Hello and welcome to your somatic scan practice.
Allow yourself first to create an environment of peace and privacy,
Closing the door,
Drawing any blinds,
Turning on do not disturb,
And allowing yourself to settle into a position where your body will not send you signals of discomfort or need for adjustment.
For a somatic scan I highly recommend laying flat or sitting upright in a chair.
The allows yourself to better find focus in individual areas and settle yourself into position and allow your body to release any tension,
Relaxing all muscles,
Allowing your hands to fall open,
Your eyes finding a soft gaze,
Releasing muscles in your face,
Your neck,
Your back,
And shoulders.
Allow yourself first to focus on the bottoms of your feet.
Allow your focus and awareness just to settle in to the bottom of your feet.
Now keep in mind you may have thoughts of other things,
Of other noticings,
Of sounds,
Of observations.
That's fine and completely normal.
When you notice that your focus has drifted away just redirect it gently without judgment back to the bottoms of your feet.
Allow yourself to shift your awareness from the bottoms of your feet to the tips of your toes and release your focus from the tips of your toes into your ankles.
Notice any sensations,
Any tingling,
Throbbing,
Pulsing,
Warmth.
Then down to your heels,
Feeling the sensation of the fabric or floor beneath you and focus your awareness on the point in which your feet are making contact with the other surface.
Moving your focus and awareness upward through your calves,
The backs of your calves.
If they are making contact with any fabric or surface,
Shift your focus and awareness upward through the back of your muscle,
Every area where they're making contact.
With another breath in,
Shift it upward to the backs of your knees and around to the front of your knees,
Almost trailing like a ribbon.
Another breath in,
Upward toward the front of your thigh,
Noticing any tingling,
Any achiness,
Any tightness,
Any tenderness and then ribbiting around back to the backs of your thighs.
Noticing again any sensations,
Just becoming aware,
Not trying to change anything,
Just observing.
Allow your focus to swirl around to the back of your spine,
The bottom where your tailbone is and shifting around to your seating bones,
To the front of your low pelvis and your hip area.
Noticing any tension,
Any tightness,
Stiffness,
Tenderness,
Warmth,
Tingling or even sensations that you may not be able to find words for.
Just notice,
Hold space.
With another breath,
Travel upward into your belly and your low gut,
Shifting further upward to your rib cage and your solar plexus.
In another breath,
Upward toward your chest,
Around to your shoulders,
Around backward to your upper back.
Take another breath in and travel your upper back into the center,
Down your spine,
Slowly down each vertebrae,
Down your spine.
Noticing if you can pick up any sensations and our energies,
Traveling back up your spine to your neck and settling your focus there.
Noticing any tightness,
Any tenderness,
Any openness.
Travel upward around your neck to your low jaw,
Noticing if it's been clenched or released.
Now travel forward to your face,
Observing any warmth,
Any tingling,
Any sensations.
Just notice,
Without trying to change or judge,
Around to the top of your head,
To the very top of your head.
Just notice and stay curious,
Traveling back around the back of your head to each shoulder blade and down through the shoulder to the arms,
Through the arms into the hands,
The palms of the hands.
Noticing any warmth,
Any coolness,
Any breeze,
Any sensations,
Any tingling.
Traveling through the palms into each fingertip,
Noticing any felt sense in the fingertip.
Noticing anything,
Any felt sense in the fingertip.
Now shift your focus to your entire being as a whole.
Sometimes becoming aware of how we feel in our bodies and shifting focus here after some time away,
Being checked out or distracted or disembodied or disassociated.
We can sometimes fail to come back here as often as we need to and check in.
It can be much like knowing that someone at home is waiting for conflict or a conversation that's going to be uncomfortable.
When we're away from home and know that that awaits us,
We can tend to stall and even add a few more errands to our outing to avoid coming home.
We do the same thing within us by trying to stay away a long time and putting off what it would feel like to come back to the truth of how we feel.
That conflict of the person who may not be happy with us or has something to say,
A conflict to bring up or an uncomfortable conversation.
We do this with ourselves and the uncomfortable conversation of what we've been avoiding.
Avoiding coming home to ourselves.
Allow whatever information,
Whatever part of your body is sending you the loudest signal.
Allow yourself to acknowledge it gently,
Accepting and loving and noticing even for the time being,
If it's been a while since you've checked in or come back home to yourself,
That many sensations may not have been discernible or clear and understanding that the more you return to this practice,
The more you will become aware of that.
Allowing yourself to have the grace to have inartfully been able to detect what you're feeling.
Take a deep breath in and release.
Another deep breath in and release.
Welcome home and when you're ready you can open your eyes to the room.
