Body Awareness Meditation

Research has shown that body scans or body awareness meditation can decrease activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with fear and stress. This guided practice allows us to befriend the experiences in our bodies while we rewire our brains and body toward better health.

Transcript

Now we're going to do a practice. It's called the body scan most formally. However, This time, This customized version, It's the body awareness meditation. So for this one, I will be sitting and I invite you to actually lay down for this one if you want. So you can lay down on your couch, Or your recliner, Or your bed, Or the floor, Or on a yoga mat, So whatever feels comfortable. So finding that position right now, As we are finding ourselves in that position, We take a deep breath to bring our eyes to a close or in a relaxed gaze. So breathing in and breathing out, Closing the eyes, Relaxing the gaze, And bringing our awareness to our breath once again, To our anchor, The safe place where we can find that peace, Where we can cope with stress, Where we can cope with fear. The breath is always in the present moment. So just noticing our body here, Laying on the floor, Or on the couch, Or on the bed, The entire body. So I invite you to allow as much time as you need to investigate or experience each area of our body as we go through this meditation. The main point of this meditation is to be curious and open to whatever we can notice, Investigating what sensations are alive, And intentionally releasing the focus of attention before shifting to the next area to explore. So some of the physical sensations that we may notice during this body scan, We may feel tangledness, Pounding, Lightness, Tightness, Stinging, Tension, Relaxation, Many, Many sensations we may notice or not. And that's okay too. So as we continue to keep our attention on our entire body breathing, We're going to start by moving down our attention to our feet and perhaps moving the toes a little bit so we can connect with that pull-up part of the body and starting to observe any sensations present on our feet, Both of our feet, Toes. You feel some heaviness, Some tingling, Tingly sensations, Some coolness. Perhaps we don't feel very much whatever it is. It's all right. Moving up to the lower part of the legs, Scanning for any sensation. Moving up to the knees, The right knee, Scanning the right knee, Then the left knee, Any or none sensations. Moving up to the upper part of the legs, The upper part of the right leg, The upper part of the left leg, What sensations are there? Perhaps heaviness, Perhaps tightness or looseness. Then moving to our back, Lower back, The hips, Noticing what may be there. Then traveling up through the back, Middle back, Upper back. It's an area where we tend to accumulate a lot of tension in our back area. If you notice any tension, Releasing the tension, Just not tightening the muscles, The shoulders, Just making sure that they are loose, Relaxed. Going up the neck, The same, Allowing the head to rest. No need to do any effort. We're laying down. We're in a safe place. We're just visiting every part of the body. If at any time pain visits as a sensation, We also notice there's no need to react to good, Not so good sensations that may arise. If there's a need to slightly adjust some part of the body, We become aware of that movement. We have to move our leg, We say moving the right leg in silence, To be completely aware of what we're doing. If there is a need to adjust. As we visit the body, Some emotions may also be present. Also noticing for a second, Bringing the attention to the emotional part. Maybe there's a little bit of impatience or a wanting to stop, Or maybe there's enjoyment and just wanting to continue. If any of these visits, We welcome them without the need to react. We continue laying down and allow our body to experience whatever physical sensation or emotional state is there. No need to do anything right now. As humans, We experience physical and emotional phenomena. It's okay to feel some of the harder emotions. We all at some time, Some point in life, We have felt these emotions. Slowly, We're going to bring back the attention to the body. We continue our journey through our back, Upper back. We're visiting the shoulders, We're visiting this upper part of the back where we tend to accumulate tension, Releasing any tension in the back, The upper back, The neck. Then moving to our face, Noticing any tension between the eyes and releasing it, Softening the mouth, Softening the cheeks, Softening the eyes gently, Allowing our face to be completely relieved of any tension. Moving down to our upper arms, Both the right arm, The upper right arm, Noticing any coldness, Warmth, Heaviness, Tingleness. The left arm, Noticing any stillness, Stiffness, Numbness, Itchiness, Whatever is present. Moving down to the elbows, The right elbow, The left elbow, Then to the right lower part of our arm, Then moving down to our wrist on the right arm, The right hand, Maybe more sensations in this area, The fingers in our right hand, Moving to the left lower part of the arm, To the left wrist, To the left hand, Left hand, The fingers on our left hand, And slowly noticing the entire body laying here. See if you can notice the entire body and the weight of it here. Perhaps bringing both of your hands and putting them on top of your belly. Slowly move the hands, One on top of the other, And we put it on top of our belly to connect once again to our breath so we can finish this meditation. So we connect with our body breathing by sensing how our body goes up and down as we breathe. And we thank ourselves for being open, Willing to explore our body and accept whatever was arising as it was, Being kind to ourselves, Supporting ourselves, Knowing that everything will be okay, That we're safe, That we're okay, Even if there were strong emotions or strong sensations in our bodies. Staying for a few seconds with our attention on the belly as it lifts up and down until we hear the bell.