This is a ten minute body scan to help us bring awareness to our body.
We're beginning to know the body from inside,
Which helps us to bring mindfulness of the body in the very body.
We can begin by closing our eyes,
Taking a comfortable position whether we're seated,
Whether we're laying down.
Beginning to notice the sensation of the body,
Where it touches the surface that we're sitting or laying on.
We can start from the bottom of our feet,
Which may be touching our shoes or the floor.
And just notice what does it feel like in the body,
At that site at the bottom of the feet or on the heel.
What's the sensation?
Against the floor,
Against your shoe.
And we can take the scan up from the feet,
The back of the calves might be resting against the chair.
Again noticing the sensation.
Continuing this scan of the body,
This awareness of the body at the back of the thighs,
Up on the bottom,
The buttocks against the chair.
Perhaps the back as it's leaning against the chair,
The sofa laying down.
Just bringing the awareness into this area and noticing what it feels like.
What's the surface of the skin feel like against the surface that it's touching?
Back of the shoulders,
Back of the head.
Perhaps the back of the arms,
If we're sitting down,
Maybe the arms against the thighs.
And now we can begin to use the breath to help us notice.
Breathing from the nose,
Bringing the breath energy through the nose,
Into the body,
Into the chest,
Into the abdomen,
The belly.
And as you breathe out,
Releasing anything you might have noticed,
Any tensions as we notice the breath.
Was it smooth?
Was it long?
Was it short?
Was it shallow?
And as we release the breath as it enters the body,
In from the nose,
Into the throat,
Through the chest,
Down into the belly,
Letting that abdomen expand.
What we call diaphragm breathing.
As we release the abdomen,
It turns back toward the back,
The belly button moves toward the back as the breath energy releases out,
Out through the chest,
The throat,
And the nose.
Becoming aware of the chest area,
The belly,
Noticing any tensions.
Does the right side feel the same as the left side?
Is there any difference?
Is there any areas or patterns,
Tensions on one side or the other?
Does the right and the left side feel connected?
Or does they feel very separate from each other?
It's beginning to notice the body.
As we continue to breathe in,
Bringing the breath energy,
Nose into the chest and belly,
And this time extending it down through the pelvis,
Through the hips,
The right and left hip,
Down the thighs,
The knees,
The calves,
And the feet.
All the toes,
If you have ten toes,
You're lucky.
You have gratitude for that.
Just noticing,
Does the right leg feel the same as the left leg?
Is there any holding pattern in the hips,
In the joints where we tend to hold,
Contract unknowingly?
Noticing if we're holding on the right hip or the left hip,
On the right knee,
On the left knee,
The ankles,
And the joints of the toes.
And as we breathe out,
We allow that energy to take with it any tensions or pains that we might have noticed.
Releasing things that don't serve us anymore,
And bringing awareness back to the nose again,
And nose into the neck,
And this time bringing that awareness of the breath energy into the,
Toward the back of the neck,
Where we carry a lot of tension.
Allowing the energy to move slowly and gently,
Noticing this right and left shoulder.
Are they at the same level?
Are they scrunched up under the ear?
Extending this breath energy down the arms,
The right and left arm,
And the elbows,
Wrists,
And the hand,
Fingers,
And both hands,
Allowing the breath to flow smoothly.
Noticing,
Allowing the breath to help you notice the sensation.
What does it feel like in the right wrist?
What does it feel like in the joints of the fingers,
In the nail of the right thumb?
Can you begin to notice the sensations in the body?
Same on the left side,
Noticing.
And when you're breathing out,
Release any tensions or pain,
Areas of restrictions that we might have noticed.
And if we notice any areas of openness and softness,
We can allow that softness to spread to the areas that might feel separate.
Allowing healing to occur within this body.
As we notice where our areas of tension are,
Where our areas of openness are,
We can go inside and begin to reunite these areas.
When we're having stress,
Moments of anxiety,
Fear,
Or anger,
We can bring our awareness,
Our gaze,
Our inward gaze to the areas of opening and softness.
Just rest the breath in those areas.
We can come back home to ourselves,
Find our groundedness,
So we can act from places of groundedness and our authentic truth.
And we bring awareness again to our breath,
Noticing it coming from the nose.
And allow it to spread into the head very gently around the nose and out where we carry tension.
Allow the size of our mouth to relax,
Maybe a half smile across the face,
Around the eyes where we also carry a lot of tension,
Around the forehead,
Around the jaw,
Making its way over our head,
Down the back of our head and neck.
Just soothing with the breath and allowing the breath to help us notice what does it feel like.
And releasing anything that's painful or tight.
And bringing one breath in,
Allowing that breath to diffuse throughout the entire body from the top of the head down the neck,
Down across the shoulders and arms,
Down the corset,
Into the abdomen,
The pelvis,
The legs,
The feet.
Just resting in this full body awareness.
Breathing in,
Aware of my body,
Breathing out,
Releasing tension,
Bringing joy and ease to my body.
