Body Scan
The body scan meditation can be a very effective way to practice mindfulness, but also to connect with body sensations. The purpose of this practice is to tune in to your body—to reconnect to your physical self and notice any sensations you’re feeling without judgement and with curiosity. Although relaxation is not the primary goal of this meditation, you might find it deeply relaxing. I invite you to train the mind to be more open and aware of sensory experiences, and ultimately, more accepting. Many Blessings, Namasté!
Transcript
The following meditation is a body scan meditation.
So,
Lie down,
Making yourself comfortable,
Lying on your back,
On a mat or rug on the floor,
Or even in your bed if you would like to,
In a place where you will be warm and undisturbed,
And allow your eyes to close gently.
Just take a few moments to get in touch with the movement of your breath and the sensations in the body.
Connect with those sensations.
When you're ready,
Bring your awareness to the physical sensations in your body,
Especially the sensations of touch or pressure,
Where your body makes contact with the floor or with the bed or the mat.
On each out-breath,
Allow yourself to let go.
On each out-breath,
Allow yourself to sink a little deeper into the mat or the bed.
Remind yourself of the intention of this practice.
The intention is not to feel any different or relaxed or calm.
This may happen,
Or it may not.
Instead,
The intention of the practice is,
As best you can,
To bring awareness to any sensations you detect as you focus your attention on each part of the body in turn.
So now bring your awareness to the physical sensations in your lower abdomen,
Becoming aware of the changing patterns of sensations in the abdominal wall as you breath in and as you breath out.
Take a few minutes to feel the sensations as you breath in and as you breath out.
Please notice that maybe you tend to control the rhythm of your breath,
And that is not the intention as well.
So let go of that tendency of controlling the breath.
And just let the breath go gently and naturally,
Flowing with its natural flow and rhythm.
And while it goes naturally,
Feel the sensations of breathing in and breathing out.
Your mind will inevitably wander away from the breath and the body from time to time.
This is entirely normal.
It is what minds do.
So when you notice it,
Gently acknowledge it,
Noticing where the mind has gone off to,
And then gently return your attention to the part of the body you intend to focus on.
So having connected with the sensations in the abdomen,
Bring the focus as a spotlight that you put on your body.
So bring that spotlight of awareness down to the left leg and to the left foot and to the toes of the left foot.
Focus on each of the toes of the left foot in turn.
Bring a gentle curiosity to investigate the quality of the sensations you find,
Perhaps noticing the sense of contact between the toes,
Or maybe the sense of tingling,
Or maybe a warmth,
Or maybe no particular sensation at all.
Just try to keep the awareness,
Whatever the sensation is,
And let go of the effort of searching for a particular sensation.
It's effortless.
The awareness is just there to notice what is,
What sensation is there.
It might be comfort,
It might be discomfort,
It might be neutral.
So on the in-breath,
Feel and imagine that the breath is entering the lungs and then passing down into the abdomen,
Into the left leg,
The left foot,
And out to the toes of the left foot.
Then on the out-breath,
Feel or imagine the breath coming all the way back up,
Out of the foot into the leg,
Up through the abdomen,
Chest,
And out through the nose.
So as best as you can,
Continue this exercise for a few breaths,
Breathing down into the toes and back out from the toes.
It may be difficult for a start,
But just practice this,
Breathe into as best as you can,
Approaching it playfully,
Learning how to breathe in with a particular part of the body and bring a thing out of it.
Still connect with the sensations on the toes.
And when you are ready,
On the out-breath,
Let go of the awareness of the toes and bring your awareness to the sensations on the bottom of your left foot,
Bringing a gentle and investigative awareness to the sole of the foot,
The instep,
The heel.
Maybe noticing the sensations where the heel makes contact with the mat or the bed.
Breathing with the sensations,
Being aware of the breath in the background,
As in the foreground,
You explore the sensations of the lower foot.
So the sensations are on the foreground of your awareness,
And the breathing is in the background of your awareness.
And allow the awareness to expand into the rest of the foot,
To the ankle,
To the top of the left foot,
And maybe right into the bones and the joints.
Then taking a slightly deeper breath,
Directing it down into the whole of the left foot.
And as the breath lets go on the out-breath,
Let go of the left foot completely,
Allowing the focus of awareness to move into the lower left leg,
The calf,
The shin,
The knee,
Feeling not only the superficial part of the body,
But into the deepest part of the body,
Inside your knee.
How does it feel now that it's resting on the out-breath?
Just leaving the knee in the in-breath,
Bring the awareness and gentle curiosity to the physical sensations of the upper left leg.
In the next in-breath,
Imagine the breathing going into all of your left leg.
And as you breathe out,
Just let go of the left leg,
And let your awareness go down to the right leg,
Into the right foot,
And out to the toes of the right foot,
Focusing on each of the toes of the right foot in turn.
Remember to keep on the gentle curiosity to investigate the quality of the sensations you find.
How does it feel like on the right toes right now?
Is there no particular sensation?
And can you be with the absence of a sensation?
Are you allowing yourself to recognize as well the comfortable sensations that are in your body right now?
So feel and imagine the breath entering the lungs and then passing into the abdomen,
Into the right leg,
Right foot,
And out to the toes of the right foot.
And then at the out-breath,
Imagine the breath coming all the way back up from the foot out through the nose,
Playfully breathing into your right foot,
Letting go at the out-breath of the awareness of the toes,
And bringing your awareness to the sensations on the bottom of your right foot,
The sole of the foot,
The instep,
The heel,
The touch of the heel with the mat or the pad.
And allow the awareness to expand to the rest of the foot,
The ankle,
The top of the foot,
And right into the bones and joints.
Remember to go deeper.
Try to feel the bones and the joints,
The muscles and the skin,
The sensations that come from within.
We are not thinking about the sensations.
We are connecting to the body and feeling the sensations.
Let go of the effort to try to find a discomfort or to find any sensation at all.
Just be with what is.
And in the out-breath,
Let go of the right foot and go up to the lower part of the right leg,
Allowing the focus to move into the calf,
The shin,
The right knee.
Try to feel the knee from the inside out.
In the next out-breath,
Let go of the knee,
And in the in-breath,
Go up,
Move up to the upper part of your right leg.
As you breathe in,
Fill your right leg with your breath.
And as you breathe out,
Let go of the right leg and move your awareness to the pelvic area,
The strong bones of your pelvic area,
But also the smooth tissues that go with it.
Just feel what is happening right now on the surface,
On the skin,
And underneath it,
As you want to get in touch with each subtlety of this body,
Each part of it,
Each organ.
In the out-breath,
Let go of awareness of the pelvic area and bring your awareness to the back,
To the lower back.
If you become aware of any tension or of other intense sensations in a particular part of the body,
You can breathe into them using the in-breath gently to bring awareness right into the sensations.
And as best you can,
Have a sense of their letting go and releasing on the out-breath.
So if there's any tension,
Bring the awareness into it,
Into the sensation.
Breathe into the sensation.
And while you breathe out,
Just let go or release the tensions without wanting the sensation to be other than what is.
We are not changing the sensations.
We are just smoothing the muscles and the body so we can be relaxed while facing and coping the sensations.
So let go of the lower back and go up the spine,
Feeling each part of the back,
The upper part of the back,
The shoulder blades touching the floor.
And on the out-breath,
Let go of your back.
And on the in-breath,
Bring your awareness to the abdomen.
As you bring your awareness to your belly,
Just try to investigate each organ that is inside your belly.
There's a lot going on in this part of the body.
So bring your awareness as you want to visit each organ,
Saying hello to each one of the organs that go into your belly.
With gentle curiosity to the body sensations that are present inside your abdomen.
On the out-breath,
Let go of the abdomen.
And on the in-breath,
Move your awareness up to the chest,
Feeling the lungs,
Breathing.
Maybe feeling the heart beating,
Feeling the sensations inside the chest.
Letting go,
Releasing any tension that you can find deeper inside your chest.
Just be with a gentle awareness to the sensations that come out.
As you breathe out,
Let go of your chest.
As you breathe in,
Just move your awareness down your arms,
Into your hands.
And feel the sensations in your fingers.
Maybe feeling the air going through your fingers.
Maybe feeling the life that goes inside your hands.
Maybe feeling the warmth in the palm of your hands.
Feeling the pulse that beats.
Moving your attention,
Your awareness to the lower part of the arms,
The arms,
The shoulders.
Release any tension or other intense sensation that you can find on the process.
Allow yourself to be with the sensations that come along,
And breathing in and out with them.
You have nowhere else to be.
Just allow yourself to be on your own company,
Present to this moment,
To what is happening right now.
Allowing yourself to be with the same gentle awareness to the discomfort as well as the comfortness of some sensations,
Or neutral sensations.
So let go of your shoulders on the out-breath.
And in the in-breath,
Bring your awareness to the neck,
To your cheekbones,
Your mouth.
Let go of any tension you can feel in your mouth.
Just be aware of the sensations in your face.
Maybe feeling the air going through the nostrils.
The smoothness of the air going in and out of the nostrils.
Let go of any tensions in your eyes.
Creating some space in the corner of your eyes.
Just be with the sensations while you bring some space to your front head.
Let go of any tension and be present to the sensations that just come along.
After you have scanned the whole body in this way,
Spend a few minutes being aware of a sense of the body as a whole.
And of the breath flowing freely in and out of the body.
With no particular agenda.
Nothing to do.
Just let yourself be.
Allow yourself to be with the breath flowing freely.
And with this experience.
If your mind wanders,
Gently acknowledge it.
And gently return your attention to the part of the body you intend to be in.
Even if it is to the whole body.
Maybe you can sense a sensation,
A tension that comes.
An intense sensation that can come.
And you can breathe in to that sensation.
And as you breathe out,
Have this sense of letting go or releasing the tensions.
And just come back to this sense of the body breathing in and breathing out.
Open to the experience of just being.
And gently moving your toes.
Gently moving your fingers.
Take a deep in-breath.
Stretching the body on the floor.
And on the out-breath,
Gently opening your eyes.
