We all want to be seen,
Heard,
And understood.
These desires are only natural,
Though sometimes it's a sign that we need to move inward and see ourselves,
Hear ourselves,
And understand ourselves first.
In this practice,
We'll look further into our inner world and acknowledge our whole self by using mindful breathing and a focus body scan.
Let's begin by getting comfortable,
Keeping your eyes open and allowing your body to settle in here.
You could be sitting upright.
Your hands could be in your lap or at your sides.
Whatever feels right for you in this moment,
Perhaps connecting to the surface beneath you,
Allowing gravity to soften your muscles,
Finding your breath and receiving a deep inhale and on the exhale,
Allowing your eyes to softly close,
Maybe slightly tilting your chin towards your chest,
Softening your shoulders,
And taking another deep inhale and on the exhale,
Sinking deeper into the surface beneath you,
Shifting your focus to the body now,
Perhaps noticing the silhouette,
The shape of your body,
Becoming aware of the outline and the edges of the body,
Maybe even tracing it in your mind's eye and maybe noticing your skin,
How it covers your body and how it connects you to yourself.
And others.
Sending love to your silhouette and your skin just the way it is.
And shifting the focus to the breath now without changing it,
Noticing the inflow and the outflow of the breath.
Noticing if it's shallow or deep,
If it's quick or slow,
Maybe tracing where it moves in your body.
And if your mind begins to wander,
Simply bring it back to your breath.
Sending love to your breath just the way it is.
And moving to the body and noticing and honoring any tension without changing it,
Simply allowing it to be present in the body.
And welcoming the discomfort,
Welcoming the unease and perhaps scanning the body.
So starting at the top of the head,
We can move down our face moving down the neck towards the shoulders,
Scanning the arms,
Chest,
Scanning the belly,
Hips,
Thighs,
The lower legs,
All the way down to the feet.
Sending love to your whole self just the way you are.
And returning to the breath inhaling,
Allowing the belly to expand,
Chest filling with air and exhaling,
Softening your body,
Softening the muscles.
Another deep inhale,
Belly rises,
Chest rises,
And exhaling,
Allowing the breath to nourish you.
And coming back to the space you're in,
Noticing any sounds,
Perhaps the temperature on your skin,
Shifting your body from side to side,
Wiggling a bit.
And when you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes.
Tuning into how you feel,
Noticing any sensations,
New or old.
A great quote from Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is,
The way out is in.
This means that the way out of any difficulty is to look within ourselves,
Gain insights,
And then put them into practice.
When we take time to sit in meditation,
We gain tremendous insight into our inner world.
And when we see,
Hear,
And understand ourselves first,
We are given a greater ability to respond effectively to our needs and the needs of those around us.
Sending you lots of peace and lots of love.
