The following is a body scan meditation designed to help you pay attention to how your body feels and what it might be telling you.
It's a time to listen to your body and to be in your body as fully as possible.
For those of you who will be lying down,
Lie on your back on a mat or a blanket with your feet about hip width apart and falling away from one another and your arms at your side.
If you will be doing this in a chair,
Sit with your back straight but not stiff with both feet on the floor,
Hands resting comfortably in your lap.
Feel free to close your eyes if that's available to you and listen to and follow my instructions as best you can.
Try to stay awake and alert.
If you do fall asleep,
Try to be kind to yourself when you wake up.
And if you happen to notice snoring,
Then it's probably you.
Remember to breathe completely and let the breath flow freely into and out of your body.
When you notice your mind wandering as it surely will,
Gently bring it back to focus on the instructions as best you can.
Now becoming aware of the belly rising as the breath moves into the body and falling as the breath moves out of the body.
Not controlling the breath in any way,
Just letting it find its own rhythm.
Feeling your body sink more deeply into the mat or to the chair on each out breath.
And now on the next in breath,
Direct your attention all the way down through your body to the soles of both feet.
Become aware of your toes,
The arches of your feet,
The place where the heels meet the floor.
Noticing any feelings in your feet,
Any warmth or coolness,
Pressure,
Tingling,
Lightness or tightness,
Dryness or moisture.
Now gathering up your attention,
Moving it away from the feet and focusing on your legs.
Noticing any feelings or sensations in your legs.
Perhaps a pulsation of circulation,
Perhaps warmth or coolness,
Perhaps lightness or even numbness is a sensation.
Noticing the contact between your legs and the mat or the chair,
Allowing your attention to explore any feelings in this part of your body.
And on the next in breath,
Use your attention to direct your breath all the way down the entire left leg.
And next,
Breathing down the entire right leg.
Bringing in oxygen,
Nutrients into those legs and remembering that whenever you find your mind wandering,
Just let go of the thoughts as gently as you can and come back to focusing your attention once more on your body.
Bringing your attention fully back to your body,
Bringing our attention now through the hips and the pelvis to the organs of reproduction and to the lower back,
Observing any feelings in this part of the body.
Perhaps tightness or tingling or numbness or fullness.
Perhaps any unpleasant feelings such as aching or discomfort.
Allowing your attention to move slowly up the back,
All the way up the spine,
Aware of each vertebra,
The muscles,
The skin of the back,
Aware of the contact with the chair with the mat.
And on the next breath,
Breathing into the whole back area,
Allowing the muscles to expand and contract.
Moving your attention now to the body,
To the belly in the body,
Feeling the movement of the abdomen as it rises and falls with each breath.
Taking a deep breath in and allowing the abdomen to really expand on the in-breath.
And releasing,
Breathing out and noticing the feeling of the abdomen deflating.
Continuing on this journey of discovery through the body,
Moving our attention to the chest area,
Aware of the heart and the lungs,
Aware of the movement of the chest,
Perhaps of the heart beating.
Breathing into the chest,
Noticing the rib cage expanding,
Any sensations of pleasantness with each breath,
Or perhaps tightness.
Now gathering our attention again and focusing on both arms and hands,
Letting our attention come to rest in the fingertips of both hands.
Aware again of any sensations of tingling,
The air touching the fingertips,
Possibly feeling moisture or dryness.
Aware of the sides of the fingers touching each other or the air,
Aware of the knuckles of the palms of the tops of the hands.
Perhaps noticing sensation associated with pressure in the hands as they lie in your lap or on the floor.
Moving your attention up the arms and allowing your attention to settle on the shoulders.
Noticing the muscles here,
Really exploring any sensations in the shoulders.
Perhaps burning or tightness,
Tension,
Perhaps heaviness or lightness.
Just allowing yourself to breathe deeply into your shoulders,
Releasing any concerns and allowing your shoulders to completely relax and soften.
Again,
Noticing if your mind is wandering,
Perhaps taking note of where it's wandered to,
And with kindness,
With gentleness,
And also firmly bringing your attention back to the body.
Bringing our attention now to the head area,
Noticing any feelings in the neck,
In the base of the skull,
The contact perhaps between your head and the floor,
How hard or soft is the surface your head is resting on.
Following that sensation through the top of your head and around to your forehead,
Your nose,
Cheeks,
And your mouth,
Your jaw,
Your neck,
As best you can,
Noticing any and all feelings in this area of your face and head.
And allowing your breath to fill your entire body,
Feeling your body breathing from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes,
Allowing your body to sink into the surface it's resting on,
To get heavy,
And to let go of any tension or tightness or fatigue that you might be experiencing.
Allowing the body breathing to breathe in new life,
New energy,
New relaxation,
Seeing if you can feel your breath moving easily through your whole body as you lie here or sit here.
As we conclude this practice,
Taking a moment or two to notice the best parts of this experience for you,
Bringing this awareness with you,
Your whole body,
Complete strong entities with you into the next moments of your day.
