensing into the inner sensations within the hip
The ball and socket joints
How easeful or contracted
Tight or loose
No right or wrong
Simply welcoming what's present with this quality of openness,
Curiosity and kindness
And inviting your awareness into the pelvic ball
Dropping into the pelvic ball with your awareness
Feeling into any sensations that may be present here
Remembering that if at any moment
You are meeting sensations that feel a little overwhelming or too strong
You can always return to the place within your body that feels okay
Comfortable or safe
Now enveloping both legs and both hips with your awareness
Beginning by sensing the legs all the way to your waist from the outside in
You might notice sensations on your skin
You might notice sensations of pressure
Where the body meets the support beneath you
And then inviting your awareness to drop that little deeper into both legs,
Both feet,
Both hips
As if you were once again slipping into this bodysuit
What is alive in those parts of your body in this moment?
What sensations are you noticing?
Any tingling,
Buzzing,
Vibrating,
Glowing?
Nothing at all and that's okay too
Any sensation of temperature,
Warm or cold
Any sensation of flow or contraction
Remembering that all is welcome here
Welcoming your feet,
Ankles,
Legs and hips just as they are
No need to change anything at all
And then slowly inviting your awareness to rise into your abdomen
Sensing into the abdomen,
Diving a little more deeply into the sensations within the abdomen
What's here?
What's present?
What's alive within you in the abdomen?
And can we welcome it with kindness and openness?
And inviting your awareness to rise into the chest and the heart center
You might notice here the sensation of the breath
The lungs filling and expanding
The lungs deflating and softening
You might notice or sense into the ribs separating and expanding as you breathe in
And coming slightly back together as you breathe out
You might sense or imagine your heart gently beating in the chest
What sensations are present here?
What's alive within you?
Can we welcome these sensations with that quality of kindness,
Curiosity and openness?
Nothing here needs fixing
Allowing your awareness to move into the shoulders,
Into the shoulder joints
Noticing whatever you're noticing
Can you feel into the shoulder joint a little bit more deeply?
Allowing your awareness to glide into your arms,
Into your wrists
And feeling into the arms from the outside in
Once again you might sense the cool or the warm air around you gently touching your arms
You might sense the points where your arms are resting on the support
Now what would it feel like to inhabit the arms with your awareness?
What might you notice?
Are there sensations of spaciousness,
Ease,
Openness or sensations of tightness,
Contraction?
Welcoming whatever you find with kindness and openness
Now drawing your awareness to the palms of your hands
To the tip of your fingers
To the back of your hands
To the space between the fingers
Inviting your awareness to inhabit the hands as if you were slipping gloves on
Sensing into all the sensations that are alive and present within your hands in this moment
They may be buzzing or tingling
Glowing,
Vibrating,
Pulsing,
Warmth or cold
They may be nothing at all
Simply being with what's here,
Welcoming your hands just as they are
Feeling into the hands
Once again noticing what happens when you lay your awareness inside the hands
And then inviting your awareness to rise back into the arms and the shoulders
And into the neck and the throat
Once again noticing what's present within the neck and the throat
Is there a sense of ease and openness or a sense of contraction and tension?
Welcoming whatever you find with kindness
Inviting the awareness into the face
Sensing into the eyes
The ears
The nose
The cheeks
The jaws
The inside of the mouth
The chin
And sensing into the whole face
What sensations are present,
What's alive here
In this part of your body in this moment
Noticing what you're noticing
Letting go of any expectations and being present with what's here
And then inviting your awareness to the back of the head
Perhaps noticing how the back of your head meets the support beneath you
Inviting your awareness to glide down into the upper back
The middle back and the lower back
Inviting your awareness into the whole back
Sensing into the surface of your back
You might notice the fabric of your clothing resting on the back
You might notice the points where your back meets the support beneath you
Can you sense more deeply into the spine,
The vertebra
The space between the back and the front of the body
Sensing into the whole of the upper body
The torso,
The arms,
The neck and the head
Imagining as you breathe in and out that the breath is permeating every cell in your upper body
As if each cell was breathing in and out
Inhabiting as fully as is available to you the whole of the upper body
Sensing into whatever may be alive and present in the upper body
And then inviting your awareness into the whole of the lower body
The feet,
The legs and the hips
Inhabiting those parts of the body as fully as is available to you
And then bringing your awareness to the entire body,
The body as a whole
Resting your awareness within the whole body
Each cell within the body breathing in and out
The whole body expanding with the breath and softening with the exhale
Noticing sensations present in your whole body
Welcoming whatever you find with that quality of openness and kindness
Awareness of the whole body
And let's rest in this awareness,
Breathing in and out of the whole body
Sensing the breath inhabiting every cell,
Every corner,
Every curve
For a few more moments
Inhabiting the whole body
One whole field of sensations,
Currents,
Feelings,
Emotions
The entire body
Sensing into the aliveness that is present in our body moment to moment
The richness of our moment to moment experience when we allow ourselves to feel
The body as an instrument through which we meet life
Each cell,
Each part of the body
Contributing to the symphony of our sensations and feelings
And moment to moment experience
Let's take another moment here
And with all of this awareness of how your body is feeling in this moment
What is it that you might need as we come to an end in our meditation?
What is it that you might need to support yourself through the rest of your day?
To honor your body?
Let's take a few deeper breaths together as you breathe in
Bringing all this energy back into the body
Sensing into whatever is present
And as you exhale,
Allowing yourself to settle in this moment
To feel the body resting on its support
As you breathe in once again,
Feeling into the aliveness
The energy that is within your body in this moment
As you exhale,
Softening,
Allowing yourself to be present
To be received by the support beneath you
And one last time,
Let's breathe in deeply together
Feeling that aliveness of the breath permeating every curve in our body
And as we exhale,
Perhaps expressing a moment of gratitude for how hard the body works for us
And vowing to honor and be in devotion of our body through the rest of the day
Thank you for joining me in this journey into our body today
Remember that when the mind feels hectic and busy
And the world outside feels too much
If it feels supportive for you,
You can always come home to your body