Hello and welcome.
My name is Katie Kamalameh and today I would like to lead us through a short mindfulness of body practice.
So let's start by finding a good seat,
Sitting up on a cushion or a chair and finding a posture that supports an energy of being alert and awake.
Yet at ease.
And if there's anything you can do to make yourself even just slightly more comfortable,
Please do so now.
And to begin we can invite a few deep breaths into the body as a way to come into this moment,
Come into our bodies.
And then allowing the breath to rest in its own natural rate and rhythm.
And allowing the awareness to follow,
Gathering the awareness in the,
To the sensations of the breath.
And spending a few moments here just feeling the inhale,
Feeling the exhale,
Noticing the breath in the nose as the air moves in and out,
Noticing any movement of the chest with the inhale and the exhale.
And noticing if the belly is involved with the breathing.
Maybe it expands outward on the inhale and softens back on the exhale.
And going even deeper with the sensations of breathing,
See if you can feel the breath from the inside out.
And from here we will begin to scan the body with an interested,
Curious listening.
By bringing awareness to the jaw and the mouth,
On the next inhale,
Just gently opening the jaw,
Maybe sticking the tongue out.
And on the exhale,
Softly closing the jaw,
Allowing the lips to gently seal.
The tongue rests in the bottom of the mouth,
Allowing the inside of the mouth to have spaciousness.
And then awareness is drawn to the cheeks.
And on the next inhale,
Squeezing the muscles of the cheeks and the lips together.
Good.
And on the exhale,
Just relaxing the muscles of the cheeks,
The lips,
The mouth.
Just noticing any sensation that's here.
There's any tension that may still be present,
Giving it permission to relax.
Awareness now to the eyes and the eyelids.
On your next inhale,
Squeezing the eyes shut.
Good.
Exhale,
Allowing them to relax.
And taking a few moments here to allow the eyes to be heavy in their sockets.
Allowing all those little muscles around the eyes to relax.
Awareness now to the eyebrows and the forehead,
The space in between the eyebrows.
And on your next inhale,
Lifting the eyebrows up.
And then exhale,
The eyebrows relax,
The forehead relaxes,
The space between the eyebrows soft.
Feeling into the scalp,
Open to any sensations that are present here.
And finding the crown of the head,
The highest point on the back top of the head.
Can you sense into this area?
And subtly allow it to reach up towards the sky,
Lengthening the neck,
Lengthening the back of the body.
Awareness is now drawn to the shoulders.
On your next inhale,
Lifting the shoulders up towards the ears.
And then on the exhale,
Dropping them down,
Resting them away from the ears.
Just sensing into any feelings,
Any sensations from the shoulders.
Seeing if you can feel the shoulders from the inside out.
Sensing into the upper arms,
The forearms,
Down into the hands.
Sensing deep into the hands,
Noticing anything that's moving.
Anything that's alive right now,
Any sensations present in the hands.
Listening to what's right here.
Becoming intimate with our bodies in this way.
Deeply listening.
Awareness now inside of the chest.
Sensing the heart,
The lungs,
The ribs,
This play of sensation.
The wave of the breath.
Inhaling,
Inflating,
Opening.
Exhaling,
Settling,
Softening.
Relaxing the belly.
The breath being received in a softening belly.
This breath and this one.
Receptive,
Open.
Aliveness deep in the torso.
As if each of our trillions of cells have ears of their own and they're listening just as it is.
Life right here.
The pelvis filled with awareness.
Open to the dance of sensation here.
Aware of the parts of you touching the surface beneath you.
Noticing any pressure or warmth.
Awareness drawn into the knees.
Receptive to any sensations present here within the knees.
Feeling the knees from the inside out.
Awareness to the feet.
Sensing any play of sensation in the soles of the feet.
Vibrating,
Tingling.
The feet alive with sensation.
Awareness spans to the whole body now as a field of sensation.
As if the whole body could breathe in and breathe out.
Whole body breathing.
Receptive,
Awake.
Whole body breathing.
Notice if the mind has wandered or if you are in some way judging yourself for this practice.
Be aware of it and gently reopen to the experience.
Soften.
This is our practice.
Hands soft.
Shoulders relaxed.
Awareness of the body breathing.
The Sufi poet Rumi asks,
Do you pay frequent visits to yourself?
To really experience what's happening in life,
We need to be in our bodies.
And we'll begin to bring this practice to a close.
And I'd like to read you a quote from Pema Chodron.
She says,
It's helpful to realize that this very body that we have that is sitting right here,
Right now with its aches and its pleasures is exactly what we need to be fully human,
Fully aware.
Fully awake.
Fully alive.
I'm taking just a few moments here to observe the quality of presence that we've cultivated.
And just as we began this practice,
Invite a few deep breaths into the body in any way that feels right.
It may feel good to move your shoulders,
Your arms,
Stretch your neck.
Allowing the body to guide you in the best way to come out of this practice.
And as you move about the rest of your day,
Your evening,
Your night,
May you continue to feel and continue to inhabit your bodies in an awake,
Present way.
Thank you so much for showing up and I hope to be with you soon.
Namaste.
