Welcome.
Take this time now to arrive,
Perhaps allowing yourself to settle into a position that is both comfortable but allows you to stay alert.
You can close your eyes if that feels safe and if it helps you to go inward,
Or you can keep them open and have a soft gaze if closing your eyes tends to mean your mind takes over.
Or,
Lying down or sitting up,
Allow the spine to be supportive in a way that lets your body be at ease,
But at the same time,
Allow it to wake to itself.
You don't want to be so comfortable that you fall asleep.
In this practice,
We're going to explore the body that is your home on this planet in this life.
There's nowhere else you need to go right now.
There's nothing you need to fix,
Nothing you need to change.
This is time for you.
We're just arriving,
Remembering,
Honoring ourselves.
And bring with you the understanding that the goal here is not actually relaxation,
Even though it might feel relaxing.
Relaxation might happen,
It often does.
But the invitation is awareness.
This practice is really meant to cultivate awareness of what already is here,
Whatever is true for you.
Awareness of the intelligence already living inside this body of yours,
In this shared wisdom.
These capacities for intelligence that are already in you and also are ready to be remembered.
And these intelligences all around us,
Available to us through the wisdom of all living beings,
These live aspects of our world.
In a way,
We're tapping into a shared source of knowing and intelligence that we all share.
So now that we're settled,
Let us begin.
By tuning into the simple act and the simple fact of breathing first.
We are not controlling the breath in any way.
There's no force here.
There's no need to change your breathing in any way.
Just notice the breath.
Just notice the feeling of the air entering through the nose and the air leaving the body,
Maybe through the nose or the mouth.
And maybe you can even feel the air moving through you,
Through the chest,
The belly.
And this exchange has been happening since the moment you arrived here.
On this planet we call Earth,
Mother Nature,
Home.
Just noticing your breathing,
Your breath in and out,
All on its own without any effort from you.
Allow your awareness now to widen,
To include the whole body lying or sitting here just for a moment.
And just notice this field of sensation.
And not the idea of the body,
Not an image,
Not how it looks,
Not how it fits into anything,
But the direct experience of sensation.
There might be tingling somewhere,
Pressure.
Or maybe you feel warm or maybe the air is cool around you.
Perhaps there's very little sensation at all and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Sometimes that's just the absence of pain.
So whatever you notice,
Allow it to be,
Allow it to be enough and just perfect as it is.
This is what's true for you.
Now let us begin the journey of the body scan where we're moving our attention deliberately and gently through different regions of the body.
And again,
We're not trying to make anything happen.
We are just noticing,
We are listening to the signals,
Receiving the messages and the sensations.
And just remember this intelligence that's already here in your body.
So now shift your awareness to the toes of your left foot,
The very tips of the toes,
The big toe first,
Not thinking about the toes,
But see if you can feel them.
Maybe there's some sensation from a sock.
Maybe there's not much sensation,
Just notice.
Maybe there's some tingling or warmth.
Maybe some contact with fabric or air.
Just notice what's true for you.
Maybe there's even a lack of sensation and that's a sensation as well.
Just see if you can feel your toes on your left foot.
Now let's travel up a bit and widen your awareness to include the whole of the left foot.
First,
The sole of the foot and then the heel.
And the top of the foot.
Just feel the whole structure of your foot and notice the element earth here,
The bone and the tissue made up of the same minerals and chemicals as earth itself and all other living beings,
Materials in the world,
All the same elements.
Notice the element water,
Your blood moving,
Water in the muscles.
There's an element of fire,
The metabolic life in the cells,
These little engines producing heat.
And the element air,
Oxygen delivered to every living cell,
CO2 being expelled.
This foot really is alive with intelligence and yet we rarely give it very much attention.
As you move up and as I move up,
If there's ever a point on your body that feels too difficult to hold attention,
Perhaps because there's some trauma or injury or surgery or even just too much stigma around it,
You're allowed to widen your awareness and just notice your breath again like we did in the beginning.
So you can always rest your attention on breathing and just focus on that and let the breath be your anchor and tune out a bit on what I'm saying until you feel ready to return and you can join us again.
So there's always choice in here.
Respect your own boundaries here.
It's your body and everything I'm saying is purely a suggestion.
So we're moving now up from the left foot into the left leg,
Sensing the calf,
The shin,
Not forcing sensation,
Just receiving what is already here.
Perhaps if you're lying down,
You can feel the pressure of the surface connecting to the calf.
Maybe if you're sitting,
There's not much sensation here.
That's fine.
Just notice.
Just notice again,
The earth elements here,
The structure,
Maybe have a sense for the bony structures here.
Maybe you can feel circulation in that water element.
Maybe you can even feel the fire element,
Maybe feel some warmth here.
Maybe you can feel the earth elements here.
Notice or just appreciate the air element sustaining everything,
That exchange of gases,
This disconnection to the elements of the world and to each other and to other beings.
Now moving up,
Allow your awareness to travel to the knee,
The front of the knee,
The kneecap and the back of the knee.
Just notice any sensation.
Just receive it exactly as it is.
And now moving into the upper leg,
Your thigh,
The thigh,
Large muscles here that are moving you,
Helping you move through the world,
Strong bones as well.
And this body that carries you through life.
Notice if your mind starts to want to take over,
Maybe thinking about how you feel about your thigh or how it's supposed to look or how it's supposed to be or how it isn't how you want it.
And just notice that you're judging here and just gently recognize it and let it go.
Just return to the level of sensation.
There's no forcing,
There's no need for judgment.
Just notice your upper leg and then widen the attention to the full left leg.
So notice it from toes to hip,
All connected intelligence of how we are built,
The design of this leg,
So meticulous and smart.
Now let's head over to our right foot and let's start again with the toes of the right foot,
With the big toe,
The sensation of the other toes,
Beginning again.
And see if you can notice any sensations here,
Maybe pressure,
Maybe warmth,
Maybe not much sensation at all.
There's no right or wrong answer.
Just now sensing the right foot in its entirety,
Sole of the foot,
The heel,
The top of the foot,
To just receive whatever is here,
Whatever is true for you.
And holding that attention and move it up to your lower left leg,
Your hip,
Your calf,
And your shin,
And then into your knee,
Then into your upper leg,
Your thigh,
Can be strong muscles and bones.
Let us move our awareness into our hips.
Just notice your hips here.
Just receive the sensation and honoring what is true for you right now.
Notice your entire lower body,
Both feet,
All 10 toes,
Both legs,
Just rest in the awareness of your legs right now.
Now bring your awareness to your pelvic area,
This place of support on your sitting.
Might notice the contact with the surface beneath you.
Notice the pressure of your body against the surface thanks to gravity.
And again,
These earth elements holding you in the shape of your pelvis,
That bowl holding your organs and systems of reproduction and digestion.
And these strong bones here protecting the softer organs.
And moving your attention into your lower abdomen.
Might notice some movement here,
Especially if you're digesting,
You might hear or feel that,
Some water flowing,
Your blood flowing.
And again,
Your elements,
The fire element transforming food into energy,
Or even food into new life,
If you happen to be pregnant,
All happening here,
This transformation.
To see what sensations are in your lower abdomen and then gently move up to your upper abdomen.
And again,
Organs doing their work without any effort or attention,
Even on your part.
So much intelligence already here.
This idea of the second brain in our digestive system.
And then move up into your chest.
Might notice rising and falling of your ribcage as the air element is moving through you.
This air exchange is happening,
That gas exchange that sustains life.
Another system at work all the time without any conscious effort from you.
Just notice sensation here and now to your back body.
Notice your lower back,
Your middle back.
Your upper back,
And just notice the support.
If you're just lying down,
You might notice this surface underneath you,
The pressure of gravity in your body into the surface that you're on.
And the strength from your bones,
Your spine,
Your skeletal system,
Allowing you to be upright if you're sitting.
So much intelligence built into your body.
Now shift your awareness to your heels.
Start on the left side again.
Just notice your fingers and your palms.
Notice any sensations,
Maybe tingling,
Maybe blood flow,
Maybe temperature.
These hands that do so much for us,
Grasping,
Writing,
Holding hands.
And move up into your left forearm and your upper arm.
Just notice the sensation.
All the way into the shoulder.
Notice your left arm in its entirety.
And then move on to your right fingers,
Right fingertips,
And your palms.
Back of the hand,
Your whole right hand.
If you ever find any tension,
Just see if you can release it by sending some loving attention to it.
Travel up the forearm.
And travel up into your forearm,
Then your elbow,
Your upper arm,
And finally your right shoulder.
And move up into your left forearm.
Now notice your entire right arm.
And then both arms together,
From fingertips to shoulder.
Just notice.
And from your shoulders,
Move up into the neck and into your jaw.
Strong bone again,
Strong muscle.
Doing a lot of work as part of our digestive system,
Our ability to speak.
Just notice if there's any pressure here and just let it go if that's the case.
Just appreciating this living system made up of the elements of earth and water and fire and air all present,
Connecting us to earth and to our surroundings and to each other.
Just move up into your cheeks,
Your nose,
And into your forehead.
Sensing your head here,
This heavy ball on top of your neck.
And now see if you can bring attention to your whole body.
And just remembering this intelligence and even your own capacity to come back to this level of sensation,
To tune into this,
To honor what's true for you.
In a way,
This is training of the mind,
Training your mind to pay attention and strengthening your ability to be present in your own life,
In your own physical manifestation here on this planet.
And if your mind wandered,
Know that this is common.
It is not failure.
It is simply a new experience for your mind and we might not have had this experience before or perhaps today is different.
Every day,
We are a little bit different.
So just allow the experience to be.
It doesn't have to be the same.
Every day can be different.
Different times of the day are different.
Different seasons feel differently.
And if you're a woman,
Biologically between teenage years and menopause,
You'll also feel very differently depending on where you are in your cycle.
Just notice that.
Notice that your energy shifts during the month or the day.
All of that is okay.
It's normal.
It's natural.
There's nothing right or wrong here.
It's just noticing and honoring what's true for you.
Just cultivating this awareness and this compassion for your body,
The intelligence.
Receiving this intelligence,
Receiving this life with awareness,
This body that does so much for you and harnessing the power and the wisdom of your body by listening to it,
By tuning into it,
By honoring it,
By strengthening your relationship to it just as it is.
Dropping that judgment of what it should look like or do and accepting it for all it is,
This remarkable physical manifestation of you,
The carriage you move through life in,
If you will.
And then just find a sense of appreciation for everything that works without much effort on your part.
When you are ready,
You can start to deepen your breath.
You might want to invite some small movements,
Your hands,
Your fingertips,
Maybe your feet wiggling.
Maybe some gentle circles.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes if they were closed and return into your day,
But bring this awareness of your body with you,
This remembering,
This honoring of your sensations and this deep intelligence already inside you.
And this deep connection to our body and to each other and to the earth,
To the elements.
And recognizing that connection to all living beings and harnessing positivity from this.
And when you're ready,
Get back into your day and just bring this with you.
And I hope to see you again here soon.
Bye for now.
