Welcome to the 15-minute body scan.
Find a nice comfortable place,
Perhaps somewhere you can put your back against the wall,
Or even lying down if that feels right for you.
Allow your eyes to gently close and start tuning in to your breath,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
As you breathe in,
Focus on filling the space in your belly,
Allowing it to expand like a balloon,
And as you breathe out,
Pushing out as much air as possible to allow the oxygen to flow again,
Deeply within your body.
This diaphragmatic belly breathing stimulates the vagus nerve,
The vagus nerve signalling to our body that it's time to relax.
In.
It can help to imagine that you're blowing out a candle when you're breathing out.
Out.
In.
Out.
Slowly let your breathing come back to a natural rhythm and just be aware of any sounds around you,
Perhaps the noise of a ticking clock or birdsong outside.
Notice any smells,
Fresh linen or a spring breeze.
Notice the way your body feels against your clothes,
Your feet against the floor.
Notice the weight of your body and start to imagine that you're getting lighter and lighter.
Becoming almost weightless.
Allowing every part of you to relax,
To deepen,
To soften,
To release anything that no longer serves you.
Take a moment now to set your intentions for the meditation today.
Perhaps there is something burdening you right now.
A problem,
A pain,
A heartache.
Perhaps you'd like this time to be time free of any of those worries or burdens.
Give yourself permission to let those go right now.
Perhaps your intention is simply to feel relaxed or perhaps it's to connect deeper with your body.
Start by visualizing the crown of your head,
The very top of your head.
And I want you to imagine this space is relaxing,
Softening,
Releasing.
All the worries just slipping away now.
This is your time to be with your body.
Allow that relaxation to flow down to your forehead and your temples.
Notice how it feels to release the tension around this space.
Notice how your muscles drop and let go.
Soften the eyebrows and allow your eyelids to feel even heavier now.
Fully relaxing,
Fully deepening.
Allow this soft,
Calm energy to flow through your nose and your cheeks and your jaw and your ears down to your lips,
Your mouth.
Notice how your tongue drops when it's relaxed.
Notice how much tension your jaw was holding and now how it feels to have let that go.
Allow this calm,
Soft energy to flow through the back of your neck.
Allow it to trickle down your spine and really notice your back relaxing,
Softening,
Deepening.
Notice the feeling of your back against the wall or the chair and just allow it to melt into that space,
Fully trusting,
Fully holding,
Fully releasing.
Bringing that calm energy back to your neck and circling it round now to your shoulders and your chest.
Let the shoulders drop down,
Down and down and down.
Let the chest soften,
Completely and utterly relaxing.
Let this relaxation flow down to your belly now,
Relaxing the diaphragm,
All the belly muscles.
And to the hips,
Give your body permission to relax,
Give your body permission to let go,
To soften,
To heal.
Deepening the relaxation in your hips,
It's a space that can hold some tension for many people.
We're releasing that now,
We're letting all of that go.
Float that feeling down through your thighs,
Deepening the relaxation.
To your knees,
Soft,
Calm,
Loose,
Free.
All the way to the calves,
The lower legs,
Every part relaxing now.
And down to your ankles,
The heel of your foot,
The base and soles of both feet,
Each toe.
Each toe.
And feel how weighted your feet feel against the ground.
Bring the relaxation back up the body,
All the way from the tips of the toes to the crown of your head.
And we'll take the time now to soften and relax the arms,
The elbows,
The lower arms,
And each finger,
One at a time.
Take special attention to your hands here,
They work so hard for us,
And this is their time to relax,
Their chance to let go.
We're allowing them to completely soften.
And take a moment now to scan through your whole body and just paying attention to any spaces that still need some relaxation,
Some deepening.
And taking the time to work through these spaces,
Allowing them to be and giving them permission to let go.
Scanning all the way from the crown of the head to the tip of the toes.
To the tips of the toes.
Beginning to tuning back into your breath now.
Beginning to notice any sounds outside of my voice.
Beginning to notice any smells or sensations surrounding your body.
Take a moment to wiggle your fingers,
Stretch your toes.
Slowly becoming aware of the room that you're in,
As we begin to make our way back into the room.
Taking a nice deep breath now.
And in your own time,
Blinking the eyes slowly open and coming back into the room.
