Relaxing Body Scan

So much of the tension we experience originates from a mind that's somewhere else. Join Selena for this relaxing body scan recorded from a live session. This is a practice of arriving fully here, in this body, in this breath, where presence and peace are one and the same.

Transcript

So again, I invite you to find a comfortable seated position or a position lying down or however you need to be. I'll be offering different cues to prepare the body and move the body. If you're unable to move the body, You can just visualize whatever it is that we're doing and engage conscious breathing. Let's bring the fingertips to the tops of the shoulders. We'll roll one elbow up, Back and down, And then the other elbow up, Back and down. So we're opening the chest, Relaxing the shoulders down. Bring the palms to touch at the heart center. Maybe your legs are crossed and your feet are tucked underneath you, Or maybe you feel the feet on the floor, Feel the lower body connected, Anchored. I'll now move into the centering technique, This ancient yogic technique that is so supportive for feeling more inner alignment, Centeredness, Groundedness. It can even support us in feeling more mentally and emotionally balanced. Take a full breath in, Complete breath out. And now we'll inhale as we reach the right hand all the way up. The left hand comes down by the navel, But all of the fingers point up toward the sky. And then we exhale really slowly and move the hands really slowly to bring the hands back in front of the heart with a palms touch. Inhale left hand all the way up, Right hand by navel. Open the chest, Maybe straighten the upper arm. Again, Exhale really slowly. This is beautiful for the parasympathetic nervous system, This relaxation response inside. Inhale right hand up, Left hand by navel, Open the chest. Exhale slowly to the heart. Take your time. Feel the palms and the fingers touching, Shoulders soften down. Now let's take a little somatic self-soothing here. We'll cross the arms so the hands come to opposite shoulders. Gently brush down your arms to your elbows. Lift the hands up and then brush down again. So we're creating this caressing movement, This gentle sensation. Allow the breath to be slow and deep, And you may wish to focus on long, Slow exhalations. Long, Slow exhalations help to slow the heart rate and again bring us into this more relaxed state in the nervous system. And you might explore for a moment. Maybe it feels good to create this same kind of caressing motion on the chest or the neck and throat, Really gentle here. You might also find this is really soothing to do on the face, Just some gentle caressing motions, Inviting the nervous system to be restored. You might find this is also really soothing to just do with your hands, Just caressing the hands, Creating this softening experience inside. I know for me and for many of us, We have a tendency to live our lives very fast. Even if the body isn't fast, The mind is fast. This sense of always needing to be doing something or busy or at least engaged in some way, Distracted. So when we slow down like this, Sometimes it's actually a little uncomfortable. It's like we feel too wired to slow down. Yet when we give ourselves this gift, It can really shift things inside, Which ultimately also shifts our experience of the outside world. Okay, One last little thing today, We'll just take the fingers and we'll tap in the center of the chest, Just beneath the collarbone on the thymus gland here. My beloved teacher, Her Holiness Sai Ma, Teaches this is a portal. One of the portals in the body. We won't go any further into what that might mean today. We'll just have an experience though. So again, The shoulders are relaxed, The breath is relaxed, And we're just gently tapping, Activating this area. You might find it soothing to tap a little further down, More in the heart center, Anahata chakra, Tapping, Softening. One more breath here like this. Beautiful. Now let's relax the hands down. Maybe the palms are turned up toward the sky. Again, Feel the lower body relaxing down. So there's this softening, The weight is sinking down. And at the same time, If you're seated, Let's feel like the crown of the head is lengthening the spine up toward the sky. So there's some aliveness and alertness in the body. If the eyes are still open, I invite you to close them. If that's uncomfortable, You can just relax the gaze, Looking down. Inhale slowly, Deeply. Pause and hold the breath for just a moment. Exhale completely. Pause and hold. Continue to breathe in a natural way that feels relaxed. We could consider that much of our experience of distress or even suffering is due to the mind. What is happening in the mind, Not the mind itself. The mind alone is neither good nor bad. It's a neutral space. So often, Though, The mind is someplace in the future that causes tension or someplace in the past that causes pain or fear, Worry. Sometimes the mind is replaying painful images or stories of things that are happening. And although the mind can take us to all of these different places that can cause this sense of unease or pain, The body is always right here, Meaning presence is always right here. When we bring our awareness to the sensations in the body, It's like bringing in the wild horses of the mind to this now moment where in true presence, Peace is always available to us. Feel the sensations of the breath. Maybe you notice how the breath is cool as you breathe in through the nostrils and warmer as you breathe out. Sense the rise and fall of the chest and the belly. Sense the air not only moving in the body, But how it moves across the skin as breath of life in and around you. Bring your awareness to the soles of your feet without moving the body. Notice the sensations. Sense the heels. Feel the tops of the feet. Sense all of the toes. Feel the ankles, The shins and calves. Feel the upper legs, The front and back of the thighs. Feel the whole pelvis, Heavy and relaxed. The hips. Sense the buttocks. Feel the mid back and the waist. Upper back and shoulder blades. Sense the belly softening with each breath. The solar plexus. Feel the whole chest and your exquisite heart beating in the chest. Feel the shoulders. The upper arms. Feel the elbows. Sense both wrists. Feel the palms of the hands. Sense all fingers and thumbs. Bring your awareness to the neck and throat. Sense the jaw. Teeth. Sense the whole inside of the mouth. Become aware of the cheeks and the nose. Both eyes. The eyebrows and forehead. Sense the whole scalp. The ears. Become aware of the whole body. The whole body. The whole body. Silently repeat in your mind for these next moments. Gently repeat. It's okay to be just as you are. Sense the body breathing. Fingers and thumbs. Take a slow deep breath in. Exhale fully. Inhale deeply. Exhale completely. Slowly move the body in any way that feels nourishing. Really present to this state that you've cultivated through this meditation together. Slow movements. Slow breath. When you feel ready to slowly open the eyes of your being. Of what has shifted inside. You are so loved. You are a gift to this life. To this planet. And your mind is a powerful tool that even now serves us to come back to presence.