Preparation
Self-responsible "arrival" of the participants:
If you are still stuck in your daily routine, please quietly do the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise for yourself to fully arrive here.
Additional tips
For the first reading, it is useful to read the whole text during the introduction of the exercise and take a break whenever a body part is named. In the course of the program, fewer prompts to this guided body scan can be used, for example, after the introduction only body parts can be named.
Description
Find a comfortable, upright sitting position.
Feel where your body meets the chair/the floor. Feel your feet touching the ground.
Take time to settle into a comfortable sitting position.
Relax all muscles you don't need to maintain your upright position (shoulders, face, etc.).
Close your eyes or direct your gaze to the floor in front of you.
Throughout the exercise, the point is not to change or achieve anything. It is about simply observing what is and accepting it as it is.
Now turn your attention inward. Breathe deeply in and out. Observe your breath, how your abdominal wall rises and falls, all by itself, without having to do anything. Just observe: In and out and pause.
Now feel into your body and take time to notice the whole body.
Now direct your attention to your toes. Observe what you can sense in the toes: Temperature, touch, a tingling sensation, the position of the joints, something else, or maybe nothing at all. That's okay, too, just to consciously feel nothing. For some people, the idea of directing the breath there, breathing in and out of the toes, as it were, is helpful.
For a short time, return your attention to your breathing. Then turn to the soles of your feet, the heel, the ankle. And as you consciously breathe in and out of these parts of your body as well, notice all the sensations.
As soon as you notice that thoughts arise, bring your attention back to the breath and the respective body region.
Inwardly feel your way up through the legs in this way, from the ankle to the calf and shin, the knee, the kneecap, through the entire thigh to the surface and inward to (the loin and) the hip.
The focus of your attention then slowly moves through the entire lower abdomen, touching the hips once again, then the buttocks, the small of the back, the abdomen. From there it continues through the torso, the back, the rib cage (and the ribs to the breasts, to the lungs and the large blood vessels located in the rib cage), continuing to the shoulder blades to the collar bone and the shoulders.
From the shoulders you move to the arms, from the fingertips through the fingers, the ball of the hand, the palm and the back of the hand, through the wrist, the forearm, the elbow the upper arm and the crook of the arm again to the shoulders.
Then move on to the neck and throat, and finally move your attention through the face and skull.
Meanwhile, keep your attention on the breath and the various sensations in the different areas of the body. Breathe consciously in and out. Let go of sensations and thoughts as you do so.
Now finish the exercise by slowly deepening your breath and moving your body again. Notice your surroundings and give yourself a smile :)
