Body Scan Nightcap Relaxation

Welcome to this guided meditation.

My name is Angela,

And today we will be doing a body scan.

Gently close your eyes,

Get into a relaxed,

Comfortable position,

Letting your breath rise and fall naturally as we guide our attention towards our bodies,

Giving it the nurturance in our mind,

Being able to hold it in a safe space as we get into deep relaxation,

Directing our attention to our breath,

Letting ourselves breathe in relaxation and exhaling tension,

Breathing in relaxation and exhaling tension,

Bringing our attention to the top of our head,

Just noticing the sensations you feel in the top of your head,

And letting yourself feel the relaxation of your body,

Letting it rest.

You've been thinking all day,

Your mind has been working hard,

Remembering,

Processing,

Planning,

Analyzing,

Just allowing yourself to relax that space of your body,

Letting it rest.

Starting with our attention at the top of our head,

Just allowing ourselves to put our focus there,

Noticing all the energy that we exert throughout the day,

With the processing and thinking and remembering and planning,

And just slowing it down,

Letting our mind relax,

Letting our mind replenish throughout the night so it can rest for now and be energized and focused in the morning,

And directing our attention,

Scanning down our face,

And just putting our attention on our eyes,

Just letting our eyes rest as they've been focusing on looking out into the world,

Seeing our friends,

Our family,

Our coworkers,

People in our lives,

The beautiful surroundings outside throughout the day,

And just letting our eyes rest and relax and be energized.

And just letting our eyes rest and relax for the night and shifting our attention to our nose as it's taken in the scents throughout the day,

The outside air,

The smells of our meals throughout the day,

Just noticing our attention towards our nose and letting our nose relax for the night,

And shifting our attention,

Scanning it down to our lips and our mouth,

And just noticing that it's done a lot of work throughout the day,

And it's been allowing us to take in food to energize us,

And allowing us to speak and have our voice and connect with others in our lives,

And just letting ourselves just relax our mouths just for the night,

So it can be replenished and rejuvenated for the morning,

And shifting our attention to our neck,

Our throat,

And just letting ourselves relax into that space.

As we've noticed,

It's done such a good job just really allowing ourselves to digest food and hold up our heads,

Allowing ourselves to just relax this very important part of our bodies.

Just let it just rest for the night,

As you slowly shift your attention to your shoulders,

Just notice the sensations in your shoulders.

If there's tension,

If there's tightness,

Numbness,

Just giving attention to that space of your body,

As your shoulders have been carrying you through the day with your posture,

Just all the energy that's exerted there throughout the day,

And just allowing yourself to just give it a break for the night.

And as we scan down through our chest,

Holding our lungs and just noticing that space as you inhale and you mindfully exhale,

And all the work that your lungs and your chest have been doing throughout the day,

Allowing you to take in oxygen and exhale that oxygen naturally.

Just letting yourself notice the rise and fall that your body naturally sinks into as you take in the oxygen throughout the day and you exhale naturally,

Just allowing yourself to sink into that space,

Just relaxing your chest and that part of your body for the night so it can be strong in the morning.

Now scanning down,

Putting your attention on your core,

Your midsection,

Your stomach,

Noticing all the energy that happens there throughout the day without you even thinking about it,

Digesting the food that you consume,

Letting your body be able to be rejuvenated and strong and all these natural processes that happen to take care of your body on its own,

Just letting your attention just focus on that part of your body,

On your stomach,

Your muscles,

Just relaxing into that space,

Just letting go and sinking into that space of relaxation,

Just letting your body just get rejuvenated for the night,

It can be strong in the morning.

And shifting your attention to your limbs and just noticing the sensations in your arms,

Just letting yourself just be aware of all the work that your arms do throughout the day and with gratitude in that space that they help you carry what's important to you,

They help you be able to be strong,

They help you to be able to lift what's important to you,

Allowing yourself to just focus on that part of your body,

Just noticing those muscles and the sensations that you feel against your skin,

Just letting go and relaxing into that space,

Just letting your arms take a rest for the night and shifting your attention to your hands,

Your wrists,

Your fingers,

Just really being grateful for what they do and they give you and they allow you throughout the day,

Allowing you to hold and touch your loved ones,

Allowing you to take care of yourself,

Allowing you to communicate with other people through written word,

Through technology,

Just really being in a place of gratitude for all the work that you're able to do with your hands and just letting them relax for the night,

Just sitting in that space,

Just noticing yourself letting go and allowing them to relax.

Now shifting your attention,

Scanning down your body towards your hips and just noticing what that feels like to put your attention just on that isolated part of your body,

On your hips,

Just noticing if you feel any tension,

Tightness,

Pain,

Any sensations whatsoever and just recognizing how important this part of our body is as they carry us through the day,

Letting ourselves just be grateful for that part of our body and mindfully giving our hips permission to just relax for the night and to take a little break so they could be rejuvenated for the morning.

Now scanning down our body towards our thighs,

Towards our knees,

Noticing this area of our body that our legs are so important as they give us the benefit of being able to go to different places around the world,

Being able to really create change of environment,

Be able to really just carry us from moment to moment,

Noticing what it feels like to put your attention on your legs.

Every part of your leg needs attention and scanning down towards your calves,

Just letting your body relax into that space,

Letting your legs relax into that space,

Giving your legs permission to just take a break and having gratitude for what they've done and feel strong and rejuvenated in the morning.

And scanning down towards your feet,

Just noticing the sensations in your feet as you wiggle your toes,

Just relaxing into this space,

Giving yourself permission to be grateful for your feet,

Allowing you to feel grounded throughout the day,

Holding you up,

Doing such a great job,

Such an important job,

Carrying you through the world,

Through your day,

And now giving your feet permission to just take a break.

And as you slowly just let yourself feel what it's like to let your body sink into a space of deep relaxation as you have given every single body part permission to just take a rest for the night and be in a place of gratitude,

Letting yourself breathe in relaxation and exhaling tension.

One more time,

Breathing in relaxation and exhaling tension.

Exhaling tension,

Thank you for listening.