23 Minute Body Scan

This is a 23-minute guided body scan practice designed to promote greater awareness and direct experience of the physical body and the character of bodily sensations. Sustained practice of the body scan can lead to insights relating to the links between physical sensations and emotions, the changing nature of sensations, and regarding one's ability to accept and "be with" physical pain that occurs as part of natural human experience.

Transcript

Welcome to this body scan meditation.

Finding a comfortable position,

Lying down on a mat or a bed,

But also sitting in a chair is fine if that's most comfortable for you.

If you're lying down,

Allowing your arms to be slightly away from your body,

Resting comfortably,

Palms up if that's comfortable for you,

Allowing your feet and legs to be slightly spread and feet falling away from each other.

And as we begin this meditation,

Setting the intention to be present with whatever arises,

Whatever sensations we notice or lack of sensations,

Just being open to what's already here,

Not trying to change our experience.

Bringing our attention now to notice the body breathing.

Noticing that the air is coming into the mouth or the nostrils,

Creating an expansion of our chest or abdomen.

And then as the air leaves the body,

A contraction,

Using the breath to settle into this moment.

And now briefly shifting our attention to notice where our body is being supported by the floor or the chair if you're seated.

Just noticing the sensations or the points of contact with the floor or chair.

Tuning into those sensations briefly.

And now gathering the attention and taking it down the left leg,

Out to the left foot,

And out to the left toes.

Noticing the sensations that you find here.

Maybe you notice tingling or temperature,

Maybe warmth or coolness.

Maybe noticing the space between the toes,

Where the toes are touching,

Or perhaps nothing at all,

That's fine.

Not trying to make any sensations happen,

Just noticing what's here.

And then expanding the attention to take in the bottom of the foot and the heel.

Maybe noticing where the heel is in touch with the floor.

We stand on our feet or walk on our feet most of the day.

There's often a lot of pressure.

Or when we lay down and finally put our feet up,

A release of that pressure.

So just noticing what's here now.

And expanding to take in the top of the foot.

So you're holding the entire foot in awareness now.

And releasing the foot and taking in the ankle.

What sensations are here?

Releasing the ankle,

Taking in the lower leg,

The shin and the calf.

Noticing any sensations here.

Releasing the lower leg and focusing solely on the knee.

Noticing any and all sensations.

Allowing the spotlight of attention to encompass the entire knee.

Noticing the knee.

And if the mind wanders at any moment,

Simply acknowledging what the mind got caught in.

And gently yet firmly escorting your attention back to wherever you had intended it to be.

Right now in the knee.

Releasing the knee and bringing into your awareness the thigh.

The left thigh.

What do you find here?

Perhaps a heaviness?

Tingling perhaps?

There are times when certain body parts,

Placing our attention on them,

Can bring up associated memories or emotions.

If this happens,

It's perfectly fine.

You can notice those emotions or thoughts arise and pass away.

And if at any time it becomes too intense,

It's perfectly fine to move on to the next body part or back to a previous one.

But if you can,

I would encourage you to just take a look at the raw sensations you notice if that happens for you.

Releasing the left thigh and escorting your attention down the right leg,

To the right foot and out to the right toes.

Noticing any and all sensations associated with the toes.

Are you thinking about the toes?

Are you actually feeling the raw sensations?

Any sensations there?

Feeling temperature?

Perhaps noticing the contact between the toes?

And expanding to take in the bottom of the foot and the ball of the right foot,

The heel?

Perhaps feeling the heel against the floor?

Taking in the top of the foot,

So you're holding the entire right foot,

Center stage in awareness now.

And letting go of the foot and taking in the ankle.

Noticing any sensations here.

Releasing the ankle and taking in the lower leg,

The calf and shin.

And releasing the lower leg and taking in the right knee.

Feeling in awareness any sensations associated with the knee in this moment.

We can have pain in our knees at times.

What sensations are here now?

Are they steady?

Changing?

Solid?

Just noticing whatever quality of sensations are here.

And releasing the right knee and bringing to awareness any sensations in the right thigh.

And releasing the right thigh and taking in to center stage of awareness the left hip and right hip and entire basin of the pelvis.

And all the organs here as well.

Feeling any and all sensations in this region of the body.

Noticing the buttocks.

Maybe feeling the pressure or the contact between the floor and the buttocks.

Feeling the pelvis and buttocks and shifting your attention into the lower back.

The lower back being a region where many people hold tension or have some discomfort or pain at times.

Noticing what feelings are here now.

What sensations are arising in this moment?

What's the quality of sensations in this moment now in the lower back?

And expanding awareness to take in the middle of the back and upper back including the back of the shoulders and shoulder blades.

So now we're holding the entire back center stage in awareness.

Then releasing the back in awareness and shifting our attention to our abdomen.

Noticing any sensations here.

We may also be able to notice the body breathing in this part of the body.

Maybe we feel the abdomen touching our shirt as we breathe in and out.

Then expanding the awareness to include the abdomen and the chest and the front of the shoulders.

Noticing any and all sensations in this region of the body.

Releasing this region and shifting our attention down the left arm out to the left hand to the fingers of the left hand.

What sensations are here?

Tingling perhaps.

Maybe warmth or coolness.

Holding the awareness of the fingers to take in the hand,

The palm and the back of the hand and including the wrist.

So we're holding the entire left hand in awareness now.

And if the mind wanders at any point,

Again just noticing what our mind got caught in and gently escorting our attention back to the breath.

No need to criticize ourselves.

This is the practice.

Then letting go of the hand and wrist and bringing into awareness our left forearm including the elbow of the left arm.

Releasing the forearm and elbow and bringing into our awareness the upper left arm,

The bicep and tricep.

Noticing any sensations here.

And letting go of the left arm and shifting our attention across the chest and then over to the right arm and down the right arm out to the hand and to the fingers of the right hand.

Noticing any sensations here.

And expanding awareness of the right hand to include the back of the hand and the palm and including the wrist of the right hand.

And releasing the right hand,

Shifting our attention to the right forearm and elbow.

And releasing the right forearm and elbow and bringing into our awareness the upper arm of the right side.

And if we notice any thoughts arise or maybe a feeling of wanting things to go faster,

Just noticing this and bringing our attention back to where we had intended it,

The upper right arm in this moment.

Releasing the upper right arm and taking into our awareness our neck,

The back of the neck,

The area where the neck meets the shoulders,

Our throat.

We oftentimes hold tension in this region of the body.

And if you notice tension,

You may feel the impulse to relax it or release it.

And that's perfectly fine if you choose to do that.

It's also fine to just notice what's here,

What sensations you're noticing in this moment.

And releasing the neck and taking in the jaw and chin,

The lips,

Noticing any sensations here,

Maybe noticing what facial expression we might have in this region of the face.

And taking in the nose and cheeks,

Eyes and eyelids,

Eyebrows,

Forehead and temples.

So now we're holding our entire face in awareness.

Noticing any and all sensations.

And releasing the face and taking into awareness our ears,

The back of our head and our scalp,

Top of the head.

Noticing any sensations here,

Maybe noticing where we feel our head being supported by the floor or tingling.

Maybe we notice any sounds or slight ringing in our ears.

And now expanding our awareness down the body to take in the entire body,

Opening the aperture of our awareness to take in any and all sensations in this moment from the top of our head to the tips of our toes.

And noticing the whole body is breathing.

And again narrowing the spotlight of our attention down to where we feel the body breathing most prominently.

Taking a few moments just to notice the sensations of each in-breath and out-breath.

Allow gratitude to arise.

Gratitude for giving yourself this time to nourish yourself in this way.

Reviews

Bell at the end is too loud and harsh.

Excellent

Thank you ☺️! Very thorough but also gentle.

Best body scan meditation I’ve ever done. I like how he isolates each side of the body - most others do not.