Hi,
I'm Audra from the Wellmind Collective.
Today I'm going to talk about relaxation and we're going to do a mindful practice called the body scan.
And what does this practice do?
It makes you feel more connected to your physical and emotional self.
So it has a lot of benefits.
It can help with improved sleep,
Anxiety and stress relief,
Increased self-compassion,
And greater self-awareness.
And you can do this practice standing,
Walking,
Or lying down.
I prefer to do it lying down just because it makes it a lot easier and it is a relaxation.
So why not get in a in a suitable posture for relaxing.
So when you're ready,
Let's get started.
If you'll lower your gaze or close your eyes.
And we're going to take three big deep breaths in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
And as we go out,
Just sigh it out.
And by the third one,
Just let it all go and find any kind of softness you can.
Enable to relax to your utmost so we can get started.
Ready?
Let's breathe in.
And breathe out.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
One last time.
Let's breathe in.
When you get to the top,
Take one more sip of air in.
And then let it all go.
Now you can return to your regular breath.
And focus on your breathing.
Now what I want you to do is focus on your face,
Your eyes,
The space between your two eyebrows.
And feel that space between them.
And relax anything that seems tense or stressed.
And going down through your cheeks,
Your nose,
Your jaw.
Relax anything that seems tense.
We do tend to tense our jaws,
So pay special attention there.
Feel that.
Become aware of your entire head and the space between your two ears.
Now focus your attention on your chest and upper back.
As you breathe,
You feel it's sort of like an accordion where it lifts when you breathe in and lowers when you breathe out.
See if you have any stress or tension and let that go.
There's nothing for you to do.
You're just,
Just sensing your body.
If your mind wanders,
That's okay.
When you recognize that you've wandered away,
Just return to your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now starting with our right arm,
Bring your focus to your biceps,
Your elbow,
Your forearm.
Sense any tension or stress.
See if you can soften a little.
Moving to your wrists and the palm of your hand and the outside of your hand and your fingertips.
Can you sense anything?
Do you sense the air around you?
If you feel anything that's tense or stressed,
See if you can let that go.
With the in breath,
You're bringing in calmness,
And with the out breath,
You're letting go of any stress or tension.
Now moving to our left arm,
Our biceps,
Our elbow,
Our forearm.
Just do a scan and see if you feel anything.
Just become aware of it.
Let anything go that needs to go.
Moving to our wrists and our palms and our fingertips and the outside of our hands.
Do you sense anything there?
Now moving to our belly and our upper and our lower back.
See if you feel anything in there.
Do you feel any stress or tension or anything that doesn't feel quite right?
Breathe in that calmness and let what doesn't serve you,
Let it go.
Let any stress and tension melt away and just relax.
Moving to our pelvic region,
Our hips,
Our buttocks.
Scan those areas and see if you feel anything,
Any stress or tension.
Are you holding on to anything?
Let it go.
Relax.
Going down our left leg,
Our thighs and our knees,
Our hamstrings.
Feel any tension?
If you do,
Let it go.
Moving down to our calves,
Our lower legs and our ankles.
Sense anything that seems not right and let it go.
Relax.
Moving to our heels,
The top of our feet,
The bottom of our feet,
The ball of our foot,
The toes.
Can you sense the air around them?
Can you sense how you're touching the earth,
Being grounded into mother earth?
See if you can find any softness.
Moving to our left leg,
Feel the thigh,
The hamstring,
The knee.
Do you sense any tension or stress?
Let it go.
Moving to your lower leg,
Your calves,
Your ankles,
Your lower leg.
Just sense your body.
See if you can soften anywhere.
Moving to our left foot,
The top of our foot,
The bottom of the foot,
The heel,
The ball of the foot,
The toes.
Can you feel the air around your foot?
Moving back to our heart,
In the middle of our chest.
Feel if you feel anything here.
Take some deep breaths into our heart.
This is where our love and compassion is.
Sense anything that's going on there.
No need to judge it or make a story about it.
Just feel it and relax.
I'll zoom out.
Become aware of your entire body as it's touching the surface of the floor and all around.
Can you sense the air around you?
See if you have any other areas of tension or stress that you need to address.
Just breathe into that area.
Let's take one last deep breath in through the belly and breathe it out.
When you're ready,
Wiggle your fingers and your toes and flutter your eyes open.
Thank you for joining me today for a body scan.
I hope you feel relaxed and more in touch with your self and your physical and emotional self.
Have a wonderful day.
Bye.
