Calm Body, Kind Heart

This is a guided meditation practice both using a body scan as well as a kindness heart practice. Through this practice, we invite presence in the body as well as kindness in the heart, empowering ourselves to feel more love and warmth in our lived experience.

Transcript

This practice is called Calm Body, Kind Heart. Please find yourself a space and a posture to begin this meditation. There are many ways that you can put your body into a comfortable position in whatever way works for you. This could be lying down, This could be sitting or standing up. And whichever way you're choosing for right now, See if you can gently move your body in a way that might release any unnecessary tension. That may make space for the bones, The joints, The muscles. To find a posture that is both upright and at ease, Relaxed and present. Allowing your eyes to look about the space around you, This is a simple way of allowing the nervous system to calm and soothe itself, Knowing that you are in a safe space to focus inwardly to settle into this meditation practice. Taking in the quality of the air, The felt sense of presence in this space, Perhaps a temperature that your body is feeling, Any smells in the environment, As a simple way of orienting to the here and now. If you wish to, I invite you to close your eyes now. Otherwise, Just allow the eyes to rest softly. As we begin here, Seeing if there's an intention in your own heart, Mind, Body, Something that you would like to cultivate in this practice. Calm, Kindness, Alertness, Checking in with yourself now. As we begin to deepen into this meditation practice, We invite the mind to settle, And we can do this by choosing an anchor point for the mind. Choosing one now, Such as the breath coming in and out. You may notice a particular place you wish to follow along with the breath, If that's in the belly or the chest or the nose. You may choose to rather follow along with the sounds and the environment, And the way the ears receive sound, Or rather anchoring with a point on the body, Allowing the mind to gently settle into a felt sensation, Such as the palms of the hands. Choosing one of these anchor points now. Breath, Sound, Body. For several moments now, Letting the mind settle in this anchor. Resting, Receiving, Being. You may notice the mind wander away or be filled with distractions, And that is okay too. Simply bringing the awareness back to the anchor point now. You may notice the mind begin to settle more. You may notice more quiet. On the other hand, It can take the mind some time to settle, And if this is true for you today, Knowing that this is okay in this practice as well, Noticing any discomfort with that, And seeing how you might be able to rest here, Even if there are uncomfortable circumstances inside of you. We're going to bring the awareness now into the body. This part of this practice is a practice of releasing tension or unnecessary stress from the body, So that we can perhaps find some calm in the body. Being able to dwell calmly in the physical body, Not necessarily in the mind or the thoughts. In this practice, You do not have to feel a need to push, Pull, Or force the tension to be released. To approach this practice with gentleness and ease, This will encourage the nervous system to be able to release what it is able to release. In this moment, I invite you to bring awareness into the lower part of the body, Starting with the feet. The feet have feelings. They feel, For example, The socks or the floor. Simply allowing awareness to be felt through the feet. If there's any tension there, You may feel at ease in releasing this tension. Traveling upwards through the legs now, Through the lower legs to the knees, Inviting your awareness to drop lower into this part of the body. To feel what it's like to have these legs, These thighs, These whole legs. It's okay if you do not have feeling in a certain part of your body. This is very common, And it is okay just as it is. Allowing any tension now to be released from these legs. Moving upwards through the pelvis, The hips, Noticing the sensation in this area of the body. Feeling what it's like to have this part of the body, To live into this part of the body. Releasing any tension now. Traveling upwards now through the trunk with awareness through the lower back, Through the abdomen, Through the middle and upper back, Spreading across the shoulders, And through the chest. Allowing your awareness to drop into this part of the body now. Releasing any tension that's unnecessarily held here. If at any time any part of the body feels triggering or overwhelming, Please feel free to shift your attention to a more neutral place on your body, Such as your feet or your hands. Resting now in the awareness of this part of the body, The trunk. Allowing awareness to spread downward through the arms, The upper arms through the elbows, The forearms, The wrists, Hands, Fingertips. Allowing awareness to drop into these parts of the body now. Inviting gently the nervous system to be able to release any tension that is unhelpful to this body at this time. Inviting awareness through the throat and neck, Upwards through the base of the head and the skull, Over the top of the head and downwards through the eye sockets, The eyes, The cheekbones, The jaw, The tongue, The ears. Simply allowing awareness of this part of the body. Allowing tension to be released as possible. Settling now with the awareness of the full body. Inviting awareness to drop again into the physical body, Allowing awareness to settle with the body in this felt sense of having a physical form, Being held in place by gravity, By having this earth element of the body that is stabilizing and solid. Just like the earth outside, This body and its earth element is just simply as it is right now. We release any need to change or control the physical body experience. Encouraging an arising of gentle awareness and acceptance of being in this physical body. Settling with gravity. Allowing the mind to rest here in this embodied presence. It's okay to have movement in the thoughts and feelings. It's okay to have movement in the thoughts and feelings. These are like clouds passing through the sky. And it's okay for them to be there. Simply again, Dropping into the physical body now. Notice the quality of your awareness if you're holding any judgment or an excess of effort in this practice. Releasing excess effort and inviting calm. Inviting calm in the body now. We will begin to work with this kind heart practice as well now. In the heart space of the body, I invite you to allow a sense of warmness or a gentle love to come forward. Inviting a felt sense of kindness through the heart now. This might feel like a small thing to you, Or it might feel more accessible and big. Whichever way that it is feeling for you, Seeing if you can simply allow and notice, Making space for this feeling of kindness and whatever emerges with that for you. Resting in this body with a kind heart. Allowing kindness to come through you. Not with effort and force, But with simplicity and ease as your body allows. Physical body. Gravity. Earth. Kindness. Heart. Warmth. Noticing the quality that you've cultivated in this practice or that you've received here today. Noticing how it might carry with you as you move on with your daily life.