The body scan meditation.
Find yourself a comfortable position so that you can be with your body for the duration of this meditation.
Taking the time to make those few adjustments so that you feel completely at rest.
Allowing yourself this time to really settle into the body.
Noticing the points of contact of your body on the surface.
Notice the points of contact supporting your body.
Feeling its weight.
Feeling the sensation of touch.
Bringing attention now to your breath.
And without changing the breath in any way,
The body knows what to do.
Focusing on the breath.
Where the breath is most present for you in the body.
And we'll begin this body scan by drawing your attention to your feet.
Inviting you to feel into your feet rather than think about your feet.
Just letting go of any judgments and allow your presence to feel the sensations of your feet.
The soles of the feet.
The tops of the feet.
The toes touching or the space between the toes.
Just holding your awareness as best as you can at your feet.
And if your mind wanders off on a story or a memory or a thought,
Gently bring it back to focusing on your feet.
And now shifting your focus to the ankles.
Feeling into the tendons,
The tissues inside your ankles as best as you can.
And now moving to the lower legs.
The bony shin.
The fleshy skin of the calf.
Just holding your awareness there at your lower legs.
And now shifting to the knees.
The bony kneecap.
The soft flesh behind the knees.
Inviting you to circle your awareness around the knees.
Holding your attention and focus gently at the knees.
And now moving up the legs to the thighs.
Noticing the pressure of the contact,
The back of the thighs.
Being aware of all the planes,
The dimensions of the thighs,
The inner thighs,
Outer thighs,
Front and back.
And now being aware of your full left leg.
The full right leg.
And shifting focus now to the hips.
What is your experience like at the hips?
Moving now to the base of the spine.
And feeling into the back muscles.
Noticing what you notice here.
And starting from the base of the spine,
Start to move your awareness up the spine vertebra by vertebra.
And come to settle at that place between the shoulder blades.
Just noticing if there's any feelings of tightness or tension.
Just allowing whatever is here to be here.
And if you feel that you need to soften or breathe into any places of the body that you're holding onto,
Just allow yourself to settle more.
And now moving up to the shoulders.
Noticing how you're feeling at the shoulders.
And coming back to the front body,
To the abdomen.
Just bring your awareness at the abdomen,
Around the belly area.
Can you sense any movement?
It might just be subtle.
Is there any holding at the belly?
Is the belly soft or tight?
Just feeling into any sensations that may be arising.
Perhaps responding to the breath.
And now moving up the body to that area below the breastbone,
The solar plexus.
The ribs,
The back ribs,
The side ribs,
The front ribs.
Just notice where your attention goes when I say the ribs.
Can you allow that full dimension of the ribs to be present?
And now shifting to the lungs,
The lungs and the heart protected by the ribs.
Can you feel the lungs filling with air as you inhale?
And can you feel the lungs emptying air as you exhale?
Moving to the heart,
Is there a sensation of beating,
Of aliveness or not?
And now shifting focus to the fingers,
The hands,
Feeling into the hands and fingers simultaneously.
Is there a sensation of dryness or moisture?
Perhaps coolness or heat?
Is there a sensation of air on your skin or jewellery?
Moving now to the wrists,
The lower arms,
The hinge joint of the elbows,
The upper arms,
The triceps,
Biceps,
The muscles of strength.
And now bringing awareness to your throat.
Are there any sensations of the air passing in and out through the back of your throat?
Moving now to the jaw,
Is there a sense of holding or gripping,
Tightness,
Clenching,
Looseness,
The tongue,
The mouth?
And moving now to the upper lip,
Is there a sense of a light breeze as you breathe in and out on your upper lip?
Perhaps you can feel the air moving through your nostrils.
Moving now to the cheeks,
The ears,
The inner and outer architecture of the ears,
The eyes,
The eyes resting in the sockets.
Perhaps there's a feeling of pulsation or the textures of colour,
Lightness,
Darkness.
The brow,
The crown of the head,
Bringing your awareness now to the brain in the skull,
The scalp.
And now from the crown of the head down to your toes,
Expanding your awareness,
Being aware of the head and all of the facial muscles along with your neck and shoulders and arms,
The front part of your body,
The back part of your body,
The sides,
The legs and the feet.
Being aware of the whole body now,
The sense of the whole body as a whole,
Resting in your own inner sense of presence.
Feeling the breath now move in and out of the body,
Resting in this spaciousness,
Connected to this sense of who you are,
Being alive,
Being whole.
As I bring this meditation to a close with the sound of the bells,
The bell sounds.
The sound of the bell sounds.
