Morning Ritual For Listening To The Body

Developing a safe and loving relationship with your body is one of the best investments you can make in your life. The practice is simple enough: take some time to check in with the body, to feel, to notice if it's trying to talk to you. When we practice this consistently, we can start to learn the body's language and get better at listening to what it's telling us. This can benefit us physically in terms of taking care of our health in the long term, but also emotionally, in terms of allowing space for the emotions that the body might be storing for us. Do yourself a favor and incorporate this meditation into your morning routine.

Transcript

Good morning.

Welcome to this simple daily ritual to connect with and listen to your body.

We can get so busy moving from one thing to the next that we forget to slow down and listen to the many sources of knowing that we have right here at home within our own body.

Let this gentle practice be an invitation into a loving relationship with yourself.

Remember that this is a practice.

You may or may not get any useful information today.

You may or may not know what to do with the information you get.

Each day might feel quite different.

All of that is okay.

The point isn't so much the information you get,

It's that you're in a practice of paying attention,

Asking the question,

Showing up to being in relationship with yourself.

So if you haven't already,

Get settled for your meditation.

This could be seated,

Laying down,

Walking mindfully,

Or however works best for you right now.

Let your body move,

Adjust,

And fidget as you need to.

Let stillness come in its own way,

At its own pace,

Even if that means it never does.

And when you're ready,

Take a moment to acknowledge the land that you are on and your relationship with this land.

Consider the long wisdom of the earth beneath your feet,

The season you're in,

The weather today,

The quality of the light and the space that you're in.

Just notice how it all feels.

Now,

Begin to pay attention to your breath.

What is it doing naturally?

Is there something it wants right now,

Like a deep breath or a yawn?

What if your breath was perfect as it is,

And your only job is to notice?

Consider what this breath might feel like today.

Give it a little time.

Let's think about taking some time to listen to the body.

What comes up for you when you think about doing that?

Just notice any immediate thoughts,

Fears,

Emotions,

Or anything else that comes up around being in relationship with your body.

This isn't always an easy practice for all of us all the time.

So just notice your reaction to being in that practice,

Your reaction to the invitation.

Depending on how you're feeling today,

You might just stay there,

Just noticing what comes up when you think about listening to your body.

If it feels safe enough,

Let's see what it could feel like to go a little deeper with that.

So let's follow the breath in to the body.

Where does it go?

What does it feel like to breathe right now?

What space or tension do you notice as you follow your breath in?

What do you notice about your posture,

The shape of your spine,

How you are sitting,

Standing,

Walking,

Whatever it is you're doing?

What do you notice about the shape your hands have taken?

Does this shape feel comfortable,

Or does something need a little bit of adjusting?

Is there anything that this posture or this shape reminds you of?

If this is feeling safe enough,

And you'd like to go a little bit further,

Notice your face.

Are you tensing your jaw or your brow?

Would you like to release that tension?

And if so,

What would you like to do?

How does it feel to soften?

And again,

We're just noticing here,

There's nothing that we need to judge,

Fix or change,

Unless we want to.

Perhaps now we could dip into the space of the heart,

The chest.

What do you notice there in this area?

It's really common that emotional sensations will rest around the heart and the throat.

If you notice any of that,

Just be there for a moment.

You could,

If you like,

Consider if these sensations have words,

If they're referencing something in particular,

If these emotions make sense to you.

And they don't have to.

You don't need to figure this out right now.

There's nothing wrong.

We're just noticing.

Would you like now to dip a little deeper into the space of your belly,

Your stomach area?

Again,

We're simply noticing,

Getting curious.

There's nothing we need to do with this information.

Just see if there's tension,

Sensation,

Maybe emotion.

And you may or may not be able to identify that emotion.

It's okay if you can't right now.

And maybe now we could check in with the hips and the pelvis.

There may or may not be information here,

Which is fine.

Take your time.

Don't worry about needing to interpret anything,

Though if that interpretation comes,

That's fine too.

Just focus on noticing and trust that that's enough.

Now let's zoom out and check in.

How are we doing?

How is this process going for you today?

Is there a lot of distraction?

Are you noticing frustration,

Stress?

Do you feel calm?

Has anything shifted since we first began this meditation?

Whatever it is,

Is just fine.

Simply notice it.

Lastly,

Let's listen for a few moments and just see if there's anything the body wants to communicate to you right now in general.

Is there something your body wants or needs?

Something it would like to tell you?

Maybe there's a response to this practice that you've been doing of attending to and listening to your body.

Remember,

There could be nothing.

That's completely fine.

We're just here to pay attention,

To be in relationship.

And whenever this process feels complete for you,

See what feels right to complete this meditation.

Would you like to take a deep breath,

Shake out your hands,

Maybe put your hands together,

Bow down,

Or offer your face and hands up,

Say thank you to your body and the land.

Whatever resonates today is perfect.

And thank you for being willing to sit with me in this place that can feel anything from vulnerable to deeply pleasurable.

I wish you and your body a wonderful rest of your day.

Reviews

It’s amazing what you can feel in your body when you take the time to just breathe.
Thank you

This was gentle and straightforward. I could see returning to this regularly. It is decidedly valuable in the moment but also has potential to quiet affect the rest of the day. Thank you!

Really lovely. So helpful. Thank you 🙏🏻🪷

Good morning, Julie!
This is a very relaxing and enjoyable type of body scan. Thanks for a fun and easy way to appreciate and communicate with my body.
Donna

You’re truly my favorite meditation teacher on Insight Timer! Your voice & energy are so grounded and authentic. I love the powerful simplicity. Thank you 🩷

Thank you, Julie. I am grateful for this meditation. Vulnerable is the word that comes to mind for my experience today. Our cat, Lucky, was lying on my arm. Before that, he was crying in another room, perhaps feeling scared and lonely and lost. He is aging and seems to be quite disoriented as his vision has deteriorated rapidly over the past month. I picked him up and placed him on our bed and when I settled in bed, he positioned his body with his chest lying across my right arm. I pressed play on this meditation. I sneezed loudly, and he remained there. Years ago, he might have been startled and run off. But he just stayed there. Breathing became more difficult, as the congestion became worse as tears formed in my eyes and I could feel them rolling down the sides of my face. I was listening to your voice, offering acceptance of whatever experiences were happening in my body, not needing to interpret anything, but just to be present to the experience. This week, my meditation practice is focused on the artifact of expression, the sense of wonder, and the possibility of awe. Yesterday, I was in conversation with a friend who recommended a book that is about embodiment and the senses: Radical Wholeness by Philip Shepherd. Today, represents day 794 since I started tracking consecutive days of meditation on this app. Monday was 792. That number means something to me, because a piece of Letter sized paper is 612 points by 792 points. There are 72 points to an inch. Eleven inches is 792 points. I have a writing assignment that is due today, but I feel like I am staring at a blank page, wondering if I have anything to say that might make sense of all the memories stored in my body. I am experiencing what might be a sense of wonder and awe in the ability for bodies to find comfort in small gestures of acceptance, simply being present to what is, without judgment. It is a relief to that lonely, scared inner child to feel the world replying with the comfort of being present to all of it, and to say, “Whatever you are feeling or sensing, it’s okay. I’m here now.”