Coming Back to Direct Experience in the Body

A long, luxurious exploration of physical sensations in the body.

Transcript

So just beginning by taking three very deep breaths into the belly.

And then exhale,

This might feel a bit awkward but just feel free to make any sound that feels good to you.

Yeah,

That sounds good.

You can even laugh,

Laughing can give you a really good release of tension and energy.

And then after the third deep breath just allowing the body to return to a natural breath,

Whatever that is for you.

So you don't have to regulate the breath when you're meditating.

Just being aware of how it is just now.

And then just for a moment you can use the breath as a way to help you come into a deeper relationship with the body.

So we can use our imagination here.

So just imagine that you're actually breathing right into your heart.

However the heart is just now.

Whatever's happening emotionally for you this morning.

Just meeting that with the breath,

With a kind,

Tender breath.

That feels good.

Breathing into the heart center and just checking in with how you are this morning.

How are you?

Just for a moment remembering what brought you here this morning.

Your intention for coming.

Bringing that into consciousness.

And then bringing awareness in the same way using the breath if that's helpful.

Into the very tippity top of the head.

And just noticing any sensations here.

Don't worry if there aren't any.

Just being curious about what can be felt at the very top of the head just now.

And then allowing your awareness to drop down to the sides of the head.

The area above the ears.

Any sensations here?

And the back of the head.

Particularly aware of the sense of pressure where the head meets the cushion.

And seeing if you can't let go of the weight of the head just a bit more here.

You may be unconsciously holding the head up with the neck muscles.

So inviting you now to release the heavy head into the earth,

Into the ground beneath us.

Letting gravity take the weight of the head.

Coming round to the front of the head,

The face,

Beginning with awareness of the forehead.

Eyebrows.

Eyes.

And the eyes,

Even with the eyelids closed,

You may sense color or light or movement or shapes.

Just noticing what's there.

Aware of the cheeks,

Nose and lips.

Maybe able to sense the air passing through the nostrils or the mouth as you breathe.

Be able to sense even air in the sinuses in the back of the throat.

Aware of the jaw,

Chin.

Any sensations inside the mouth.

Allowing the tongue to rest at the roof of the mouth,

Right behind the top row of teeth.

Lips slightly parted.

This encourages the jaw to be open and loose.

Encouraging a soft open face here.

And then for a few moments becoming aware of the ears.

Obviously any physical sensations around the outer and inner ear.

And also sensations of sound.

Not needing to block anything out here.

Basically allowing sounds to arise and pass away in awareness.

And for a few breaths,

Aware of the whole head.

Tops,

Sides,

Front,

Back.

And then dropping into the neck.

Also aware here of sensations against the skin,

Maybe clothing or the blanket.

As well as any sensations in the throat.

You could swallow here to help release any tension in the throat.

Maybe you notice air passing through the throat.

And then dropping awareness down into the shoulders.

I usually notice when I come into relationship with my shoulders in this way that I'm often holding quite a lot of tension here.

So just see what happens as we bring awareness,

Imagine breathing into the shoulders.

Seeing if you can't let them fall away from the ears,

Down the back and into the floor.

Aware of the arms falling out of the shoulders.

Seeing sensations in the upper arms.

Curious about what might be felt in the elbows.

And the lower arms.

Aware of any sensations in the wrists.

And the hands.

And each individual finger and thumb,

Just checking in with them what's there to be felt.

And if you're starting to feel cold,

Feel free to cover yourself in the blanket if you haven't already.

And make any other adjustments you might need to make just now.

And then settling back in to the posture of being on your back on the floor.

And then coming right back up to the shoulder area,

Particularly the back of the shoulders.

And the back of the neck.

We're just going to use the breath to imagine they are traveling to the spine,

Becoming aware of each vertebrae starting from where the neck meets the skull,

Where the spine meets the skull.

And then working your way down.

You can breathe your way down each vertebrae.

Aware of sensations in the back as you go.

And the muscles and skin and tissue and flesh at the back.

Starting from the upper back into the middle back and eventually the lower back in your own time.

And if there's any physical sensations that you find unpleasant in the back,

I just want to invite you to see if you can't breathe into those sensations.

Bring a sense of tenderness,

Kindness,

Warmth.

Just seeing now if you can sense the breath in the back.

Should be quite subtle.

One way that we can become more aware of the breath in the back is actually becoming aware of the ribs which wrap around the lungs and the heart.

Front sides and back of the body.

Also aware of the ribs expanding and contracting with each breath.

And then the rocking sensation in the back as you breathe.

Aware of any sensations in the upper torso,

Chest,

Lungs,

Heart.

As well as the lower abdomen where all the soft organs are.

The rising and falling of the belly as you breathe.

Afterwards inside the belly these thoughts andinals addition to your skin.

Dropping awareness down now into the pelvic floor.

Into the hard bones of the pelvis,

And the soft tissue in the pelvic floor,

Also moving subtly as we breathe.

The buttocks against the floor,

The pressure there,

As well as any sensations in the hips.

Noticing sensations in the thighs,

Front,

Back,

Sides of the thighs,

The upper legs.

Aware of the knees.

Curious about any sensations here.

And the lower legs,

Calves and shins.

The ankles.

And finally the feet.

Heel,

Arch,

Balls,

Toes,

Tops of the feet.

You could even take each toe and turn,

Noticing what can be felt there.

Right down to the little toe.

Farrell.

.

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Now becoming aware of the whole body breathing.

So opening up your awareness to just include sensations all over the body as they come and go,

Pleasant,

Unpleasant.

Just breathing with it all how it is to be laying here now.

.

And then breathing into the heart once again as we began.

So we'll end in the heart.

How is it now?

What's here now?

.

And however you are just now,

Whatever's happened in the last few minutes while we've done this body scan,

Just trusting that there's always an effect even if we can't feel it or know it immediately.

Bringing awareness to what's happening now.

So we can appreciate our own efforts during this practice.

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So intentionally now beginning to deepen the breath.

You can wiggle fingers and toes,

Rotate wrists and ankles,

Stretch the arms and legs in any way that feels good to you.

And just be really careful with your body as you begin to move because you've probably become quite relaxed.

So just taking your time,

Maybe beginning by rolling over to one side and just spending a bit of time hanging out on your side in the fetal position.

If that's comfortable for you.

Noticing how that is now for the weight of the body to be dropping down through the side of the body rather than the back.

And in a moment I'm going to ring a bell and the invitation once I've rung the bell is to very gently begin to move into a seated position.

We'll just be seated,

Sitting for a little while,

Not too long.

So be careful when you begin to move that you protect the head by lifting it last.

So you can press the hand down against the floor,

Bringing yourself up by lifting the body from the torso up to the head.

Lifting the head last.

And just finding a comfortable seated position just for a few minutes.

Taking your time.

You don't have to sit in any special way.

Just take a comfortable seat.

And when you're ready you can close the eyes again.

Allowing the weight of the body now to drop down through the sitting bones and the legs.

All at the same time aware of the upper body rising up into space towards the sky.

Noticing what it's like to be sitting now after laying down.

How is that?

Good.

And if you haven't already,

Just beginning to turn your awareness now to the breath.

Not needing to change anything or breathe in any special way.

Just getting curious about the sensations of breathing.

How do you know you're breathing?

What can be felt?

Opening yourself completely to this breathing body.

As it's sitting here right now.

And then for the last one.

And then for the last few moments of this practice I'm just going to invite you to drop any effort that you might be making just now.

Any sense of striving or trying to get somewhere or make something happen.

Just doing absolutely nothing but sitting here.

And then for the last one.

And then for the last one.

And then for the last one.