Body Scan 15 Minutes

This body scan will help you to relax and reconnect with the experience and wisdom of your body. It consists of gentle verbal guidance with no background music. You can do this body scan sitting or lying down, in the morning or when you want to fall asleep.

There is no ending bell.

Transcript

Welcome to the Body Scan Meditation.

During this exercise we'll be bringing mindful awareness to the sensations of the body.

So often during the day we're hardly aware of our bodies at all,

Yet they are essential to every moment of our lives.

Through this meditation we begin to reconnect with the body,

To honor its experience and tune in to its wisdom.

At the same time,

We're also building the strength of our awareness.

By using the sensations of the body as the object of meditation,

We train the mind to stay in the present moment in a non-judgmental mode,

Open to whatever experiences may arise.

In this meditation,

You will be guided to bring your attention to different parts of the body and simply notice the sensations that are present there with a sense of curiosity and discovery.

The sensations may be pleasant,

They may be neutral,

And some may be unpleasant.

At times,

You may feel no sensations at all.

Simply continue noticing your experience just the way it is in each passing moment,

With a sense of openness and acceptance.

On occasion,

Your attention will wander away from this exercise to thoughts or other distractions.

When you notice that your mind has wandered,

Simply bring your attention back to the body with a sense of kindness and patience for yourself and begin to follow the guidance again wherever we may be.

So now,

Sitting down in a chair in a position that's comfortable and alert,

With the back straight and the shoulders relaxed,

The feet are flat on the floor and the hands are resting on the thighs or in the lap.

And once you've settled in,

Gently closing the eyes and noticing the fact that you're breathing,

Bringing awareness to what it feels like to breathe,

Simply noticing the breath as it travels into the body,

Filling the lungs,

And then reversing direction to travel back out through the nostrils.

No need to control the breath or change it in any way,

Just letting it be the way it is.

And letting your awareness settle on the breath,

Watching it as it rises and falls like the waves on an ocean.

Now,

Letting awareness travel from the breath down into your abdomen and down through your legs and letting your awareness settle on the toes of your feet.

Noticing any sensations that are here in this part of the body.

Perhaps you notice a sense of warmth or coolness,

Or perhaps the touch of a sock or stocking.

Just seeing what sensations you can notice in the toes.

And perhaps you don't notice anything,

And that's your experience right now.

Whatever your experience is,

Simply accepting it the way it is.

And now,

Moving your awareness from the toes to the bottom of your feet.

Perhaps noticing where they make contact with the floor.

And now,

Moving up to the top of the feet and up to the ankles.

Letting your attention circle the ankles.

What sensations are here?

Perhaps there are sensations at the skin.

And perhaps inside the ankle as well.

Perhaps noticing itching or dryness or pulsing.

Just noticing whatever is present.

And now,

Moving awareness to the lower legs.

Noticing any sensations here.

The bone and the large muscles in this part of the body.

And moving up to the knees now.

What do you notice here?

Again,

Circling the knees with awareness.

And letting awareness flow into the upper legs now.

Noticing any sensations that are present.

Perhaps sensations at the skin or in the large muscles in this part of the leg.

Now,

Bringing awareness to the hips.

The place where the legs join the body.

And to the pelvic area.

Perhaps noticing the pressure of the chair on the back of the legs and the sitting bones.

And letting awareness move now into the abdomen.

Bringing a sense of openness and curiosity to the sensations in this part of the body.

Any sensations at the skin or perhaps in the many organs that are inside the body here.

Now,

Moving awareness to the lower back.

This part of the body that holds so much of our weight all day.

Noticing any sensations,

Perhaps tension or aching in this part of the body.

Now,

Bringing awareness to the chest.

The rising and falling of the chest with your breathing.

The expanding and the contracting of the lungs.

Noticing any sensations in the heart.

And bringing awareness now to the upper back.

The ribcage,

The shoulder blades,

The shoulders.

What sensations do you notice here?

Perhaps noticing tightness or aching or the feeling of clothing.

And letting your awareness now flow down from the shoulders into the arms.

And down through the arms to the hands and finally to the fingers.

These sensitive parts of the body always in motion,

Now at rest.

What are the hands making contact with?

How does this contact feel?

Noticing the hands resting on the thighs and perhaps the touch of air on the back of the hands.

And moving awareness up to the wrists now.

This area with so many small muscles and bones.

Seeing what sensations are present in the wrists.

And moving up to the lower arms.

Perhaps noticing the touch of clothing.

Now bringing awareness to the elbows and the upper arms.

Open to whatever sensations may be present.

And perhaps noticing no sensations at all.

Now bringing awareness again across the shoulders and into the neck.

The front of the neck.

The back of the neck.

The spine and where it touches the head.

And moving awareness now up to the ears and the top of the head.

And now letting it flow down into the forehead.

And the nose,

The eyes,

The cheeks,

The mouth.

Bringing awareness to each part of the face one after another.

And now the jaw.

And now expanding awareness to the entire face.

And now the entire head.

Bringing into awareness this entire part of the body.

And now letting awareness flow back down.

Down into the neck,

Across the shoulders,

And down the arms to the hands.

And continuing to let awareness flow down into the chest.

Into the abdomen and the back.

Into the pelvic area.

And on down into the hips and the legs.

And finally the feet.

And now expanding awareness to flow through the entire form of the body.

The entire length of the body.

The width.

The shape and position of the body.

And noticing again now the sensations of breathing.

And bringing into awareness this entire breathing body.

And any sensations that arise.

Just opening and accepting them just the way they are.

And resting in this sense of open awareness.

Being present with whatever sensations are present in the body right now.

And simply letting everything be exactly the way it is in this body and in this moment.

And resting in this place of fully open and accepting awareness until the bells ring.