Gratitude Body Scan

Hi, and welcome to this gratitude body scan. So cultivating a sense of gratitude for our bodies can help us to create more compassion and kindness towards ourselves and ultimately others. In this exercise, we're invited to let go of how our bodies look and appreciate all that they do for us, to whatever capacity. It's in appreciating our bodies that we can learn to befriend ourselves and let go of any judgmental and critical thoughts, creating space for more calm, inner peace, and harmony. So let's give this a try. When you're ready, just begin to settle in. You can be sitting upright or lying down, whatever feels right for you. And the eyes can be open or closed. Now just begin to feel the weight of the body pressing down into the surface beneath you, and then beginning to notice the breath and its gentle rising and falling. Now lengthening each inhale and each exhale, breathing in deeply and breathing out slowly. And returning the breath back to its natural rhythm, placing a hand on your heart, connecting to a sense of kindness and compassion. And then gently guiding the focus to the feet, noticing any sensations present here. Now noticing the lower legs, feeling into the ankles, calves, shins, and knees. And then noticing the upper legs, thighs, and the hips. And offering gratitude and appreciation to your legs for all that they do for you, again, to whatever capacity, just appreciating them as they are. Now noticing your back, the lower back, middle of the back, and upper back, noticing any sensations present here and sending gratitude to this area of the body, a place that can carry a lot of tension but also provide us with so much support. Now moving to the front of the body, noticing the stomach, chest, heart, feeling into the shoulders, down the arms, noticing the hands and fingers. Just thanking these different parts of the body for all that they do for you, for the ability to touch, feel, and connect. And now rising up into the neck, noticing the throat, the jaw, the lips, teeth, and tongue. Noticing the nose, ears, and eyes. And then noticing the rest of the head and offering gratitude to these areas of the body that make you uniquely you. And then beginning to expand your awareness to take in the entire body now, feeling the body breathing, sending gratitude and appreciation to our bodies in this moment. And then just letting that focus on the body go, noticing sounds around you in your space. And when you're ready, slowly and gently opening your eyes and just pausing here for a moment and noticing how you feel. So gratitude invites us to focus on what we have instead of what we don't have. It's a muscle that we have to build upon and exercise. With time and with practice, we can create space for more moments of gratitude and compassion in our lives...