Hi,
It's Joel Ennestly.
I'm about to guide you through a powerful mindfulness technique called the body scan.
The practice of mindfulness enables you to calm the often chaotic thoughts,
Diffusing heightened moments of stress and anxiety,
Allowing your quiet confidence to flourish.
It's about you developing an increased sense of awareness as you become the curious observer in your own life.
In this practice,
We're going to mentally scan over the body,
Simply observing and allowing your body to relax.
The intention is for you to use the body as a means to give your mind a focus,
An anchor to draw you into the present moment.
If at any point you find your mind racing,
Don't be alarmed.
This is completely normal.
Allow the thoughts to pass by you,
Like a cloud disappearing in the sky,
And then return your attention to the scan of the body.
So let's begin now,
Finding yourself in a comfortable space without distractions.
Ensuring that your posture is straight,
Relaxing into a comfortable position in your chair,
Or if you wish,
You may also stretch out on the floor.
Allow your eyes to come to a gentle close now.
Take a few moments to focus on your breath,
Simply noticing the movement of your body,
To focus on your breath,
Simply noticing the breath.
On the in-breath,
Notice your lungs filling up,
And then on the out-breath,
Allow the air to leave your lungs and move your attention all the way down to your feet.
Firstly,
Just noticing the toes.
Firstly,
Just noticing the toes.
Perhaps noticing each individual toe,
And then relaxing the toes.
Expanding further now to the soles of your feet,
Just simply noticing.
Noticing things like the temperature of your feet,
Or perhaps the touch point between your feet and the floor.
Noticing the feet travelling up to the ankles,
And simply relaxing these areas now.
Moving the scan up to your lower legs,
Noticing your calf muscles,
And just relaxing this area.
Noticing the shins and the knees,
Becoming aware of any tension you may have in these areas,
Allowing the knees to soften and relax.
Continuing the scan now to the thighs,
Simply noticing the thighs,
Allowing the thighs to relax.
Now moving up further to the lower part of your stomach.
Now moving up further,
The lower part of your stomach.
Simply observing without judgement.
Perhaps you notice any tension or stress that you might be holding in your stomach.
Or perhaps sensations of hunger.
Or simply noticing the digestion process.
Simply notice and relax.
Then moving your attention to your hips and the buttocks.
Allowing these areas to soften and relax.
Noticing the lower back now.
Moving up the spine.
Noticing any tension or stress.
Or any stories that you might be telling yourself.
Just notice without judgement.
And just return your attention to these areas.
Moving up to the upper back now.
Then moving around and noticing the chest area.
Now the chest to relax and soften.
If at any time you find your focus drifting.
Just remind yourself to return to the scan.
Let's move the scan now to your fingertips.
Simply noticing the fingertips.
Each individual finger.
Allowing the fingers to relax.
Noticing the hands.
Allowing the hands to relax.
Travelling up the arms.
Noticing the forearms.
The elbows.
The upper arms.
Allowing your entire arms to relax and soften all the way down to the fingers.
Now noticing the shoulders.
Noticing any tension or stories you might be telling yourself about your shoulders.
Simply notice and then relax the shoulders.
Noticing the neck.
Noticing any stories about this area to drift away.
Allowing the neck to relax and soften.
Noticing the jaw and the muscles around your face.
Travelling around to your ears and the back of your head.
Simply relaxing these areas now.
And finally noticing the top of the head.
Noticing the top of the head.
Now that you have completed the body scan,
Bring your awareness to your entire body.
From the top of the head all the way down to the toes.
Paying attention to things like the temperature,
The touch points between you and the chair or the floor.
Simply inviting awareness.
Simply noticing.
Noticing the breath.
Allowing your entire body to relax now.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
Bringing the session to a close by allowing the body scan to bring forth calm,
Tranquility and quiet confidence throughout the rest of your day.
