Welcome to this body scan meditation.
I invite you to get comfortable,
Either lying down or sitting in a chair,
Getting nice and comfortable just to settle in to this practice.
You may have come here to gain relaxation or calm.
Have a pause or prepare for sleep.
Whatever your reason,
Get comfortable now.
I invite you to start to connect to your breath,
Breathing in through your nose and out through your nose.
And once you've connected to your natural rhythm of breathing,
I want you to breathe in for the count of four.
Hold for a moment at the top and then breathe out of your nose for the count of four.
So follow this breathing pattern now for the rest of your meditation.
Breathing in for four.
A brief pause at the top and then out for four.
I now invite you to connect to the body even further by placing a hand on your belly,
If that feels comfortable for you.
And just gently continuing this breathing,
Feeling the rise and fall of the belly as you breathe.
Perhaps showing kindness to yourself,
Removing any judgement as well.
Just placing your hand on your body,
Feeling the whole body,
Moving and filling it up with air as you breathe and moving down as you breathe out.
So as you continue this breathing,
I'm going to guide you through a body scan meditation.
So I first invite you to bring awareness to your head and your face,
To the muscles around your eyes,
Mouth and at the base of your head.
And I want you to use your inhale to bring awareness to these spaces and to any tension you might be holding here.
Then use your exhale to release that tension.
So inhale with awareness and exhale with relaxation.
Inhale with awareness,
Exhale with relaxation.
Now bring your attention to your neck and shoulders,
Noticing any sensations or tension in this area of the body.
Again,
Removing any judgement,
We're just here to take a look at what's happening in the body.
I invite you again on the inhale to become aware of those spaces that are holding tension in the neck and the shoulders.
And with each breath in,
Just notice those muscles.
Perhaps it's your shoulders held up,
Your neck feeling a little tight.
So use that exhale for a nice relaxed breath to release your neck and your shoulders.
So inhale with that awareness to the tightness and exhale to release.
We're now going to move down towards your chest area and your upper back.
And notice how you're holding yourself here.
Any muscle tension in this area.
Or perhaps noticing how deeply you're breathing.
And try to breathe even more deeply into this area to expand the chest.
And with each breath in,
Again,
Focus on that muscle tension.
And with each out breath,
Release.
The more you inhale and expand,
The more release you'll have on the exhale.
Going to move down now to your arms,
Past your elbows,
To your forearms,
Over the wrists and to the hands and fingers.
Again,
Just noticing any tension or tightness that you might be holding in these areas.
Perhaps in the hands,
Are you clenching your fists or your hands clasped?
Sometimes just wiggling your fingers helps to feel that tension so you can relax it on the release.
So inhale now to heighten that awareness to the tension.
And exhale to release.
Now we're going to move focus to your centre,
Your belly,
Your lower back and pelvic floor.
And just notice your attention as it moves to your hand on your belly if it is still there.
Feeling the breath come into the body.
And the rise and out of the fall.
We're going to focus on the expansion in all directions here,
As if there's a balloon in your belly.
So inhale to expand your belly,
Your back,
Your pelvic floor outward.
And exhale to return to rest.
Inhale to expand.
And exhale to return to rest.
Now bring attention to your upper legs,
Your thighs.
Notice any tension here.
Are you tensing the muscles in your thighs,
Your quadriceps?
On the inhale just notice that tension.
And enjoy your exhale to release.
Inhale with awareness.
Exhale to release.
Next to focus on your lower leg and the calves.
Notice as you scan down past the knees if the knees are bent or locked out.
Just notice on the inhale the tension.
And on the exhale release that tension and relax.
Finally now going down to the feet,
Past the ankles,
To the toes.
Breathe in with awareness to notice any tension.
And exhale to release.
Now as you are here in this moment of stillness,
I want you to bring awareness and attention to any area you noticed that was particularly tight.
Where you experienced most discomfort perhaps.
And I want you to imagine bringing light to these areas to further relax them.
So on the inhale noticing these areas or one area of tightness still in the body.
And on the exhale send light to that area.
Continue to do this.
Inhale with awareness and exhale to relax and send that light.
So as we close on this body scan,
Just pay attention to how your body feels now compared to at the start.
Allow yourself to be here,
To stay here if you can.
And to sink further into relaxation.
And remember you can practice this in your own time.
Bringing awareness through the breath and releasing that tension through the breath.
