Slow Body Scan

This slow body scan rotates through areas of the body to build sensory awareness, cultivate a sense of calm centeredness, and develop groundedness. Sit or lie comfortably, soften your body and when you are ready, begin.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. Find yourself in a comfortable seated or lying position. Let your body soften and relax and when you're ready we'll begin. Just close your eyes right away. Start to bring your attention into that physical sensation of being in your body. Then begin to notice your breath. Not changing anything here, Just noticing the rhythm. Maybe the sound of your breath. Not to saying it's temperature as it makes contact with your nostrils. Then wherever you are in your breath cycle empty out all of your air. Then take a long breath in through your nose or whatever count feels sustainable. Just make it long and slow and whenever you get to the top of your inhale pause there for a moment. Take one more little sip of air and then sigh it out. Just let that go. Take one more breath just like that. Inhale through the nose long slow. Whenever you get to the top of your inhale pause for one more moment. Take a sip and sigh it out. Arrive here in your own breathing space. Bring your attention to your toes. Begin that journey of your interior landscape with your mind's eye. Just starting to make your way in and through your body. Checking in with how each part feels. Just noticing your toes. By not resisting any movement if you feel that you need to move something as you check in, Just go ahead and do that. Noticing any sensation in your toes. Travelling to the tops of your feet. Around to the backs of your heels, The soles of your feet. And continuing that scan slowly into your ankles. And whenever you encounter sensation, If it helps to label it, Go ahead and do that. But it's not necessary. Really noticing is enough. Drawing your gaze, That inner gaze, Up through your calves. Your shins. Into your knees. Maybe bringing some attention to the qualities of any sensations that you can encounter. We often talk about tightness, Areas of tension. Maybe you're experiencing heat or coolness. Warmth, Just notice. Coming around to the backs of the knees. And into the thighs, The backs of the legs. Noticing the contact, If you're sitting, Your legs are making with the chair. Bringing your focus into the fronts of the thighs. Drawing your attention into the hip creases. The outer edges of your hips. The contact that your sitting bones are making with the seat if you're seated down. And beginning to cultivate a loving, Gentle awareness, Or response to any of the sensations that you meet in your body. Just checking in with each place that you stop. With a sense of kind attention. This body that does so much for you each day. Bringing your focus into the lower back, The tops of the glutes, The lower back, That fleshy part. Starts to meet your sacrum. Pausing at your sacrum just for a moment. That sacred bone, I can't remember the Latin, But it comes from a Latin word that literally means sacred. The bone that holds the spine together. Fuses top part of your body to the lower part of your body. And then bringing your awareness up each side of your spine. Noticing how each side of your spine feels. As you check in, Just very slowly drawing your awareness. Up your back. Checking in with your kidneys. Whatever your journey marker points are as you continue this body scan through your body. Maybe it's the internal organs, Maybe it's the muscles, The bones, The joints. Just continuing that scan. Coming up the back of the body. Bringing your gaze to the front of your body. Into your lower belly. Making your way into the chest. The lungs. Drawing your gaze up through your sternum. Into your collarbones. Letting your gaze scan through the right shoulder joint. Into the upper arm. The forearm. The wrist. The fingers. And moving over to the other side. Scanning through the left shoulder joint. Into the upper arm. The forearm. The wrist. Fingers. And then drawing your attention back to the base of your neck. For most of us, Many of us, This is where we hold a lot of tension, Especially writers. So maybe even slowing down your scan here, Micro scanning across the shoulders, Across the back of your neck, Into the neck itself and up through the sides of your neck, The front of your neck. Just noticing any micro points of tension here or other sensation. Into the base of the skull. Moving your attention into your ears. Your jaw. Maybe here even parting your teeth, Keeping your lips together, Parting your teeth feeling some softness in your jaw. Scanning up through the sinus cavities, Into your cheekbones, Into your eye sockets, Into that space between your eyebrows, Into the crown of your head. And bringing your hands, Either having them on your thighs if they're there already or bringing one hand to your heart, One hand to your belly, Letting go of that scan now. Just closing out your practice with some deep belly breaths. Each inhale, Breathing in, Letting your belly fill, Relax, Soften. Each exhale, Just drawing your belly in, Letting your diaphragm contract. Inhale, Belly softens, Fill up. Exhale. Let's draw your belly button very gently in towards your spine. Do that a few more times, Inhaling, Breathing in. I'm here right now in my fullness, My entirety, Complete. Exhale, Letting go of any tension, Any tight spots. Doing that in your own breath for just a few more rounds of breath. Breathing deeply into your belly, Letting it be really soft on the inhale. Exhale. Drawing your belly in for three more rounds of breath. Imagining how your breath is softening, All those areas of tension that you might have picked up in your scan. Creating a sense of space and ease in your body. And whenever you've finished your rounds of breath, Just letting go of any regulation over your breathing and return to that normal rhythm. And noticing how your body feels. Start to notice any sounds in the space around you. Gently opening your eyes. Letting your eyes take in all the information around you in a gentle way, Just noticing colours and shapes. And then wherever you are in your breath cycle, Empty out all your air. Take one last long slow breath in through your nose. Making it as long as you can. Once you get to the top of your inhale, Pause here and hold for four, Three, Two, One. One more sit and then sigh it out. Let go of your practice.