Body & Breath Scan

This body scan helps us to observe our thoughts as just that, thoughts and with kindness and compassion, bringing our attention to the body and breath, allowing us to cultivate a little space in our busy minds. If you enjoyed this meditation, please review it with just a word or two, much appreciated.

Transcript

So this is just a body and breath body scan and you can be either sitting or lying down and whichever position you find yourself in just notice the contact between your body and whatever it is that's holding you and just really getting a sense of support from the chair or the mat. Just paying attention to your breath right now. Just noticing the breath however it is without trying to change it. The breath as it goes in and the breath as it goes out. Breathing perfectly fine just as you are. The breath as it comes in to the lungs and turns and leaves and maybe noticing the breath and the top lip if you are breathing out through your nose. Noticing how the belly rises or the chest rises as you breathe in and as everything relaxes as you breathe out. Breathing in, I know I'm breathing in. Breathing out, I know I'm breathing out. Breathing in and breathing out. In and out. Noticing the body breathing all by itself as it always has done. Breathing into every cell. Breathing in as an anchor to feel grounded in times of uncertainty. And just allowing the breath to settle into its own pace. And if the mind wanders, Which is perfectly natural, Just noticing where the mind has gone and maybe naming it. Worry, This is planning. This is thinking about something again and again. I'm just going to invite the mind to just come back to the breath and from the breath we're just going to observe the thoughts as if they're clouds passing in the sky. We don't need to get caught up with them, We can just observe them for what they are. We're not getting rid of them, We're not pushing anything away, But just for these few moments we're giving our full awareness to the breath. This breath in this moment. This whole body breathing. And now as if we have a spotlight, We're bringing a spotlight of awareness to the body. We're going to bring awareness to the left foot. The toes of the left foot. The contact with the sock or the shoe. The ligaments, The heel, The sole of the foot. The origins. Just noticing any sensations around the foot maybe you warmth or coldness, Tingling just noticing leaving the left foot, Bringing our awareness to the leg and to the calf of the left leg and to the shin and to the space in between the shin and the calf, The bone and again if the mind has wandered, Just with kindness and compassion bringing it back it's perfectly normal and natural for the mind to wander, It'll wander thousands of times during the day that's what the mind does, For now we're gently bringing it back to the leg and moving from the lower leg up to the knee the front of the knee and the back of the knee and if you're lying down you'll notice the space between the back of the knee and your mat and the knee up to the back of the thigh and around the front of the thigh and then moving up to the hip and moving across the pelvis to the right hip bringing our awareness down to the right foot and to the toes of the right foot the ligaments, The sole, The heel and any contact that the right foot has with maybe your sock or a shoe just really getting a sense of the right foot the ankles, The inside ankle and the outside ankle and the space between the ankles and just again if the mind has wandered that's what the mind does, Just gently bringing the mind back to the right ankles no judgement just a gentle awareness and a gentle nudge to bring it back and from the ankles to the right calf and across to the front, To the shin and from there moving up to the right knee just noticing any sensations around the right knee and from the right knee moving to the back of the thigh maybe noticing the contact with the mat if you're lying down, At the front of the thigh, Noticing if you have a blanket or if you can feel your clothing and if there's any qualities around the right thigh leaving the right thigh and moving to the hip, The whole area around the hip and the buttocks and the pelvis and the lower part of the spine and the contact between this part and the mat or the chair as we move along the spine to the middle of the back, Almost noticing the space between each of the vertebrae moving along the spine to the middle of the shoulders and just noticing if there's any holding or tension around the shoulder area just maybe holding onto that for a moment and just being with it breathing into it moving along the spine again and heading up towards the neck, The back of the neck as it meets the head along to the top of the head and down to the ears, The eyes the nose the mouth and the jaw, Just allowing the jaw bone to just hang a little bit softer leaving the face and the head, Moving to the front of the body the lungs, The heart all the internal organs just paying attention if you notice any tension or any holding anywhere just trying to release that just using the breath into that part that needs attention and just leaving the front of the body and moving back to the shoulders and down the arms and into the hands, The fingers, The palms of the hands the wrists, The lower part of the arms and up to the elbows and there, To the upper arms and back to the shoulders again and just being with the breath, Exactly as it is just spending the next few moments breathing unguided and just as we come to an end, Waiting for the bell, Just bringing a sense of calmness and peacefulness to the rest of your day, Knowing that the breath is there to support you whenever you need it the bell the bell