Hello and welcome to this short body scan meditation.
This guided meditation will hopefully help you to deeply relax and become truly present with yourself and your body.
I invite you to start by finding a comfortable position.
You might choose to lie down through this practice or find a comfortable seat,
Whichever works best for you today.
But find a position that you can maintain long enough for this meditation,
Which will be around 10 minutes.
If you find that you need to move during the practice,
Know that that is completely okay,
But try to do so slowly and mindfully,
Holding on to your meditative state.
Once you are settled,
You can start to soften through the eyes,
Maybe allowing them to close if that's comfortable.
We will start by taking a few deep breaths.
Take a deep inhale,
Filling up the lungs as far as you can go.
And when you are ready,
Let it all out through the mouth,
Releasing.
Let's do that two more times.
Deep inhale.
Deep exhale.
Deep inhale,
Fill in the lungs.
Deep exhale,
Sigh it all away.
And then allowing the breath to settle.
Just resting in the natural rhythm of your breath.
Observing the gentle rise and fall of the abdomen,
Of the lungs.
And we'll begin to guide the awareness around the body.
When I mention a body part,
Simply bring your awareness there,
Giving yourself a moment to compassionately drop into your body and to listen to it.
Welcome any sensations,
Knowing there is nothing to change,
Nothing to fix,
You are just simply observing.
Starting with the top of the head,
Notice any sensations at your crown.
Bringing awareness to your forehead.
The right eye.
The left eye.
The nose.
The nostrils.
The flow of sensation inside your nostrils.
Maybe even noticing a coolness as you inhale.
And as you exhale the air might feel a little warmer.
And allowing the awareness to come to the lips.
The right cheek.
The left cheek.
Then aware of the whole face.
Soft,
Relaxed.
And bringing the awareness to the back of the head.
The neck.
The left shoulder.
The left upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
Wrist.
Back of the left hand.
Palm of the left hand.
The thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
And fifth.
The whole left hand.
The whole left arm.
Relaxed and at ease.
And then bringing your awareness to your right shoulder.
Right upper arm.
Elbow.
Forearm.
Wrist.
Back of the right hand.
Palm of the right hand.
The thumb.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Fourth finger.
And fifth.
The whole right hand.
The whole right arm.
Relaxed and at ease.
Noticing any sensations through both of the arms.
Notice whatever is present.
If there is any tension.
Allow that tension to move from your shoulders down through your arms,
Your wrists,
Hands and fingers.
And allow the tension to move beyond the tips of your fingers and release out of the body.
Then bringing the awareness to the base of the throat.
The collarbones.
The heart.
The abdomen.
Allowing the awareness to settle on the gentle rise and fall through your chest and abdomen as you breathe in and out.
Watching this natural flow of the breath.
And then drawing the awareness towards your left hip.
Left thigh.
Knee.
Lower leg.
Ankle.
The left foot.
The whole left leg.
Relaxed and at ease.
The right hip.
The right thigh.
The right knee.
The right lower leg.
The ankle and the right foot.
The whole right leg.
Relaxed and at ease.
Noticing any sensations through both of the legs.
Through both of the feet.
Bring your awareness to your tailbone.
The lower back.
Middle of the back.
Upper back.
The back of the head.
And the top of the head.
Awareness resting in the entire body.
And as you continue breathing in and out.
Notice the whole body from the top of the head all the way down to your toes.
Perhaps even visualising this breath travelling through the body.
As you inhale imagining the breath travelling up through the soles of the feet.
Through the legs and the torso all the way to the crown of the head.
And as you exhale this breath travels all the way back down.
And back out through the soles of the feet through the toes.
Staying with a sense of the whole body for a few more breaths.
Welcoming any sensations.
Feeling yourself as an observer.
As the spacious awareness in which all these sensations are coming and going.
We will now begin a slow and gentle return.
Starting to just feel the surface beneath you.
The room around you.
Maybe noticing any sounds that you can hear.
And then you can start to introduce some gentle movement through fingers and toes.
And I invite you to bring your hands to rest over your stomach and your heart.
Taking a moment here to thank yourself for making it to this practice today.
Thanking your mind for being kind and compassionate to yourself.
Thanking your body for everything that it does for you.
And then when you are ready slowly fluttering open the eyes.
Holding on to this calmness and compassion that you have cultivated.
And from my heart to yours thank you.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
