Body Scan (Long)
by AJ Bicât
The most popular and most widely used mindfulness practice in the world. This is the longer version for those who are already committed to a daily routine and wish to hit the sweet spot for a length of practice that leads to a fully embodied way of life.
Transcript
Make sure you're in a comfortable seated position.
It is possible to do this in a lying down position too,
But I'm just going to describe the seated position to help those who choose to do it that way.
The idea is to sit in a dignified and comfortable posture.
If you've got a fairly strong back,
Allow yourself to come off the back of the chair and sit up straight,
As though your vertebrae are stacked like coins one on top of the other.
If you have not such a strong back,
Then allow yourself to sit right back into the chair to get that support from the back of the chair.
Put your feet on the floor nice and flat in front of you,
And by all means give your toes a bit of a wiggle so you can feel that physical sensation of your toes.
Remember with these practices,
With this kind of mindfulness,
We use our physical bodies as a point of focus.
Despite what we might think when we look in the mirror in the morning,
Every single one of us is walking around in a bona fide miracle of life,
A unique entity.
This vehicle that you inhabit,
This thing that you walk around in,
Is extraordinary,
Is exceptional.
So we're going to use it.
So give your toes a bit of a wiggle again,
Just allow yourself to feel that sensation of your toes.
In your socks,
In your shoes,
On the floor.
And just come to your seat.
Allow yourself to feel the sensation of the seat pushing up against you and you pushing down against the seat.
That notion of gravity doing its job,
That perfect equilibrium,
That perfect balance.
And place your hands on your thighs and perhaps move them around a little bit so you can get that sensation of your feet so you can get that sensation of your hands.
These are your hands on your thighs.
Again,
You're using this physical mechanism as a point of focus.
And although it's possible to meditate with your eyes open,
Allow your eyes to close down.
And as you close your eyes,
Use that act itself to bring your attention and your focus inside the body.
Breathe in through your nose.
Breathing through your nose connects you instantly with your brain via the olfactory nerve.
And by engaging your diaphragm in a focused way like this,
You tap into your wandering vagus nerve,
Thereby connecting you with your lungs,
Heart,
Gut,
And back again to your brain.
So it's the easiest way for you to become instantly physiologically aware of your breathing.
And you're not taking any particular kind of breath.
You're simply allowing your breathing to do what it normally does.
By all means,
Take an extra strong breath to perhaps bring focus.
Essentially,
What you're doing is you're bringing your awareness,
Bringing your attention,
Investigating,
Being curious about the physical sensation of the breath.
And that's quite distinct from thinking about breathing or thinking about thinking about breathing.
To be very clear,
What you're doing is bringing your non-judgmental,
I.
E.
Your equanimous awareness,
To the physical sensation of the breath.
And when you feel comfortable,
When you feel ready to go on,
Allow all of your attention and all of your awareness to go to the tips of the toes on your left foot.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of the tips of the toes on your left foot.
However that manifests,
Whether it be a tingling,
Whether it be a kind of vibrationary feeling,
Whether it be a little wave,
A coldness,
A warmness,
Dampness,
A dryness,
Or whether it simply be the touch of the cloth against your skin or the touch of the air swirling around your toes.
Whatever it is,
Just allow yourself to feel that sensation.
And if you don't feel any sensation,
Allow yourself to linger there a little bit longer until you do.
And if you still don't feel any sensation,
Then allow yourself to move on whilst all the time bearing in mind the concepts of equanimity and impermanence.
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the rest of your toes on your left foot.
And just as you did before,
Just as you breathe in,
Just as you breathe out,
Allow all of your attention and all of your awareness to come to the physical sensation,
The physical manifestation,
The feeling of all the toes on your left foot.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the sole of your left foot.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of the sole of your left foot,
However that may manifest.
When you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the top of your left foot.
And remember,
With mindful practice,
You always look at these things like you're seeing them for the first time.
You use the child's eye,
The beginner's mind.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left heel.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation,
Physical existence,
The physical being of your left heel.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left ankle.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation in your left ankle,
However that may be.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left shin and to your left calf.
And remember,
We're always looking at things like we're seeing them for the first time.
Everything inside,
Everything outside.
The skin,
The bones,
The muscles,
Whatever it is that you see.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel that physical sensation of your left shin and your left calf.
When you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left knee.
When you breathe in and when you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation,
The physical being,
The physical existence,
Moment by moment of your left knee.
And if you can't feel any sensation,
Allow yourself to linger there a little longer.
And if you still can't feel any sensation,
Allow yourself to move on,
Always bearing in mind the idea of equanimity,
I.
E.
Non-judgment,
And the idea of impermanence,
I.
E.
All things must pass.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left thigh.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensations,
However they may be,
In your left thigh,
Inside,
Outside,
Or both inside and outside.
When you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the toes on your right foot.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation just as they occur in the toes on your right foot,
Whatever they may be,
Whether it's a tingling,
Whether it's a warmness,
Whether it's a coldness,
A dryness,
A numbness,
Or a vibrationary feeling,
Whether it's simply the touch of the clothing on your toes or the sensation of the air between your toes,
Whatever it may be.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the sole of your right foot.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation just as they occur of the sole of your right foot.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the top of your right foot.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Always holding the idea of equanimity,
Always holding the idea of impermanence,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation just as it occurs of the top of your right foot.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right heel.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel that physical sensation of your right heel.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right ankle.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Really allow yourself to feel the physical sensations just as they might crop up in your right ankle.
And if you don't feel any sensation in any of these parts of the body,
The solution is to allow yourself to linger a little longer to see if some sensation pops up.
And if no sensation pops up,
To allow yourself to move on,
Always holding the concept of equanimity,
Always holding the concept of impermanence.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right shin and to your right calf.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Just allow yourself to feel that physical sensation that exists in your right shin and your right calf moment by moment,
Just as it happens,
Just as it feels.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right knee.
Remember that we look at each part of the body like we're a child looking at it for the first time.
We've never seen it before.
We have the beginner's mind,
Everything inside,
Everything outside,
Bones,
Cartilage,
Muscles,
Tendons,
Ligaments,
Skin,
Everything.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation just as it occurs,
Just as it feels in your right knee.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right thigh.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation,
Physical manifestation of your right thigh.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your pelvis and to your hips,
Everything inside and everything outside.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation,
The physical being,
The physical life and living of your hips and your pelvis.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your lower back and to your abdomen.
Once again,
Looking at everything inside and everything outside and really allowing yourself to feel the physical manifestation just as it occurs,
Either inside or outside or both inside and outside.
As you breathe in and as you breathe out.
And again,
If you don't feel anything for any reason,
Just allow yourself to linger there a little longer to see if anything crops up.
And if nothing crops up,
Allow yourself to move on whilst all the time holding the idea of equanimity,
I.
E.
Non-judgment,
And the idea of impermanence,
I.
E.
All things must pass.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the rest of your abdomen and your chest and your back.
Once again,
Looking at everything inside and everything outside,
The lungs,
The heart,
The vertebra in the back,
The intestines,
The liver,
Kidneys,
The skin,
Everything inside,
Everything outside.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation just as they occur,
Just as they appear,
Whatever they may be,
Whether it's a tingling,
Whether it's a buzzing,
Whether it's a vibrationary sensation,
Whether it's a coldness,
Whether it's a warmness,
A numbness.
And if there's no sensation,
Allow yourself to linger all the time with patience,
All the time with equanimity,
All the time with the notion that all things must pass.
And if there's still no sensation,
Then allow yourself to move on.
When you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the fingers on your left hand.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of all the fingers and the thumb on your left hand.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the palm of your left hand.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the sensation of the palm on your left hand,
However it may appear,
Moment by moment.
When you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the top of your left hand.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation just as it occurs and just how it occurs on the top of your left hand.
When you feel ready,
When you feel happy to move on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left wrist.
And just as before,
As you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensations in your left wrist,
Whatever they may be.
It may be a pain,
May be coldness,
It may be a warmth,
It could be a tingling,
It could be a vibrationary sensation,
Could simply be the touch of the cuff of your clothing on your wrist,
Could be the air swirling around,
It could be anything,
It really doesn't matter.
And if you don't feel any sensation,
Allow yourself to linger at your left wrist just a little longer or whichever part of the body you may not feel a sensation in.
And when you've lingered there for a while,
If you still feel no sensation,
Then allow yourself to move on,
Whilst all the time recognising equanimity,
Whilst all the time recognising impermanence.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your lower left arm.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Simply allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of your left lower arm,
Just as it occurs,
And just how it occurs.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left elbow.
And remember,
We're looking at these pieces of the body like a child looking at things for the first time,
With that curiosity,
With that investigation,
With that beginner's mind.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of your left elbow.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left upper arm.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Simply allow yourself to feel the physical sensation,
However it manifests,
On the inside,
On the outside,
Or both on the inside and the outside of your left upper arm.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your left shoulder,
The front,
The back,
The inside,
The outside.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of your left shoulder,
However it may be.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the fingers and to the thumb on your right hand.
As you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation,
The physical existence,
The physical being of your fingers on your right hand and the thumb on your right hand,
However that may be,
Whatever that may be.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the palm of your right hand.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the sensation of the palm of your right hand,
However that may feel,
Whether it's warmth,
Whether it's coldness,
Whether it's a tingle,
A tickling,
A vibration,
A wetness,
A dryness,
A pain,
A numbness,
Whatever it is,
Doesn't matter.
And once you've felt it,
Allow yourself to move on.
And if you don't feel anything,
Allow yourself to linger.
And if you continue not to feel something,
Then with equanimity and with the notion of impermanence,
Allow yourself to move on to the next part of the body.
When you're ready,
When you're comfortable moving on,
Take all of your awareness and all of your attention to the top of your right hand.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of the top of your right hand,
However that may occur,
Moment by moment.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right wrist.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Simply allow yourself to feel the physical manifestation of your right wrist.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right lower arm.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensations of your lower right arm,
However they may occur.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right elbow.
Again,
Look at everything inside and everything outside with that beginner's mind,
With that child's eye,
Saying things for the first time,
Once again,
For the first time,
Once again,
For the first time.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right upper arm.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel that physical sensation,
The physical manifestation,
However it may occur,
In your upper right arm.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your right shoulder,
The front,
The back,
The inside,
The outside,
The whole entire shoulder.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation,
The physical existence,
The physical being,
However it manifests,
Of your entire right shoulder.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your neck,
Everything inside,
Everything outside.
And as you breathe in,
Allow yourself to feel the physical sensation of your neck.
And as you breathe out,
Again,
Allow yourself to attend to,
To be aware of,
To be curious about,
To investigate the physical sensation of your neck.
And let's just take a brief moment to allow ourselves to feel a whole entire body from the neck down to the tips of the toes and the tips of the fingers and every single thing in between,
Either parts of the body or the whole body,
Either waves up and down the body or a sensation of the whole body vibrating or tingling of the whole body or a warmness or coldness or anything that occurs in the whole body from the top of the neck down to the tips of the toes and the tips of the fingers and everything in between.
Just a brief 60 second pause to allow yourself to feel that physical sensation of being.
And when you feel ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to your forehead,
To your eyebrows,
To your eyes,
To your nose,
To your lips,
To your cheeks,
To your chin,
To your whole entire face in fact.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel,
No matter how small,
No matter how big,
That physical sensation of your whole entire face.
And if for any reason you don't feel any physical sensation,
Allow yourself to linger a little longer,
To see if anything crops up,
Whatever it may be,
Whether it's a tingling,
Whether it's a vibrationary sensation or a warmness or a coldness,
Whatever it may be.
And if still nothing crops up,
Then allow yourself to move on,
Always holding the idea of impermanence,
Always holding the idea of equanimity.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable moving on,
Take all of your attention and all of your awareness to the top of your head,
To the back of your head,
To your jaw,
To the sides of your head,
To your ears.
And as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to feel that physical sensation of your whole entire head,
However it may manifest,
Whether it's a tingling across the scalp,
Whether it's a warmness inside,
Whether it's a vibrationary sensation inside and outside,
Whatever it may be.
And again,
Just as before,
If you can't feel any sensation,
Allow yourself to linger.
If you continue to not feel any sensation,
Allow yourself to move on,
Always observing equanimity,
Always observing impermanence.
And let's just take another moment,
Just a couple of minutes,
And really observe and be with,
Be curious about,
Investigate and feel the physical sensation of the whole entire body,
From the top of the head to the tips of the toes and the tips of the fingers and everything in between,
Either as waves or as vibrations or as individual pieces of the body or however it may manifest,
However it may feel.
And don't worry too much if you can't feel too many parts of the body,
Your experience is your experience.
The important thing is to approach it with equanimity,
With the idea of impermanence.
So here we go,
Two minutes,
Just allow yourself to attend to the physical sensation of the whole entire body,
From the top of the head to the tips of the toes and the tips of the fingers and everything in between.
Okay,
So in your mind's eye,
Perhaps just take a moment to thank yourself for conducting this practice.
It's so rare in our busy lives that we spend this much time with our minds and our bodies in the same place,
At the same time.
So just say a brief thank you to yourself.
And when you're ready,
When you feel comfortable doing so,
Bring yourself back to clock time.
You can wiggle your fingers,
You can wiggle your toes,
You can come back quick,
You can come back slow.
There's no rush here.
4.7 (71)
Recent Reviews
Denise
May 26, 2024
Incredible long and detailed scan. Love it and all my thanks AJ
Charles
July 10, 2020
Excellent meditation that scan each little part of the body 😍, with a sufficient time for concentration. Thank you! 🙏
Misty
January 13, 2020
Lovely feeling body scan and soothingly healing voice! Thank you! Namaste 🙏
Katie
July 20, 2019
Very very nice. Long slow body scan with quiet instruction and some quiet pauses. Thank you. ☮️🙏
Michelle
July 19, 2019
No pace deeply intentional🌹🙏
Cindy
July 19, 2019
Thank u Enjoyed this meditation and going through my whole body with awareness and ease. Blessings