Hi,
My name is Karen.
This is a guided body scan,
Created to presence you into your body and into the now.
It's so critical to our health and the healing process to be able to let go,
To release,
To allow the mind and body to come to rest.
Relaxing.
Letting go the need to do anything.
Just allowing a few moments in your day to relax the mind and body.
Raising your level of awareness will help you to feel connection to being in the now,
And seeing moment by moment what it is to simply be.
If you'd like to join me,
Carve out a pocket of time just for you.
This meditation can be done seated in a chair,
Lying down on a rug,
Or floor,
Or on a bed.
Find yourself a location that's quiet and removed from interruptions.
And if you're comfortable,
Allow your eyes to close.
If not,
Keep your eyes half-opened with a softened downward gaze.
Take a few moments here to relax,
Wherever you are.
A chair,
The floor,
Or the bed.
Allow yourself to feel fully supported.
Begin to release the body.
Taking a few deep breaths in.
And really allow yourself to feel the rise and fall of breath moving in and out of the body.
The expansion and contraction of the belly or chest.
Now,
Allow the breath to return to normal.
Notice any sensations in the body which might be present after taking these fuller,
Deeper breaths.
As you exhale,
Allow any tension to slip from your body.
Notice how it feels to simply let go of any tension.
There is nowhere else you need to be right now.
Nothing else that you need to do in this moment.
You are exactly where you're meant to be.
Allow yourself some time now in your day for relaxing the body and the mind.
And as thoughts may enter of worry,
Or preoccupations,
Or your agenda,
Honor those thoughts.
Acknowledge them.
And then let them go just as easily as they came in.
Now shift the mind back into the body.
Back into the breath.
Notice again how it feels to exhale.
To just let go.
Become aware of how you feel right here.
Right now.
Not trying to feel one way or another.
Just notice what's present in the body.
Draw your attention now,
Your awareness,
Down into the legs,
Into the feet.
Without wiggling your toes or moving your feet.
Become aware of any sensation there.
Any sensations of warmth,
Or tingling,
Or pressure points.
Just anything that you can notice.
Notice how the feet feel.
Not thinking about the feet,
But rather shift the mind into the experience of the feet.
Notice any tension in the feet.
And now simply let it go.
Draw your awareness from the feet up and into the legs.
Become aware of any sensations that might be present in the legs.
Is there any tension?
Tension in the thigh muscles.
Powerful muscles.
In the calf muscles.
Discomfort in the knees.
Can you allow your legs to be fully supported by the chair or the floor or the bed?
Can you just allow the legs to release and relax?
Not worrying if the mind wanders off into thought.
Simply notice when the mind wanders.
And then invite the mind back again to come back to the sensations of the legs.
Allow yourself to be right here,
Right now.
Now direct your focus,
Your awareness to the belly.
Most of us have experienced difficulty within our gut at one time or another in our life.
It can be uncomfortable,
Even painful.
We learn to guard our gut.
And our gut in turn becomes tense and uneasy.
Notice if there are any muscles in the belly which can be softened.
Allow the breath to open up the belly.
Breathe deeply down into the belly.
Notice the rise and fall of the belly as you breathe.
Breathing in,
The belly rises and expands.
Breathing out,
The belly falls and shrinks.
Whenever the mind wanders off from this meditation,
Moving into the habit of thinking,
Taking your attention away,
Distracting you,
Simply notice that the mind has wandered.
And then with love and kindness,
Gently invite the mind back again.
Come back to the sensations in the body.
Returning to the belly now.
Notice how it feels to breathe into the belly.
Right here.
Right now.
Shift your awareness now into the chest.
And notice if you can feel the expansion and contraction of the ribs and lungs as you breathe.
Feel the body as it breathes.
And as best you can,
Relax the mind.
Soften into the rise and fall of the chest.
The expansion and contraction of the lungs as you breathe in,
As you breathe out.
Breath is one of our best tools to presence us in the now.
You can only experience your breath in the now.
Each time you let go of thought and allow yourself to feel your breath in the body as it breathes,
Your mind is present.
Refine your awareness now.
Feel the connection between your beating heart and your breath.
Feel the heart's rhythmic beating.
Not thinking about the connection.
Instead,
Notice how the connection feels in your body.
Aware of how the heartbeat is connected to your breath.
Open up your awareness to whatever you feel in the chest.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Now shift your focus into the shoulder girdle and the neck.
These areas of the body can hold so much stress and tension and pain.
Allow some time here to move deeply into the muscles of the shoulder and neck to soften and relax as you breathe.
Invite the mind into this sensation of release,
Into this feeling of letting go tension in the neck and shoulders.
If the mind wanders,
Become aware of when the mind has wandered away.
Gently then bring back the mind into the sensations of the neck and shoulders.
Relax the mind into whatever sensations you feel in this region.
As you exhale now,
Allow your awareness to move down into your arms and into your hands.
Feel the arms.
Feel the hands.
Try to experience the hands and arms from the inside out.
Notice any places where you might be holding on to tension.
And allow the arms and the hands to release,
To rest.
Notice what this feels like right here,
Right now.
Now lift your awareness up,
Up on an in-breath,
Through the arms and shoulders and neck,
Up and into the face.
And on an out-breath,
See if you can let go the muscles of the face.
Can you allow yourself to trust the work and let the muscles of the face simply soften?
Begin to soften the muscles of the face,
In and around the eyes,
Your forehead and eyebrows.
Soften your cheeks,
The muscles of the mouth,
The lips,
The tongue.
Allow the muscles of the jaw to relax and release any tension.
Your only purpose now is to soften the face.
Allow the mind to rest a while within the sensations here,
What it feels like to let go at this level.
Notice all the muscles of the face softened,
Relaxed,
Resting here,
Resting now.
And your awareness now,
To include the entire body.
Hold the body in spacious awareness,
The sensations of the body whole and complete,
Fully present and aware.
Invite the mind to connect with the experience of the body here,
Right now.
Not editing this moment of now or trying to alter how the body should feel.
Instead,
Open the mind to what the body is feeling.
Notice what it feels like to be alive and in your body,
Right now.
There are no words needed here.
Just experience what's happening in this moment.
And now,
This moment.
When you feel complete and ready to return to the remains of your day,
Remember,
You only need to move into your breath.
The breath is the gateway into the now.
Allow one or two deep breaths more,
Just a center and to feel grounded.
