This is a body scan.
You're welcome to lie down.
If you're somebody that has any issues sitting for longish periods of time,
This would be a great choice to lie down.
If you're somebody who passes out every time you lie down,
Maybe not a great choice because we might lose you.
So that's the decision you're going to have to make.
Whatever position you're in,
Seated or lying down,
I would like you to be really,
Really comfortable.
So in a chair,
You'd have your feet on the floor,
If you're sitting cross-legged on the floor or cushion or something like that,
Make sure that's something that you can sustain easily.
Lots of people meditate like that.
I do.
But you know,
Sometimes our bodies don't like that,
Even today.
So think about that.
If you're in a chair,
You know,
You really want to make sure you're in a chair in a way where your spine is long and you can support your body with your muscles.
You don't want to be leaning back into the chair as your spine rounds.
It's going to be harder and harder as time goes on to sustain that.
So it's okay to have some support,
But imagine yourself bringing your top of your head towards the ceiling in a relaxed way.
So as we begin,
You can let your eyes close.
Anytime,
You can always open your eyes again,
If you need to reorient or bring yourself back into the present,
If your mind has taken over,
Your thoughts have taken over,
Take a breath and just close your eyes and return to the meditation we're doing.
And as you get there,
Begin to feel your breath.
You don't have to do anything with that.
Just notice that you are breathing.
And whatever way is simple for you.
And to notice your body,
You may notice where your body is touching the floor.
If you're lying down on the couch or the bed,
If you're seated,
You might notice where your seat hits your chair cushion,
Your feet on the floor,
Notice how that feels.
And use that awareness to expand to a general sense of your body in general,
Your whole body.
See what you can feel.
Send a message to yourself by saying to yourself,
I am here in this body right now.
I've chosen to be here.
I have nothing else to do right now,
But be here in my body.
And you can repeat a few words that are similar to yourself about being here now in your body.
Now let's all bring our attention down to our feet.
Notice that you have feet,
Toes,
Your right side of your big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And your little toe.
Let's bend like that.
Bring your attention to one big toe,
Then the other,
Second toes,
Third toes,
Fourth toes,
The soles of your feet,
Your heels,
Pop up your foot,
Feel your whole foot,
Both sides,
Feel your feet,
Your awareness,
Notice your lower legs,
Notice the calves,
Tendons below that,
Shins,
Bones and muscles of the lower legs,
Maybe the energetic sense you might get when you bring your attention to your lower legs.
Lower legs and feet.
Let's bring our attention to our kneecaps,
Space behind our knees,
Higher knee joints,
And chin floats up to the thighs,
Fronts of the thighs,
Skin,
Muscle,
Bone,
And energy.
Backs of the thighs,
Outer and inner thighs,
As we get a sense of the full upper legs.
Let that awareness float up to our pelvis,
Hips,
Glutes,
All the muscles,
Bones,
And organs located in and around our pelvis.
Allow the awareness to really float between the pelvis,
The hips,
The upper and lower legs,
And the feet.
Let's choose to move our attention to our lower back and sacrum,
Lower spine,
Bones,
All the muscles attached there,
Even the skin.
And we can let that awareness permeate into our organs,
Our belly,
The whole lower torso,
Sensing with the mind's eye,
Not thinking,
Just feeling.
The awareness float up to the mid-back,
Muscles and bones,
Ribs,
They attach in the back,
Move around to the front of your torso,
Chest,
Organs,
Skin,
And bones.
You know,
The felt sense of the energy there,
You know,
The whole torso,
Lower,
Middle,
And upper back,
Belly,
Ribs,
And chest.
Listening,
Feeling,
Relaxing into the information that's moving from your awareness to your mind.
Let's choose to bring our attention to our hands,
Your fingers,
Body of the hand,
The back and the front of the hand,
The arms,
Lower arm,
Forearm.
That awareness can move into the elbows,
Fronts and backs of the upper arms.
And we feel both arms at the same time,
Arms,
Hands,
Fingers,
Skin,
Muscles,
Bones,
And energy.
What is our felt sense of our arms?
Shoulders,
And back of the neck,
Shoulder blades,
Upper spine,
And all the way down to the head.
All the muscles and tendons and ligaments that attach them.
How that felt sense of awareness to move also to the front of the neck,
The jaw,
The lips and tongue,
Spaciousness within the mouth,
The nose,
The eyes,
The whole face,
Healing,
And that openness to feeling to extend the whole head.
You know,
The flow of being able to sense,
The flow of feeling and sensing from your head through your torso and arms,
Pelvis,
Legs,
To the feet.
Your whole body still in the same place.
Feel your whole body still and moving.
Muscles,
Bones,
And energy sitting or lying here.
Feel your whole body.
As we allow ourselves to sink into that feeling for a few minutes.
Slowly begin to deepen your breathing,
Feeling the breath move in and out of your body.
Notice the state of your mind,
Speed and nature of any thoughts that may be arising or lack thereof.
Gently thank your body and mind for participating.
Notice the desire or lack of desire to move right now.
This concludes our first practice.
