Hi,
This is Abi from The Mindful Bee and I thought today we could do a body scan for little ones.
This might be useful for any time that your little one needs to calm down when they feel just a little bit overwhelmed or perhaps they need to wait for something and they need their mind taken off that thought.
Or maybe when they're lying in bed trying to sleep or maybe before a test so that they don't feel so anxious about it.
And what I want you to do is just get yourself comfortable on a sofa or a chair or even your bed and take your shoes off and and then if it feels comfortable just gently close your eyes.
Just take some nice long breaths in and out.
Just seeing how that feels.
Maybe counting to four as you breathe in and four as you breathe out.
And just noticing how you feel as you do the breathing.
And then just let your breathing return to normal rhythm.
And bring your attention to the soles of your feet.
Can you feel them pushing against the ground?
Just notice what it feels like.
Notice if it's a hard floor or a soft carpeted floor.
Or maybe it's your mattress in your bed or grass outside.
Just noticing how that surface feels against your feet and pressing the soles of your feet against that surface.
How does it feel?
Is it soft or hard?
Can you feel your socks?
Are you wearing socks?
Or do you feel the surface against your bare feet?
And slowly bring your attention to your toes.
How do they feel against the floor or the bed or the ground?
Can you rest your attention on each of your toes in turn?
Starting with your little toe on your right foot.
And moving your attention all the way along your toes to your big toe.
All the way along your toes to your big toe on your right foot.
Then seeing how the big toe on your left foot feels.
And moving your attention all the way down the little toes,
All the way to the smallest toe.
Can you feel the space between your toes?
If not,
Try wiggling them a little bit and then try again.
Do you notice if your feet are warm or cold?
They might be a bit sweaty or they might be really cool.
If you're outside there might be a slight breeze against them.
You might feel tingling or fizzing.
You might feel an itch.
Just noticing what you feel around your toes.
See if you can just grab your hand and just feel the air.
See if you can just rest your attention on your toes and nowhere else.
And if your mind does wander,
Just notice and then bring it back to your toes.
And then maybe move your attention to your heel.
How does that feel against the ground?
Maybe notice where you are lying or sitting or standing and see where your body meets either the chair or the bed and how that feels whether it's soft or hard.
Notice if you feel any aching or itching or fizzing in any other parts of your body.
That's fantastic.
Now see how you feel after you've been paying attention to your feet in this way.
Can you think of any other situations when using this exercise might be useful to find a bit of focus and then maybe become calmer before something big?
Bye for now.
