Extended Head to Toe Body Relaxation

Mindfulness Body Scan with healing imagery and music. Perfect for all levels of practice.

Transcript

Welcome everyone.

Today's meditation is a head-to-toe body relaxation including a brief guided imagery on healing.

We'll begin by closing our eyes and you may sit either upright in a chair or on a cushion or lying down if that's preferable for you today.

With your eyes closed you automatically begin to relax.

That's the first signal your body gets that relaxation is coming.

So with your eyes closed pay attention to your breath.

Notice your inhales and your exhales.

And notice the qualities of your breath today.

How is your breath showing up?

Is it long and slow and deep or is it short and staccato or labored?

Just notice the qualities of your breath may change during the meditation.

So it's always helpful to just check in and see where you are right here and right now.

Throughout the meditation we'll be paying attention to our breath and I'll be guiding you.

So just go ahead and give yourself some longer breaths right now.

Breathing in fully and deeply.

And when your lungs are filled let the air go through the mouth.

And do that one more time.

Just a long slow deep breath filling your lungs completely and then letting go through the mouth.

It's a relaxing breath and it's a great way to begin our meditation.

And now let your breath return to normal.

And begin to notice the sounds in the environment.

With our eyes closed often the sounds seem much louder than they would with our eyes open.

Let your awareness go to the sounds that you can hear that are the farthest away from you.

They may be just outside this room or maybe even outside the building that you're in.

Just for a moment notice.

Maybe you can hear some birds outside or someone else moving around inside the house.

Maybe a dog is barking.

And let go of that awareness and let your hearing come in a little closer.

Something mid-range from where you are and where the last sound was.

And notice what you hear in that space.

Just listen and notice.

Now let your awareness come closer and notice what the sound is that you hear that's the closest to you.

It may even be coming from inside your own body.

Maybe you hear your breath or your bowels.

Or maybe you hear the breath of someone close to you.

Just notice.

And then let your attention from that sound fade.

Sound should never be a barrier to meditation.

So as sounds arise have the awareness of letting them come up and then pass through.

Try not to get caught up in the story about the sound or distracted from what we're doing in our meditation.

Now begin to feel your body sinking deeply into the chair or the cushion or the mat.

And notice the effects of gravity on your body.

Feel how gravity pulls you down.

Feel the weight of the body as it rests deeply.

Feel the contact points where your body,

Your back,

Your legs are in contact with the hardness underneath you.

And then notice what's above you.

Feeling the open side of your body open to the air,

The space above you.

Just be aware of the difference of those two aspects of your body at this very moment.

The cool air coming across your exposed skin or the warmth and the heaviness of the backside of your body as it sinks more deeply.

Maybe at this point your breath has slowed just a little bit or maybe not.

We'll begin by relaxing our bodies from head to toe.

Letting your awareness first come just to the top of your head.

I'll identify a body part.

Let your awareness go to that spot and you'll imagine relaxing.

So with your attention on the top of your head,

Relax your scalp and soften your forehead.

Relax the space between your eyebrows.

And then soften the little tiny muscles outside the eyes.

And let the eyelids themselves be so very gently closed.

It's almost as if they were barely touching.

And the eyeballs themselves now sink deeply into the sockets of the skull,

Resting away from the inside of the eyelids.

Relax your temples and soften your cheekbones.

Relax your jaw.

Soften the lips and let the tongue rest gently in the lower palate.

Relax the outsides of your ears,

But let the insides stay soft and open so that you can continue to hear these words.

Relax the back of the neck and the sides of the neck and soften all the way down into the pit of the throat.

Relax your right shoulder.

Right elbow softens.

Right wrist relaxes.

Right palm and all five fingers on the right hand relax and let go.

Nothing to hold onto.

Wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder.

Relax the right side of the chest from the collarbone to the waist.

And then let your attention come to the heart.

And imagine that you're relaxing your heart,

Letting it sink deeply into the chest.

Protected by the rib cage and surrounded by the soft tissue.

Even though the heart continues to beat like it's done since you were just a few cells,

Your heart sinks deeper and relaxes just a little bit.

Relax the left side of your chest from collarbone to the waist.

And then relax the left shoulder,

Left elbow,

Left wrist relaxes,

Left palm softens,

And all five fingers on the left hand relax and let go.

So nice.

Wrist,

Elbow,

Shoulder.

And come back to the heart.

And just take a breath here.

Just a gentle inhale and exhale.

And feel that wave of relaxation as it comes across your body from the head to the shoulders and down to the heart.

And now we continue to relax down into the solar plexus and softening into the navel point and relaxing all the way down to the tip of the tailbone.

Bring your awareness to your right hip and relax.

Right knee softens.

Right ankle relaxes.

Top of the right foot.

Bottom of the right foot.

And all five toes relax.

Ankle.

Knee.

Hip.

Tip of the tailbone.

Relax your left hip.

Left knee.

Left ankle.

Top of the left foot.

Bottom of the left foot.

And all five toes relax.

Ankle.

Knee.

Hip.

Tip of the tailbone.

From this vantage point,

Take a moment to let your attention just wander gently throughout the entire body.

Noticing the relaxation you've created by doing this simple practice.

And if you come across any spots that are still a little tense or sticky,

Let your awareness go to that spot and resolve to relax just a little more.

Sinking deeper.

Now notice the entire right side of your body from head to toe.

And then notice the left side.

And let your attention gently drift back and forth from right side to left side.

Just noticing the similarities or differences.

And as your attention naturally goes back and forth between the two sides,

You'll notice that it starts to slow down.

And begins to settle.

Finding stillness right down the center.

And you've found your balance.

It's from this place of balance and alignment that all of our best decisions are made.

Right and left.

Back and front.

Up and down.

Inside and outside.

Remembering that this place of alignment and balance always exists underneath the busyness of your thoughts.

You only need to take a moment to access it.

So just take a breath here.

Noticing what this feels like.

Committing it to memory.

And knowing that you can always come back to this place whenever you need it.

With any question.

With any dilemma.

With any stress.

Come back to balance.

And ask and listen.

And now we ride the rest of that balance up through the spine from the navel point to the solar plexus.

Heart.

Pit of the throat.

Space between the eyebrows and top of the head.

Feeling relaxed.

Aligned.

And so peaceful.

And now let your tension just lift up just above the crown of the head.

Just a few inches.

And if it's easy for you,

Imagine a tiny pinprick of white light.

Brilliant white light.

Just hovering above the crown of your head.

And as you focus on this light,

It begins to grow and shine down on you.

And you feel that light hitting the top of your head.

Coming across your face and neck and shoulders.

The light grows like a waterfall.

Enveloping you in this brilliant white pure light.

You feel warm.

So secure.

And the light drifts down.

All the way down your legs.

To the tip of your toes.

Until you're completely bathed in this beautiful shimmering,

Brilliant white light.

And you feel so relaxed.

And so peaceful.

More peaceful than anywhere you've ever been.

This white light is your higher power.

The higher power of your understanding.

Always present.

Always available.

And in this moment,

When the light totally encompasses you,

You know how well you are.

You know how strong you are.

You know that whatever arises,

You can manage.

That you have the resources,

The strength,

And the courage to face whatever comes your way.

And then you take a deep inhale and repeat silently in your own mind.

Just three words.

I am well.

Your own internal chant.

Repeating over and over.

Just for the next minute.

I am well.

Keep breathing.

If your mind wanders away,

Just gently bring it back.

I am well.

It's an observation.

It's an affirmation.

It's an intention.

And a promise.

I am well.

Now let go of the repetition.

And just notice how you feel at this very moment.

Did your breath speed up or slow down?

Are you still relaxed?

Can you still feel the white light with its healing power shining down upon you?

Now the white light begins to recede,

Coming up across your legs and abdomen.

Retreating across your shoulders and face.

To the top of the head.

Where it folds in upon itself.

It becomes just a tiny pinprick of light.

And with your attention on this pinprick of light,

It begins to fade.

But you know it's still there.

Just out of sight.

And now you relax deeply into your body.

Feeling into the edges of your body.

Which become rather undefined as we meditate.

Feeling down deep into the toes and the fingers.

Feeling the weight of your body against the hard surfaces.

The cushion for the chair.

And becoming aware again of the space above us.

The openness.

The coolness of the air against our skin.

And we begin to give ourselves some deeper breaths.

Filling our lungs fully.

And exhaling deeply.

Being reminded that we can always come back to this state of relaxation.

With just a little intention and a few moments.

We begin to transition out of this deep state of peace and calm.

Beginning to wiggle fingers and toes.

Small movements turn into larger movements.

And our breath becomes deeper.

The sound of the bell brings me back.

My mind is calm.

My body is relaxed.

And I am at peace.

Stretching deeply.

Breathing deeply.

Awakening the body as if it's been asleep for some time.

My wish for you today is the same as always.

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be free from suffering.

And may you know peace.

When you're ready gently open your eyes at first with a downward gaze.

And then when you're fully ready to reengage,

Open your eyes all the way.

And come back to this place.

This time.

On this beautiful day.

It was my pleasure to guide you.

And I hope you enjoy this day.

Reviews

That was a nice relaxing meditation for an afternoon recharge. Thank you ❤️

Thank you for creating this moment of stillness where my mind could let go and I could drop into my body. I am very grateful for this session.

Wow. So restorative and relaxing. Now if only you could bottle that….thank you 🙏

This meditation is amazing. Your voice is so calming.

Fantastic! Great pace and voice. I like this one a lot

I very much enjoyed this gentle, peaceful body scan. Thank you for sharing your gift. May you be Well, may you be Happy, may you be Free from suffering, and may you know Peace. 🙏💜🥀

Truly awesome meditation and relaxing the entire body and mind. I will turn to this often! Thank you 🙏

My kids just fell asleep so gently to this. Thank you.

Just uniquely wonderful! Thank you.

Thank you so much for this guided body scan! It’s perfect in every way. I find it helpful in reducing chronic pain. Namaste!

This is just wonderful and so relaxing and calming with your soothing voice. I had done the shorter version, but also like this version for a deeper relaxation. Thank you.

So relaxing, helps me sleep. I find the music soothing. Thank you x

I did this meditation at the start of my day and it was deeply relaxing and renewing and left me feeling positive and strong. Thank you 😀

very relaxing engaging safe voice Thank you

Wonderful. Thank you.

Lve this meditation it never fails to calm me down . Thank you

Very relaxing, felt so wonderful and light afterwards. Thank you!

Very relaxing. Nice music too. Thank you.

I love this meditation! Thank you for posting this

Thankyou, that was so 'refreshing' 🙏❤