In this brief body scan practice,
We move through our entire body with a kind attention,
Coming to sit in a relaxed and alert posture on a chair or a cushion with both feet on the ground with your back in an upright and dignified posture or perhaps choosing to lay down perfectly fine and gently closing your eyes if that feels comfortable for you and taking a few full deep breaths into the lungs,
Breathing in and as you exhale,
Seeing if you can soften,
Let go of any tension or tightness,
Any busyness,
Any noise of the mind,
Just breathing it out as you allow these few deep breaths to help you feel centered as you drop into the body in this practice.
And again a deep breath in and a slow,
Kind,
Deep breath out.
And now allowing the breath to flow naturally and beginning with the head,
Collecting your attention,
Just notice what's there,
Breathing in through the nostrils,
Perhaps noticing sensations,
Temperature change,
And breathing out,
Letting go of any tightness,
Tension that we hold often around the eyes,
Allowing the jaw to relax,
Allowing the tongue to rest.
Just breathing in and being fully alert with what is there in the head,
The face.
And moving down to the neck and to the shoulders,
Also a place we commonly carry tension,
Perhaps inviting the breath into these areas in the neck and shoulders where we carry tightness.
And just as we breathe out,
Breathing all the tension out and just noticing the shoulders from the inside out,
Any sensations,
Vibrations,
How the energy lives in the shoulders in this moment.
And moving down the arms,
The upper arm,
The forearm,
And the hands,
Being fully alert to the hands,
How they rest and their posture,
What sensations are alive right now.
How do you know where your hands are?
Can you feel them?
And it's likely that you've noticed your mind wander thus far in the practice into thinking perhaps what will come after,
Perhaps something from earlier today,
Planning,
Judging different types of thoughts.
And that's perfectly fine,
Not to judge yourself for this,
As this is the nature of the mind.
And when you notice the mind is wandered,
This is a moment of mindfulness,
Of catching the attention as it's gone,
Seeing it,
And with kindness and compassion,
Gently collecting it back and guiding it into the area of the hands.
And moving the attention now to the chest,
To the heart space,
Perhaps noticing the rising and the falling with the breath,
And into the belly,
Letting this next in-breath expand into a softened and tender belly.
Just relaxing with each breath as you notice what's there.
And moving,
You're noticing now down into the area of the pelvis,
The buttocks,
Perhaps noticing contact sensations if you're in a chair or cushion,
Or the ground if you're laying down.
Just feeling into what sensations are alive in this area of the body.
And if you don't notice anything,
Or if what you notice you would describe as numb or nothing,
That too is perfectly fine.
Just observing any felt sense,
Whatever is there as it is there.
Just practicing being in the body as best as you can in this moment.
And bringing your attention now down into the legs,
The upper thighs,
The knees,
Shins and calves,
And down into the feet.
The limbs that carry you,
Perhaps,
That allow you to walk and move.
Just feeling into these muscles,
The energy,
The blood flow,
All the sensations that live there now in your feet.
Can I feel my toes?
Can I feel the aliveness in this moment in the feet?
And in this last moment,
Expanding your attention to your body as a whole.
Let this next in-breath breathe into the full body,
Each cell,
Receiving life-giving oxygen.
And as you breathe out,
Just feeling centered,
Alert,
Awake with the aliveness that is there right in this moment.
