This is a body scan meditation.
Begin by bringing your attention into your body.
It may be helpful to close your eyes.
You can do this practice while sitting,
Standing,
Or lying down.
But begin by giving yourself the gift of a few slow breaths.
Breathing deeply if that's available to you,
Or however is comfortable.
Feel the breath moving through you,
Bringing with it energy,
Stability,
Peacefulness.
Through the course of this practice,
We will move our attention,
Like a spotlight,
Through the body,
From the bottom to the top,
Starting with our feet.
So bringing your attention to your feet resting on the floor,
Can you notice them without moving them?
Can you bring your attention in close to the tiny,
Subtle sensations that exist?
Pressure,
Warmth,
Tingling.
What do your feet feel like in this moment while they're at rest?
What do you notice?
Your experience may be different if you're wearing shoes and socks than if you're barefoot.
So simply notice what your feet feel like right now.
And then moving the spotlight of your attention up to your ankles and then into your lower legs.
What sensations are here for you to discover,
To notice,
To explore?
From your lower legs into your knees,
The tops of your knees,
The backs of your knees,
And then into your thighs.
Here you may begin to notice if there's any tension in the large muscles of your legs,
And if so,
See if you can relax that tension just a bit.
And then continue moving your attention up into the seat of your body and then into the stomach.
If you meet any tightness,
You can breathe into that tightness here,
Releasing it,
Relaxing it as much as you're able.
In the stomach or the belly area is where we also experience physical sensations associated with emotions.
So if anything is there for you to notice of an emotional nature,
You can do that too.
Bringing your attention up into your chest,
You may be reconnecting with the movement of the breath,
That rising and falling.
You can also swing your attention around to your back,
Noticing perhaps tension in your posture,
Tightness or looseness in your muscles there.
Relax where you can.
Breathe into any tightness.
And as you bring your attention up to your shoulders,
Let them be soft,
Let them drop down.
You might be able to use an inhale to straighten your spine,
And then an exhale to drop your shoulders and let them soften.
Moving up into your neck,
Your jaw,
Another opportunity to soften,
To relax,
To release.
Your face and your facial muscles,
Your eyes,
Cheeks,
Your mouth,
Even your tongue,
You can systematically relax,
Soften,
Release tension that we so naturally hold in these places.
Moving up to your forehead,
Space between your eyes,
And even to the very top of your head,
One of those places,
We don't move per se,
But we can still notice sensations on our scalp,
Temperature,
Pressure,
Tingling.
And from here,
Let's expand our attention to the entire body,
Noticing any areas that are still carrying tension and doing what we can to release them.
Noticing any sensations that are arising,
Whether an itch or an ache,
A flurry of butterflies in the stomach,
A lingering headache.
Any and all sensations are welcome to be part of this present moment experience.
It doesn't have to be a certain way.
We don't have to feel any particular way at all.
Our awareness can hold all of it.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes.
