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Meditation 102 · 17 May 2026 · 8:30

A Morning Meditation for the Body You Wake Into

Stay lying down for this one. We go through the body asking each part the same question: what do you need today?

Subject: Morning, Healing & Self-Compassion

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Inner Peace Meditations · Meditation 102

Length8:30
SubjectMorning
Best timeFirst thing, still in bed
PositionStay lying down
StyleGuided, one question asked of the whole body. Music underneath

Stay lying down for this one. We go through the body asking each part the same question: what do you need today?

About 8 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice. Perfect for the morning.

Feet first, then upwards. If something hurts you notice that it hurts, and you do not fix it or argue with it or build a story round it. The body does not answer in words, and sometimes it does not answer at all. Asking is the practice. The body that woke up today is the one you have, and it has carried you this far.

The companion talk episode: Waking Up to Body Betrayal: How to Find Peace in the Pain

Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk

Thank you for sitting with me.

Steven

Who this is for

You wake up and you already know it is one of those bodies. Something aches, something is stiff, something is not going to cooperate today.

The usual move is to argue with it or to override it and get on. This is a different one. You ask it what it needs, and then you actually wait.

For anybody living with pain, illness, or a body that has stopped being predictable.

What happens in this meditation

You stay lying down. We start at the feet and work upwards, part by part, and each one gets the same question. What do you need today?

If something hurts, you notice that it hurts. You do not fix it, argue with it, or build a story on it.

The body does not answer in words and often does not answer at all. Asking is the practice. It ends on the plain fact that the body which woke up today is the one you have, and it has carried you this far.

How to get the most from it

Eight minutes, and you do not have to sit up or open your eyes for any of it.

Go slowly and let the question land on each part. Rushing it turns it into a list, and a list is not what this is.

Some answers you will not want to hear. Let them come anyway. You are not obliged to do anything about them today.

Questions people ask

What if I cannot feel part of my body?

Then that is what is there, and you ask anyway. I cannot feel anything below my chest, and I still ask.

Nothing comes back when I ask. Am I doing it wrong?

No. No answer is a common answer. The asking is what changes the relationship, not the reply.

Is this a body scan?

It is close, but a body scan usually asks you to relax each part. This one asks each part a question and then leaves a gap for it.

Listen together

The companion talk

The Stillness in the Storms episode that goes with this meditation.

Stillness in the Storms · Episode 167Waking Up to Body Betrayal: How to Find Peace in the PainListen on Stillness in the Storms

Read along

The transcript

It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.

morning · body-scan · self-compassion · pain

Read the transcript

Welcome. This is the meditation for the morning. For the body to wake into. Whatever shape the body is

in today.

You can stay lying down for this one. There's no need to sit up. There's no need to do anything

except be here.

If you just open your eyes, that's enough.

If you've been up a while, then that's enough too.

Wherever you are, that's where we begin.

So just become aware of your breath.

Let it breathe in, calm. Let it breathe out, relax. You don't have to do anything with your breath.

You don't have to do anything but allow your body to relax.

Your body knows how to relax and knows how to breathe. And

just notice that you're here. In

this body. On this morning. On this day that hasn't quite started yet.

There's no rush. The day will come when it comes. For now, this is the space before.

You don't have to be ready for anything yet.

Today we're going to do something simple. We're going to ask the body what it needs. Not what we want

from it, not what the day wants from it, but what it needs.

Very often the body always knows what it needs. We

just rarely stop long enough to listen.

So today we listen.

Now start with your feet

And just notice them.

They've been resting all night. Or

maybe they haven't. Maybe they ache. Maybe they're cold. Maybe

you cannot quite feel them yet this morning.

Whatever's there, that's what's there.

And you can ask quietly, what do you need today?

And you might not get a clear answer. The body doesn't talk in language like we do. The body lets

you know through feeling.

And if there is no clear answer, that's okay because asking is the practice. Awareness is the practice.

Move slowly up the legs and the knees and then the hips. And

if something hurts, notice that it hurts. You don't have to fix it. You don't have to push it away.

You

don't have to tell yourself a story about it. Just notice it.

And to your legs and your knees and your hips, just what do you need today?

And just allow whatever answer, even no answer, just arise from them.

And as you move up to your belly and your chest,

notice your breath moving here is

slow and steady

without having to do anything to make it happen it Your breath's just happening.

And you can say to your belly and chest, what do you need today?

So now your shoulders, arms and your hands. And

they do so much. So much gets carried here.

Just say to your arms and shoulders and hands, what

do you need today?

In

your jaw. In your face. The places we hold tension without even knowing it.

And just say to them, what

do you need today?

And now move into your head. The whole head, the eyes that have only just opened or been open a

while.

And just say, what do you need today?

And you may have heard the answers, you may not. You may have heard things that you don't want to

hear. But whatever came up,

it came up for a reason. And

today we don't have to do anything with it. You only have to hear it.

The body that woke up this morning is the body you have. It's not the body of last week or

yesterday or 20 years ago. It's this body. It's this body we have now. And

it has carried you this far.

And just meet it gently. As you would meet a friend that's tired or a

friend that's been through a lot.

And in a moment, we're just going to open our eyes and shake out our body. But

just remember, you can always talk to any part of your body and just, what do you need? Especially when

they're giving us a bit of pain.

So five, four, gently open your eyes. Three, shake out your arms.

Two to shake out your fingers and toes. Wiggle them. One. And just look around the room and be

really fully present. And the day is waiting. It will be there when we get to it.

And just reminder that the day is waiting it'll be there when you get to it. But for now, this

body, this morning, this breath,

it's just all here for you.

Thank you for listening and thank you to your body today. Today and every day before.

Thank you. And just a reminder that these meditations are all completely free because of kind people that donate

a coffee over at StevenWebb.uk. Take care. Have a wonderful day. Bye for now.

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