Body Scan for Grounding & Appreciation

You you Allow your body to settle and melt into the earth Into the props that might be beneath you And as you settle in Allow your awareness to land on the places your body connects to the earth The props or whatever is beneath you And as you Allow your awareness to settle onto these points of contact Can you grant yourself permission to sink a little heavier into These places And allow your awareness to move to your breath At first noticing maybe the sound or the texture of your breath And then letting your awareness land more on the sensations of your breath Maybe the rise and fall of your belly or your chest Maybe the expansion of your ribs is what you notice And this practice is more about Noticing your physical body Noticing the sensations contained within the physical body Even maybe the emotions contained within it And maybe the emotions contained within it Bring your awareness to the thumb of your right hand Not really seeking out anything in particular But rather Just noticing whatever is present at the thumb of your right hand Then shift your awareness to the index finger or the pointer finger of your right hand and notice Whatever is there Not trying to change anything Just simply noticing whatever is present Then bring your awareness to the middle finger of your right hand Becoming aware of what is in your middle finger And slowly taking your awareness to the ring finger The third finger of your right hand And again paying attention to whatever is there without judgement Draw your attention to the little finger,

The pinky finger Of your right hand Allow your awareness to shift to the palm of your right hand Noticing just the palm of the right hand,

Whatever is present Starting to become aware of your wrist,

Forgetting about what you noticed in your palm Only giving attention to the wrist Let your awareness shift up to the forearm,

The lower portion of the forearm Noticing whatever is there Then let the awareness move up to your right elbow,

Bringing all of your attention,

All of your focus To just the elbow of the right arm What do you notice there,

What do you notice there?

What do you feel,

What do you sense?

Shift your focus up to the upper arm,

The place between the top of the elbow and the shoulder What's present in your upper arm,

The upper portion of the right arm?

Allow your focus to move to the right shoulder What do you notice in your shoulder?

Let your focus shift to the right side of your chest and upper back What's present on the front side of your body and your chest and or the back side of your body?

The upper back,

The place beneath and around the shoulder blade Slide your awareness down to your right side body,

The right side of your torso,

Your trunk Becoming aware of any sensations,

Any feelings that are present in your right side body Allow your focus to shift down to the right side of your pelvis,

The front and back of your right hip Notice whatever might be within or around the right side of the pelvis Allow your attention and your focus to move further down your body to the upper portion of your right leg The thigh area,

The front and back Simply notice what is there without seeking anything in particular Allow your attention and your focus to move down to your right knee,

Letting your awareness encapsulate the right knee Observe whatever is there Then allow your focus to move further down to the lower portion of the right leg Letting go of the areas you've scanned previously and just notice the lower portion of the right leg Take your focus to your right ankle,

What's present at your ankle Notice the bottom of your right foot,

Then become aware of the big toe of your right foot Noticing whatever might be present,

Then take your awareness to the second toe of your right foot The third toe The fourth toe And your pinky toe Then begin to take your awareness to your left portion of your body and notice the thumb of your left hand Allow yourself to release whatever you noticed on your right side and begin to focus just on what is happening in or around your left thumb Take your focus to the first finger,

The pointer finger,

The index finger of your left hand and notice whatever is present Then shift your focus to the middle finger Become aware of your ring finger,

Release whatever you've noticed previously and just focus on your ring finger What you feel,

What you sense Become aware of your little finger,

Your pinky finger of your left hand Shift your focus to the palm of your left hand Taking your mind to just the palm of the left hand Start to notice your left wrist Any sensation that might be present around the left wrist or any thoughts that come into the mind as you focus on your left wrist Then begin to notice the lower portion of the left arm,

The left forearm Become aware of your left elbow Notice whatever is there without a label of good or bad,

Right or wrong Take your awareness up to the upper arm,

The upper portion of the left arm Giving your full undivided attention to just the upper portion of your left arm Take your focus to your left shoulder Then allow your awareness to shift to the left side of your chest and your upper back Noticing whatever is present in your thoracic cavity,

The area along the left side of your chest and your upper back Then allow the attention to shift down to your left side body Notice whatever is present in that space between the ribs and the top of the hip,

The left side of the abdomen Let your attention shift down to your left hip,

The left portion of your pelvis Notice the front and the back and whatever is present in or around your left hip Let your focus move to your left thigh,

The area that is the upper portion of your left leg Become aware of your left knee Noticing not just the outside of the left knee but also inside Take your focus to the lower portion of your left leg What do you notice about the lower portion of your left leg?

Then begin to become aware of your left ankle Again,

Not just noticing the outside but also what's contained within the ankle Shift your focus to the bottom of your left foot,

The sole of your left foot What do you notice?

What's present?

Shift the attention to the big toe of your left foot Notice the second toe,

The third toe,

The fourth toe,

Your pinky toe Allow your focus to shift to the top,

The crown of your head What's present there?

What do you notice?

What do you feel?

What do you sense?

Let your focus shift to the back of your head as it rests on the earth or whatever is beneath you And notice whatever is present there Shift your awareness around to your ears Noticing first the outer rim of your ear and your earlobe And then beginning to notice the tragus,

That little piece of cartilage And the ear canal Become aware of your temples Take your focus to your eyes Become aware of your nose And then shift your awareness to the nostril rim Notice your cheekbones And then your cheeks Allow your attention to move to the space between the bottom of your nose and the top lip And become aware of your top lip Your bottom lip Your teeth The roof of your mouth Your tongue Notice your jaw Become aware of the back of your neck The sides of your neck The front of the neck Take a moment to notice the entire right side of your body Not seeking anything in particular but just notice the whole right side of the body Whatever is present there,

Avoid labels Then allow yourself to let go of that awareness and shift it to the entire left side of the body Notice whatever is present there Release that and again shift your awareness to the right side And then shift it back to the left Then begin to notice both sides at the same time Allowing yourself to be aware of any symmetry or asymmetry without judgment because our sides are different And as you are aware and focused on your body and its entirety Remember that your body,

Your earth suit is the only one you get And it is just one layer of your being And each time you connect to your body,

To your earth suit,

You can allow yourself to open and go deeper into the more subtle layers of your being Eventually connecting to who you are at your core Take a moment to appreciate this temple you've been given,

This body It carries you literally through life because of that Know that your body is worthy of kindness and compassion Your body is worthy of gratitude for all that it does and all that it will do for you in this life Your body does not define who you are but rather allows you to express who you truly are