Tuning In With The Senses. Deep Relaxation Thru Body Scan

This gentle practice guides you to be present and accepting through your senses and then leads you into a deeper relaxation body scan practice as you become aware of the space inside your body, the space around your body and then your bodies relationship with space.

Transcript

For this deep relaxation practice allow your body to rest in Savasana.

You may use blankets underneath the thighs and the backs of the knees if you have pain or discomfort in the lower back or you could rest with the legs on a couch or on your bed being sure to support behind your knees so you don't overstretch the tendons by the end of the practice.

If it's better for you,

You could also practice supported in a chair,

Resting out,

Allow your feet to flop apart,

Opening through the pelvis,

Allow the lower back to arch away from the floor,

Letting the energy flow,

Allow the shoulders to rest flat on the floor,

Opening through the heart and to help the tips of the shoulders rest down,

Rolling the palms to face the sky,

Thumbs away from the body,

Allow the chin to be slightly tucked,

Lengthening through the back of the neck and let the weight of your head fully rest out fully rest out on the floor or the mat beneath you,

Letting go of the day,

Letting go of the week,

Letting go of the year before you,

Just letting go and feeling supported by the floor beneath you and notice where your body meets the floor,

The shoulder blades,

The buttocks,

The backs of the legs and the sides of the calves,

The heels and perhaps for some of you the sides of your feet,

Notice the backs of your arms and your hands,

Noticing the areas of your body that connect with the floor,

Noticing the connection with the shoulder blades,

The shoulders and the back of the head and bring your awareness to the sounds around you and the sounds in the room,

Noticing and acknowledging any sounds that are there,

Noticing and acknowledging any sense of irritation at the sounds and then bringing to mind something about this room that you appreciate,

Something about this room that you like,

That you have a sense of gratitude towards and that helps you feel safe in this space and bringing your awareness to your heartbeat,

Noticing where inside your body you most feel the heartbeat and noticing through the body if there is a sense of the beating heart,

You can sense this with your sense of sight,

Just knowing what it looks like as the heart beats and moves through the body or a sense of texture,

Perhaps a sense of sound or touch,

However you sense your heartbeat inside your body is perfect and noticing too your sense of breath,

The experience as the breath fills the body,

Fills the belly and the chest and equally the sense as the breath leaves the body,

Belly relaxes,

Chest relaxes,

Noticing also that there is a sense of the breath moving through the esophagus,

Perhaps through the face and the nose and there is a sense of the air moving at the nostrils and noticing again this sense of respiration,

This sense of your own breath with your sight,

Perhaps seeing the color as it expands the body and as it releases from the body or perhaps noticing the sound of the breath all the way from the nostrils to the belly and perhaps beyond,

Noticing the texture,

The feel,

The quality,

The sense of the breath as the body expands and releases and releases and becoming aware if there is any sense of the breath beyond the body,

Leaning into any of the senses that you enjoy today and noticing and leaning into the relaxing quality of the exhale,

Noticing how that exhale can help untie knots in the muscles,

How it helps to relax the pelvis and let the legs rest more heavily on the mat,

Notice how the quality of that exhale can release tension through the face and the shoulders,

Through the neck,

Through the mind and through the whole body and becoming aware too of the sense of smell,

Become aware of anything that you can smell,

Noticing this sense of smell with all of the senses,

Perhaps there is a texture,

A color,

A vibration,

A feeling connected to the experience of smell just now in this moment and taking a moment to appreciate this experience,

Cultivating gratitude from the heart for the experience of being here right now and noticing if gratitude has a color,

A texture,

A feeling or an internal experience in the body,

Perhaps it deepens the feeling of relaxation,

Of opening and expansion and like the sense of smell becoming also aware of the sense of taste,

The sense of the cheeks,

The tongue,

Inside the teeth and perhaps your sense of taste has a color,

A texture,

A flavor or an experience and whatever it is just noticing it with that sense of play,

A sense of witnessing,

A sense of acknowledging and knowing that you don't have to do anything with it,

Remember it or take it anywhere,

Just being here present with the sense of taste and notice if this experience of the sense of taste extends somehow beyond the mouth,

Beyond the tongue,

Beyond the usual areas that we expect to experience taste,

Noticing if there's some sense of taste in other areas of the body and becoming aware of the sense of aliveness in the body,

The sense of the nervous system as it experiences different areas of the body as warm or cool as the body knows which areas experience the touch of the clothes,

Which areas perhaps have a sense of the air moving across the skin,

Which areas are opening and expanding in gratitude that you're letting them rest,

That the mind is not inside them,

Instructing them but just letting them be and expand and unwind and rest and taking your awareness down to your feet,

Become aware of your toes,

Underneath the toes,

Balls of the feet,

Arches of the feet,

Heel,

The sides of the feet and the tops of the feet,

Aware of the feet and becoming aware of the space inside the feet,

Noticing this sense of space with your sight or as a texture,

An internal feeling,

A smell,

A taste,

Noticing the space inside your feet and noticing the space outside your feet,

Noticing your feet resting in space and becoming aware of the heels and the ankles,

Backs of the heels,

Sides of the ankles,

Inside the ankles,

Becoming aware of the space inside the ankles and aware of the ankles resting in space,

Become aware of the shins,

The calves,

Lower leg,

Become aware of the lower leg resting in space,

Becoming aware of the knee,

Inside the knee,

Back of the knee,

Sides of the knee and the front of the knee,

All around the patella,

Becoming aware of the whole knee,

The space inside the knee,

The space around the knee and becoming aware of the whole knee resting in space,

Becoming aware of your thighs,

The inside of the thighs,

The bones,

Muscles,

Tendons,

Backs of the thighs,

Outside of the thighs,

Inner thighs,

Tops of the thighs,

Whole thigh,

Becoming aware of the whole thigh and the whole space inside the thigh,

Becoming aware of the space around the thigh and aware of the whole thigh resting in space,

Whole thigh,

Whole knee,

Whole leg,

Whole ankle and feet resting in space and becoming aware of the pelvis,

The buttocks,

Lower belly,

Internal organs,

The cossacks,

Lower spine,

Becoming aware of this whole pelvis area and becoming aware of the space inside the pelvis and the space around the pelvis,

Becoming aware of the pelvis resting in space,

Becoming aware of the whole spine,

The cossacks,

Lower back,

Arches through the shoulders,

Upper neck,

Curves as the neck meets into the base of the skull,

Becoming aware of the whole beautiful spine from tip to the top of the neck and becoming aware of the space inside the spine and the space around the spine and the whole spine resting in space and becoming aware of the belly,

The organs inside the belly,

Becoming aware of the space in the belly and the space around the belly,

Becoming aware of the belly resting and relaxing in space,

Becoming aware of the chest,

Organs inside the chest,

Ribs supporting the chest,

The skin around the ribs,

Becoming aware of the whole chest and the space inside the chest,

Becoming aware of the space around the chest,

Becoming aware of the chest resting in space,

Becoming aware of the shoulders and the arms,

The hands,

Fingers,

Wrists,

Aware of the whole arms and hands and becoming aware of the space inside the arms and hands and becoming aware of the space around the arms and the hands,

Becoming aware of the arms and the hands resting in space,

Becoming aware of the neck and the jaw,

Sides of the head,

The face and the whole head,

Becoming aware of the whole head and brain and neck and face,

Becoming aware of the space inside them and aware of the space around them,

Becoming aware of the whole head and face and neck resting in space,

Becoming aware of the whole body,

The whole mind,

Head,

Arms,

Shoulders,

Shoulders,

Chest,

Belly,

Pelvis,

Thighs,

Knees,

Lower legs,

Heels,

Ankles,

Feet and toes,

Aware of the whole body,

The space inside the whole body,

The space around the whole body and the whole body relaxing,

Opening and expanding in space.

I'll let you rest in this beautiful space you have created and once more bringing your awareness back into the room,

Back into your body,

Becoming aware once more of your sense of breath,

Noticing the quality of your breath as it moves in and out of your body,

Noticing the experience of your breath and becoming aware also of your heartbeat,

Noticing your heartbeat as you're an organic,

Beautiful,

Biological being,

Perfectly imperfect,

Noticing the quality of the heartbeat and if there's a colour or a texture or a feeling attached to that,

Noticing also the sense of space and relaxation in the body and giving yourself permission to feel relaxed,

Open and spacious,

Even in a society that may not always value those things.

Notice the sense of warmth and aliveness that lives in your body,

Noticing also where the body touches the floor or meets with your clothing and the sense of air moving over the body.

Notice the quality inside your brain or your mind,

Noticing the sense of lightness here or perhaps openness,

Perhaps cleanness,

Calmness.

Noticing the qualities of the mind and remembering for a moment why you've done this mindfulness practice today.

Perhaps you're practicing for your family,

For your co-workers,

Colleagues.

Perhaps you're practicing to be a kinder member of the community,

To be more confident,

More resilient.

Whatever reason you're practicing today,

Celebrating that you have done this with gratitude.

Gratitude to yourself,

Well done to yourself and visualizing how it will feel to show up in society with more balance,

More centeredness,

More space,

More calmness or more of whatever it was that you did this practice for.

And just as I'm grateful to you for doing this practice,

Know that there's many others also practicing to become kinder,

Wiser,

More compassionate versions of themselves as they show up in the community.

And experiencing for a moment that sense of connectedness with others,

Bringing your awareness to your sense of smell,

Noticing if there's any quality there.

And your sense of taste,

Your sense of hearing what's inside and around the room and your sense of feeling your proprioception,

Feeling what position you're in.

And then very gently,

With a whole lot of kindness,

Beginning to wriggle through the fingers and the toes.

And if you're lying on your back,

Gently rolling on to your side.

And in your own time,

Slowly blinking the eyes open,

Connecting to the world around you.

And gently sitting up and taking a moment as the recording ends to center yourself,

Just because you can.

And going about your day.

Thank you so much for your practice.

You really do make a difference in the world.

Namaste.

Reviews

Very relaxing.

Amazing.