Body Scan (MBSR)
This meditation invites you to explore each part of your body with curiosity and a beginner's mind - to see how it feels to be alive in this very moment. It encourages gentle acceptance of whatever you find (even if your experience is of no sensations). The intention is to stay with the present moment as best you can and to become more aware of - and open to - whatever your experience is. This helps us to step out of autopilot, gather our scattered minds, and deepen our connection with sensations in our bodies. Whilst relaxation is not the objective of the practice, you may also find this happens.
Transcript
Welcome to this 30 minute body scan practice.
You might want to practice this in a seated position,
Or you may be more comfortable lying down.
Just having an intention to stay present,
To stay alert during practice,
So choosing whichever position will support that.
So the intention for the body scan is to practice stepping out of automatic pilot and bringing our attention back to the body.
Through this practice we'll be gathering our scattered mind as many times as we need to.
Practice helps us get better acquainted with our body sensations,
So we can become more aware each moment what's actually happening in our body.
So we'll be placing our attention gently and curiously on different parts of the body,
One by one.
As we do this,
We'll be trying to notice what's actually there in the present moment for us,
Rather than what we think should be happening.
Our attitude is one of openness to whatever we find,
Acceptance to what our reality is,
And kindness towards ourselves.
So just checking in with your posture,
Your position,
If you're sitting on a chair,
Making sure both your feet are in contact with the ground,
You'll be feeling your sitting bones against the chair,
Your head reaching up towards the sky,
You'll be feeling your spine elongating,
Your shoulders relaxed.
And if you're lying down,
Maybe feeling the ground beneath your back,
Beneath your body,
Just letting yourself be held by the ground.
And wherever you are,
Allowing your eyes to close,
If that feels right for you,
Otherwise you might simply want to soften your gaze,
Just rest your eyes,
And making a choice to allow yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment.
This in itself is an act of kindness.
And then starting to notice your breath,
Becoming aware of each breath coming into your body,
And leaving your body.
Noticing the breath,
Rolling in and rolling out,
There's no need to try and change your breath in any way.
Simply observing,
Being present to each breath entering and leaving your body.
As we practice the body scan,
There may be points where you encounter emotions or sensations or thoughts that are a little challenging,
If this is the case,
You can always come back to your breath,
Just watching it rolling in and rolling out of your body,
It's a place of safety,
Until you feel ready to join the practice again.
And then expanding the awareness to include the entire body,
From the soles of the feet all the way to the top of your head,
Maybe noticing the breath,
The movement of the breath in the entire body.
Maybe you can feel the movement of the breath in your belly or your chest,
Breath rolling in,
Breath rolling out,
Simply being present with this breath in your body as best you can.
You might notice that from time to time the mind wanders away from wherever you placed it.
When this happens,
Not feeling it's a mistake,
It's just what our minds do,
Like an untrained puppy they go wandering off on their own,
And the practice is just to bring the mind back,
To place it back on our breath or our body,
With kindness,
With gentleness,
Knowing that each time we do this,
It strengthens our muscle of mindfulness.
And then taking the awareness down through the left leg,
Into the left foot and to the left toes,
Just being curious,
What do you notice here,
What sensations can you feel in the toes on your left foot?
Maybe tuning in and seeing maybe there's a tingling sensation,
Maybe they're touching some surface,
The floor,
Or maybe some socks,
Or maybe nothing.
Maybe the toes are touching each other and you can feel that.
Maybe you can feel the space around them,
The air on the skin.
Maybe you can't feel any sensations in your toes,
That can be quite normal too,
So if that's your experience,
Just noticing that as your experience.
There's no need to find anything special or anything in particular,
The practice is just to see what is your experience,
Your toes,
In the left foot,
In this moment of your life.
And now broadening out into the whole of the left foot,
So seeing what you can notice here,
Top of the left foot,
Sole of the left foot,
The skin,
The muscles,
The bone,
Maybe there's tingling here,
Maybe it's in contact with some surface or some fabric,
Maybe there's heaviness or maybe nothing,
Just being curious,
Just being open to whatever you find.
Now moving to the left ankle and the lower left leg,
Seeing what you can notice here,
Maybe your calf is resting on some surface,
Maybe there's clothes on your skin,
Maybe the temperature,
Maybe tingling or tightness,
Maybe nothing,
Remembering there's no need to make sensations happen,
Simply seeing what your experience is,
Not needing it to be any other way than it is.
And when you're ready,
Letting go of the sensations in the left lower leg,
Moving your awareness into the upper leg,
So your left knee and your left thigh,
And just checking,
Just seeing,
Just feeling what sensations are there in your knee,
In your thigh,
On your left leg right now.
Maybe you can feel pressure from the ground or the chair,
Maybe the touch of fabric against your skin,
Your knees bent,
Maybe noticing how the skin feels on the back of your knee compared to the front of your knee,
Just exploring this area with your mind as best you can,
Not thinking about a mental picture of your leg,
But really noticing what your experience is in this moment,
What sensations are there for you,
And then letting go of this focus on the upper left leg,
Just for a moment feeling into the sense of the left leg as a whole,
And feeling into a sense of both legs as a whole,
Just noticing any difference in the sensations you can feel in your left leg and your right leg,
And then taking our awareness down through our right leg,
Into our right foot,
So the right toes,
Seeing what sensations are there in the toes on your right foot,
And letting go of the need to find anything special,
Just being curious,
Maybe tingling or temperature or touch of something on your skin,
Or nothing,
Seeing what your experience is right now,
And then broadening out into the whole of the right foot,
So seeing what sensations you can notice,
Maybe touch of something against your foot,
Maybe temperature warm or cold,
Maybe tingling or maybe not,
Maybe nothing,
Just checking in,
Just feeling,
Just sensing what your experience is in your right foot right now,
And maybe noticing if the mind wanders off anywhere,
Remembering this is just part of the practice,
It's not a mistake,
You might just want to notice where it's gone,
Planning,
Worrying,
To the future or to the past,
And then without getting caught up in the thoughts themselves,
Just bring your awareness back with gentleness,
With kindness,
To exploring the sensations in your body,
Widening your awareness from your right foot into the whole of the right leg,
So right ankle,
Lower leg,
Right knee,
Right thigh,
Just noticing what sensations are there,
Maybe there's heaviness,
Maybe there's temperature,
Hot or cold,
Contact with the surface,
And as best you can,
Just staying with the sensations,
How they feel,
Rather than getting caught up in any stories about whether they should or shouldn't be there,
And then broadening the awareness back into both legs,
So just checking in,
This gentle awareness of both legs,
How they feel,
Trying to keep that beginner's mind so,
Being fully open to how they are in this exact moment,
And then moving your awareness up from your legs into your hips,
Your buttocks,
Your pelvis,
So checking in,
What's happening in this area,
What sensations can you feel,
Maybe there's contact with the chair,
Or the floor,
Or a cushion,
Noticing how that feels,
Might be tightness in the muscles,
Maybe you can feel your clothes against your skin,
So not needing things to be any particular way,
Just seeing what's here for you,
In this area,
In this moment,
And then moving the awareness up into the tummy,
The stomach,
You're checking in inside,
How this is feeling,
Sometimes we hold emotions here,
Sometimes there's kind of tightness and tension,
So might be that you're experiencing something like that,
Could be some physical pain,
Could be feeling relaxed,
And then maybe noticing how it feels on the surface as well,
There's any movement with your breath,
How that feels against your clothes,
Or anything else you're in contact with,
Or maybe there's some other sensations here,
Or maybe nothing at all,
So just being open to whatever you find,
Simply noticing,
Witnessing what's happening for you in this moment,
Moving your awareness into your chest,
So here again,
Maybe feeling into the inside of your chest,
Your lungs,
Your heart region,
Again maybe you can feel some emotions and tightness and openness in your heart region,
Maybe the breath inside your lungs,
Moving,
Maybe you can feel your heart beating,
And then on the surface maybe you can feel again the clothes,
Gently moving against your skin with each breath,
Maybe there's something else,
Or maybe nothing,
Simply seeing how your experience is in this moment,
And then taking your awareness to your back,
So your lower back,
Whole of your spine,
Your upper back,
Maybe it's in contact with something,
Maybe the floor,
A cushion,
Maybe the air,
Maybe your clothes,
Maybe there's tension or tightness in the muscles here,
Maybe you can feel this very subtle movement in your back with each breath as well,
Just exploring with curiosity what's there for you,
Remembering if your mind wanders at any point,
Simply bringing it back with gentleness,
With kindness,
With love,
And then inviting you to move your awareness into your arms,
Down to your hands,
Your fingers,
So just feeling into your hands,
Your fingers,
Both arms,
What can you notice,
Maybe just checking how you're holding your fingers,
Are they straight,
Are they curled,
Are they relaxed,
Are they touching each other,
Your hands resting somewhere,
How does that feel,
Maybe you can feel that they're dry or they're moist,
Hot or cold,
Just seeing how your experience is in your hands in this moment,
Maybe there's tingling,
Maybe there's no sensation at all,
Just noticing,
And then bringing your awareness up through your arms,
Seeing how they feel,
There's heaviness,
Just noticing what your experience is in your arms in this moment,
And coming into your shoulders,
Just checking in,
What's happening there,
Letting go of any stories,
Just simply noticing with this beginner's mind any sensations that are present in your shoulders in this moment of your life,
It could be tension,
It could be movement with the breath,
Contact with clothes,
Something else,
And then bringing your awareness up to your throat,
Your neck,
Just noticing sensations there,
And then coming up into your chin,
Your jaw,
Sometimes we can hold tension here,
Or maybe relaxed,
Just seeing what your experience is,
Not needing to change it or make it any other way,
And then bring your awareness up into your mouth,
Maybe just noticing how your lips are,
Are they touching each other,
Are they relaxed or is there pressure if they're touching each other,
Maybe noticing how your tongue is placed,
If your mouth feels dry or moist,
Maybe seeing if there's any sense being able to feel into your teeth,
Maybe there's tingling in the lips,
Seeing what your experience is,
What you can notice,
If anything,
Sensations in your mouth in this moment,
Maybe noticing the temperature of the breath on your upper lip,
Noticing the air flowing in and out of your nostrils,
Maybe seeing if there's any sensations in your cheek,
It could be tension,
Maybe feeling the air on your skin,
Maybe something else,
Or maybe nothing,
And then bringing your awareness up into your eyes,
And seeing what you can notice here,
How does it feel with your eyes closed,
If they're closed,
Are your eyelids touching,
Are your eyes still,
Are they moving,
Is there any sense of light or just darkness if you have your eyes closed,
And then moving your awareness up into your forehead,
Maybe seeing what's happening here,
Is it relaxed or tense,
The temperature is,
And then expanding your awareness into the whole of your face,
The whole of your head,
Just noticing any sensations here,
And taking your awareness into the whole of your body,
From the top of your head all the way through to the soles of your feet,
Just holding it with this kind of gentle awareness,
This feeling of your body in this moment,
Of your body being alive,
Noticing your body breathing,
Remembering our breath has been with us through the whole of this practice,
And the whole of our lives,
Just noticing that once more,
And noticing how the body is supported by the ground,
Whether you're sitting or lying,
Just really feeling yourself held,
Maybe noticing where those contact points are,
Between your body and the ground in this moment,
Maybe starting to notice some sounds around you,
Just allowing yourself to hear what's there to be heard,
Just coming back into contact with the world,
Well beyond your body,
We're taking a moment at the end of this practice to thank your body,
Your gratitude,
For being alive,
For caring for you,
And then when you're ready,
Starting to make small movements with your fingers and your toes,
Stretching your body however you need,
And thanking yourself for making time for this practice,
The body scan practice is now complete.
