Mindful Body Scan

This mindful body scan includes guidance for attention including wandering, and ample silence without additional effects or music to facilitate deepening. Use this meditation to assist beginning learners in mindfulness meditation, or for those practiced in meditation to return to this core practice.

Transcript

Welcome to a mindful body scan. Getting into a posture that feels right for you. Maybe lying down in a wakeful yet resting pose. Or sitting. Allowing the eyes to gently close or unfocus your gaze. Noticing shifting from doing to being. Noticing the rise and fall of the body with breathing. Recognizing the body breathing itself with no striving from you. Maybe sensing a coolness or warmth in the nostrils or throat. Expansion and contraction of the chest or the belly. Just feeling the body breathing. Breathing. Now shifting the attention into the left foot. Sensing the left foot. No need to move it here. Just feeling into the foot. Maybe sensing some coolness or warmth. Maybe fabric from a sock or a covering. Maybe moisture or dryness. Sensing the bottom of the foot. The top of the foot. Maybe even exploring each toe individually. And if there isn't much sensation here, That's okay. Just placing your attention here like you would if you were listening to silence. Moving that attention now from the left foot up into the left ankle. An area not often attended to. And yet does so much connecting. Sensing into the outside of the ankle. Internal. Moving now from the ankle up into the lower leg, Calf, Shin. Maybe sensing pressure from the surface you're resting on. Contact from any clothing that may be here. Moving now from the lower leg into the knee. Feeling into this complex joint in front of the knee. Sides of the knee. Back of the knee. Inside and out. Releasing sensations of the knee and moving up into the thigh. Noticing if the mind develops narratives here about focus in this area. Maybe injury or use. Any stories the mind might be sharing. And moving from those stories into the felt sense of your left thigh in this moment. Maybe pressure from the surface you're resting upon. Maybe some tightness or looseness here. No need to change anything, Just spending time noticing. Moving now from the left thigh into the left hip. This area of connection from the leg. This joint. Maybe some discomfort here. Just noticing. And if the mind has wandered, As minds often do, Gently bringing the mind back to the felt sense of your hip in this moment. Taking the attention from the left hip and dropping now into the right foot. Feeling the heel of the foot. Sole of the foot. Ball. Top of the foot. And if it's available to you, Each toe individually. Noticing what's here in the right foot. Moving now from the right foot up into the right ankle. Sensing bones. Skin. Maybe even tendons here. Connection. And again, If there's no sensation that you're noticing, No need to create any. Just placing the attention here, Like listening to silence. Shifting that attention up the leg into the right calf. Shin. This area of the lower leg. What's here now? Moving from the lower leg up into the knee. Back of the knee. Sides of the knee. And front. There may be some tension here. And if that's true for you, Just noticing. Moving now from the felt sense of the right knee up into the thigh. This right thigh area may have sensations of heat. Tension. Release. Moving from the right thigh up into the right hip. Connecting into the pelvis. Maybe some pressure. What's here now? Moving from the right hip into the full pelvis. This area of elimination and reproduction. Feeling into the pelvis. Noticing if you're sitting, Perhaps a pressure from the body above resting in the pelvis. If you're lying, Maybe some relief from the surface on which you are resting. Lacing attention in the pelvis and moving up to the lower torso. The back body. Bottom of the belly. Maybe sensing a gentle rise and fall or expansion and contraction from the breath here. Maybe in this lower back area, Sensing into some pain or discomfort. Just exploring what is. Moving from the lower torso into the mid-torso, Up that spinal column, Vertebrae by vertebrae. Sensing now the middle torso. Maybe feeling that breath a little bit more here as it expands and contracts. Maybe sensing some digestion. Moving into the mid-torso, Mid-back. And if the mind has wandered, Gently bringing it back to the felt sense of the mid-torso. On your next exhale, Moving up into the upper torso, Upper back, Upper chest. Maybe feeling the rib cage moving in and out with the breath. Maybe the slight movement of the back or the chest. And if it's available to you, Maybe even sensing the heart beating. Moving now from the felt sense of the chest and back body down to the left hand. Feeling into the palm of the hand, Back of the hand, Each finger individually. Maybe a warmth or tingling, A coolness here. Moving now from the left hand up into the wrist, Sensing into the left wrist. Maybe a tightness, Looseness. Maybe the felt sense of the wrist resting. Releasing sensations in the left wrist up into the lower arm. Sensing the skin, Connective tissue, Tendons, Bone. Maybe sensing the temperature of the room here. Moving from this lower arm up into the elbow, Inner elbow, Outer elbow. Moving upward into the upper arm, Maybe sensing the weight of the upper arm here. Sensation of hanging as if from the shoulder or the pressure of the surface on which the upper arm is now resting. No right or wrong sensations here, Just what is present. Moving from this upper arm into the left shoulder. This area of connection into the torso, This complex joint. Maybe some tension or tightness or a release from the sense of support. Now shifting attention down into the right hand. Sensing the back of the hand, Palm of the hand, Each individual finger. Maybe even recognizing the position the hand is in now. Maybe a warmth or tingling here. Moving from the right hand up into the right wrist. And if the mind is in a narrative or busy with thought, Just noticing that the mind has traveled and gently bringing it back to the felt sense of the wrist. Moving now into the lower right arm. Maybe feeling the temperature in the room here on the skin of the lower right arm. Or sensing the sensation of the texture of clothing or covering that might be here. Just attending to whatever is being sensed through this lower right arm now. Moving from the lower right arm up into the right elbow. Inner elbow, Outer elbow. The elbow now up into the upper arm, Bicep, Tricep. Feeling into the muscles out from the skin. And from the upper arm into the shoulder. Feeling into the joint, Perhaps the weight of the arm in this joint. Perhaps the release of the surface on which you're resting. Moving now from this right shoulder up into the neck, Top of the shoulders, Top of the shoulder blades. This entire area that holds stress typically. Sensing if this is true for you, A tightness or stiffness here. Maybe even pain. Not seeking to change the sensation, But noticing where does it start? What are its outermost boundaries? Just being with what is here in the shoulders. Maybe even sensing a want to swallow here. And doing so if you feel it's right for you. Moving from the neck now up into the lower jaw. Upper jaw, Jaw hinge, Gums, Teeth, And tongue. Sensing the lips, The entire mouth. Maybe even noticing how you are holding your mouth in this moment. Moving the attention now up the face into the cheeks, Cheekbones. Out to the sides of the face. Maybe a coolness, Warmth, A tenderness here in this area of the body. Releasing attention in the cheeks and moving now up into the nose and nostrils. Spending some time sensing the breath. Maybe feeling it on the upper lip. Cool into the nostrils on inhale. Maybe a sensation of warmth on exhale. Sensing maybe one nostril then the other. Or perhaps both at the same time. Moving now from the felt sense of the nose up into the eyes. The eye socket, Eyelids, Eyebrows, Sides of the eyes. Between the eyes and the eyeballs. Are you squinting? Noticing the sensation the eyes are receiving in this moment. Moving attention from the eyes now up into the forehead. Feeling into the forehead. Any tightness or tension. Maybe release or coolness. What's here? Attention now from the forehead back down to the back of the head and skull. All the way up the back of the head along the hairline. Just feeling the scalp. The skull. Moving from this felt sense of the skull to the sides of the head to the ears. Spending a moment now just focusing on hearing. What are the ears picking up in this moment? Moving from the felt sense of the ears up the back of the head to the very top or the crown of the head. Exploring here the felt sense of the top of the head. And if it feels right to you, Imagining taking a breath through the top of the head. Allowing that inhale down through the torso, Hands, Legs, All the way to the tips of the toes. And then exhaling as if through the tips of the toes up through the legs, Torso, Arms. Out through the top of the crown of the head. Body breathing in through the crown of the head all down through the body to the toes of the feet. And out from the toes of the feet all the way out through the body to the top of the head. Inhaling and exhaling this way. And if for you body breathing is not available, Placing your attention where you feel the breath the most in your body now. And as you explore, If you're exploring body breathing, Taking your last body breath here now through the top of the head through the body to the toes of the feet. And then from the toes of the feet exhaling back out through the top of the head. Release control of the breath through body breathing and gently allow the body to breathe itself. Once more. And then notice. Whatever is here. Maybe there's a sense of change or similarity. Maybe there's thoughts. Maybe even beginning to wonder when the meditation will be done. It's okay. Taking a moment just to notice what's happening now. And as we come to the end of our meditation. Perhaps taking a moment in gratitude for spending your time for yourself in this way now. There are so many things that you could engage in. And here you are completing a body scan meditation. Perhaps you sense gratitude for spending your time this way. Now considering for yourself if you would like to open your eyes and then move the body. Or move the body and then open your eyes. Whichever choice you make. Noticing an intention form. And doing so at the sound of the bell.