Body As North Star
Meditations
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 1
Body Scan – 20 minutes
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Week 2
Mindfulness of Pleasant, Unpleasant, & Neutral Sensations – 20 minutes
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Week 3
Mindfulness of Body & Emotions – 20 minutes
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Week 4
Compassion and Gratitude for the Body – 20 minutes
This is a self-guided timed meditation.
Instructions
Use an activity of choice (walking, washing dishes, spending time with pet, making art, etc) to practice gratitude for the body for 20 minutes.
SMILE for the whole 20 minutes. A faint smile is enough, but be sure to smile with your eyes and heart too.
Tune in to the body parts and body sensations that are involved in that activity and send appreciation to those parts.
This appreciation could look like:
mental phrases, like “thank you eyes for letting me see the colors on this walk”, or “feet for letting me move forward”.
a simple attitude of smiling toward that body part – smiling toward your hands or feet or eyes, or the whole body at once.
This feeling of appreciation and the body part you are appreciating are your object of meditation for the whole 20 minutes.
When distractions arise, do as usual – release your attention from them, relax your body, SMILE, and return your attention to the feeling of appreciation.
If you notice distress or pain in the body, this is a perfect opportunity to send care and compassion to this part of the body: “I am here with you. I see you and care about this suffering.”
Week 5
Body-Based Inquiry – 20 minutes
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Week 6