Sankofa (Go Back And Fetch It): Community Offering

Sankofa (Go Back & Fetch It): Sankofa teaches us to go back into our past and collect the parts we left behind. This meditation invites healing into the mind and body through gentle affirmation. Put yourself in the position to realign yourself.

Community offerings is a series dedicated to those who are active in creating effective change. This was influenced by the work of N'cho Jean-Louis

Transcript

Ready just try to get as comfortable as you can.

Right,

This means that you might need to support the back,

You might need to lie flat down,

You might need to support underneath the knees,

But just do whatever it is that you need to do.

And so once you get into this comfortable position the next step is just taking a few deep breaths.

And so what you're doing here is a part of the practice that I call befriending the breath.

Right,

So you're just taking this as your opportunity to connect to your own breathing.

And so this part is super important to the practice because if at any time things get weird or you start to think about things and you need an opportunity to come back to yourself,

This is where you come.

Right,

You come back to the breathing,

You come back to the breath.

And so on the inhale the belly should be expanding and on the exhale the belly should be falling back towards the spine.

And so just continue a few more times just really engaging the breath,

Really just noticing what the breath feels like.

And so there are a few people who are still settling into the practice and that's great.

And so we're just going to continue kind of taking time so that everyone is all on the same page.

And so we're going to continue paying attention to the breath but what we're going to do is just do it a little bit differently.

So everyone take your next exhale and then on the next inhale just inhale as much as you can into the body and then hold the breath at the top.

And let the breath go.

And start to notice as you let the breath go how deep your body falls back into itself.

And so when you're ready you can take another inhale through the nose and fill up as much as you can and then just hold the breath right at the top.

And you can just let that go.

And so we're just going to continue doing this on our own.

And so whenever you inhale and you hold the breath at the top just hold the breath for about five counts.

We're going to move through about three more cycles of this.

So inhaling filling up the body taking about five counts.

And then on the exhale just noticing how deep you can fall into the body.

And so you should have about one more of these left and if you've already completed that just let your breath return back to a natural pace.

And so we are going to do a bit of a body scan.

And so what that really means is I'll just be calling out parts of the body and the only thing you need to do in those spaces is just notice what you feel and if you find that there's any tension or just an issue you know something that just doesn't feel good the only thing you're gonna do is just take a really deep inhale and then just exhale through the mouth kind of like.

And so when you're ready just start to notice what the top of the head feels like.

And then start to bring the attention down to the forehead down to the eyes down to the nose the cheeks down to the mouth to the tongue to the jaw to the ears and then from the top of the head down the back of the head and just kind of stopping right at the neck.

And so really take this as your opportunity to check in with this part of the body.

Just notice what you notice before you attempt to make any changes.

And so if you notice any tension that won't let go just take a deep inhale through the nose and release it through the mouth with the side.

And as you exhale just allow the attention to move down to the neck down to the collarbone the shoulders the shoulder blades and just notice what you notice in this space.

And if there's any need to relax a little bit deeper just take a deep inhale through the nose and out of the mouth.

And so from the shoulders we're just gonna let the attention drop down into the fingertips.

So that means from the shoulders we must pass the elbows,

The wrist,

And the palms the tops of the hands the fingers and the thumbs.

And so just notice if in these spaces there's any tension and if there is just take this as your opportunity to relax a little bit deeper.

And so bring the attention back up the arms to the shoulders and the attention is gonna rest in the chest.

So we're just passing the hands passing the wrist moving up and passing the elbows coming back up to the shoulders and then just letting the attention drop down into the chest.

And so you might even notice the upper back the shoulder blades as well.

But let the attention rest right on the chest.

And so if you pay attention to the chest you might notice the heart.

And you might notice how the heart feels.

You might even notice the heartbeat.

And if you notice the heartbeat you might notice how far along that vibration moves through the body.

And so just notice what you notice here.

And so in this practice this is the space where we really get connected with honesty.

And so if there's something that you've been feeling or experiencing at this time this is a great place to find out what that's all about.

So just take the next few breaths right here and if there are any words that come to mind about your experience just notice what they are.

And if you find that there's any tension just take a deep inhale through the nose and just let it go through the mouth.

And so you can let the attention move down to the belly and down to the lower back and from the armpits just down the sides of the body and just stopping right at the waist.

And so just connect to the belly to the lower back to the sides of the body and just notice what that space feels like.

And if you notice the breath you might notice how the breath has changed.

You might notice how much more you're able to pay attention to how the breath feels.

And so you can let the attention move past the waist down to the hips to the butt to the pelvic area the groin area to the inner thighs the outer thighs the fronts and the backs and just stopping right at the knees.

And so just take this as your opportunity to notice what this space feels like.

And if you find that there's any tension here just take a deep inhale and an exhale through the mouth.

And so you can let the attention move past the knees.

We're just gonna let the attention drop all the way down to the toes and the feet.

So moving past the calves past the ankles and just letting the attention find a resting place in the feet the tops of the feet toes the heels of the feet the soles of feet.

And just notice if there are any opportunities to relax a little bit deeper.

And if there are just take an inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.

And so now that you have the full body and mind you can just allow the attention to move freely.

So the attention might move to a place that needs a little bit more time a little bit more work or a little bit more relaxation.

And so just take yourself to that space.

And instead of figuring out how can I fix this just take this as your opportunity to really notice what it feels like.

And so you might just continue taking deep breaths in and out of the nose.

Or you might just affirm I'm taking what I need and I surrender everything else.

And so just notice what this space feels like.

And if you find that you need to continue working in this space you are welcome to stay here.

And if you find that there's another space or place in the body that really needs your attention you can just bring your attention to the next space.

And you might just continue taking deep inhales in through the nose and out of the mouth.

Or you might just affirm I'm taking what I need and surrendering the rest.

And really start to pay close attention to what that feels like.

And if you find that you need to stay in this space just continue in this space.

And if you find that there's another space that needs your attention just take your attention to that space.

And you might continue just taking deep breaths in through the nose and out of the mouth.

But if you need a little bit more you might just affirm I'm taking what I need and I surrender the rest.

And so really start to notice what you notice.

Notice what the body feels like.

Notice the parts that have needed a little bit more of your attention and connection.

And so we're gonna bring the attention back to the feet.

We're just gonna move the energy back up the body to the crown of the head.

And we'll do this very similar to the body scan from the beginning.

And so just notice what the feet feel like.

And in this space just affirm I'm here for you.

And allow the attention to move up the body towards the knees.

You can just stop right at the knees.

And just notice what the calves feel like.

Notice what the knees feel like.

And just affirm I'm here for you.

So you can let the attention move up past the knees to the thighs to the hips to the butt to the groin to the pelvic area and then just stopping right at the waist.

Just taking this as your opportunity to notice and to affirm I am here for you.

And so bringing the attention to the belly to the lower back and up the sides of the body towards the armpits just notice what this space feels like.

And you might just affirm to yourself I am here for you.

And so let the attention move up to the upper back.

Let the attention move up to the chest and notice what you feel.

Notice what the heart feels like.

And just affirm in this space I am here for you.

So you can let the attention move up to the shoulders.

And once the attention moves up to the shoulders you can just let the attention drop down into the hands.

So moving past the elbows and moving past the wrists down into the palms the tops of the hands and the fingers and thumbs.

And just notice what you feel.

And you might continue to affirm I am here for you.

And so you can bring the attention back from the hands up to the shoulders.

Moving past the wrists,

Past the elbows and moving up to the neck and to the jaw and to the mouth,

The nose,

The cheeks,

The eyes,

The ears,

The forehead.

Moving up the back of the head and just meeting at the crown of the head.

And so in this space you can just affirm I am here for you.

And so take the next few breaths to just notice what the whole body feels like.

Really paying attention to any tension that still remains.

And so you might ask yourself this simple question,

What is it that I really need to focus my attention on?

How can I be free?

And so take about 5 more breaths and just letting this thought rest in the body.

So you should have about 2 more breaths left.

And on your next inhale just take an inhale as deeply as you can and hold the breath at the top.

And when you get to the top take in a few more sips of air and then just let it go through the mouth like ahhhhh.

So again taking a deep inhale through the nose and just filling up the body.

And when you get to the top taking in a few more sips of air and then just letting it go like ahhhhh.

And so take another deep inhale through the nose.

Inhale as much as you can and at the top just continue taking sips of air until you can fit no more and then let it go with a very loud sigh.

And so just start to notice any points of contact.

So this might be wherever you're sitting just notice what that feels like.

Notice where the hands are.

You might notice the eyelids touching.

You might notice the lips touching.

So just take this as your opportunity to just recall where you are.

Start to be aware of the space around you,

Things you might hear.

See the temperature in the room,

Things you might smell.

And so in your own time you can slowly start to bring some movement into the fingers,

Some movement into the toes and you might even bring some movement into the throat by just honoring yourself and your practice in some way.

And so just know that you have all the time you need and whenever you're ready you can start to slowly blink the eyes open.

Reviews

A refreshing body scan. Thank you!

This was much needed on my end. Anchoring myself in my body 💛 Thank you

Thank you for this practise. The pace and and content was just what I need.