Welcome to this body scan meditation.
This practice is best done seated,
But if you would like to do it lying down,
Please know that you can.
Take a few moments to get settled in and we will begin.
Welcome yourself into this practice with a few rounds of big,
Full body breaths that are deep and slow.
As you breathe,
Feeling the way that the skin of your ribcage stretches,
Noticing the way that the belly softens on your exhales,
And let these breaths open you up to the space that you are in,
To the moment that you are in,
Letting yourself land softly into the now.
As we begin here,
You may already notice some sensations that are present with you.
Try to keep your awareness soft,
Expansive,
And open,
Not harboring on any one sensation over another,
But rather letting them all flow,
Not attaching your awareness to any of them,
Just being in the role of the observer,
Fully,
Expansively.
You may notice any sounds that are present in the space you are in,
Taking in all that is here,
And if that includes a busy monkey mind,
Just notice that as well,
Welcome it into the moment,
And notice also how the monkey mind ebbs and flows,
Noticing how the thoughts change,
Noticing the space between thoughts,
And offering to the mind the opportunity to rest,
To simplify,
To simply be with the body in this practice.
You may have already done so,
But if you haven't,
Just allow the breath to soften into a natural rhythm and flow.
Bring your awareness to the legs,
The hips,
This lower half of your body,
And first observe the places in which you are connected,
Where you are connected to the ground or whatever surface is beneath you,
Observing this support,
The way that the surface beneath you effortlessly holds you here,
Feeling those connection points and allowing yourself to soften as fully as possible into that support.
Noticing also where you are connected with yourself,
Maybe where the legs are touching each other,
If the hands are resting on the legs,
Notice that connection point as well,
And soften into this connection,
Noticing what is there,
Any warmth,
Any tingling,
And as you're sensing the lower half of the body,
Feel its entire internal landscape,
All sensation,
Tension,
Ease,
Flow,
And just notice where your awareness wants to land.
If your awareness lands on a place of tension,
Just feel the tension first with no need to fix it or change it,
Feel around the edges of the tension,
Notice if there's any communication coming from this tension,
And if it feels natural to do,
Allow the tension to soften and release.
The breath can be helpful here,
Maybe using an inhale to sense the tension,
And use an exhale to soften.
Your awareness may naturally also land on places of neutrality,
Sensations that are more easeful and in flow,
Noticing where you feel light,
Relaxed and open in the lower half of the body,
And notice how far this expands,
Letting your awareness travel with the neutrality and the ease,
Perhaps letting it encapsulate any areas of tension,
Bringing that same feeling of openness and relaxation to any areas that are holding,
Any areas that are tight.
Once you feel resolved in the lower half of the body,
You can let the awareness travel up into your torso,
Sensing the belly and the ribcage,
Feeling the center of your chest and your heart,
You may even feel into the lower back and the spine,
Just observing what is alive here in the torso,
Any movement,
Any gripping,
Observing neutrality and ease,
The fullness of the landscape of your torso,
And again,
Without any need to fix or change,
Just notice where your awareness wants to land,
Which part of the torso you feel most drawn to,
And give it your full presence,
Feeling around the sensation,
Inside of the sensation,
Noticing where else it travels in the torso,
And just let it be held gently by your awareness,
Noticing if perhaps it is transformed by your presence,
If you find spaces in the torso that feel spacious and expansive,
Breathe into those spaces and let the breath carry that same feeling of expansion into the rest of the torso,
Breathing into the heart,
Feeling its pulse,
And noticing the way that the heart's presence radiates out into the rest of the body,
You might find the connection between your breath and your heart rate,
The very subtle increase of the heart rate as you inhale,
And the very subtle decrease in your heart rate as you exhale,
Just observing this dance,
How the other sensations of the torso may be affected by this,
Holding it all gently in your present awareness,
Let your awareness begin to travel up into the shoulders,
Neck,
And the head,
Feeling the fullness of this part of the body first,
And then allowing your awareness to settle wherever it is naturally drawn to,
If you are first drawn to tension,
Again just lovingly observe,
Feel the fullness of the tension,
And just give the body the option at least to soften and release,
Perhaps that looks like letting the shoulders melt,
Letting the jaw open,
Letting the eyelids become a little softer,
And as you're sensing the aliveness of the shoulders,
Neck,
The head,
The face,
Feel for those in-between spaces of neutrality and flow as well,
Feeling for the aliveness of the breath in this part of the body,
The way it travels in the nose and the throat,
And from this upper part of the body,
Let your awareness re-expand all the way down through the torso,
Down to the legs,
Letting the body be fully held by your present awareness,
Meeting the body with an energy of friendliness,
Fully encapsulating yourself with this willingness to listen,
This willingness to receive and to be present with all that is in the body,
And as you're feeling the fullness of your being,
Let the mind soften so much that all that is present here is love,
And just observing how this feels,
This fullness,
This being in your center,
Maybe notice that this has an effect on your surroundings,
The energetic field just beyond the physical body,
And considering the power of your awareness,
How this allows your inner light to radiate outward,
And positively affect every space you enter into,
And simply by being aware,
Simply by listening to the body,
You can shift your energetic field,
Just allow yourself to rest in this fullness for a few breaths,
Remembering to give the mind and the body the option to soften,
To open,
And to ground.
As you're ready,
You can start to breathe a little bit more deeply,
Welcoming in any movement with the body that calls to you,
And as you are ready to close this practice,
You can slowly blink your eyes open and come back into the space.
Thank you for joining me,
And I'll see you in the next one.
Namaste.
