Hi and welcome to this guided meditation.
My name is Lauren and thank you for joining me.
Today or tonight we'll be focusing on paying attention to sensations in the body to prepare for a good night's rest.
We'll do a body scan to be more aware of sensations followed by some relaxed breathing.
First find a comfortable position.
If you're seated you may have the back upright,
Supported or unsupported,
Just as long as you're comfortable.
Or you may lay down,
Maybe even grabbing a pillow or a blanket.
Relax the face and relax the jaw.
Make an intention to settle in to this present moment.
Allow the shoulders to be fully relaxed.
Inhale to bring the shoulders up by the ears and exhale to relax the shoulders.
Settle in to this present moment.
Notice the natural state of the body and notice the natural breath.
Not judging the breath,
Simply allowing it to be.
Usually our awareness is encompassing the whole body at once like a floodlight.
During this meditation we'll imagine a spotlight of awareness focused on specific parts of the body at once.
Visualize a spotlight like a flashlight.
Once you have that flashlight visualized in the mind,
We'll allow this flashlight to land on the left foot,
Just left foot.
Notice all five toes on the left foot and then the foot as a whole.
Allow this light to move up to the lower left leg.
Notice any sensations here.
We won't resist anything,
Simply be aware.
And now notice the left knee and then bring that flashlight up to the upper left leg.
Notice the thigh,
The hamstring,
Each part.
And now notice the left leg as a whole.
Each individual part coming together.
Allow this flashlight to now land on the right foot,
Just the right foot.
Notice each part of the foot,
The toes,
The sole of the foot,
The heel,
The ankle.
Now notice the lower right leg,
The calf,
The shin,
And we won't resist any sensation.
Simply notice what's already there.
Notice the right knee and bring the awareness up to the upper right leg.
During this meditation,
If the mind starts to wander,
Bring the awareness back to this flashlight of awareness moving across the body.
And now become aware of the right leg as a whole,
From the toes of the right foot up to the top of the right leg.
Now become aware of the left hand.
Notice all five fingers on the left hand.
Notice the left wrist,
The lower left arm,
Even the muscles and the bone structure that make up this part of the body,
The left elbow,
The upper left arm,
The left shoulder.
And now the left arm as a whole.
Bring this flashlight of awareness to the body.
Allow the flashlight to land on the right hand,
Noticing all five fingers,
The lower right arm,
Any sensations,
The elbow,
The upper right arm,
And now the right shoulder.
Noticing any sensations,
Not judging,
Simply noticing the right arm as a whole.
Bring this flashlight of awareness now to the lower spine with your mind's eye.
I'm going to trace a line of awareness with this spotlight up the spine.
Begin with the lower lumbar spine,
Slowly tracing a line of awareness up behind the belly button,
And then behind the chest,
And then up behind the throat,
And up at the base of the skull.
Bring the spotlight to the belly,
The front of the torso.
Notice the breath coming in and the breath going out.
Notice the chest.
And now bring the awareness up into the face.
Become aware of the chin,
The jaw,
The ears,
And the eyes.
Become aware of the forehead,
Any sensations or tension in this part of the body.
And now to the extent that it's possible,
Bring your awareness to the brain inside of the head.
Bring the awareness,
The spotlight,
The flashlight of awareness to the brain inside of the head.
Notice any sensations here.
And now expanding our flashlight of awareness to encompass the entire body at once.
The full body from the toes all the way up to the crown of the head.
All individual parts of the body coming to one.
Notice this body as the vehicle through which we live our life.
It's simply the vehicle that carries us from day to day.
And express gratitude for this vehicle of life that is the body.
Say to this body,
I am thankful.
And now we'll shift the awareness to the breath with this full awareness of the entire body.
Let's bring our awareness to the breath.
Breath coming in through the nose,
Breath going out through the nose.
Each breath coming in,
The breath going out.
We won't change anything in particular about the breath.
Simply allow the breath to naturally soften,
Deepen.
Notice the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale.
Allow this breath to be natural.
Allow it to be normal.
Allow your breath to guide the mind into stillness.
The breath coming in through the nose,
The breath going out through the nose.
Feel this breath on the inhale going down deep into the belly.
And on the exhale the breath coming out into the atmosphere.
Inhale and exhale.
Take a moment here to simply notice the breath without my guidance.
If the mind does start to wander,
It's okay.
Simply come back to the natural normal breath.
And now allow the body to become heavy.
Allow the body to become heavy.
Allow the face to soften.
Notice any tension in the face,
In the shoulders,
The arms,
And the legs.
Release.
Let go.
Allow the body to become heavy.
And now I invite you to gently make your way out of the meditation to continue your night's rest and have a good sleep.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
The light in me acknowledges the light in you.
Namaste.
