Welcome to this guided body scan meditation where we will be turning inwards to connect with the body through presence and awareness.
You can do this sitting or lying down,
Just ensuring that you're keeping the spine straight.
And for this practice,
You'll be focusing in on various parts of the body from toe to head.
If you feel distressed at any point,
Please listen to your body.
Let yourself take a break and return to the practice when you feel comfortable doing so.
So let's begin.
If you haven't already done so,
Begin to let the eyes become heavy and gently close.
Start to pay attention to the breath,
Noticing the pace,
The rhythm,
The depth,
The texture,
The temperature,
And noticing where you most prominently feel the breath.
The tip of the nose,
The chest,
The abdomen.
Just let your attention rest there.
Try to let go of any thoughts about the day,
What happened before,
And what will happen next.
Let the breath guide you back to this moment.
And when the next out breath,
Begin to soften your awareness of the breath.
You turn your attention to the feet.
Feel the sensations in the soles of your feet.
Maybe noticing the contact between the feet and the surface.
Maybe noticing the feeling of air or socks on the skin.
Whatever sensations arise,
Just let them be.
No need to control.
Now begin to bring your awareness into the big toes.
Just paying attention to what this feels like.
And slowly moving your awareness to each toe,
One by one,
Until you reach the pinky toe.
Now moving your awareness back into the soles of the feet,
Paying attention to whatever is present,
Just letting it be.
And begin to move your attention around the tops of the feet,
Just noticing what sensations are present.
Now begin to move your attention up into the ankles.
Imagine circling around the ankles,
The front,
The back.
Just paying attention to whatever sensations are present.
Let go of any need to control or change a sensation.
And simply bring your awareness back to observing.
Now continue to move your attention up into the shins.
Imagine feeling into the shin bones.
Now bring your awareness to the calves,
Imagining feeling into the calf muscles.
If you feel any tension or discomfort,
Imagine breathing into that space,
Creating a soft environment for this tension or discomfort to exist,
Just as it is.
Try to soften the need to control or change things.
Just let these sensations be.
Continuing to move your attention up into the knees,
Feeling into the knee caps,
Feeling into this joint that connects the shins and the quads.
Become curious about these sensations.
Now moving your attention into the quads,
Noticing the tops of the quads,
Noticing where the quads meet the surface of your seat.
And then back to the tops of the quads,
Seeing if you can feel all the way into the femur,
The long bone of the quad.
And let whatever arises be just as it is.
Now gently move your awareness into the hips,
The hip joint,
And the pelvic region.
We often hold tension,
Stress,
And trauma in the hips,
So allow yourself to be gentle right now as you explore these sensations.
Imagine feeling into the hip joint,
The ball and socket.
If you feel tension here,
Remember to imagine breathing in space to this area and letting the sensations just be.
No need to control,
No need to resist.
For when we resist,
We add tension.
Just let it be.
Continue to move your awareness into the pelvis,
The front of the pelvis,
The back of the pelvis,
Feeling into the sit bones,
Maybe feeling gently supported by gravity,
Maybe noticing the points of contact between your sit bones,
The glutes,
And the surface beneath you.
Now continue to move your awareness into the abdomen.
Notice any sensations in this area.
See if you can feel into each internal organ,
The stomach,
The intestines,
The liver.
Notice the breath,
Maybe the gentle rise and falling of the abdomen.
Letting whatever sensations arise be just as they are,
Without need to control.
Begin to move your awareness back into the lower back,
Noticing the points of contact between your skin and the surface beneath you.
Gently move your awareness from the back into the abdomen and up into the chest.
Again,
Paying attention to any sensations that are present here.
Maybe feeling the rise and the falling of the chest and the lungs as you breathe.
Maybe feeling the texture and the weight of your clothes on the skin.
Or maybe you feel nothing at all.
Whatever it is,
Welcome each sensation without the need to control.
Now circle your attention to the upper back,
Again noticing the points of contact between yourself and the surface beneath you.
Move your awareness into the shoulders,
Feeling into the shoulder joint,
Imagining the ball and socket.
Feel into the bone.
Now continue to move your attention down the shoulders,
Into the biceps,
Now the triceps,
Now the elbow,
The elbow joint,
Now the forearms,
The wrists,
Now into each hand.
Notice the top of the hands,
Paying attention to the air on your skin or any other sensations that arise.
Notice the palms of your hands,
Feeling the difference between the palms and the top of the hands.
Now move your attention to the thumb,
Just noticing what it feels like.
The pointer finger,
The middle finger,
The ring finger,
And finally the pinky finger.
Now paying attention again to the hands as you begin to move your awareness back into the wrist,
The forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arms,
Shoulders.
And rest your attention on the neck,
Letting go of any need to control.
Just let whatever sensations arise be just as they are.
Continue to move your awareness up the neck and into the jaw,
Just noticing if you're holding any tension here,
Just feeling what this feels like.
Remember you can imagine breathing into the space,
Into this area,
Allowing space for this tension to exist.
And simply paying attention.
Now from the jaw,
Move your awareness into the chin.
Now paying attention to the lips,
Feeling inside the mouth,
Paying attention to the nose,
Paying attention to the cheeks,
Paying attention to the eyes,
Paying attention to the eye socket,
Paying attention to the eyebrows,
Paying attention to the forehead,
Finally paying attention to the ears.
Now move your attention from the ears to the crown of your head.
Just rest here,
Noticing any sensations that arise at the top of the head.
Now for a moment,
Hold your whole body in awareness,
Toe to head,
Feeling into this very moment,
Feeling into the whole body.
Notice any sensations that arise as you let your awareness dance around the body.
Let whatever sensations arise be just as they are.
And again,
If you're feeling tension,
You may imagine breathing into those areas and giving this tension space to exist just as it is.
It may change,
It may not.
Just let it be.
Now before moving out of this practice,
You may want to set an intention for the rest of your day.
Perhaps you intend to let go of control,
Or perhaps you choose to just show up for yourself today.
Whatever it is,
Take the time to reflect on what you need and intend for the rest of the day.
Now begin to gently wiggle the fingers,
The toes,
Gently blink the eyes open,
And take a moment to just ease into this space around you.
Notice what you can see,
Hear,
Smell,
Touch.
Maybe taking a moment to stretch or do anything else that would feel supportive to the mind and body.
As always,
May you be well.
