MBLC Week 2: Body Scan

Mindfulness practice suited to beginner meditators. Practice exploring bodily sensations as though discovering them for the first time with open curiosity.

Transcript

Track two,

The body scan meditation.

We do the body scan meditation lying on the floor on a mat or a rug,

But if this doesn't work for you,

You're welcome to try this sitting up.

So just play around with what position works for you for this meditation and be prepared to put aside about 25 minutes.

So once you're in a comfortable seated or lying position,

Just take a few moments to notice the breath.

Perhaps becoming aware of where you feel the breath most in the body.

That might be in your nostrils.

And then just take a few moments to notice the breath.

That might be in your nostrils.

Or in your chest.

Or that might be down in your abdomen.

Just following the breath.

And now expanding your awareness to include the whole body.

Becoming aware of the whole body.

Lying on the mat or sitting on the chair and breathing.

Perhaps noticing where the body makes contact with the floor or the seat.

And when you're ready now,

Bringing your awareness all the way down your left leg.

All the way down to the big toe on your left foot.

And just exploring whatever's there to be felt in the big toe on the left foot.

And now moving to your little toe on your left foot.

And then seeing if it's possible to check in with all the other toes on your left foot.

Is it possible to differentiate from toe to toe?

And if it isn't,

Just notice that as well.

And if it feels right for you,

Inviting you now for the next few moments to just play around with your breath.

See if it's possible to imagine you can breathe all the way down,

Down your left leg.

Breathing into your toes.

Just approaching this playfully and imaginatively if it feels right for you.

So as you breathe in,

The breath goes all the way down to your toes.

And as you breathe out,

Releasing and letting go.

And now letting go of awareness of the breath and focusing back on our left foot.

Exploring whatever else is there in the left foot.

Becoming aware of the heel.

The sole of the foot.

The top of the foot.

And then shifting your awareness to the ankle.

And moving up to the lower part of the left leg.

Exploring any sensations in the knee.

And then moving up to the thigh.

And if you notice your mind has wandered,

Just kindly and gently remind yourself it's not a mistake.

That's just what minds do.

Once you notice where the mind has gone,

Bring it back to exploring whatever sensations there are in the left thigh.

And on the next out breath,

Letting go of awareness of the left leg and shifting your awareness all the way down your right leg.

And exploring whatever's there in the big toe on the right foot.

And shifting your awareness to the little toe on the right foot.

And now exploring all the toes in between and seeing if it's possible to differentiate between each toe.

And if you can't feel anything,

Just notice that as well.

And if it feels right for you now,

We're going to try directing the breath all the way down,

Down our right leg to all the toes on the right foot.

And again,

Just approaching this playfully and imaginatively,

Imagining that you can breathe all the way down to your right toes.

So as you breathe in,

The air goes down to the right toes and as you breathe out,

Releasing and letting go.

Just trying that for the next few breaths,

If that feels right for you.

And letting go of awareness of the breath now.

And shifting your awareness onto the right foot,

The rest of the right foot.

Becoming aware of the heel.

The sole of the foot.

Becoming aware of the right ankle.

Now moving your awareness again into the lower part of the right leg.

Becoming aware of the right knee.

And shifting the awareness up to the right thigh.

And if you notice that your mind has wandered,

Just reminding yourself it's not a mistake,

That's just what minds do.

Kindly,

Gently,

Escort your attention back to noticing whatever's there in the right thigh.

And on the next out breath,

Just letting go of awareness of the right leg.

And shifting your awareness to the lower part of the back.

Exploring any sensations that might be there in the lower part of the back.

Moving up to the upper part of the back.

And now holding all of the back in awareness.

And when you're ready,

Moving your awareness to your abdomen.

Becoming aware of your chest.

Perhaps noticing as it rises and falls with each breath.

And now shifting your awareness all the way down,

Down your arms to your fingertips.

And we do both arms together,

Just exploring any sensations in the fingertips and thumbs of both hands.

And if it feels right for you,

You might like to imagine you can breathe all the way down to your fingertips.

Approaching this imaginatively and playfully for the next few breaths.

So as you breathe in,

The breath goes all the way down to your fingertips and your thumbs.

And as you breathe out,

Releasing and letting go.

And letting go of awareness of the breath and expanding your awareness to include your hands.

Becoming aware of your palms.

And the backs of your hands.

Checking in with your wrists.

And now moving to the lower part of your arms.

Exploring the elbows.

Noticing anything that's there in the elbows right now.

And then moving up to the upper part of the arms.

And if you notice your mind has wandered,

Just reminding yourself it's not a mistake.

That's just what minds do.

Once you notice where the mind has gone,

Kindly and gently escort it back.

Back to exploring whatever's there in the upper part of the arms.

And on the next out breath,

Letting go of awareness of the arms and moving your awareness to your neck.

Just checking in with the neck.

Being aware of any sensations.

And moving to the back part of the head.

The crown of the head.

Becoming aware of the face.

And on the next out breath,

Just letting go of awareness of the different parts of the body.

And just bringing all of the body into awareness now.

Aware of the body lying on the floor or sitting on the chair and breathing.

Just resting in awareness of the whole body.

And when you're ready,

Letting go of awareness of the body and the breath.

And bringing your awareness back into the room.

Perhaps noticing the sounds around you as you come back into the room.

And if you've been lying on the floor,

Taking great care as you sit yourself up and continue on with your day as you bring this body scan meditation to a close.

Reviews

Great. Thanks. 🙏

Great kind gentle music would enhance experience

Thank you. This was very helpful and I will definitely come back to.

very nice and easy to follow step by step body scan. not too lng and not too short. I will try to use it daily. thank you so much!