We're going to engage in a body scan practice together.
Before we do the formal practice,
I'd like to invite forth the question of why it's valuable to pay attention to the body.
So often in our day,
We are going from one place to another,
Often with a sense of a little bit of a rush,
Trying to accomplish and get done the things we need to get done.
And yet throughout our day,
Our body is alive and present and offering us information.
But a lot of the time,
We may be a little bit too busy or feel that we are too busy to really feel what the body is saying.
This may continue for many years until the body starts speaking up in a way that we really cannot ignore.
And we are forced in a way to pay attention.
In the body scan practice,
We are paying attention to the body now,
In the present moment,
Just as it is.
In strengthening our capacity,
Then to notice what signals the body is offering,
And then to choose how we want to respond.
Often times when we pay attention to the body,
The signals that it's offering us are to slow down just a little bit.
And so in that spirit,
We're going to take a little bit of time to just be with sensations,
To just be with the body.
We can begin by feeling the breath,
Moving the body.
We don't need to do anything or try to breathe in any particular way.
Just notice.
Breathing is happening and it's affecting the body.
As the breath comes in,
The body expands.
And as the breath goes out,
The body retracts.
Now we will place our attention on various parts of the body to facilitate more vividness into the experience in this moment of the body.
And so we can begin by placing our attention into the feet,
Feeling the toes,
Feeling the bottom of the feet,
Feeling the top of the feet,
And feeling any contact that the feet have with the floor,
The ground.
We can now pause for a moment to think more about sounds thath are touching some other And then bringing the attention into the ankles.
Up the lower legs,
The shin in front and the calf and back.
And then,
Releasing any sensation that's present.
Bringing attention now into the knees,
The front,
Sides and back of the knee.
Then the upper thigh.
Getting into and out from the thighs.
Then bringing our attention up into our pelvis and the hips.
And if we're seated,
Feeling the contact,
The chair or the cushion or the floor.
Feeling whatever sensation is there.
And then noticing the abdomen.
The movement of the abdomen with the breath.
The lower back.
And the movement with the lower back on the breath.
Noticing the chest.
Upper back.
And the movement.
And then the shoulders.
Feeling them rise and fall with the in breath and the out breath.
And allow the attention to travel down into the upper arms.
The elbows.
The lower arms.
The wrists.
And the hands.
And the finger.
Resting attention in the hands and the fingers for a few breaths.
Feeling any contact the hands have with the knees or each other or your lap.
And noticing whatever sensation is present in the hands.
And from there expanding to the entire body below the neck.
So holding the toes,
Feet,
The ankles,
The legs,
The pelvis,
The torso,
Shoulders,
Arms,
The hands.
Holding that all in awareness,
Noticing any sensations from your toes up to your neck.
Feeling the breath circulating throughout this entire region of the body.
Bringing attention into the neck.
The sides and back of the neck.
With the throat in front.
Very sensitive area of the body.
Noticing any sensations that are present.
Then feeling the jaw.
The nose.
The cheeks.
The ears.
The temple.
The area around the eyes.
The forehead.
The back of the head.
And if you can,
The top of the head.
And then breathing with the entire body.
From the end of your toes to the top of your head.
Breathing with the entire organism that is the body.
Noticing any sensation and any tightening or holding on or bracing.
And allowing that to flow out on the out breath to the extent that it will.
Softening.
Lowing.
Really seeing.
Lightening.
