Hello dear human.
I welcome you to another meditation.
Maybe you came as me from a little evening walk or had some movement before you settle into
meditation.
Today I would like to invite you again to a body scan,
This time from top to bottom,
From head to toes downwards.
Practicing versions up or down depends on your state.
If you are,
For example,
Pretty tired or need a little uplifting shift in your mood,
It might be more supportive to move with your awareness from feet to head.
And if you are very distracted or coming from a stressful day,
Very busy,
It might be easier to move from head towards toes.
So when you're getting seated on your chair or your pillow or your little meditation bench,
Make sure that your knees are at best a little lower than your hips,
So that your spine can sit upright and elongated with least effort.
So feel your feet on the floor,
The bum on the chair,
And connect with your inhale and exhale.
If you like,
You can take a couple of breaths while pulling up your shoulders
and releasing them with your exhale and maybe with a sigh as well.
Do this a couple of times to settle in with the idea of letting go
from all the past hours of this day.
And maybe also to drop your weight into the seat.
Maybe you would also like to shift your body weight from one buttock to the other.
A little movement that helps you to really settle into your seat.
Maybe wiggle your toes to connect to them a little bit more.
And then,
While you're inhaling and exhaling,
Become aware
how your state is in this moment
and decide how you would like to place your hands,
Palms on the thighs,
Folded in your lap,
Or maybe the palms upwards,
Rested on your thighs as well,
To be more receiving and open,
For example.
And while you inhale and exhale,
I invite you
to have another glance around in your room,
In your space.
And to orient yourself where you are seated in this room.
Follow the lines on the walls and the ceiling,
The corners.
Or maybe try to sense how far an object is from you or how close.
Orienting is a way to help your nervous system to settle and calm down as well.
And now let's begin.
I invite you to close your eyes,
If that is okay for you.
If you are very tired,
You can keep them open
to a spot in front of you or a little higher on the wall.
And see what is most supportive to your practice.
And if you like,
Become aware of your head.
How is the atmosphere in and around your head?
How is your head in this moment?
Become aware of your forehead.
Maybe squeeze the eyebrows together and relax them with your next exhale or inhale.
See if you can tune into your hind head.
And how are your eyeballs resting in there?
Eye holds.
And how about your ears today?
Have they been listening a lot?
Do they want to take in or do they wish to close up and rest?
How do your ears feel in this moment?
And then tune in with your left and right jaw muscles,
Your jaw joint.
You can let your lower jaw drop a little bit,
Teeth open.
It can be helpful to swallow and let your tongue muscle,
Muscle hang loose.
And from your head,
Follow your neck and throat.
The bridge between your head and your,
The rest of your body,
Your nervous system spreading out from there.
Connection from brain to all body parts and vice versa.
While you inhale and exhale without changing anything,
Just becoming aware of how your inhale and exhale feels right now.
Easy flowing or blocked,
Warm or cool or neutral.
And maybe you can also become aware of your shoulder belt.
Maybe your inhale and exhale is causing some movement in your shoulder belt,
Your collarbones and your shoulder joints.
And maybe you can expand with your inhale and relaxing and dropping with your exhale
as much as possible,
Relaxing.
Become aware of your breathing,
Relaxing and dropping with your exhale as much as possible,
Relaxing.
Become aware of your chest and heart area,
The upper back.
How is it to inhale and exhale?
Can you become aware how your lungs are moving and the rest of the body,
The chest is following?
What sensations are in your chest
and ribcage expanding and folding?
Sensations,
Emotions,
Feelings,
Whatever is present,
There's no wrong,
No right.
Only resting awareness and see what happens in your body.
And becoming aware of your status
and your attitude towards things.
And connected to your chest are your upper arms and the armpits.
How relaxed can your upper arms hang in their shoulder joints or do they lift up,
Push up?
And when you become aware of it,
What happens without doing something?
What temperature do your armpits have at this moment?
And in this upper area,
How does your upper back feel?
Are you more focused on the front or can you become aware of your backside as well?
And with that inhale and exhale,
Sensations,
Movement or neutral ways
follow your upper arms down to your elbows and lower arms,
To your hands and wrists and fingers.
Temperature do your palms have in this moment?
And you're free to shift the arm position if you like,
So it supports you best.
And from your arms,
Follow your inhale,
Exhale again.
Follow your inhale,
Exhale again.
To your chest and to your solar plexus,
The upper belly,
Middle of the back,
To your lower belly and lower back as well.
How relaxed are your belly muscles?
And how does your lower back feel in this moment?
When you inhale and exhale,
Can you still feel some movement in your lower
torso?
How is it to tune in into your belly,
Lower back?
And maybe your arms still relate to that part with movement or sensations.
Inhaling,
Exhaling.
Very,
Very gently bring your awareness into your pelvis area,
Your hip joints,
Your buttocks,
Your pelvic floor and the genitals.
All that belongs to the whole body.
If you like,
You can very,
Very lightly,
Invisibly
move your buttocks from left to right
to grow more awareness,
To connect more to your pelvis area.
And as always,
I would like to remind you,
You have a choice.
If any area is too difficult for you,
Connected to some experience,
Feel free to move forward or go back to some other parts.
If you get distracted,
Remind yourself you can also always open your eyes again if they are closed.
Find ways that you are staying most present in your body and your practice,
But with kindness.
And then bring your attention into your upper legs,
The thighs and the hind part of your upper legs.
Feel the pressure points if there are any,
Maybe tension or relaxation in your big thigh muscles,
The inner side of your legs and the outer side.
Does the left leg feel the same like the right leg?
And then move towards your knees.
How do your knee joints feel in this moment?
Can you feel them at all?
Without judging,
Only becoming aware of what is right now.
And then wander with your attention down your calf muscles and shins to your ankles.
How does your left or right calf muscle and shin,
Your lower leg feel?
Are there pressure points?
Or when you're seated on a chair,
What temperature do they have?
And how do your ankles feel and your feet,
The soles of your feet,
Touching the ground or the pressure of your crossed leg?
And the toes.
Do you know that you have toes or do you feel that you have toes?
You can also very invisibly,
Lightly wiggle them to get more in contact with your feet.
And we,
As we are closely coming to an end,
I invite you to also use your inhale and exhale to connect with your whole body.
Inhaling,
You might wander with your attention from your feet to knees,
Hips,
Your belly,
Back,
Throat,
And up into and out of your head.
And exhaling,
You might wander from your head
through your throat,
Into your chest and belly,
Downwards the arms,
Your pelvis,
Knees,
Lower legs and feet.
Inhaling,
I am aware of my whole body.
And exhaling,
I'm aware of my whole body as much as possible.
And you are welcome to continue breathing,
Feeling your body and
maybe continuing with a silent meditation or other forms.
And if you are ready to close,
You might slowly wiggle your toes,
Move your feet,
Open and close your fingers,
Turn,
Circle your wrists.
And if they were closed,
Slowly,
Slowly open your eyes
and really try to stay a little present with your body while you slowly take in the surrounding.
And if you are ready,
You can also give yourself a stretch,
Hands up in the air,
Like grasping onto an apple tree.
And I thank you for joining this little meditation.
And if you provide me some feedback,
I would be very happy about that.
And I hope you can use that to settle into your evening
or start a more aware and present day,
If you like.
Thank you and goodbye.
