Compassion For The Body

Compassion for your whole body. Let's be mindful, grateful, and compassionate for all that our body does to support us in our day-to-day. Let us feel into every part of our body, become aware of the feelings, sensations, emotions that are stored in each part. Let us acknowledge that without our body, we would not be able to enjoy the freedom to do the things we do in our life.

Transcript

You're listening to a guided meditation on compassion for your whole body.

My name is Sonia Lee and I am so excited to be guiding you through this meditation.

Our goal is to create compassion for your body so that you can feel relaxed,

Centered and aware.

So with that in mind,

Let's do a mindfulness practice called the Compassionate Body Scan.

You may want to sit on a chair with your back upright and yet relaxed or maybe sitting on a meditation cushion or maybe you want to lie on the floor in what's known as corpse pose in yoga.

And when you're comfortable,

Settle into your body and let's begin.

Start by first getting in touch with your body and feel how it feels right there in the present moment.

See if you can feel the weight of your seat on the cushion or of the back of the floor or where you're sitting.

Gently breathe and notice the entire field of the body sensation.

Any prickling,

Tingling,

Heaviness,

Pressure,

Lightness or anything you may feel.

Just feel your body as it is right now.

What we're going to be doing next is moving our attention and awareness to different parts of the body,

Sweeping from the top of our head,

From the crown,

Down to the toes and back again.

And as we go through the different parts of our body,

Giving ourselves compassion from any pain or tension we may feel anywhere in the body or perhaps any feelings of shame or inadequacy,

Make note of that in your body and give it compassion.

Start again with the crown of your head and notice what sensations are there.

See if you can tune into that point just between the air above your head and where your skull starts and ask yourself,

Is there any tingling or sensation there?

And if so,

Just notice it.

And if not,

That's okay too.

Then gently focus your attention on your facial muscles.

We have hundreds of muscles in our face and they work very hard for us,

Expressing emotions,

Some of which are quite painful.

If you feel any tension or stress in any of your facial muscles,

Try relaxing,

Soothing them,

Maybe imagining caressing your face with the awareness of gratitude and thank your facial muscles for how hard it's worked for us.

Then become aware of the back of your head.

Are there any sensations there?

If you have any sort of headache or pain,

Just being kind,

Tender,

Compassionate to the fact that you aren't feeling perhaps as well as you'd like,

Or if there's no sensation there,

Just feel into whatever is happening right now.

Now become aware of how your neck feels again.

Is there any tension,

Burning,

Tightness?

Our neck often holds our,

Well,

Holds up our heavy head and it holds a lot of tension,

Especially if we sit at a computer all day.

So try your best to relax the neck muscles and soothing and comforting any points of pain you may be experiencing.

Dropping down into your shoulders.

There may be a lot of emotional tension,

Fear,

Stress,

Anything that is held in our shoulders.

We almost always feel some sort of pain and tension there,

But first bring your awareness back to what you feel.

What is the sensation like?

Is it hot?

Cold?

Tight?

Stabbing?

Dull?

Tight?

Take a moment to have compassion for the stress of being shoulders in your body.

They take on a lot for us and just soothing,

Comforting any feelings of pain or discomfort you may have is beneficial.

So that you're aware of your upper back,

Your shoulder blades,

Again,

Feeling any tension that's there,

Any discomfort,

Allowing it to be as it is.

Hot,

Cold,

Sharp,

Soft.

But using our awareness to acknowledge any pain and to soothe that area of our body,

I want you to mentally imagine getting a little bit of a massage there in your shoulder blades.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Just relax.

Then become aware of your chest area,

The seat of your heart,

Where emotions are often felt very intensely,

Including difficult ones like grief or disappointment.

Try to notice how the physical sensations of your chest are manifesting.

Is the sensation moving?

Is it buzzing?

Is it tight?

Just simply notice what's there.

Relax around it and comfort yourself for any pain you might be feeling in your chest.

Just as a mother might caress a child who's feeling discomfort.

Take the same attitude with your awareness.

Let that sink in and breathe.

Then gently focus your attention on your stomach area,

Your gut.

I bet there are a lot of difficult emotions stored there,

Including fear.

We might have some judgments about our stomach.

Maybe it's not quite as thin as we'd like it to be.

But first,

Just focus on the actual sensations of your stomach.

Is there any movement?

Maybe your stomach is rumbling?

Digesting food?

Is there any tension?

Physical discomfort?

And then also,

Are there any feelings coming up of inadequacy or non-acceptance of being exactly who you are in this moment?

Whatever arises,

You're going to take a very calm,

Comforting,

Loving stance towards this part of our body.

We often have so much difficulty with maybe even sending some appreciation for the very hard work of digesting our food,

Allowing us to be alive,

Just relaxing and softening.

Then turn your awareness towards your lower back.

Very big muscles are there,

And they are needed to keep us upright.

If you feel any tension,

Try to relax that part of your body and consciously soothe and comfort any pains or aches you might feel.

It's hard to be in this human body with its limitations.

We can be kind to ourselves in this moment.

And slowly bring your awareness down to your pelvic area.

Send a lot of compassion to your hips.

Oftentimes there's a lot of tension there,

And we don't even pay attention to it.

We might even avoid paying attention to this part of our body because we're so focused on our shoulders,

Our lower back.

But notice what you're feeling in your pelvic area.

Notice if there's any discomfort or tension,

And just try to relax.

Are there any emotions coming up?

If so,

Take a very soothing,

Comforting approach towards this part of your body,

Just allowing it to be as it is.

Then dropping down to your seat area itself.

If you're sitting,

This will be easy because you'll feel the tension of your buttocks on the chair or cushion.

And also if you're laying down,

You'll feel tension there.

Just notice what feelings are coming up.

If there's any tightness or tension,

Soothing or relaxing,

This part of your body is equally as important.

And if there are any emotional feelings associated with this part of your body,

Or if it's not exactly as you'd like it to be,

Which I think probably is all of us,

Just having compassion for the fact that we're imperfect human beings.

Just accept this fact that we are all alike.

Accept it with an open heart.

Let's move back up to our arms,

And we'll do them each individually.

Start with your right arm,

The top,

The shoulder blade,

The top of your arm,

Your upper bicep.

What does your upper arm on the right side feel like right now?

We have big muscles there that often get strained while lifting and holding things.

With any tension or discomfort,

Offer it relaxation and caress with our awareness kindly.

Now,

With your lower right arm,

Just gently notice what you're feeling right there.

Now your right wrist and fingers,

Your hand.

We have an amazing number of bones in this part of our body,

Especially with the increasing use of computers.

These get worked over and over and over again.

Just notice.

Do you have any tension there?

Any feelings of discomfort?

And if so,

Again,

Just soothe and comfort yourself.

Have compassion for any pain you might be feeling.

If there is no discomfort,

Just rest in the peacefulness of being free of pain.

Then shift your attention to focus on your left upper arm and shoulder,

Noticing how your muscles feel,

Any tension that's there.

Kindly stroking your arm with the awareness,

Comforting yourself and dropping down into your lower left arm,

Allowing the sensations to just be as they are in your left hand and wrist,

Relaxing your muscles,

Appreciating how hard your fingers work for you,

The freedom it gives you.

Now shift your focus to your right upper leg.

Again there's a very big muscle here,

Our thigh muscle.

What do you feel right now in this area of the body?

See if you can relax the muscle.

If you notice any discomfort or tension,

Kindly soothing and comforting this part of your body.

Then move down to your right calf and shin,

The lower part of your leg,

Feeling the muscles softening around any tension,

And then finally focusing on your right foot.

A surprising amount of tension and stress gets stored in our feet.

A lot of pressure gets put into them.

Take a moment to appreciate your right foot.

It allows you to walk,

Run,

Dance,

Do yoga.

So relaxing and soothing any feelings of pain that arise,

Giving yourself a mental foot massage.

Now move your awareness to your left leg,

The upper half,

The thigh muscle,

Soothing any tension around it.

And as always,

If any emotional reactions come up of non-acceptance for a certain part of your body,

Giving yourself compassion for that,

Recognizing how hard it is to be in our competitive culture,

And dropping down to your lower left leg,

Your calf muscles,

Your shin,

Relaxing,

Soothing,

And then focusing on your left foot,

Your ankle,

The sole of your foot,

Your toes.

Just be aware of any sensations that are there,

Tingling,

Burning,

Pressure,

And any soothing and comforting any feelings of discomfort or pain that might be there.

Now widen your focus so that you are aware of both feet.

Feeling up to both calves,

Both upper legs,

Up to your stomach,

Your chest,

Your neck,

Your head.

Just imagine the energy flowing out the top of your head,

Through the crown,

Feeling the energy of life flowing through you,

Resting in awareness of this magnificent body we have.

Offer it compassion for all it does for us in our day to day,

At work,

At home.

Offer it compassion for the sensations,

The feelings,

The emotions,

The pains it carries for us,

And offer it appreciation for its wonder.

Bring your attention back to your whole body and let us say thank you.

Thank you dear body for supporting us,

For offering us the freedom,

For helping us through our day and being here with us.

To end this meditation,

Let's take a deep breath in.

Hold it for a moment.

Hold it and exhale.

Deep breath in again and hold it at the top and gently say thank you dear body.

We are grateful for all that you do for us.

And exhale.

And a last inhale,

Deep breath in and offer any prayers you'd like for your body in gratitude and peace and joy.

And gently exhale.

I thank you for joining me on this meditation for compassion for your body.

I hope you've enjoyed it.

My name is Sonia Lee and I hope you'll join me again.