For this practice,
We will be using sensations of the body as an anchor for attention.
This is known as a body scan.
Please make yourself comfortable in a relaxed but alert position.
I invite you to soften and close your eyes.
Begin to notice the position of your body.
Perhaps you are sitting or lying down.
How do your clothes feel against your skin?
What is the temperature of your room or environment?
Bring a soft attention to your breathing.
Take one or two deep conscious rounds of breath.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
And allow your breath to be natural.
If at any point you notice yourself thinking,
No problem at all.
That is what minds do.
Now,
Simply shift your attention back to your body.
Wherever we go,
The body is guaranteed to be there.
In this sense,
It can be a tremendous friend and ally for us,
And always offers us the chance to settle back into the present moment,
To return to peace,
Which cannot reliably be found thinking about the future or the past.
Next,
Beginning with your head,
At the crown or top of your head,
What can you feel?
Maybe there is some warmth or coolness,
Or maybe not much to feel at all.
Now,
Noticing your face,
Moving down from your forehead to your brow and eyes,
To your nose,
Cheeks,
Mouth,
And jaw.
Try to name a few sensations if you can,
Pressure,
Tension,
Soft.
Maybe you can notice your lips touching one another.
What does that feel like?
There is no need to change anything.
The practice is simply to notice without judgment.
Now scanning through your neck,
The throat and back of your neck,
Into your shoulders and shoulder blades,
What do you notice here?
The shoulders can be common areas for holding tension.
Be kind to them.
Continuing to move down through your body,
At your upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists,
Hands,
And fingers.
What do you notice in this region?
Tension.
Maybe there is a sensation of tingling,
Or maybe you notice your clothes against your skin.
Moving into your upper back,
Sensing your spine and lower back,
And then around the front to your chest and abdomen.
Tension.
Simply being and breathing with these areas of your body.
What can you notice here?
Is anything pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Neutral?
Maybe noticing your heart beating and being grateful for that.
Now,
Attending to your lower body,
The hips,
Tailbone,
And pelvis area.
Feeling any pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral sensations.
Holding them all with compassion and open awareness.
Relax.
Move your attention first through your right leg,
Your thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Midfoot,
And toes.
See if you can name a sensation here,
Such as tingling,
Coolness,
Warmth.
Bring your attention to the top of your left leg,
And then down this side,
From your thigh to knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Heel,
Midfoot,
And toes.
Does this leg feel the same as your other one?
What is the difference?
What is the same?
What is changing?
Holding.
Hold awareness of your entire body at once.
Allow your breath to flow in and out naturally.
Allow yourself to be exactly as you are,
Right here,
Right now.
Feel the surface pushing up to support the weight of your body.
Let yourself be heavy,
Feeling completely held.
May all beings wish themselves well.
