Love, Safety And Protection Body Scan

This meditation was recorded during Present Mindfulness Academy's Facebook Live Meditation Series. It was recording during the month of Honouring the Self. It is a full body scan meditation that leads into an investigation of listening to the messages of the body and bringing love, safety and protection to any discomfort being felt. It is recommended (but not necessary) to journal about your experience at the end of the meditation.

Transcript

What I'd like you to do is get yourself into a comfortable seated position or lying down.

You can lie down if you want to,

Honour whatever is right for you in this moment.

If you don't want to sit up and be really fully present in the practice,

You want to just chill out and relax and just have some me time,

Then lie down.

There's no right or wrong here.

Just do whatever you need.

So getting into that comfortable position,

But just making sure that your back is aligned so that it is lying flat on the bed or sitting upright.

And just allowing the body to relax and melt down into the chair or on the bed.

Just feeling the body slowly releasing.

And we'll begin by taking three deep breaths together.

So we'll breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

So breathing in through the nose and releasing out through the mouth.

Breathing in through the nose.

And releasing out through the mouth.

Last breath in through the nose and releasing out through the mouth.

And just allowing the breath to return back to its regular breathing pattern.

Just watching the breath for a few moments now.

So finding the anchor in the body where you can feel the breath.

Is it at the nostrils?

Is it at the chest?

Or is it in the belly?

And wherever you feel the breath the most,

Focus on this area now.

And watch the inhale and the exhale.

Knowing that you're breathing in and breathing out.

And as you breathe in,

Following the full breath,

Noticing the pause.

And as you breathe out,

Following the full out breath and noticing the pause.

And just flowing in and out.

Now bring your awareness to the body.

Let's do a check in,

See how we're feeling today.

So starting at the feet,

How are the feet feeling today?

There's no right or wrong here.

Are they tingling?

Are they tired?

Is there any tension in them?

Are they nice and relaxed and resting?

And moving your way up to the legs,

Noticing the calves and the shins and the knees.

How is this area of the body feeling?

And we're not trying to create any sensations or push any sensations away.

We're just being present with what we can feel in this moment.

Moving up the legs now,

Taking in the thighs,

The upper leg,

And bringing it into awareness.

What sensations are here?

You might feel the chair or the bed beneath you,

Maybe the clothing.

Internally you may feel a warmth,

A tingling,

Just noticing what is here.

Moving up the body,

Checking in with the hips and the pelvis,

Feeling into this area.

What can you feel here in this moment?

Continuing to move up the body,

We'll work up the back.

So taking in the lower back,

The middle back,

And the upper back.

Working up the spine slowly,

Bringing the whole back into awareness now.

And noticing any sensations here.

Now checking in with the front of the body,

Taking in the belly,

The solar plexus and diaphragm,

The chest,

The heart and the ribs,

The front of the torso,

Fully aware,

Fully present,

Noticing any sensations here.

There may be a gurgling in the belly,

May notice the lungs filling up,

Moving in and out,

May notice the chest rising,

The heart beating.

And there may be other sensations within the body,

Just noting them and being present with them.

Now taking in the shoulders and working down the arms,

Taking in the forearm and the bicep,

The whole arm from the shoulders all the way down to the wrists.

And taking in the hands,

The palms and the fingers.

Bringing awareness to any sensations here.

There may be warmth,

Coolness,

Tightness,

Tingling,

Just noting whatever is here.

Now bringing awareness to the neck,

Working the whole way around the neck,

Up to the back,

And the throat to the front,

Taking it all in,

Noticing the top of those shoulders also connected to the neck,

If there's any tightness or tension here.

And now moving up and taking in the head,

Working our way,

The front of the face,

The jaw,

The lips,

The nose,

The cheeks,

The eyes,

The brow,

The top of the head and the back of the head,

Taking the whole head into awareness now.

Noticing any of the sensations that may be arising in this moment.

So now bringing your awareness to the whole body,

From the tips of your toes to the top of your head,

Just checking in and noticing if there's an area in the body that is calling for your attention.

There may be an area in the body that's holding some stress.

So check in with this area and do some investigating.

As you bring your full awareness to the sensation here,

Try and describe the sensation.

If you were going to draw it,

What would it feel like and look like and be like?

What colour would it have?

What shape would it be?

What density is it?

What texture might it be?

What temperature could it be?

Just drawing that image and noticing what that is and where that's sitting in the body.

And then breathing into this area of the body.

And as you breathe into this area,

Try and do some investigating to see if you can work out why this is sitting in the body.

Is there anger here?

Frustration?

Guilt?

Resentment?

Shame?

Sadness?

Grief?

Trauma?

Unhappiness?

Jealousy?

Envy?

Anxiety?

Worry?

Confusion?

Lost?

Loneliness?

Scared?

Just noticing if this sensation has an emotion attached,

If you can find it.

And then if you can find the emotion,

See if you can investigate a bit further and see why it's sitting there.

Why is this sensation here?

Why is this emotion here?

Why is it sitting in my body?

What message does it have for me?

And as you sit with this area of the body,

And you sit with the sensation,

And you investigate why it's here.

Just being,

Not forcing,

And just sitting.

And now,

I want you to think about safety and love.

And if you were going to draw safety,

Protection,

Love,

I guess as an image,

What would it be?

What shape would it be?

What colour?

What density?

What texture?

What temperature?

So imagine that now.

This image of safe,

Warm protection.

And I'd like you to wrap that around the other sensation that is sitting in your body.

So wherever the discomfort is,

Now wrap it up in safety,

Love and protection.

And this is to hug it and love it.

We're not trying to hide it,

Push it away,

Or force it away.

We're acknowledging it,

And comforting it,

And being with it.

And as you imagine this safety,

Love and protection around your discomfort,

And as you hold and caress your discomfort,

Ask it,

What does it need?

What do I need?

How can I support myself in this moment?

And this is a moment where you can start honouring yourself and valuing yourself by listening to the messages your body is giving you,

And then taking action.

Whatever messages you're receiving,

Acknowledge them and accept them,

And honour them by taking the action that serves your highest good.

So taking a deep breath in now,

Breathing in through the nose,

And letting go out through the mouth.

And just releasing this focus on the body,

Releasing this focus on the sensation.

But knowing that the discomfort is being honoured and being held in your arms with love,

Safety and protection.

And just focusing on the breath for a few moments now.

Where do you feel the breath?

At the nostrils,

In the chest,

Or the belly?

Being present with that,

Flowing in and out.

And it is now time to return back to this time and space.

So gently start wriggling the toes,

Start wriggling the fingers.

Maybe moving the legs and the hands,

Stretching the body in any way that you need to.

Maybe if you're lying down,

Bringing the knees to the chest and hugging yourself,

And rocking from side to side.

Doing whatever nourishes your body in this moment.

And when you're ready,

Coming into an upright position and gently opening the eyes.