House X-Ray: A Complete Body Scan With Gratitude

A house scan or body scan, as it is known in the meditation world, is an excellent way to reconnect yourself to your body, train your mind to stay in the present moment, and observe what physically goes on inside of your own sensorial receptor: your body. The practice of mindfully sweeping your body encourages the practice of attention to life, and attention to the physical awareness of being here. The exercise brings awareness to the physical sensations in the body; it draws you into falling right inside your own body, you drop into your body – you “embody” – and in doing so, you render to sensations that are coming every fraction of a second from all angles, internally and externally.

It is a meditative practice that leads to a sense of well-being in mind and body. It enhances awareness of your body, it enhances awareness of being alive, making you feel inclusive and aware of being in the here & now carefully watching and accepting what is present with genuine gratitude.

Enjoy.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to another audio contemplation exercise guided by Ligo Marcial. I'm an art psychotherapist and a mindfulness practitioner and educator. I hope you will enjoy this experience. What follows is a mindfulness concentration exercise to enhance our focus on the here and now for relaxation of body and mind. An exercise normally called body scan but here I call it house x-ray. A complete check-up with gratitude as it is a thorough body sweeping. Begin by making yourself comfortable in your usual posture either sitting or lying down and when you are ready gently close your eyes as it will facilitate this exercise. Connect to your body to the here and now by taking three gentle and slow breaths. Feeling the air coming in and going out of your body and noticing where you feel the breath more strongly in the nostrils, Chest, Belly. Breathe in feeling where in the body you feel the breath more strongly and breathe out slowly releasing and feeling the air going out of your body. Breathe in again slowly and gently relaxing the mind. Breathe out feeling where in the body you find it easier to detect the breath. One more time breathe in nicely and gently relaxing the body, Relaxing the mind. Now let the breath be naturally at its own pace in rhythm. Try to feel the weight of your body against the surface you are sitting on or laying down on. Imagine your body as a house that you are going to sweep it all over room by room. Try to see yourself inside your body inside this wonderful house you live in. Let's begin investigating this rather busy room where your feet are. These hard working pair that take you anywhere beginning with your toes. Try to feel them from the inside one by one beginning with one by one beginning with the big toe, Second toe, Third toe, Fourth toe, Fifth toe. Move your awareness to the soles of your feet both feet noticing anything present there. Maybe a tingling sensation, A vibrating energy they may be cold or warm. Can you notice it? It's okay if you cannot, That's fine. Can you feel any sensation at the top of your feet? Heels, Ankles. Now breathe in and breathe out trying to feel the presence of your whole feet and thank them for working so hard taking you from A to B all over and almost anywhere. Thank you my feet. Breathe in, Breathe out thanking your feet for their hard work. Move on up to this other room where these other hard working pair are. Your legs. Open the door and give them a good smile showing them your gratitude for their hard work. Breathe in and breathe out. I feel grateful for my hard working legs. Thank you. Try to notice any sensation going on here in your legs. It's fine if you are not able to spot it's fine if you are not able to spot anything this time. Just try to feel your legs from the inside. Move on up to another room. Your pelvis region. Try to feel your buttocks against the surface you are sitting on, Lying on. Breathe in and breathe out feeling your entire pelvic region spotting any sensation here. You Let's move up now to this equally important room just above. Your torso. Be thankful to those guys inside your chest, Belly, Ribs. Those marvelous vital organs working 24 7 doing their ultimate best to keep you up and running here in this amazing world. Try to feel from the inside. Stomach Kidneys, Liver, Lungs, Your heart. Breathe in and breathe out and say thank you guys. Thank you for working so hard for me to keep me alive. Gratitude. Gratitude. Let's move on now to your back. Lower back. See what's going on here. Middle back. Chest. Shoulders. Relax your shoulders. Moving down to your arms. Both arms. Elbows. Wrists. Now open the door of your hands. Both hands. Those beautiful and so hard working guys who work so hard for you to feel the touch, To handle and hold things, To do so much day in day out. Smile and say thank you my hands. Gratitude. Great. Try to feel any sensations here in your hands. Perhaps they are tingling. They might be warm or cold. Vibrating. Pulsating. Feel a thumb. Both thumbs. Index fingers. Middle fingers. Ring fingers. Pinky fingers. Palms of the hands. Back of the hands. They hold two hands together. Let's move all the way up. Back to the shoulders. Neck. Face. Feel your chin. Your mouth. Inside the mouth. Your tongue. The little muscles around your mouth. Smile and try to feel all the little muscles around your mouth while you smile. Smile and feel your lips moving. Your chin opening inside your mouth. Again your tongue. Feeling any sensation inside your mouth. Move your attention now to your nose. Feeling any sensation going on here. Pay attention to your breath and try to feel the temperature of the air passing through your nostrils as you breathe. Feeling the temperature of the air kissing the inside of your nostrils. Try to feel the difference in the temperature of the air passing through your nostrils as you breathe in and breathe out. One is cooler than the other, Isn't it? Move your awareness to your eyes now. Smile and try to feel the corner of your eyes smiling. Relax and feel all those little muscles around your eyes. Roll the eyeballs. Feeling the movement of them rolling inside the sockets. Let's move up now to the brows. Forehead. Feeling any sensations present here. Forehead can feel like a magnet field attracting all sorts of sensations. Vibrations, Movements up, Down, Pulling right or left in the middle and in the corners of the brows. Smile and feel the whole face moving with your smile. Can you feel it? Let's move up to the crown of the head now. Any sensation here. Have you ever tried to feel the way of your head? Can you feel any sensations at the back of your head? Both sides of the head. All around the head. Your ears. Your whole head. Feel your whole body. From head to toes. Embracing with kindness and gratitude to this so hard working amazing body. Breathe in and out. Feeling your whole body. In and out. Move your awareness to your feet, Legs, Pelvis, Chest, Shoulders, Arms, Hands, Neck, Face, Head. Feel your whole body. Smile and mentally say thank you, Thanks to this incredible machine that is my body, My house, My home, My body. Smile, Breathe in and say thank you my body. Gratitude. Smile and breathe out and say thank you my body. Gratitude. Breathe in. Thank you my body. Gratitude. Smile. Breathe out. Thank you my body. Gratitude. Once more. Breathe in. Thank you my body. Gratitude. Smile and breathe out. Thank you my body. Gratitude. Okay, This exercise is now complete. You can make some movements with your legs, Wiggle your toes and hands. You can make some movements with your head. Relaxing your body. Gently and kindly, Softly, Open your eyes when you are ready. Thank you very much for letting me guide you again. It's always a pleasure. Take care.

Reviews

ArtLeo, you convey a lot of peace, and every meditation I listen to I feel a lightness in my mind, body and soul. Gratitude for so much delivery.

You did it again, ArtLeo! You made me visualise!! I love the analogy of the body as a house… then you go sweeping “room by room”. I feel very present and relaxed. Thank you ever so much.