Recording this guided meditation was a bit like my journey into my body: long, difficult and filled with many strong emotions.
Video is a new creative medium for me, and this is a brand-new meditation, so there were a lot of fails, I mean learning opportunities, along the way.
Solo parenting with kids at home all day. Minecraft at full volume. Oh yes, and then there was the dog walking in mid-recording to scratch and shake. 😂
It took mindfulness to notice what was happening inside me each time I got disrupted, ran into a technical error or stumbled over my words and had to start over.
But, like my embodiment, it was also really worthwhile. I’ve been trying for some time to find an approach to mindfulness of the body that works for me. I think this is a good start on that.
That’s all the words I have in me for now. I hope this practice is of benefit. And please hit the “Like” button or leave me a comment at the bottom of this email. I’d love to hear how this practice lands for you.
With care,
Heron
Meditation Transcript
Hi everyone, welcome to this guided meditation on entering the field of sensations.
In this practice, I’ll be inviting you into a guided body scan where we let our usual anchor fade into the background and place our awareness on the sensations in the body.
As we do this, I’ll invite you to set an intention to not judge any experience that you might have — any sensation you might notice, whether it be positive, negative, or neutral. We’re trying to just pay attention to what’s happening in the body with curiosity, not labelling an experience as one thing or another.
As we scan, it might be really easy for you to notice sensations. It might be difficult. And you might notice that there’s numbness or nothing at all. If that’s the case for you, that’s okay. I’ll invite you to just notice what it’s like to be sitting with this lack of sensations or this numbness.
You might also notice that as you pay attention to the sensations without judging them, pushing them away, or clinging on to them, they start to shift — that they’re not solid or fixed. Pain doesn’t necessarily become pain; it just becomes sensations in the body.
And like any other practice, your mind will wander as we go through this body scan, and that’s really normal. So when the mind wanders, you can gently direct it back to the sensations in the body and place your awareness there in the present moment. And if at any point the practice becomes too uncomfortable, I’ll invite you to come back to your anchor. You might also open your eyes and scan the room around you, or place your awareness on the sensation of your feet on the ground, or all the points where your body is touching the earth or the chair. Those can help bring some stability back.
As always, everything that I say is a suggestion. There’s no obligation to do anything that I say if it doesn’t feel good to you.
I’ll start and end this meditation with my words, and I’ll let you know when the practice is about to end.
So let’s start by finding a way to sit — or otherwise hold your body — that lets you be both relaxed and alert.
If it feels okay, you can close your eyes. If closing your eyes doesn’t feel good for any reason, you can keep them open with your gaze soft and on the floor just in front of you.
We’ll begin with a couple of deep breaths — in through the nose, out through the mouth — allowing the exhale to be just slightly longer than the inhale.
Beginning by just noticing the sensation of the feet touching the earth, as the soles of your feet come into contact with the floor beneath you — just noticing solidity, feeling held, safe, grounded, touching in with the earth.
Beginning with some mindfulness of our anchor — placing your awareness on the sensation of your breath, your feet touching the ground, the sounds that you hear around you, the sensation of the air touching your skin — whatever anchor feels most comfortable and accessible to you. Placing your attention there, and setting an intention to only pay attention to your anchor. When the mind drifts, just gently noticing that you’ve gone into distraction, and coming back to the anchor in the present moment.
Just noticing where your mind is right now. If you’ve drifted, it’s okay — just return to the anchor, to the present moment. There’s no need for judgment. It’s just the mind doing what the mind does.
Are you in the past? Are you in the future? Has something in the present pulled you away? Just noticing that you’ve drifted. Coming back to the present moment with kindness. Getting lost happens. The practice is returning.
Now I’ll invite a gentle body scan. Again, we’re just noticing what’s present — try not to judge that experience, to take it just as it is. We might choose to label the experience as positive, negative, or neutral, or we might give it a label like tension, tightness, squeezing, pressure, pulsing, warmth — any word that comes to mind to describe the experience. If that’s accessible to you, you can bring that.
We’ll start with the top of the head. Just noticing what’s present at the top of the head. It’s often a fairly neutral place, but you might have a headache, it might be itchy — just noticing what’s there.
Coming down into the forehead, the cheeks, the jaw. These are places where we often hold tension. Just noticing what’s present. You might notice pulsing, pressure, heat.
Trying not to fix or fight the experience — practicing allowing it to be there in your awareness with curiosity.
Now bringing your attention to the throat and collarbone area. Noticing what’s there — whether it’s pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral — whether any words come to mind to describe the sensations.
It can be easy to get lost in thinking as we try to come up with the right word. If no word comes up naturally, let’s try to stay with the raw sensation and the overall tone of the experience.
Now into the neck and shoulders. This is an area where we often carry a lot of tension and heaviness. Just noticing what’s present.
As you pay attention to the sensations in your neck and shoulders, you might even just label them as sensations. And you might see if, when you pay them non-judgmental attention, they shift — you might see that they’re not solid or fixed, but they change from moment to moment.
Now, moving down into the chest and solar plexus area. This is where a lot of emotions live. Just noticing, as you stay here, any emotions that arise. You might label them — again, try not to judge the emotions, just allowing them to be there, giving them names: sadness, fear, anger, joy. Or you might call them negative, positive, neutral. Or you might just say: sensations, sensations.
Just noticing where your mind is. If it’s drifted from the sensations, kindly bringing it back. If anything is feeling like too much, returning to your anchor — noticing the feet on the floor, opening your eyes, looking around the room.
Moving into the lower abdomen. Just noticing what’s present.
You might also meet any difficult sensations that arise with kindness: This is hard right now. I’m going to be gentle with myself. You might try placing a hand on the part of the body where you notice the sensations.
Now into the hips, the lower back, the pelvic area. This is an area of the body where we often face a fair bit of discomfort when we practice — depending on how we sit — and also an area of common discomfort in life in general. So meeting any uncomfortable sensations with kindness, trying not to judge them, push them away, or even label them as pain — you might just label them as sensations, sensations, sensations.
And again, notice if they start to shift. You might notice that they’re not a fixed or solid thing, but they change from moment to moment.
Now, down to the legs, the knees, and the ankles. Just noticing again what sensations are present — whether they’re positive, negative, neutral — or whether any particular labels appear: tightness, pressure, heat. Even neutral sensations are worth staying with.
Now, letting go of scanning, inviting the awareness back to the anchor — the breath, the sense of touch, the sounds that you hear around you — giving it your full, steady attention for this last minute or so.
If the mind drifts, gently bringing it back to the present moment. If the sensations are still strong and pulling you away, offering them strong and steady kindness. It can be hard to be with difficult sensations.
Now I’ll invite you to slowly and gently come back into whatever space you’re in. Let your eyes flutter open. Feel free to stretch, move your body however it needs to move. Take a sip of tea, go for a little walk afterwards.
I hope this practice has been helpful for you. If it has, or if you have any feedback, I’m always happy to hear — feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post or send me a message. And if you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to get more meditations like this on a regular basis, please do sign up as a subscriber to my Substack.
Until next time — take care
