Preparing for your meditation practice,
You may choose to lie down in a supported position or sitting upright with support and legs uncrossed.
Becoming aware of your overall body scape.
Just like you would look at a landscape,
We'll look at our body without judging or critiquing,
Simply noticing the present sensations.
As you take that first body glance,
You can notice parts of your body that are drawing your attention,
Maybe because you're holding tension or they're sensing the temperature or they feel unsettled.
Feeling free at any time in this practice to move and adjust,
But we begin to take more precise focus,
Drawing your awareness to the soles of your feet.
You could give your toes a wiggle or even softly press if your feet are resting on the floor.
Holding the tops of your feet,
The bottoms of your feet,
And each of your toes.
Holding both of your feet in your awareness.
Giving your awareness up to your ankles.
Noticing the front,
Backs,
Inner and outer edges.
You might be aware of your clothing or anything touching or the air surrounding.
Keeping your awareness up into your calves,
Your shins,
Your knees,
The front,
Back,
And sides of your knees,
Maybe aware of the degree of bend.
Drawing the awareness up to your upper legs,
The front,
Back,
Inner and outer edges of your legs.
Then noticing higher into the hips,
Maybe the degree of rotation,
Relax of the legs,
The connection of your hips to your seat or support.
Noticing the front of your pelvis,
The back,
The sides,
Inner and outer edges.
Aware of your whole lower body.
We become aware from the back of the legs to the back of the torso.
Noticing connection to the ground or the seat that surrounds.
Inviting your awareness to hug around your side body,
Your ribs,
And to the front of your torso.
Maybe you notice your breath,
Feeling the sensation of the top of the torso,
The upper chest and shoulders,
From the tops of the shoulders,
Noticing the back of the shoulders and the outer edges,
Inviting awareness from the upper shoulder to the upper arm,
Tracing along to the inner and outer edges of the elbow,
Aware of the degree of bend,
And then down into the forearms,
The wrists,
And the backs of your hands.
Aware of the backs of your hands to the tips of your fingers,
The fingernails,
The pads of your fingers,
And pulling your awareness into your palms,
Tracing your awareness back up your arms,
Elbows,
Shoulders,
And sensing the support of your neck and your skull.
Maybe aware of hair,
Tracing the outer edges of your ears in your awareness,
And then gently drawing down the jaw to the tip of your chin,
Aware of your lips,
Your mouth and tongue and teeth,
Up aware your nasal passages,
Your nose,
Your cheeks,
Your eyes,
Your eye sockets,
Your brow bone,
And forehead,
Expanding your awareness to the full sensation of your body here and now from the crown of the head to the tips of your toes,
From the front of your torso to the back of your spine,
Your left side,
Your right side.
You may try to hold the awareness of the entire body or breathing back into spaces that caught your attention or that needed a bit more focus.
Your breath may have become subtle and soft,
But bring your focus back there.
As you're ready,
You may start small,
Fingers and toes,
Bringing movement back,
Eventually a full body stretch or a big hug.
