Please join me for this body sensing movement meditation.
The best way to do this meditation is sitting either on your cushion,
Your meditation stool,
Or in a chair such as a dining room chair,
Sitting upright.
I particularly like this meditation to help me feel into my body and as a way of helping distract myself from whatever thoughts might be consuming me at the moment.
So firstly,
Find your comfortable position,
Sitting upright,
Relaxed,
But erect.
Your hands either on your knees or cupped in your lap,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
In this meditation,
We have some pleasant binaural music in the background to help with our rhythm and to help us relax a little more.
So let's start with a mindfulness of breath and senses.
With your eyes gently closed,
Just take a few long,
Slow breaths.
And if you can,
Allowing your out-breath to be a little longer than your in-breath.
A longer out-breath just naturally triggers your body's relaxation response.
So breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
And just allowing your body to take up whatever rhythm of breath feels comfortable for you.
Notice your belly expanding a little on the in-breath and gently falling back in on the out-breath.
And just simply noticing the movement in the body with each breath.
Take a moment to simply listen to the music,
Feeling it wash all around you,
Over you,
Through you.
Just simply listening.
Now bring your attention to that screen of darkness in front of your closed eyes.
You might notice some colour there or some movement.
You might simply notice darkness.
There is no right or wrong.
Just simply noticing that sense,
That internal space.
And so now take a moment to feel into your body.
You might like to scan down through your body.
Feeling into your head and your neck,
Your shoulders,
Your torso,
Your belly,
Your legs,
Your arms and identify any areas of bodily tension.
Then consciously relax those muscles.
You might like to drop your jaw a little and your shoulders.
You might like to take a moment to slightly adjust your body to feel a little more comfortable and relaxed.
Just take a moment to do that.
And now what we're going to do is some gentle swaying motion.
In your upper body.
So from your hips up in very small movements.
Just simply move your body a little left to right,
Right to left.
Just very small movements.
Simply swaying side to side and feeling that very gentle motion.
Just gently swaying side to side.
Just enough to notice that you're moving.
Gentle movement side to side.
And if you notice any areas of discomfort whilst doing this,
Just consciously relax the muscles around that area to relax.
Just gently swaying left to right.
Feeling that gentle motion in the body.
And now just gently move backwards and forwards.
Again just very gently,
Small motions.
So much so that if someone was looking at you,
Perhaps they might not even notice without looking carefully that you are actually moving.
Just gentle,
Slow,
Soft,
Front to back,
Back to front.
And again just notice any areas of discomfort.
And if you notice any pain or discomfort anywhere,
Take your attention to that spot.
Then consciously relax those muscles.
Just moving front to back,
Back to front.
Just gently,
Ever so gently.
Now move your torso and your hips up in a gentle,
Circular motion.
Again,
Just very small.
Just gently feeling your upper body moving in a small circle.
Simply moving gently in a circular motion.
Just feeling whatever feelings are there in your body.
You should do this gentle motion.
You might like to do this the other way now.
Again,
Just a gentle,
Circular motion.
Just a small circular motion.
And your hips up.
And noticing whatever bodily sensations you feel while you do this.
Just notice them.
Just notice whatever sensations arise.
If you notice any bodily discomfort,
You can simply return to the upright position.
Bring your attention back to your breath.
Just simply noticing these small movements in the body.
And so now returning to your upright position and taking a moment to notice the sounds around you.
Just listening.
Allow yourself to become absorbed in the sound.
Listen to the music.
Sitting comfortably.
Just listening.
If your thoughts distract you,
Just bring your awareness back to your breath.
Noticing as you're breathing in,
You're breathing in.
And as you're breathing out,
You're breathing out.
Feeling the movement in the body with the breath.
Feeling the belly expand a little on the in-breath.
And fall back in on the out-breath.
Relax your shoulders a little.
Allowing your body to feel soft and relaxed.
Just following the breath for a moment now.
And so thank you for joining me for this short mindfulness of body movement meditation.
You might like to have a stretch.
Move your arms and legs.
And then when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
