Compassionate Embodied Body Scan To Let Go Of The Mind

Welcome to this embodied body scan meditation An invitation to journey through the body To quieten the mind for a while To let go of the busyness of the world To come home to ourselves To our body Coming back into presence To the aliveness that's always present within us And finding that anchoring,

That rooting within the home that is our body Beginning by finding a comfortable position You might be lying down Or finding a comfortable reclined seated position What is most important is that you are comfortable Using any props you need,

Cushions,

Pillows,

Blankets to find comfort and ease And as you settle,

Reminding yourself that in this moment You are safe,

You are warm and you are unconditionally supported by the surface beneath you Beginning to attune to your breath Sensing the breath flowing in and out of the body A gentle invitation,

A gentle call to draw your awareness inwards Noticing all the sensations of the breath At the rim of your nostrils,

In the back of the throat In your chest,

Perhaps in your abdomen Noticing how long or short your breathing might be How deep or shallow How easeful or contracted We're not looking for any right way or wrong way here We're simply being curious about the sensations of breathing The sensation of being breathed And you might notice where you're feeling the breath the most Or where you feel it the least You might notice the contrast between the sensations of your inhale And the sensations of your exhale Sensing or imagining the breath to be a gentle compassionate stroke An invitation within And then slowly noticing within your body any part of the body that may feel okay Comfortable,

Safe in this moment And that might just be the little toe of your right foot Or it might be a slightly more expensive area within the body But sensing into that feeling of okayness,

Comfort,

Perhaps safety And knowing that as I guide you through the body This is a place you can always come back to At any point my invitations feel unsafe or uncomfortable for you Simply ignore my voice and come back to what feels safe and comfortable And that might simply be noticing the touch points between your body And the support beneath you and reminding yourself that you are held Now slowly drawing your awareness to the feet Beginning to notice the tips of your toes The soles of the feet The heels Noticing the front of the feet And inviting your awareness to drop within the feet Sensing or imagining all these tiny bones Noticing any sensations that may be present Sensing within the feet Remembering that we're not looking for anything in particular There is no right or wrong way of doing this body scan We are just being curious about what's present and alive in the body in this moment And slowly inviting your awareness to rise into the ankles The ankle bone within the ankle And inviting your awareness to move into the calf muscles Into the shins Inhabiting the lower legs and the ankles and the feet more fully As if you were slipping into your body suit with curiosity and openness And slowly drawing your awareness into the knees and the knee joint Front of the knee Back of the knee Inside the knee And inviting your awareness to rise into the thighs The quad muscles Noticing what's present What's here,

What's alive in these parts of your body What sensations,

Currents,

Sense of heat or cold,

Pressure or ease might be present And then inviting your awareness to rise into the hips Sensing into your right hip The ball and socket joints Noticing how loose or tight the right hip joint might be Noticing sensations within the hip And then slowly moving over to the left hip Inhabiting the left hip more fully Sensing into the inner sensations within the hip The ball and socket joints How easeful or contracted Tight or loose No right or wrong Simply welcoming what's present with this quality of openness,

Curiosity and kindness And inviting your awareness into the pelvic ball Dropping into the pelvic ball with your awareness Feeling into any sensations that may be present here Remembering that if at any moment You are meeting sensations that feel a little overwhelming or too strong You can always return to the place within your body that feels okay Comfortable or safe Now enveloping both legs and both hips with your awareness Beginning by sensing the legs all the way to your waist from the outside in You might notice sensations on your skin You might notice sensations of pressure Where the body meets the support beneath you And then inviting your awareness to drop that little deeper into both legs,

Both feet,

Both hips As if you were once again slipping into this bodysuit What is alive in those parts of your body in this moment?

What sensations are you noticing?

Any tingling,

Buzzing,

Vibrating,

Glowing?

Nothing at all and that's okay too Any sensation of temperature,

Warm or cold Any sensation of flow or contraction Remembering that all is welcome here Welcoming your feet,

Ankles,

Legs and hips just as they are No need to change anything at all And then slowly inviting your awareness to rise into your abdomen Sensing into the abdomen,

Diving a little more deeply into the sensations within the abdomen What's here?

What's present?

What's alive within you in the abdomen?

And can we welcome it with kindness and openness?

And inviting your awareness to rise into the chest and the heart center You might notice here the sensation of the breath The lungs filling and expanding The lungs deflating and softening You might notice or sense into the ribs separating and expanding as you breathe in And coming slightly back together as you breathe out You might sense or imagine your heart gently beating in the chest What sensations are present here?

What's alive within you?

Can we welcome these sensations with that quality of kindness,

Curiosity and openness?

Nothing here needs fixing Allowing your awareness to move into the shoulders,

Into the shoulder joints Noticing whatever you're noticing Can you feel into the shoulder joint a little bit more deeply?

Allowing your awareness to glide into your arms,

Into your wrists And feeling into the arms from the outside in Once again you might sense the cool or the warm air around you gently touching your arms You might sense the points where your arms are resting on the support Now what would it feel like to inhabit the arms with your awareness?

What might you notice?

Are there sensations of spaciousness,

Ease,

Openness or sensations of tightness,

Contraction?

Welcoming whatever you find with kindness and openness Now drawing your awareness to the palms of your hands To the tip of your fingers To the back of your hands To the space between the fingers Inviting your awareness to inhabit the hands as if you were slipping gloves on Sensing into all the sensations that are alive and present within your hands in this moment They may be buzzing or tingling Glowing,

Vibrating,

Pulsing,

Warmth or cold They may be nothing at all Simply being with what's here,

Welcoming your hands just as they are Feeling into the hands Once again noticing what happens when you lay your awareness inside the hands And then inviting your awareness to rise back into the arms and the shoulders And into the neck and the throat Once again noticing what's present within the neck and the throat Is there a sense of ease and openness or a sense of contraction and tension?

Welcoming whatever you find with kindness Inviting the awareness into the face Sensing into the eyes The ears The nose The cheeks The jaws The inside of the mouth The chin And sensing into the whole face What sensations are present,

What's alive here In this part of your body in this moment Noticing what you're noticing Letting go of any expectations and being present with what's here And then inviting your awareness to the back of the head Perhaps noticing how the back of your head meets the support beneath you Inviting your awareness to glide down into the upper back The middle back and the lower back Inviting your awareness into the whole back Sensing into the surface of your back You might notice the fabric of your clothing resting on the back You might notice the points where your back meets the support beneath you Can you sense more deeply into the spine,

The vertebra The space between the back and the front of the body Sensing into the whole of the upper body The torso,

The arms,

The neck and the head Imagining as you breathe in and out that the breath is permeating every cell in your upper body As if each cell was breathing in and out Inhabiting as fully as is available to you the whole of the upper body Sensing into whatever may be alive and present in the upper body And then inviting your awareness into the whole of the lower body The feet,

The legs and the hips Inhabiting those parts of the body as fully as is available to you And then bringing your awareness to the entire body,

The body as a whole Resting your awareness within the whole body Each cell within the body breathing in and out The whole body expanding with the breath and softening with the exhale Noticing sensations present in your whole body Welcoming whatever you find with that quality of openness and kindness Awareness of the whole body And let's rest in this awareness,

Breathing in and out of the whole body Sensing the breath inhabiting every cell,

Every corner,

Every curve For a few more moments Inhabiting the whole body One whole field of sensations,

Currents,

Feelings,

Emotions The entire body Sensing into the aliveness that is present in our body moment to moment The richness of our moment to moment experience when we allow ourselves to feel The body as an instrument through which we meet life Each cell,

Each part of the body Contributing to the symphony of our sensations and feelings And moment to moment experience Let's take another moment here And with all of this awareness of how your body is feeling in this moment What is it that you might need as we come to an end in our meditation?

What is it that you might need to support yourself through the rest of your day?

To honor your body?

Let's take a few deeper breaths together as you breathe in Bringing all this energy back into the body Sensing into whatever is present And as you exhale,

Allowing yourself to settle in this moment To feel the body resting on its support As you breathe in once again,

Feeling into the aliveness The energy that is within your body in this moment As you exhale,

Softening,

Allowing yourself to be present To be received by the support beneath you And one last time,

Let's breathe in deeply together Feeling that aliveness of the breath permeating every curve in our body And as we exhale,

Perhaps expressing a moment of gratitude for how hard the body works for us And vowing to honor and be in devotion of our body through the rest of the day Thank you for joining me in this journey into our body today Remember that when the mind feels hectic and busy And the world outside feels too much If it feels supportive for you,

You can always come home to your body