Healing Waves Reiki explores Reiki, energy, and the science and spirit of healing through grounded conversations on intuition, nervous system support, and whole-person care. Hosted by Cathy Scarpitto—Reiki Master Teacher, intuitive & spiritual mentor, and physical therapist—this podcast bridges science and spirit to explore how Reiki supports healing in modern life, modern care, and everyday healing.
What if coming back to yourself begins simply by noticing that you are here?
This guided meditation invites you to slow down, reconnect with your body, and experience the quiet awareness beneath the constant movement of thought.
Through gentle breath, body awareness, and reflection, you'll explore your body as the vehicle through which you experience this life—and the present moment as the place where awareness, choice, and healing meet.
You'll be guided to notice the difference between your thoughts, your physical sensations, and the awareness that is able to observe them all.
There is nothing you need to fix or figure out.
Just return to your breath.
Return to your body.
Return to now.
This bonus meditation is a companion to two Healing Waves Reiki episodes:
Are You Driving the Body… or Are You the Body? The Body as a Vehicle for Human Experience and The Power of the Present Moment
If you haven't listened to those episodes yet, you may want to explore them alongside this meditation as we look more deeply at the relationship between the body, awareness, presence, and our ability to consciously participate in our own healing.
Welcome. This meditation is an invitation to come back to yourself, to step away for just a little while from everything that has happened, everything that might happen, and return to the only place you can actually be here now in this body, in this moment, find a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down. Allow your hands to rest wherever they feel comfortable. And if it feels right for you, gently close your eyes. Take a slow breath in through your nose and gently let it go. Again, breathing in and slowly breathing out. One more time, a gentle breath in, and a long, easy breath out. Allow your breathing to return to its natural rhythm. There is nowhere else you need to be right now. Nothing you need to figure out. Nothing you need to fix. For these next few moments, just allow yourself to be here and to arrive to this moment. Begin by noticing where your body is supported beneath you. Feel the surface underneath you. Notice its steadiness. Notice the places where your body makes contact with the chair, the bed, or the floor. You don't have to change anything. Simply notice. Bring your awareness down to your feet. Notice whatever sensations are there. Warmth, coolness, pressure, tingling, or perhaps very little sensation at all. There is no right way to experience this. Just notice. Slowly allow your awareness to move upward through your ankles, your lower legs, your knees, and your thighs. Notice the weight of your body. Notice how your body is being held and supported. Bring your awareness now to your abdomen. Notice the gentle movement created by your breath. Your body knows how to breathe. You don't have to tell it how. You don't have to control every breath. Your body has been breathing for you all day and every day carrying you through your life. Place one hand over your abdomen if that feels comfortable. And perhaps place your other hand over your heart. Feel the warmth of your hands against your body. Feel your chest gently rise and fall. Your abdomen expand and soften. Breathing in and breathing out. Now bring your attention to your shoulders. Without forcing anything, allow them to relax. Let your jaw relax. Soften the muscles around your eyes. Relax your forehead. And simply notice yourself here inside this body. For a moment, bring your awareness to your hands. Notice your hands without moving them. You can feel them. You can become aware of them. You can choose to move them. And yet, there is something within you that is noticing your hands. Now notice your feet. You can feel your feet. You can move your feet. You can observe sensations within them. And there is something within you noticing. Bring your attention back to your breath. You can feel your body breathing. You can observe the breath coming in and going out. And again, there is something within you that is aware of it. Your body is extraordinary. It carries you through this physical life. It allows you to move, to touch, to see, to hear, to hold someone you love, to experience the warmth of the sun, the coolness of water, the feeling of the earth beneath your feet. Your body communicates with you. It responds to your experiences. It holds sensations. It protects you. It adapts. It heals. And perhaps for just a moment you can imagine your body as the beautiful vehicle through which you experience this life. Not something separate from you, not something to judge, not something that must be perfect, but something entrusted to you. Something worthy of your attention, your compassion, and your care. And now notice. If you can observe your body, what is doing the observing? You don't need to find an answer. Don't think about it. Just notice. There is awareness here, a quiet presence beneath all the thinking, all the planning, all the doing. The part of you that can simply witness. Now allow yourself to notice your thoughts. You don't need to stop them. You don't need to clear your mind. Just notice them. Perhaps a thought about something that happened earlier appears. A conversation. A memory. Something you wish you had done differently. Notice it and allow it to pass. Maybe the mind moves towards tomorrow. Something you need to do. Something you're anticipating. Something you're worried about. Notice that too. And allow it to pass. Imagine each thought moving through your awareness like a wave moving towards the shore. Arriving and then gently receding. You don't have to follow every wave. You can simply watch. The mind may travel into yesterday. The mind may travel into tomorrow. But your body is always here. Your breath is always happening now. And whenever you notice that you've wandered away, your body can become the doorway that brings you home. Feel your hand over your heart. Feel your hand over your abdomen. Feel the breath beneath your hands. Right here, right now. Begin to notice the sounds around you. Don't label them. Just listen. Perhaps there are sounds close to you and sounds farther away. Allow them to come and go. Notice the temperature of the air against your skin. Notice the weight of your clothing. Notice the sensation of your breath. Notice the support underneath your body. All of these sensations are happening now. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Now. And begin to recognize something very simple. You don't have to get to the present moment. You're already here. The present moment has been here all along, waiting beneath the thoughts, beneath the planning, beneath the remembering. This moment, and then this one, and now this one. You cannot change yesterday from yesterday. You cannot live tomorrow before it arrives. But here, in this moment, you can choose. You can choose your next breath. You can choose where you place your attention. You can choose how you respond. You can choose what you nurture. You can choose the energy you bring into whatever comes next. This moment is where your life is actually happening. And this moment is where change begins. Bring your attention once again to your body. Feel your feet, feel your hands, feel your breath. Feel your heart beating within you. Your body is the vehicle through which you experience this moment. Your awareness is what notices. And the present moment is where the two meet. You are here. You are aware. You are experiencing this moment through this body. Nothing else is required of you right now. Just this breath. Just this moment. Just here. If you practice Reiki, you may notice the energy beneath your hands. Perhaps warmth, tingling, pulsing, or simply the comforting presence of your own touch. There is nothing you need to make this happen. Simply allow yourself to receive. And if you don't feel anything at all, that's okay too. Just remain present. Imagine each breath bringing you more fully into this moment. Breathing in, I am here. Breathing out, I release what is not here. Breathing in, I am here. Breathing out, I soften. Breathing in, I am here. Breathing out. Before we finish, take a moment to appreciate your body, this body that has carried you through every experience of your life, through joy, through difficulty, through change, through healing. You don't have to love every part of it. You don't have to understand everything it does. Simply offer it a moment of gratitude. Thank you for carrying me. Thank you for communicating with me. Thank you for bringing me into this moment. And now bring your awareness to that quiet presence within you. The awareness that has been here throughout this entire meditation. Observing the body. Observing the breath. Observing the thoughts. Simply noticing. And remember, you can return here anytime. You don't need perfect circumstances. You don't need complete silence. You don't need to make your thoughts disappear. You only need to notice that you've left and come back. Back to your breath. Back to your body. Back to now. Your body is the vehicle through which you experience this life. Your awareness is what notices, and the present moment is where the two meet. This is where you are. This is where you can choose. This is where you can create. This is where healing can begin. Take one more slow deep breath in and gently let it go. Begin to notice the room around you again. Notice the surface beneath you. Gently move your fingers and your toes. Maybe roll your shoulders or stretch your body in whatever way feels good. And when you are ready, slowly open your eyes. Take your time. And as you move back into your day, see if you can take a little of this awareness with you. You don't have to stay perfectly present. Just remember that you can always return. One breath, one moment, one choice at a time. Come back to your body. Come back to this moment. Come back to yourself. Namaste.
