Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to the PDA Society's podcast. We're here to chat about all things PDA to help you understand what people with this profile of autism are experiencing and how you can help.
Speaker: We'll be sharing research, professional expertise and the insights of people with lived experience to help you understand PDA and have more tools to make life easier. So, whether you're a PDA yourself, family member, friend or professional trying to make a difference, welcome from everybody at the PDA Society. We hope you'll find this useful.
Speaker: We're going to do a 10 minute body scan meditation today to try and slow down both our minds and our bodies. This can be done anywhere, but ideally you'll be somewhere you feel safe and where you won't be disturbed.
Speaker: For neurodivergent people especially, Being aware of the body might be uncomfortable, might bring things up. So please feel free to adapt or ignore any suggestions in a way that works for you.
Speaker: And if at any point you want to stop the recording, please do. There's no obligation to stay to the end.
Speaker: So now, try to find a comfortable seat. Or if you prefer, you can do this lying down on the floor or the bed. Into the next few minutes, we're going to try and put anything else we have to do today on hold.
Speaker: And give yourself permission to really just be here in the moment.
Speaker: Now, if you feel comfortable with it, close your eyes.
Speaker: Or if you prefer, you can pick a point in front of you and gently rest your gaze on an object or a place on the wall.
Speaker: See if you can read relax it's your eyes and your face.
Speaker: Now start to notice the breath moving in and out of the body.
Speaker: We're not trying to change the breath, but just seeing if you can observe how it feels to be breathing today.
Speaker: Feeling the ribs expand with the inhale as your lungs fill with air. And relax on the exhale as the diaphragm contracts.
Speaker: Start to notice the speed of the breath, whether it feels short and shallow or slow and deep.
Speaker: There isn't a right or wrong. We're not trying to force the breath to be any different from what it already is.
Speaker: If you can, begin to notice if there's a slight pause between the breaths as inhale turns to exhale and as exhale turns to inhale.
Speaker: In these moments, the body is completely still and at rest.
Speaker: And see if just by noticing this pause, it naturally starts to lengthen a little without force.
Speaker: Suspending you in that moment of stillness between the breaths.
Speaker: Breathing in, pause.
Speaker: And breathing out, pause.
Speaker: We're going to start to move our awareness from the breath to the body now.
Speaker: But again, you're welcome to continue focusing on the breath instead, or simply gazing at point in front of you.
Speaker: With your eyes closed, see if you can move your attention to the feet now, feeling into the sensations of both feet. The place where they're touching the ground or the chair or the bed where you are.
Speaker: Feeling their position in space.
Speaker: And noticing any sensations without trying to change them or make them be any different.
Speaker: Maybe you don't feel the anything at all and that's okay too.
Speaker: We're going to release your attention away from the feet now. can see if you can slowly move your mind's eye towards your lower legs. Feeling the angles of the joints between the ankles and the knees.
Speaker: Any sensations where the legs are touching the surface you're sitting on.
Speaker: And as you move your attention to the upper legs, You might notice whether there's any tingling or numbness or pressure where your legs are meeting the chair or the bed.
Speaker: Just observing what you feel without the need to make it be any different.
Speaker: Moving our attention up through the body now. See if you can let go of the legs and start to feel into the hips and the lower back.
Speaker: An area that might have some aches or discomfort.
Speaker: And see if you can consciously relax the lower back releasing into the surface that's supporting you.
Speaker: Moving into the upper back now. The shoulders. Down into the upper arms and the lower arms.
Speaker: And finally moving your attention into the place where your hands are resting. Maybe that's on your lap or on the surface either side of you.
Speaker: Noticing the sensations in each finger and the palms.
Speaker: And maybe moving your hands just slowly into a fist.
Speaker: And then relaxing them again. Feeling the sensations in your whole arms now. From your shoulders to your fingertips.
Speaker: Before letting it go. We're going to move the awareness back up the body into the neck and the face now. Relaxing the jaw, the tongue and the mouth.
Speaker: The space between the eyebrows, the eyelids, the forehead.
Speaker: See if you can relax any tension in the face which has been stored up throughout the day.
Speaker: And if this brings up any emotions for you, just noticing what you feel without judgment. Good.
Speaker: We're going to let go of the body sensations now, moving your awareness towards what we can hear in the room around us. Noticing any sounds in the room.
Speaker: Maybe you're breathing. Maybe it's cars outside or rain on the window. a dog barking.
Speaker: Noticing any sounds as they move in and out of your awareness.
Speaker: And seeing if you have any reactions to these sounds.
Speaker: Do they make you tense up?
Speaker: Or are you able to let the sounds pulse through your awareness without holding on?
Speaker: And moving our attention away from the sound into what we can see.
Speaker: This might be the backs of our eyelids or we might be gazing a point in front of us.
Speaker: Start to notice the edges of things where one colour moves into another. Just observing the information coming through our eyes without feeling the need to do anything or to move.
Speaker: Just watching.
Speaker: And when you're ready, we're going to move our attention away from the sight now, back towards the breath, as we start to close off this practice.
Speaker: Feeling the sensation of the breath on the lips or under the nose where the air is moving in and out.
Speaker: Noticing the temperature of the breath and feeling the ribs expand with the inhale and contract with the exhale.
Speaker: And maybe noticing if there's any differences in the qualities of the breath compared to a few minutes ago.
Speaker: Not passing judgment on whether the breath is better or worse. Just noticing how the last few minutes might have affected the breath.
Speaker: Breathing in and breathing out.
Speaker: And when you're ready, we're going to move the attention away from the breath completely now. Starting to return to the room we're in Feeling our body in space.
Speaker: Tuning into the sounds around us. And if they aren't already, starting to open your eyes. Thinking, taking in the lights and the colours of the room you're in.
Speaker: Starting to wiggle your fingers and toes and feeling into your body as the meditation draws to a close.
Speaker: and As we move into the rest of our day, trying to move a little slowly at first as our thoughts return to whatever's coming next.
Speaker: And if you do find the sessions brought up any uncomfortable feelings for you, just take a moment to do something soothing and give yourself a little space before you move in to the rest of your day.
