Namaste,
Sacred Soul.
Rest is not a luxury you need to earn.
It is a strategic element of success that needs to be prioritized in life.
The body scan meditations act like a soothing balm to your tense nervous system.
I prefer doing this meditation practice lying down,
But you can be seated if that suits you more.
Allow your body to relax naturally and gently close your eyes.
Become aware of your breath.
You needn't put any extra effort in your breathing.
Feel your inhale gently filling your chest and belly.
And feel all that stress and tension melt away with every exhale.
For a couple of breaths,
Try to make your exhale longer than you inhale.
Inhale,
Let's fill that belly.
And exhale,
Slow,
Deep and long.
Let's do this one more time.
Inhale,
Fill your chest and belly and exhale,
Long,
Deep and slow.
As we start the body awareness scan,
Observe if you are holding any tension in any part of your body.
If you sense tightness,
Simply observe,
No judgments,
Only compassion and kindness.
In this meditation,
We incline the mind and nervous system towards a sense and a feeling of relaxation.
Visualize the outline of your body spreading wide and start by bringing your attention to your eyes,
The muscles around your eyes.
As you observe your inhale and your exhale,
Bring a quality of relaxation to these muscles.
Allow your eyes to gently relax.
Become aware of the forehead and as you breathe,
Invite a quality of relaxation.
As your forehead relaxes,
Bring your awareness to the jaw.
Notice sensations,
If any.
And as you breathe,
Relax your jaws.
Become aware of your whole face.
Invite a tenderness carried in the breath to soothe any gripping or holding you might feel in your facial muscles.
Now tracing the area behind your head,
At the back of the neck.
You put so much energy to keep your head up all day long.
As you breathe,
Feel your breath and your body offering kindness to this area.
We bring our focused mental attention to the shoulders and the shoulder blades.
In physiotherapy,
These muscles are often called the stress muscles because this is one area where the body stores a lot of emotional pain and stress.
You carry all your emotional baggage on your shoulders.
As you inhale and exhale,
Offer kindness,
Offer soothing,
Offer relaxation to your shoulders and your shoulder blades.
Bring attention to your entire chest.
Observe any sensations.
Whatever is here is welcome and if there are no sensations,
That's okay too.
Offer kindness as you breathe into the chest.
We now move our attention to the left arm,
The left shoulder.
We breathe and offer relaxation as we scan with our attention to our left upper arm,
The elbow,
The forearm,
The left wrist,
Palm,
Your left thumb,
The index finger,
The middle finger,
The ring finger,
And the little finger,
Inviting a sense of relaxation into your fingers,
Your left palm,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
And the upper arm.
Relax your entire left arm.
Let's travel with our attention to the right shoulder,
The muscles of your right upper arm,
Offering relaxation to the biceps and the triceps.
Breathing down through your right elbow,
The forearm,
Wrist,
The palm of your right hand,
The right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And little finger.
We allow relaxation to the right hand's fingers,
Palm,
Wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm.
Relax your entire right arm.
Bringing the spotlight of our attention to the spine,
Focusing on each vertebrae of the upper spine,
Offering relaxation to the middle spine,
Traveling our awareness to the lower spine all the way down to our tailbone,
Allowing the muscles along both sides of your spine to relax,
Offering them tender compassion,
Bringing attention to your stomach area,
So many organs right here working non-stop,
Inviting a sense of ease and relaxation to the entire stomach area.
We travel our attention down to the pelvic region,
Scan through the pelvic area as you breathe and invite tender relaxation.
Observe if any sensations arise.
If they do,
Let them arise and give them compassionate kindness,
Caring for your body through your breath,
Bringing attention to your left leg,
The left hip,
The thigh,
The knee,
Lower leg,
The shin and the calf of your left leg,
Observing any sensations like soreness or tiredness,
Breathing in and offering relaxation,
The left ankle,
Heel and toes,
Offering a complete sense of relaxation to your whole left leg,
Moving our attention to the right leg,
The ground of the right hip,
The thigh,
Knee,
The calf,
Shin,
Breathing,
Offering kindness,
The right ankle,
Heels and each of your toes,
Bringing a quality of tender relaxation,
Allowing your entire right leg to relax,
Expanding your awareness to your whole body,
Gently observing what is here in the body,
Observing sensations.
It could be pleasant,
Unpleasant or totally neutral.
Whatever it is,
Allow it,
Observe it,
Offer it kindness and compassion.
Give permission,
Allow your entire body to relax.
Allow a sense of ease seep into every cell in your body.
Perform a quick scan from head to toe and relax your entire body.
As we wind down and bring this meditation to a close,
Take a few breaths where your exhales are longer than your inhales.
Inhale deep and exhale through your mouth long and slow.
Take another deep inhale and exhale deep,
Long and slow through the mouth.
Gently wriggle your fingers,
Move your toes,
Become aware of the shape your body is in.
Pay attention to the surface where you are lying down or sitting.
Awareness to your surroundings,
Sounds,
Aromas.
I want to thank you for taking up this body scan meditation and relaxing your nervous system.
Whenever you are ready,
Gently open your eyes.
