Body Scan Meditation

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) meditation, led by Mark Abramson, founder of Stanford University's MBSR program. This meditation cultivates mindful awareness through step-by-step observation of the body.

Transcript

Welcome to this mindfulness-based stress reduction program,

Body Awareness.

As we begin this session of formal practice,

Let us take a moment to acknowledge ourselves,

How rare and special it is to take this time to practice deep inner awareness,

To have the intention to develop mindfulness to improve the quality of our lives and to connect with ourselves,

The most important relationship of all.

As we come to this session,

Also take a moment,

See if you can allow yourself to come to this moment just the way you are,

Nothing to change,

Just allowing yourself to be present and aware and to allow your body and mind to let go and relax.

In this practice,

We will use the awareness of our breathing,

Something that is with us all the time,

To anchor us to this moment and to anchor with the connection with ourselves.

Let us begin by noticing ourselves as we breathe,

Noticing the inhalation as the body opens to allow the air in.

In the inhalation,

There is a natural opening.

The body opens to create space,

Drawing the air in to enter the body.

We can experience this inhalation through the experience of the body opening,

Particularly notice the opening of the belly,

Rising of the belly,

The air coming in through the nose,

Down into the lungs,

Filling the chest.

And on the out-breath,

There is a natural letting go,

Releasing,

That occurs in the whole body.

Breathing out does not take work,

But is simply a natural letting go,

Releasing,

That occurs in the out-breath.

Allow yourself to rhythmically follow the natural flow of breath in and out,

Just as a seabird flows on the surface of the ocean,

Naturally stays right on the surface.

The bird knows that it can't control the movement of the water,

But simply stay right on the surface,

Rising with the rising of the swell,

And falling with the fall of the swell.

Just like the bird,

We simply ride the waves of our own breathing,

Just as if we too were floating on the surface of the water,

Riding the waves of the rhythmic,

Natural shifting as the breath comes in and shifts into the natural letting go of the out-breath.

Staying mindful,

Aware,

Riding the waves of our own breathing with awareness.

The habit of the mind might drift off into thoughts,

And we lose connection with the experience of our own breathing.

This can be a very powerful moment when we realize that we've drifted away.

This moment you can come back,

Choosing to be attentive,

Doing so with compassion and understanding that the mind tends to drift away.

Gentle moving of the belly,

Rising and falling,

Up and down.

The expansion of the belly,

The opening of the chest as we breathe in,

And the natural releasing and letting go of the belly and the chest as we breathe out.

It's sometimes useful to use what's called noting.

As you become aware of the in-breath,

We quietly note in the mind by saying quietly,

Breathing in,

Or simply in.

As you experience yourself breathing out,

You note quietly in your mind,

Breathing out.

This is a useful tool to keep us attentive.

As we breathe in,

There's the knowing that we're breathing in,

And as we breathe out and let go,

There's the knowing that we're breathing out.

As we breathe in,

We breathe in our lungs,

The oxygen that we're taking in from the air,

Which is sent by the heart through the blood to every cell in the body.

We breathe so that we can breathe in to our whole body.

The true breathing of the body goes on in every cell so that as we breathe,

We can feel the breathing in our whole body,

And there's a natural opening of the body as a whole as we breathe in,

And as we breathe out,

There's a letting go,

A releasing,

A refreshing that is occurring in the whole body.

As we breathe in,

We can open and notice the opening in our whole body,

And as we breathe out,

We can feel the releasing and letting go through our whole body.

Let us begin to practice body awareness through the body scan exercise.

In this practice,

We bring our attention to various parts of our body using the breath as an anchor to be aware and to notice the experience of our own bodies.

As we notice and pay attention to the feelings and sensations of our own body,

Our body,

Our minds,

Our emotions,

We have the opportunity to cultivate an understanding,

A wisdom.

Awareness is the great healer of the body and the mind.

Healing can only occur in this moment.

As we bring ourselves fully to this moment and open up to the experience of ourselves just as we are in this moment,

As we breathe in,

Imagine the breath going through the lungs all the way down to the left leg,

To the foot.

And as you breathe out,

Feel as if the air comes from the foot all the way up the leg to the lungs and then being released so that we link the experience of our breathing with the focus of our attention at our feet.

Breathing in the natural opening of the in-breath,

We open to the sensations of our toes,

The ball of our foot,

Our heel.

As we breathe out,

We naturally relax and let go from the foot.

Linking the in-breath and out-breath all the way down through our bodies as we breathe down into our foot and release from our foot,

Allowing the natural opening of the in-breath to open us to the feelings and sensations.

As we open,

We might notice experiences that have always been there but just below the level of awareness because we haven't been paying this kind of attention to our own experience of our bodies.

What can we feel at the level of their skin as we breathe,

The ligaments,

The bones,

The toes,

The heel,

The sole of the foot where we have the pressure of the skin as we walk?

Noticing the most prominent feelings and following them deeper and deeper to the more subtle,

Quiet sensations,

The tinglings and touches,

Temperature,

And breathing in and opening and acknowledging whatever it is that you feel in this area.

As you breathe out,

Let the natural letting go allow you to release and let go,

And moving on in the next in-breath to breathe down your leg to the ankle of the left leg,

Opening to the feelings and sensations of the ankle of the left foot,

Noticing the front and the back of the ankle,

The Achilles tendon,

This vulnerable area in the back part of our ankle,

The movable parts of the ankle bone,

Breathing in and acknowledging whatever it is that you feel,

And as you breathe out,

The letting go,

The natural releasing,

And moving on to breathe in down to the left lower leg,

Letting the natural opening that occurs with the in-breath support you in opening to the feelings and sensations of the lower left leg.

As you breathe out,

Let the natural releasing and let go allow you to let go and relax even further,

Allow yourself to connect with the more subtle feelings and sensations of the lower leg.

One of the most prominent feelings that you first connect with,

Even the experience of not being able to feel or noticing the lack of feelings is of great value.

Taking a breath down your body to the lower leg,

And as you breathe out,

Letting the natural releasing and letting go,

Relax,

Letting go,

And moving to the next in-breath down your body to the knee,

Opening to the feelings and sensations of the knee.

You might notice the front of the knee with the kneecap and the back of the knee,

Breathing in and acknowledging the feelings and sensations in this part of your body,

And as you breathe out,

Allow the natural releasing and letting go to allow you to release and let go of this part of your body,

And the next in-breath breathing in to the upper leg,

The thigh.

What do you notice here?

What are the first feelings that you become aware of as you breathe into your thigh?

As you breathe out,

Relax and let go from this area,

Noticing the most prominent sensations and following them deeper and deeper to the more subtle sensations,

The slight tinglings,

The skin,

The muscles,

The strong bone of the center of the thigh.

Even the bone is an area that's very active,

Very alive,

Making blood cells in this very marrow of the bone.

It's all very alive,

Acknowledging what it is that you feel,

Breathing in and as you let go,

Relaxing and releasing and moving on to the next in-breath.

The next in-breath,

Breathing down your body to the right leg,

All the way down to your feet.

Notice how awareness can be directed through the attention and intention,

The intention to feel and focus as you breathe down through your body to the right foot.

It's very useful just to notice how we kind of wake up.

Simply by paying attention,

We connect with feelings and sensations that are always actually always present,

Just waiting to be noticed.

Breathing in and opening and noticing what's there just as it is.

This opening can be a very relaxed opening and as you breathe in and notice whatever's there and allowing yourself to breathe out and allow the natural letting go of the out-breath,

Release and relax.

Letting go and moving on to the ankle with the next in-breath.

Breathing in and being aware of the experience of your ankle.

What do you notice here,

Now?

Breathing in and out from this right ankle,

Breathing all the way down to the right ankle and as you breathe out from the ankle,

Letting go and shifting on the next in-breath down your body to the right lower leg.

Opening and feeling sensations here,

Now,

As you breathe in and out this breath.

Acknowledging whatever you feel and notice in this moment.

And as you breathe out,

Letting go,

Releasing,

Relaxing,

Allowing the lower leg to be just the way it is as you let go.

And on the next in-breath,

Breathing in down your body to the right knee.

Opening to the feelings and sensations here,

Now,

In your right knee.

Acknowledging the feelings,

Using the most prominent feelings and going deeper and deeper down to the more subtle sensations in the right knee in this moment.

Acknowledging what you feel and notice.

Breathing in and as you breathe out,

Releasing and letting go.

And on the next in-breath,

Allow the breath to move down your body to the right thigh.

Noticing what you first meet as you bring your attention to the right thigh.

As you rhythmically breathe in and out from this area,

You might notice that there's the possibility of becoming more aware of the more subtle feelings.

Breathing in to this area of your body and acknowledging whatever it is you feel.

And as you breathe out,

Letting go,

Relaxing,

Releasing from all the cells.

And as you breathe in,

Breathe down through the lungs,

To your belly,

To the floor of the pelvis.

The area of the anus and genitals.

And this area is also a muscular diaphragm.

As the belly opens and pulls air into the lungs,

There's a movement in the floor of the pelvis.

This muscle cooperates with the movement of the belly.

Can you notice the shifting and moving of the pelvis with the breathing and the movement of the belly?

Allowing the awareness to be focused in the floor of the pelvis,

Riding the waves of feelings and sensations.

As you pay attention and use the breath to focus your awareness,

We might become aware of different levels of sensation.

The physical sensations,

The movement of the floor of the pelvis,

The structure of the genital and the anus.

And the feelings of our experience and emotions,

Our mind states and the relationship that we have to our body.

Breathing in and acknowledging whatever it is we feel here,

Now.

And as we breathe out,

Letting go and moving to the bones of the pelvis.

The sides of the pelvic bones,

We have what we call the pelvic wings.

The bone structure of the whole pelvis is sometimes called the pelvic bowl,

Holding the contents of the pelvis,

Giving us support and structure.

We might also,

As we pay attention to the pelvis,

Get in touch with the elements of our life.

The fluids of the body that make up the element of water,

The heat that make up the temperature of our body,

The element of fire.

There's the minerals,

The bones and the tissue,

Which are the elements of the earth.

As we breathe,

We breathe in air,

The element of air,

Which is part of our body.

You might notice the gentle rocking of the pelvis as we rhythmically shift from breathing in to breathing out.

On the next in-breath,

Breathing into the belly,

Feeling the belly rise as the air comes in.

Noticing the release of the air as the belly lets go.

Breathing in and filling the belly,

Noticing the opening of the pelvis in the belly.

The small of the back.

And as you breathe out,

Noticing all these areas letting go,

Releasing.

And then on the next in-breath,

Breathing in and noticing the area of the chest.

Feel the air filling the lungs and the chest.

As you breathe out,

Releasing and letting go.

Breathing in,

Opening.

And then the letting go,

Relaxing,

Releasing.

And the next in-breath,

Breathing into the chest as if the breath can go directly into the heart.

Noticing the experience of the heart at the center of the chest,

Connected to the breathing.

The beating of the heart and the breathing are so intimately connected.

The heart moving the air from the lungs to the whole body.

As the heart physically cares for every cell of the body,

Giving.

As you breathe in and open,

Notice the beating of the heart.

And as you let go,

Releasing,

Letting go.

And on the next in-breath,

Breathing into the upper back.

Noticing the muscles of the upper back and shoulders.

Places that we tend to hold a lot of tension.

As you breathe in,

Opening all the areas of the back.

And as you breathe out,

Letting go and releasing.

And on the next in-breath,

Breathing in all the way down the arms,

All the way down to the fingertips.

And as you breathe out,

Breathing out from the fingertips all the way up the arms and out.

Breathing in to the palms of the hands.

And as you breathe out,

Releasing and letting go.

And on the next in-breath,

Coming down your arms to the forearms.

Noticing the muscles of the forearm,

Which move the fingers.

In our modern society,

We tend to use our fingers in ways that can create the muscles being sore and tight.

We can use this moment now as an opportunity to allow ourselves to open up.

To allow ourselves to feel whatever sensations are here.

As we relax the muscles,

We will actually maybe feel more tension in the muscles.

This is a function of us letting go and allowing the muscles to feel more deeply.

Opening and breathing into these feelings.

And as you breathe out,

Letting go and releasing.

And on the next in-breath,

Breathing in to the upper arms.

Breathing in,

Noticing the feelings.

And as you breathe out,

Letting go.

And the next in-breath,

Breathing into the throat.

Noticing the feelings and sensations of the neck and throat.

Noticing the vertebrae of the neck.

In the front of the throat,

We might feel the air as it moves through the throat.

You might notice temperature of the air.

Feeling the coolness of the in-breath.

And as you breathe out,

The warmth of the out-breath.

The air that's been warmed by your body.

Noticing the tongue and the throat as you breathe in and out.

And noticing the lower jaw.

As you pay attention to this area,

Letting the jaw relax.

And notice the muscles of the jaw which connect to the head and the ears and the face.

You also might relax the jaw.

And as you do,

Notice the deep connection that the jaw has to the ears.

And as we relax the jaw,

We can relax and allow our ears to open.

And allow our ears to relax and fully allow the sounds around us to be noticed.

It's very interesting,

The connection of speech and sound,

Hearing.

Breathing in and acknowledging the feelings and sensations of the jaw and the ear.

Begin to focus your attention on the teeth and the tongue.

And the soft palate.

And the cheeks.

The back of the throat.

And the mouth.

The most sensitive place in your body with eating and speech and kissing,

Breathing.

And as you notice the upper jaw.

Notice the connection to the facial bones and the sinuses.

And the feeling of the air as it rushes in.

Feeling the coolness of the air warming the bones of the face.

And as you breathe out,

Notice the warmth of the air warming the bones of the face.

The sinuses.

And shifting your attention to the muscles of the face,

Which give us expression of smiling,

Sadness.

The movement,

The muscles of the scalp.

And the eyeballs,

The muscles that move the eye,

Noticing any tensions in these muscles.

Tensions in our eyes.

And the bones of the eye sockets and the face.

And support the head and the plates of bones that encase the brain.

Breathing into the entire head.

Particularly if you're someone who gets headaches,

You might notice ways that you hold or try not to feel.

This is an opportunity that you have to open and release and reestablish your connection to the feelings and sensations of your own body.

For the purpose of release and healing.

The more open we are,

The more wise we are with the ways that we hold ourselves.

And bring your attention to the contents of this brain.

This wonderful organ of,

Place of knowing and processing our knowledge.

And yet,

The brain itself has no feelings of its own.

We only feel through the membranes around the brain.

And breathe again,

Acknowledging the feelings of your entire head and neck and spine.

Going all the way down to the vertebrae connecting out to the nerves of the body.

And begin to breathe throughout your whole body.

To every place that you've touched with awareness.

Let's spend a few moments breathing.

Opening to whatever feelings are present in our body and minds.

Breathing into the sensations of our body.

And as we breathe out,

Releasing.

And as we bring this formal practice to a close.

Let's take a moment to acknowledge ourselves for this attention that we've given ourselves and our bodies and our experience.

This cultivation of a more open way of experiencing yourself.

And as we bring this formal practice to a close,

Let us acknowledge ourselves for this attention.

Being there for yourself,

For your own experience.

Appreciating yourself just the way you are.

And as you continue on to your informal practice,

Which is the rest of your day.

Can you continue to have a sense of attention towards yourself?

A sense of experiencing each moment.

To allow yourself to be open to the feelings and sensations that arise,

The emotions.

So that each moment becomes a practice in mindfulness.

Each moment we're connected to ourselves.

To the most important relationship in our lives.

May you know peace,

May you be free of suffering.

May all beings know peace and be free of suffering.