And appreciate your body scan meditation.
In this exercise you're invited to lie down in a quiet place and taking care that your body is comfortable,
Warm and well supported.
And if lying down for a long time is not an option for you,
Adjust your position so you can be as comfortable as possible.
Maybe it's sitting or half sitting and allowing the body and the mind to settle.
In this meditation you'll be invited to travel mindfully through every part of the body with a specific attention to cultivate in a deep appreciative relationship to your body.
So becoming mindfully aware of the body as it is right now and really sensing into the surface on which the body is resting and the subtle sensations of air and textures that envelop it.
Surrendering to the force of gravity and letting all the tension go that you do not need to hold on to.
Allowing the body to be soothed and softened by the breath.
Having a sense as if all bodily parts are free to be released from their joints.
Trust in the body will keep itself together without you having to put any effort into it.
Appreciating your body as your faithful companion,
However imperfect it may be,
However vulnerable to injury,
Illness or aging.
Releasing it from having to do anything.
Allowing it to rest in the cradle of your kind and caring awareness and letting it enjoy the peace and stillness of simply being as it is.
And now bringing your attention to the feet,
Welcoming them in your awareness.
Noticing any sensations of temperature or touch,
Lightness or heaviness,
Energy or vibration.
Just realizing how this feet have carried your body to so many places.
From the first day you could walk until now.
What kind wish could you have for your feet?
You can gently work with a soothing breath,
Bringing your attention closer on the in-breath.
Sensing how your feet feel and allowing a fitting kind or compassionate wish to flow towards them on the out-breath.
For example,
May you be healthy and strong or may you feel comfortable and at ease as if they are personal friends,
Treating them with the best intentions.
Appreciating your feet for all their service and mindfully noticing how they receive this kindness and appreciation.
And then traveling through your ankles,
Lower legs,
Knees and upper legs and hips.
Appreciating these parts for enabling you to walk,
To hike,
Bike,
Play sports and dance.
Sensing and appreciating every part,
Muscle group and joint.
Expanding your awareness to your entire legs and allowing waves of kindness and gratitude to flow towards them and noticing how this is received.
Likewise sensing and appreciating your pelvis and spine.
Appreciating their strength and flexibility for keeping you balanced and upright.
Offering these parts of the body kindness and gratitude.
And then traveling on through your abdomen and chest.
Connecting mindfully with the areas where your inner organs reside.
Taking time to realize how they help you function 24 hours a day from the day you came into existence until now.
The wonders of your digestive system.
Extracting nutrition from your food,
Disposing of waste,
Your kidneys,
Managing the balance of minerals and fluids,
Your lungs.
Inhaling and exhaling the air in continual exchange with other living beings.
Your heart and blood vessels circulating the blood that nourishes and detoxifies every part and organ in the body.
Gently sensing and appreciating all these bodily parts.
Offering them kindness and gratitude with every breath and noticing how this is received.
And even when functions are faltering or lost you may appreciate these parts of your body for what they made possible in your life and send them the gratitude for how they served you and what they mean to you right now.
These suffering parts of your body can be an invitation to deepen your practice of compassion,
Patience and acceptance.
Now traveling on through your upper limbs,
Sensing and appreciating your shoulders,
Arms,
Hands and fingers which enable you to move,
Carry things,
Use instruments,
Make gestures,
Touch and feel,
Play music,
Write,
Type,
Create art.
Offering them kindness and gratitude with every breath.
Noticing how the giving and receiving affects you and now sensing and appreciating your neck and throat,
Your mouth,
Tongue and jaws.
Enabling you to eat,
Taste,
Speak,
Your facial muscles,
Enabling you to express what you feel,
Your nose,
Enabling you to breathe and smell,
Your eyes making it possible to see,
Your ears allowing you to hear.
Inviting gratitude to enter all these areas.
Sensing and appreciating the inside of your head,
Where your brain resides.
Continuously processing information,
Coming in and going out,
Communicating with other parts of the body through complicated nervous system,
Through spinal cord and countless nerves and bringing attention to the skin that envelops your body.
Offering protection from what's around you and sensitivity to feel contact,
Texture and temperature,
Perhaps still smooth,
Perhaps wrinkled and scarred.
Offering kindness and appreciation to your skin and finally widening your awareness to your entire body,
Allowing kindness to flow through every cell of the body.
If you wish,
Carried by the rhythm of the breath,
Imagining a wave of appreciation and gratitude flowing with every breath from the crown of your head to the tip of your toes and back again.
Or if it feels more natural to you,
From the center of the body to the surface of your skin and back again.
Allowing the body to rest in a healing bath of kindness,
Compassion,
Appreciation and gratitude.
Honoring this faithful companion,
However vulnerable.
Offering home to your heart and mind since the beginning of your existence until this very day.
You can continue with this practice for as long as you wish,
Taking your time to end this exercise,
Absorbing the effects of the practice,
Perhaps reflecting on what it was like to receive this kindness and appreciation.
At the end of the practice you may wish to move the body in a way it wants to be moved.
Perhaps even do some mindful stretches before you get up and taking this appreciative attitude with you.
