Seeing if it's possible to take the time to allow the body to be in ease,
To be at comfort.
So if you're sitting,
It can be nice to have the feet flat on the ground.
Bring us that grounding,
That rooting.
And if you're lying down,
Perhaps just noticing the parts of the body that are touching the air.
Perhaps allowing some of these muscles that have spent all day holding you up to release into the support of the air.
And allowing there to be space between the ears and the shoulders,
Allowing the shoulder blades to slide down the back.
Knowing that if at any point in this practice you feel uncomfortable,
You can always move.
The summer day.
Who made the world?
Who made the swan and the black bear?
Who made this grasshopper?
This grasshopper,
I mean.
The one who has flung herself out of the grass.
The one who is eating sugar out of my hand.
Who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down.
Who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention.
How to fall down into the grass.
How to kneel in the grass.
How to be idle and bless.
How to stroll through the fields.
Which is what I've been doing all day.
Tell me,
What else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last?
And too soon?
Tell me,
What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Body scan.
Feeling the weight of the body resting on the air.
Noticing the points of contact.
Where the body rests on the ground.
Where the body rests on whatever's supporting you.
Perhaps noticing the gentle movement of this breathing body.
As the lungs fill an empty chest rises and falls.
The waves of the sea flapping the beach.
And releasing your awareness of the breath.
And gently moving your awareness down the body.
All the way down to the feet.
Bringing your awareness to the big toes.
Perhaps noticing the touch of fabric on skin.
Maybe contact of the toes with the ground.
Maybe there's a tingling.
Maybe there's numbness.
Knowing that numbness too is an experience.
There's no right way to feel.
We're simply noticing our experience,
Whatever that might be.
And releasing awareness of the big toes.
Removing your awareness of the little toes on each foot.
Noticing how the toes rest on the ground.
Noticing if there's an inclination to move them.
Or perhaps you're not able to sense your little toes today.
Releasing awareness of the little toes and moving your awareness now to the middle three toes on both feet.
Perhaps noticing the space between the toes.
Noticing if it's possible to sense each toe individually.
Or if they come as a group,
They all come together.
Releasing awareness of the toes now.
Moving the focus of your awareness to the sole of the feet,
Starting at the balls of the feet.
The arches.
The heel.
And coming to notice now the top of both feet.
And the insides of the feet.
The bones.
And expanding your awareness to take in the whole of both feet.
Sensing as they rest here.
And releasing awareness of the feet.
Moving your awareness up to the ankles.
And from the ankles,
Moving your awareness up to the calves.
These muscles which help us walk.
And the shins,
The skin,
Over the whole of the lower leg.
Releasing the lower leg,
Guiding your focus to the knees.
Noticing the angle of the knees.
The front.
The back.
Releasing awareness of the knees.
Moving to the thighs.
The large muscles of the thighs.
The long bone of the thighs.
Noticing if there's any bracing here.
If there's any tightness or tension.
We often hold on to this in the thighs.
And allow a releasing as you breathe out.
And holding the whole of both legs in your awareness now.
Bringing your awareness to the entirety of the legs.
They touch,
Whatever's supporting them.
And you may like to use imaginative breathing.
To breathe in to the legs all the way down to the tips of the toes.
And back out again.
Allowing your awareness to follow the breath.
Releasing awareness of the legs now.
Moving your awareness to the point where the legs join the body.
And coming to notice the pelvis.
The whole basin of the pelvis.
And the lower back.
And slowly moving your awareness up the back on vertebra time.
Noticing that gentle curve of the back.
And if you notice your mind has wandered away,
Knowing that's okay.
Celebrating this noticing.
This noticing is the moment of mindfulness.
And gently and kindly guiding your focus back to this moment.
Back to your lower back.
And your mid back.
And your upper back.
And your shoulders.
And if you come across any points of discomfort or pain in the body.
You may like to stay with these a little longer.
Perhaps breathing in and out of these points.
And if you notice your awareness being pulled away to a point of discomfort,
You can always move your focus there,
Breathing in and out this point of discomfort.
Perhaps noticing if there's any tightness or bracing around this that you can allow to release with an out breath.
When it feels right you can come back to the practice or perhaps holding a gentle awareness both on the point of discomfort and on the point of focusing on the practice right now.
Which is this moment of the shoulders.
Releasing awareness of the shoulders.
Guiding your focus down to the abdomen.
Gentle rise and fall.
The body breathes.
And you may notice that this is where you sense emotions.
Or perhaps you're noticing hunger or sense of being full.
Or something else entirely.
Moving your awareness up to the chest.
Noticing how it feels to breathe.
Not the idea of the body,
The felt sense in this moment.
Releasing awareness of the chest.
Moving your awareness to the upper arms.
Seeing if it's possible to bring your curiosity to be interested in how your upper arms feel.
This body which is with us every day,
We don't necessarily notice all of it.
Moving awareness to the elbows.
Any points of pressure where the elbows rest.
Was there tingling?
Warmth?
Moving your awareness down to the lower arms.
The wrists.
The hands and the fingertips.
Noticing the position of the hands.
They relax more clenched.
Releasing awareness of the hands and moving your focus up to the throat.
To the neck.
The scalp.
The forehead.
Noticing if there's any tension here.
We often hold on to our experiences.
Often this is the muscles of the face.
The eyebrows.
The face between the eyebrows.
The eyes.
The temples.
The nose.
The cheeks.
Letting the jaw be loose.
The lips.
Gently expanding your awareness.
Taking the whole of the body.
The whole of this breathing body.
Resting here on the air.
If you'd like to,
You may like to use imaginative breathing once more.
Imagine you could breathe into the whole of the body.
Breathing in,
Sensing the whole of the body down to the tips of the toes and the tips of the fingers.
And then mentioning as you breathe out,
Breathing out from the whole of the body.
Allowing a gentle awareness to rest.
The whole of the physical experience,
The whole of the body.
And release awareness of the body.
Bringing your awareness back to the feet.
Resting on the ground.
The hip bones or the pelvis.
Resting on the air.
And taking a deeper breath in and out.
We come towards the end of this practice.
Just taking a deeper breath in and out.
And starting to bring a little movement to the body.
Moving the fingers and the toes.
And when you're ready,
Slowly starting to open your eyes.
Whats going on?
