The body scanned meditation.
Find a comfortable position sitting or laying down and try to stay awake during this practice.
Making sure you're warm and your posture is dignified,
Not slumped,
But rather an upright spine or laying flat on your back.
Gently close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath.
Imagining you're approaching a small animal in a forest clearing,
Taking it slow and gently explore your inner landscape.
Now let your attention travel all the way down to your feet and just rest at the top of the mountain.
With the in-breath,
Ride the waves of attention exploring the sensations in your feet and toes with the out-breath allowing yourself to continue to just be with your feet in this present moment.
Noticing any tensions,
Any sensations,
Softness,
Warmth,
Coolness and just allowing what is there to be there.
As you direct your attention to your feet,
See if you can also channel your breathing to them as well.
Just being mindful this might feel unusual at first.
Exploring your attention and refocusing on the feet and the sensations of your toes,
Heels,
Arch,
The soles and both sides of your feet.
Until you don't have to instruct them anymore in your journey,
How do youальной stretch See if you can distinguish between the toes.
If you can feel anything in this moment,
And if you can feel nothing,
That's fine too.
Just allowing yourself to feel nothing.
If you notice your awareness has wandered off,
And you've been distracted by thoughts,
Just gently bringing your attention back to your feet and toes.
Exploring the sensations.
When you're ready,
Move up through the feet into the calf muscle and lower leg region.
Using the inhale to anchor your attention and the exhale to release any residual distractions,
Bringing your attention back on the inhale.
Noticing any sensations,
And just allowing yourself to feel,
To be aware.
Noticing anything in this region of your legs.
If you get distracted,
Just take note of what distracted you and gently bring it back.
Moving your attention gently up your leg to the top half of the leg,
And begin to explore any feelings,
Physical sensations,
Tensions,
Softness,
And the touch of your skin on fabric,
And the surface you're sitting on.
Just being curious,
Try not to judge your approach right or wrong,
Good or bad,
Allowing what comes up for you right now,
And continuing to give attention with the breath to the upper part of the leg.
Just allowing any thoughts to come and go.
And noticing if you get distracted and just gently bringing it back again and again.
Continuing using the breath to anchor your mind's attention on the legs.
Begin to raise it slightly higher,
Exploring the groin,
Buttocks,
And all the organs encased in the pelvic bowl.
Notice if you have any sensations,
Any feeling tone,
Or the absence of feeling,
Allowing what you're experiencing to be there without needing to judge or change or wanting it to be any different.
Breathe with the sensations.
On the inhale,
Focus.
And on the exhale,
Let go.
Move toward the tummy region and explore the lower back,
Abdomen,
And all the muscles and digestive organs as you rest your attention in this region of the body.
Exploring all the sensations,
Any feeling,
And just noticing what's already there.
Any tightness,
Any softening,
Any tension.
Trying not to judge or want it to be any different,
But rather just being with what's there in a gentle,
Accepting way.
If you notice you have become distracted by thought or something else,
Just gently bring it back to the tummy region and focus on holding your awareness there.
Inhaling into the tummy and seeing what's there.
Noticing if your mind tends to comment on this experience and knowing this is very normal.
And rather than getting frustrated,
Just to continue to work with the breath and your attention on the tummy.
Use the breath to follow the spine upward to the chest region.
Noticing the rising and falling of the breath.
Exploring the sensations of breathing through the movement of your chest region.
Seeing if you can notice the subtle beating of your heart muscle as you sit in awareness.
Bring your attention back if it wanders and rest in the stillness of awareness with the sensations of your chest,
Heart,
Lungs and back.
Using your breath,
Travel along your body to your hands and your fingers and thumbs and explore them individually and as one hand.
Sitting in the attention of this region of your body.
Breathing into them.
Noticing the sensations and feeling tones.
The fabric or the flesh if you have them resting together.
All the sensations in this region.
Just noticing them.
If the mind wanders again and again,
Just keep bringing it back.
Using your breath to carry your attention to the hands.
Move your attention upwards through the arms to the lower arm until you get to the elbow.
Bringing your awareness,
Exploring the sensations,
The feelings.
And if you're not feeling anything,
That's okay too.
Just sitting in presence with the non-feeling.
Trying not to judge right or wrong.
Just allowing this experience.
Sitting in awareness as you scan this part of your body.
Exploring,
Breathing into noticing what's there and being curious about it.
Moving upward to the upper part of the arm.
Breathing into the upper part of the arm.
Breathing into the sensations and exploring the physical feelings and emotional tones.
Using the breath as an anchor.
Allowing,
Accepting and being present.
Now bringing your attention to the neck and shoulders.
And as you inhale,
Just start observing any tension,
Any softening with the breath,
Any sensations that you might feel.
Trying not to push anything away or wanting it to be different or change.
Just accepting and allowing what's there.
In a sense,
Befriending this part of your body,
Just as it is in this moment.
If you can't feel anything or can't sense anything,
Just acknowledge that and let it be okay.
Be curious about it and try being still with no feeling or no sensation in that region.
Scan gently up the neck,
Onto the scalp,
The head and the face.
Exploring the neck and the back of the scalp first.
Feeling into the skull and the brain,
Which you might notice slight movement inside your head.
Noticing the face,
The eyes flickering inside their sockets,
The nose and the breath moving in and out,
The mouth,
The lips,
The tongue.
Just sitting in the full awareness of the face,
Breathing in and out.
Now see if you can notice the whole body.
Try sitting in open awareness and just allowing your attention to sit with the whole body as we breathe in and out.
Noticing any particular sensations in the foreground,
Any subtle feelings in the background.
Allowing it all to just flow through your awareness.
Begin to start slowly becoming aware of your environment,
Your surroundings.
Perhaps gently open your eyes,
Have a gentle stretch of your sitting or laying and try to keep this presence and awareness.
