Welcome.
This is Allison with Mindful Pause Center,
And today I'd like to share an elemental practice related to space.
This is an especially beneficial practice to prepare for sleep.
In many ways,
Space is less an element than it is the environment in which the other elements unfold.
Space is expansive,
Open,
Offering a sense of possibility.
It is capable,
Gracious,
And unbiased.
So often we fixate on objects,
But we can soften our gaze and notice instead the space around objects.
And in softening,
We can open to the qualities of space.
In essence,
Making space for our lives to unfold.
This practice,
I recommend the posture of lying down.
If you are setting up to sleep,
Of course,
This could be in your bed.
It could also be on the floor,
And you might find it useful to bend the knees and prop them against one another.
And if at any time in this body scan,
Resting the awareness on a particular body part becomes agitating or difficult,
Simply pause the practice by returning your awareness to the body breathing,
Or feeling a whole sense of the body lying here.
And then when you feel ready,
Picking up on the instructions.
So feeling the body lying here.
Just in this first moment noticing gravity,
How it tugs at the body,
Gives it a sense of density,
Firmness.
Allow yourself to feel all the points of contact between you and what you're lying down on.
Really sense this bed or floor that is on the other side,
And invite yourself to be held,
To relax into the support.
If it helps,
You can take an exhalation in order to feel that sense of letting go.
For this practice of space,
We're going to use a body scan.
And we begin here with this awareness of what is outside us.
This space where we belong.
And then through the practice of the body scan,
We get a sense of the space that is our body.
The space inside the body,
The surface of the body,
Bones and muscles and structure of the body,
Different forms and densities of space.
So allow your awareness to rest in your feet.
You might sense if there's any tingling or temperature.
You might simply notice the weight of the feet,
Perhaps even the space between the toes,
The arch,
The heel.
And bring your awareness up to the ankles.
You can allow your awareness to be in one ankle at a time.
Or if you can hold both in your attention at once,
You may do so.
Appreciating this joint that makes so much movement possible.
Bringing the awareness up the calves.
Noticing the shins.
Having a sense of the volume of the lower leg.
And then bringing your awareness into the knees.
Whatever your relationship to your knees.
Noticing the kneecap.
Perhaps sensing where the tendons attach.
The back of the knee.
Another crucial joint for movement.
Bringing the awareness up into the thighs,
The quadriceps at the front of the leg,
The hamstrings at the back,
The thigh bones,
The volume of the upper leg.
So much strength here.
And bringing the awareness up into the glutes,
The pelvis,
The glutes.
Again,
A joint so necessary for movements,
Folding forward,
Walking,
Twisting.
You might sense the bony carriage of the pelvis.
The flanks that are the glutes.
Bringing the awareness fully into the lower abdomen,
The belly.
Reproductive organs.
Diaphragm,
Essential for our breath.
Noticing the expanse of the belly.
Another part of the body many of us have mixed relationship to.
In this moment,
Can you simply notice belly breathing?
And bringing the awareness up into the waist,
Feeling the sides of the body,
The sides of the torso.
Bringing the awareness up into the lungs and the ribcage.
Sensing their circular quality front and back.
Here's the heart beating without our intending,
Working on our behalf.
So to the lungs.
Noticing the space that is the chest.
Bringing the awareness up into the shoulders.
A place of tension for many of us.
In this moment,
Can you invite the shoulders to rest?
And bringing the awareness down through the arms,
The upper arms,
The triceps and biceps,
Down through the elbows,
Into the forearms and the wrists.
Finally,
Into the hands.
Resting the awareness in the hands.
What do you notice here?
Are there sensations?
Tingling,
Temperature,
Pulsing?
Noticing perhaps the space between the fingers,
The palm,
The back of the hand,
Space inside the hands.
Bringing the awareness back up through the arms and shoulders.
Noticing the back,
Entire of the body.
Resting now,
But often holding us up.
Appreciating the firmness and expanse of the back.
Bringing the awareness up into the throat.
Noticing what's here in this moment.
Not trying to change anything.
Just offering your attention,
Your awareness.
Noticing the back of the head,
The ears,
The top of the head,
The scalp.
A sense of the skull.
And then the face,
Forehead,
The eyes,
The cheeks,
The mouth,
The chin.
Inside the mouth,
The jaw.
Relaxing the jaw as you're able.
Letting the tongue settle on the lower palate.
And then letting everything go.
Knowing wholeness of the body,
Space of the body.
And again,
Now the space outside,
Around the body.
This sense,
Once again,
Of being held.
Just letting yourself drift off to sleep if you're ready.
Otherwise,
Thanking yourself for taking this time in whatever way makes sense to you.
Ending the practice now with these words.
Thank you for your practice.
