Hey there and welcome.
I'm Rev Skip and this is our body scan meditation.
Let's take a moment and let's make an agreement.
This is not a place for shaming our bodies or blaming.
This is a time that we get to observe how we are feeling and how the body's operating.
So get comfortable.
Have a seat or lay on your back but stay awake and aware.
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Just follow your breath.
When I teach yoga,
The most important thing that I can share with my students be aware of what you are experiencing in the body temple.
Yoga means union or yoke.
So today as we drop in,
Which means becoming more aware,
It is all about gaining information and knowledge.
So let's begin our scan.
Let's start with the breath.
I just want you to breathe in and breathe out.
Let's do that again.
Take a deep breath in and a big exhale and just notice how you are breathing.
Find your rhythm and notice how the body is feeling when you breathe in and be awake and aware of how you're feeling when you breathe out.
Notice how your torso expands when you inhale.
Notice how your torso contracts when you exhale.
Be mindful of the lowering of the diaphragm to bring in the oxygen or what some people may call the prana.
Notice how the diaphragm rises when you release the breath.
Do a couple more rounds of breathing on your own and maybe you begin to breathe deeper.
Take more time with the inhale and take more time with your exhale.
And again,
Just notice the breath.
Notice the body.
So bring your consciousness,
Your awareness to your feet.
How are your toes feeling today?
How are the ankles feeling?
The bottom part of your feet?
The plantar area?
What's going on there?
And slowly begin to scan upward around the shin and the calf.
Maybe you might be noticing a little bit of a dis-ease because of your exercise practice or maybe you've had a great yoga class and you feel relaxed.
Again,
No judgment,
Just awareness.
Begin to travel up to your knees.
Your knees are a small joint that carries a lot of weight.
Are you feeling tired around that area?
Are you feeling energized?
Again,
No judgments.
And begin to move upward into the thighs,
The hips,
The hamstrings.
What are you experiencing?
Bring your awareness into your lower spine around your glutes,
The lower back.
And this is the area we have a tendency to carry a lot of unwanted emotion.
Maybe there's an energy you're experiencing and you're willing to release it.
Right above the lumbar spine,
You have what we call the thoracic part of your back.
Be with it.
Take a moment.
Acknowledge what you're feeling.
Continue to travel up into your shoulders,
Your neck area.
Is there an energy,
A vibration that is willing to be shifted?
So we begin to travel through the arms into the elbow joint.
Acknowledge them down into the forearms and the wrists,
Connecting with your fingers.
And continue to travel back up the arms through the shoulders into your neck.
Stay here for a moment.
And then we get to move upward into your head.
Observe your ears,
Your eyebrows,
Into the crown of your head.
Now that we've scanned the body,
Is there a part of this beautiful body temple that is calling forth for healing and love?
Every part of our body is a reminder of love or a call for love.
And let's ask our body,
What do you require for me to feel whole,
Healthy,
And complete?
Is it more rest,
More movement,
Exercise,
Possibly a shift in your eating practice?
Is it more water?
Whatever it is,
You have the choice and the ability to give your body what it needs today.
Let's begin to scan the body again as one unit,
One complete moving mechanism.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Bring your right hand to your heart and left hand on top.
Let's do a blessing together.
Repeat after me.
I bless my body temple,
Which is whole and complete from the start.
I bless my body temple,
Which is whole and complete from the start.
Take a deep breath in,
Big exhale,
Slowly open up your eyes.
I bless you.
I thank you.
I honor you.
Until next time,
I'm Rev Skip.
Transformation is a choice.
Be well and be blessed.