Basic Body Scan

Join Kari Scott Meditation for a basic body scan meditation. Use this track to relax, decrease anxiety, manage stress, or bring your mind back to focus on the present moment.

Thanks to Chris Collins of IndieMusicBox.com for the soundtrack.

Transcript

Hello,

This is Keri Scott of Keri Scott Meditation and today I'd like to lead you through a guided meditation body scan.

So take a seat or lie down,

Get comfortable in any way that feels good to you.

Sit or lie in a way that allows your back to be straight,

Your shoulders relaxed,

And if you're sitting,

Tilt your chin down just a little and allow there to be some space in the back of your neck.

Now let's take a deep breath together.

Inhale and exhale.

Let's do that again.

Inhale and exhale.

This time inhale deeply,

Fill your belly and then your chest as deeply as you can.

Inhale and gently exhale.

Nice.

If it feels comfortable to you,

Go ahead and close your eyes.

If you'd rather leave your eyes open,

You're free to do so.

Cast your gaze down and let your vision become a bit unfocused if you can.

Let's begin with the crown of your head.

Let's move your focus to the top of your head and think about how the muscles in your scalp feel.

Slowly bring your focus down to your forehead and notice how the muscles there feel.

No need to change anything.

Nothing is right or wrong.

Just notice.

If thoughts intrude or pop up,

See if you can recognize them.

Accept that they're there and let them go like leaves on a stream.

Now move your focus around to your temples and notice how that feels.

Let's slide behind your ears gently and focus on the back of your jaw,

The hinge of your jaw.

We carry a lot of tension in our jaws,

So while you're here,

If it feels tense,

See if you can relax it a little bit.

See if you can think about letting those muscles melt and feel more loose.

Let's slide up to your cheekbones and notice how your cheekbones and the bridge of your nose feel.

Let's take a moment to relax even the tongue.

You may want to let it drop down from the roof of your mouth and keep the tip of your tongue somewhere near your front teeth and just let it relax.

Slide your focus down your neck,

Down the sides and the front,

The muscles that control your throat when you speak or swallow and the muscles and bones that hold your head up all day long.

Notice if they are tense or tight or maybe already relaxed.

Just notice and accept how they feel in this moment.

Let's move down to your shoulders,

Across the tops of your shoulders and take your focus down the backs of your shoulder blades as they cover the top part of your back.

Again,

This is a place where we carry a lot of stress and a lot of tension,

Many of us.

So if you feel like your shoulders are tight or high,

Scrunched up too close to your ears,

See if you can let those shoulders lower down a little.

Untie the knots in the tops and back of your shoulders and let those muscles melt just a bit.

Now let's move our focus slowly down our upper arms,

Being aware of the muscles there,

The skin that might be touching your sleeves.

Be aware of the elbow area,

The inside of your elbow,

That tender hollow and slide your awareness down the forearms to the wrists.

Are your wrists tight or tense?

If they are,

Take a moment to breathe into them.

Inhale and send that air directly to your wrists and see if it can help release some tension.

Move your attention to the palm of your hand,

To the top of your thumb,

And to each of your fingers in turn as you breathe and relax.

Now let's let our attention move back up our arms slowly until we reach our torso.

Let's think of our ribcage and the muscles and tendons and skin that surround your ribcage.

Be aware of what that feels like right now in this moment.

You may be able to feel your ribcage moving as you breathe.

It may expand when you inhale and tighten up a little bit or come closer together when you exhale.

You may feel that movement on your shirt.

Or on the blanket or mat if you're lying down.

Let's let our attention slide a little lower to our belly and lower back.

They are attached,

You know,

This lower part of our torso.

The muscles that support your spine.

Again,

A space where we tend to carry tension and carry some of our stress.

If you're tight there in the lower back area,

Again take a moment to breathe some air into that space.

Imagine the oxygen coming in while you inhale and filling that space around your spine,

Your pelvis,

Your lower back.

Bringing in some air and some oxygen to feed that space and help it let go.

On the front side of your body here is your belly.

Your beautiful belly where we carry,

Again,

A lot of our emotion and a lot of our judgment of ourselves.

There's muscles here that are strong.

Feel those move as you breathe.

Accept how your belly feels in this moment.

Let's move down to the pelvis area that includes the top of the thighs and your back end,

Your glutes,

And where your hamstrings attach at the top of your leg.

Take a moment to be aware of what you're carrying there,

Of any tightness or imbalance between one side or the other.

Breathe into it if you have some tension there.

Now let's move our focus down the top part of our legs,

Our strong,

Strong thighs with those big quadriceps and hamstrings.

See if you can be aware of any spaces there that may need some attention,

Some relaxation,

Or some extra air today.

Accept how those feel in this moment and think next of your knee joint.

All the parts and pieces that come together to make that joint hold up the rest of your body.

It might be strong and healthy.

Your knees might be creaky and crunchy and sore,

But take a moment to just be with that,

However it is,

And accept it.

Next let's move down your calves.

Slide your attention down your calves to the back of your ankle and finally to the heel of your foot.

Can you focus on the feeling of the bottom of your heel for just a moment and then draw your attention up the bottom of your foot,

Across the arch and the ball of your foot,

And into the toes.

We don't think of our toes as individual entities very often.

See if you can challenge yourself to feel each toe individually.

Now let's move your focus up the top of your foot and back to your ankle.

Slowly slide your focus back up your body,

Up your legs,

Through your pelvis,

Through your abdomen,

Until you reach your heart center.

You could even lay a hand across your heart center if you wish and feel the warmth of that on your skin.

Let's take a few deep breaths and breathe into your heart center today.

Breathe in some gratitude for that ever-beating heart and for the time and space to be present in this moment with this body in this world.

Let's inhale together and a nice deep exhale.

Let's do that again.

A nice deep inhale and a gentle,

Thorough exhale.

When you're ready,

Bring some movement back into your toes and your fingers and maybe your shoulders today.

Give a moment of pause to thank yourself for dedicating the time to your own self-care and to your own mind and heart.

When it feels right,

Go ahead and open your eyes and rejoin the present space that you're in.

That was lovely.

Thank you so much for meditating with me today.

I'll see you soon.

Reviews

Thankyou for your meditation session I am very relaxed and happy ☺️

Wonderful! Your soothing voice, gentle music and easy pace all made for a lovely body scan. Thank you 🙏🏼✨💕✨🕊️