Welcome to this mindfulness and body scan meditation.
Before we begin,
Ensure that you are comfortable.
If you are sitting on a chair,
Ensure that your feet are flat on the floor,
Your spine is supported and your back is erect,
Your hands resting in your lap or gently on your thighs,
With your head tilted slightly forward.
And if you are seated on a cushion,
Ensure you are well grounded,
With your legs crossed and your spine comfortably erect,
Hands resting on your thighs or in your lap.
With your eyes open,
Slowly scan the room in which you are sitting and as you do,
Just notice any object that draws your attention.
Sit with it for a little while,
Then move on.
Slowing down,
Bringing yourself into this room and into this moment.
Gently closing your eyes,
Bringing your attention to any sounds that you may hear.
The sound of the music,
The sound of your breathing.
Just noticing.
And taking your attention outside the room to sounds you may hear in the distance.
Just noticing,
Without engaging.
Letting the sounds come to you.
You may also notice a fragrance or a smell in the room.
Just take notice,
Without engaging.
Allowing yourself this time,
Just for you.
Bringing your attention to where you are seated,
On the floor or on your chair.
And feel your body being supported through your buttocks.
Reaching down through the floor,
All the way to Mother Earth.
Providing you with a wonderful,
Solid and stable grounded base.
Slowing down and arriving in this moment.
You may also notice other sensations in the body.
You may feel your clothing around your neck,
Or the sleeves resting against your arms.
Just noticing.
Turning your attention to your breath,
Without altering what you are doing.
Just notice the breath.
You may notice the air as it enters through your nostrils,
Or as it passes through your throat.
You may feel your chest rise,
Or your belly expand.
Just noticing,
Without engaging.
Now deepening your breath,
By taking the breath all the way down to your belly.
And slowly exhaling.
Continue for another two breaths.
Bringing your attention into your heart space.
Right into the centre of your heart.
And as you do,
Imagine a small dot,
Shimmering in the centre of your heart.
And slowly feel it inflate.
A shimmering silvery balloon.
Slowly inflating to encompass your whole heart.
Feeling the love and calmness and gentleness of this space.
Allowing the silvery,
Shimmering balloon to expand further.
Filling your chest.
Feeling the sensations from the inside of your body,
Out to your skin.
Noticing the balloon,
Filling your shoulders and upper back.
Feeling relief and relaxation.
To your upper arms.
Down through your elbows.
To your forearms.
And into the palms and fingers of your hand.
Feeling any sensations or discomfort.
And letting the balloon soothe and calm the hands.
Being filled with this loving and gentle embrace.
Down through your stomach and into your belly.
Your lower back and pelvis.
And into your hips.
This warmth and embracing feeling of love and comfort.
Into your thighs,
Knees and into your lower legs and calf muscles.
Down into your ankles,
The tops of your feet,
Soles of your feet and into your toes.
Slowing down,
Arriving in this moment.
Feeling it rise up through your neck and into your head.
Slowly expanding to fill your skull.
Feeling the sensation on your scalp.
On your brow.
A softness in your eyes.
Your nose,
Cheeks and into your lips,
Jaw and inside your mouth and to your tongue.
Fully engaging your entire body.
Feeling the comfort and love radiating out from your heart.
Filling your entire being.
Feeling the sensations moving beyond your body.
Slowly expanding to take in the room that you are sitting in.
Embracing everything that's around you.
And as it expands further,
Begin to feel the connectedness with everything around you.
Ceasing to exist as just yourself.
But part of something far larger.
Interconnected with everyone and everything.
And as you sense this wonderful growth and expansion of your consciousness.
Embracing love.
Embracing calmness.
Embracing everything.
Just sitting here in the silence and in the calmness that is here.
Embracing the connectedness with all things.
Embracing everything.
Embracing everything.
Embracing everything.
Embracing everything.
Embracing everything.
Embracing life.
Our interconnectedness with everything.
Slowly bringing your consciousness back to your body.
Slowly letting the balloon deflate.
Ever so slowly.
Back to your body.
And begin to sense your body as a whole.
Turning your attention to any sounds that you hear.
Both outside the room.
And as you shrink back to sounds inside the room.
Just slowly reintegrating yourself back into your body.
Sensing your weight being borne by your cushion or the chair.
Clothing touching your skin.
Any taste that you may have in your mouth.
Slowly,
Ever so slowly and gently.
Arriving back into this room and into this space.
Bringing your attention to your breath.
Just observing the gentle ebb and flow as you breathe in and breathe out.
And as you settle back into your body you may want to gently wriggle your fingers and toes.
Bringing some movement back to your body.
You may have a gentle stretch.
And when you are ready.
Opening your eyes.
And reacquainting yourself with this room.
And taking with you the love and the interconnectedness.
Calmness and stillness of this moment.
And out into your die.
