Somatic Practice #2

Sit comfortably or lie on the floor. Close your eyes or hold a soft, gentle gaze several feet out in front of you. First, notice your natural breath for a minute. Sense its natural rise and fall. Anytime you have the impulse to bring your hands onto a part of your body, trust that completely. Bring your attention down to the bottoms of your feet. You can wiggle your toes or jiggle your feet for a minute to land there. Notice what your feet feel like. Maybe the soles are tight or your toes feel tingly. Notice your ankles and feel what your ankle bones are like inside. Now let your attention rise to your calves and lower legs. What sensations are present there? Tightness or heat? Do your shins feel heavy? Now notice what your knees feel like internally. Maybe they’re achy or crunchy. Bring your attention to the backs of your legs. What do you become aware of in the backs of your legs? Notice the fronts of your legs. Now what are you aware of in your legs—heaviness, lightness? Let your attention move to your hips, noticing what it’s like to bring your full attention here. What is arising? Breathe there and notice. Scan into your tailbone, sacrum, and lower belly. If you bring your breath there, what happens? What do you notice inside this part of your body now? Bring your attention to your lower back. What do you notice there—heat or cold, pressure or softness? Move up to your belly. Feel into your belly and allow your breath to show you sensation—hunger, gurgling, fullness, emptiness. Feel into your ribs and diaphragm and see what it’s like in there. Notice your whole spine. Feel into each vertebra with care and pay attention to how it feels. Now sense the front of your chest and feel what’s going on in there. What happens around your metaphoric heart center when you bring awareness into your chest? Feel into your throat with your awareness. What does your throat feel like today—scratchy or smooth? How about the back of your neck? Feel the muscles along the back of your neck and notice what it feels like today. Pay attention to the sensations of aliveness in your arms, from your shoulders down into your elbows and all the way into your hands and fingers. What catches your attention? What arises through sensation to the surface of your consciousness here? Now bring your attention to your head. How does your head feel today? If you’re lying down, notice the weight of your head on the floor. If you’re sitting, let your head soften down toward your chest and notice its gravity. Sense around the top of your skull and bring your breath there. What does that feel like? Now that you’ve scanned your body sensorially, take some deep, full breaths and visualize your body as one full organism, a whole vessel. Take full-body breaths for a moment. Finally, bring your hands to your belly and feel your hands contact your body. If your eyes are closed, open them. If they’re in a soft gaze, sharpen your focus to come out of this body-centric meditation of sensation. Now write down any important findings from your sensory meditation. Were you surprised? What caught your attention? How do you feel now after spending some time within? There are no right or wrong answers—just some truth about your own experience of your body.