Bridgeen's Deeply Relaxing Compassionate Body Scan

I created this bodyscan for my monthly self-compassion workshops to help people really relax and spend time deeply resting in their body. It's normal to fall asleep during this. I just hope you enjoy it and, more importantly, enjoy giving your body the deep rest and relaxation it needs. Let me know what you think. Thank you.

Transcript

So welcome to this deep relaxation body scan.

It's a compassionate body scan so some of the things I'm gonna ask you to do are a wee bit different you might not be used to it.

It requires you to use your imagination.

If there's anything that I say that you don't like that doesn't suit you that's okay you don't have to do it.

So everything is an invitation just participate as best as you can.

If you get lost at any time just come back to my voice come back to your own breath and rest.

So this is actually a practice of really deep relaxation.

Sometimes we think we're relaxing or we're chilling out when we're watching TV but actually our brain is still being stimulated with images and it's really important that we can just stop every now and again preferably at least once a day and stop with all the input coming in all the sensory input and close our eyes and go inside and preferably you want to do this practice when you're lying down.

When you lie down you have the best position for your body to rest.

You can do it sitting up as well if you prefer.

If you don't want to fall asleep you can keep your eyes open and you can sit up.

If you do fall asleep that's okay it's really fine this is a restful practice so if you need to sleep if your body's tired.

Do it where you will wake up at the end because I'm going to invite a bell at the end so you'll know when it's over.

When you're lying you may like to lie like in the yoga posture of Shavasana or you may like to have your knees bent if you have a bad back that can be good.

You can put a pillow over your head or a pillow underneath your knees.

Just adjust yourself make yourself comfortable.

We're going to be doing this practice for about 40 minutes so we have plenty of time there's no rush.

So usually when most people are doing this lying on the ground or on a bed I always like to start with acknowledging the fact that we are all resting on Mother Earth.

That Mother Earth is here she's holding us and supporting us so beneath the surface is the earth the living breathing earth we are very much part of that earth.

When we breathe in we're breathing in the oxygen from the plants and the trees and we breathe out the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the plants and the trees so we're very much a symbiotic relationship we're in a symbiotic relationship with the earth and we know that whatever we give to the earth be it excrement or perfume that she receives it all without discrimination and it's transformed.

So we can lie here now knowing that we're fully welcome to be here and that we're being held and supported and there's really not very much for us to do.

Just to listen and follow the instructions as best as you can.

You can't do it wrong.

So it's always nice to start maybe with a hand on the heart.

Left hand on the heart is the gesture of self compassion so we can set an intention to be kind ourselves just for the duration of this practice to give ourselves a break to let ourselves off the hook.

Maybe just an intention to rest for a while.

If you like you can place another hand on the belly and with the hand on the body we can tune into the body breathing.

Feeling the sensations of the breath moving in the body.

Simply inhaling and exhaling.

Observing the breath as it flows in and flows out.

We can allow ourselves to be rocked and crested,

Gently rocked and crested by the gentle movement of the breath,

Like the gentle movement of the sea.

Breath flowing in,

Breath flowing out.

When we start the body scan the breath goes a little bit into the background but we can always come back and rest on the breath anytime.

If we get lost or we have any kind of disturbing emotions or anything at all just come back to the breath.

The breath is our refuge,

Our anchor,

Holding us and supporting us with the earth.

And just for a moment enjoy on the inhale,

Enjoy on the exhale.

Now I'd like you to lift up the left leg and tap just a little bit,

Maybe one inch off of the surface that you have it on and tighten up all the muscles in the left leg.

Starting in the feet,

Squashing the toes,

The ankles,

The calf muscles,

The knees,

The thighs,

Just holding the left leg up tense and tight.

Hold it,

Hold it and then with a big exhalation let it go and drop it down.

You can really just breathe out as you release the left leg and shake it out and side to side,

Let it just flop down and then we'll lift up the right leg and we'll tense everything in the right leg from the toes,

The ankles,

Just lift it maybe an inch off the surface tense and tighten it.

Tighten every muscle in the right leg,

Hold it,

Hold it and then with a big exhalation release it and let it go.

Allow the leg to flop down and just move it from side to side,

Just release it and let it go.

And then do the same thing with the buttocks,

Tighten and hold the buttocks,

Give them tense and tight,

Feel the butt cheeks clenching and then release it with a big exhalation.

Just let it go and now I want you to breathe into the belly and push the belly up like a big balloon,

Hold it,

Hold it and then release and let it go.

And then breathe into the chest,

Pop the chest up,

Hold it,

Hold all the breath in,

Hold it tense and tight and then release it out with a big sigh.

And then bring the shoulders up to the ears,

Hold the shoulders tense and tight,

Hold it,

Hold it and then release them down with a big sigh,

Let it go.

And then I want you to lift the left arm maybe an inch from the floor,

Tighten up all the fingers,

Spread the fingers out wide,

Tighten them,

Hold it into your fist,

Tighten all the muscles in the left arm,

Hold it,

Hold it and then release,

Let it go with a big sigh and shake the arm out,

Side to side,

Just roll it out.

And then we'll go over and we'll do the right arm,

Taking the right arm out,

Holding it tense and tight,

Spreading out the fingers,

Lifting it up a wee bit and making a fist,

Make it tense and tight,

Every muscle in the right arm and then release it,

Drop it down,

Let it go with a big sigh and let it roll from side to side and just fluff out.

And then we're gonna tighten up all the muscles in the face,

Tighten up the face,

Make it a tight print face,

Squeeze the eyes,

Squeeze the nose,

The mouth,

Everything,

Squeeze it all up tense and tight and then release it,

Let it go.

Let's see the face one more time,

We hold a lot of tension in the face,

Screw up the face,

Really tense and tight and then release,

Let it go,

Feel the face release and just breathe normally and naturally.

So we're going to start our body scan at the feet and when we do this body scan we're basically literally gonna do a scan of the body using our mind like a torch beam,

Going around to visit all the different parts of the body and scanning for sensations,

Physical sensations,

Could be things like tightness or tension,

Heat or coolness,

Tingling or pulsing and there's no judgment,

We're just noticing.

This is a mindful body scan so we don't make a story about what we find,

We don't go into a memory of something,

We just notice in this moment what are the sensations.

So we're going to start with investigating the sensations at the bottom of the body,

At the top of the toes,

Going into both big toes at the same time with your torch beam up attention and just noticing and then there's a little toes and the toes in between,

Toes touching or apart,

Moisture,

Dryness,

Heat,

Coolness,

These are just suggestions what you might find and then we don't stay with any part for very long with an exhalation,

We let go of awareness of the toes and we take the spotlight of our attention around to the soles of the feet,

The balls of the feet,

The arches,

The heels,

What are the sensations here and then with an exhalation we shift and move our attention round to the top of the feet,

All the little bones and sinews inside the feet,

The skin around the feet,

These sensations of contact with clothing or blankets and then with the next exhalation we let go of awareness of the feet and we shift and move our attention traveling up the body into the ankles,

These important bony joints of the body.

Are there any sensations in the ankles right now?

And you know if there's no sensations that's okay too,

We just notice what we notice,

There's no need to have anything in particular and now with an exhalation we're going to shift and move our attention up into the lower legs and we're looking once again for sensations in the lower legs,

The calf muscles,

The shin bone,

The skin around the lower legs and if you find that your mind has drifted off,

Daydreaming,

Planning,

Worrying,

Remembering,

That's just the mind doing its thing,

It's totally normal,

It's not a problem but when we do notice that our job is to catch ourselves on and gently and kindly without any judgment just escort the mind back to the part of the body we're focusing on which right now are the lower legs and then we're going to shift and move our attention once again up this time into the knees,

Back of the knees,

Top of the knees,

Inside the knees,

The knee joint,

The patella.

What sensations do you notice here?

Tightness,

Heaviness,

Heat,

Just observe them,

Higher the knees right now.

With the next exhalation we're going to shift and move our attention up into the thighs,

The thigh bones,

The longest bones in the body,

The quad muscles,

Heaviness,

Lightness,

Contact,

Just noticing.

With another exhalation we're going to shift and move our attention up into the hips.

Are there any sensations in the hips right now?

The tightness or no sensations at all?

Whatever it is it's okay we just notice.

And then we're just going to pause the body scan for a few moments while we do some imaginative breathing.

And imaginative breathing means that we use our imagination so we're going to imagine that we can breathe into the body through the hips and we're going to take this air in through the hips,

Down through the thighs,

The knees,

The lower legs,

The ankles and the feet.

And then we're going to take it all the way back up again from the feet,

Ankles,

Lower legs,

Knees,

Thighs and out through the hips.

So you just play around with it as best you can sweeping the air in through the hips,

Down through the legs of the feet and all the way back up and out again.

Using the imagination you can get it wrong.

Whatever works for you for this.

And then we let go of that imaginative breathing.

Turning the breath back to its own normal natural rhythm without any effort.

The body's just being breathed.

We're going to spend a few moments now before we continue with our body scan just contemplating our two legs and our two feet.

Because of our two legs and our two feet we can do so many things.

Our two legs and our two feet have carried us around this planet.

We can run and jump and skip and hop and climb the stairs and climb the mountain and drive a car and dance.

So many things are possible because of our two legs and our two feet.

Still working,

Still capable yet we never really take the time to notice and appreciate.

So we have this precious opportunity today to spend some time sending our deep thanks,

Our deep love and sincere appreciation to every cell and every part of our two legs and our two feet.

You can even imagine every cell and the two legs and the two feet happy and smiling as we suspend our sincere thanks and love and appreciation.

Thank you for being there,

My wonderful legs,

My wonderful feet.

Thank you for making so many things possible.

And then we just let go of that contemplation.

We're going to continue our body scan at the back of the body.

We start at the buttocks.

Where the buttocks end and the floor begins.

Where the surface that we're lying on begins.

You can feel that sense of contact or pressure.

And then we shift and move up with our torch beam of attention into the lower back,

Maybe from the coccyx bone at the base of the spine,

Vertebra by vertebra.

The lower back is often an area of tightness or tension.

If you do come across any areas of discomfort in the body you can breathe into those areas or just breathe around them.

We can be aware of the kidneys at the back of the body.

We can be aware of our spinal column,

All the nerves running through the spinal column,

The back of the rib cage,

The back of the lungs.

Most of our lungs are in the back actually.

The shoulder blades,

The top of the back,

Parts of the back in contact with the surface we're lying on.

Just noticing any and all sensations.

And then with an exhalation we let go of awareness of the back of the body.

I'm going to shift and move our awareness around to the pelvic floor,

The pelvic basin,

All the important organs held here.

We just notice,

Just as we've been doing through the rest of the body.

And then we're going to exhale and shift and move our attention up into the lower abdomen.

The lower abdomen has miles and miles of intestines.

Maybe there's some gurgling,

Some heaviness or lightness depending if we've eaten or not.

I have lots of internal organs here,

The liver,

The pancreas.

We can move up a bit into the stomach,

The solar plexus area where the diaphragm also is.

The diaphragm causes rising and falling as we breathe in and breathe out.

And we exhale and we shift and move up into the chest.

Aware of the breasts or the pecs.

Aware of the rib cage and the lungs,

The huge sides of the lungs filling up the whole chest cavity.

All the little alveoli expanding and contracting with each inhale and each exhale.

Then we have the heart,

The heart inside the lungs,

The heart beating.

Just noticing.

And then we're going to pause our scan and spend a few moments doing our imaginative breathing again.

This time we're going to imagine that we can breathe in and out exclusively to the trunk of the body.

So we breathe in and as we breathe in,

We breathe in new fresh energy to every cell and every part of the trunk of the body.

And as we breathe out,

We breathe out old stale energy.

So breathing in new fresh energy into all the organs,

Into the spine,

Stomach,

The chest.

Breathing out old stale energy from every part,

Every organ in the trunk of the body.

Just as best you can using the imagination.

And then we're going to let go of that imaginative breathing.

Return to normal,

Natural breath,

Body's just being breathed.

We'll spend a few moments contemplating the trunk of the body with all these internal organs.

Because of our dear little heart,

No matter how much stress we put it under,

It's always there for us.

Feeding,

Feeding,

Feeding,

Sending fresh blood and oxygen to every cell.

Our lungs,

Even if we're smoking or vaping,

Our lungs are always here for us.

Keeping us healthy,

Keeping us well.

No matter how much rich food and alcohol we consume,

Our liver,

Our intestines,

Our kidneys,

Our pancreas,

They're working hard.

Looking after us day and night,

Working for our well-being.

Yet we never really take the time to notice and appreciate all the miracles that are happening moment by moment inside our body.

So we have this precious opportunity today.

We can imagine all the different cells and all the different parts from the spine to the pelvis,

To the stomach,

To the chest,

All these different parts of the trunk of the body.

We can see them happy and smiling as we send our deep love,

Our deep thanks and sincere appreciation.

Thank you for being there.

My amazing heart,

My wonderful lungs,

My wonderful intestines,

My amazing womb,

My wonderful spinal column,

My amazing ribcage,

My liver,

My kidneys,

My pancreas,

My spleen,

My stomach.

Thank you for making so many things possible.

Thank you for keeping me healthy and well.

If you have any part that you feel extra concern for,

You can maybe place your hand there,

Send her extra love and appreciation.

And then we can let go of that contemplation.

We're going to continue our body scan at the two shoulders,

Maybe noticing any remaining tension or tightness at the two shoulders,

Just observing.

The armpits,

Maybe moisture or dryness.

The upper arms,

Triceps and biceps,

Are there any sensations here?

How about the elbows?

We rarely consider the elbows.

The forearms,

The wrists,

Jewellery or watches at the wrists,

Maybe some sensations.

The hands,

Always a lot of sensation in the hands.

Palm of the hands,

Back of the hands,

Fingers,

Thumbs,

Tingling,

Pulsing,

Heat,

Coolness,

Heaviness,

Lightness,

Just noticing.

And then for a few breaths we're going to do our imaginative breathing again.

This time we're going to imagine that we can breathe into the body through the tops of the shoulders,

Bring the air down through the tops of the shoulders,

Through the upper arms,

Elbows,

Forearms,

Wrists,

Hands and fingers and all the way back up from the hands,

Wrists,

Forearms,

Elbows,

Upper arms and out through the tops of the shoulders.

And again just playing around with it as best you can,

Sweeping the air down from the tops of the shoulders to the tips of the fingers and all the way back up and out again.

And then we just let go of that imagined freedom.

We're going to spend a few moments contemplating our two arms and our two hands.

Because of our two arms and our two hands we can do so many things.

We can write and type and text and draw and paint and bake a cake and knit and drive a car and make things,

Put our clothes on.

So many things are possible because of our two arms and our two hands and our two shoulders.

We only really appreciate it when we break an arm or hurt something.

So we have this precious opportunity today.

We can imagine all the different selves and the two arms and the two hands happy and smiling.

We can send them our deep love,

Our deep thanks and sincere appreciation.

Thank you for being there,

My wonderful arms and my wonderful hands.

Thank you for making so many things possible.

And then we're going to let go of the contemplation of the arms and hands.

We're going to continue our body scan at the head and neck area.

We're going to start at the back of the neck,

Just noticing all the sensations and the tiny vertebra at the back of the neck,

The muscles at the sides of the neck,

The front of the neck,

The Adam's apple,

The thyroid gland,

Inside the neck,

The throat,

Maybe sensations of swallowing at the throat,

The head,

The back of the head,

Contact with the floor or the cushion,

The millions of follicles of hair on the head,

The skull,

The brain inside the skull,

The top of the head,

Even down around to the forehead.

Maybe noticing tightness or tension here,

Just observing,

Just noticing.

Two eyebrows,

Two eyelids,

Two eyeballs,

Maybe moving in their socket,

Eyelashes,

Maybe touching the cheeks,

The cheeks,

Maybe air on the cheeks,

The ears,

The earlobes,

Can you notice earrings in the earlobes,

Sensations in the ears if there is any,

The nose,

Bridge of the nose,

Tip of the nose,

Nostrils,

Maybe the air at the nostrils,

Kill as it comes in,

Warm as it goes out,

Space between the nostrils and the lips,

If you ever do one of those 10-day silent Vipassana courses,

The first three days you spend noticing the sensations in the space between the nostrils and the upper lip,

Three days just noticing those sensations,

So if you can spend three breaths,

Every part of our body is alive,

The lips touching or apart,

Moisture,

Dryness,

The teeth,

The tongue,

The chin,

The jaw,

The whole of the mask of the face,

And now just for a few breaths we're gonna use our imaginative breathing here too,

This time we're going to imagine that we have a blowhole like the blowhole of a dolphin at the top of our head and through this blowhole we're going to bring air in through the top of the head,

Down through the head,

The face,

In through the neck,

And then all the way up from the bottom of the neck up through the head and the face and out through the blowhole at the top of the head,

Just for a few breaths using your imagination bring the air in from the top of the head to the bottom of the neck back up and out again and then just let go of that imaginative breathing,

Return the breath back to its own normal natural rhythm,

We're going to spend a few moments just contemplating the head and neck area.

On the day that we were born our parents,

The caregivers,

The people around,

They were just so delighted to see everything was where exactly where it was meant to be.

We had these amazing two eyes,

Two wonderful ears,

Nose and a mouth.

We couldn't be more perfect,

People couldn't have been more delighted,

Yet since that day we've rarely considered what a miracle it is to have all these capacities.

Because of our amazing two eyes we can see a paradise of forms and colours.

Because of our wonderful ears we can hear the beautiful music and the conversation.

Because of our amazing news we can smell the coffee and the perfume.

Because of our wonderful mouth we can talk and taste and kiss.

Because of our amazing brain we can think and plan and strategize.

Because of our wonderful neck holding up the whole weight of the head allowing us to swallow and breathe.

So many amazing miracles every day,

Yet we never really take the time to notice and appreciate.

So we have this precious opportunity now.

We can imagine all the different cells and all the different parts of the head and neck area and we can see it happy and smiling.

So we can send our deep love,

Our deep thanks and sincere appreciation.

Thank you for being there,

My wonderful eyes,

My amazing nose,

My wonderful ears,

Amazing brain,

Wonderful mouth,

Amazing neck.

Thank you for making so many things possible.

And then for the final time we're going to do our imagine of breathing.

This time we're going to imagine that we can breathe through the whole body.

So we're going to continue to use our blowhole at the top of the head.

Bring the air in through the top of the head,

Down through the head and the neck,

Into the two shoulders,

Arms and hands,

Down through the back of the body,

Through the chest,

The abdomen,

The pelvic floor,

The hips,

The buttocks,

The thighs,

The knees,

The lower legs,

The ankles and the feet.

And then we're going to sweep that air all the way back up from the feet,

Ankles,

Lower legs,

Knees,

Thighs,

Hips,

Buttocks,

Pelvic floor,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Back of the body,

Hands,

Arms,

Shoulders,

Neck,

Head and out through the blowhole,

The top of the head.

So just play around with it as best you can.

The more you do this,

The more you get used to it.

Sweeping the air down from the top of the head to the tips of the toes and all the way back up and out again.

And then just let go of that imaginative breathing.

Return the breath back to its own normal,

Natural rhythm.

The body's just being breathed.

And we can lie here now,

Whole and complete,

Knowing that we have visited,

Paid attention,

Sent our deep love,

Our deep thanks and sincere appreciation to every cell and every part of our amazing,

Wondrous body.

And we can just rest.

Simply rest and let be.

Nowhere to go,

Nothing to do.

Lying on the earth,

Breathing with the earth.

Breathing in,

I go back to the island within myself.

There are beautiful trees within the island.

There are clear springs of water.

There are birds,

Sunshine and fresh air.

Breathing out,

I feel safe.

I enjoy going back to my island.

Breathing in,

I go back to the island within myself.

There are beautiful trees within the island.

There are clear streams of water.

There are birds,

Sunshine and fresh air.

Breathing out,

I feel safe.

I enjoy going back to my island.

There is true love right here.

There is true love right here.

And we are so glad that we have found it.

There is true love right here.

There is true peace right here.

There is true peace right here.

And we are so glad that we have found it.

There is true peace right here.

There is true joy right here.

There is true joy right here.

And we are so glad that we have found it.

There is true joy right here.

There is true love right here.

There is true peace right here.

And we are so glad that we have found it.

There is true joy right here.

Happiness is here and now.

I have dropped my worries.

Nowhere to go,

Nothing to do.

No longer in a hurry.

Happiness is here and now.

I have dropped my worries.

Nowhere to go,

Something to do.

But I don't need to hurry.

So no hurry,

No worry.

This is how we practice mindfulness.

We take our time.

We breathe in,

We breathe out.

Going back to the safe island of mindfulness within.

Getting in touch with the peace,

The joy,

The love that is here right in this present moment.

So aware that we have been practicing this compassionate body scan.

And aware that soon this practice will come to an end.

We want to start to tune into our senses again.

Maybe the sense of hearing.

Listening for sounds.

All the sounds that make up the time of day in this place.

Sounds closer in the room.

Sounds far away in the distance.

Want to get in touch with the sense of contact.

The body in contact with the floor,

The bed,

The surface beneath.

Noticing the points of contact.

Maybe the back of the head.

Back of the shoulders,

Shoulder blades,

Parts of the back,

The buttocks.

Back of the legs,

Calf muscles,

The heams of the feet in contact.

We're starting to reintroduce some movement into the body.

Shifting and moving whatever way you feel you need to.

Wiggling the fingers,

Wiggling the toes.

If you like and it suits your body you can have a big stretch.

Breathe in,

Stretching the arms up over the head,

Taking the arms behind.

Pointing the heels away from the body.

Stretching through the length of the body.

Inhaling,

Exhaling,

Sigh,

Yawn,

Let it go as you breathe out.

Release the arms.

Wiggle around.

If you like you can have another big stretch.

When you're ready,

Breathe in,

Take the arms up over the head.

Stretch through the whole length of the body.

Pointing the fingers,

Pointing the toes,

Flexing the feet.

Stretching through the whole length of the body.

Big,

Big stretch.

And this time when you exhale,

If it suits you,

You might like to hug the knees into the chest.

Bring the knees up to the chest.

Rock the small of the back into the floor,

Beneath,

Side to side.

Wiggling up the body again.

And then if you'd like to,

If you want to roll over onto your right side,

If you're able to do that,

Or whatever side is going to suit you right now,

Roll over onto your side.

I want you to rub the hands together.

Rub the hands together,

Get the hands nice and warm.

When you have the hands nice and warm,

Just place the palm of the hands over the eyes.

Allow the heat from the palms to build and soothe and comfort the eyes.

And then just take your hands down and stretch out your arms wide out in a big T shape.

Inhale in and then as you exhale,

Bring the arms back and give yourself a big hug.

Congratulate yourself on spending so much time looking after yourself,

Giving yourself a rest.

I know that you can come back and do this practice anytime and that you will be a true civilised person having a good rest every day.

So thank you for practising with me today.

Reviews

Wonderful.🙏😍😀

Truely refreshing, deeply relaxing and a joy to do this meditation. Thank you 😊

Love this body scan, so relaxing x

Very lovely practice with Sooo much love and compassion.
Thank you Bridgeen