The following exercise is aimed to help us to fully come home to our bodies.
The goal of this practice is to help you feel as comfortable in your skin as you can.
Sometimes we wish we would live in someone else's skin,
Especially if we're feeling empty or vulnerable.
Now if you feel up for it,
I invite you to experiment with this practice.
Go at your own pace and stop if you need to.
If you're used to a normal body scan,
You might find this practice confusing if not irritating.
It is designed to activate a sense of being embraced and held in our bodies,
Not feel specific sensations in the body.
You might want to lie down on a yoga mat or on the sofa or on a bed and make sure that you won't be distracted by anyone during this practice.
Make sure you're warm and comfortable and that there is no unnecessary pressure or tension in your body.
Take your time to get into a posture that is comfortable for you.
And of course you can choose to stay in a seated position.
If you want,
You could even wrap yourself in a cosy blanket to experience extra tenderness and warmth.
And put a pillow behind your head and beneath your knees or lower back if you need that support.
If you like,
Close your eyes fully or partially.
Remember that my words are simply invitations.
If they create distress,
Simply ignore them and do what feels best for you.
This includes giving yourself permission to stop the exercise if distress arises or to think of something pleasant to counteract the difficult emotion.
This doesn't mean that you're failing but instead taking very good care of yourself whilst practicing.
Less is often more when learning to be kind to ourselves.
So let's begin.
Take three deep breaths and simply feel the contact of your body with the mat.
If you like,
Place a hand or two on the centre of your chest and feel the tenderness of the touch.
We usually take our bodies for granted yet they are our faithful friends who work very hard for us on our behalf.
We tend to notice them only when they struggle to function or they change and we start to judge their outer shell.
Yet our bodies are our home for this lifetime.
We only have one home.
Despite our neglect,
Criticism and sometimes actual abuse of our bodies through unwholesome food,
Drink,
Lack of exercise,
Our bodies never abandon us.
They're always by our side.
They continue to perform all their function as best as they can no matter what the conditions are.
Our body will never say to us,
I have enough of not being seen and appreciated by you or you working against me by eating all this junk.
I'm off.
See you.
I will stop to pump blood,
To metabolize food,
To send signals between nerve cells,
Etc.
No,
Our bodies are our most faithful companions.
Of course the body is fragile and impermanent.
This is the very reason why kindness towards our bodies is so essential.
I invite you to simply spend some relaxed and easy time hanging out with this loyal companion of yours and thus warming up your home in this lifetime,
Your body.
Now I invite you to focus on the contact of the body with the surface.
Letting yourself feel how it is to be unconditionally held and supported.
Nothing to do,
Nowhere to go.
Simply resting.
And then becoming aware of how the ground that you're lying on is connected to the surface of the earth.
Widening your perception of the ground to include the whole surface of the earth.
Maybe feeling the gravity from the core of the earth that is grounding us.
If you like imagining that the grounding you're feeling is Mother Earth's way of embracing us and holding us.
Then if it speaks to you,
Maybe imagining that you're being held in Mother Earth's embrace as if being cradled.
Maybe allowing yourself to sink a little deeper into the ground.
Coming to rest and trust.
And receive strength and support from the ground.
Take a moment to notice the sensations of breathing in your body.
Maybe you're able to notice subtle movements.
Of flowing of air.
Of being energized and nourished by the in-breath.
And being gently relaxed by the out-breath.
Maybe savoring the sensations of breathing.
And then noticing the subtle pulsating of your body.
Maybe you can notice the little vibrations.
Feeling how life is flowing through you.
And simply savoring,
Feeling alive right now.
And I invite you now to place one hand on a part of your body where touch feels supportive right now.
And then take a moment to feel the tenderness and maybe the warmth of the touch.
And if you like imagining that your body is the body of a beloved pet or child.
And if you like imagine that there is love and light maybe in the form of warming sunshine.
Flowing from your hand into all parts of your body.
Starting with both feet.
Sending warm sunshine to your feet.
Moving further up into the ankles.
Bathing them in warm pleasant sunshine.
The calves.
The shins.
And bringing affectionate awareness to your knees.
The thighs.
The hips and pelvic region.
Bathing them in affectionate awareness.
Moving up into your belly.
Your chest.
And moving to the spine and the whole back.
Imagining warm sunshine on your back.
All the way up into the shoulders.
Offering affectionate awareness to both arms and hands.
To your neck.
And all the way up into your head.
Letting affectionate light shine into all these parts.
And feeling your body as a whole.
And offering the whole body a bath of love and light.
And bathing it in affectionate awareness.
And imagining that your body is being held in a warm and tender embrace by Mother Earth and the Sun.
Bell.
