Hey!
Welcome.
Congratulations on making the time out of your busy day to come and meditate with me.
Today we're going to be doing a five senses body scan.
So you can sit comfortably or you can lie down.
Get yourself comfortable.
Your spine is aligned,
Your jaw is relaxed,
And your face is relaxed.
And be at ease in your mind.
Don't try to force anything special to happen.
Just relax and be at ease.
Close your eyes.
Feel the natural state of your body and notice the natural state of your breath.
You're not judging,
Not controlling it,
Just allowing it to be.
Feel the breath rising and falling.
The simple,
Natural structure of your breath.
Easy and as it is.
We'll continue to breathe normally,
Not changing the breath.
Just letting it come as it is and allowing it to flow naturally.
We're going to wake up the five senses starting with sound.
As you inhale,
Notice the most subtle sound in your environment.
You can probably hear the loudest sound,
My voice,
But start bringing your attention to the softest sound,
The faint sound,
Your own breath,
Your heartbeat,
The small movements of your body.
Simply be aware.
Don't resist the sound.
On your next inhale,
What are you seeing?
Even with eyes closed,
You may see some light coming in or maybe it's just complete darkness.
Sometimes we can see swirling colors or points of light when the eyes are closed.
Simply be aware.
Don't resist what you see.
On your next inhale,
Let's wake up the sense of taste.
There's always some sense of taste even if it's neutral.
Simply be aware.
Don't resist what you taste.
On your next inhale,
What can you smell?
Even if there's a strong aroma like perfume,
Bring your attention to the subtle smells.
The wood floor,
Fabric of your clothing,
The quality of the air.
Simply be aware.
Don't resist what you smell.
On your next inhale,
Bring your attention to your sense of touch.
You may become aware of the sensations of sitting or lying down,
The way your chair,
The cushion,
The mattress,
Or the mat feels under your body.
Feel your clothing resting on your skin.
Simply be aware.
Don't resist what you feel.
Now be aware of the sensation of air flowing into your body.
The rise and fall of the belly as the air moves in and back out.
We're not trying to breathe in any particular way.
Simply be aware of the process of breathing itself.
Our attention is normally like a bright light encompassing the entire body.
We're going to shift our attention to a very small light that moves deliberately down the body.
Rest your awareness on the toes of the left foot,
Just noticing sensations.
Extend your attention to the rest of your left foot,
Taking it in right at this moment.
If your attention drifts,
Bring it back like a spotlight to that point in your body.
Allow your attention to focus on the left ankle.
Simply be aware of it,
Just as it is.
Bring the light of your awareness to the calf of the left leg.
Simply be aware of it,
Just as it is.
Resisting nothing.
Now bring your awareness to your left thigh.
And if your attention drifts,
Simply bring it back like a spotlight to the point of your body.
Now become aware of the toes of your right foot,
Extending the attention to the rest of the right foot.
Just taking it in as it is in this moment.
Moving your attention to your right ankle,
Just the right ankle.
Simply be aware of it,
Just as it is.
Resisting nothing.
The right lower leg,
The calf,
The shin.
Noticing any sensations that's there.
Awareness of the knee,
The right thigh.
And again,
If the attention drifts,
Just bring it back like a spotlight to that point in the body.
In this case,
The right thigh.
Patiently,
Calmly,
And firmly.
And bring your awareness to your seat.
If there is a sensation,
Simply be aware of it,
Just as it is.
Resisting nothing.
Bring your attention to the lower back.
If there's sensation,
Simply be aware of it,
Just as it is.
Resisting nothing.
Bring your attention to the front part of your torso,
The abdomen.
Being aware of your breath as your belly rises and falls.
Move your awareness up the torso to the ribcage,
To the lungs,
Heart,
And upper back.
Become aware of the shoulders.
A narrow spotlight of awareness moving down the left arm,
Down into the fingers of the left hand.
And slowly tracing a line up again through the elbow and the shoulder.
Becoming aware of the muscles and tissues inside.
Experiencing the left arm as a whole.
Allowing the attention to move across the chest to the right shoulder,
To the right arm.
Extending down into the fingers of the right hand.
Tune into what you feel.
Simply be aware of it,
Just as it is.
Resisting nothing.
Bringing awareness all the way up to the shoulder and experiencing the right arm as a whole.
Now become aware of the neck with all the muscles and bones and the breath passing through it.
If there's sensation,
Simply be aware of it,
Just as it is.
Resisting nothing.
Moving attention up into the head,
The jaw,
The chin,
The teeth,
The tongue,
The roof of the mouth,
The lips.
Notice any sensation in the face,
The cheeks,
The nose,
The eyes.
Be aware of the ears and the sides of the head.
And to the extent that it's possible,
Be aware of the brain inside your head.
Now expand this spotlight of your awareness so that it includes your entire body again.
Expanding from the head down to include the neck,
The back,
The shoulders and arms,
Hips,
And the thighs.
Right down to the tips of your toes.
Becoming aware of this amazing body in which we live.
This whole body that's breathing and functioning right in this moment.
Thinking,
Feeling,
Imagining,
Yet still present,
Still here.
Slowly wiggle your fingers and your toes,
Slowly waking your body back up.
Now with the greater awareness,
Shift and move your body.
And when you feel ready,
You can slowly open your eyes.
This is how we practice a five senses body scan.
We wake up our senses and then move our awareness like a spotlight to all the sensations in the body.
Now we're ready to move back into our day with expanded awareness.
Thank you so much for taking the time to meditate with me.
Have a great day.
