Hello and welcome to this 10-minute body scan meditation for busy people.
My name is Maria and I know what it's like to be busy.
I know what it's like to have a long to-do list.
That feeling of overwhelm,
Of not knowing where to start or how to get through it all and thanking you for taking this time out of your busy schedule and giving it a go.
So let's start by placing your feet,
Feeling your feet planted against the floor,
Feeling that connection to the earth.
Gently starting to close your eyes and move into a comfortable position for the next 10 minutes or so.
Relaxing the mind,
Relaxing the body and imagining there's a shelf next to you and picking up your to-do list,
Placing it on that shelf and leaving it there for the rest of this meditation.
It will be there at the end when you get back to it but for now focusing on your breath as we move through this body scan meditation.
Feeling your feet against the floor,
Inviting you to place one hand on your heart on the left side of your chest and the other hand on your belly below your stomach as we take a few big deep breaths together.
Starting with the first big deep breath in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth.
You may like to sigh it out.
Another big deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
One more big deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and continuing with your breath at your own pace in whatever form works for you.
You may like to continue breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth or you may like to breathe in through the nose and out through the nose or some other combination that works for you.
With every breath in noticing the expansion in your belly and with every breath out noticing the contraction in your belly and with every breath in breathing in all that you'd love to breathe in for yourself and with every breath out breathing out anything that you'd love to release that's not supporting you right now.
Going back to your feet feeling them against the floor,
Against the earth,
A sense of groundedness.
We start to move up towards the top part of the body.
If there's at any point if there's any tension or pain that you might be feeling imagine visualizing a green light traveling through that part of the body.
Feeling your feet against the floor,
Focusing your attention,
Your awareness,
Your breath on your feet.
You may like to allow some gentle movement gently pressing in with the heels pressing in with the toes and noticing the sensations through your feet.
Moving your way up towards your calves,
The lower part of the legs,
Focusing your attention,
Your awareness,
Your breath on the calves.
Allowing some gentle movement through the calves,
Up and down,
Left to right,
Back and forth and noticing how that feels,
Noticing the sensations through your calves.
Moving up towards the knees,
That part of the body that joins the upper and lower legs,
Breathing in through the knees,
Allowing some gentle movement,
Visualizing the green light through your knees if there's any tension,
Any pain and noticing the sensations through your knees.
Moving up to the thighs,
The upper part of the legs,
Breathing in through the thighs,
Allowing some gentle movement,
Left to right,
Back and forth.
Noticing how that feels,
Noticing the sensations through your thighs.
Moving up towards the upper part of the body,
The lower back,
The spine,
Breathing in through the lower back and spine,
Visualizing a green light traveling up and down your spine,
Noticing how that feels.
If there's any tension,
There's any support that may feel lacking through your lower back,
Through your spine,
That part of the body that keeps it all together in one piece,
Noticing the sensations.
Moving up towards the belly,
Below the stomach for the next few breaths,
Big deep belly breaths,
Noticing how that feels in your gut,
Your gut instinct,
The gut feeling and noticing what arises,
The sensations.
You may like to place one hand on your belly,
The other hand on your heart for the next few breaths,
Breathing in through the heart,
Breathing in through the belly and just noticing how that feels.
You may like to now place both hands on your heart for the next few breaths and really feeling into your heart and noticing the sensations through your heart,
Noticing the green light traveling in and around your heart and noticing what arises through your heart.
Can you feel your heart pumping?
Can you count your heartbeats through each breath?
Gently bringing your hands down and around your neck and throat area.
If you like,
You may like to gently pat around your neck and throat area,
Focusing your awareness,
Attention,
Your breath around your neck and throat area and just noticing how that feels,
Maybe feeling tight or congested and maybe something there wanting to be released through your voice,
Just noticing the sensations through your neck and throat area.
Moving your attention to your third eye,
That spot between the eyebrows on your forehead,
Just focusing your breath on your third eye and noticing any sensations,
Any thoughts or feelings coming through right now.
Moving your attention,
Awareness and breath up to your head,
You may like to place one hand on top of your head and the other hand on top of that hand and rest there for the next few breaths,
Knowing that we've reached from the bottom of the feet,
We've reached the top of the head and just noticing how that feels.
Are there any thoughts or feelings coming through right now,
Any sensations?
Do you feel tingling?
Placing your hands down to relax wherever it feels right for you and just noticing how it feels for you right now,
Perhaps your mind is a bit more relaxed,
Perhaps your body is a bit more relaxed and inviting you to now go back to that shelf that's next to you,
Picking up that to-do list,
You don't need to look at the contents of it again right now,
But imagining opening up your eyes and when you do look at that to-do list,
Feeling like your mind and body has had a reset,
Feeling recharged,
Imagine feeling re-energized and ready to tackle that to-do list again,
Imagine what that would be like,
Gently starting to wiggle your fingers,
Wiggle your toes and opening your eyes when you're ready.