The Weight of the Body

Settle into the position that feels easiest to keep.

Let your legs extend or bend as they naturally wish. Allow your arms to rest beside you, or place your hands somewhere comfortable.

Make any small adjustments now. Shift your shoulders. Move your head gently from side to side. Let your clothing loosen where it needs to. Give your body room to be still.

Notice what is beneath you.

Feel the surface holding the back of your head, your shoulders, your back, your hips, your legs, and your feet.

You do not need to hold yourself above it.

Let your eyes close, if that feels comfortable. Soften the muscles around your eyes. Unclench your jaw. Let your tongue rest loosely in your mouth.

Take a slow breath in through your nose.

Breathe out through your mouth, with an easy sigh.

Again, breathe in gently.

And breathe out slowly.

Now allow your breath to find its own quiet rhythm. There is no need to make it deeper. No need to control its pace.

Feel the breath arrive.

Feel the breath leave.

Each exhale gives you another chance to release a little effort.

Bring your attention to the back of your head.

Notice its weight.

You may feel a clear point of contact, or only a faint sense of pressure. Let the head be heavy. Allow the surface beneath you to receive its full weight.

Soften your forehead.

Let the space between your eyebrows widen.

Release your cheeks. Release the corners of your mouth.

Feel the weight of your jaw. Let it hang easily, without pressing the teeth together.

As you breathe out, imagine that every small muscle in your face is no longer needed for the day.

Nothing to express.

Nothing to arrange.

Just the quiet weight of the face, settling.

Move your attention down into your neck.

Notice where the neck meets the surface beneath you. Let go of the urge to position it perfectly.

Allow your throat to remain soft.

Feel the weight of your shoulders.

Perhaps one shoulder rests more heavily than the other. That is all right. You do not need to make them even.

With your next exhale, let both shoulders drop away from your ears.

Let them spread.

Let the bed or floor take over the work of holding them.

Breathe in, gently expanding through the chest.

Breathe out, and feel the shoulders grow heavier.

Bring attention to your arms.

Feel the upper arms resting.

Feel the elbows.

Feel the forearms and wrists.

Notice the weight of your hands. Each palm. Each finger.

There is nothing for your hands to carry now. Nothing to grip or reach toward.

Let the fingers curl in their own natural way.

The whole length of each arm can surrender downward.

Perhaps heaviness comes quickly. Perhaps it does not. You are not trying to create a certain feeling. You are simply noticing where the body meets support, and allowing that support to be enough.

Feel the back of your ribs.

With each breath in, the ribs make a little space.

With each breath out, they settle again.

Notice how the surface beneath you stays steady as the breath moves.

You rise slightly.

You fall slightly.

And beneath that movement, you are held.

Let your attention rest at the center of your chest for a few breaths.

Breathing in.

Breathing out.

If thoughts appear, let them pass without following them. The mind may return to plans, memories, or unfinished moments. This is normal.

When you notice that attention has wandered, come back to weight.

Come back to contact.

Come back to the simple feeling of being supported.

Now notice your upper back.

Feel the shoulder blades resting.

Allow the muscles between them to soften.

Move slowly down through the middle back.

Let every part that touches the surface press as much as it naturally presses.

You do not have to flatten your back.

You do not have to change its shape.

Feel its curves, its spaces, and its points of contact.

Breathe out, and release another small layer of effort.

Bring your attention to your belly.

Let it be soft.

Allow it to rise with the inhale.

Allow it to fall with the exhale.

There is no need to pull it inward.

Feel the quiet weight of the organs inside the body, resting downward.

The whole front of the body can soften toward the back of the body.

The whole back of the body can settle toward what is beneath you.

Breathing in, the belly rises.

Breathing out, the belly falls and releases.

Now feel your pelvis.

Notice the broad, solid weight of your hips.

Let the muscles around the hips loosen.

Soften the lower belly.

Soften the buttocks.

Release any gripping around the base of the body.

Your pelvis is heavy. It is fully supported.

Imagine setting down a bag you have carried for a long time.

Not throwing it away.

Simply placing it down for now.

Let the weight leave your effort and enter the surface beneath you.

Stay with this feeling.

The hips settling.

The lower back easing.

The breath moving quietly through the body.

Now bring attention to your right leg.

Feel the weight of the thigh.

Let the back of the thigh sink.

Notice the knee. Release the muscles around it.

Feel the lower leg, the ankle, and the heel.

Let the heel be heavy.

Let the foot rest without pointing or flexing.

Soften each toe.

The entire right leg is held from beneath.

Now feel the left leg.

Notice the weight of the thigh.

Allow it to settle.

Soften around the knee.

Feel the calf, the ankle, and the heel.

Let the foot grow quiet.

Release the toes.

Both legs can rest with their full weight.

No need to brace.

No need to prepare to move.

The legs are heavy and still.

Take a slightly fuller breath in.

As you breathe out, feel the whole body sinking together.

Head.

Shoulders.

Arms.

Back.

Pelvis.

Legs.

Feet.

One body, resting.

One steady surface, holding you.

You may notice small places that continue to work. A tight jaw. A lifted shoulder. A curled hand. A tense belly.

You do not need to force these places open.

Simply notice them.

Breathe toward the sensation.

Then breathe out and offer the area a little more support.

Let it be held as it is.

Sometimes the body releases all at once. Sometimes it releases in tiny steps. Sometimes it stays exactly as it is. All of this is allowed.

Your only task is to stop carrying what is already being carried for you.

Feel gravity drawing the body downward.

Not pulling harshly.

Just quietly inviting every part to rest.

With each exhale, let yourself become a little less involved in holding your shape.

The bones have weight.

The muscles can soften around them.

The skin can rest over everything.

The breath keeps moving without your help.

In.

And out.

The surface beneath you remains steady.

Let your attention become broad now.

Rather than focusing on one part, feel the outline of the whole body.

Notice where the body ends and the support begins.

Feel the long contact beneath your back.

The warmth beneath your head.

The pressure beneath your hips.

The quiet weight of your heels.

Allow the boundaries to become less important.

There is only weight and support.

A breath arriving.

A breath leaving.

If the mind wanders, return gently.

Heavy body.

Steady support.

Nothing else to solve.

Nothing else to finish.

Let the breath become smaller if it wants to.

Let the pauses between breaths remain natural.

Your face is soft.

Your mouth is quiet.

Your shoulders are wide and heavy.

Your hands are empty.

Your belly moves freely.

Your hips are settled.

Your legs are still.

Your feet are at rest.

Feel one more slow breath enter the body.

And let it leave without effort.

Now release the practice itself.

There is no need to keep scanning.

No need to keep paying close attention.

Let awareness loosen.

Let thoughts become distant and unimportant.

The body knows how to lie here.

The surface knows how to hold you.

You can give over your weight completely.

Breathing softly.

Resting deeply.

Held beneath every part of you.

Nothing to carry now.

Nothing to do.

Only this quiet downward settling.

Only the steady support beneath you.

Let yourself remain heavy.

Let yourself remain still.

And allow the next breath to come on its own.