Welcome to the body scan.
Lying down on the floor or the bed,
With the legs outstretched and the arms next to the body,
Perhaps with the palms facing up.
Some people can find it more comfortable if the knees are bent,
Feet on the floor,
Knees pointing up to the ceiling,
Or to place something under the knees to offer support.
Paying some attention to how the head is placed,
Making sure that it's supported and comfortable,
That it's not tilted back too far or tilted too forward.
Finding a position for the body,
For your body,
That's comfortable for the next 30 minutes or so.
It can be helpful to take on a position that embodies dignity,
However that translates to you,
And to take on a position that feels wakeful.
And just taking a moment to arrive,
Here and now.
Maybe noticing what sort of a mind is here right now.
Maybe you have a busy mind,
Or a calm mind,
An agitated mind.
Just noticing how it is for you right now.
And then letting our awareness move into the body.
Maybe noticing contact,
Where your body is making contact with the bed or the floor.
The contact you can feel with your clothes against your skin.
The contact of the air.
Just noticing what that's like.
Now starting to pay attention to the movement of breath in the body.
Perhaps the rise and fall of the belly,
The expansion and contraction in the chest,
Or the flow of air through the mouth and the nostrils as you breathe in and out.
Just wherever you feel the breath most readily.
Just spending a bit of time paying attention to the sensations of breathing.
And now moving your attention down through the left leg,
Right down into the heel of the left leg.
And just seeing what you can feel in your left heel.
Maybe there's pressure from where the heel is touching the floor,
The bed.
Just getting curious about it.
Maybe we can notice whether it feels hard or soft.
Or if there's a sense of smoothness or roughness.
And then letting your awareness move from the heel through the arch of the left foot.
Moving around to the top of the foot,
Seeing what you can feel.
And then moving into the toe,
To the big toe on the left foot.
Focusing awareness into the big toe on the left foot.
And then letting the awareness move into the rest of the toes.
Just seeing what you can feel.
Maybe you can't feel much at all.
Maybe it's blank.
And that's perfectly fine.
Now bringing the whole of the foot into awareness.
Including the ankle.
The entire left foot.
Whatever you can feel there right now.
And then moving up the left leg.
Through the back of the calf.
And then the sides of the calf.
The outside of the calf.
And to the front,
To the shin.
And then to the inside of the calf.
And then moving up the left leg to the knee.
To the front of the knee.
The inside of the knee.
To the back of the knee.
And to the outside of the knee.
Just noticing what you can feel.
Or what you can't feel.
And again,
We're not trying to feel anything in this exercise.
So if it's blankness that's presenting itself,
Then that's perfectly fine.
We're noticing the absence.
Then moving up the leg,
The left leg.
Up the front of the thigh.
And then the inside of the thigh.
And the back of the thigh.
And the outside of the thigh.
Perhaps noticing where there's contact.
Contact with the clothes.
Or pressure from contact with the bed or the floor.
Then moving up the leg.
To the hip.
To the right hip.
And then bringing your entire right leg into awareness.
Becoming aware of the entire leg.
Just as it is right now.
And it can be helpful to imagine breathing into the leg.
So as we breathe in,
We imagine filling the leg up with oxygen.
And then as we breathe out,
Imagining the leg to empty.
And then perhaps comparing the left leg with the right leg.
Noticing if there's any differences.
And now letting go of the left leg.
And placing our awareness in the right heel.
Just seeing what we can feel in the right heel.
Maybe pressure from where it's making contact.
Maybe a sense of hardness or softness.
Just whatever we can feel in the right heel.
And then moving awareness.
Moving our attention into the arch on the right leg.
Then around the top of the foot.
And around to the ball on the right foot.
And then into the right big toe.
Just seeing what you can feel.
Maybe there's tingling in the right toe.
Just whatever's there.
And then becoming aware of all the toes.
And maybe the space between the toes.
And then taking the whole of the right foot into awareness.
Including the ankle.
And then moving up the right leg.
Through the back of the calf.
Around to the outside of the calf.
And then to the front,
To the shin.
And the inside of the calf.
And then moving up to the knee.
To the front of the knee.
And then the outside of the knee.
And the back of the knee.
And the inside of the knee.
Just letting your awareness circle around the knee.
Just seeing what you can feel.
Maybe noticing if you can feel anything inside the knee.
And if at any time you find yourself have drifted off.
Into the realm of thinking.
Perhaps thinking about the future.
Making plans.
Or about the past.
Going over something.
Reminiscing,
Worrying,
Reliving.
That's fine.
Perfectly normal.
Just the practice is letting go of the thinking.
And coming back to whatever part of the scan we're up to.
So coming back to the leg.
To the right leg.
As we move awareness up the front of the right thigh.
Then around to the side of the right thigh.
The outside of the leg.
Then the inside of the right leg.
And then the back of the leg.
Moving up.
Moving up to the hip.
And then taking all of the right leg into awareness.
Perhaps imagining breathing into the right leg.
As it fills up with awareness.
And then letting go of the right leg.
And placing awareness around the back of the body.
Into the buttocks.
And the anal region.
Into the sacrum.
And the lower back.
Just noticing what you can feel.
Maybe pressure.
Around where the buttocks and the lower back are making contact.
And then moving awareness up through the lower back.
To the start of the ribs at the back.
And through the middle of the lower back,
Through the middle of the back.
Up to the shoulder blades.
And up to the top of the back.
And then moving awareness around to the sides of the body.
Maybe starting at the top of the hips.
Starting with both at once.
And then moving our awareness up the sides of the body.
Just noticing what we can feel.
Seeing what we can't feel.
Letting go from the sides of the body.
And placing our awareness around the front of the body now.
Maybe starting off in the genitals.
Seeing what we can feel.
And then moving awareness up through the pelvic bone.
Into the stomach.
And again maybe noticing the sense of movement as we breathe here.
So noticing the belly rise as we breathe in.
And fall as we breathe out.
Just placing our awareness in the stomach.
Seeing what we can feel.
And then moving up the stomach.
Past the belly button,
Into the lower ribs,
Into the diaphragm.
And again maybe noticing breath here.
The movement of breathing.
Noticing the sense of clothes moving on the skin.
Or maybe we can feel inside.
If there's any sense of the body internally here.
And then moving up into the chest.
Into the upper chest.
Seeing what we can feel.
Maybe there's a sense of feeling our heart beat here,
Or not.
Or a sense of movement again as we breathe.
And then into the upper chest.
To the clavicles.
Into the collarbones.
Just placing our awareness in the upper chest.
Now letting go of the front of the body.
And moving your awareness into the left shoulder.
Just seeing what you can feel here.
Maybe starting at the top of the shoulder.
Moving from where the neck and the shoulder begin.
Over the top of the shoulder.
To where the arm starts.
Just seeing if you can feel anything here.
Maybe there's contact at the back.
Maybe there's clothes at the front.
Maybe you can feel something internally.
Just whatever's presenting itself.
And then moving down the left arm.
Down the front of the arm.
And then down the outside of the arm.
And the back of the arm.
And the inside of the arm.
From the armpit down the inside of the arm.
To the elbow.
And then placing awareness in the elbow,
Around the elbow joint.
And then down the forearm.
The front of the forearm.
And the sides of the forearm.
And the outside of the forearm.
Through the wrist.
Maybe circling around the wrist.
Then into the palm.
And into the left thumb.
Seeing what you can feel here.
It might be tingling.
Throbbing.
Pulsing.
Might notice temperature,
Whether it's warm or cool.
Or whether it's moist or dry.
Just seeing what's here in the left thumb.
And then moving through the fingers.
Maybe starting with the index finger.
Moving through the middle finger.
And into the pinky.
Just placing your awareness in your fingers.
Just seeing what you can feel.
And now letting go of the left arm.
And moving across to the right shoulder.
Seeing what you can feel in the right shoulder.
Maybe where the right neck and the right shoulder begin.
And then moving over the shoulder into where the arm starts.
Scanning the top of the shoulder.
And then into the arm.
Scanning down the right arm.
The outside of the arm.
And the back of the arm.
The front of the arm.
The armpit and down the inside of the arm.
And then circling around the elbow joint.
Before moving down into the forearm.
The front of the forearm.
The sides of the forearm.
And the back of the forearm.
Into the wrist.
Circling around the right wrist.
And then into the right palm.
Into the right thumb.
Seeing what you can feel in the right thumb.
Maybe noticing tingling or throbbing,
Pulsing.
And then moving into the fingers.
Scanning into the fingers.
Maybe starting with the index finger.
And then moving through all the fingers.
And seeing what you can feel here.
Now letting go of the right arm.
And placing your awareness in your neck.
In the back of the neck.
Maybe where it's making contact with the pillow,
The cushion,
The floor.
And then around to the front of the neck.
Just seeing what you can feel here.
If there's a sense of tightness or a sense of relaxation.
Or if it's blank,
Maybe there's a lump.
Just whatever you can feel here.
And then moving up through the base of the skull at the back.
Around the base of the skull.
To the ears.
Just bringing your ears into awareness.
Just noticing what you can feel.
Moving around to the back of the skull.
Moving up through the skull to the top of the head.
Seeing if you can feel anything at the top of the head.
Maybe it's blank.
Maybe you can't feel anything which is perfectly normal.
And then starting to scan through the top of the face.
Through the top of the brow.
Moving down to the eyebrows.
And into the eyes.
Maybe noticing if there's a sense of tightness.
Or if it feels relaxed,
If they feel relaxed.
Maybe noticing any light that you can see coming in through your eyelids.
Bringing that into awareness for a moment.
Before scanning down to the nose.
And the cheeks.
And then moving down through the sides of the face.
And then over to the lips.
Noticing what you can feel in your lips right now.
And maybe the inside of the lips.
And the tongue.
Placing your awareness in your tongue.
Maybe becoming aware of the front of the tongue.
And the back of the tongue.
Letting your awareness move around the inside of your mouth.
And the teeth.
And coming down to the chin.
Now bringing the whole of the head into awareness.
Just noticing the back of the head,
The neck,
And the face.
Just scanning it all at once.
Now letting go of the head.
And bringing your awareness back to the sensations of breathing.
Just the rhythm of breathing.
Now letting go of the breath.
And starting to transition back into movement.
So maybe stretching the hands and the feet.
Wiggling the toes and the fingers.
And just letting any natural movements take place.
Any stretches that the body wants to do.
Maybe opening the eyes.
Noticing the colours and the shapes.
And perhaps congratulating ourselves for spending time in this way.
This radically different way.
As we bring the body scan to a close.
