Namaste.
My name is Myshia,
And I'll be your guide through this breath and body scan practice.
If it's available to you,
Lay down on your back,
Preferably on a firm surface.
And because the body temperature will drop during this practice,
Maybe get yourself a blanket,
Possibly supporting the knees with a bolster,
And snuggle into your little meditation cocoon.
Stretch the heels out long away from the body,
Separating the thighs,
Allow the toes to fall out to the side,
Allowing outer rotation of the hips so that they open like a book.
Lay your arms down beside you so that there's space in between the upper arm bones and the rib cage,
And turn the palms up towards the ceiling or sky.
And start to settle in,
Feeling the points of contact with the earth,
The back of your heels,
Your hips,
Shoulder blades,
Back of the head.
And take comfort in the solidness of the earth.
Allow it to cradle you,
Bones supported,
Allowing muscles to detach and roll off.
Releasing from any tension or holding patterns.
Allow your muscles,
Skin,
Tissues,
Everything to just pool on the surface you're lying on.
Begin to observe the breath.
And to fully come out of a sense of doing and into a sense of being,
I'd like for you to imagine that you were actually being breathed rather than doing or actively creating a breath.
So the atmosphere,
The universe,
Whatever entity that you consider to be outside of yourself,
Imagine that that is breathing you.
So that its exhale is your inhale,
And your inhale its exhale.
Just watch the breath coming in and out,
Observing without interfering.
And begin to allow a deeper breath so that the air moves all the way down into the pelvic floor,
Filling up the belly,
Ribs,
Chest,
Collarbone.
And just for this breath,
Press the breath out,
Making a shh sound.
All the way to the bottom of the breath,
Pressing every bit of oxygen out.
Again allow a deep breath,
Filling up the pelvic floor.
This time move the breath into the right hip,
The left hip.
And then continuing to fill up the rest of the thorax,
Chest and throat with your breath.
And then slowly exhaling,
Further puddling into the earth.
Draw that deep breath,
Filling up the pelvic floor,
The interior of the right hip,
Interior of the left hip,
Belly button,
All the way up into the ribs,
Chest,
Collarbone,
Throat.
Hold at the top.
Relax into the retention of the breath.
Hold.
And when you need to,
Release,
Dropping down another layer.
Again pulling the breath down into the pelvic floor,
Into the interior of the right hip,
Left hip,
Belly button,
The inside of the right ribs,
The inside of the left ribs,
Chest,
Collarbone,
Throat,
Fill up,
Hold,
Hold,
Relaxing into the retention.
Exhaling the breath when you need to,
Dropping down another layer.
Fill up,
Pelvic floor,
Right hip,
Left hip,
Belly button,
Right ribs,
Left ribs,
Heart center,
Collarbone,
Throat,
Fill up.
Hold,
Relaxing into the retention.
And exhale as you need to.
Again draw the breath down all the way into the pelvic floor,
Interior of the right hip,
Left hip,
Belly button,
Inside of the right ribs,
Inside of the left ribs,
Heart center,
Right armpit,
Left armpit,
Hold.
Relax into the retention.
And when you're ready,
Release,
Dropping down another layer.
Last time,
Draw that deep inhale,
Fill up the pelvic floor,
Right hip,
Left hip,
Belly button,
Inside of the right ribs,
Inside of the left ribs,
Heart center,
Right armpit,
Left armpit,
Center of the throat,
Hold.
Relax into the retention.
Hold.
And last time,
Releasing,
Dropping down into the final layer of being.
Release the breath.
Release the observation of the breath.
Now keeping the eyes closed and staying very still,
Go through a rotation of consciousness,
Which is really just a body scan,
But will really promote a lot of relaxation and allow you to sort of liquefy all of the tension and holding that you might feel in the body.
So draw your attention into the tip of the thumb on the right hand.
Allow it to feel like a little bit of static electricity or warmth.
Maybe you see a color that pull all of your energy and attention into this space.
Then moving to the tip of the pointer finger on the right hand,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky,
Center of the palm,
Right wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Top of the right shoulder,
Right side of the chest,
Ribs,
Belly,
Inside of the right hip,
Glute,
Groin,
Back of the right thigh,
Top of the right thigh,
Back of the right knee,
Top of the right knee,
Calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of the right foot,
Right big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth toe.
Feel into the center of the sole of the right foot and then draw your attention into just the right side of the body,
Just the right side.
Now move over to the left.
Feel the thumb on the left hand,
Pointer finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky,
Roots of the fingers on the left hand,
Center of the palm,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm,
Top of the left shoulder,
Left side of the chest,
Ribs,
Belly,
Inside of the left hip,
Glute,
Groin,
Back of the left thigh,
Top of the left thigh,
Back of the knee,
Top of the knee,
Left calf,
Shin,
Ankle,
Top of the left foot,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Third,
Fourth,
And fifth toe.
Feel into the center of the sole of the left foot and isolate your attention to just the left side of the body,
Just the left side.
Now feel both pinky toes,
Both heels,
The back of both knees,
The inside of both thighs,
The outside of both hips,
Belly button,
Both armpits,
Center of the throat,
Crown of the head.
Now feel the whole body,
Head to toe,
Thumb to thumb.
Feel the whole body resting in space.
The whole body.
Now if you've used this practice for sleep,
By all means stay in this relaxed state.
If you've just reset your day,
Go ahead and start to bring energy back into your fingers and toes.
Maybe taking a full body stretch,
Rolling onto one side,
And sitting up as you feel ready.
Thank you for your practice and the light in me sees and honors the light in you.
Namaste.
