Greetings,
Friends.
My name's Christina.
Thank you for joining me for today's body scan practice.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable seat.
You may choose to close your eyes or keep them open with a soft gaze.
If you'd like and you have the room,
You may even do this practice lying down.
Now that you're comfortable,
Let's begin by taking three deep breaths together.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling out the mouth.
As you begin to soften into the posture,
Notice what it feels like in the body to be supported by the chair or by the ground.
Noticing what sensations are present in this moment.
The temperature,
The points of contact.
Noticing the air moving through the body with each breath.
Allowing the body to rest in this position.
And noticing sensations as you breathe in and breathe out.
Let's begin by bringing attention to the toes.
With your in-breath,
Noticing sensations that might be present or a lack of sensation.
Allowing the toes to curl and release.
Moving your attention to the soles of the feet.
Feeling the sensation of the foot on the ground.
Bringing your attention to the ankles.
And you may choose to give the ankles a little roll.
Noticing any release.
Now moving your awareness up the leg to the shins and the calves.
Noticing any sensations here.
Slowly bringing attention up to the knees.
You may choose to slowly extend one leg and then the other.
Maybe noticing a little stiffness.
Noticing the tension in the calves.
Noticing any sensations here.
Now bringing our attention to the upper legs.
Becoming aware of the quads and the hamstrings.
Noticing any sensations that might be present in this part of the body.
Moving attention up the legs into the hip flexors.
Noticing any sensations that might be present.
Directing awareness now to the sit bones.
Feeling the connection to the chair or the ground beneath.
Guiding awareness to the lower back.
And around the shoulders.
Now bringing awareness from the front of the body to the abdomen.
Simply noticing what's present.
Without judgment or assessment.
Allowing these muscles to soften.
And support your body as the practice continues.
Continuing to scan up the back,
The rib cage,
And the chest.
Maybe noticing the movement of the breath in this part of the body.
Raising attention to the shoulders and the shoulder blades.
Inviting those areas to soften.
If they feel a little bit tense.
Beginning to move awareness down the arms.
The upper arms.
Down to the elbow.
The forearms and the wrists.
If you'd like you may choose to roll the wrists.
Bringing your attention down to the fingers.
The thumbs.
The palms.
And the back of the hands.
Perhaps curling the fingers into the palm.
And then allowing them to release.
Bringing attention back up through the arms to the shoulders.
And coming into the neck and throat.
Noticing any sensations that may be present.
Now perhaps gently rolling the neck to the left.
Feeling a little stretch through the side.
Gently coming back to center.
And now stretching over to the right.
Coming back to a neutral position.
Breathing easily.
And noticing the sensations that arise.
Bringing our attention now to the head and the face.
Scanning the jaw.
The chin.
The lips.
The teeth and the gums.
Noticing the roof of the mouth.
The tongue.
And the back of the throat.
Bringing awareness to the cheeks.
And the nose.
Feeling the sensation of the breath.
Becoming aware of the ears.
The eyes.
The eyelids.
And the eyebrows.
Bringing awareness to the forehead.
The temple.
And the scalp.
And now crinkling up the muscles of the face.
Allowing them to tense.
And then release.
Staying now in the present moment.
With the breath flowing in and out.
Letting the breath flow out of the body.
Simply awake to whatever arises.
And enters your field of awareness.
This may include thoughts.
Or feelings.
Sensations or sounds.
Whatever arises without judgment.
In a moment you'll hear the sound of a bell.
Signifying the end of our practice.
As you begin to move awareness outside of the body.
And back into the space around you.
So come back to the space.
Moving the body in any way that feels comfortable.
And taking a moment to reorient yourself.
Thank you so much for sharing your practice today.
I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
