Welcome to this gentle body scan.
This is a way for you to connect to your body,
Whether you just woke up or you are hoping to drift to sleep.
This body scan helps you in cultivating self-compassion.
It helps you in becoming more aware of your bodily sensations.
And by becoming aware,
We can gently tend to ourselves,
Tend to the sensations,
The emotions,
And the aliveness that is happening inside of you.
So,
I invite you to nestle into a comfortable position.
It can be lying down,
It can be sitting or anything in between.
Just make sure you are comfortable here and you can remain still for the remainder of this meditation.
Once you've settled in,
I invite you to gently close your eyes or maintain a soft gaze.
As your eyes drift down,
Turning your gaze inward,
Allowing your breath to continue to gently float in its own rhythm.
You don't need to change a thing.
Allowing your breath to bring you back into your body.
Every breath pulls you back into the body.
Bringing your awareness towards the top of your head and noticing any sensations that arise.
Allowing the top of your head to simply be.
Drifting your attention towards the back of your head,
Letting it rest,
Letting it be.
Noticing your left ear,
Your right ear,
Letting your both ears simply be.
Noticing your forehead,
Letting all those muscles in your forehead soften.
Bringing that softness towards both eyebrows and the muscles surrounding your eyes.
Letting your eyelids softly rest on top of each other.
Noticing both cheeks,
Allowing your whole face to rest.
Becoming aware of your tongue,
Letting your tongue rest in your mouth.
Allowing your lips to rest as well.
Perhaps bringing in a little bit of space between your teeth so your jaw is unclenched.
And allow this softness from your jaws to stretch towards your neck and your throat.
Noticing how your neck feels in this moment.
If any judgment arises,
Simply bring your focus back to the sensation.
Allowing your attention to float towards your throat.
Feeling your throat and giving it permission to pause.
Noticing your shoulders,
Your left shoulder,
Your right shoulder.
And with your next exhale,
Allowing any weight lying on your shoulders to drop down.
Continue exhaling and releasing as much as feels good for you.
Allowing this soft relaxation to continue to spread down from your shoulders down into both your arms.
Feeling your left arm,
Left upper arm,
Left elbow,
Left lower arm,
Left wrist,
Left hand.
Allowing the fingers to rest.
There is nothing you need to hold right now.
Noticing the difference between your left arm and your right arm.
Feeling your right upper arm,
Right elbow.
Right lower arm.
Right wrist.
Right hand.
Allowing your right fingers to rest,
To fall open.
Noticing both arms,
Both hands.
And now focusing your awareness onto your back,
Your upper back.
Allowing your breath to be very soft,
Like gentle waves bringing in cleansing water,
Cleansing energy.
And then releasing,
Taking away any pain,
Any tension.
Allowing the breath to be like waves,
Ebbing and flowing.
Noticing your middle back,
Lower back,
Lower belly.
Stomach,
Ribcage,
Protecting the heart.
Your heart.
Notice how your heart feels.
Your chest.
Your whole upper body,
From the top of your head all the way down towards your lower belly and your lower back.
Noticing your hips.
Left hip.
Right hip.
Right hip.
Left upper leg.
The liveness of your left upper leg.
Feeling your left knee.
Your left calf.
And shin bone.
Left ankle.
Breath like waves,
Gently ebbing and flowing.
Noticing your right upper leg.
Right calf muscle.
Right shin bone.
Allowing both legs to gently fall open.
Allowing any tension in your legs to leave your legs and fall into the earth below you.
Pouring down just like water pouring down in a shower drain.
Disappearing.
Feel both feet now.
Your left foot.
Right foot.
Feeling your left sole of the foot.
The left top of the foot.
And all toes on your left foot.
Feeling your left leg and your foot together.
Noticing all the sensations.
Bringing your awareness towards your right heel.
Right sole of your foot.
The top of your right foot.
And feeling all the toes on your right foot.
Allowing your right foot and right leg to just be.
Allowing your whole lower body to just be.
Allowing the whole of your body to rest in this moment.
Feeling your body float in softness.
Enjoying this moment you took for yourself.
Feeling every cell in your body whole,
Complete,
Perfect.
Just as it is.
Rest here for as long as you'd like to.
In this soft space.
In this body that is your home.
Rest here,
Dear one.
Whenever you feel like ending this practice,
Begin to gradually deepen your breath.
Filling yourself up with some more air.
Gently wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Making some circles with your wrists and your ankles.
Making those movements a little bit bigger.
Resting on your side.
And whenever you feel ready,
Gently supporting yourself to sitting back up.
And opening your eyes.
From the bottom of my heart,
Thank you for joining me on this body scan.
Namaste.
