Starting with a few deep breaths.
With each breath in this meditation,
I encourage you to do a forceful exhalation a few times,
Releasing any stale air that you might be holding in your lungs.
If you choose,
You can even shake out your shoulders and your hands and your arms.
This allows you to gently become present to this practice and to all of us sitting together in this practice letting go of energy that's in our lungs,
The staleness,
The rigidity of our bodies from the day.
And as you clear yourselves of any of that stale air,
Just invite you to relax into a natural rhythm.
Noticing where the breath wants to lead you.
Take a few moments to become present to the breath.
Really draw your attention to how it's entering and exiting your body.
And now,
Really noticing the breath as it enters your nostrils.
Feeling the quality of the breath in the inside of your nose.
We begin our body scan by tracing the breath through its entrance point.
Noticing if it's moist or dry.
Maybe noticing how your breathing is today,
If there's any congestion or if it's clear.
Next,
As we start drawing this breath in,
Let's begin our body scan at the top of our head.
Noticing if we can become present to our head,
The space above,
Above our,
We could maybe call a root chakra,
The top of our head.
Leaning into our forehead.
Noticing any tension we might be holding in our region over the temple of our,
Temple region of our head,
Our eyes,
Our eyebrows.
Breathing into this space and as we breathe in,
Relaxing our eyes and our eyelids.
Noticing whatever light might be gently penetrating through our closed eyelids.
Perhaps noticing any of the tension below our eyes and the space between our eyes.
Next,
We notice our cheeks and our jaw.
Often hold a lot of tension in our,
In our mouth and our tongue.
So breathing into our entirety of our face,
Relaxing all the areas,
All the muscles of our head and of our face and our jaw.
As we take a few breaths in silence,
Becoming present to this area.
Next,
We draw the breath even deeper into our throat.
Noticing the muscles of our neck,
Any tension we might be carrying in our upper shoulders.
Drawing a deep breath into these areas and relaxing the muscles.
Noticing any tightness we might be carrying in our upper back,
Our spine.
Then the muscles between the ribs,
Each inhalation and exhalation.
Noticing the rise and fall and the role that these muscles play in expanding and contracting our lungs.
Next,
We draw our awareness to our lower back and to our hips and our pelvis.
Noticing how we are seated in our seat,
Whether it's sitting cross-legged on a cushion or sitting in a chair.
Consider shifting your weight back and forth on your pelvis and noticing your center of balance.
Drawing your breath deeply into this area,
This region of your body that supports you,
That keeps you grounded,
And at the same time carries often much tension and tightness.
Take this moment to draw each breath deeply into this region and relax into being here in this practice.
Now bring your attention to your legs,
Your thighs,
Noticing your ankles,
The tops of your feet,
And then the bottom of your feet.
Again shifting your weight from your left foot to your right foot,
And back again to become present to how it feels to be supported by your feet,
Whether or not they're in seated position or in a lotus position.
However you are in this moment,
Becoming present to the bottoms of your feet.
Drawing your breath and your mind's awareness all the way deep down from your nostrils,
Drawing that air and that energy down to the tips of your toes.
Now see the entirety of your core,
What we might call the trunk of your body that we just followed,
From our nostrils,
Our face,
Down through our back to our feet,
As our support network and relax into the breath of this region.
Next I invite you to become present to your fingertips,
Where they're resting perhaps on your lap,
Or if you choose you can place your fingers together,
Your hands together,
To notice the sensations at the tips of your fingers.
Now draw your awareness up your fingers and into your hands,
Palms of your hands and the backs of your hands,
Your forearms and elbows going up to your biceps,
Triceps and your shoulders.
Now drawing that awareness back from your shoulders into your throat and out via your exhalation.
With that awareness that's coming out with your exhalation,
See if you can let go of any feeling of your body in this moment and reside in an open awareness.
And it's in this open awareness that I invite you to ask yourself the question,
What is it I'm needing to let go of?
What is no longer serving me?
Notice if there are any stories you're telling about yourself are appearing in your mind.
Now we come present to how your body is reacting to those thoughts.
What do I want to let go of?
What is no longer serving me?
If you feel inclined,
You may consider placing the answer to those questions as a statement,
As a statement that you're going to offer to the universe,
To yourself.
As a reflection on what it is you're ready to let go of.
Now let us come back to the breath.
Gently allowing those thoughts to leave our minds.
Returning to the breath.
Noticing the rise and fall of your shoulders,
Your throat as the air enters your lungs.
Take a moment to scan your body.
See where you might be newly holding tension or where you might be newly relaxed.
Notice how sitting in silence and having the time to reflect on letting go and on your breath impacts your body.
In our final minutes,
I invite you to bring to mind all that for which you're grateful.
Noticing where you have abundance in your life.
When you hear our final bell,
Consider staying for a moment in whatever posture that you're seated in before returning to your day.
