Hi and welcome to today's body scan practice.
So finding a comfortable position,
Have a fidget,
Have a stretch,
Roll your shoulders,
Just get yourself nice and settled,
Comfortable.
And when you're ready,
Just gently closing the eyes or if you'd rather,
Just lower your gaze to a fixed point in front of you.
And just begin by taking some nice deep breaths in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Just beginning the process of grounding yourself.
And firstly just becoming aware of the contact you're making with the chair and the floor,
Just noticing that moment of contact,
The sensation of contact.
Firstly getting a sense of weight pressing down.
And then with a slight shift,
Notice how you're being held,
Supported.
And just softening into that support just a little bit more.
Becoming aware of any sounds that you can hear around you now,
Either close by or far away.
Not getting caught up in a story about them,
Just observing them.
Noticing how they enter your awareness.
And then moving your awareness to your breath.
Just noticing the inhale and the exhale and that subtle movement of the breath in the body.
Bringing your attention now to the top of your head,
The crown of your head.
And however it works for you,
Just softening there,
Just relaxing that area.
Moving down to the forehead now,
Allowing it to open and relax.
Allowing the eyebrows to soften.
Allowing the eyes and the tops of the cheeks to soften.
And just using the exhale as a tool to allow any tension to be released.
Relaxing the jawline.
Softening your teeth and your tongue.
Allow this feeling of letting go to move down into the throat and the neck.
And to move all around the collarbone.
Relaxing the upper back and letting the shoulders drop.
Allowing this feeling of relaxation to move from the shoulders down into the tops of the arms,
Into the elbows.
Moving gently down into the forearms,
Your wrists,
To the palm of the hands and each of your fingers.
Allowing the arms to become heavy and noticing any sensations that might be in the palm of the hands,
Any tingling,
Energy,
Vibration,
Heat.
Gently moving your focus now to the chest.
That subtle movement it makes as you breathe.
And with the next exhale,
Moving down into your ribs,
Allowing them to soften.
Moving through the body and softening the middle back,
The lower back.
And then moving through the body again,
Allowing the belly to be nice and soft.
Gently expanding each time you inhale.
Taking a deep breath here and as you exhale just allowing the whole upper half of the body to soften just a little bit more.
As you relax the hips and softening the tops of the legs.
Relaxing the back of the legs,
Noticing the contact with whatever you're sat on.
And relaxing the front of the knees and also the space behind the knees.
Just allowing this part of the body that does so much work for us to be still and to relax.
And softening down into the calves and the shins.
Letting this feeling of letting go move all the way down to the ankles.
Moving through the soles of the feet and the tops of the feet into each of the toes.
Noticing any sensations that might be there in the soles of the feet.
Now opening your awareness to take in the whole of the body and the entire outline of the body.
And just seeing if it can be even the tiniest bit more relaxed.
And as you gently breathe,
Just start to get a sense of the outline of your body just dissolving into the space around you.
Breath by breath.
Dissolving a little bit more.
And then just allow the technique to go.
And just rest in this space for a moment.
Now becoming aware of the contact you're making with the chair beneath you or the floor.
Noticing any sounds you can hear around you.
The temperature of the space you're in.
Bringing some gentle movement back to your fingers,
Your toes.
Before you gently blink open your eyes when you're ready.
And before you move off,
Just taking in what you can see around you.
Colours,
Shapes,
Objects.
And just see if whatever you decide to do next,
You can do as mindfully as possible.
Whether it's getting up,
Getting a glass of water,
Opening a door.
Just see if you can bring your full awareness and presence to whatever it is.
So thank you for joining me today and I look forward to seeing you next time.
