You will now start with a guided body scan meditation,
Designed to help you enter and thought well in a state of very deep physical and mental relaxation.
It is best to arrange to do it in a warm and protected place,
In which you feel comfortable and secure,
And at a time when you will not be interrupted by the telephone or anyone else.
It is important to remember not to try too hard to relax.
This will just create tension.
What we will be doing is becoming aware in each passing moment,
And just see what is happening in yourself.
Looking at it clearly and seeing it as it is,
Because it is already here,
It is part of your experience in the moment,
For better or for worse.
Let go of the tendency which you all have to want things to be different from how they are right now,
And allow things to be exactly as you find them.
Allow yourself to be exactly as you are,
Just watching your body and the activity of your mind,
Just letting go of judgemental and critical thoughts in particular,
And just doing what it says to do as best you can.
Just being aware of how you feel.
Now let's arrange to lie down on our backs if possible,
On a mat or on your bed,
And allowing your eyes to close gently if you feel comfortable with it.
Letting the arms lie alongside your body,
Palms open towards the ceiling if that feels comfortable,
And allowing the feet to fall away from each other,
And then invite a sense of presence by opening your awareness to the sensations of the body on the ground.
Just feel the parts of your body which make contact with the ground.
Feel the heaviness and warmth of your body in contact with the ground.
And then slowly bringing your attention to the fact that you are breathing.
Feeling the rising and falling of inhalation and exhalation,
Wherever you are feeling it.
Imagine that you are dropping anger into the breath.
Your attention placed gently on the rhythm of breathing,
And allow your mind to settle into its pattern.
Noticing the waves of the breath as air ebbs and flows within you.
At any time during the body scan practice,
You can drop anger into the breath as a way of re-crowning,
Resettling into your centre.
On an out-breath,
Let go of attention to the breath and shift the focus of our attention into your left leg.
Bringing your mind's eye down into the left foot and coming to rest in the left big toe.
And then becoming aware of what sensations,
If any,
Are present in the left big toe right now.
There is no need to do anything with them,
Just observe them.
Let them be felt.
Is it warmth or cold?
Is there any tension or relaxation?
If no sensations are present,
Notice what the absence is like.
Be aware of changes in sensation,
And any tendency to try to hold on to them or push them away.
Just being aware of your left big toe.
If you like,
Synchronise your sensing with the rhythm of your breath by breathing into the left big toe on each in-breath.
And breathing out from the toe on each out-breath.
Now move your mind to each of the other toes of the left foot in turn,
Giving each a few moments of attention.
Be interested in the changing experience as you move your mind through the toes.
And when you are ready,
Just on the out-breath,
Letting go of your toes completely,
And move your attention,
And letting the focus now move up to the top of the left foot.
Resting with sensation in this region for a while.
What is it you feel in the top of the left foot?
What sensations are there?
And then offer a friendly presence to the bottom of the foot,
And to the heel.
Is there any difference?
In the part where the heel is making contact with the floor?
And then move your attention to your ankle.
What sensations are there in this present moment in your ankle?
Even if there are no sensations,
Just recognising and just feeling how no sensations feel like.
And then on the out-breath letting go of your ankle,
And move up to your lower leg,
And then further up to your left knee.
Does the inside feel different from the outside?
You will probably notice thoughts and reactions arising as you practice.
This isn't a problem,
And there is no need to try to alter or get rid of them.
At the same time,
As we are practicing paying attention to body sensations in a particular part of the body,
Allow yourself to let go of following these thoughts and reactions.
See if you can just let them be there in the background of your exercise.
When you notice your attention has wandered into thoughts,
Or is following an impulse,
Or has drifted to a different part of the body,
You might acknowledge that this wandering has occurred.
Then gently return your attention to the part in the practice right now.
Right now the part is the left knee.
And then on the out-breath letting go of your left knee completely,
And move your attention,
Letting the focus now move up to your thigh.
The big bone inside,
The shin,
Maybe you feel your clothes around your thigh.
Gently acknowledge mind-wandering when you notice it.
And let this be an opportunity to practice kindness,
Patience and conscious choice as you bring the attention back to any sensations in a region of the body you have reached.
On the next out-breath letting go of your left thigh completely,
And letting the focus now move up to your whole left leg.
Let your left leg be in your full attention.
Just on an inhalation you move with your attention to your whole left leg,
And feel your left leg as a whole.
And on an exhalation just letting go of your left leg.
And after arriving at the top of the left leg,
Just move your attention down into the right leg,
Down to the big toe.
What is it you feel here?
Maybe you feel the contact of your big toe with the other toes,
Maybe you feel the air around it,
And then move your attention to the other toes,
All the toes.
And when you're ready,
Just on the out-breath letting go of your toes completely,
And move your attention and letting the focus now move up to the top of your right foot.
Resting with sensations in this region for a while,
And then moving further to the bottom of the foot,
And the heel of your right foot.
Just noticing the sensations which will appear just because it's already there.
And then letting go of the right foot completely,
And moving up to your right ankle,
And your right lower leg,
And not just on the surface,
But deep as well right down to the bones in the lower leg.
Experiencing this region as it is not trying to make it to be any different,
Just accepting the feelings that you feel.
And then on the out-breath letting go of your right lower leg,
And move your attention,
And letting the focus now move up to your right knee,
And to your right thigh.
And then when you're ready,
Just on the out-breath letting go of your right thigh completely,
And let your whole right leg appear in your awareness.
Just bringing your attention to your whole right leg.
And maybe on an in-breath you would like to breathe into your right leg,
And on an out-breath you will move your awareness away from your right leg.
And then letting the focus now move up to your hips.
You feel the bones in your hips,
Maybe you feel some tension or relaxation,
Some warmth of cope,
And the pelvic region.
And then to the front,
To your belly,
You feel your clothes making contact with your belly,
Maybe you feel breathing in your belly.
And then to the back,
To your lower back,
And further up to your upper back,
With the muscles.
And on the next out-breath letting go of your back,
And let the focus now move forward again to your chest,
And further up to your shoulders.
Do you feel any tension in this region?
Just feel it,
You don't have to do anything about it.
Just feel what it is,
Because it's already there.
On the out-breath letting go of your shoulders completely,
And move your attention.
Letting the focus now move down to the fingers of both hands.
Do you feel it tinkling?
Is there any contact between the fingers?
And then your whole hands,
And practice working the muscle of mindfulness,
Not just by coming back when you notice the mind has wandered,
But by playing with both and wider,
In a narrower focus of attention.
In some regions of the body,
Experiment with moving in close to a particular part,
Such as a finger,
And at other times,
Expand to a wider perspective,
Such as attending to the whole of the back,
The leg,
Or the head.
Now your focus is at your hands,
And on the out-breath just letting go of your hands,
And move your attention,
And letting the focus now move up until your arms,
Your lower arms,
And your upper arms.
And then to your neck,
The little bones inside,
And then letting go of the neck on an out-breath.
And move your attention to the front of your head,
To your face,
With your lips,
And your teeth,
Your tongue,
And your mouth as a whole,
And then your nose,
And the nostrils,
And maybe you feel a little bit colder air flow into your nostrils,
And then warmer air flow out of your nostrils.
And your eyes,
The region around your eyes,
The forehead,
Your ears,
And maybe you can feel a little bit inside your ears,
And then your face as a whole,
Just as you are looking from inside into a mirror.
Experience your face as one whole,
As a whole face.
And then on the next out-breath,
Letting go of your face,
And move your attention to the back of your head,
And then move the attention up to the top of your head.
When you have scanned the entire body,
Let your attention open out to notice all of your body sensations,
And let them be held in kindly awareness.
Perhaps imagine that you are breathing into the whole body as each in-breath happens,
And breathing out from the whole body with each out-breath.
Rest in this open awareness of all body sensations for several moments before opening your eyes,
Stretching and gently getting up,
And see if you can maintain this sense of whole body awareness as you move through the next phase of your day.
