Body Scan Meditation

This meditation is the classic body scan which helps listeners connect with and ground into their body. Generally, the listen is lying down, but it can also be done sitting. By taking the time to bring attention to each body part as the meditation progresses, the listener will be able to feel anxiety drop away as they become more at home in their body.

Transcript

The body scan meditation begins with an awareness and attention to the body as you settle either lying down or sitting up. Feeling your body as it connects with either the chair or whatever surface that you're relying on. Allowing yourself to be supported by that surface and beginning to let go. As you're settling into this domain of mindfulness and being with your body, Allow your awareness and your focus for the moment to be in your heart center. The heart being a place of acceptance and nurture. Breathing in and out as though you're breathing just from this heart center for the time being. Allowing the body to settle. From this place then up heartful mindfulness in the heart. Traveling down now with your attention to your left foot and to your right foot. These feet that carry you from place to place. They provide the foundation for your body. And with awareness of your heels as they rest and your soles of your feet and your toes, Tops of your feet, The soulful nature of your feet. Taking a moment to express gratitude to your feet in whatever way you would choose to. Moving into your ankles now. Your heartfelt awareness of these joints that allow and support your movement, Flexibility and letting your ankles know that you appreciate the way that they function with and for you. Moving your mindfulness now to your leg, Your left leg and your right leg. The shin, The calf, The spinal connective part of your leg. And again being appreciative of the part that this plays in your movement, In your system of movement through your legs. With mindful attention now on your knees, The tops, The sides, The backs. These very important joints that allow us to bend and stoop and move and change direction. Listening to your knees if they have something to say to you today. And then sharing if you choose to a sense of gratitude to your knees. From your knees now to your thigh, Your left thigh and your right thigh. These very long, Dense, Strong bones that make up the top of the leg, The top of the movement system and support your torso. So with gratitude bring your mindfulness down to your thighs. Moving now to your hips, Your hip joints and your buttocks, Your pelvic area, Your genitals, Anus. The parts of your torso that reside in the pelvic bowl are places of connection. Your hip joints in particular as they connect with your legs, Provide movement and support, Openness. With heartfelt appreciation that for the structure of the pelvis and all the connective tissue and all the organs that live in this part of your body. Allowing your heart now to listen, Be in your abdomen listening. Do anything that your body may desire to tell you. And expressing appreciation, Gratitude. Directing your mindfulness now to the upper part of your torso, Your chest, Your right thigh, The ribs that protect all the vital organs of your chest, Your heart and your lungs. The connection between your ribs and your backbone. It's a very important structure which holds us erect and provides organization for our body. Be mindful of all the organs that reside in this area. Allowing them to rest now with appreciation for the functions that they perform. Being aware of any tension in this area. Another area that you know by heart. Sensing your shoulders as they are also part of this system. Your upper back, Your shoulders sweeping around to the collarbones. Allowing this area to be open and allowing it to let go of any tension. Expressing gratitude if you choose to. Next are arms. The arms which are extensions of the body. Actually in a way extensions of the heart which settles between the arms, The arms, Upper arms, Elbows, Lower arms and hands that reach out into the world and experience the world. Express you and who you are in the world. These limbs that both give and receive. So taking a moment now and with mindful appreciation for your arms. Express your gratitude for them and to them as you are with them and in them. Allowing the mindfulness now to travel up into your neck. That part of the spine which supports your head. The neck which contains the throat and the vital organs of speech and swallowing. The beginning of the digestive system so vital to our nurture of ourselves with our physical needs for food and drink. So the neck and the throat. With appreciation for the role that this part of your body plays. With the functions that it provides your system. With mindfulness now for the head, The skull itself which contains the vital organizing brain. The computerized center of so much of the other activities that happen in our body even without our direction. The brain which processes information constantly. Processes what it receives from all the senses. Many of which reside in the head, The eyes and what they see. The ears and what they hear. The mouth, The sense of taste. The nose, The sense of smell. And the skin, The sense of touch which also is throughout the body and processed by all of the cells and intelligence of those cells throughout the body. So with gratitude for the enormous contribution to our lives that the head, The skull and all that it contains. Gratitude for what it provides. Now resting in the mindfulness that from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, The physical system that you live in is very very precious. Expressing your gratitude if you choose to in whatever way for all of your physical self. And as a part of this appreciation to consider in the words of Derek Walcott, Love for your body, Love for your life. Here are the words of the poet. The time will come when with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, In your own mirror and each will smile at the others welcome and say sit here, Eat. You will love again the stranger who was yourself. Give wine, Give bread, Give back your heart to itself to the stranger who has loved you all your life, Whom you ignored for another, Who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, The photographs, The desperate notes, Peel your image from the mirror, Sit and feast on your life. And as your mindfulness shifts now from your focus on your body, Be very gentle and kind with yourself and carry with you your sense of love for this precious body.