This guided body scan meditation can help you stay cool to cope with hot flashes. (15 minutes)
Welcome to this cool body guided meditation practice. Regular practice of this meditation may provide support for those experiencing hot flashes.
Starting by looking around, taking in your surroundings. Is there anything that could make your space more relaxing? Make any changes that seem helpful. And then settle into a posture or position. That will support your body best for the next 15 or so minutes. Taking time to move and shift until you find your body settling.
gaze to lower, or your eyelids to close, and inviting your attention inwards. Checking in with yourself. Noticing the transition and contrast between the activities and interactions of the day, and this moment of relative stillness. Taking a few moments to notice sensations in the body, thoughts and images in the mind, and any emotions that may be present.
Noticing here without judgment and without effort. Not even effort to focus or effort to relax. Allowing the present moment to be just what it already is. Even if this moment is less than perfect, even if there are distractions, discomfort or stress, taking a moment to extend care and attention to yourself in the midst of what ever else is going on right now.
As best as you can in inviting your attention now to drop all the way into your feet. Checking what sensations if any a present in this moment. Noticing a sense of weight, of your feet in contact with the floor or any surface they are resting on. Noticing sensations of temperature or the surrounding materials in touch with your feet. Noticing a sense of contact or pressure between your feet and the supporting surface. And noticing what that contact may feel like.
Is there hardness or softness? Coolness or warmth are maybe a sense of vibration. Noticing the position of your toes and the spaces between your toes. Just resting your attention here with the sensations of your feet.
Allowing your attention to rise and move up now to your seat or your buttocks noticing sensations of contact here. What does the contact of your seat supported by the chair or bed feel like? Is there pressure or warmth? Noticing any softness or hardness of the surface that you're resting on and feeling the support of your body by your chair or bed.
Moving your awareness now up all the way into your hands. Noticing the position of your hands in contact with whatever surface they're resting on. Maybe your hands are resting on your abdomen or lab. Maybe they're in contact intact with your chair or bed. Noticing the sensations of contact here. The position of your fingers and the spaces between your fingers. Noticing the sense of temperature or moisture. Noticing the weight of your hands. Maybe there's even a sensation of the pulse in your hands.
Guiding your attention now further upwards and resting it on your lips. Maybe notice using a subtle sense of contact or touch between upper and lower lips. Maybe a sense of trying is some moisture. Softness or warmth. Or maybe there aren't many sensations there. And that is fine too. Just resting your awareness with whatever may be present around your mouth or lips.
Moving attention out to your eyelids. Noticing an even more subtle sense of contact here. as your eyelids are gently resting upon each other or your lashes are gently brushing against each other. Taking in the soft sense of contact, resting your attention here for a moment.
Now let us circle awareness through the different contact points. Bringing attention back to the sensations of contact whenever your mind is naturally wandering. Bringing attention to the contact between the feet and the surface they're resting on. Noticing that quality of contact and whatever sensation might be present there.
moving attention to the seat and contact with a chair or bed. Feeling the hands in contact with whatever they're resting on. Bringing awareness to the lips and contact with each other. And noticing
eyelids gently touching. Let's move through these contact points as if moving the spotlight of your attention over your body. Let's do this a few more times. Noticing feet, seat, hands, Lips, eyelids, feet, seat, hands, lips, eyelids. Allowing your awareness to circle through the contact points at your own pace or resting your awareness with one sensation that may be most prominent or pleasant for you.
When you're ready, why may your awareness as if zooming out, bringing attention to your entire body, the entire body resting, taking it in as a collection of different sensations, noticing that I mentioned of your body, and since of weight, maybe even becoming aware of the space surrounding your body. The layer of air and touch with your exposed skin. The space you're breathing in and out of, and that surrounds you from all sides.
Gently aware of body and surrounding space.
As you're taking in the sensations of your body resting, you may find that there are areas and parts of your body that are cooler than others. You may find that feet, hands, the tip of your nose or other areas of exposed skin might be cooler.
Just bringing attention to these areas of the body where you may feel comfortable sense of coolness. You may like to imagine this coolness to have a specific color. A color that signifies coolness, freshness, and comfort to you.
Allow in your mind's eye is cooling color to spread.
From those comfortably cool areas of your body, slowly expanding, gradually covering your body.
You may imagine this cooling color to expand filling the space around your body. The space around your body filling with your cooling color until you're surrounded by a cloud of comfortable coolness freshness and comfort.
You may imagine breathing in this color until your body is filled and infused as well as surrounded completely with this comfort and coolness.
allowing yourself to rest and relax by this protective cloud of coolness. Taking as much time as you like to focus on what is most pleasant about this practice, or gradually allowing your eyes to open.
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