Awareness Workout 2 Meditation

A mindfulness awareness practice using body sensations as the primary object of attention.

Transcript

Welcome.

This is a mindful awareness practice using body sensations as the primary object of attention.

For this practice we move the attention through the body,

Noticing whatever is present,

Allowing whatever is here to be experienced.

You can do this sitting down or lying down on a firm surface such as a yoga mat or even standing.

Whatever posture will support you in being both alert and at ease.

So now coming into your posture for the practice and either closing your eyes or using a soft downwards gaze.

Begin by first orienting yourself in your present experience,

Allowing your attention to be broad and expansive,

Becoming aware of what it's like in the body right now,

Present with the entire body and its sensations.

And taking note of what it's like in the heart and mind right now.

First checking in with the emotional tone,

Not needing to change your mood or emotions to something better,

Just becoming aware of what's here,

Present with emotions.

And noticing the flow of thoughts,

Whether rapid or slow,

Vivid or muted,

Not jumping into anyone's thought,

Just checking in,

Knowing that thinking is happening,

Being present with the mind as it is right now.

And setting your intention for this period of practice,

Reminding yourself that you've put aside this time for training of the mind and heart,

And reminding yourself that whatever issues might pop into your mind,

It's okay to put them aside for this practice period and come back to them later.

As we begin to move the attention through the body,

We direct it to specific sensations and let everything else,

Sounds,

Thoughts,

Emotions,

Just stay there in the background.

There's no need to try to shut anything out or try to get rid of anything.

And so now beginning by directing the attention to the top of the head,

Just noticing whatever sensations might be there,

The very center of the top of the head.

You may feel subtle tingling or other sensations in the scalp.

Just being patient,

Open and aware of whatever sensations,

However subtle,

Might be there.

And moving the attention to the forehead,

So sensing into the muscles beneath the skin,

Noticing whatever sensations might be here in the surface of the skin.

And expanding the attention to include the temples,

So aware of the forehead and the temples.

And just experimenting and see if there's any holding or tightness in the muscles of the forehead or temples.

And not forcing anything,

But just seeing if it's possible to allow gravity to work on these muscles.

And noticing what that feels like or whether there's no shift at all.

And directing the attention to the eyebrows,

The eyes,

The muscles around the eyes.

Noticing whatever's here.

Aware of the nose,

The upper cheeks,

The cheeks and the upper lip,

Sensing into the lips.

Moving the attention into the mouth,

So aware of the roof of the mouth,

The top of the tongue,

The bottom of the tongue,

The bottom of the mouth.

Perhaps feeling wetness or dryness,

Maybe noticing temperature.

Aware perhaps of movement.

And sensing into the jaw,

Aware of the muscles in the jaw,

The bony part of the jaw,

The teeth.

And expanding the attention to include the entire face,

Include the ears.

Just noticing how the face may be held.

And once again,

Just experimenting a little bit,

Seeing if muscles in the face might release a little bit,

Succumb to gravity.

And moving the attention around to the back of the head.

So perhaps feeling pressure if you're lying on your back or sitting or standing,

Noticing whatever sensations might be here.

Perhaps a little tingling in the scalp or perhaps lack of sensations.

Noticing that you can direct your attention and be aware of the lack of sensation.

Moving the attention down the back of the neck,

The front of the neck,

Inside the throat.

Just exploring,

Noticing whatever sensations might be here.

Sensing the attention into the shoulders,

So aware of both the left and right shoulder at the same time.

Sensing into the bony parts of the shoulders,

Aware of muscles in the shoulders.

So perhaps feeling sensations associated with contraction or holding or even subtle movement.

And moving the attention into the upper arms,

Noticing what's here,

The interior and the muscles and surface of the skin.

Sensing the attention to the elbows,

The interior of the elbow joints,

The exterior.

Moving into the forearms and wrists.

Being aware now of the hands,

Aware of sensations in the palms,

So perhaps noticing temperature that may be warmth or coolness,

Sense of moisture or you may be aware of subtle pulsing or tingling.

Aware of the backs of the hands and the thumbs and fingers.

Aware of both hands,

Whatever sensations might be here.

Now moving the attention to the base of the neck,

So sensing into the very beginning of the spinal column.

What do you notice here?

Moving forward into the upper chest cavity,

Perhaps sensing into the small muscles of the upper chest,

May feel tightness or holding,

Spaciousness,

Numbness,

Tingling.

Sensing the attention to the surface of the skin,

Of the chest,

The muscles beneath the skin.

Sensing into the rib cage,

The lungs.

Aware of movement of the lungs.

Sensing into the heart,

What do you notice here?

There may be subtle sensations of movement,

You may feel the beating of the heart,

Perhaps just a sense of space being filled up by something solid or there could be lack of sensation.

Patient and exploring,

What might you notice in the front of the heart,

Center,

The back of the heart?

Allowing the attention to rest in this area,

Almost as if you're just listening to this area of the body that holds the heart.

And moving further back,

Aware of the spinal column,

The shoulder blades,

The muscles of the upper back,

Surface of the skin of the back.

So perhaps feeling contact with clothing or pressure if you're lying on the floor.

And perhaps bringing a sense of curiosity and interest to these sensations.

What really is the experience of noticing pressure or contact?

What are those sensations actually like?

What am I feeling?

And moving the attention further down the spinal column through to the tailbone and sensing into the muscles of the lower back.

Aware of any areas of holding or tightness,

Perhaps there might be more intense sensations that are painful.

And so within this practice,

Seeing if it's possible to just be aware of sensations as sensations,

Distinct and apart from thoughts about the sensations or any emotions that might come up associated with the sensations.

So if there are more intense sensations,

Perhaps noticing how they move and shift the shape of the sensation and noticing that separately there may be thoughts about the sensation or an emotional tone.

Moving the attention forward into the stomach area and intestines.

What do you notice?

This is an area of the body that sensations tend to be usually more subtle,

Slower moving,

Almost ever present and so we kind of tune them out,

Filter them out.

However they are an important connection to our sense of what's happening with us emotionally as well as what's happening with people around us.

Sensing and noticing whatever these sensations are,

However subtle,

Subtle doesn't mean that they're insignificant.

Patiently allowing the attention to rest in the interior of the torso.

And moving forward to the surface of the skin of the lower torso,

The waist.

And sweeping back into the interior,

The pelvic region,

The genitals.

Once again there may be lack of sensation or you may notice subtle tingling.

What's here?

Moving into the buttocks,

You may feel pressure or just notice the weight of the body.

Perhaps feeling the tailbone in pressure against the chair or if you're lying on the ground on pressure against the floor.

Sensing the attention into the upper legs,

So aware of both thighs,

The fronts and the backs of the thighs,

Sensing into the large muscles of the legs.

Noticing contact,

Perhaps feeling a sense of tension in the muscles themselves.

Not needing to fix anything,

Just noticing this is how it feels to be sensing into large muscles of the body.

You may notice a temperature difference between the front of the thighs and the backs of the thighs.

Moving the attention into the knees,

Sensing into the interior and the kneecaps.

Aware of the lower legs,

Sensing into the calves and the fronts of the lower legs,

The ankles,

Sensing into the feet.

Noticing sensations in the bottoms of the feet,

So perhaps tingling or even pulsing the balls of the feet,

The arches,

The heels,

Feeling contact.

Sensing into the toes and perhaps feeling the toes touching each other,

Aware of the tops of the feet and the interior.

And expanding the awareness from the feet,

Including now the legs.

Increasing the awareness to include the torso,

The arms and hands,

The entire head and face.

So aware once again of the entire body sitting or lying and breathing.

Feeling the constant changing nature of sensations throughout the body.

Coming and going,

Shifting in intensity,

Moving.

And perhaps recognizing that you've followed your intention and put aside this time for this practice,

Recognizing the benefit that will be there for yourself and those in your life.

Reviews

Great pace. Easy to follow.

Thank you Patrick🌻

This would be a good one for bedtime, it almost put me to sleep! May try sitting up next time rather than lying down. Good stuff.

I really liked this. A great body scan & mindful practise.

Really enjoyed this comprehensive body scan. Liked the pacing and thoroughness.

Oh so wonderful! Thank you

Nice guides awareness!

Excellent thank you

Instructions are very thorough compared to similar meditations.

Excellent body scan and awareness meditation! Thank you!

So quick ,thank you,Namaste 🙏🏻✨🙏🏻