The body scan meditation.
This is a 30 minute meditation practice.
So we begin the practice by coming into a comfortable lying position.
So laying on a bed or on a mat or perhaps on a rug on the floor.
Choosing somewhere where we can be comfortable and undisturbed for about 30 minutes.
So just settling into a comfortable position now,
Feeling the sensation of pressure and contact between the length of the back or whatever you're lying on.
Stretching out the arms and legs to a position that feels right for you today.
Palms up or palms down,
Whichever feels good.
Just checking in with the lower back and if you feel it would be better for you today to have your knees bent and feet flat on the floor than just making that adjustment.
Making a choice to allow yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment.
So the intention of the body scan is to practice gathering the scattered mind.
Stepping out of automatic pilot and out of the busy doing mode and into being mode.
Bringing attention and awareness into the body and into the senses.
Moving on a journey through the body one area at a time.
Now we do this with an attitude of friendly curiosity.
And kindness to ourselves,
Our bodies and to our present moment experience.
Noticing things as they are,
Not as we think they should be or even how we want them to be.
So we're not even trying to relax.
Relax,
Relaxation is lovely and it may happen but we're just accepting,
Just noticing things as they already are.
Not trying to achieve any particular state.
And if there's no sensation in a particular part of the body then that's okay,
Then we just notice that.
So when it feels right for you just gently gathering attention and awareness onto the movement of the breath in the body.
Tuning into the sensations as the breath enters the body and leaves the body again of its own accord.
Allowing it to move through its cycle of in-breath and out-breath without controlling.
So perhaps sensing the rise and fall of the tummy and you may find it helpful to place a hand or both hands on this area of the body.
Feeling the rise and fall of the hand.
The stretch and falling away again of the abdomen wall as the breath rolls in and the breath rolls out.
Just tuning into the breath for a while.
Resting attention on the movement of breathing.
And as we practice this body scan if at any time sensations in the body become too uncomfortable or thoughts or emotions arise which are too difficult,
Remembering that it's always possible to return to the rhythm of the breath.
Using the breath as a safe place,
Using it as our anchor until you're ready to venture back out into the meditation again to rejoin the sound of my voice and refocus attention back onto whichever part of the body we're tuning into at that point in the practice.
So when it feels right,
Letting go of the breath and focusing the attention down through the body,
Down through the legs to the soles of both feet.
Bringing a gentle but focused attention onto the soles of both feet now.
Perhaps asking yourself the question,
What is there for me to feel here?
Perhaps tingling or pulsing,
Sensations of temperature perhaps,
Or perhaps no sensations.
Just noticing that that's just how it is in the soles of both feet right now for you.
No sensation.
Tuning into the soles of both feet now and allowing yourself to feel whatever there is to feel in this moment.
And now letting go of the soles of both feet and tuning in to the whole of the feet.
Soles of the feet,
Bones and muscles of the feet,
Tops of the feet and the toes.
You may find it helpful to imagine that your attention is like a spotlight that can light up this area of the body.
Just tuning into both feet and feeling with a kind and curious attention whatever there is to feel.
And now letting go of the feet and moving attention instead to the legs,
Calves and the shins,
Knees,
Thighs.
Tuning into sensations in both legs now.
And when the mind wanders away from the legs,
Which is what minds do,
Just noticing where the mind is taking you.
Perhaps gently acknowledging where the mind has gone.
Perhaps saying to yourself,
Ah,
Thinking,
Worrying,
Planning and gently but firmly escorting the attention back to both legs.
Or if you choose to,
Reorientating yourself back into the practice by focusing attention onto the breath for a few breaths.
Anchoring yourself back into the present and when you're ready returning attention to the legs and to the sound of my voice.
So I'm letting go of both legs now and moving attention instead onto the hips and the pelvic area.
Bringing attention to the pelvic bone,
The hip bones,
Hip joints.
Perhaps noticing the weight of this area against the mat or the bed.
Noticing sensations of tightness and tension holding or softness.
And just reminding ourselves that the body scan practice is practice where we are practicing falling awake,
Not asleep.
So just noticing any tendency towards sleepiness right now and we may choose to gently open the eyes or take some deep breaths.
Being awake,
Being fully aware.
And now letting go of the pelvic area and moving your attention instead to the belly,
The lower belly and the stomach.
Just tuning into this area of the body for a while.
Perhaps noticing the movement here as the breath enters and leaves.
Perhaps sensations of tightness or tension.
Gurgling sound perhaps.
Simply feeling whatever there is to feel in the stomach and the belly right now.
And when you're ready letting go of the belly and stomach and shifting attention onto the chest,
The lungs,
Breastbone,
Muscles of the chest,
Movement of the chest.
And then letting go of the chest and redirecting your attention onto the back.
The lower back,
Mid back,
The upper back and the shoulder blades.
Can you detect the movement of the breath here?
Perhaps tuning into the sensation of pressure and contact between this area of the body or whatever you're lying on.
And if the mind's wandered away from the back and your attention is perhaps in the past or the future and no longer focused on this area of the body,
They're just noticing that that's happened.
Perhaps taking a moment to congratulate yourself for having woken up again to the present moment before bringing attention back to the back or back to the breath.
Returning to the practice,
Reorientating yourself back into the present moment.
And now letting go of the back area and expanding attention into the whole of the torso.
Bringing the light of your awareness to the whole of the torso,
From the pelvis,
Through the back,
The belly,
The chest.
Holding the whole torso in awareness now.
And again you may wish to ask yourself the question,
What is there for me to feel here right now?
What is my experience?
And seeing if it's possible to just allow sensations to be as they already are.
Bringing a calm,
Non-judgmental awareness to the whole of the torso.
And now on the next out breath,
Letting go of the torso and bringing attention instead to the fingers of the right hand.
Perhaps again imagining that your attention was a light that could travel down through the arm to the hand and to the fingers of the right hand now.
Tuning into the thumb,
The forefinger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and the little finger.
Tuning into all the fingers on the right hand.
Perhaps noticing how thinking about the fingers or having a picture of them in your mind is different to actually sensing into them.
And now expanding your attention to include the fingers and the whole of the right hand.
So the thumb,
The fingers,
Palms of the hand,
Back of the hand.
Perhaps noticing,
Pulsing or tingling,
Moisture or dryness perhaps.
Or perhaps no sensation.
Just noticing that.
Simply feeling whatever there is to feel in this moment.
And now letting go of the right hand and moving attention to the right arm,
Forearm,
Elbow and the upper arm.
And allowing the right arm and the right hand to fall in the background of your awareness and transferring your attention instead onto the fingers of the left hand.
And again perhaps imagining that your attention is a spotlight or a laser beam that can travel down the arm into the fingers of the left hand now.
And expanding awareness out to include the whole of the hand and the fingers of the left hand together.
And letting go of the hand and the fingers and moving attention to the left arm.
Forearm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
The whole of the left arm.
Is it possible to sense into the bones of the arm,
The muscles of the arm and the skin.
And now letting go of the left arm and moving the attention instead to the neck and the throat,
Back of the neck,
The front of the throat and inside the throat.
Sensing into this area for a while.
And now moving attention to the jaw.
Noticing perhaps any tightness or tension,
Relaxation or softness.
Placing attention on the mouth,
The lips,
The tongue,
The roof of the mouth,
The teeth,
Inside the cheeks,
The outside of the cheeks.
Placing attention on the nose now.
The eyelids,
The eyes,
Eyebrows,
The forehead,
The top of the head,
The back of the head,
And the ears.
And on the next out breath,
Gently expanding awareness to include the whole of the face and the whole of the head now.
Becoming aware of facial expression,
Becoming aware of all the physical sensations of the face and the head.
And as best you can holding them all in awareness.
And now expanding awareness to include the whole of the body lying here.
Becoming aware of the whole body from the top of the head,
Right down to the soles of the feet.
Practicing being fully present,
The totality of your experience of lying here.
Practicing coming home to the body.
Practicing coming home to the present moment.
And noticing how the breath has been a constant companion during this practice.
How it brings the whole body together.
Perhaps imagining a wave of breath flowing from the tips of the toes up to the top of the head.
And then flowing all the way back down again.
Almost as if the whole body were breathing in and breathing out.
And if there are any particularly intense or difficult physical sensations or emotional sensations in the body right now,
Then just gently acknowledging these.
And choosing to reorientate your attention back to the sensation of pressure between your body and whatever is supporting you.
And resting here for a while.
Or you may choose to direct the breath towards the area of intensity.
Breathing towards the area of discomfort or difficulty.
Breathing towards with the kindly breath on the in-breath and on the out-breath allowing and letting go.
And when it feels right,
Expanding awareness again out to include the whole of the body.
Whole body awareness.
And as this practice begins to draw to a close,
I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on your experience of the body scan today.
Without judging the experience as either good or bad,
But see if it's possible to just allow it to be whatever it was.
Accepting the body,
Accepting your practice.
You may have learned some new things about the body along the way,
You may not.
Perhaps the practice or the sensations today were not what you expected.
So now bringing your attention again down to the back of the body,
Back into the sensation of pressure and contact between your back and whatever is supporting you.
Sensation of pressure and contact between the back,
The legs,
The feet,
And the mat,
The bed or the floor.
Just tuning into this area,
Feeling whatever there is to feel.
And when you're ready,
Expanding awareness to include the whole of the body.
Broadening your awareness out still further into the realm of sound.
Becoming aware of the sound of my voice perhaps,
Or sounds in the room.
Sounds outside the room.
I'm now starting to introduce some movement back into the body,
Gently and kindly.
Perhaps wiggling fingers and toes.
Or taking a stretch in whichever way feels good.
And when it feels right,
Rolling over onto one side.
And gently blinking open the eyes if they've been closed.
And just slowly pushing yourself up to a seated position.
Whenever you're ready.
Your body scan practice is now complete.
