Meditation For Back And Body Pain Using Color And Somatics
This meditation was designed with the intent of exploring body and back pain through a combination of somatic awareness, color visualization, breathwork, and self-compassion. The body scan explores different body systems including the spine and musculoskeletal, the cardiovascular system, the fascia, the diaphragm and core, and the emotional and cognitive layers of the body. The script's overall trauma-informed, gentle approach offers safe and supportive exploration to help promote physical and emotional healing.
Transcript
Trauma-informed meditation to explore back pain through color and somatics.
Welcome to this meditation.
As we begin,
I invite you to settle into your space.
Teach yourself to settle and allow your body to find a comfortable position.
You might be sitting,
You might be lying down.
Choose a position and a posture that feels completely supportive for you in this moment.
As you begin to settle,
Notice the points of contact between your body and the surface beneath your body.
Whatever position that might be.
Maybe you feel the cushion of a chair,
The solidness of the floor or a rug.
Or even perhaps the softness of a blanket or pillow.
Allow yourself to become aware of how the ground holds you and supports you.
There's nothing you need to do in this moment,
But allow the body to be held as best you can,
However that may feel for you right now in this moment.
Take as much time as you need to find ease in your position.
You're invited to move or adjust as you need throughout this practice.
This is a space where everything is welcome for you.
Just bring this gentle curiosity to how your body feels as it settles in.
If you notice areas of discomfort or tightness,
See if it feels okay to just let them be there with you.
You're allowed to simply rest in this moment and notice.
As you're settling in,
Begin to bring your attention to the places where the body meets the earth.
You might start by noticing your feet,
Whether they're resting on the floor or perhaps curled up beneath you.
What sensations do you notice?
Is there warmth,
Coolness,
Softness?
Notice the way your feet make contact with the ground and allow yourself to simply observe without needing to change anything.
From here,
You might slowly expand your awareness up through your legs,
Noticing where they make contact with the seat or the floor.
Is there a sense of groundedness or lightness?
Allow your curiosity to guide you as you explore how your body feels in connection with the surface beneath you.
Moving your awareness further up,
Can you feel the support beneath your hips,
Your back,
Your shoulders?
Just notice how the earth holds your body in this moment.
Whether it feels soft,
Firm,
Stable or shifting,
You're invited to fully notice whatever is present,
Allowing the ground to support your body in this moment.
If this feels right,
You might even take a breath in,
Allowing the breath to move into your body,
And then as you exhale,
Feel into and notice the body becoming a little more grounded,
A little more heavy as it begins to sink closer into the surface that's supporting you in this moment.
As you continue to ground yourself,
Know that if anything feels uncomfortable,
You can give yourself permission to choose to change the position of your body whenever you need.
This is your practice and you're in control of how you move throughout the practice.
As we begin,
You can always return to the sensation of being grounded and feeling into the connection of the earth beneath you whenever you need an extra level of support in the moment.
And now,
When you feel ready,
Gently begin to invite your attention back to the breath.
There's still no need to make any changes to the breath,
Just allowing yourself to observe the breath as it moves naturally through the body.
Perhaps there's a sense of coolness as it enters the nose,
Perhaps there's a sense of warmth as the breath leaves through the mouth or the nose.
What do you notice about the sensation of the breath in the air as it moves in,
As it flows out?
Is the breath deep?
Is the breath shallow?
Is the breath fast?
Is the breath slow?
Simply observe the breath's natural rhythm without judgment,
Just allowing yourself to be curious in this moment.
And then,
If it feels comfortable,
I invite you to deepen your breath slightly,
Taking a slow inhale for a count of 4,
Holding gently for 2,
And then exhaling for a count of 6.
Perhaps trying that again,
Allowing the breath to settle into this slower rhythm,
Inhaling for 1,
2,
3,
4,
Holding gently for 1,
2,
And exhaling for 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Allow the body to release any tension with each exhale,
Even allowing yourself to make any adjustments to this rhythm,
To this pace,
However it feels right to bring a sense of soothing ease into the breath,
Into the body.
If your body wants a gentler pause,
Allow it.
Each breath is an opportunity to check in with your body,
To release any tightness,
To create space for a greater sense of ease.
As you invite noticing of the breath,
Be curious how the breath may impact what you noticed in the space of your chest,
The space of the belly,
The space of the ribs.
Noticing how the body softens with each exhale,
Noticing if there's a shift in how the body feels as you continue to breathe in and you continue to breathe out.
If it feels right for you,
You may even wish to place a hand on your belly and a hand on your chest,
Noticing how the breath moves under your hands as you breathe in,
As well as as you breathe out.
Allow the breath to be the source of comfort,
Familiarity,
As the breath moves with a sense of ease and flow.
As you continue to notice the breath moving into and out of your body,
Softening,
Easing in,
Connecting to the ground beneath you,
Begin to allow curiosity around the next part of our meditation.
Begin to explore the body,
Gently guided by breath,
An invitation to be curious around color as you move through the practice,
Allowing a sense of compassion for yourself in the moment.
In the body skin,
You're invited to cultivate a sense of curiosity and compassionate awareness for your body as we journey and explore each area.
If it feels right,
Allow color to flow as part of what guides your exploration.
This practice invites you to honor what you notice in your own body and how it responds.
There's no need to move into any area if it doesn't feel right.
Just allowing that sense of curiosity as you notice that all sensations are welcome as you tune into your own body wisdom.
Begin by softly turning your awareness to the spine.
The spine is the central axis of support and mobility in your body.
If it feels right,
Allow a color to come to mind,
A color that feels soothing or inviting to you right now in this moment.
Invite this color to flow through the length of your spine,
Flowing and touching each vertebrae,
Each muscle with gentle,
Compassionate attention.
When there's no rush,
Moving your awareness,
Letting it linger,
Creating space for any sensation to arise,
Inviting a sense of curiosity all around,
An understanding of what does each part of your body want you to know,
Want you to sense,
Want you to be curious about.
Start by allowing our focus and our breath to be at the base of the spine,
The sacrum and the lumbar vertebrae in the lower back.
With each inhale,
Imagine your chosen color flowing into the area of the sacrum and the lumbar vertebrae.
A color softly expanding into this space in your body with each breath.
Let this color be gentle,
As though it's flowing around each vertebrae,
Offering a sense of gentle warmth to each place you notice.
Within this space,
What do you notice?
Are there sensations or feelings that are calling out?
It might be softness,
Lightness,
Or even tightness or heaviness.
It's also okay if there's an absence of sensation.
You're simply being curious about what you notice within your body in this moment.
As you continue to breathe,
I invite you to continue visualizing and feeling into your chosen color,
Feeling the muscles surrounding the lumbar spine.
If there's any discomfort,
Simply notice it without judgment.
If you can,
Shift your attention between any discomfort you might notice and any other places in your back or your body where you feel neutral or even at ease.
Will it perhaps imagine the color flowing more freely as you move awareness between whatever places may carry a sense of tension and whatever places offer a sense of ease?
Any softening or any areas that need a sense of relief or softening from any tightness or tension?
Being curious,
What happens when you bring your breath as part of your growing awareness?
Each time you exhale,
Invite a release,
Allowing the color to gently soothe as though it's dissolving any tension,
Layer by layer by layer.
Let your curiosity explore the subtleties here.
How does the sensation shift even slightly as you continue to breathe into whatever you notice in your body?
Slowly,
I invite you to bring your awareness up a little bit through the spine,
Moving from the sacrum and from the lumbar part of the spine in the back,
A little bit higher to the thoracic part of the spine,
The middle of the back.
This is the space that's protected by the ribcage and in the front of the body,
The space houses the lungs,
The heart.
As you breathe,
Perhaps allow and invite the color that you began to notice at the beginning to move from the sacrum,
From the lumbar,
A little bit higher up into this thoracic area of the spine,
Perhaps even expanding into the ribcage,
Filling the spaces between the ribs,
Around the spine.
Even imagine and feel into the color stretching as your ribcage expands,
Gently illuminating any areas of tension,
Any restriction as you continue to be curious to notice whatever is present.
What would it feel like to invite the breath into the space?
You invite the breath into the space,
The muscles in the space soften as you notice the breath move in,
As you notice the breath move out.
Noticing sensations in the space of the thoracic spine,
The mid-back,
The ribcage,
Even beginning to explore the area between the shoulder blades,
In the back part of the back,
And perhaps even in the front part of the torso,
Around the chest.
If it feels right,
Invite the color to explore these spaces,
Even allowing the color within the exploration to create a sense of loosening into any areas of tension,
Any areas of tightness.
As you explore this area,
Allow a sense of movement,
Inviting your awareness between areas of tightness and areas where there is more ease in the body.
Notice how the breath feels different in each space.
You invite the color to flow into both spaces,
Creating a sense of energetic connection and perhaps even balance.
Staying with whatever you notice as best you can.
Allow the breath and the color to work together,
Gently expanding,
Softening all parts of the body where it's needed.
Be curious.
What happens if you gave the muscles and bones permission to soften just a little bit?
Be curious if there's even a small shift.
And then as you're ready,
Allow your awareness to bring your sense of attention into the cervical spine,
The space of the neck.
This area and this space has a sense of delicacy.
This area supports the weight of your head and allows for movements and range of motion.
If you would like,
Invite the color that you noticed prior in the thoracic and in the lumbar to move into this space as well.
Visualize the color softening and moving into and around each vertebrae in the neck.
Slowly flowing with gentleness and ease into this space.
All the while continuing to notice whatever is present.
Noticing in the cervical area,
Is there any tightness in the muscles that support the head?
Is there any tightness or tension in the space of the jaw?
Allowing your sense of curiosity and body wisdom to guide you.
Even being curious about what happens when you breathe into this space.
Continue to invite the color that you invited in to flow and soften any areas in the cervical neck,
The cervical spine.
Soften within your awareness.
Softening any tension,
Softening any tightness.
Moving your awareness between any areas where the neck may feel tight and any areas where it may feel a little bit more at ease.
As you explore these spaces,
Be aware of any subtle shifts you notice in the sensation.
Can you feel the color gently coaxing,
Softening the muscles?
Softening and releasing any tension.
Creating more space in the neck and the cervical spine.
As best you can,
Allow yourself to linger here.
Noticing any changes in sensation as you move the breath into and out of the body.
And you allow the color to flow into this space.
Trace this outline in your mind.
The awareness from the cervical spine to the thoracic spine to the lumbar spine.
Moving through the spine,
Noticing how the color you invited in continues to interact with the muscles,
The bones,
The fascia supporting your body.
Whatever you notice,
If it's an area of tension or discomfort,
Allowing yourself to need to notice these spaces with a sense of softness and compassionate curiosity.
Simply allowing the breath and the color to expand your awareness.
What does your body want you to understand and notice right now?
Be present with whatever arises.
Your sense of curiosity creates space for awareness and greater ease in the moment.
Now I invite you to turn your attention to the nerves that radiate from your spine and travel through your body like delicate branches.
If it feels safe for you,
Visualize these nerves as glowing pathways of light.
Whatever color feels right,
If it's golden,
If it's a soft blue or pink or any other color that feels right,
These nerves are the messengers of sensation.
I invite you to notice and respond.
Allow your curiosity to follow these pathways,
Paying attention to the messages your body is sending throughout the branches and interconnecting within the body.
Draw your awareness once more into the lower back.
We begin to notice the sciatic nerve which runs from the lower back down through the hips and into the legs.
If it continues to feel safe,
Visualize this nerve as a glowing strand of light.
Again,
Golden or colored,
However it feels right,
Traveling down your spine.
With each breath,
Allow the color to gently illuminate this nerve,
Softening any areas of sharpness,
Any areas of discomfort.
If pain is present,
If pain is radiating into the space of the legs,
Explore the sensation you notice with curiosity.
What would it feel like to invite the color to wrap around the nerve,
Bringing lightness,
Bringing ease,
Bringing soothing?
Allow your awareness to notice any sensations in which there might be sharpness or tightness or tension,
With areas and space that feels neutral,
Safe and at ease.
Moving your awareness between the sensations you notice,
Being curious how the sensation may change even subtly as you breathe into these areas.
Allow yourself to linger as you move your attention between any sharp edges of discomfort and spaces that are softer and more at ease.
What happens when you bring the breath and you bring the color to meet the discomfort?
You become aware of how the color may offer a sense of relief,
A sense of ease.
And then begin to shift your awareness a little bit higher up the spine,
The thoracic,
The middle of the back and higher to the upper back,
Place of the shoulders,
Place where the nerves extend into the arms,
Into the hands and the fingers.
As much as you're comfortable,
Visualize the nerves as delicate strands of light,
Perhaps glowing softly and as you breathe,
Allow the color to travel down into the arms,
Into the hands,
Into the fingers,
Illuminating any areas of tingling,
Numbness or discomfort.
Being curious and continuing to notice what happens when you breathe into these sensations.
Illuminating the color to soften the nerves,
To soften into this space.
Then as much as you're comfortable,
Allowing any awareness to move between areas where the sensation might be heightened,
In areas where it might feel more at ease.
How might the color interact with any sensations you notice?
How might the color bring a sense of relief or ease as it moves through the body?
Continuing to notice whatever sensations come into your awareness as the color flows into this space.
Now,
As you're ready,
Bring your awareness to the nerves in the neck,
The cervical vertebrae.
Noticing how the nerves travel into the hands,
From the space of the neck,
Down the length of the arms.
Visualize the color gently filling the nerves and wrapping them with light,
Wrapping them with softness.
The nerves expanding from the space of the neck into the head.
All around the space of the head,
The face,
The eyes.
If you notice tension or tingling in any spaces you've explored,
Allow your sense of curiosity to just meet the sense of sensation,
Compassion.
And if you like,
How would it feel to allow color to soften into these areas,
Allowing your awareness to move between sensations in the space of the neck,
The head,
The face,
The hands.
Noticing how color may create a sense of balance and ease and lightness.
As you breathe,
Visualize the color gently soothing the nerves,
Helping them relax,
Helping them release,
Helping them soften.
Allow the breath to guide you,
Guide your awareness,
Guide your attention,
Soften any sensations that you may notice.
Again.
Breathing out.
And then as you're ready,
Begin to bring your attention to the blood flow within your body.
As much as you're comfortable,
Visualize your blood as a flowing stream of color.
Perhaps it's red,
Perhaps it's purple,
Perhaps it's even golden.
The blood flowing and moving gently through your veins,
Your arteries,
And the color of the blood representing a sense of nourishment and vitality.
And as you breathe,
You continue to invite more space for circulation and allowing the blood to move freely through the body,
Bringing with it warmth,
Bringing with it ease.
Focus on the blood flow through your lower back,
Down into your legs.
With each inhale,
Visualize the color of the blood gently filling these areas,
Bringing warmth,
Bringing nourishment to the muscles and the tissues in the lower back and into the legs.
If you notice areas of tightness or discomfort,
Invite the color to flow more freely,
Softening any tension.
Allowing your sense of compassionate curiosity to be at play.
What happens as the color flows into these areas?
How does the sensation shift when you invite in warmth,
Vitality?
Move your awareness between any areas where the blood flow feels more restricted,
Slow,
And areas where movement is free and at ease.
And as you do this,
Allow the color to bring with it a sense of balance within sensation.
As you move your awareness between areas of tightness and areas of ease,
Continue to be curious,
Continue to notice any subtle change.
Perhaps the tension softens with the exhale.
Maybe there's a sense of warmth spreading with the inhale.
Notice how the color might support the flow of blood into these different areas.
And ask,
Is there a part of your lower back or legs that feels like it's asking for more attention,
More space,
More color?
And if so,
Gently allow your breath to expand into this space,
Inviting the color to move a little bit more freely,
A little bit more at ease.
And now as you're ready,
Gently bring your focus a little bit higher up from the lower back,
Into the middle back,
And then to the upper back,
The chest,
The shoulders.
The muscles in this space can create a sense of restriction and tightness around the rib cage,
Around the heart.
As you breathe,
Visualize the blood flow as a deep,
Warming color moving into these spaces.
Continuing to be curious how you notice the breath and the color may interact.
And as you inhale,
Expanding the rib cage.
With each exhale,
Deepening in,
Settling into the muscles,
Creating space and ease within the tissues.
How do you notice the space in your body?
Space of your upper back,
Space of your chest,
Space of your shoulders,
Space of your heart?
How does it feel to like color,
To soften these areas?
Imagining the color and the blood flowing through this space with ease.
Move your awareness between areas that feel open and areas that might feel a little bit more tight or tense.
Let the color move with the breath.
The color moving with the breath,
Creating a sense of balance,
Creating a sense of ease.
Letting the color flow into the space between your ribs,
Bringing warmth to areas that might feel more stagnant,
Tense or cold.
Imagine the color radiating out from the heart.
The color traveling through the arteries,
Into your shoulders,
Your arms,
Softening the muscles,
Inviting circulation.
How does the sensation change as the color fills these spaces?
Stay curious about any shifts in what you notice within the body.
As you're ready,
Gently move your awareness into the space of the neck,
The cervical spine.
Allow the color to rise upward through the spine,
Into the neck,
Into the muscles.
Visualize the color as it travels through the arteries,
Through the veins,
Bringing warmth and ease to any areas of tightness,
Tension.
Moving your attention between any areas where the blood may feel sluggish or blocked.
Any areas where the blood may be flowing freely.
Gently ease.
Perhaps even noticing a subtle pulse in the neck or in the shoulders.
As the color flows into the space,
Even allowing it to flow down with your awareness through the arms and into the hands.
Invite your awareness to follow it.
Is there a sense of warmth tingling as the color reaches the fingertips?
Notice the sensation of blood circulating throughout the hands.
What does it feel like to visualize the color filling the hands,
Bringing warmth,
Softening any tension into the space?
Continue to allow yourself to move your awareness between areas that might feel tight and areas that might feel more spacious.
As you do this,
Notice how the quality of the color might change as it flows and moves through these different spaces.
As you continue to explore and notice the flow and the movement of blood through the body,
Continue to allow the color to be a guide.
The richness,
The warmth,
The tones of what you notice represent that sense of nourishment.
Continue to bring a sense of vitality to the areas and the spaces that need it the most.
Let your curiosity guide you to any places where the blood may feel restricted or heavy.
There's no need to force any change.
Gently allow the color to support your awareness,
Creating a sense of balance and flow.
Moving your awareness with each breath.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Now begin to turn your attention to the fascia in your body,
The web of connective tissue that surrounds and supports your muscles and organs.
The fascia in the body is this network that's said to hold tension.
In the space of this meditation today,
You're invited to explore this space with that same sense of compassionate curiosity.
You're invited to visualize your fascia as this translucent flowing color.
Perhaps that's white,
Perhaps that's silver,
Perhaps it's gold or blue.
This is your sense of understanding this space in your body.
This color will guide you as you notice and soften your awareness to each space throughout the practice.
Begin by noticing the fascia in the lower back,
The hips,
The pelvic area.
If it feels right,
Visualize the fascia as a delicate glowing web,
Softly supporting,
Softly embracing these areas of your body.
Notice if there's any tightness,
Any restriction.
This might feel like a sense of gripping or pulling or even something else.
Use your own body wisdom.
With each breath,
Imagine the color of the fascia expanding into the space.
Softening,
Glowing,
Lengthening and bringing a sense of ease.
As you inhale,
The color brightens.
As you exhale,
The color settles into any spaces that are tight,
Loosening any gripping,
Loosening any tightness.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Being curious what you notice.
If there's an ease that begins to be noticed within the space of any tightness.
Being curious if there's any subtleness or shift in any sensations.
Any new feelings of lightness,
Of warmth.
Allow yourself to move your awareness between any areas where the fascia might feel tense.
Any areas where it might feel more at ease,
More fluid,
More free.
Let the color flow between these spaces.
Perhaps gradually softening the connective tissue.
Staying with whatever you notice for as long as you need.
Allowing the breath and allowing the color to gently soften the fascia to release.
Being curious how you may notice sensations change.
How you may notice the color may create a different feeling,
Different sense of sensation,
Different awareness in your hips,
In your lower back,
And your pelvic area.
Next,
Begin to move your awareness up the back,
To the middle of the back,
The upper back,
The shoulders and the ribcage.
Begin to visualize the fascia in these areas.
Noticing how it may wrap around the muscles,
Around the bones.
Supporting your movements.
Supporting your breath.
With compassionate curiosity,
Noticing if there's any tension or tightness in this space.
If so,
Allow the color to gently infuse the fascia.
Bringing with it a sense of brightness with each inhale and softening with each exhale.
As the color moves through the fascia,
Notice any areas where the tissue may feel stuck,
Immobile,
Or stagnant.
Drop in if you bring a sense of breath into these spaces.
If you bring a sense of flow into these spaces.
Allow the color to loosen any immobility or tightness.
And then move your awareness between spaces where the fascia may feel tight.
Spaces where it might feel more open and soft and at ease.
How might the color move through these different sensations within your awareness?
Continue to allow your curiosity to be your guide.
Losing your own body wisdom.
What is the fascia in this area communicating to you?
Does the color you notice help the fascia become more soft,
Become more fluid?
Allowing the breath and allowing the color to support any sense of release,
Any sense of ease.
And now bring your attention and your awareness to the space of the cervical vertebrae.
The space of the neck,
The jaw,
The head.
The fascia in this area can hold some tension from stress or posture.
As best you can visualize the color flowing gently into the fascia in this space.
Into the space of the jaw,
The space of the temples.
With each breath allow the color to soften.
Soften any tightness,
Soften any clenching,
Soften any holding.
Allowing the color to bring within a sense of ease to any areas in this space where there might be holding.
And as best you can allow your awareness to move between the areas where there might be some tension and areas where there's already a sense of softness.
Being curious and noticing any sense of subtle changes within the sensation.
Perhaps that's a sense of softening the jaw.
Perhaps that's a sense of softening in the temples.
Allow the color to flow into the fascia,
Loosening any tightness.
Bringing with it any sense of softening in any spaces that may need it.
Allowing the breath and the color to guide your awareness.
Creating space,
Creating ease within the fascia.
Fascia is delicate and very responsive.
So as you explore this space and as you explore inviting in a sense of release,
Continue to notice how the color you invited in may interact with the sensations of tightness or tension.
Allow the color to gently soften the fascia into an aspect of being more fluid.
To a space of deeper release.
Even being curious to notice what happens when you give the fascia permission to soften.
How does your body respond to the invitation to create more space,
More color,
And create a sense of ease?
As you're ready,
Now begin to bring your awareness into the space of the diaphragm and the core muscles that support your spine and your posture.
The diaphragm that sits beneath the lungs and the space of the ribs above the belly.
Visualize this area with any color that feels grounding.
If that's a red,
An orange,
A green or a gold,
Any color.
It brings a sense of symbolic strength and stability.
The color will help you connect the breath to your core,
Supporting a sense of expansion and contraction with each breath.
And as you're ready,
Begin by focusing on your diaphragm.
This is the large muscle that sits at the base of your ribcage.
It's responsible for your breath.
With each inhale,
Visualize the diaphragm expanding,
Filling with your chosen color.
The color grows brighter as the diaphragm stretches and expands.
And as you exhale,
It softens and settles back into place.
How does it feel to visualize the color moving through this area?
Does it help you become more aware of the movement of the diaphragm?
Just be curious.
How does the diaphragm respond to the breath?
Is there any tightness or restriction?
Or does it move freely with ease?
Move your awareness with gentleness.
Move your awareness with gentleness.
Notice moments of expansion and moments of release.
And allow the color to guide your awareness.
How does the quality of the breath change as you stay with it?
When you're ready to shift your awareness,
Bring your attention next to the core muscles.
The transverse abdominals and even the pelvic floor.
These muscles help provide stability and support for your spine.
Visualize the color moving through these core muscles.
Continuing to create a sense of strength.
A sense of stability in this space with each breath.
As you inhale,
The color expands into these muscles.
As you exhale,
It gently engages them,
Providing support,
Providing vitality.
How does it feel to connect the breath to the core?
How does it feel to create a sense of strength and stability?
As you draw in the breath with an inhale.
And as you inhale,
The color expands into these muscles.
And as you exhale,
It gently engages them,
Providing support,
Providing ease.
Noticing what it feels like to connect your awareness to notice this space in your body.
What sensations arise as the color moves through these muscles?
As best you can,
Allow your sense of awareness to notice any spaces that have a sense of softness.
And have a sense of engagement or tightness.
Allow the color to balance this space.
Allow the breath to support it.
How does this space,
How does the core area of your body feel when it's gently supported by the breath?
Allow yourself to stay with what you notice,
Continuing to explore how the color may help support stability and softness.
And as you explore this space,
The diaphragm and the core and the muscles,
Notice how the color helps you connect the breath to these spaces.
The color can provide a visual and sensory link between expansion and contraction.
Supporting both movement and stillness.
Stay curious about the sensations that arise.
How does the body respond to the breath?
Respond to the invitation of color in this space?
And as you wish,
Allow the color to deepen your awareness in this space.
Creating a sense of stability and ease simultaneously.
And now,
Continuing to connect into your own body wisdom.
Bring your awareness to the emotional and cognitive layers of your body.
Emotions can be held in the body as sensations.
They can often be linked to tension,
Warmth,
Tightness,
Pain.
In this moment,
As best you can,
Choose a color that feels calming or soothing.
Whether that's white or pink or green or even lavender.
Allow this color to guide you through your emotional landscape of what you notice.
Scan into your body.
Noticing any areas that may feel emotionally charged or tense.
Whatever the emotion might be.
If it's a sense of frustration,
Sadness,
Anxiety,
Fear.
Whatever it is that you've been carrying.
Use your body wisdom in this moment as best you can.
With each breath,
With each inhale,
Invite the soothing color you noticed.
Gently wrap around these emotions.
Softening their intensity.
Softening their intensity.
Softening their intensity.
Just be curious.
Coming back to that sense of compassionate curiosity.
How do these emotions,
These sensations,
Manifest in the body?
Are they sensations of pain,
Tenderness,
Tightness?
Tender points that you might notice in particular areas in the body.
Perhaps something like tightness in the chest.
Heaviness in the belly.
Sharpness in the shoulder.
Tension in the jaw.
Whatever it might be,
Allow your awareness to guide you.
Allow your body wisdom to be seen,
Felt and heard.
Use the softening color to wrap around whatever you notice.
Softening its intensity.
As much as it feels safe and as much as you're comfortable,
Allow your awareness to move between areas that might feel more emotionally tight,
More emotionally charged,
And any areas that might feel more neutral,
More calm,
More at ease.
Moving your awareness back and forth between these spaces.
Allowing the color to flow.
Allowing the color to flow between these spaces.
Creating balance.
Creating softness.
Creating ease.
What happens when you allow the breath,
You allow your awareness to meet these emotions,
To meet these sensations?
Softening.
With each breath in.
With each breath out.
We're going to begin to bring this meditation practice towards a close.
In this moment,
I invite you to start to gently shift your awareness back into the space and your surroundings.
Simply begin to rest your awareness on how you feel right now in this moment.
Observing any subtle shifts in your body,
In your breath,
In your mind.
Take a moment to reflect on your experience with the colors that you invited into this practice.
There's no need to analyze or interpret anything.
Simply an invitation to notice what colors came to you.
How they may have supported you within the body skin.
Was there a particular color that stayed with you?
Was there a color that shifted as you moved through different parts of the body?
How did these different colors interact with your sensations?
Did they bring warmth?
Did they bring tightness?
Did they bring ease?
Did they bring clarity to different areas of your body?
Whenever you experience,
I invite you to just notice what arises for you in this moment.
Know that whenever you need,
You can access your connection to any colors that brought you to notice greater sense of ease in your body.
Whenever you feel the need for support,
For guidance,
That same connection to that color is accessible to you whenever you need.
Just the same as you notice the breath moving into and out of your body in this moment.
Allow the memory of these colors to settle gently into your awareness.
Becoming part of your ongoing experience.
As you're ready,
I invite you to continue deepening your breath.
Taking slow,
Mindful inhales.
Imagining the breath filling your body with a sense of renewal,
A sense of lightness.
And then as you exhale,
Gently releasing any residual tension or tightness.
Continuing to allow the body to soften.
Allow the body to soften even more.
If it feels safe and comfortable,
Maybe you'd like to even begin to invite some gentle movements into your body.
If that means wiggling your fingers and toes,
Rolling your shoulders,
Stretching your arms,
Stretching your legs.
There's no rush.
Moving in any way that feels natural and supportive to your body.
And if your body wants to remain still,
That's okay too.
You can take your time listening to what your body feels it needs in this moment.
If that's movement,
If that's breath,
That's staying grounded.
Listening to your own body wisdom.
As we continue to close this meditation,
I invite you to take a moment to notice the time and care you've given yourself today in this moment.
Whatever it was that you experienced,
Honoring your body wisdom and what you noticed and the space that you allowed to be present with whatever arose,
Whatever you invited in.
Remind yourself that your connection to whatever color you noticed,
Your connection to the breath,
Your connection to your own body wisdom is always available to you.
Let's take one last breath.
As you inhale,
Notice how the air fills your body,
Creating a sense of space and ease.
And as you exhale,
Feel the weight of your body grounding into the space of the earth beneath you once more.
Allow yourself to return to the same grounding sensation.
Connection between your body and the surface beneath you.
Continue to feel the weight of your feet,
The sensation of your body connected to the earth beneath you.
Continue to take as long as you need to create any movements or stretches within your body.
Reminding yourself that you can always return to the same sense of grounding,
The sense of breath and color whenever you need.
Whenever you feel ready,
If you wish,
You can open your eyes if they were closed.
Simply bring your awareness back into your space.
Honoring all that you noticed as you allow yourself to transition back into the present moment.
Your colors,
Your awareness,
Your breath,
Always there supporting you whenever you need.
